NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Indianapolis
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[/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson led 99 of 160 laps at Indianapolis, powering to the win in the Brickyard 400, his fourth career Brickyard triumph. He remained fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 27 behind Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
“That’s ties me with Jeff Gordon for most Brickyard wins,” Johnson said. “And I’m getting awfully cozy with the bricks. One more win at Indy, and they’ll have to start calling me the ‘Brick-layer.’ And much like a brick, my championship aspirations have been ‘solidified’ in concrete.”
2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt posted his ninth top-5 finish of the year with a fourth at Indianapolis, and ascended to the top of the point standings. He leads Matt Kenseth by 14 as the series heads to Pocono for Sunday’s Pennsylvania 400.
“It’s great o finally be atop the point standings,” Earnhardt said. “To quote Jeremy Mayfield, ‘I can’t get any higher.’
“Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about A.J. Allmendinger’s ‘A’ sample and ‘B’ sample. But let me tell you about some other samples that, like Allmendinger’s, always turn out positive. Those are the urine tests of the people of Junior Nation, whose ‘E’ samples never fail.”
3. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished 35th in the Brickyard 400 after getting caught up in a late accident that left him 28 laps down. He fell out of the Sprint Cup points lead and now trails Dale Earnhardt, Jr. by 14.
“I was wiped out by Joey Logano,” Kenseth said, “whom I may very well be replacing at Joe Gibbs Racing next year. On both subjects, Logano’s driving skill and my impending move to JGR, I’ll hold my tongue. ‘Mum’s the word.’ Or, in Logano’s case, ‘Dad’s the word.’”
4. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin started on pole at Indianapolis, leading 27 laps before finishing sixth, his 11th top-10 of the year. He remained fifth in the point standings, 64 out of first.
“As a driver who’s never won a Sprint Cup championship,” Hamlin said, “I guess starting on pole is as close as I can come to saying I ‘went out on top.’
“But not having won since April, I’m primed for another win. And I’m always solid in the Poconos. I’m no Dale Earnhardt, Jr., but you could say I’m ‘Mountain Due.’”
5. Tony Stewart: Stewart finished a solid 10th at Indianapolis, his 10th top-10 finish of the season. He is eighth in the point standings, 79 out of first.
“The Chase is shaping up to be a battle between Jimmie Johnson and myself,” Stewart said. “There are eight championship titles between us. It will be a battle of epic proportions. And I’m sure this is one time when Jimmie doesn’t mind being categorized as a ‘heavyweight’ along with me.”
6. Greg Biffle: Biffle was the lone bright spot for Roush Fenway Racing in the Brickyard 400, finishing third while teammates Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth finished 29th and 35th, respectively. Biffle held on to third in the point standings, and trails Dale Earnhardt, Jr. by 22.
“Kenseth may be leaving Roush Fenway,” Biffle said, “but Edwards is staying. Jack Roush isn’t the only one who believes Edwards is ‘going nowhere.’”
7. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski led 22 laps at Indianapolis and finished ninth, one day after winning the Nationwide Indiana 250. He is ninth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 82 out of first.
“Thanks to NASCAR for penalizing Elliot Sadler on the final restart Saturday,” Keselowski said. “Apparently, NASCAR supports my use of Twitter and social media, because they gave me one more follower.”
8. Kyle Busch: Busch finished a distant second to Jimmie Johnson, posting his sixth top-5 finish of the year. Busch’s runner-up result boosted his Chase hopes as he moved up two places in the point standings to 11th.
“Jimmie Johnson opened up a four second lead on me,” Busch said. “Take it from someone who knows what it’s like to go insanely fast: the only way I could have caught Johnson was with a blue light.”
9. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 13th in the Brickyard 400 and still remains winless on the year. He is sixth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 78 out of first.
“Fatherhood has put life into perspective for me,” Harvick said. “I’m calmer, more grounded, and less ornery. Trust me, everyone’s praying that the Busch brothers’ parents get grandchildren soon.”
10. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex finished a solid eighth at Indianapolis, posting his 10th top-10 result of the year. He is tied for sixth in the point standings and trails Dale Earnhardt, Jr. by 78.
“Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt, Jr.,” Truex said. “I know he’s spent years trying to live up to his dad. And I think he’s on the way with the No. 1 spot in the points. Finally, Junior’s got seniority.”
Inside View of the Pocono Raceway with the Track President
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[/media-credit]Pocono Raceway is a track on the up rise. After the re-pavement of the track last off-season, the track developed a whole new meaning. The track is now faster and smoother which gives fans better racing action. The track is a perfect racers race track. We saw a great race back in June and should see another great one this weekend.
As the workers prepare track for the big weekend, I was able to talk with the President of the raceway, Brandon Igdalsky. He described to me some of his favorite aspects of the track and gave me some insight to some neat things happening at the Pocono Raceway.
How long have you been around racing?
“I was born into the family business but started working full time during summers when I was 13.”
What is it like being the president of a track? Are there any hard things to deal with? Any good?
“It’s the greatest job for a fan of the sport. There are many hard things to deal with on a daily basis. We go from a sleepy little town and sprout into the 3rd or 4th largest city in the state during events. We also run approximately 300 other Track Days from April-Nov with our 3 interior road courses.”
What do you feel is the best quality of the Pocono Raceway?
“Small town, family owned facility. Plus we only have 3 turns!”
What are your favorite changes that have occurred at the Pocono Raceway?
“The new asphalt!!!”
Explain how you and Pocono Raceway have been connecting with fans on social media like no other track has done before.
“We hired a Manager of Digital Marketing, basically a social media guru. That is his main job. I also have made it a point on my personal twitter to be very active with fans and build that personal relationship.”
What are your favorite behind the scenes features at Pocono Raceway that fans on TV can’t see?
“All the work that our team does to prepare for race day!”
In your opinion, what makes Pocono Raceway unique compared to all the other tracks?
“Other than only having 3 turns is our layout with each corner so different, straights are all different. We still have that retro feel that made racing what it is today with a touch of modern.”
One day would you like the NASCAR Nationwide Series racing at Pocono?
“I would love to see NNS races at Pocono. The truck series has done so well. It is always great to see the next stars take their first laps here at Pocono.”
If the Nationwide Series were to come to Pocono, do you feel like it would have a positive effect on the raceway?
“Of course, more eyes, more drivers!”
Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. won’t be stopped
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[/media-credit]Obviously a great amount of success is coming out of the 48/88 shop this season at Hendrick Motorsports. Teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. are doing great this season. The two together have combined for four point race wins and two non-point race wins, 19 top five finishes, 30 top ten finishes, and Johnson has one pole on the season so far.
Earnhardt gained the points lead coming out of Indianapolis and Johnson sits in fourth in the Sprint Cup Standings. But what’s leading to the dominating success of the two?
Well first off, it is Hendrick Motorsports. They can never be underestimated. They have the best equipment money can buy. Secondly, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. work great together. They draft together at the plate races, they give each other data on their cars, I believe one time this season they even practiced in each others cars to gather information. Great, helpful, supportive, teammates give you good finishes.
It’s not just the drivers that have chemistry, it’s the crew chiefs as well. Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson have always worked well together, getting five consecutive championships in a row. When Rick Hendrick put Dale Earnhardt, Jr. with Jeff Gordon’s former crew chief Steve Letarte, it was the start of something new. 2011 was a rebuilding season for Earnhardt. Now in 2012, the good finishes haven’t stopped. Letarte and Junior have great chemistry, Letarte acts like a cheerleader over the radio instead of arguing about decisions most of the time.
In conclusion, the 48/88 shop at Hendrick Motorsports has had great success in 2012 and can’t be stopped. It’s all because of a great team, a great owner, two great crew chiefs, and two great driver. Don’t be surprised at all if Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. are the two drivers battling it out for all the marbles in Homestead.
HOORAHS AND WAZZUPS: THOSE NASTY LOOKING BRICKS NEVER TASTED SWEETER
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[/media-credit]During the NASCAR weekend at the sacred grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, we witnessed a five time Sprint Cup champion serve notice that he is going after a six pack. After the Sprint Cup race, we watched the winning team kneel before the speedway’s historical brick stripe for the ceremonial kissing of the bricks. That one yard wide stripe of bricks, located at the speedway’s start-finish line, was literally covered with Goodyear rubber, motor oil and perhaps even an essence of Sunoco Racing Fuel. That didn’t matter to the winning team. They will be the first to tell you that those nasty looking bricks never tasted sweeter. With those thoughts in mind, let’s begin with:
HOORAH to Jimmie Johnson for winning the Crown Royal Curtiss Shaver 400, in a very convincing fashion, at a race track that every professional race driver in the world would love to win at. Johnson scored his third win of the season which virtually secures his presence in the 2012 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. Of equal importance to this driver, it was Johnson’s fourth win at Indy and that places him in some very prestigious company. Previous four time winners at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway includes the legendary A J Foyt and Al Unser along with two of Johnson’s personal racing heroes: Rick Mears and Jeff Gordon.
HOORAH to Johnson’s #48 Hendrick Motorsports team, led by crew chief Chad Knaus, for providing their driver with a superior race car. His margin of victory was a whopping 4.758 seconds. If that margin had been slightly larger, the the U.S. Post Office would have deemed it necessary to issue Johnson his own personal zip code.
HOORAH to the winning driver’s over the wall gang for excellent pit road service all throughout the race. This is especially true of their final four tire stop that clocked in a 13.0 seconds. It’s performance levels like this that leads to five, possibly even six, NASCAR championships.
HOORAH to those classy looking, royal purple, pillows that were provided to the winning team to kneel on while kissing those nasty looking bricks.
WAZZUP with no one considering the idea of pouring some Crown Royal on the bricks to help out with the taste. I bet the official race sponsor would have loved this idea.
HOORAH to Jimmie Johnson for offering his lovely wife the use of the sleeve of his racing uniform so she could quickly wipe off the brick grime from her lips and face.
HOORAH to the Johnson’s beautiful baby daughter for declining to kiss the bricks with mom and dad. This young lady knows “yucky” when she sees it.
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HOORAH to Kyle Busch for his second place finish despite the trying circumstances early in the race that placed a good finish in jeopardy.
WAZZUP with all of that extremely thick black smoke that belched from Busch’s car while coming down pit road following the team’s second pit stop? A very coy Dave Rogers, the team’s crew chief, told an ESPN television reporter “if it’s problem, then we’ll find out.” Later, claiming there are some things you don’t talk about on the radio, Rogers said his driver stalled the car, the engine loaded up with raw fuel which burnt in the tail pipes. Busch went from third to 13th on the restart and spent much of the day making up the track position that led to the runner up finish. It was also this team’s first top five finish since the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte from the end of May.
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HOORAH to Greg Biffle who’s third place finish at Indy was the lone bright spot for the Roush Fenway Fords.
WAZZUP with the other two Roush Fenway Fords? First there was Carl Edwards who started this race from the front row and was a definite pre race favorite. Unfortunately, the car ran 13 laps before a reported ignition problem turned up. He wound up 29th, four laps down, in the final running order. The long day at Indy also put him in a rather serious hole regarding any hopes of making the Chase line up.
WAZZUP with Matt Kenseth’s fiery accident that cost him the championship points lead? Kenseth was caught up in a lap 134 four car melee triggered by Joey Logano that left him parking his car, on fire, at the bottom of the race track. He started this race leading the points, but that 35th place finish dropped him to second, 14 points out of first.
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The final HOORAH of the week goes to Dale Earnhardt Jr who parlayed a fourth place finish at Indy into becoming the new championship points leader. This is the first time Earnhardt has led the Sprint Cup points since September of 2004. There are already reports that indicated the members of this driver’s massive fan club, the Junior Nation, arrived at work Monday morning extremely hung over.
Meanwhile the main lady at our house, still the T shirt wearing-card carrying member of the Junior Nation, is still frequently visiting my racing office to wave her menacing index finger at me while shouting J-U-N-I-O-R !!! It’s very tempting for me to say “yes dear you’re right, he’s leading the Cup points and it only took him eight years to get there.” It’s easier to keep those thoughts to myself because, at our house, a comment like that will get you an invitation to sleep on the couch.
The final WAZZUP of the week goes to television ratings and the excuses often associated with them. The A C Nielsen Company, the people who count people watching TV, tells us that the Sprint Cup race at Indy had a 3.8 household coverage rating that translated into 5,054,089 viewers. Nielsen also tells us that these numbers were considerably down from last year’s 4.6 household coverage rating. It’s already been quickly pointed out that the difference in the two ratings is directly related to last weekend’s coverage of the opening of the Olympic Games.
WAZZUP with blaming a ratings decline on the Olympics? We all need to swallow a spoonful of truth medicine and then take a good hard look at the real reason the NASCAR TV numbers were down. The fact of the matter is: the Cup race at Indy was B-O-R-I-N-G !!!. There was more passing for position between two cars exiting pit road than there was on the race track. It’s no wonder so many people changed the channel to watch Olympic freestyle ping pong.
