Matt Kenseth gets more than he expected to from Daytona Speedweeks

By

-

February 28, 2012

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”248″][/media-credit]For as fast as Matt Kenseth’s No. 17 Best Buy Ford Fusion was winning his second Daytona 500 in four seasons wasn’t an easy Monday night drive.

Kenseth, who won a rain shortened event in 2009, won the 54^th Daytona 500 in a green-white-checkered finish over Dale Earnhardt Jr. and teammate Greg Biffle. He became just the ninth driver to win multiple Daytona 500’s and has broken the six-year streak of first time winners.

“It feels great, we even went overtime a little bit since we didn’t quite go the whole distance the first time we won it,” said Kenseth.

“Feels great. We had a really fast car all day, had a lot of adversity to overcome, a lot of problems with the car. We were able to get it figured out and had a great pit stop at the end that put us in position, and it feels great. I wasn’t expecting to win when I woke up this morning, so it feels good to be sitting here.”

Right from the green flag gremlins started to arise. For all 202 laps, 500 miles the team had problems with their radio either static or the team occasionally not being able to hear Kenseth. Fortunately he was able to hear the team and spotter Mike Calinoff.

Then came the water problems, the race wasn’t even 70 laps old. Before pit stops Kenseth told crew chief Jimmy Fennig to get the motor guys ready because they were going to have to work on the car. Fearing that something was keeping the water from staying inside the car, evident by the amount of water that started gushing from it during their pit stop.

But in another round of good fortune Kenseth was able to stay on the lead lap and by the time the race hit the lap 150 mark he was back in the mix.

From there Kenseth dodged the wrecks, a fire and a green-white-checkered finish to lead the final 38 laps, 50 total, on his way to his 22nd career win. It was the second Daytona 500 win for himself and Fennig who won with Bobby Allison in 1988. It was Roush Fenway’s 300^th career win.

Kenseth’s win capped off Roush’s week long domination. Biffle and Carl Edwards sat on the front row for the Daytona 500, Kenseth started fourth after winning his Gatorade Duel race last Thursday. Then they finished one, three, eight Monday’s race.

“I think the 16 had one of the strongest cars all week, and I think ours was right there, as well,” said Kenseth. “Our car for some reason was a lot faster out front than it was in traffic. It took a long time to get to the front. But like Thursday once we were in the front, it was hard for anybody to get locked onto you.”

Lessons from Thursday’s Duel helped in the 500. Kenseth knew what his car liked and didn’t like, what it could do and what others would be able to do behind him. But until the very end Kenseth was waiting for Biffle and Earnhardt Jr. to make a run at him, at least he entered turn three and saw that he was sitting pretty.

“Greg, if he could have passed me on the last lap or two laps to go or whatever, he certainly would have,” Kenseth said.

“But we did have a pretty good plan on restarts that worked well together to help both of us get to first and second and get in line, because that’s where our cars were strong was on the bottom when we got in line like that. It was a good combination of working together, trying to help each other, and it was best for both of us to get the best position we could get.”

The position it puts Kenseth in is Daytona 500 winner and current point leader. Still disappointed over how his 2011 Chase ended, he’s looking for more this upcoming season. Heading to Phoenix, where he’s a past winner, Kenseth knows the real season is about to begin and he’s anxious to show he’s ready to contend for the championship again.

“Last year was a great year for us,” Kenseth said. “I think we went almost two years without a win or something like that. So last year was a really special year. I really still to this moment feel like I really let these guys down in the Chase, but I feel like we ran good enough in the Chase performance-wise and as far as what the team gave me to use and what Jimmy did and the pit crew did to race for a championship and we were able to win a few races along the way.

“We were in position to win a few more that we didn’t win. Last year was a great year for us. I think it built a lot of confidence. It really made me feel good and be happy. So you always hope after the offseason to go into the next season and be strong. You never expect to come down here and win, but I didn’t expect to be as strong as we were down here. So I’m real anxious to get to the next few tracks and see how we are.”

The Only Thing Missing from the Daytona 500 was the Locusts

By

SM Staff

-

February 28, 2012

[media-credit name=”Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”286″][/media-credit]There was something in the air on Sunday that you just kind of knew that NASCAR had once again been beaten by its arch nemesis Mother Nature. The monsoons like rains were unrelenting and the track was being to resemble the Everglades more than NASCAR’s crown jewel Daytona International Speedway. But what was to come no one could have possibly predicted.

History was made during this years Daytona 500. It was a foregone conclusion that history was going to be made regardless of who won when NASCAR vice president Mike Helton announced that the Daytona 500 would be run during prime time on Monday evening. Fox broadcasting was in. All of its affiliates and stations would broadcast the rain delayed season opener during its most expensive broadcast time frame. Starting at 7PM EST and running to its conclusion. It would be the wee hours of Tuesday morning before the sport would crown its Daytona champion for 2012. But it was all that happened in between the start and finish that would make it memorable.

The anticipation on the starting grid was thick you could almost cut it with a knife. 43 of the best stock car drivers in the world had waited 36 hours to get the Daytona 500 underway. They were ready to race. They were under the lights. They were in prime time. The pressure of the 500 is normally pretty high but this made it more so.

The classic under the lights phenomenon took place early on. The cool night temperatures and the lights take us back to our roots of Saturday night racing and always bring a more aggressive driver to the track. That aggression showed it’s head on the second lap of the race in the form of a multi-car pile up that took out 5 time Jimmie Johnson and involved the sports new star Danica Patrick.

Patrick who was a victim of other people’s crashes in every race that she ran at Daytona sat patiently and dejectedly in her mangled car while crew chief Greg Zipadelli and team made the extensive repairs to get her back on the track. Many of her detractors pointed fingers and said see she can’t drive. However, the truth was light years from that. The truth was that she showed the guts and tenacity of her muse the honey badger. She refused to quit. Even when she had made up as many spots as possible and was given the option of parking the severely injured Go Daddy Chevrolet she persevered. At the end of the 6 hour race she exited her car pale and obviously exhausted with a smile and the patience to answer the mass of media’s questions. Her skill set is lacking yes. But so is the skill set of every other rookie who has ever driven a cup car at Daytona including names like Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Rusty Wallace, Ken Schrader and yes even Richard Petty. She showed however, that she has the tenacity to acquire the skill set with help from her team and teammates.

The racing calmed down for many laps with the Roush boys showing the way for most of the race. There were some blown engines due to anomalies that couldn’t be explained completely but were attributed to the rain delay and the moisture’s effect on the gauges, including 4 time champion Jeff Gordon whose Hendrick Motorsports AARP Chevy expired very early on.

The next real excitement would come for the $200,000 half way bonus. The pack surged, positions were traded wholesale and from the middle of the pack a long shot emerged and with help from Greg Biffle’s Ford, Martin Truex Jr would claim the big half way pay day.

But the biggest and strangest event of the night was triggered when the yellow flew with 40 laps to go. Juan Pablo Montoya knew he had a problem. The car was vibrating violently in every gear. But he had no warning when the car suddenly snapped to the right and into a truck drawn jet blower and then slide to the bottom of the track. The driver of the jet blower and Juan Pablo Montoya were not injured. But the grand jewel of NASCAR was not so lucky. 200 gallons of jet fuel and diesel ignited out of the third turn setting the track all the way to the grass and including the safer barrier on fire. The spectacular fire could be seen for miles in the night sky.

The red flag found drivers racing for the porta johns and Brad Keselowski tweeting the activity to world on his phone. The 2 hour delay pushed the Daytona 500 into the wee hours of the morning Tuesday.

The damage to the track was minimal and patched and the cars again fired to take the green. The race would see more cautions including the final which would collect current champion Tony Stewart. Stewart would restart the race on a Green White Checker deep in the pack with a car whose tow was out 2 to 3 inches according to radio communications with crew chief Steve Addington. Stewart would finish a disappointing 16th on the lead lap and moving through towards the front.

The race win would go to Matt Kenseth in the Best Buy Ford. Kenseth would hold off the tandem of Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr for the win. Earnhardt Jr would make a last turn pass and run to take second.

One would think that all the strangeness that could possibly effect a race would be done, especially since the checkered flag had flown and the winner had been crowned. But not so in this case, within an hour of the finish of the race the track was enveloped in a thick dense fog that shut down the airport and prevented drivers and teams from leaving the track until Tuesday morning.

Today, many are talking about the jet dryer crash and TV ratings are the highest for any race in Fox Broadcast history. They are talking about Brad Keselowski’s tweeting during the red flag. NASCAR says that he broke no rules and there will be no fines. They are talking about the fact that Greg Biffle could not advance on Matt Kenseth in the final two laps of the races even with a pusher. Some say he was protecting Kenseth’s win. Some say he found the new catch in the aero package two cars are no longer faster than one or the pack. Some are talking about Danica’s Daytona Fizzle. Frankly, those folks are just wrong. Danica’s misfortunes were not of her own making and she showed a great deal of skill and tenacity. The one thing that no one is talking about this year is a boring race, because this may very well have been the most memorable Daytona 500 in history.

Congratulations to Matt Kenseth on his Daytona 500 victory. It was well deserved.

Kudos to Dale Earnhardt Jr and his 88 team on an incredible run it is an incredible start to what promises to be an even better year.

Kudos to Tony Stewart and his Office Depot team for pushing the envelope to the max with a car that would have been near impossible to drive for some.

Kudos to Denny Hamlin for showing the strongest and most dedicated performance all night only to come up a little bit short at the very end.

Congratulations to James Beuscher on his NNS win. And to John King on his NCWTS win.

That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

Jimmie Johnson’s campaign for a six pack gets off to a rough start in Daytona

By

SM Staff

-

February 28, 2012

[media-credit id=42 align=”alignright” width=”223″][/media-credit]Since he won the big race back in 2006 Jimmie Johnson hasn’t had very fond memories of the Daytona 500.

Monday night proved to be more of the same when the five-time champion’s bid for a second 500 win ended on lap two. Johnson was running in the outside lane when contact from Elliott Sadler sent him head-on into the outside wall. As other cars piled in behind Johnson was hit again in the driver’s side door by David Ragan.

Johnson would be able to walk away with only the wind knocked out of him. He’d be OK though, just a bit confused on what had happened since the field was still coming up to speed.

“We were all just trying to make our lane work,” said Johnson. “A lot of energy in the lane, I was kind of pushing the 78 [Regan Smith] a little bit. I could feel some help from behind, just turned me around. Sent me down to the inside lane and back up to the outside lane. When I was sitting in the middle of the racetrack, I knew at some point someone was going to come along unfortunately. David Ragan had nowhere to go. I unfortunately got drilled by him pretty hard.”

Johnson was credited with a 42^nd place finish on Monday, another race to forget. Since his 2006 victory Johnson hasn’t finished higher than 27th and has started his season from the garage. Even worse for Johnson and company was how early the wreck happened.

All the hard work during the offseason, testing in early January and excitement about not only the season starting but the biggest race of the year, almost a waste of time. After being in Daytona for almost two weeks practicing and racing, then waiting out the rain Sunday and into Monday night, only to head back home before he even broke a sweat.

“I’m just really bummed out for this whole Lowe’s team,” Johnson said. “To work as hard as everyone did at Hendrick Motorsports to get this Lowe’s Chevrolet and to have it barely complete two-and-a-half miles of green flag racing is pretty sad. Disappointed, but nothing I can do about it now. We’ll just go on and go to Phoenix and set out marks on winning that race.”

But unfortunately for Johnson his Daytona tale doesn’t end there. While he’s won at Phoenix four times he might have to do so this weekend either without crew chief Chad Knaus or lighter in the pocket and in points. The 48 team is now playing the waiting game to see what penalties, if any, NASCAR hands down from the car failing initial inspection for the Daytona 500 last week.

The 48 had illegally modified C-posts, the sheet metal between the roof and the rear quarter panel. NASCAR did not eject Chad Knaus had they had done in 2006, saying in part because the infraction took place before qualifying. The team had to fly new pieces down to Daytona and fix the car before they could get on track.

However, NASCAR President said it was highly likely the team would be penalized following the running of the Daytona 500. Johnson currently sits 37^th in the standings with only two points.