Is Jimmie Johnson NASCAR’s LeBron James?
I don’t think there is any doubt that the best team in NASCAR’s top series is the No. 48 car at Hendrick Motorsports. Recent races seem to verify this, and Jimmie Johnson has many fans, but after watching the NBA finals tonight, I couldn’t help to draw an analogy between not only the Miami Heat and the Lowe’s Chevrolet team, but to LeBron James and Jimmie Johnson. Stay with me here. It’s all about domination and how we deal with it. It’s not a pretty picture for some.
You win too much and people begin to just root for anyone else but you. The New York Yankees know this well and so do the Big Red Machine. Folks like a lot of variety and that rarely is the way it is in sports. The Yankees inspired a play called “Damn Yankees.” The 1970-1976 Cincinnati Reds team had people rooting against them. Jeff Gordon was maligned by fans when he was at the top of his game. Many hated the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers. It’s just the way it is. So it is with Jimmie Johnson’s Lowes No. 48 Chevrolet team. They used to say “anybody but Gordon” and “anybody but the Yankees.” Today it’s “anybody but Johnson.”
Tuesday night, I’ve never seen so much wailing and gnashing of teeth after a game. LeBron James must have been the antichrist. The Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs tonight in game five of the NBA playoffs, and all fans harped about was James and the Heat. Maybe it has a lot to do with confidence and maybe just a little arrogance. James, when he was changing teams from Cleveland to Miami, made boast about championships and during the season talking about domination. And then going out and doing it.
All the vitriol is aimed at Johnson in NASCAR, but a lot of it falls on Chad Knaus, the crew chief of the five-time championship team. Knaus is so calculated he seems like a character from some science fiction movie where the brilliant scientist is so smart that he seems not of this earth. Johnson doesn’t help when he calls every loss, “the one that got away.” The result is that many fans just root for anyone to win the race. Maybe I should change that to anyone but Kyle Busch, but that’s another story.
Greg Biffle won Sunday’s race at Michigan, but television and media in general spent little time with Biffle, a guy who led the points going into the Chase last year, and has a solid career in Camping World Trucks, Nationwide Series races and Cup. It seemed it was all about Johnson, Junior, Kahne, Jeff Gordon, and this week, Tony Stewart. Meanwhile Biffle was the lap leader and winner, but it’s like everyone knows when the final races comes along, Johnson is going to be there, just like last year and most every year for the last seven or eight years. He may not win every year, but he’s always in the background and he is ready to take the title.
This year, despite a couple of devastating races, he’s nearly an entire race ahead of anyone else in the points and many are rooting for anyone else to win at the end, just like those who would never be San Antonia Spurs fans are sitting with clenched fists to win the NBA title. Its normal and the way it’s been as long as I’ve lived (too long to tell you). Just like at Dover and Michigan, someone else won, but at Pocono, all the things moved into place.
Racing is a strange sport. Just as someone or some team seemed to be in control, another unlikely team comes out of nowhere to win. Witness the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011, the Cincinnati Reds in 1990, and the New York Giants in 2011. Nothing is a sure thing, but many will be rooting against Johnson and Knaus, just like they did Petty, Pearson, Yarborough, Elliott, Lorenzen, Waltrip, and Earnhardt. In the end, the cream will rise to the top. And that bothers some, but that’s sports.
Honda Indy Toronto: Trophies Unveiled, Justin Wilson discusses double header
On Monday, Honda Indy Toronto President Charlie Johnstone was at William-Ashley’s flagship location in Toronto, Ontario to unveil the trophies for this year’s Honda Indy Toronto. It marks the third straight year that William-Ashley has been part of the trophy designing.
The trophies, once again designed by Waterford Crystal, are crystal shaped bowls, varying in size and depth of design, depending on the winner. The main winner’s trophy features two IndyCars on the front of the bowl, cut into the glass carefully, with the Toronto skyline along the back of the bowl. They’ve also incorporated the Honda Indy Toronto logo as the bottom of the stem. Up-close photos of the trophies can be viewed in the Speedway Media Photo Gallery.
For the first time, Toronto will host two races over the course of the weekend. The first race will be on July 13th, with the second race on July 14th. Its part of the new double-header weekend format that IndyCar has developed for some of the road courses this year.
With that said, Johnstone discussed that he wants to expand the event further out to be able to have the whole family it. They’ll be food tasting, beer tasting, activities for the kids, as well as other things to keep the whole family entertained over the course of the three day weekend. It’s all about creating that perfect atmosphere.
2005 Honda Indy Toronto winner Justin Wilson echoed those thoughts saying the race is cool, but you got to have that entertainment package.
“You have to have something to entertain the wife and kids because I know from my experience, if I don’t entertain them, it’s not good,” he commented. “But I enjoy it. It’s a good track, very challenging. ”
Wilson was on hand for the unveiling and sat and spoke to the media about a number of topics, including driver training. With there being two races in one weekend, it makes that level of training extra important. Training is important because as Wilson mentions, each time you get on brake pedal, it’s like doing a full leg press and you’re doing that five times a minute. Wilson says training is also important because you don’t want your body to be your limit.
“All the races you go to – you don’t want your body to be the limit of how far you can drive the car,” he said. “The cars have advanced and become harder to drive, the gap between the cars is getting closer. So five years ago, you were five tenths off, you were fifth. Now if you are five tenths off, you’re 18th or 19th. You have to perform the maximum every single lap. It’s tough.”
Wilson’s training consists of cycling, swimming and going to the gym to lift weights.
“Just trying to do everything that I got the core strength, the upper body strength and then I’ve got the endurance,” he said. “The fitter you are during the race, the more you can deal with driving the car.”
With a normal street race, it can take drivers four to five days for their body’s to fully recover.
“Our cars don’t have a lot of suspension movement,” he commented. “I describe it as being put in a trash can and shaken around. When you get out, you’re covered in bumps and bruises and it just aches. On top of that, you’re fighting the car so your muscles ache.”
So come race weekend, the training that a driver has done before the weekend is going to be important. Another important aspect is nutrition to make sure you’re hydrated, as well as getting enough carbohydrates and protein for your muscles to recover.
“Hydration, that is the first thing that will get you every time,” he explained. “You got to make sure you’re drinking the right fluids, the right amount at the right time, so that you don’t lose concentration and that’s important. Also, a massage helps.
“Anything you can do to help recover and come back to run well. You want to come back and be at the same level on day two that you were on day one.”
The drivers have experienced the double header once this year already – Detroit – and Wilson commented that he noticed drivers were cautious on day one, while overly aggressive on day two.
“I think that could be the same thing again in Toronto,” he commented. “It’s going to be interesting.”
Wilson went on to say that he is looking forward to Toronto and remembers watching the race while in England racing go-karts as a kid.
“This is a big deal and watching this race as a kid back in England, this is a nice street race,” he said. “When you get here, you realize it’s more of a street fight. There’s a lot of action on track.”
The course, constructed at Exhibition Place, is a tight street course that Wilson says it gives it that cannon feeling for the straightaway. It also has a special unique feature to it. While the track is mainly asphalt, there are concrete patches in some of the corners, which adds another trick to it.
“The grip level changes,” Wilson explained. “You hit the concrete, the whole car slides and you kind of have a moment there. Right before you hit the wall there, the grip picks back up at the end of the turn. You just got to work at it, pick up more speed each time and sometimes you hit it wrong, hence why I hit the wall there (in 2011).”
Wilson was running in second late in the race trying to catch Will Power in 2011, and hit the patch the wrong way in turn eight, causing him to hit the wall.
“That’s the fun part of street racing and why this track is so challenging, yet so rewarding when you get it right,” he said.
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Michigan
Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Jimmie Johnson: While in pursuit of Greg Biffle in the lead, Johnson’s No. 48 Chevy cut a tire and slammed hard into the wall at Turn 2. Biffle went on to win, while Johnson finished 28th, one lap down. He remained the points leader, and holds a 31-point cushion over Carl Edwards.
“I’ll let Biffle enjoy the moment,” Johnson said. “He tastes victory. I drink it.”
2. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished second in the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan, posting his fourth consecutive top-10 result. He is fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 62 out of first.
“Sunday was my first Father’s Day as a father,” Harvick said, “and I finished runner-up to Greg Biffle. I always like to say, ‘I’m a daddy first, and a driver second.’”
3. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished eighth at Michigan, falling victim to an untimely caution, while Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle took the win. Edwards remained second in the point standings and trails Jimmie Johnson by 31.
“Biffle refused to help me get some debris off my grill,” Edwards said. “But I’ve got no problem ‘trashing’ him. I guess my current teammate is a lot like my former teammate, Matt Kenseth, in that neither ‘favors’ me.”
4. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth came home sixth at Michigan, collecting his eighth top 10 of the year. He improved one spot in the point standings to fifth and is now 82 out of first.
“Toyota Racing Development is boosting the power of their engines,” Kenseth said. “That likely means Toyota cars will be going faster….when their engines blow.”
5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: A promising day for Earnhardt at Michigan turned sour when his engine blew on lap 131 after he had led 34 laps on the day. He finished 38th and tumbled three places in the point standings to seventh, 91 out of first.
“We’re close to signing a sponsor that will be new to NASCAR,” Earnhardt said, “and it will be a big deal for both parties. In other words, it’s a ‘win-win’ situation, which doubles my number of victories over the last year.”
6. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer posted his eight top-10 finish of the year with a seventh in the Quicken Loans 400. He remained third in the point standings and trails Jimmie Johnson by 49.
“The No. 15 5-Hour Energy car took a beating,” Bowyer said. “Of course, it’s taken a ‘beating’ all year, because I haven’t won a single race. That may change. I won last year at Sonoma’s road course, so I’m confident things will make a ‘turn’ for the better.”
7. Kyle Busch: Busch led the way for Joe Gibbs Racing with a fourth in the Quicken Loans 400. He is fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 86 out of first.
“Michigan is a fast track,” Busch said. “It carries more speed than the Mayfield’s. That speed is probably why I was penalized for passing on pit road. And that reminds of the title of my upcoming autobiography, ‘Black Flags And Blue Lights.’”
8. Greg Biffle: Biffle held off Jimmie Johnson at Michigan to give Ford its 1,000th victory in NASCAR. Biffle inherited the lead on a fortunate pit stop on lap 167, and kept Johnson at bay before the No. 48 blew a tire with two laps to go.
“I stared down Johnson,” Biffle said, “and he blinked. Or maybe he just winked. In any case, he saw me. For once, I can say I had the ‘look’ of a champion.
9. Kasey Kahne: Kahne blew a tire while leading on lap 104 at Michigan on a tough day for Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne finished 38th, while Jimmie Johnson was the highest Hendrick finisher in 28th.
“Tire issues meant it wasn’t a good day for Hendrick,” Kahne said. “You want to know why? Because it was a Goodyear.”
10. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 12th in the Quicken Laons 400 at Michigan on a historic day for Ford, as Greg Biffle gave the auto maker it’s 1,000th win.
“If you don’t think this is a big deal for Ford,” Keselowski said, “then you’ve been misinformed. Biffle celebrated in Victory Lane with Miss Sprint Cup. Me? I got stuck with ‘Miss Informed.’”
Crunching The Numbers: Sonoma & Road America
That time of the year has come again when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series head for the first road courses of the season in Sonoma, CA and Elkhart Lake, WI, respectively. Many of the road course races in recent memory have turned into races that resemble short track races than the follow the leader races of old and this weekend’s events should be more of the same beating and banging all the way to the finish. Add in the addition of so called “road course ringers” and the road courses make for very entertaining races.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma
This weekend marks the annual trip to California Wine Country and Sonoma Raceway’s lone Sprint Cup date. With the advent of double file restarts, this race has become a must see event due to the narrow course that these drivers are trying to navigate while running two wide. That factor often leads to cars being spun off course and tempers flaring among the drivers. In addition to that, the Sprint Cup Series will debut group based qualifying this weekend and this will also be the Sonoma debut for the Gen6 car, which throws more uncertainty into this race that has not seen a repeat winner in the past eight races.
| Driver | Races | Win | Top 5 | Top 10 | Pole | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| Jeff Gordon | 20 | 5 | 12 | 16 | 5 | 450 | 7.4 | 8.6 |
| Clint Bowyer | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 73 | 17.1 | 9.7 |
| Tony Stewart | 14 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 82 | 11.1 | 10.9 |
| Marcos Ambrose | 5 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 46 | 5.0 | 12.8 |
| Ryan Newman | 11 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 10.8 | 12.9 |
| Juan Pablo Montoya | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 18.8 | 13.2 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 85 | 16.0 | 13.8 |
| Greg Biffle | 10 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 16.4 | 14.9 |
| Kevin Harvick | 12 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 16.7 | 16.1 |
| Joey Logano | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 11.8 | 17.0 |
Who To Watch: Four-time Sprint Cup champion, Jeff Gordon, has proven himself to be one of the best on road courses, especially at Sonoma, with five wins, 12 top fives, 16 top tens, five poles, 450 laps led, and an average finish of 8.6 in 20 races.
2012 winner, Clint Bowyer, has also proven his mettle at Sonoma with one win, four top fives, five top tens, 73 laps led, and an average finish of 9.7 in seven races.
Others who run well on the road course include: Tony Stewart, with two wins, five top fives, nine top tens, one pole, 82 laps led, and an average finish of 10.9 in 14 races; Road course ace Marcos Ambrose who has yet to win at Sonoma, but has two top fives, four top tens, one pole, 46 laps led, and an average finish of 12.8 in five races; Ryan Newman, with two top fives, five top tens, 11 laps led, and an average finish of 12.9 in 11 races; 2007 winner, Juan Pablo Montoya, with one win, one top five, four top tens, nine laps led, and an average finish of 13.2 in six races; and Jimmie Johnson, with one win, four top fives, six top tens, 85 laps led, and an average finish of 13.8 in 11 starts.
NASCAR Nationwide Series – Johnsonville Sausage 200 at Road America
For just the fourth time, the Nationwide Series will be making the trek to Wisconsin to take on the daunting 4.048 mile road course, the longest on the circuit. The field will be full of drivers who have never raced at the track or only have one start, leaving the field wide open for a new winner. With none of the Sprint Cup regulars attempting the double and a few “ringers” joining the field, the odds are high that one of the Nationwide regulars will find themselves in Victory Lane for the third race in a row.
| Driver | Races | Win | Top 5 | Top 10 | Pole | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| Nelson Piquet, Jr. | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Reed Sorenson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12.0 | 1.0 |
| Brendan Gaughan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 3.0 |
| Owen Kelly | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 | 5.0 |
| Sam Hornish, Jr. | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8.0 | 5.0 |
| Cole Whitt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14.0 | 9.0 |
| Elliott Sadler | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| Brian Scott | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 13.3 | 12.0 |
| Max Papis | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.5 | 13.5 |
| Blake Koch | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24.0 | 14.0 |
Who To Watch: With a win and a pole in his only race at the track last season, Nelson Piquet, Jr. is at the top of the list statistically of the drivers who have competed at Road America. Piquet led 19 laps en route to victory last season and is looking to become the first repeat winner at the track in the short history that the Nationwide Series has there.
The only other driver in the field with a win is Reed Sorenson, who along with his one win has one top five, one top ten, one lap led and an average finish of 1.0 in one start.
Others who run well at Road America, but have yet to win include: Brendan Gaughan, with a third place finish in his lone start; Owen Kelly, piloting Kyle Busch’s No. 54, with a fifth place finish in one start; Sam Hornish, Jr., currently sitting second in points, with a fifth place finish in one start; Cole Whitt, who recently returned to the Nationwide Series, with a ninth place finish in one start; and Elliott Sadler, who is the highest ranking driver with more than one start and has one top five and one top ten in his two starts at the track.
The Least Popular Banner in NASCAR
If you’ve been watching the last two races at Pocono and Michigan on TV, then you’ve probably noticed TNT’s new addition this season. The sponsor banner. Covering a whole line on the top of the screen is this large banner which advertises for multiple companies over the course of the race. It has been a nuisance to fans, because it tends to cover up a good portion of the live race. TNT is always trying to slide these little things in during their Summer Series of racing and once again this year, their new aspect to the race broadcast has fans up in arms.
Through twitter, fans have voiced their opinions against the banner. TNT likely was handed a lot of negative feedback after Pocono regarding the banner, so they downsized it before the Michigan race. In my opinion, it shouldn’t be on the broadcast in the first place, but it was much less of an annoyance during the Michigan race.
The cost of the banner this season has come at the fans expense however. With less room to watch the action on their television screens, they feel as if they are being robbed of the racing that feeds into their living rooms every Sunday and TNT is not a first time offender.
There have been issues regarding TNT’s NASCAR coverage in past years. Most notably was last June at Kentucky where commercials overhauled the actual race. It seemed as every five minutes, fans were being informed of a battle within of a family of which side to have from KFC, mashed potatoes and gravy or mac and cheese? That was TNT’s first stir of the NASCAR fans’ temper and with the new sponsor banner this season, they rekindled that fire. Except this time, it isn’t tied to one race; it’s likely to affect all 6 since the marketing levels in NASCAR continue to rise.
Most everyone is aware of the fact that NASCAR has turned into a marketers dream land. Getting your product advertised to millions of race fans can be cost worthy, but it is worth it. With that, many companies take advantage and it is rewarding to the television companies, but not race fans. Fans now have to sit through an abundance of commercials during each race and every season, television companies are finding new ways to add to the marketing-frenzy.
The sponsor banner just happens to be this season’s version of the sneaky marketing going on behind the camera. What could come next and what could it cost race fans? Losing even more race time would not sit well at all. The simple answer to this problem would be for television producers to put a limit on the amount of marketing going on during the race, but that would cost the television companies lots of money. If the world of NASCAR marketing has come to this, it may start to get ugly when the backlash from fans increases.
Not many people are a fan of the sponsor banner, so TNT should recognize that and move the ad to somewhere else on the running order display. Fans do not want to keep seeing these advertisements overhauling the race broadcast and some believe that TNT is on the verge of crossing the line with it all and they should just stop before they end up costing themselves. Don’t expect any changes in the four remaining races TNT has this season, but NASCAR should start to consider what the fans are thinking of these race broadcasts before signing the million dollar TV contracts. Fans just want to be able to watch the races without being attacked by companies trying to advertise their product, so is it too much to ask for NASCAR to step-in and fix the situation?
Surprising and Not Surprising: Michigan Quicken Loans 400
Awash in tributes to the memory of Jason Leffler and to all the dads for Father’s Day, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Surprising: For the first time since June of 2005 at Sonoma, every Hendrick Motorsports car finished outside the top 25.
Five-time champ Jimmie Johnson finished 28th after hitting the wall in the remaining laps of the race, while Dale Earnhardt, Jr. blew an engine to finish 37th. The next HMS driver to finish was Kasey Kahne in the 38th position after blowing a tire and hitting the wall, followed by Jeff Gordon, who was caught up in an early wreck with Bobby Labonte to finish 39th.
Four-time champion Jeff Gordon, who himself experienced his second DNF in a row at MIS, summed up the disappointing finishes of all of Hendrick Motorsports teams best.
“It’s testing my frustration level,” Gordon said. “I don’t want to see the team get down.”
“I have a lot of fight and so does the team,” Gordon continued. “I’m looking forward to going to Sonoma.”
Not Surprising: Since it was Michigan, a track that has been known as a Ford playground and where Roush Fenway Racing has such deep roots, it was no surprise that the race winner was Greg Biffle, the driver of the No. 16 3M/Give Kids a Smile Ford.
It was also not surprising that Biffle scored the 1,000th win for the Ford Motor Company as well as giving the Ford Motor Company a happy 110th birthday. And for the Biff, he was also able to celebrate his very first win of the 2013 season.
But what was not surprising in the least was the emotion of the driver in Victory Lane as he held his daughter Emma tight, celebrated Father’s Day, and honored the memory of a fellow competitor who was lost too soon, leaving his beloved five year old son behind.
“It is Emma’s first victory lane on Father’s Day,” Biffle said as the confetti rained down upon them. “I am thinking about my dad that couldn’t be here who is hopefully watching.”
“We are also thinking about little Charlie Leffler that doesn’t have a father today.”
Surprising: In spite of an engine failure on Lap 132 and the resulting poor finish, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was surprisingly upbeat when all was said and done. In fact, he actually took on the role of team leader and chief cheerleader, especially when it came to the performance of his car.
“We just had something come apart in the motor,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Man of Steel Chevrolet said. “Really happy though with the engine.”
“Happy with the way the car performed,” Junior continued. “We had an awesome car.”
“We had a first or second place car there.”
Not Surprising: He may not have closed the deal, but Kevin Harvick was indeed happy with his second place finish in his No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet. And he even managed that great finish in spite of having an ill-handling car to start off with and a vibration at the end of the race.
“I didn’t wake up thinking that we were going to even run in the top ten,” Harvick said. “I was pretty nervous about our car.”
“But everybody on this whole Budweiser team did a great job,” Harvick continued. “We just kept our head in there and kept digging.”
This was Harvick’s fifth top-10 in a row and his fifth top-five finish of the season. His good run also moved him up one spot in the point standings to the fourth position.
Surprising: The rest of Richard Childress Racing had a surprisingly good day at the race track, with all of their other drivers in the top 15 at Michigan International Speedway. Jeff Burton finished 10th, Austin Dillon finished 11th and Paul Menard finished 14th for team RCR.
“The No. 31 Caterpillar team fought hard all day to bring home another solid finish,” Burton said. “We continue to make progress with our mile-and-a –half and two-mile track programs.”
“Overall it was a good points day,” Burton said, moving four spots up to 17th in the standings.
Not Surprising: Smoke, who has been on fire as of late, continued to rip off good finishes now that the summer has arrived. In spite of a crash on Friday, the driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet finished top-five and moved up into the top ten in the point standings.
“We had some breaks go our way,” Stewart said. “I’m proud of these guys.”
“We weren’t very good all weekend so this team had to work hard to get us where we were today.”
Surprising: After all the talk of engine woes and failures and the ratcheting up and down of horsepower, Toyota had a surprisingly good day, scoring a third place finish with Martin Truex, Jr., a fourth place with Kyle Busch, a sixth place with Matt Kenseth and a seventh place finish with Clint Bowyer.
“The power in the engine was definitely better than last week,” Truex, Jr., driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota said. “They’re working on that.”
“We were very competitive horsepower-wise and all that was good.”
“That was a crazy day,” Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota said. “We got off to a rough start but we worked on it all day long and made the absolute best of the situation.”
“Not the way we would have drawn it up, but I’ll take it.”
Not Surprising: There was indeed some drama between teammates, from a restart issue with Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., as well as a disagreement about trash between Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards.
“Yeah, he spun his tires and almost ran into the side of me trying to control his car,” Johnson said of teammate Junior on a restart. “I wasn’t going to get burned on that again so I jumped off the gas and got drilled from behind.”
“There is a game to be played there and you can cause a heck of a pile up if you are trying to give it back.”
Biffle and Edwards, on the other hand, had a major disagreement about of all things trash on the grille.
“It’s his job to help me,” Edwards said of Biffle, who he felt should have backed up to help him dislodge trash that was causing significant overheating.
“I didn’t know when I passed him he had something on his grille or I’d let him get it off then,” Biffle said. “But when I looked up and he was 25 car lengths back, I said ‘I can’t help him, not right now.’ This is my chance to win today.”
“I didn’t feel like I could take that risk.”
Surprising: After starting 37th, Danica Patrick scored her first top-15 finish in a Cup Series race at the big track in the rolling hills of Michigan.
“At the end of the race, the last run was the best run I felt,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet said. “It’s so nice to get a decent finish for the team.”
“This will hopefully get everyone’s head up a little bit and we will go on,” Patrick said. “I think we have been strong lately.”
“We just needed to have days like today where we finished it off.”
Not Surprising: Bobby Labonte, booted temporarily from his No. 47 Charter Toyota for JTG Daugherty Racing, struggled even after picking up a new ride in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet for James Finch and Phoenix Racing.
Although Labonte was able to keep his consecutive race streak alive at 702, unfortunately his race results were not what he wanted or needed as he wrecked out early, finishing dead last.
AJ Allmendinger, who JTG Daugherty had hired to shake down Labonte’s ride, did a little better in that car, scoring a top-20 finish.
Allmendinger could drive a few more times for JTG, while Labonte is scheduled to return for the remainder of the schedule. Labonte’s best finish so far in the No. 47 car has been 15th in the Daytona 500.
Surprising: Kasey Kahne showed off a surprisingly new talent, that of firefighting. The driver of the No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet was leading the race when the car took off, hit the wall and burst into flames.
“Something broke,” Kahne said. “I would say it was a tire that went down but I don’t know for sure.”
“I was just going into the corner and then it went ‘boom’ and turned right straight into the wall.”
Kahne’s car burst into flames and he was able to exit quickly. He then, however, reached back into the car and initiated the fire extinguishing equipment, putting out the fire well before any of the safety professionals arrived at the scene.
Kahne later tweeted, “First time I have ever pulled the fire extinguisher. That was cool.”
Not Surprising: As with every driver, team and owner, hearts were heavy for the loss of Jason Leffler, who died in a sprint car from blunt neck trauma at a dirt track in New Jersey. Team owner Jack Roush put it best with his hope that Leffler would live on through new and improved safety at those local race tracks.
“Every time somebody gets hurt in racing, we need to look behind it and see what we can learn about the tragedy and see what we can do to establish some safety thing that would make it survivable for somebody else in the future,” Roush said. “If there was something to be learned from this, Jason will have an impact, as Dale Earnhardt’s death did, on the generation of drivers that follow him.”
