Allmendinger comments on changes at JTG/Daugherty

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June 29, 2013

JTG/Daugherty Racing recently made a temporary change that was unpopular in the eyes of fans. Removing former Sprint Cup Series champion, Bobby Labonte, in favor AJ Allmendinger. The move was intended to gain a new perspective on the team’s lack of performance.

Even though the team was adamant about the fact that, at least for this season, Labonte is their driver and no permanent changes were taking place at this time, fans still criticized the move. Probably the biggest cause of fans outrage was the fact that Labonte’s consecutive start streak would come to an end at Kentucky. It is noteworthy that Labonte said he had received offers from teams to start the race and keep the streak alive, but Labonte turned those offers down.

Fortunately, for Allmendinger, none of the anger seemed to be directed toward him. Allmendinger has faced plenty of adversity in the past year. Adversity that was ignited when he was suspended by NASCAR for violation of the organizations substance abuse policy. He was then subsequently fired from Penske Racing, where he drove the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge.

Allmendinger completed all procedures required of him by NASCAR, and has made a strong comeback into the sport. He capped off that comeback recently with a win in the Nationwide Series at Road America, again driving for Roger Penske. He also drove to a very respectable 7^th place finish in the Indy 500 for the famed team owner.

Allmendinger commented on the situation Friday at Kentucky Speedway where he will make hie second start in the No.47 for the JTG/Daugherty team saying, “In this situation, if I’m saying the same thing Bobby is, and in a way I kind of am, you know that only helps what he’s been saying.” “A race car driver as a whole hates it, but you it can play where it helps the team, it helps the other person, it helps me, so I guess what makes it tough obviously, is Bobby’s role in NASCAR the last several years has been huge for this sport.” He continued, “All I can do is go out there and do my best job possible, I understand the people who aren’t happy with it, at the same point, I can’t control that, I can just control myself and just like life I try to live day to day.”

It seems that Allmendinger’s input has helped. In his first race with the team at Michigan he finished 19^th,which tied for the second best finish of the season, Labonte scored a 19^th place finish at Richmond. Only one time this season has the team had a better finish, a 15^th place at Daytona in the season opener.

Allmendinger backed up the Michigan run by turning in the best qualifying effort of the season for the team at Kentucky. The team will take the green in 17^th on Saturday night in the Quaker State 400. It is the first time the team will start better than 20^th all year. The week after Michigan, Labonte was back in the car at Sonoma. He qualified 20^th for that race, an effort he has only equaled one other time this season.

The impressive results are vindication for team owner Brad Daugherty, who has been accused of attempting to ruin Bobby’s career. The improvements shown after only two races indicate Daugherty made the right decision for his team.

It will be interesting to watch this team going forward. Hopefully, Labonte, who is a great ambassador for the sport, will reap the benefits of these tough business decisions.

The O’Hara Factor: Picking the Winner at Kentucky

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SM Staff

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June 29, 2013

Last weekend was a great weekend for the sport as Martin Truex Jr. snapped a 218-race winless streak that dated back to the Autism Speaks 400 at the Dover International Speedway in 2007. Truex’s first-career win was overshadowed partially due to the passing of Bill France Jr. earlier in the day. Truex and his #56 NAPA Toyota team have come so close to winning so many times since his then sole victory, but the team had just been unable to close the deal, until last Sunday. I don’t think there was a single writer out there that thought Truex was going to win the race. Truex will take this opportunity to put together some form of consistent run and hopefully more victories for Michael Waltrip Racing. It was good to see a genuine man and hard-working individual finally get the monkey off his back.

We have only run a total of 2 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events here at the Kentucky Speedway, but thus far it appears that the drivers that drove here at the Nationwide Series level had an advantage over the cup regulars. For example, Kyle Busch has led the most laps in each of the two events. He led 125 in the inaugural on his way to the victory, and led 118 last season, but he wound up finishing 10th. Will Kyle Busch be a threat? I think he will, but the only thing that has derailed Kyle Busch from a Sprint Cup Series championship thus far is himself. Unfortunately, Kyle Busch is still not mature enough at this point to be a champion from my vantage point. His tweets last weekend clearly showed immaturity and a blurred focus. Kyle should be focused on making next weekend a better one after a disappointment. Team morale is very delicate. You mess up once in your career and you may never have the chance to regain that back. This is Busch’s last chance. He blew it with Hendrick Motorsports after leaving his team at the track following a wreck at Texas. While his crew was ready to get Busch back in the race car to earn some valuable points, Busch was already heading home. Dale Earnhardt Jr. then served as a relief driver and later would replace Kyle Busch at Hendrick Motorsports.

Many people will say that Hendrick made a mistake in taking Earnhardt Jr. over Busch if you compare their numbers since 2008, but there is no question who is easier to deal with, and that is Dale Earnhardt Jr. It’s like having a great player on a hockey team, but he is not a team player and he instead is causing conflict within the team. You’re out. That was what caused Busch to lose his ride with Hendrick Motorsports. I expect Kyle to lead a lot of laps tomorrow evening, but there are many other drivers who are hungry for a win.

Brad Keselowski is coming off a rain-shortened Nationwide Series victory on Friday evening, but has not been faring too well as of late on the Sprint Cup Series end. He started off with four consecutive top 10 finishes, including two top three’s, but he has struggled since. This will be a great opportunity for Keselowski to break out of his mini-slump and put the #2 Miller Lite boys back in championship contention and potentially a better seed when it comes down to the chase at Richmond. Keselowski will get a solid Top 10 finish.

I know we always cling to our belief that he will eventually break through, but Jeff Gordon is certainly due and hungry for a victory. He rallied to finish second after a penalty at Sonoma. That is vintage Jeff Gordon right there. He’s been strong in practice all weekend and as we saw in the Nationwide Series event this evening, we saw a lot of green racing out there. I believe Gordon has the long-run car to take the #24 into victory circle, but never leave out his driver, Jimmie Johnson. He hasn’t won here either and he is always hungry for a win especially after seeing his points lead lose considerable chunks the past few weekends. Who are you picking tomorrow?

Keselowski wins at Kentucky

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SM Staff

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June 29, 2013

Brad Keselowski won the 13th Annual Feed The Children 300, his 22nd victory in 197 NASCAR Nationwide Series races. This is his second victory and fourth top-10 finish in 2013. Elliott Sadler, Matt Crafton, Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 5.

Austin Dillon started on the pole for the fifth time this year. He lead the first 18 laps until Busch got up to the bumper of Dillon and took the top spot . By lap 41, Busch lapped all the way up to Brian Scott who was running 19th.

Green flag pit stops occurred on lap 50 with Dillon and Busch coming in giving the lead to Hornish Jr. Right when the leaders were in the middle of green flag stops, caution waved when the 87 of Joe Nemechek. He went to the garage. Crafton, Trevor Bayne, Travis Pastrana, Busch, Michael Annett, and Kevin Swindell were the only cars on the lead lap and everybody except for Busch, did not pit . Annett was too fast exiting and will go to the back of the line for the restart.

They restarted on lap 60 and Busch continued to lead with Crafton and Bayne battling for third with Hornish. Bayne fell all the way down to 8th with Keselowski moving up to 3rd. Keselowski moved up to 2nd and by Lap 90, he was up to the bumper of Busch and was battling for the lead. He got to his door and looked like he was going to make the pass but he got loose and gave the position back to the 54. They got to some lap traffic and that made the 22 get up to the back bumper of the 54 again and was battling for the lead in 3 and 4. Right at the halfway point, Keselowski took the lead and took off! He had a 0.724 second lead over Busch after passing him one lap before halfway. Pastrana also had a nice night as he started second and was sixth with 97 to go.

Regan Smith came into to pit to start green flag pit stops and had to come back to pit road. He told his crew chief that he was afraid something broke on the car. Something did break and he had to go to the garage. Keselowski came in with 87 laps to go along with Crafton and was very happy with his car. Crafton ran out of fuel coming to pit road so he had a fairly long stop. Keselowski is in the lead, but not backing down. He’s in the middle of a three-wide group with Swindell and Parker Kligerman. Swindell is now a lap down. Right when the #7 of Smith came back from the garage area, the caution flag waved for debris on the backstretch. All of the leaders stayed out since just coming into to pit road little bit ago.

They went back to green with 72 to go with Keselowski leading the field to the green. Sadler and Dillon got passed Busch but Busch passed Dillon right back. Caution came out right then with the #5 of Brad Sweet spinning coming onto the backstretch to cause the caution.

They went back to green with 54 laps to go and Busch was on a mission. Keselowski was in the lead easily with Dillon and Sadler, Busch and Hornish battling for position. couple laps later, the caution waved for #74 of Carl Long spinning on the front stretch. Everybody came in and everybody chose something different. Crafton took no tires, Sadler took two tires and will restart 2nd. Busch will restart 13th. Busch would make up 5 spots within three laps and Keselowski would pass Sadler for the lead.

Caution came out with 36 laps to go for Rain and Keselowski was in the lead. It looked like it was going to go back to green but it was called.

Brad Keselowski wins rain shortened Feed The Children 300

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SM Staff

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June 28, 2013

Brad Keselowski led 59 laps en-route to victory in a rain shortened Feed The Children 300 at Kentucky Motor Speedway. The light rains came on lap 170, just 30 laps shy of the end. Within thirty minutes of NASCAR calling the race, the skies opened up, and heavy rains with wind and lightning began. NASCAR definitely made the right call ending the race when they did.

Keselowski who started 19^th in his Discount Tire Ford Mustang methodically worked his way through the field and waged a fantastic battle with Kyle Busch near the mid-point of the race. The win gave the 29 year old defending Sprint Cup Series champion his second victory and fourth top-5 of the season. It was also his second victory at the Kentucky Motor Speedway. Keselowski pointed out after the race, “I don’t see any difference in the track tomorrow. I think you will see the same – very similar racing whether it is Nationwide or Cup.”

Busch has dominated the Nationwide Series this season scoring six wins, ten top-5’s in eleven starts. Busch looked to be on cruise control early on the event, pulling out over a three second lead. When asked about how his car handled today, Busch replied, “A couple of runs ago we started getting tight, but the guys here have done a stellar job today being able to give me a race car capable of running up front the way we have.” Busch ended up fifth at the end of the day.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Elliott Sadler, who has had an up and down season, scored a much needed second place finish. Sadler was also the first driver to become eligible for the Dash 4 Cash promotion announced at the speedway earlier in the day. Today’s finish was Sadler’s ninth top-10 finish of the season.

Sadler’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brian Vickers was not talked about much during the race, but managed a fourth place finish which made him eligible for the Dash 4 Cash as well. It also gave JGR three cars in the top five.

Camping World Truck Series driver, Matt Crafton, made an impressive debut in his first Nationwide Series start. Crafton, driving the Richard Childress Racing Menards Chevrolet, ran near the front for the whole race and led eight laps. A 25 second green flag stop due to running out of gas as he entered pit road put him behind, but he managed to work his way back to the front and scored a very respectable third place finish. Crafton will drive the No. 33 two more times this season, again at Kentucky and at Chicago

Austin Dillon who was heavily favored coming into this weekend, started on the pole with a fast lap of 175.758 mph over two full mph over Travis Pastrana who started second. Dillon jumped out to an early lead was tracked down by Busch. Dillon wound up sixth at the end of the day.

Series points leader Regan Smith ran in the top-10 all day, but a broken suspension part sent him behind the wall. He came back out on the track 17 laps down. Smith ended up a disappointing 30^th after a 32^nd place finish after last week at Road America. Smith’s points lead dropped from a series record (under the new points system) 58 to a mere eight points over Sam Hornish Jr who finished ninth, and just a mere three more points back to Justin Allgaier who finished 13^th.

The series’ next stop will be the Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday July 5.

OSCAAR Super Late Models to take to Sunset Speedway for Don Biederman Memorial

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SM Staff

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June 28, 2013

A new format. A record car count expected. That just begins to describe this weekend’s 15th Annual Don Biederman Memorial that will be at Sunset Speedway.

In past years, the Don Biederman Memorial has featured a 75-lap feature. However, for the first time in OSCAAR Racing history, they will be running back-to-back nights. A unique format has been devised by series officials for the weekend to go with this historic event.

Instead of a typical double heat format, on Saturday, the OSCAAR Super Late Model drivers will take to the track for time trials. Depending how you place in time trials will determine where you start in one of the three heats.

Klotz Synthetics Qualifying Heat Line-Up (Based on Time Trial Results).

Heat 1: Pos. 1, Pos. 4, Pos. 7, Pos. 10, Pos. 13, Pos. 16, Pos. 19, Pos. 22, Pos. 25, Pos. 28, etc.

Heat 2: Pos. 2, Pos. 5, Pos. 8, Pos. 11, Pos. 14, Pos. 17, Pos. 20, Pos. 23, Pos. 26, Pos. 29, etc.

Heat 3: Pos. 3, Pos. 6, Pos. 9, Pos. 12, Pos. 15, Pos. 18, Pos. 21, Pos. 24, Pos. 27, Pos. 30, etc.

The top four from each heat will automatically transfer to the A-Main to determine the top 12 starting spots in the feature. The rest of the drivers will go to the B-Main, with the top eight transferring to the A-Main to determine starting spots 13 to 20.

“Two spots (position 21-22) will be left open as provisional for the drivers who currently sit highest in OSCAAR points who have yet to qualify,” OSCAAR PR released earlier this week. “The final two spots (position 23-24) will go to the two quickest drivers who have yet to qualify for the main event.”

On Sunday, there will be not be time trials. How you finished the feature on Saturday night will determine which heat and where you start (same breakdown as above). As the same with the day before, he top four from each heat will automatically transfer to the A-Main to determine the top 12 starting spots in the feature. The bottom half of the field will be determined the same way it was on Saturday.

The importance is having a strong time trial run and a good heat will be at it’s premium as there are expected to be 32 drivers are expected to show to try to make the 24 car field.

So who do you have to watch? Well, there are five drivers who have shown that they are strong via their previous race starts and testing sessions.

1. No. 70 Jeff Hanley

In any OSCAAR race that Jeff Hanley runs as part of his part-time schedule, he is always a driver that you have to beat. After all, his last OSCAAR Super Late Model start came at Sunset Speedway last September in the form of a win at the Velocity 250. He is also a four-time winner of the event (2008-2011).

2. No. 77 George Wilson

At the beginning of the season, George Wilson announced that he would miss the season due to other commitments. However, he has since stated that he will be attendance for the Don Biederman Memorial. Wilson is a driver that you have to watch as well because, like Hanley, he always is in contention to win. In the Velocity 250 in which Hanley won, there was contact between Hanley and Wilson for the lead that resulted in Wilson making heavy contact with the inside retaining wall.

3. No. 9 Brandon Watson

The defending series champion and current points leader, Brandon Watson, is a driver that you have to keep your eye on. He won last year’s running of the Don Biederman at Kawartha Speedway and has won the opening two events this season, one of those being Sunset. Nobody has been able to catch Watson so far this year so it’ll be interesting to see how he stacks up against the field this weekend.

4. No. 22 Glenn Watson

Glenn Watson is always upfront during the OSCAAR events, putting himself in position to win. After all, he is a four-time series champion. However, he has yet to win a Don Biederman Memorial. Does that change this weekend?

5. No. 27 J.R. Fitzpatrick

J.R. Fitzpatrick will be making his third start in the series after starting last year’s Velocity 250 and the Autumn Colors event at Peterborough Speedway. Since then, he has made a ton of changes to the car owned by Roy Passer and looked strong during some test laps at Sunset Speedway.

Beyond those five listed, there are many drivers that will be up front this weekend. Included but not limited to…….

2007 winner Derrike Tiemersma has had a strong start to the season with a third and a second to start off the season.

Rob Poole returns to the track that he called home during his Limited Late Model career, looking for another top five after scoring his first OSCAAR top five back in May at Sunset Speedway. He finished ninth earlier this year at Barrie Speedway.

Dwayne Baker will be making his second start of the season after finishing fourth back in May.

Jesse Kennedy will look to bounce back after having some bad luck at Barrie earlier this month.

While the race for the win may be one to keep an eye on, you also have to look at this year’s rookie of the year battle.

Kevin Cornelius will look for his second career OSCAAR Super Late Model top five after finishing fifth at Barrie Speedway in June. He was running third in the closing laps of the May event at Sunset Speedway, when a slip up would cause him to drop back to the seventh position.

Ethan Courneyea will be making his second OSCAAR start after a poor showing in the season opener. The Super Stock graduate found himself in a lap one wreck with Mike Owen.

Sean Cronan will look to bounce back after some tough luck that has hindered his performance in the opening events thus far. He was running top 10 at Sunset back in May, though mechanical problems took him out of the race.

Andrew Gresel will look for his second career OSCAAR podium finish after finishing third at Barrie. Gresel didn’t fair well in the season opener at Sunset Speedway as he was running a template body car due to his Super Late not being ready yet.

Rob Gibson will be making his first career OSCAAR start. Gibson makes the jump up to the Super Late model ranks after having success in Sunset Speedway’s Mini Stock division.

OSCAAR Modified competitor Brent McLean will be pulling double duty this weekend as he will be looking to start this weekend’s Super Late Model race at Sunset Speedway. Mechanical problems prevented him from starting the season opener back in May.