Dario Franchitti injured in last lap incident in Houston
Following scary incident on the final lap of the Grand Prix of Houston, Dario Franchitti would suffer injuries.
“IZOD IndyCar Series driver Dario Franchitti was admitted awake and alert to Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center in Houston for a concussion, spinal fracture that will require no surgery and a fracture to the right ankle,” INDYCAR released. “He will be kept overnight.”
Following contact with Takuma Sato on the final lap, Franchitti’s car lifted off the ground, making contact with the catchfence. The contact ripped most of the front end off of the No. 10 IndyCar, but the driver’s compartment stayed in tact.
After the contact, Sato was t-boned by E.J. Viso, but both drivers walked away.
A track worker was taken to hospital due to minor injuries from the debris. 13 fans were hit by debris, but did not require hospital trips.
Will Power won the race followed by Scott Dixon and James Hinchcliffe. Dixon heads into the final event of the year at Auto Club Speedway, leading Helio Castroneves by 25 points.
Harvick win the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas
Kevin Harvick swept the weekend at Kansas Speedway and won the caution filled Hollywood Casino 400 from the pole. The victory was Harvick’s 22nd career victory and his third victory in 2013. This is his first victory at Kansas Speedway. “It was an interesting weekend with everyone battling tires and the track. It was like driving on a razor blade and I said we have to find consistency. It was like driving two different cars – one out front and no one else even close and a different one back in traffic,” said Harvick.
After having to go to a back up car and starting in the rear, Kurt Busch came back to take second. Busch would have an exchange with third place finisher Jeff Gordon. Both competitors discussed the situation and came away with an understanding of the situation according to Jeff Gordon. Busch said, ” Today is a small victory in my own mind. This was the last track I needed a top-5 at and we got that today.”
Third place finisher Jeff Gordon said, “We had a great car all day. These surfaces are too smooth. It doesn’t dissipate the heat. Goodyear is at the mercy of the track. But to me it’s the surface. We are paving these tracks like we pave new highway and this isn’t a highway, it’s a racetrack.”
Tires were the story of the day. With the new tire cording and blistering, the race teams struggled to find consistency and grip on the newly repaved racetrack.
Kyle Busch’s curse at Kansas continued. Busch who started in the rear in a backup car was wrecked three times in one race. Busch commented, “The race track is the worst race track I’ve ever driven on. The tires are the worst tires I’ve ever driven on and track position is everything. You can’t do anything unless you’re out front. You get back in traffic — Kevin Harvick couldn’t pass me — he led the first 80 laps of the race, so I’d say it’s pretty pathetic.”
The race had 15 cautions for 71 laps and there were 24 lead changes among 12 drivers. Harvick crossed the start finish line 1.140 seconds ahead of Kurt Busch.
Matt Kenseth took the points lead over Jimmie Johnson, who finished the race on 7 cylinders.
Finish Order:
1) Kevin Harvick 2) Kurt Busch 3) Jeff Gordon 4) Joey Logano 5) Carl Edwards 6) Jimmie Johnson 7) Paul Menard 8) Dale Earnhardt Jr. 9) Marcos Ambrose 10) Aric Almirola 11) Matt Kenseth 12) Jeff Burton 13) Greg Biffle 14) Clint Bowyer 15) Kasey Kahne 16) Jamie McMurray 17) Brad Keselowski 18) Juan Pablo Montoya 19) Martin Truex Jr. 20) A.J. Allmendinger 21) Casey Mears 22) Mark Martin 23) Denny Hamlin 24) David Gilliland 25) Dave Blaney 26) Travis Kvapil 27) JJ Yeley 28) Timmy Hill 29) Tony Raines 30) Ricky Stenhouse Jr 31) Cole Whitt 32) Brian Vickers 33) Landon Cassill 24) Kyle Busch 35) Ryan Newman 36) David Ragan 37) David Reutimann 38) Michael McDowell 39) Justin Allgaier 40) Josh Wise 41) Joe Nemechek 42) Reed Sorenson 43) Danica Patrick
Chase Points Following Kansas:
1) Matt Kenseth 2183
2) Jimmie Johnson 2180
3) Kevin Harvick
4) Jeff Gordon 2151
5) Kyle Busch
6) Greg Biffle
7) Kurt Busch
8) Dale Earnhardt Jr 2129
9) Clint Bowyer 2128
10) Joey Logano 2124
11) Carl Edwards 2123
12) Ryan Newman 2110
13) Kasey Kahne 2100
Matty’s Picks 2013 Race 30 – Kansas Speedway – October 6, 2013
Disclaimer: My column this week will be as exciting to read as I anticipate the race being on Sunday afternoon…scroll down for picks.
Kansas Speedway is certainly one of the cookie-cutter races that the Chase schedule has to offer. The variable 17 to 20 degrees of banking in the corners plus the 10 degrees on the frontstretch leaves much to be desired for those looking for an exciting Sunday afternoon of racing. Even though the last two races at Kansas (since the mid-season repave in 2012) produced more cautions than the previous four races combined, they also produced the least amount of lead changes at Kansas speedway since the second ever race at the track back in 2002.
One interesting statistic I was able to uncover this week has to do with Chase races being won by non-Chase drivers. There have been 14 Chase races won by non-Chase drivers in the history of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, that is now 93 total races. Three of those 14 races have been won at Kansas Speedway as Joe Nemechek became the first ever spoiler in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winning the fall race of 2004 as a non-Chase driver. The other two races by non-Chase drivers were won by Tony Stewart in 2006 and Greg Biffle in 2007, so it has been a while, but with the parody we saw in the regular season, certainly anything can happen on Sunday. With 7 of the top 15 qualifiers for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 being non-Chase drivers, the possibility of a spoiler this week is certainly valid.
Winner Pick
It’s onto my picks already this week and no surprises here, I will be going with Matt Kenseth this week. I couldn’t find a single reason to not pick Kenseth this week, he’s won the last two races at Kansas, he also won at Chicagoland, Kentucky Speedway, and Las Vegas Motor Speedway this season, all which happen to be the tracks most similar to Kansas Speedway.
On top of all the wins at similar tracks this season, Kenseth is second, third, or fourth in 4 of the loop stats, the most important – Driver Rating- he’s third on the list at 110.0. Kenseth also qualified very well on Friday, important because 9 of the 15 Kansas races have been won from starting spots inside the top-10. Kenseth will start seventh on Sunday, and was second in the second practice session on Friday, fourth in Happy Hour earlier today, too much to like here about Kenseth, he’s my Winner Pick for Sunday.
Dark Horse Pick
It’s not every day you can take a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion as a Dark Horse, but because Brad Keselowski is not a part of this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, I’m going with him as a Dark Horse this weekend. This team has been fairly non-existent since that solid stretch of runs to start the 2013 season, since the series visited Kansas Speedway in particular. Brad was 7th at Chicagoland, the most recent cookie-cutter of the season, his 5th top 10 finish in that 19 race stretch since the April Kansas race, so I’m going on a bit of a hunch here, but I like Brad’s chances this week.
You can not look past the fact that he’s got an average finish of 9.2 in his 7 career races at Kansas Speedway. He’s qualified his Miller Lite Ford Fusion in the 4th starting position and has shown speed in all of the practice sessions at Kansas this week. He was a longer play to start the week, the odds have not shortened a bit, Brad is a solid longer play this week.
That’s all for this week, so until we turn the lights on in Charlotte…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!
