Surprising and Not Surprising: Lenox Industrial Tools 301
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[/media-credit]While not surprising that conversation still swirled around A.J. Allmendinger and his failed drug test, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 20th running of the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Surprising: Race winning crew chiefs do not usually look at getting a manicure as part of their post-race celebratory plans. But Kenny Francis, crew chief for the winning No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet driven by Kasey Kahne, may have to do just that.
“I bit off all my fingernails,” Francis said, after watching the battle between his driver and a hard-charging Denny Hamlin. “At least I have two weeks for them to grow back.”
“Yeah, from the pit box, we had a pretty good car all day,” Francis continued. “Fortunately we were able to finish it off and outrun him to the finish.”
This was the No. 5 team’s second victory for car owner Linda Hendrick and the first ever trip to Victory Lane for driver Kasey Kahne at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Not Surprising: As in all relationships, one of the biggest issues causing trouble is the failure to communicate. Not surprisingly, a failure to communicate, in this case between driver and crew chief, actually cost the No. 11 team a chance to win at the ‘Magic Mile’.
“We made our bed by taking those four tires,” Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, said. “Darian (Grubb, crew chief) wanted to take two (tires) – I told him I just needed tires and that was it.”
“He took it that I needed four tires,” Hamlin continued. “It was just a little miscommunication that turned into a second-place finish.”
Hamlin, who started from the third spot, was the highest finishing Toyota driver and led five times for a race-high 150 laps of the 301 mile race.
Surprising: It was a matter of surprising seconds that both helped and hurt one race team at New Hampshire this weekend. Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, scored the pole position for the race by just 0.003 seconds.
Timing, however, came back to bite him when he sped by seconds on pit road and never really recovered. Busch, after leading 65 laps, finished the race in the 16th position.
“It was a tough day for the Interstate Batteries Toyota,” Dave Rogers, crew chief, said. “We got caught speeding the first run there – that wasn’t Kyle’s fault.”
“We calculate the RPM we’re supposed to run,” Rogers continued. “Gave Kyle the wrong number and he sped and that got us behind from the beginning.”
“Then we were trying to play catch-up all day long.”
Not Surprising: When it comes to flat, shorter tracks, it is not surprising that talk turns to tire wear. And some drivers, particularly four-time champion Jeff Gordon, had some thoughts to share on this issue after the race.
“Yeah, I’m really disappointed in today,” Gordon, who finished sixth in the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, said. “This tire, I tell you, Goodyear has got to go back to the drawing board.”
“They came here with a new tire and it is not a very good tire,” Gordon continued. “I think they know it and I’m hoping that they can come up with something a little bit better than this.”
Surprising: At a track where he once was dominant, and in fact led every lap for one race, it was surprising to see Jeff Burton run so poorly. The driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet had problems on pit road, went down a lap and finished 21st.
“We had a pit road incident early in the race that really set us back,” Burton said. “We had a top-12 car throughout the day, but couldn’t get a caution when we needed it.”
“The speed was there but those long green-flag runs hurt us trying to get that lap back.”
Not Surprising: Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who should definitely be known as ‘Mr. Consistent’, kept up his stretch of consecutive laps finished and pulled off another good run at New Hampshire.
The driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet finished fourth in the race and is now just 16 points behind Chase standing leader Matt Kenseth.
“We’re running strong,” Dale Junior said. “I’m really happy with how many points we’re gaining every week and what we’re doing consistently.”
“We’ve found speed and improved.”
Surprising: One driver who desperately needed a good run to stay in championship contention had a surprisingly difficult day. Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion, finished 18th and remained stuck in the 11 position in points, with no wins to his credit.
Edwards finished so poorly that another surprise occurred after the race. Crew chief Bob Osborne was replaced by Chad Norris, who has been with Roush Fenway Racing since 2005 and has led the team’s research and development efforts since 2011.
“Our commitment to winning a championship with the No. 99 in 2012 has not waivered,” Jack Roush, team owner said. “I’m committed to providing the resources to Carl and to his team to do that.”
“This restructuring of Bob’s role and the introduction of Chad Norris as the crew chief for the No. 99 will put us in the best possible position for these final seven races before the Chase begins.”
Not Surprising: No one could blame new father Kevin Harvick for not only focusing on the race but also having baby Keelan on his mind. The driver of the No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet finished eighth after battling handling issues throughout the race.
“I’m really proud of the entire Rheem crew and the effort they put in today, but we couldn’t figure out the right set up to get out front,” Harvick said. “We finished about where we should have.”
“I’m looking forward to the off weekend,” Harvick continued. “It couldn’t have come at a better time and it will be great to spend time at home with my wife and newborn son.”
Surprising: It is not often when you hear a driver admit to struggling mightily with a particular issue on his race car. But Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M/Post-It Ford Fusion did just that, in spite of finishing ninth and being the highest Ford finisher of the New Hampshire race.
“I’m a terrible driver when it comes to taking care of the brakes,” Biff said. “It’s got to be me because we’ve done everything under the sun, but about halfway through I lost my brakes and that’s about all I could do.”
“Off the green, it would come back and haul like crazy, but then I just had to keep giving it up,” Biffle continued. “It was just a case of brakes.”
Not Surprising: Michael Waltrip Racing continues to be synonymous with good runs, with all three of the team cars in the top-15 in the running order.
Clint Bowyer, driving the No. 15 5-hour Energy Toyota, was up on the wheel and finished third, while Martin Truex Jr. finished 11th and Brian Vickers finished 15th.
“All in all, it was a good weekend for our 5-hour Energy Toyota,” Bowyer said. “It was a good way to get things turned around.”
“After the last two weeks of getting wrecked, it felt good to get a good finish.”
Surprising: Although it was hot at the track where the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet has won before, Tony Stewart surprisingly struggled, finishing 12th in contrast to his second place finish last year.
“We just had no grip out there,” Stewart said. “Steve (Addington, crew chief) made one last change there at the end, and it definitely helped.”
“We were finally able to make up some ground.”
Not Surprising: There was no magic for the Earnhardt Ganassi Race team at the ‘Magic Mile’. Jamie McMurray, behind the wheel of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Allstate Chevrolet, finished 20th and his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, driving the N. 42 Degree Chevrolet, finished 25th.
“To tell you the truth, today was rough,” Montoya said. “We struggled all weekend.”
“Today was a tough day for our Bass Pro Shops team,” McMurray reiterated. “We battled some handling issues early on in the race but we never gave up and brought home a lead lap finish.”
The Sprint Cup Series has its last off weekend next week before the dash to the end of the season. The next race on the schedule will be on July 29th at the Brickyard.
Danica’s chances at Indianapolis
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[/media-credit]Danica may not compete in the IZOD IndyCar Series anymore but she still has a shot to win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year. On July 28th the Nationwide series will take to the famous 2.5 mile track for the first time in history with the running of the Indy 250.
With the race forthcoming, Danica is excited to get back to a track that she has tremendous past experiences with.
“Part of me definitely feels it is one of the home tracks for me,” Danica says in speaking to SI.com. “If anything my love for that track and my feelings about it are what is going to make the big difference because it puts me in a good mood right off the bat.”
Danica is certainly not the first IndyCar driver to switch to the NASCAR circuit, former open-wheel stars coming to IMS in stock cars have had a variety of success and Danica looks to continue that trend.
“The amount of laps that I’ve run around there definitely helped me about the small details about the track surface and things like that. I think it will help for those things,” Patrick states.
The success that other open-wheel racers have had at the Brickyard in a stock car leave great anticipation for what the driver of the #7 GoDaddy Chevrolet Impala can accomplish at the track. Former 1997 IRL Champion and Indiana native Tony Stewart has won the Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis in 2005 and 2007.
2000 Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya had the car to beat and dominated the majority of the race in 2009 only to be caught speeding on pit road with just 35 laps to go. The penalty issued by NASCAR cost him a victory and produced a heated rant on his radio afterwards. The next year saw Montoya continue his early-race dominance at the track. Though, in the form of an ill-advised call for four tires in a late race pit stop, Montoya again saw his chance at winning fade fast.
Contrary to the generality of open-wheel racers converting to stock cars and struggling for many seasons to come, Indianapolis may prove to be an exception to the observed principle.
With former open-wheel racing stars earning success at Indianapolis in NASCAR, one must wonder the degree of success Patrick can attain at the legendary track. Will the inaugural race at Indy for the NASCAR Nationwide Series produce another magical moment at the Brickyard?
NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: IT’S RISE AND SHINE TIME FOR THE NATIONWIDE SERIES
NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series will be taking this weekend off. That means it’s a golden opportunity for the NASCAR Nationwide Series to rise and shine to a well deserved center stage status by racing on a Sunday in the STP 300 at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet-Illinois.
There’s two highly interesting story lines attached to Sunday’s race that features the series’ championship points picture and the series’ very lucrative Dash 4 Cash Program.
The Nationwide Series’ championship points profile is a tale of two drivers and one team owner. Richard Childress owns the teams driven by Elliot Sadler and Austin Dillon. One has to think Childress is thrilled over the prospect of his two drivers being rated one-two in the points. But, at the same time, one has to wonder if Childress isn’t just slightly apprehensive over the fact his two drivers are only separated by three points and the Chicagoland race could turn out to be an intense battle of supremacy between his two teams.
However both of the Childress teams will have to keep a watchful eye on the points progress of Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr who is only 16 points from the lead. Also, a resurgence from Penske Racing’s Sam Hornish Jr, who is fourth in the standings and 32 points away, could make the Nationwide Series championship run even more interesting.
The same four drivers, involved in the series’ championship profile, also has another very special reason to drive a little harder during Sunday’s STP 300 at Chicagoland. In fact, they have 100 thousand reasons to push the limits. Sunday’s race is round two of the Nationwide Insurance Dash 4 Cash Program. The quartet of Dillon, Sadler, Stenhouse and Hornish are the four drivers on the round two eligibility list. The highest finisher among them goes home with the program’s $100,000 bonus. Ask Austin Dillon how wonderful that is: he won the bonus last week at New Hampshire.
THE RACE BREAKDOWN
The STP 300 is 200 laps/300 miles around the Chicagoland Speedway located in Joliet, Illinois.
The race has 43 entries vying for the 43 starting berths. That means the go or go home, knock out qualifying, concept will not apply here and all teams entered will get to race.
The speedway is a 1.5 mile, D shaped, tri oval often referred to on the NASCAR circuit as a “cookie cutter” track. The four turns are banked at 18 degrees each. The speedway has grandstand seating for 75,000 fans.
Fuel mileage could very likely play a major role in the outcome of the STP 300. Last year’s race winner, Justin Allgaier, literally coasted under the checkers with no fuel in the tank.
The STP 300 will be broadcast live by the ESPN Network beginning at 2 pm eastern time.
Watkins Glen Ready for NASCAR Weekend
[/media-credit]Since the last time NASCAR visited the Finger Lakes area of upstate New York there’s been some significant changes around the track. During the off-season the track completed the installation of new grandstands in several locations around the track. There were also some ponds built and improvements made in some areas of the garage areas where the teams work.“Phase 2 of a two-phase program has been completed,” track President Michael Printup said last week. “Every grandstand has been replaced. I was just talking with fans and they just love it.” Printup also disclosed that unlike most large race tracks Watkins Glen added some seats, about 2,000. “I want to see how it goes,” he said. “We need to take baby-steps with this. We’re well above prior year’s sales. It tells me we’re in good shape and on track.”
In recent years road course races have been very exciting for the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series. “Us and Sears Point is another race where almost anyone can win it,” Printup said. “The racing is very exciting.”
There’s been a substantial amount of change that’s been undertaken over the last few years at the Glen with additional camping amenities and spots being added. “Family camping has been expanded 50% from last year,” Printup noted. “It’s been long sold out. Reserved camping sold out during the first week in February. Camping is quiet popular here for a lot of reasons including how easy it is to travel here.”
One reason for the success at Watkins Glen could be how hands on Printup is. He listens to the fans saying, “I’m not cocky. I’m not going to add 20-30% more seats. I just keep making improvements.” He also does a meet and greet with the fans at the track every race weekend, not just NASCAR. “I listen to what the fans tell me. Every Saturday of race weekends I meet with the fans. Me and my team speak with and listen to what they want to say or do.” He tries to bring them in different ways. “Not everyone likes to get up early on a race weekend but if they do they can get free coffee and donuts from 7-9 AM in the track’s infield.” He also made note that, “We also give out free Budweiser from 6-8 PM on the Saturday evening of the NASCAR weekends. We will have local and international celebrities occasionally show up to help pour your beer so fans should just show up.” Printup indicated that the hand outs were done in an unsold camping area and that the coffee and donuts were given away behind stand #5.
Another thing that Printup is becoming known for is his use of the internet and social media. Printup is on Twitter regularly and discussed on its changed the way that people gather news. “75% of Twitter users use it for news. Even now I’ll sit down and watch a race and have Twitter available right in front of me on my table.” An interesting twist is how Printup uses his own family to give him ideas. “I’ve got the best consultants on this stuff that money can buy. My own 14 year old and his friends advise me. I don’t think that Twitter and Facebook are going anywhere.”
For those planning on going to a race at the Glen load up their new mobile app for smart phones here:
http://www.theglen.com/Mobile/Mobile.aspx
For tickets and unreserved camping go to www.theglen.com
