Surprising and Not Surprising: Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte
[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”230″]
[/media-credit]In the NASCAR season’s longest race of the year, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 53rd running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Surprising: Although billed as the sport’s longest race, usually known for the endurance factor moving from day to night, this year’s Coke 600 was the quickest one ever.
The race took a total of 3 hours, 51 minutes and 14 seconds.
Prior to 53rd running of the Coca Cola 600, the longest race was in 1995 at 3 hours, 56 minutes and 55 seconds.
Not Surprising: After finally scoring his 200th win for the company that bears his name, Rick Hendrick’s prediction of more wins to follow came true. Kasey Kahne, in the No. 5 Quaker State Chevrolet, secured his first win as a Hendrick Motorsport’s driver, which came on his 300th career start.
The win was also Kahne’s first win of the season. The 32 year old driver has now won in a Dodge, Ford, Toyota and now a Chevrolet.
“It’s been an exciting three weeks for Hendrick Motorsports,” Kahne said. “It’s exciting to be a part of that.”
“It’s so special and awesome to drive for Rick and Linda Hendrick,” Kahne continued. “For them to make me a part of their company; this is unbelievable to drive for Hendrick Motorsports and be a part of everything they do.”
Surprising: After winning last weekend’s Sprint All-Star Race, it was surprising to see Jimmie Johnson have a rare pit road miscue, especially since he was running the top-5 at that time. Johnson received a stop-and-go penalty for leaving his pits with both the gas man and the gas can on Lap 354.
“We had a couple little mistakes on pit road tonight,” Johnson said. “It happens.”
“Last week things couldn’t have gone any better and then this week we had a few little issues.”
Not Surprising: As he has been all season, it was not surprising that Greg Biffle, in his No. 16 Fastenal Ford, was a contender all race long. In fact, Biff received the 3M Lap Leader award, leading 204 laps.
Biffle maintains the points lead, ten points ahead of Matt Kenseth.
“The car was really, really good,” Biffle said. “But there at the end when the speeds picked up, we would kind of slide across the track.”
“We gained a little in points, but we really wanted to win.”
Surprising: After a most abysmal start to the season, it was surprising to see Jeff Gordon finally get a top ten finish under his belt. Gordon, behind the wheel of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, ran strong, finishing seventh.
“We had an awesome race car and we showed it right from the drop of the green,” Gordon said. “We drove up through there.”
“This is a great effort for this team,” Gordon continued. “I’m so proud of them.”
Not Surprising: HMS teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. continued his consistent streak, scoring his seventh top-10 in eight races.
“It just says we are consistent and we want to win a race,” Junior said. “That’s all I can tell you.”
“It feels good to be competitive,” Junior continued. “I don’t want to take our consistency for granted but we would like to improve just a little bit more and we’ll get some wins.”
Surprising: It was surprising how badly the Petty Motorsports drivers finished, especially after securing the pole and outside pole respectively.
Aric Almirola, who started on the pole with his famed No. 43 US Air Force Ford Fusion, finished 16th. Outside pole sitter Marcos Ambrose finished 32nd in his No. 9 Dewalt Ford.
“When you start on the front row or the pole, you know you’ve got a fast car,” Almirola said. “So, this is tough.”
“But I can’t reiterate enough that we’re making improvement,” Almirola continued. “We see light at the end of the tunnel and that’s what it’s all about.”
“I’m proud of everybody at Richard Petty Motorsports.”
Not Surprising: Despite the naysayers, Danica Patrick achieved her goal of completing every lap of the race. The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet finished 30th, five laps down.
“We had a lot of green-flag running and for me as a driver in general in NASCAR but especially as a new driver in the Cup Series, that hurts me,” Patrick said. “I’m just not great at making the best out of a car that’s not perfect and those runs really show that.”
“We brought the GoDaddy car home and one of the goals was to finish,” Patrick continued. “I would have liked to have been a little faster overall but I think there were some times in there when it was decent.”
Surprising: It was a bit surprising to see Ryan Newman outshine his boss at a track where Tony Stewart is traditionally strong. Newman, driving the No. 39 US Army Chevrolet, finished 14th and his boss and team owner in his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet finished 25th .
Smoke was moving forward after adjusting on his car throughout the race only to have a tussle with Brad Keselowski on pit road. Stewart spun as a result of that contact and had to turn around to reach his pits, putting him two laps down.
Teammate Danica Patrick acknowledged that her mentor had a tough evening.
“Tony is a fantastic driver and if he had a tough day, that’s just the way the season goes,” Patrick said. “So this is NASCAR and sometimes you do and sometimes you don’t.”
Not Surprising: While he may not have totally lived up to his ‘Closer’ moniker, Kevin Harvick brought his No. 29 Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet home in eighth place.
“We had a solid night,” Harvick said. “We snuck up there in the top-five and got our bonus point for leading a lap.”
“The pit crew was awesome and we were able to adjust our car,” Harvick continued. “This isn’t our strongest race track, but I feel like we had a solid package to build on.”
Surprising: Young Landon Cassill, in his No. 83 Burger King Real Fruit Smoothies Toyota, had a great run in the prestigious Coca Cola 600, finishing 18th. It was his team’s best finish of the season to date and the first time that the team started and finished inside the top-20.
“Last’ week’s performance at Charlotte was a real confidence booster for us,” Cassill said. “I feel like we’re getting stronger each week and it gets me excited as a driver.”
Not Surprising: Two of the principals of Joe Gibbs Racing had a good run as they usually do. Denny Hamlin, in the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, finished in the runner up spot and teammate Kyle Busch, in his No. 18 M&Ms Red White and Blue Toyota, finished right behind him in third.
“It’s also good to finish like that,” Busch said. “We just need to carry on that momentum.”
“This is a good race for us so we can bring back some good notes for when we come back in October.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. continues to improve and impress
[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”227″]
[/media-credit]In a sport that’s constantly changing, one thing’s starting to remain the same. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is dominating the Nationwide Series.
The defending champion and current point leader has been setting the pace early in the season. Picking up where he left off in 2011 and had it not been for a last lap crash in Daytona while racing for the win, Stenhouse might be even further ahead.
Before Saturday’s History 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway he was sitting pretty with nine top 10 finishes in 10 races. In the last nine races Stenhouse hadn’t finished outside the top six.
It’s what’s helped him storm into victory lane three times, including his third consecutive at Iowa to remain undefeated, quickly quieting the talks of Elliott Sadler’s hot start and championship hopes. If anyone wants to win races and the big trophy, they’ll have to go through the Mississippi native.
What an incredible rise for Stenhouse, whose story has been well documented. In the car, crashing the car, out of the car and then boom, it suddenly clicked. Once back in the car it was as if a different driver was behind the wheel.
A 16th place point finish in 2010 and Rookie of the Year honors to winner and champion the following year. Now he’s looking to become the first driver since Martin Truex Jr. in 2004-2005 to win back-to-back titles.
As the season continues to progress, Stenhouse continues to improve. He’s constantly thinking and thinking like a veteran, wondering how the team could get better. While leading two weeks ago in Iowa he seemed to be upset when telling crew chief Mike Kelley that something had to be done about the grille opening.
His No. 6 Ford Fusion was running hot even in clean air. However, Kelley said that Stenhouse had what he had and they’d have to deal with. No, said a calm Stenhouse, for future reference to be worked on back at the shop.
Team owner Jack Roush has long made smart decisions for his company. It’s why he’s won so many races and championships across the three national series. But pairing Stenhouse with the veteran Kelley will prove to be one of his best.
Kelley has an impressive resume of his own, working with many different Roush drivers and finding victory lane with a few of them. He’s the perfect fit for the young Stenhouse, who never fails to mention how he keeps him calm, cool and collected.
Reining him back in when he gets too far ahead of himself, refocusing him on what needs his attention. Every driver needs that voice in their ear, the person who knows exactly what to say and when to say. Stenhouse has plenty of that on his team, from spotter Mike Calinoff high atop the roof, who continues to coach him every week to Kelley, making the calls atop the pit box.
The belief and confidence they have in each other has become a major part in their success. When Kelley sings Stenhouse’s praises and how he’ll become a superstar in the sport, he genuinely believes in his driver.
The longer the two are together the more they’ll accomplish. There’s plenty of racing left in 2012, yet it’s never too early to start talking about the future. Stenhouse’s will be bright and regardless if he wins his second NNS title this season, a case could be made that he should be going Cup race next season.
Of course sponsorship will determine his plans. It almost kept Stenhouse from defending his NNS title this year but Roush stayed committed to getting him on track. Now he needs to find a way to not only keep him with his organization but keep him racing and moving forward.
The worst thing would be for Stenhouse to stall out and not climb up the ladder, as he should be. Clearly talented enough to win it’s a shame that a company hasn’t come along and attached themselves to Stenhouse for the long haul.
Bass Pro Shops has done so with Austin Dillon and OneMain Financial has to Elliott Sadler. And if there is ever such a thing as the complete package or a sponsors dream, wouldn’t Stenhouse fit that bill?
Winner? Becoming a regular occurrence. Champion? Didn’t take long to knock that off the list. Decent reputation? So far so good, he hasn’t gotten into a fight with anyone or become famous for his radio highlights.
And Stenhouse continues to soar in popularity with the fans and there are no tougher critics than the fans. But Stenhouse has a lot of support.
It could be because he’s the ultimate success story or the fact that he can go toe-to-toe with the Sprint Cup drivers. Either way Stenhouse lets everyone know that he’s a contender on a weekly basis.
Just further proof of how far Stenhouse has already come. When things started to go wrong in the past, he openly admitted to letting it bother him during the race and how he would be unable to let it go. Refocusing and earning finishes they were capable of became difficult.
Now though, Stenhouse uses every opportunity to learn, filing information away for later. Thinking smarter, acting smarter and becoming a dangerous threat. Pushing the car to its limit but never crossing the line. Battling back to win even when he felt the car wasn’t good enough or needed too many adjustments.
Kurt Busch, 2004 NSCS champion, said after Iowa that Stenhouse was getting really good. Many others have echoed the same sentiment, most likely after Stenhouse has gotten the best of them. Mark Martin did as much early this year in Las Vegas, calling it a beat down.
And so, Stenhouse continues to beat down those who doubted him. Those who try to dethrone him. But he’s the real deal and continues to show that he’s going to be in this sport for a while to come. This time two years ago, that didn’t seem likely or realistic for Stenhouse.
So for all those still on the fence about him, still searching for a driver to root for or just want to see one of the little guys to succeed, no better time to start paying attention. Because Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s story is one that continues to be written and it’s one that will go down as one of the best in NASCAR history.
The Coke 600: Why Did So Many Stay Away?
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[/media-credit]The weather was perfect, if not hot, and the pre-race show was amazing. No one does the patriotic opening act like Charlotte Motor Speedway, so why was the attendance so bad? That’s a good question that comes in the form of multiple choice. Take any of these and you may win, but picking just one will not answer the question.
The Economy – This has long been the excuse for people not attending the races this season, but gasoline was down to $3.29-3.49 all along the way, with the highest prices being in West Virginia. With the economy improving somewhat, it might be ticket prices which have tripped in 20 years.
The Saturation of Information – No longer do fans have to come to the track to see what is going on. Even though many newspapers don’t send writers to many of the races anymore, we have the internet, Twitter, Facebook, a bevy of television shows, and Sirius XM Radio that keeps everyone up to date. Long gone are the days waiting for SouthernMotorRacing or Grand National Scene to come in the mail. Most fans simply get more information than they can handle. With most of the tracks being built during the boom era of the sport, a lot of seating was the norm. Today, there are just too many seats. Although the official press release said that 140,000, the printed capacity of the track, large blocks of empty seats could be seen in the third and fourth turns, as well as the backstretch. There were lots of fans there, but nowhere near 140,000.
The Racing – Here’s where it gets sticky. Many close to the sport continue to insist that the racing is “better than it ever has been before.” They reference the 1960’s and 1970’s races where only ten cars were on the lead laps and so on, but the truth is, most races have not had the excitement factor we saw a few years ago. Why? Some of it has to do with the pressure drivers feel to make The Chase. It’s hard to be aggressive and rub fenders when one mistake puts you out of the race and not in The Chase. Sunday night, we saw a long train of competitors driving around in line. Most of the small number of cautions were mostly for debris. Many fans left early or spent time in the concourses during the race just to get a break.
The Lack of a Driver like the Late Dale Earnhardt – Earnhardt was unique, but not so far off from the other drivers of his era who were hell-bent on winning a race. In today’s environment, if you make The Chase, you still have a chance to win the title. Witness Tony Stewart last year. Yes, he won half the Chase races, but he overcame a bunch of very consistent teams who sat back and watched the magic Smoke brought to the final ten races. In other words, keep you nose clean for 26 races, make The Chase, and do your work there.
Of course, I didn’t mention Dale Earnhardt, Jr., which is in error. Junior is by far the most popular driver in NASCAR and yet he has a large losing streak that can be counted instead of races. More than a few of his father’s fans picked the son as their favorite driver. Let it be said that Junior is nothing like Senior on the track. Many believe that a win by the No. 88 would cure the sport, but I feel that any revival will come from one or more remedies from above.
There are many who think there is nothing wrong these days, but dwindling ticket sales and TV ratings say otherwise. The early ratings tell us that the Indianapolis 500 drew more viewers than the Coke 600. I find that hard to believe. Has America lost their love of stock car racing?
So take your pick and let’s see what the results are.
