Home Blog Page 5385

At 700 and counting, Gordon’s Cup career still going strong

By
SM Staff
-
Photo Credit: David Yeazell

Jeff Gordon’s never had a problem racking up impressive statistics. He’s a four-time Sprint Cup champion, has 87 career wins and 72 poles.

But Saturday night in Darlington Gordon added two equally important numbers to his racing resume. He made his 700th career start and capped it off with a third place finish, which earned him his 300th career top five.

“We’ve known for some time that this should be where it should happen,” said Gordon on Saturday night about Darlington. “I thought that was very cool. I think, looking back throughout my career, this track has been one of the best for me, a very special place. Holds so much history for this sport.

“To have the seven wins here that I have, I couldn’t think of a better place to come to and get the 700th start here. Then to go out there and have a strong performance, it felt great. I wanted the 700th to be a memorable one, and I’m glad it wasn’t like last year’s memory where we blew two left rear tires back-to-back.

“This was much better than that. Top three, that’s fantastic. I mean, we needed this kind of performance, a gutsy performance, for the points as well as to make this one memorable.”

Gordon, along with the rest of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, ran solidly in the top 15 all night. At one point they were lined up third through sixth, but Gordon was the only HMS driver who led laps. During a round of green flag pit stops he led the field for 16 circuits.

His finish leap frogged him to 12th in points, the highest he’s been this season. Putting Gordon again in contention to make another Chase and contend for another title.

“I appreciate that you still consider me being a threat for the championship and wins because lately, just trying to get top 10s has been a struggle,” Gordon noted on Friday.

“I know that this team is capable of it and I fee like I am. We won the last race at Homestead [last year]. So yeah, I think that means a lot to me. And I got reminded of this the other day and how bad I felt about it when it happened. But, when Darrell Waltrip was having one of his last good days at Dover and I was a torn-up lapped car and we met one another going into turn three and that ended his day.

“So, I remember watching Darrell and other guys run in the back in their last year or two and I think every driver at a young age says, ‘I don’t want to end my career like that. I want to go out on top.’ You either want to be able to walk away from it as a champion or winning that race or at least being competitive, if you could choose. But that’s not always the way it happens.”

Speculation has run rampant the last few seasons about when Gordon would hang up his helmet. Something he’s never seriously entertained nor given any indication of. It hasn’t been easy to ignore for Gordon as changes began to take place in both his personal and professional life.

He got remarried and has two kids. He’s in his third season of working with crew chief Alan Gustafson. And Gordon will turn 42 later this season and he’s suffered from back pain throughout his career. Right now though, Gordon’s still going strong and finding it hard to see any reason why he needs to stop driving his infamous Chevrolet.

“Along the way, guys start making more money at the end of their career not winning races they were when they were winning races,” said Gordon.

“So, it’s kind of hard to step away from that; and just the love and desire you have for getting out there and driving that car. I think Mark Martin has shown me that more than anybody. He thought he could stop away and then he realized how much he missed it and how much it meant to him to go do it.”

Martin still races in the NSCS but not on a full-time basis, something Gordon says he can appreciate because of how grueling the NASCAR season is. It burns a driver out, takes away from their family and as he noted, sometimes a driver just isn’t competitive anymore.

While Gordon has missed the Chase before, he’s never been a driver to experience great slumps. Making Gordon a driver forever grateful for the success he’s had along his 700 starts and the opportunity for what lay ahead in 2013 and the rest of his career.

“There are a lot of different ways to go about it and I’m thrilled with the way things are still continuing to go for me because I do feel like we have opportunities to win races,” he said.

“We’ve had mediocre at best results and we’re still getting close to the top 10. I’m pretty optimistic that we can get things going really well the second half of the season.”

RCR Post-Race Report — NSCS Darlington Raceway

By
SM Archive
-

Persistent No. 6 Team Keeps Bayne on “The Lady in Black”

By
SM Archive
-

Kurt Busch Finishes 14th in Darlington; Sets Team Record for Laps Led in Race

By
SM Archive
-

CHEVY NSCS AT DARLINGTON: Jeff Gordon Post Race Press Conf. Transcript

By
SM Archive
-

Ford Darlington Post-Race Cup Quotes

By
SM Archive
-

Matt Kenseth Wins at Darlington Raceway and Captures his Third Victory of 2013

By
Angie Campbell
-
Photo Credit: David Yeazell

Matt Kenseth won the 64th annual Bojangles’ Southern 500, taking the lead from Kyle Busch in the final moments of the event. It is his 27th victory in 483 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his third win this season. This is his first Sprint Cup win in 20 races at Darlington Raceway and one of special significance.

Kenseth radioed his crew after crossing the finish line and told them, “This is a dream come true.”

When asked to describe how he felt about winning at Darlington Raceway, he said, “I don’t know that I’ve had a win that feels bigger than this at this moment. This is just obviously a really historic racetrack. The Southern 500 is one of the most storied and historic races that there is anywhere. It’s pretty cool to be able to stand in victory lane in this place on the same spot where a lot of great drivers have stood. It’s a pretty neat race to win, for sure.”

Kyle Busch had the most dominant car during the race, leading a total of 265 laps. But late in the race, his car began fading. With only 13 laps to go, Kenseth swept past Busch for the lead and cruised to victory lane. Busch finished in sixth place.

Denny Hamlin finished second in his first full race since his back injury in March, scoring his second top-10 finish this season.

Jeff Gordon finished third in his 700th consecutive start.  This was his 300th top-five finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He is only the fourth driver to accomplish this and joins an elite club which includes David Pearson, Bobby Allison and Richard Petty.

Jimmie Johnson finished fourth increasing his lead in the standings to 44 points. Kevin Harvick placed in the fifth position.

Johnson leads the point standings followed by Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer.

Unofficial Race Results
Bojangles’ Southern 500, Darlington
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/race.php?race=11
=========================================
Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
=========================================
1 7 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota 47
2 6 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 42
3 8 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 42
4 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 40
5 10 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 39
6 3 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 40
7 17 99 Carl Edwards Ford 37
8 12 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chevrolet 36
9 16 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 35
10 21 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 34
11 13 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 33
12 5 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 32
13 9 16 Greg Biffle Ford 31
14 1 78 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 31
15 20 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 29
16 25 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 28
17 4 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 27
18 14 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # Ford 26
19 15 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 25
20 18 43 Aric Almirola Ford 24
21 11 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 23
22 30 22 Joey Logano Ford 22
23 28 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 21
24 27 51 Regan Smith(i) Chevrolet 0
25 22 55 Mark Martin Toyota 19
26 23 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 18
27 37 7 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 17
28 40 10 Danica Patrick # Chevrolet 16
29 29 38 David Gilliland Ford 15
30 32 33 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 14
31 43 87 Joe Nemechek(i) Toyota 0
32 26 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 12
33 41 32 Timmy Hill # Ford 11
34 24 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 10
35 42 36 JJ Yeley Chevrolet 9
36 33 83 David Reutimann Toyota 8
37 19 13 Casey Mears Ford 7
38 34 35 Josh Wise(i) Ford 0
39 31 34 David Ragan Ford 5
40 39 30 David Stremme Toyota 4
41 36 95 Scott Speed Ford 3
42 35 98 Michael McDowell Ford 2
43 38 19 Mike Bliss(i) Toyota 0

Denny Hamlin is back Full-time for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

By
Angie Campbell
-
Photo credit: David Yeazell

Denny Hamlin is scheduled to return to racing full time Saturday evening at Darlington Raceway. He has no backup plan for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 and is determined to run the entire race.

Hamlin has not competed in a full race since March 24th when he suffered a compression fracture in his lower back. He has missed four races and drove only 23 laps last week at Talladega. Hamlin is currently 31st in the Sprint Cup point standings.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt we’ll go the whole way,” Hamlin said. “I stayed in the car for about an hour and a half straight with no issues during practice. Nothing was uncomfortable, nothing hurt or nothing was sore, so I’m pretty comfortable I can make it the three or three and a half hours that it’s going to take to run the race.”

He has no illusions about the difficulties he will face in his first full race since March.

“It will be a challenge,” Hamlin admitted, “because this is one of the toughest, physically challenging races that we have; not only by distance but the amount of mental focus that you have to have during this race is tough. You’re running right next to the wall and the margin for error is zero.”

Hamlin also believes that with a couple of wins and a little luck that that he can get into the top-20 before the Chase begins.

“There’s nothing that wins can’t fix,” he insists. “That’s the bottom line. If we put ourselves in position and win a race here and there, more than likely if we win a couple of races then we’re going to be top-20 in points, I would think.”

Hamlin continued, “You’ve got to have things go your way; that’s the bottom line to it. A lot of this sport is based on luck and we’re going to need some.”

Hamlin has already made a good start with a strong qualifying lap and will begin the race in the sixth position. NASCAR pre-race coverage starts at 6 p.m. on Fox. The green flag for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 is scheduled to drop at approximately 7 p.m.

Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 8 Darlington Raceway – Bojangles’ Southern 500 – May 11, 2013

By
SM Staff
-

Darlington Raceway needs no introduction this week. Its the 64th annual Bojangles’ Southern 500 and there’s a reason why the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has continued to come back to the track Too Tough To Tame year after year. It’s NASCAR’s oldest paved superspeedway, and over the years has become one of my favorite stops on the series. There’s something about the history, the heritage, and the excitement about the racing at Darlington that keeps me glued to the broadcast and puts Darlington on my bucket list.

Talladega Recap

Last weekend’s chaos at Talladega left me in rough shape, but the good news for me is that nobody saw David Ragan soaring to Victory Lane either. Scoring an unlikely win on the last lap of last week’s Aaron’s 499 with help from his teammate David Gilliland, was a shot in the arm for both David Ragan, Front Row Motorsports, and all the under-funded teams in the sport. It was a major confidence booster in the garage for teams not normally in the spotlight, being that the entire race was dominated by the big guns like Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson. It was a “David takes down Goliath” last week at Talladega, but don’t expect the same this week at Darlington.

As for my picks last week, I went with defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, Brad Kesolowski to win last week. Bad Brad made it through the mayhem of each of the big wrecks, but unfortunately had no help for a charge to the front following the rain delay and wound up finishing 15th.

As for my Dark Horse, Danica Patrick, a late race accident on lap 182 ended her long day of drafting. She missed a big accident early and waited out the three-hour rain only to be caught up in a late race crash on the backstretch when several cars began crashing in front of her. The incident put her out of the race, finishing in 33rd.

Darlington Picks

Winner Pick
On Wednesday while previewing tonight’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 with Greg Depalma on the Prime Sports Network, I picked Kasey Kahne to win, before the cars even hit the track in South Carolina. It’s a pick I still like after Kahne showed decent speed in practice and qualified the No.5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet in the fourth starting spot. He enters Saturday Night’s race coming off consecutive top 10’s at Darlington Raceway, leading laps in 3 of the last 4 at The Lady In Black. Flashback to 2011, Kahne dominated the Southern 500 in his No.4 Red Bull Toyota, leading a race-high 124 laps, but a late race incident involving oil dropped on the track, collected a slue of solid race cars including Kahne. NASCAR failed to throw a caution, despite many drivers reporting oil on the track, a call that was looked at as controversial in many drivers eyes. Kahne has completed all but one lap in his 10 races at Darlington, and he’s put himself in position to pick up his first win at the historic track through a solid qualifying run on Friday.

Dark Horse Pick
On Wednesday, I liked Ryan Newman’s chances at The Lady In Black, but throughout the weekend we haven’t seen much speed out of the No.39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet. I thought he was the guy to look at who has flown under the radar with solid finishes at Darlington, including 6 top 10’s in the last 8 races at Darlington. He traditionally has qualified very well in South Carolina, notching one pole and starting outside the top 12 just twice in 14 starts. He’s got some work to do if he’s to end up in Victory Lane, but needs a solid finish for not only his Chase hopes, but to keep Stewart-Haas racing on the radar as a major player in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

That’s all for this week, so until we head to Charlotte and All-Star Weekend, You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

Toyota NNS Darlington Post-Race Notes & Quotes

By
SM Archive
-
1...5,3845,3855,386...6,762Page 5,385 of 6,762