Kasey Kahne Riding the Momentum Wave
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[/media-credit]From an abysmal 29th place finish at Daytona and with even more bad luck in the next few races at the start of the season, Kasey Kahne has made a phenomenal turnaround, with top-10 finishes in the last seven races and a win in the Coke 600.
So, there is no wonder that the driver of the No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports is riding high on the wave of momentum.
“Well, momentum and confidence has a lot to do with running well in racing and being up front,” Kahne said. “Our team has been building that momentum and seems like we get more of it each week.”
“So, it’s been really positive,” Kahne continued. “It’s tough to do this without momentum and confidence and once you get it, it can really turn your season around.”
Kahne is also riding the wave of momentum as the rookie member of the Hendrick Motorsports team. He joins teammates Jimmie Johnson, who won last weekend’s race at Dover, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who is third in the point standings, in the HMS surge.
“I feel like our company is really strong right now,” Kahne said. “The cars are great. The engines are great.”
“They’re always trying to get more and trying to get better,” Kahne continued. “I’m really enjoying working with my teammates.”
Kahne does, however, feel for one of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Jeff Gordon, who is struggling even more than he has this season. But he thinks that the driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet just has to gut it out before he too finds that momentum upswing.
“Jeff’s been as fast as any of us but he just hasn’t had the best of luck,” Kahne said. “I have no advice for Jeff.”
“When it turns around, it turns around,” Kahne said. “There is nothing you can do about it.”
To what does Kahne attribute his own turn-around and momentum-gathering?
“We’re just getting a little more familiar with things,” Kahne said simply. “At the start of the year, we were probably as fast as we are right now but we just weren’t able to finish the weekends off.”
“We’ve been fortunate enough the last six or seven weeks to put the full race together and finish it off,” Kahne continued. “It’s been a lot better for us.”
[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”223″]
[/media-credit]Kahne admits that, because of his difficult season start, his momentum currently has also helped his position in the point standings, with potential to even make the Chase. Kahne sits currently in 14th in points, with the one win.
“Well, I’ve had to think about the points as bad as we started out,” Kahne said. “We were getting ready to miss races, we were so far back in points.”
“So, I had to think about points and where we’re at and how to get back in the hunt,” Kahne continued. “And we’ve been able to do that. So, we’ve got to keep that mentality the rest of the season.”
Has the point situation changed the way Kahne races?
“Well I mean in certain situations, you probably are more cautious because you know what the end result can be if you’re not,” Kahne said candidly. “So, at times you need to be cautious and at other times you just race as hard as you can.”
“And if you don’t race as hard as you can with this group of guys, you’re going to get passed or left behind,” Kahne continued. “So, it’s tough.”
“You just think about points in certain circumstances,” Kahne said. “But other than that, you race as hard as you can.”
Kahne is looking forward to continuing to ride the wave of his momentum at Pocono Raceway, especially on the repaved track and with the shortened race format.
“I think that 400 miles is great,” Kahne said. “500 miles was just a long time at this track.”
“The repave is perfect,” Kahne continued. “It’s as nice as I’ve seen and felt and the transitions on the track are really good.”
“Hopefully we can get enough rubber on the track to create some racing,” Kahne said. “I know as time goes on the track will open up and be a really good one to race on but the first one’s going to be tough.”
“But with the two days of testing prior to the race weekend, it will really help everything and hopefully we’ll be able to do some passing on Sunday and move up if we have a car that can move up.”
While Kahne acknowledges that Pocono will be a challenge, particularly with the one groove currently and the chaos expected in the turns, he knows that with time the track will be even better.
“It will slowly rubber in and open up and you’ll be able to pass but it will be a little more difficult than what you’d want as a driver and as someone running a race track,” Kahne said. “But when you have a repave, it takes a little bit of time and that’s part of it.”
“Eventually it’s going to be really good,” Kahne continued. “But on Sunday, you’ll be able to pass but it will be difficult at times.”
“Yeah, I think Turn One will be utter chaos,” Kahne said. “The big thing will be making sure you’re in a good position off the corner to where you can be in a good spot getting to the Tunnel Turn.”
“That’s where you’re going to be where it’s going to be treacherous, especially if you try three-wide.”
Kahne’s wave of momentum also continues off, as well as on, the track. The young driver has also been busy with a variety of events run by the Kasey Kahne Foundation, created in 2005 to help chronically ill children and disadvantaged youth.
“Our Foundation is doing well,” Kahne said. “We’re setting up different events and things to make sure we raise some money each year.”
“The ‘Five Kahne 5K’ will be in October again during the Charlotte weekend, which is always pretty cool,” Kahne continued. “A lot of people in the Charlotte area really enjoy it.”
“We have a lot of fun running and trying to raise some money to put some smiles on some kids’ faces.”
Lap by Lap: Winstar World Casino 400k won by Johnny Sauter
[media-credit name=”Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway” align=”alignright” width=”373″]
[/media-credit]Johnny Sauter led the final 22 laps on the way to winning the WinStar World Casino 400 for his victory of the 2012 season.
Lap 1 Justin Lofton leads
Lap 3 Lofton leads Timothy Peters, James Buescher, Ty Dillon, Brendan Gaughan, Nelson Piquet Jr., Parker Kligerman, Matt Crafton and Joey Coulter
Caution lap 4 as John Wes Townley has a flat tire after getting into the outside wall.
Restart Lap 8
Lap 9 Lofton and Peters run side-by-side for the lead over Dillon, Buescher, Todd Bodine, Piquet Jr., Gaughan, Ron Hornaday, Kligerman and Jason Leftler
Lap 11 Lofton holds the lead as Buescher moves up to second while Dillon and Peters run side-by-side for third.
Lap 12 Peters stays third with Dillon fourth
Lap 13 Lofton leads Buescher, Peters, Dillon, Bodine, Piquet Jr., Gaughan, Hornaday, Kligerman and Leftler
Lap 16 Dillon passes Peters for third while Sauter passes Leftler for 10th
Lap 18 Peters pits with a possible vibration and overheating problems.
Lap 25 Lofton leads Buescher, Dillon, Bodine, Piquet Jr., Gaughan, Hornaday, Sauter, Kligerman and Crafton.
Lap 27 James Buescher takes the lead from Lofton; Sauter passes Hornaday; Crafton passes Kligerman
Lap 30 Todd Bodine blew up to bring out the caution…..pit stops for the leaders……Dillon leads Lofton and Buescher off pit road……..Max Gresham gets the lucky dog
Restart Lap 30 as Ty Dillon leads through turn one
Lap 31 Dillon leads Lofton, Buescher, Gaughan, Piquet Jr., Coulter, Sauter, Leftler, Crafton and Kligerman
Lap 43 Dillon leads Lofton, Buescher, Sauter, Piquet Jr., Gaughan, Coulter, Crafton, Leftler, Kligerman
Lap 45 Buescher passes Lofton for second; Coulter passes Gaughan for sixth
Lap 46 Paulie Harraka and Rick Crawford wreck for a caution.
Restart Lap 51 Buescher passes Dillon on the backstretch for the lead
Lap 52 Buescher leads Dillon, Sauter and Lofton
Lap 53 Buescher leads Sauter, Dillon, Lofton, Piquet Jr., Gaughan, Crafton, Kligerman, Coulter and Leftler.
Lap 55 Sauter takes the lead from Buescher on the front stretch.
Lap 69 Sauter leads Buescher, Dillon, Piquet Jr., Lofton, Gaughan, Crafton, Coulter, Leftler and Kligerman.
Lap 71 Piquet passes Dillon for third
Caution Lap 73 Paulie Harraka and Max Gresham spin in front of Sauter – Harraka gets into the wall while Gresham stays out of the wall; Buescher passes Sauter for the lead…..Leaders hit pit road……Jason White leads Dillon, Piquet Jr., Buescher and Lofton off pit road. White took two tires; Kligermann runs Sauter into the grass a little coming off pit road.
Restart Lap 79 as Jason White gets a good restart
Lap 80 White leads Buescher, Dillon, Piquet Jr., Coulter, Kligerman, Sauter, Crafton, Lofton and Miguel Paludo
Lap 82 Buescher takes the lead from White
Lap 85 Sauter passes Kligermann; Gaughan and Cale Gale pass Paludo
Lap 86 Crafton passes Kligermann
Lap 88 Gaughan passes Lofton for ninth; Buescher leads White, Dillon, Piquet Jr., Coulter, Sauter, Crafton, Kligermann, Gaughan and Lofton
Lap 89 Gaughan passes Kligermann for eighth
Lap 90 Dillon and Piquet pass White
Caution Lap 93 for debris…….leaders pit for fuel……..Dillon leads Piquet Jr., Coulter, Crafton, Buescher and Sauter off pit road. Lofton stays out so he takes over the lead
Restart Lap 100 as Lofton leads heading into turn one.
Lap 101 Coulter and Buescher pass Dillon for second and third while Lofton leads.
Lap 102 Buescher passes Coulter for second
Lap 104 Dillon passes Coulter for third
Lap 105 Lofton leads Buescher, Dillon, Coulter, Sauter, Crafton, White, Gaughan, Gale, and Piquet Jr.
Lap 107 Kligerman passes Piquet Jr. for 10th
Lap 115 Lofton leads Buescher, Dillon, Coulter, Sauter, Crafton, Gaughan, White, Gale, Kligerman
45 laps to go Piquet passes Gale and Kligerman; Sauter passes Coulter for fourth
43 to go Sauter passes Dillion; Piquet passes White
42 to go Lofton pits, handing the lead over to Buescher; caution as Norm Benning spins Bryan Sylas…..leaders pit…….Dillon leads Buescher, Coulter, Crafton and Sauter off pit road……
Restart 33 to go as Dillon and Buescher run side-by-side for the lead
Caution 31 to go Dillon gets loose under Buescher and they both get into the wall; Crafton takes the lead…..Dakoda Armstrong gets the lucky dog
Restart 24 to go as Crafton and Gaughan run side-by-side through turns one and two……Sauter makes it three-wide going in turn three. Gaughan backs off and now Sauter and Crafton run side-by-side
23 to go Crafton clears Sauter for the lead
22 to go Sauter takes the lead from Crafton
18 to go Sauter leads Crafton, Coulter, Gaughan, Leftler, Gale, Piquet Jr., Kligerman, David Starr and Dillon
17 to go Dillon passes Starr for ninth
13 to go Piquet Jr. passes Gale; Dillon passes Kligerman
10 to go Sauter leads Crafton, Coulter, Gaughan, Leftler, Piquet, Gale, Dillon, Lofton, Kligerman
Sauter wins over Crafton Coulter Gaughan Piquet Leftler Dillon Gale Lofton Kligerman
Johnny Sauter Breaks Bad Luck Spell, Wins WinStar World Casino 400k
[media-credit name=”Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”300″]
[/media-credit]After having bad luck for the first six races this year, Johnny Sauter would come home victorious in the seventh race of the season as he won the WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. It marked his first victory and his second top 10 finish of the 2012 season.
“First of all, I want to thank everyone at Peanut Roaster, Toyota, everyone at ThorSport,” Sauter says. “This is unbelievable. After all the bad luck this year, good to get this. I wasn’t sure what was going on with the restart there – first I was third, then I was fourth. The bottom was where you wanted to be on the restarts there. Great job by (crew chief) Joe.”
Sauter led early in the race before problems on pit road set him back to the bottom half of the top 10. With 22 to go, he was able to pass ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton and never looked back.
Crafton came home second for a 1-2 finish for ThorSport and his third top 10 of 2012.
“It was a bit too much,” Crafton says. “I was a little bit tight the previous one, went up a bit on the right rear and it was just a little too much. When I had Johnny right up there behind me, I was loose. I just burned the right rear off trying to hold Johnny off. This Thorsport organization is awesome.”
Birthday boy Joey Coulter came home third for his best career Camping World Truck Series finish. Brendan Gaughan and Nelson Piquet Jr. rounded out the top five.
Jason Leftler would come home sixth with rookie Ty Dillon seventh. Dillon was battling with James Buescher for the lead with 31 laps to go when Dillon got loose and caused both drivers to wreck.
“”He was mad, but I’m not just going to pull over and let him go,” Dillon says. “I’m racing for my first career win. “I’m goin’ to win races. If he’s not, then he can go where they don’t allow blocking and hard racing.”
Buescher would come home with a 15th place finish and make contact with Dillon as they entered pit road and then have a discussion on pit road afterwards.
“Ty just kept running me up the hill,” Buescher says. “He needs to learn how much space you need on the right sides of these trucks”
Rookie Cale Gale would finish eighth followed by Justin Lofton and Parker Kligerman. Lofton would lead the most laps at 55, though after staying out under a caution, he had to pit before the leaders and got trapped a lap down. He would take the wave around and work his way back up to the top 10.
Last week’s race winner Todd Bodine blew a motor early in the race on lap 30.
“No warning at all,” Bodine says. “I think it broke a valve, dropped a piston and then it just locked up. We were just messing with Ty (Dillon) there. We could’ve went up and done more. I gotta thank (car owner) Todd for what he has done with this team. He’s done a great job. We’ve got a great team. It was just a part failure. Can’t be mad about that. They happen.”
Lofton still leads the points, five points over Timothy Peters. Peters came home with an 11th place finish.
| Unofficial Race Results | |||||
| WinStar World Casino 400, Texas Motor Speedway | |||||
| http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=7 | |||||
| ========================================= | |||||
| Pos. | St. | No. | Driver | Make | Points |
| ========================================= | |||||
| 1 | 20 | 13 | Johnny Sauter | Toyota | 47 |
| 2 | 10 | 88 | Matt Crafton | Toyota | 43 |
| 3 | 11 | 22 | Joey Coulter | Chevrolet | 41 |
| 4 | 6 | 2 | Brendan Gaughan | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 5 | 8 | 30 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Chevrolet | 39 |
| 6 | 18 | 18 | Jason Leffler | Toyota | 38 |
| 7 | 3 | 3 | Ty Dillon * | Chevrolet | 38 |
| 8 | 16 | 33 | Cale Gale * | Chevrolet | 36 |
| 9 | 1 | 6 | Justin Lofton | Chevrolet | 37 |
| 10 | 5 | 29 | Parker Kligerman | Ram | 34 |
| 11 | 2 | 17 | Timothy Peters | Toyota | 33 |
| 12 | 9 | 9 | Ron Hornaday | Chevrolet | 32 |
| 13 | 17 | 81 | David Starr | Toyota | 31 |
| 14 | 15 | 32 | Miguel Paludo | Chevrolet | 30 |
| 15 | 4 | 31 | James Buescher | Chevrolet | 30 |
| 16 | 23 | 8 | Ross Chastain * | Toyota | 28 |
| 17 | 13 | 23 | Jason White | Ford | 28 |
| 18 | 19 | 98 | Dakoda Armstrong * | Toyota | 26 |
| 19 | 25 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Chevrolet | 25 |
| 20 | 34 | 214 | Brandon Miller | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 21 | 21 | 24 | Max Gresham * | Chevrolet | 23 |
| 22 | 30 | 57 | Norm Benning | Chevrolet | 22 |
| 23 | 26 | 84 | B.J. McLeod | Chevrolet | 21 |
| 24 | 31 | 165 | Scott Stenzel | Chevrolet | 20 |
| 25 | 24 | 99 | Bryan Silas * | Ford | 19 |
| 26 | 27 | 93 | Brent Raymer | Chevrolet | 18 |
| 27 | 12 | 9 | John Wes Townley * | Toyota | 17 |
| 28 | 22 | 5 | Paulie Harraka * | Ford | 16 |
| 29 | 32 | 73 | Rick Crawford | Chevrolet | 15 |
| 30 | 7 | 11 | Todd Bodine | Toyota | 14 |
| 31 | 28 | 7 | Johnny Chapman | Toyota | 13 |
| 32 | 29 | 10 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | Ram | 12 |
| 33 | 33 | 174 | Mike Harmon | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 34 | 35 | 0 | Chris Lafferty | Ram | 0 |
| 35 | 14 | 27 | Brandon Knupp | Chevrolet | 9 |
Joey Logano and Mark Martin Lead Practices For Pocono 400
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[/media-credit]After Happy Hour practice today, Joey Logano led practice for the Pocono 400 presented by #NASCAR with a speed of 179.501mph. Logano is looking for his third top 10 in four races after finishing eighth last week at Dover.
Going into the weekend, Logano was worried about how and when the track would rubber in after the paving job that was done in the Spring. Though Logano says when he was at the tire test, he found that the track rubbered in pretty quickly.
“I felt like by the end of the two-day test this we were starting to be able to kind of move the groove up a little bit,” he said on Wednesday. “I think when you get 43 cars out there, I think you’ll really be able to see the track widen out a little bit. “It actually came to us pretty quick. I was surprised, I thought it was really icy out there and no rubber. But I Goodyear is going to bring a good tire, will have a lot of grip and the track will widen out.”
Logano added that once it widens out, he thought there would be good racing and the track will change quite a bit from practice to race time.
After suffering a flat tire last weekend, Carl Edwards was second in practice at a speed of 179.361, 39 hundreths off of Logano. During the Thursday test session, Edwards said that they weren’t that fast and needed to do a little bit of work.
“We’ve been working on different things we wanted to try in testing,” Edwards said on Thursday. “The track looks completely different. It took me a minute juts to get used to the different visual cues and braking points and the transitions in the corners and stuff, but it looks great. It drives really well and it’s fast.”
Another driver looking for a good run this weekend after having bad luck at Dover is Jeff Gordon, who was third in Happy Hours practice on Friday. So far, Gordon hasn’t had the year he has dreamed of as most weekends, he has ran up front, yet had bad luck bite him and take him out of contention near the end of the race.
“It’s just circumstances and things that have gotten us in this situation and not get the results that relate to the way we have performed this year,” Gordon said. “I mean that’s racing. That happens, it’s unfortunate the things that have happened to us this year.”
Paul Menard and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five. Kasey Kahne was sixth, followed by Greg Biffle, Brad Keselowski, A.J. Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose.
In the first practice, Mark Martin led with a speed of 179.379, 12 hundreths over Jamie McMurray. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third, followed by Jimmie Johnson and Allmendinger. Ryan Newman was sixth, followed by Kahne, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Regan Smith.
NSCS Final Practice
Pocono Raceway
Provided by NASCAR Statistics – Fri, June 08, 2012 @ 05:15 PM Eastern
31st Annual Pocono 400 presented by
#NASCAR
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed Lap # # Laps -Fastest -Next
1 20 Joey Logano The Home Depot Toyota 50.139 179.501 18 18 —.— —.—
2 99 Carl Edwards Kellogg’s / Cheez-It Ford 50.178 179.361 17 17 -0.039 -0.039
3 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 50.249 179.108 17 17 -0.110 -0.071
4 27 Paul Menard Menards / Sylvania Chevrolet 50.336 178.798 30 30 -0.197 -0.087
5 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 50.409 178.540 5 7 -0.270 -0.073
6 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet 50.433 178.455 33 33 -0.294 -0.024
7 16 Greg Biffle 3M / Rite Aid / NextCare Ford 50.476 178.303 3 18 -0.337 -0.043
8 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Dodge 50.652 177.683 32 32 -0.513 -0.176
9 22 AJ Allmendinger Shell Pennzoil Dodge 50.716 177.459 1 33 -0.577 -0.064
10 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford 50.752 177.333 18 18 -0.613 -0.036
11 83 Landon Cassill Burger King – Real Fruit Smoothies Toyota 50.769 177.274 1 5 -0.630 -0.017
12 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 50.786 177.214 15 18 -0.647 -0.017
13 31 Jeff Burton The Armed Forces Foundation Chevrolet 50.795 177.183 20 25 -0.656 -0.009
14 17 Matt Kenseth Ford EcoBoost Fusion Ford 50.887 176.862 17 30 -0.748 -0.092
15 13 Casey Mears GEICO Ford 50.898 176.824 3 7 -0.759 -0.011
16 *98 Michael McDowell Presbyterian Healthcare Ford 50.933 176.703 1 5 -0.794 -0.035
17 51 David Reutimann Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet 50.943 176.668 15 15 -0.804 -0.010
18 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota 50.949 176.647 14 42 -0.810 -0.006
19 *30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Toyota 51.025 176.384 9 9 -0.886 -0.076
20 55 Mark Martin Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 51.029 176.370 14 38 -0.890 -0.004
21 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 51.062 176.256 28 36 -0.923 -0.033
22 43 Aric Almirola Transportation Impact Ford 51.072 176.222 1 18 -0.933 -0.010
23 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard / Diet Mtn. Dew Chevrolet 51.085 176.177 35 39 -0.946 -0.013
24 38 David Gilliland ModSpace Motorsports Ford 51.122 176.049 6 8 -0.983 -0.037
25 14 Tony Stewart MOBIL 1 / Office Depot Chevrolet 51.176 175.864 5 34 -1.037 -0.054
26 93 Travis Kvapil Burger King / Dr Pepper Toyota 51.190 175.816 18 18 -1.051 -0.014
27 *19 Mike Bliss(i) Humphrey Smith Racing Toyota 51.204 175.768 1 1 -1.065 -0.014
28 *49 JJ Yeley America Israel Racing / JPO Absorbents Toyota 51.211 175.743 5 5 -1.072 -0.007
29 *26 Josh Wise # MDS Transport Ford 51.261 175.572 3 7 -1.122 -0.050
30 39 Ryan Newman HAAS Automation Chevrolet 51.261 175.572 21 30 -1.122 -0.000
31 *87 Joe Nemechek(i) AM/FM Energy Wood&Pellet Stvs Toyota 51.262 175.569 9 9 -1.123 -0.001
32 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 51.301 175.435 1 27 -1.162 -0.039
33 29 Kevin Harvick Rheem Chevrolet 51.309 175.408 10 24 -1.170 -0.008
34 1 Jamie McMurray Banana Boat Chevrolet 51.407 175.073 9 38 -1.268 -0.098
35 *23 Scott Riggs North Texas Pipe Chevrolet 51.467 174.869 9 9 -1.328 -0.060
36 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet 51.468 174.866 12 33 -1.329 -0.001
37 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Toyota 51.477 174.835 2 29 -1.338 -0.009
38 34 David Ragan Taco Bell Ford 51.593 174.442 12 14 -1.454 -0.116
39 *74 Stacy Compton Turn One Racing / Country Suites Chevrolet 51.792 173.772 7 7 -1.653 -0.199
40 *33 Stephen Leicht # LittleJoesAutos.com Chevrolet 51.823 173.668 1 10 -1.684 -0.031
41 47 Bobby Labonte Bubba Burgers Toyota 51.932 173.304 4 17 -1.793 -0.109
42 10 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 51.972 173.170 7 9 -1.833 -0.040
43 32 Reed Sorenson(i) Herr Foods / Hero Energy Shot Ford 52.556 171.246 20 24 -2.417 -0.584
44 36 Tony Raines SealWrap.com Chevrolet 52.986 169.856 6 11 -2.847 -0.430
Jeff Burton Shares Life Lessons From the Track
[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”223″]
[/media-credit]After a great run at Dover International Speedway went bad due to engine problems, it is no wonder that Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 Armed Forces Foundation Chevrolet, might be just a bit philosophical.
But, according to Burton, every lesson is a life lesson when it comes to NASCAR racing.
Burton’s first lesson is that persistence and never giving up is critical to success both on and off the track. And he most certainly feels that his team is starting to turn it around because of their persistence and willingness to work together.
“I feel like we’re starting to turn the corner,” Burton said. “Our performances are starting to be much better.”
“The better you run, the better your luck gets,” Burton continued. “When you teeter on not running well, little things are big things.”
“Fortunately the last couple weeks, we did have fast cars,” Burton said. “So, that’s what really feels good to me. We’re making gains on the types of tracks we’ve been struggling on.”
Burton also credits learning lessons together with crew chief Drew Blickensderfer, who came over toward the end of last season from Roush Fenway Racing.
“I feel like we’re starting to learn each other,” Burton said. “Whenever you bring somebody new in like Drew, there’s a period of time it takes to get acclimated.”
“You hope it’s going to work out quickly, but when we hired Drew we didn’t hire him because of what we thought he could do today but what we thought he could do for us long-term,” Burton continued. “We didn’t believe that he was going to bring stuff over from Roush and make us better because we’ve been through all that before.”
“Long-term, we felt like that was the right thing to do and given some time, as we’ve had to grow together and him get accustomed to what I’m feeling and what I like to feel, we’re starting to get better and run well.”
Burton said that he has always been optimistic and, even after last weekend’s heartbreak at the Monster Mile, reiterated that he is one that never gives up. One of the prime motivators for the veteran driver is that he fully intends to grab that championship ring before his run is over.
“I’ve always been like that,” Burton said of his tenacity. “I’m not here just to be here.”
“I’m here for a reason,” Burton continued. “I want to win a championship before I get done.”
“That drives me,” Burton said. “I’ve never been a guy that believes that people are out to get more or that there’s some sort of conspiracy for me not to run well. I believe it’s in our hands.”
“I haven’t forgotten how to drive a race car,” Burton continued. “I drive for a really good company.”
“I believe that if we do keep fighting and swinging, we’ll get back to where we want to be.”
But before Burton can score the championship, he has to get into the Chase hunt. And he still feels there is that chance, in spite of the troubles they have had so far this season.
“Unfortunately three of the races where we had engine trouble, we were running the best that we have run,” Burton said. “That’s really hurt us in the points. But barring that, we’d be sitting there twelfth in points with a team that’s improving.”
“So, there’s still a chance for us to make the Chase, although the days are dwindling,” Burton continued. “We’ve got to get it together and start having good finishes.”
“We’re in the growth process,” Burton said. “We’re taking a team that was 20th in points last year and trying to put it in championship contending form.”
“It takes a little time to do that.”
Along with the rest of his competitors, Burton will be tackling the ‘Tricky Triangle’ this race weekend. Burton feels already that the lesson learned for the newly-repaved Pocono Raceway is all about track position.
“I think, as with any newly paved race track, that track position will be important,” Burton said. “I don’t think we’re going to see multiple grooves this week.”
“Having said that, we really weren’t seeing multiple grooves the other way because it had gotten so slick and it was hard to make things happen,” Burton continued. “The track is definitely an improvement.”
“The first couple of races you’re probably not going to see a second groove develop,” Burton said. “But long-term, the race is going to be better here.”
Burton is also pleased about the shortening of the race at Pocono. In fact, he would like to see some of the other races on the circuit trimmed back a bit as well.
“I’m a proponent of shorter races,” Burton said. “I think it’s the right thing to do.”
“I think we need some 300 mile races,” Burton continued. “Having said that, the Coke 600 has its place. The Southern 500 has its place. The Daytona 500 has its place.”
“I’m not advocating a shorter for every race thing,” Burton said. “I just think on average our races should be just a little bit shorter.”
Burton’s biggest concern about the sport, however, is the number of people coming, or not coming, to the races. And as the unofficial ‘mayor’ of the garage area, Burton thinks this is a critical lesson that NASCAR must tackle.
“The concern I have is the number of people coming to the races,” Burton said. “I think our competition level is really good. Honestly, from a competition standpoint I’m not sure how we could do a whole lot better.”
“The economy is a tough thing,” Burton continued. “And when the economy is bad, we’re not going to have the viewership.”
“We just have to get through this,” Burton said. “I think we’re several years away from being back to whatever ‘normal’ is.”
“There’s a snowball effect to the bad economy that runs through our sport for a long time,” Burton continued. “But all in all, in a down economy, we’re pretty healthy.”
In spite of the struggles and challenges of the sport, Burton credits NASCAR and racing for teaching him most, if not all, of his life lessons.
“Most lessons in my life have been learned through racing, although they might not have been learned on the race track,” Burton said. “They might have been learned by something involved in racing.”
“To me, persistence is a core value,” Burton continued. “These are simple things.”
“When you complicate things, it makes life harder,” Burton said. “When you treat people the way you want to be treated, it may not always be the easiest thing to do but sometimes the right thing is not the easiest.”
Burton shared that his biggest life lesson from the track, however, is to follow you dream and your passion, as well as sinking all you have into that dream.
“Pick something you love and give everything you’ve got to it,” Burton said. “And you may or not be successful.”
“But at the end of the day and if you’ve done it the right way, then you can sleep at night,” Burton continued. “If you’ve given a half effort and you know it, then you’ll never sleep well.”
“You have to give it all,” Burton said. “You have to choose the way you’re going to conduct your life and not waver from that.”
“Those values to me carry through to whatever you’re doing, whether school, marriage, life or whatever you’re doing,” Burton said. “Those lessons will take you a long way.”
Joey Logano continues to look for improvement each weekend
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[/media-credit]With this being a contract year for Joey Logano, it is apparent that he needs to perform to be able to resign with Joe Gibbs Racing. Logano has been doing just that as last weekend at Dover, he finished eighth for his second top 10 in the last three races.
Logano says that success goes back to Darlington at the beginning of May as a testament to how his relationship with crew chief Jason Ratcliff has been improving. They came together at the beginning of the 2012 season after doing a couple Nationwide Series races together last year.
“We really didn’t know each other that well but we worked enough together to know that we do like each other,” Logano says. “We did work together in a couple of races pretty well. But there is a learning curve there. There’s a learning curve between the two of us getting to know each other and Jason getting over here and working with Sprint Cup cars and Sprint Cup races and longer races, all that stuff.”
Logano feels that they are working through that and that’s why they have been improving each week as they’ve learned from their mistakes.
“We are definitely making a lot of gains, Darlington for us was a really good race,” Logano says. “We felt like we could have finished even better than where we finished there, so we were excited about that.”
He says they did struggle at Charlotte, though were able to figure out what they need to do for the future. Then at Dover last weekend, he says that eighth place is a good finish despite losing some track positions at the end of the race and having a problem with the ACU.
“I feel like we were even better than that,” he says. “We just have to look at the positives that come out of every weekend and learn from our mistakes which we have been doing and that’s how you get better.”
On the Saturday before the Sprint Cup race last weekend, Logano was able to come home with the Nationwide Series victory. He says running well in the Nationwide car helps himself out as a driver due to improving the confidence level. He adds that you’re also able to learn things that you can transfer over.
“When you’re on the same tire, cars are pretty similar, especially on a smaller racetrack, the cars are more similar,” he says. “So you can kind of learn some things throughout the day that you can carry over into your Cup program.”
He adds that running the Nationide Series is also a lot of fun, but you got to stay focused as it can get confusing with how busy you are.
“I just think it’s a game to be able to do it, and Dover for me has been one of my better racetracks in the past, too, so I felt like either way we were going to have some good runs,” he adds.
Now heading to Pocono, it’s a whole new ballgame with the new pavement that was laid down on the triangular oval in the Spring.
“There’s a lot of things we are worried about,” Logano says. “I think a lot of us learned a lot of things when we went to Phoenix with new asphalt there, and seeing how long it took for it to rubber in.”
The driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota was one of the drivers who took part in the tire test and he says the track rubbered in pretty quickly.
“I felt like by the end of the two-day test this we were starting to be able to kind of move the groove up a little bit,” he says. “I think when you get 43 cars out there, I think you’ll really be able to see the track widen out a little bit. “It actually came to us pretty quick. I was surprised, I thought it was really icy out there and no rubber. But I Goodyear is going to bring a good tire, will have a lot of grip and the track will widen out.”
Logano adds that once it widens out, he thinks there will be good racing and the track will change quite a bit from practice to race time.
Logano is one of the drivers that is always on twitter staying connected with the fans. His dog, Isla, even has her own account after her popularity sparked. A new partnership between NASCAR and twitter is supposed to build on that connection that is already there.
“I think it’s really cool what we are trying to do, giving the fans more inside access to what’s going on behind the scenes in a NASCAR race and to see more of the Tweets from the drivers and media members, crew guys, whoever involved with racing,” Logano comments. “I think that’s really cool for the fans to be able to see that, because most of the time, we have something interesting to say. So, it’s cool. For me, I’ll just be trying to Tweet as much as I possibly can, and keeping people updated and sending pictures out and stuff like that. I have fun doing that.”
