NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Richmond
Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
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[/media-credit]1. Kyle Busch: Busch finished sixth in the Wonderful Pistachios 400 at Richmond, overcoming two instances of falling a lap down to score his 16th top 10 of the year. Busch will start the Chase atop the standings, tied with nemesis Kevin Harvick, each with four wins.
“It’s great to be back on top of the standings,” Busch said. “The question is, can I stay there? Now would be a great time for Pedigree to adorn the No. 18 Toyota, while I order it to ‘stay.’
“I don’t expect Harvick and I to share the top spot for long. As everyone knows, we can’t be in the same place for long. I’m sure he’s reveling at another chance to ‘knock me out.’”
2. Kevin Harvick: Harvick won the race off pit road on the final caution and held off a charging Carl Edwards to win at Richmond. It was Harvick’s fourth win of the year, and first since may, and placed him in a tie with Kyle Busch for the top seed in the reset point standings.
“Thanks to my pit crew,” Harvick said, “we were able to win this race. This isn’t the first time I’ve had my crew to thank for keeping Edwards off of me.
“It’s quite a relief to know that Richard Childress will be running my Nationwide team. That’s a burden I can do without, and it just goes to show that it’s easier to ‘unload’ on Richard Childress than Kyle Busch.”
3. Jimmie Johnson: The Jimmie Johnson-Kurt Busch feud intensified at Richmond, just in time for the Chase. Johnson was clipped by Kurt Busch and spun on lap 185, and Johnson retaliated on lap 246 after diving into the corner sideways and sending Busch for a smoky spin. Johnson finished 31st, and will start the Chase eighth in the standings, nine points out of first.
“I don’t know if Busch wrecked me intentionally,” Johnson said. “One could argue that’s why I wrecked Busch—-because I just had to stop and ask.
“If Busch wants to continue this feud, that’s his prerogative. I don’t mind. I think I’ve been pretty patient with Kurt. After all, I haven’t slapped him, which is yet another characteristic that separates me from most other drivers. Whether surrounded by Cups or controversy, I’m comfortable in the middle of it.”
4. Jeff Gordon: Gordon passed Kevin Harvick for the lead with 22 laps to go, but Paul Menard’s spin six laps later brought out the final caution, and Harvick beat Gordon out of the pits. Harvick went on to win, while Gordon finished third and will start the Chase For The Cup three points down to top seeds Harvick and Kyle Busch.
“We gave that one away,” Gordon said. “Normally, exchanging ‘24’ for a ‘case’ of Budweiser would be considered fair. Not this time.
“My car may say ‘Drive To End Hunger,’ but I’m saying I’m the ‘Driver To End Hunger For Five.’”
5. Carl Edwards: Edwards gained some much-needed momentum for the Chase For The Cup with a runner-up finish at Richmond. Edwards chased Kevin Harvick over the final 12 laps after a restart, but couldn’t get close enough to make the pass. Edwards will start the Chase nine points down to co-leaders Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.
“I knew I probably couldn’t get close enough to pass Harvick,” Edwards said, “but I was hoping to at least pressure him into a mistake. As is well known, my way of getting at Harvick is to make him ‘choke.’”
6. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 12th in the Wonderful Pistachios 400, his first result outside the top 10 since a 35th at New Hampshire. As a wildcard Chase qualifier, he’ll start the Chase 12 points out of the lead.
“Thanks to NASCAR’s screwy wildcard rules,” Keselowski said, “I get no credit for my three wins. Instead of starting three points off the pace, I’m 12 behind. I don’t know what’s harder—winning three times, or proving myself twice.”
7. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished 23rd at Richmond, one lap down, after a night filled with handling challenges and several scrapes with other cars. By virtue of his two wins this year, Kenseth will start the Chase six points behind co-leaders Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick.
“It’s certainly not the way we wanted to enter the Chase For The Cup,” Kenseth said. “The No. 17 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Ford faced a number of issues on Saturday, but don’t ‘discount’ chances to win the Sprint Cup.”
8. Kurt Busch: Busch finished fifth at Richmond, posting his seventh top-5 result of the season. He’ll start nine points off the lead when the Chase For The Cup begins Sunday at Chicagoland.
“As my brother Kyle well knows,” Busch said, “it’s not where you start, it’s how you finish. And I’m 100% committed to finishing—Jimmie Johnson.”
9. Ryan Newman: Newman finished eighth at Atlanta, his 13th top-10 result of the year, and will start the Chase alongside Stewart-Haas teammate Tony Stewart, who finished 12th in the standings.
“It’s great to have a teammate in the Chase,” Newman said, “but Tony knows as well as I that once the Chase starts, it’s every man for himself. I’m as well prepared as anyone for that situation—that’s one, and likely the only, advantage to teaming with Rusty Wallace for several years.”
10. Denny Hamlin: With his Chase-qualification hopes on the line, Hamlin overcame damage sustained in an early accident to finish 9th, locking up a wildcard berth in the Chase.
“We certainly don’t enter this year’s Chase with the momentum we had last year,” Hamlin said. “Obviously, this team has regressed, but our off-season overhaul will take place in the same manner as a potential Cup-winning Chase—from the bottom up.”
Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda: Keselowski Trying Not to Think about Wasted Bonus Points
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[/media-credit]A year removed from finishing 25th in points with just two top 10s, Brad Keselowski qualified for the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup on Saturday night in Richmond. Call him this season’s Cinderella story, or breakthrough driver of the year, either way Keselowski has stolen the show.
“I’m viewing it like a one-year-old that got his first box of crayons,” Keselowski said of making his first Chase in only his second attempt. “It’s great, everything is fresh, new, and a lot of positive momentum. No matter what happens in the Chase, it’s still an honor to be in it, and that doesn’t mean I’m making excuses if we don’t run well.”
With good reason, Keselowski said he’s going to enjoy the Chase. With an open mind and by running hard every week, he has every reason to be excited about what he could do next.
Entering the mid-summer stretch Keselowski sat 22nd in points with one win, two top fives and two top 10s. In order to take advantage of that win to make the Chase’s wildcard, Keselowski would have had to get into the top 20 in points. After breaking his ankle testing in Road Atlanta the first week of August before the Cup race in Pocono, it didn’t seem possible.
But who knew that a broken ankle would be exactly what the team needed. August became the month of Keselowski as he won two out of four races while he finished second and third in the other two races.
Suddenly Keselowski was the championship favorite. He catapulted to 11th in points entering Atlanta with just two races left in the regular season. His three wins though clinched his Chase birth in at least a wildcard position. Richmond would be icing on the cake depending on his finish.
“I felt like superman when we came in and put new tires on,” Keselowski said after his 12th place finish. “There was a couple of other guys that came in with us and we were able to drive up to the pack even much faster than I anticipated.”
Struggling early in the event, Keselowski only had a brief moment of greatness as the No. 2 Miller Lite team struggled with speed. But as Keselowski revealed, he was superman on new tires as he drove into the top five during a portion of the race and moved within two points of the top 10 in the championship standings.
Even though already clinched in the Chase, had Keselowski been able to finish the regular season in the top 10 in points it would have allowed him to use the bonus points from his wins for Chase reseeding. Instead, Keselowski remained 11th in points, wondering what could have been.
“We would have much rather preferred to have capitalized on the wins and get in the top 10 obviously,” Keselowski said, “but we gave it a good effort. It was going to take a lot to get it done, but certainly going to look back at the first half of the year and wish that we’d have been able to find those 20 some points or whatever t was we were off.”
Rightly proud, is Keselowski of the season that he and his team have had thus far. Not many would have put Keselowski in their predicted Chase field lineup before the season started and others wouldn’t have thought he’d win a race, let alone three. He’s done both and knows those are great accomplishments in themselves, regardless of how the Chase plays out.
“I think most people would tell you having won three races is a good year and making the Chase,” said Keselowski. “Trying not to get too greedy about having the three wins and the bonus points. Just thankful for the year we’ve had and going to keep working, got some momentum and a lot of things to be proud of this year.”
Just as it was Saturday night, Keselowski feels that speed will be a factor in the Chase. Keselowski wants to be a factor in the championship and keep the amazing run that he’s been on leading up to it going. Going to Chicago this weekend he’s 12 points out of the lead and 10 races from shocking the NASCAR world more than he already has.
Of those 10 weeks, Keselowski doesn’t feel there will be a bad track for him. He’s won at Kansas and Talladega; he captured the pole earlier this year at Charlotte. Most importantly, he’s proven that past statistics don’t mean a thing. No one saw him coming this year and his competitors shouldn’t overlook him going into the Chase.
“We’ve got what I feel like are some good races for us coming up in the Chase,” said Keselowski. “Going back to Kansas, which we had run good at even before we won, and I think of tracks like Martinsville, I think we were really there as well. I think we’re going to come back to those races and be really strong.
“I think there’s not really a bad track coming up for us in the Chase and I feel like we we’re really on a high note and I feel like we’ve got as good as shot as anyone else. I really believe that.”
Harvick visits Virginia Tech
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[/media-credit]Kevin Harvick paid a visit to Virginia Tech, VA on Tuesday and toured the No. 13 ranked Hokies facilities. Harvick also had lunch with several Virginia Tech football players and later sat through their media interviews before a press conference with football coach Frank Beamer.
The Q&A session started of with a simple question to Harvick, “What’s you knowledge of Virginia Tech football?”
“I think for me I have learned a lot about Virginia Tech football today. To see the facility and everything that goes in, it’s a first class facility with great people to make it go around.” Harvick said.
“There’s a lot of similarities about what it takes to make a race team go around and what makes a football team or any other business for that matter. It takes good people, it takes dedication and it takes determination to do what you have to do. So there are a lot of similarities and I enjoyed my afternoon.” Harvick added.
With the merge of KHI and RCR how much does the free you up for the chase coming up, does it kind of take the load off of your mind knowing that all you have to worry about now is driving?
“I’m glad it’s off my mind. We have been working on it for awhile, myself and Richard (Childress) and I think it’s going to elevate the performance of the Nationwide teams next year.” Harvick said. “For myself and DeLana, its going to allow us to do some things not having to be involved on a day-to-day basis. But we are still going to be heavily involved.”
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[/media-credit]Beamer was asked whom he liked in the Chase, Beamer said “Kevin Harvick!!!!!” but quickly added that he also roots for Virginia drivers, “you have to pull for them a little bit ”. A person from the media said that there “were not any Virginia drivers in the chase”, Beamer again quickly added, “you have Denny Hamlin!”
Beamer presented Harvick with a No. 29 Hokies jersey with his name on the back. In return, Harvick presented Beamer with a replica helmet.
“We wish Kevin good luck as he starts the chase here and we have a hat for him and then we got a jersey. Its got the right number on it and the right name on it.” Beamer said.
Martinsville Speedway president Clay Campbell gave Beamer two framed lifetime tickets to Campbell’s presidential suite at the track.
Beamer took time to recall his 15-lap drive around Bristol Motor Speedway with five other celebrities. He started second, but his daughter, Casey, recalled him being passed twice from kicker David Akers. Beamer added that he (Akers) wanted to race cars after his football career is over.
“I noticed a lot of people were going by me. But I was just trying not to run into the wall. So I got through the race and was happy as heck I didn’t run into the wall.” Beamer said.
What does Harvick think of this year’s chase?
“I tell you, with so many different people winning this year, I think it shows how competitive the series is right now. It seems like everybody’s been through a certain period of struggles and I always tell everybody that each Chase takes on its own characteristic, and it will be interesting to see if this is going to be a consistent one, one where you have to win or one where you have to make the best out of your bad days. It will be interesting.” Harvick said.
Harvick enters the chase with four wins, seven top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Harvick and Budweiser will debut the new Budweiser “Bowtie” can paint scheme for the first race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup at the Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday.
The focal point of the design is Budweiser’s iconic bowtie, complemented by the time-honored Budweiser creed and Anheuser-Busch medallion.
“We couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate these two milestones than by creating the special Budweiser bowtie can paint scheme to kickoff the Chase at Chicagoland this weekend.” said Rob McCarthy, vice president, Budweiser.
The Final Word – Can Chicago be any wilder than the battle of Richmond?
So, you think that with the way things turned out at Richmond we had a race that was a total waste of time? Oh no, my friend. I mean, with Kevin Harvick managing to keep Carl Edwards behind him as they came to the line, Happy got his fourth win of the season. He is now tied with Kyle Busch atop the Chase standings with 2012 big points. See, it meant something.
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[/media-credit]It allowed Jimmie Johnson to retaliate for the accidental bump he got from Kurt Busch to get into the little fella’s head. Kurt went ape on a reporter after he simply asked if this feud could hurt both their chances, then denied to another about saying something he had said earlier, then tearing up the transcript that proved the former champ was wrong in his assumption. Yet, Busch claims that it is he, King Kurt, who has somehow gotten into Johnson’s head. Something tells me the boy could be wrong about that, too.
If not for Saturday night’s broadcast, look at all the bent metal we would have missed. We would have not seen why Brian Vickers got so upset with Marcos Ambrose, and why NASCAR sat Vickers down for a time out in the middle of the race. We would have been left wondering how Junior can be involved in three incidents, get down a couple of laps, be riding around 29th at one point, and still finish 16th.
It was a good thing Earnhardt was out there, beating and banging. I mean, if not for that, his boys would have had to take a sledgehammer to that auto of his in order to create the same work of modern art. Junior was minding his own business when he ran into a sideways Clint Bowyer. Of course, this was immediately after he had ran into a braking Matt Kenseth. A little later, he noticed that Ambrose was not being bothered by Vickers, so he bothered him. He later got a bump from Travis Kvapil, and not long after he returned the favor by putting that fella right into the fence. Nothing but good times.
So, Junior fell to tenth in the pre-Chase standings, but he and the rest who had a position a week ago have one as they head to Chicago. Only a dozen drivers really hold our interest as we head towards autumn, though there are others who will be looking to either find a job, or keep the one they got. Harvick and Shrub may lead the parade heading to the Windy City, but a finish outside the Top Twenty on Sunday would change that in a hurry.
Chicago, a track where they have raced ten times, where Harvick won the first two, Stewart also has a pair, with Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Junior, and Kyle Busch each with one win to their credit. It is where Carl Edwards was the 2010 runner-up, but nobody who has won there also went on to claim the Cup championship that season. Mark Martin won in 2009, but finished second behind some guy named Johnson in points. So, am I saying Chicago will prove to be just a big waste of time? Something tells me that won’t be the case. Enjoy the week.
