NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas
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[/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 8th at Kansas, better than all but Clint Bowyer among Chase contenders. Keselwoski leads Jimmie Johnson by seven, and has a 15-point edge over Denny Hamlin.
“It was a caution-filled race,” Keselowski said. “With Election Day approaching, it’s no surprise to see so many ‘spins.’ Even Danica Patrick got into the act. She’s just like a woman—can’t get upset without dragging a man down with her.”
2. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson salvaged a ninth-place finish after spinning and nailing the wall in the Hollywood Casino 400. Johnson remained second in the point standings, seven behind points leader Brad Keselwoski.
“I’ve got to hand it to Chad Knaus,” Johnson said. “He had to do a lot to get us in position for a respectable finish. It was some of Chad’s best work, but not his best. I’ve seen him do more to a car that still passed inspection.”
3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 13th at Kansas and lost ground to both in the point standings to both Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson, who finished 8th and 9th, respectively. Hamlin is 20 out of the lead in the point standings.
“My weekend didn’t get off to a good start,” Hamlin said. “I crashed on Thursday in a test session at Kansas Motor Speedway. After that, I wasn’t sure if I was in Kansas anymore.
“With four races left, I need to make a move. The clock is ticking. Luckily, it’s the grandfather clock given to the winner at Martinsville, where I’m always a threat to win. Hopefully, it won’t strike midnight before I put my hands on it.”
4. Clint Bowyer: Kansas native Bowyer followed his win at Charlotte with a solid 6th in the Hollywood Casino 400, posting his 19th top-10 finish of the year. He is fourth is the Sprint Cup point standings, 28 behind Brad Keselowski.
“Just call me ‘Clint ‘Home’ Bowyer,’” Bowyer said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t give my fans what they wanted. But they weren’t the only natives who were restless—I’m desperate for a win. I’m even more desperate for a three-car pileup in Turn 1 of lap 1 at Martinsville that wipes out Keselowski, Johnson, and Hamlin. That ‘cream’ of the crop would put me in the cream of the crop.”
5. Kasey Kahne: Kahne scored his ninth top 5 of the year with a fourth at Kansas. He is now 35 points behind Brad Keselowski in the point standings.
“I still have a mathematical chance to win the Cup,” Kahne said. “Unfortunately, I’m not good at math, like some drivers. Denny Hamlin, for example, is good at ‘multiplication.’ Matt Kenseth is good at ‘subtraction.’ And Kurt Busch is good at ‘division.’”
6. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth took his second win of the Chase, and third of the year, with the victory at Kansas. Kenseth, in the No. 17 Zest car, led a race-high 78 laps and outgunned Martin Truex, Jr. at the end.
“That’s two wins in the Chase,” Kenseth said, “but despite that, I’m still out of the title picture. Does the Chase points format need to be tweaked to place more importance on wins in the Chase? I think so, and I’ll get on a soapbox to say so.”
7. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex scored the runner-up finish in the Hollywood Casino 400, as his No. 55 NAPA car was the top Toyota in the field. He is sixth in the point standings, 43 out of first.
“With no wins at all this year,” Truex said, “you could say I’m ‘55 out of first.’NAPA ‘knows how,’ except to win.”
8. Tony Stewart: Stewart finished fifth at Kansas, his first top-5 result since a fourth at Richmond in September. He is seventh in the point standings, 47 out of first.
“I should give Danica Patrick a lesson in offensive driving,” Stewart said. “If you want to spin someone, you can’t spin yourself. This may or may not be in the Bible, but Ice Cube once said, ‘Check yo’self before you wreck ‘yo’self.’”
9. Jeff Gordon: Gordon led two laps and finished 10th at Kansas, joining Hendrick stablemates Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson in the top 10. Gordon is eighth in the point standings, 51 out of first.
“Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has been cleared to race this weekend at Martinsville,” Gordon said. “I wouldn’t be surprised in the people of Junior Nation commemorate the event with a new drinking game in which you drink for six hours prior to the checkered flag, then try to pass a concussion test.”
10. Kevin Harvick: Harvick, in the No. 29 Budweiser Chevy, rolled to an 11th in the Hollywood Casino 400. He is tenth in the point standings, 59 behind Brad Keselowski.
“When I say ‘I’m out of it,’” Harvick said, “it has multiple meanings. I’m too far behind to care, matter, or believe. The only close race I’m involved in is what I give more of—a ‘damn’ or a ‘rat’s ass.’”
The Final Word – Kansas was a demonstration as to why we watch NASCAR
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[/media-credit]Now, that was a race worth watching. The lead changed, some cars got bopped. It did not look a thing like Formula One where every one goes real fast in a single line train, where one lap looks just like any other. Kansas provided every argument as to why we watch NASCAR.
Sure, we had new pavement and tires that when pop a little too soon. The cautions threw a new wrinkle into the action, as well as a few entries. Nothing was etched in stone as cars did their own etching on the fence. Leaders came to the front, faded to the back, and while Matt Kenseth returned to win it all, some were not so lucky.
Aric Almirola, looking like a young pre-mustache Richard Petty, took his #43 car for a good ride up front for a time. That was before he eventually touched the wall a couple of times to end his day early. Jimmie Johnson rode up front, put his back end to the wall, and saw his crew work some real magic to keep him running to come home with a rather miraculous Top Ten performance.
Payback is a bitch. Just ask Landon Cassill. Getting upset with a fellow competitor is understandable. Trying to wreck the SOB is not out of the ordinary. However, when attempting a PIT manoeuver on the track, it is best to retain control of one’s own vehicle so it is the other guy parked in the garage. Danica Patrick is still learning.
In Charlotte, Kurt Busch finished 21st while the guy who he replaced, Regan Smith, wound up 38th after the engine blew on Dale Earnhardt Jr’s usual ride. In Kansas, Smith took his Juniormobile to 7th, while Kurt wound up in 25th. Maybe what is keeping Furniture Row from running with the big boys has nothing to do with their driver. With Earnhardt returning this weekend, Smith is out but I think he more than helped his cause for a full-time ride somewhere for next season.
The Chase is down to no more than five drivers contending for the title, unless bad things happen to Brad and Jimmie over the final four events. Keselowski retained a seven point lead over Johnson, with Denny Hamlin (20 points back), Clint Bowyer (25), and Kasey Kahne (30) in the rearview. Not bad, but the change in the points system has provided evidence that maybe the Chase is not only an artificial way of providing late season excitement, but an unnecessary one. After Kansas, the non-Chase standings would show…
1 Jimmie Johnson – 1114 pts
2 Brad Keselowski – 1109 -5
3 Greg Biffle ——- 1096 -18
4 Matt Kenseth —- 1089 -25
5 Clint Bowyer —– 1077 -37
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Just as having the fastest 36 cars qualifying make the race, with the rest filled in by being amongst the best on the season just having a bad day, again making sense, so does having a champion declared by their season-long performance. Sometimes change is a good thing, but not always. It would appear that NASCAR really should have changed the points system first, instead of instituting the Chase.
This Sunday the boys (and girl) head to Martinsville. It is a place where Jeff Gordon has won seven times, Johnson has six, with Hamlin having collected the checkered flag four times. In five attempts, Keselowski has finished between 9th and 19th. Sunday could turn out to be a very good day for one of our top three. What do you think?
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is back, medically cleared to run Martinsville Speedway this weekend
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[/media-credit]Following a closed test session at Gresham Motorsports Park on Monday and an appointment with Dr. Jerry Perry earlier this morning, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been cleared to run Martinsville Speedway this weekend.
“Dale Jr. has done everything asked of him,” Petty said. “He hasn’t had a headache since Oct. 12, and we have not been able to provoke any symptoms since that time. I have informed NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports that he is medically cleared for all NASCAR-related activity.”
Earnhardt Jr. was forced to sit out two races – Charlotte and Kansas – after suffering two concussions back-to-back. The first concussion was suffered as a result of a crash well testing at Kansas in August, followed by the second concussion after the 25-car wreck at Talladega Superspeedway.
During the two weeks that Earnhardt Jr. missed, he participated in a rehabilitation program directed by Charlotte neurosurgeon and NASCAR consultant Dr. Petty. The process included a trip to the University of Pittsburg to consult with Dr. Mick Collins, who directs the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program. The final piece of the program saw Earnhardt Jr. run 123 laps in a Sprint Cup car at Gresham Motorsports Park on Monday.
Martinsville seems to be the perfect track for Earnhardt Jr. to come back at as he has 14 top 10s in 24 starts, including seven top 10s in his last nine Martinsville starts. While he has not won at the paperclip halfmile, he does have 10 top fives.
It will also benefit to the entire Hendrick Motorsports organization with Earnhardt Jr. back as he can help teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon in their chase for the championship.
“Junior and I have worked very hard, now that we’re in the same shop, the way we describe things, how, why, all that stuff,” Johnson said during NASCAR’s Weekly Teleconference. “With two weeks working with Regan (Smith), it was tough to know what his sensations were in the car. He gave great feedback. We’re building trust in what he was saying, how to apply that to our cars. It was so brief, it’s hard to say we could take a lot from that. It is helpful to have Junior back in the car. I’m very happy he is back in the car. Saw him this afternoon at our team lunch, debrief meetings. The guy is smiling ear to ear. He’s excited and we’re very happy to have him back.”
It will also be about building towards the 2013 season since Earnhardt Jr. can finish no worse than 12th in points and will look to have a strong 2013 season after scoring 18 top 10s so far this season.
Moving on towards the future, there are questions as to whether Earnhardt Jr. coming forward with his concussion will change how drivers and NASCAR view things currently. Johnson said that from his perspective, it doesn’t change anything.
“From a driver’s standpoint, there is little we can do,” Johnson said. “Our seats are what they are. The foam systems, we make decisions what brand of helmet you want to use. Our HANS devices are mandatory. I don’t know what we can really change until you have the injury. At that point, I haven’t been through that process before, or of recent times. I’m sure it’s heightened a lot since my last concussion and Really since Junior’s incident.”
Gordon says that there is lots they can learn from it.
“I’m very close with Jerry Petty, Dr. Petty,” Gordon said. “Any time I see him or speaking to him, it’s something I’m always curious. I want to know as much as I possibly can to recognize the signs as well as make sure that I’m protecting myself the best way I possibly can out there in the car.”
HOORAHS AND WAZZUPS: A WEEKEND IN THE WILD WILD WEST
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[/media-credit]If you were tired of watching races where drivers had to slow down to save fuel, if you were tired of long green flag runs that contained very little racing action then you had to love NASCAR’s weekend in the wild wild west. The Kansas Speedway weekend was loaded with on track drama that forced racing teams to rise to their highest level of performance. The speedway’s new track surface created speed that set new records in qualifying and a new track record for yellow caution flags: 14 that consumed 66 laps of the race. The weekend was two days filled with high speed racing is rubbing that created at least two driver feuds that could possibly spill into a future race. If there ever was a time for fans to scream “the NASCAR we know and love is back,” it was definitely during the weekend in the wild wild west.
HOORAH. Matt Kenseth led 78 laps of the race, including the final 49 circuits, to score his third win of the season, his second win in the Chase series and his second win in the last two weeks. To get to victory lane, this driver and team had to deal with the repairs from a lap 173 hard hit into the wall when Kenseth was trying to avoid a spinning car in front of him.
WAZZUP. It’s time to stop all of the comments we keep hearing and reading that says this team is a “lame duck” organization. Yes, Kenseth is moving to Joe Gibbs Racing next year but it never meant he planned to diminish his remaining commitment to Roush Fenway Racing. The #17 team are not lame ducks. They are soaring like eagles.
HOORAH. Roush Fenway Racing swept the Kansas Speedway weekend after Rick Stenhouse Jr won Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race. An early race altercation with Joey Logano found Stenhouse two laps down and it appeared that he was going to take a serious hit in the championship battle with Elliott Sadler. However, by combining a wave around and a lucky dog pass with some very good driving, Stenhouse found himself in second during the final moments of the race and was able to steal his sixth win of the season after Kyle Busch ran out of gas.
HOORAH. Jimmie Johnson, and his Chad Knaus led #48 team, once again reminded us why they are five time champions. After leading 44 laps at Kansas, and looking like a contender for the win, Johnson spun around and hit the turn four wall hard. At first, Knaus told his driver to take the car to the garage area. However, after taking a second look on his TV monitor, the crew chief said “I think we can fix it” and had the car brought to pit road. Through a succession of pit stops, the crew placed what appeared to be 50 yards of Bear Bond tape on the back of the car and kept their driver on the lead lap. Johnson’s hard charging effort led to a ninth place finish. All this extra effort kept the team second in the championship standings and only seven points out of first.
HOORAH. After the race, Johnson was extremely surprised to see how much damage there was to the rear of a race car that actually handled so well on the track. It seems that Chad Knaus didn’t exactly tell his driver how bad the damage to the car was knowing it would give Johnson the confidence to launch his charge back to the top ten. This is not to infer that the crew chief lied to the driver. He just didn’t share all of the details. Those of you who follow national politics will understand the difference.
HOORAH. Brad Keselowski did an amazing job of defensive driving that allowed him to avoid a wreck involving three other cars that occurred literally a matter of inches in front of him. The result, of his up and down day at Kansas, was an eighth place finish that allowed him to keep his lead of seven points over Jimmie Johnson in the Chase standings.
HOORAH. Brad Keselowski also did his typically candid, well worth repeating, comments after the race. Regarding the 14 yellow flags, he said: “everybody’s been asking all season long where the cautions have been. Well, they flew to Kansas and they’ve been hanging out here.” He also pretty much summed up the feelings of many of his fellow Cup drivers when he said “I’m ready to go home and have a couple of beers.”
WAZZUP. A driver that probably really wanted to go home and have a couple of beers might be Kyle Busch who didn’t enjoy any part of his weekend in the wild wild west. During the Cup race he began his long day with an early in the event spin through turn four. He ended his day with a hard crash with Ryan Newman. Afterwards, he clearly indicated that Newman might be feeling his front bumper during a race somewhere in the not to distant future. All of this came on the heels of Saturday’s Nationwide Series race when, driving for his self owned team, he gave a win away after he ran out of gas on the white flag lap.
WAZZUP. On the topic of race drivers getting a little tense at Kansas, there was some highly noticeable tension, in addition to some bumping, between drivers Danica Patrick and Landon Cassill. The issues between them finally came to a head on lap 155 when the Go Daddy girl decided she had her fill with the antics of the Burger King boy. Patrick laid her front bumper on the rear of Cassill’s car. Unfortunately, she made the move in the middle of a turn and she spun to the bottom of the track. That’s when she learned the lesson, pointed out to her later by the ESPN broadcast team, regarding turning the steering to the right while spinning on the bottom of the track. It apparently causes the car to slide back up the track and into the outside retaining wall.
WAZZUP. During a post wreck interview, and still visibly angry at what happened on the track, Patrick clearly indicated that it was time for her to take more aggressive action and further stated: “at some point I have to stand up for myself so this doesn’t happen with other people-I chose today.”
WAZZUP. Greg Zipadelli, Patrick’s crew chief, wasn’t too thrilled with this incident either but appeared to more upset with his driver than Cassill. Following the wreck, “Zippy” came over the team’s radio and said: “that’s bull s**t right there, you know better than to do that.”
WAZZUP. Landon Cassill also shared his thoughts on this matter, via an in car radio, and said: “rule number one in stock car racing is: learn how to wreck someone without wrecking yourself.” If you thought that was as funny as I did, then feel free to change the WAZZUP to a HOORAH.
HOORAH. If Danica Patrick is going to start standing up for herself, and start hitting back, then the networks now have a legitimate reason for all of that extraordinary live, on track, television coverage this driver always seems to receive.
HOORAH. As we’re all aware, driver Regan Smith for selected by Hendrick Motorsports to substitute for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr for two races at Charlotte and Kansas. Smith, who is seeking a Cup ride for 2013, was understandably eager to showcase his driving talent behind the wheel of some of the best equipment in motorsports. Unfortunately, the two race program got off to a sluggish start. He suffered an early departure at Charlotte due to a blown engine, something very rare for a Hendrick team. During qualifying at Kansas, a severe loose condition in the car led to a 39th place starting position. Smith drove his guts out last Sunday which led to a seventh place finish that was duly noted by the members of the NASCAR nation and the NASCAR media.
HOORAH. Brad Keselowski, and the members of his Miller Lite team, decided to play a prank on Jimmie Johnson, and the Lowes team, during one of the practice session at Kansas. The two Chase for the Sprint Cup contending teams were side by side, only a few feet apart, in the garage area. Keselowski and company, well aware that Johnson isn’t that fond of rap music, set up a sound system on their tool cart and blasted it towards the #48 guys. It was the type of music that, reportedly, makes Mark Martin smile when he’s doing his weight training.
HOORAH. NASCAR officials said there was an estimated 78,000 fans in attendance for the Kansas Speedway event. Those fans knew that there were going to be certain factors, such as new asphalt, that was going to turn the Nationwide and Cup series races into a weekend in the wild wild west.
