Surprising and Not Surprising: Kansas Hollywood Casino 400

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October 10, 2011

With the wind whipping as is so typical in the land of Toto and Aunty Em, the fourth race in the Chase, the 11^th Annual Hollywood Casino 400, was run at the 1.5 mile paved tri-oval that is Kansas Speedway. Here is what was surprising and not so surprising from the 267 laps, 400.5 mile race.

[media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”231″][/media-credit]Surprising: It has been a bit surprising just how much the race winner has seemingly been toying with not only the media, but the race fans. At the beginning of the Chase, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson had fallen from eighth to tenth in the point standings, particularly due to his 18^th place finish at Loudon.

At that point, many media pundits had begun to write off the chances for a sixth consecutive championship, especially since the tension seemed to be mounting between the driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet and his crew chief Chad Knaus.

Yet Jimmie Johnson again proved that he still has what it takes by scoring his 55^th career victory and his 20^th career victory in the Chase, the latter being the most ever, tying him with Rusty Wallace for eighth on the all-time wins list.

And, yes, ‘old five time’ has yet again made his way toward the top of the leader board, up two positions to third, just four points out of the coveted top spot.

“I told you not to count him out,” Hendrick Motorsport teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said. “I think the media made a big deal out of the runs he was having and they were a long ways out of the lead in the points.”

“But that’s a great race team,” Junior continued. “You don’t win five in a row on luck, you know? You don’t just trip over the championship trophy; you do it because you’re great.”

“And they’ll win the championship this year if anybody doesn’t get going.”

Not Surprising: Although most often it is the female fan base flirting with this driver, Kasey Kahne, behind the wheel of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota for the remaining races of the season before heading to Hendrick Motorsports next year, continues to flirt with a race win.

To no one’s surprise, Kahne finished second, scoring his third top-10 finish in nine races at Kansas, as well as his 10^th top-10 finish in 2011.

“The biggest thing to me would be to leave on a good note,” Kahne said. “There are a lot of people there working really hard and unsure about maybe their future and where they’re going to work next year, and they’re still putting everything they have into our race cars each week.”

“That’s pretty awesome on their part.”

Surprising: In addition to the wind, there was also a good deal of smoke, of all sorts, in Kansas City. The driver known as ‘Smoke’, was instead the cause of some, smoking his tires on a pit stop, causing him to not only slide wildly through his box but also lose eight positions on the track.

Tony Stewart, piloting his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, finished the race in the 15^th position and fell four positions to seventh in the Chase standings.

‘Smoke’ immediately admitted his error, telling his team that his foot had accidentally hit the accelerator when he was trying to brake. But the uncharacteristic error caused the driver to come out as the last car on the lead lap, relegating him to a less-than-stellar finish.

Another surprising bit of smoke at Kansas was the one that erupted on lap 265 when four-time champ Jeff Gordon’s engine expired. The driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, who looked strong all race long, finished 34^th, dropping him to tenth in the point standings, 47 points out of first.

“I started seeing smoke inside the car,” Gordon said. “We had a really bad restart and got shuffled back.”

“Our day was pretty much over and we were going to finish maybe 15^th or something,” Gordon continued. “I started to smell burning oil and saw the oil temp start to come up.”

“I felt like it was just a matter of time before it blew up.”

Not Surprising: Although actually gaining one position in the point standings, from tenth to ninth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the HMS No. 88 National Guard/Amp Energy Chevrolet, to no one’s surprise now seems to be focusing more on race wins than a championship.

“I just want to win a race,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s a goal of mine right now to just go out there and win.”

“Man, if we could do that, that would really, no matter what happened in the Chase, I think we’d be real happy with our season.”

Surprising: While loose and tight are most often descriptors for action on the track, it is surprising that those words also apply to Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch.

On one hand, the driver of the No. 2 Blue Deuce seems to be looser than loose, finishing third in the Kansas race. This was Keselowski’s second top-10 finish in four races at Kansas Speedway.

And that top-5 finish moved the driver up two spots to fourth in the Chase, just eleven points behind the leader.

“This year, it seems like as a group, we’re just clicking,” Keselowski said. “We’re doing a good job of maximizing our day and taking care of everything that’s in our control.”

“I’m really proud of our team for doing that.”

On the flip side, Keselowski’s teammate Kurt Busch just seems tight, tight, tight behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge. Busch managed to finish 13^th, but still lost two spots in the Chase standings to the sixth position.

“We got behind in qualifying and had to start 17^th,” Busch said. “We ran from 15^th to 20^th most of the day and caught a break; we got the lucky dog to get back on the lead lap.”

“We were still a top-10 car when the green-white-checker came out but just couldn’t hold on to a top 10,” Busch continued. “The fresher tires got us.”

Not Surprising: There were at least two ‘come back kids’ that surprised no one. The first was the driver of the No. 99 Alfac Ford, Carl Edwards, who rallied from a too-aggressive set up prior to the race, relegating him to needing to be the ‘lucky dog’ to finish fifth.

With that top-five finish, Edwards scored the points lead, just one point over second place Kevin Harvick.

“I cannot believe we finished fifth,” Edwards said. “It feels like a win.”

“That’s the best we’ve done with the worst,” Edwards continued. “I just cannot believe from the way the day started to finish like that is spectacular.”

The other ‘comeback kid’ was Greg Biffle. Although not in the Chase, the driver of the No. 16 Sherwin-Williams Ford and pole sitter for the race, rallied back from a pit road speeding penalty to finish eighth.

“Our car wasn’t that good,” Biffle said. “I don’t know what happened with the speeding on pit road.”

“That was stupid,” Biffle said. “My car just wasn’t that good in traffic, which is where I got hurt there at the end.”

Surprising: There was a surprising rash of drivers missing driver introductions prior to the Hollywood Casino 400. A.J. Allmendinger, David Reutimann and Reed Sorenson all had to move to the back of the field for the start of the race due to their absence at the pre-race intros.

Allmendinger, driver of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford, finished the best of the group at 25^th. Reutimann, behind the wheel of the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, finished 35^th and Sorenson, who had lost his Turner Motorsports Nationwide ride, finished 38^th in his No. 7 SPEED Energy/MAPEI/Menards Dodge Cup ride.

Not Surprising: With his career decided, it was not surprising that the driver of the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing finished top-10. Prior to the race festivities, Bowyer confirmed that he will move in 2012 to the Michael Waltrip Racing stables.

“All in all, it wasn’t a bad day,” Bowyer said. “That’s the last time I’ll be able to run here with these cars.”

“Hopefully, we’ll get one next time.”

Surprising: Hendrick Motorsports is surprisingly close to scoring a record of its own thanks to driver Johnson taking the checkered flag. HMS is just shy of their 200^th win, which would put them squarely behind Richard Petty Motorsports with 268 all-time wins.

Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, again thanks to Johnson’s win, Chevrolet clinched their 35^th Cup manufacturer’s championship, assuming a Chevrolet will start each of the final six races.

Kahne Continues Momentum as Non-Chase Driver

By

SM Staff

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October 10, 2011

Kasey Kahne has been the highest finishing non-chase driver for the second week in a row. He finished fourth at Dover International Speedway and kept his momentum going heading to Kansas. Kahne finished second to future teammate Jimmie Johnson in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, giving Red Bull Racing their best finish of the season.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”208″][/media-credit]An incident on pit road on lap 21 set Kahne back from his fifth-place starting position. Under the first caution, Kahne pitted for two tires, only to have the jack break. Then as he was attempting to leave his pit, he was blocked in by the No. 48 car. The No. 4 team decided last minute to take four tires, restarting back in 40^th position.

From there, Kahne raced his way from 40^th position to sixth position, getting himself back into contention late in the race. Kahne gave up his position to pit when the fifth caution came out with 28 laps to go. Crew chief Kenny Francis made the call to pit for four tires and a splash of fuel, to restart the race in 12^th position. Kahne quickly raced to fifth after the restart and found himself in second place with 10 laps to go.

With two laps to go the final caution came out, eliminating Johnson’s two second lead. Kahne was able to clear a group of cars on the green-white-checkered restart, but came up short finishing the race in second position.

On the restart Brad gave me a good push, and I had a shot at Jimmie,” said Kahne. “I just couldn’t really get to him. I thought maybe getting to (Turn) 3 I would go high, and he kind of entered into the middle and then just crept his way to the top and just really didn’t have a shot there at him. But I think we had a good Red Bull car. The guys did a nice job today.”

At the end of the season, Red Bull will be leaving the team with no word yet whether they will continue as a one car operation. Kahne will be leaving the team to start his new ride with Hendrick Motorsports, extending through the 2015 season.

The Final Word – Kansas, where good just was not good enough

By

Ron Thornton

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October 10, 2011

Early in the year, a guy can get by with good. Good puts you in position for great things, with 20, or 30, or 40 races to go in the season. What Jimmie Johnson had last Sunday was a great car, a great performance, and the man who would be a six-time champion won his 55th career victory to move to within four points of the top of the hill with just six races to go.

[media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”229″][/media-credit]Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick had good cars, hung around in the top 20, but stepped it up to great to both finish in the top ten to keep Johnson from moving on past them. Edwards was fifth, one better than Harvick, to take the Chase lead by a single point. So that now leaves us with three drivers who have been great, a handful of others who have been good, while four more can pretty much dream of what is to come…in 2012.

Denny Hamlin was good enough to be 16th as Kansas. Not bad if it were February at Daytona, but when things have been bad thus far in the Chase it just means more dirt has been tossed over his championship hopes for this season. His is now 79 down and he is not coming back.

Ryan Newman needed to be great, and at 18th he wasn’t even good on a day where he actually had been worse for the most part. He is now done. Jeff Gordon started blowing up with thirty to go before it gave up the ghost with less than ten remaining to finish 34th. Number five will have to wait another season. Dale Earnhardt Jr cracked the Top 15, but he needed a Top Five. Now he is more than 40 in arrears, and that pretty much leaves him in the dust.

Five sit within 11 to 20 points back, still with a chance for greatness if those who have been great go bad, and do it soon. Brad Keselowski finished third in Kansas, just behind Kasey Kahne, and sits fourth in the hunt. Not great, but damn close. Matt Kenseth is a dozen away, and being fourth at Kansas keeps him relevant. The Busch boys and Tony Stewart all had Top Fifteens, not great, but some very good, even great, performances earlier leaves them between 16 and 20 off the pace. Good enough for the moment, but Charlotte and Talladega better be great.

ESPN…well not great but good for the most part. Rusty and Brad, God love them, are kind of like letting a deadbeat relative be part of your entourage. If the broadcast team were the Corleone family, Rusty and Brad would be a pair of Fredos. When someone makes the mistake of turning on their mics during a race, Nicole Briscoe brings up some pertinent fact and these boys concept of providing additional color is to simply provide a long-winded version of “you betcha.” If your grandma can replace an announcer, I’m guessing there isn’t much point of having him…or them…there.

There, this Saturday night, is Charlotte, North Carolina. If Kevin Harvick can repeat his performance there from last May, that would be great. If Kurt Busch can do what he did there the previous spring, that would be great. If Jimmie Johnson can do there was he has done five times in his career, that would be great for him, but the rest better be either great or really, really good. If not, then Denny, Ryan, Jeff, and Junior are going to have some company out on exile island. Enjoy the week.

Danica Is Not NASCAR’s Savior

By

SM Staff

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October 10, 2011

All you have to say is her name and most fans have an opinion. In fact, at this point, she’s pretty much beloved by all. A lot of that has a lot to do with her performance which so far has been mid-pack at best. She qualified 15th and finished 15th on Saturday at Kansas Speedway, which is acceptable, She didn’t challenge for the win, but finished in front of 28 other drivers. I imagine she felt like it was a successful day and it probably was.

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”218″][/media-credit]Of course I’m talking about Danica Patrick. Patrick, with first class Hendrick Motorsports equipment, has not been awesome in her first year on the Nationwide Series circuit, but making the move from the lightweight Indy Series cars to the heavy NASCAR cars has to be challenging. That said the theory behind why NASCAR so desperately wants her in their camp is flawed. Danica Patrick is not NASCAR’s savior.

When NASCAR’s popularity began to wane a few years ago, it was widely hinted that the death of the sport’s icon, Dale Earnhardt, had pushed many fans away. I don’t doubt that. You can still go to tracks and see the No. 3 flags and listen to fans fondly talk about the man they called “The Intimidator.” But it’s been a decade since Dale left us, and I see his fans everywhere at tracks. Maybe some gave up on the sport, but that wasn’t the reason for the decline.

Later on, the story was that the elder Earnhardt’s son, Dale, Jr., wasn’t winning and only if he could get to victory lane, things would fall into place. Earnhardt, Jr. left his father’s team and headed to the greener pastures of Hendrick Motorsports where success was bound to happen. After all, this was the team that had the fastest cars in the sport. Earnhardt has one victory since joining HMS and usually finishes well out of the running. He has shown improvement lately, but that isn’t the reason for the decline, either.

Finally, the Great Recession hit in the fall of 2007. That was blamed for the lack of butts in the seats, but no one to this day will ever blame the product that is put on the track week after week. That’s the problem. The fact that everyone is in denial means that other methods are examined to boost the sport, and that starts with one Danica Patrick.

The decline of NASCAR started with the development of the Car of Tomorrow. Yes, the old “twisted sister” that was used for years didn’t look like the showroom car, and the new car was much safer to NASCAR’s credit, but it took most teams, with the notable exception of Hendrick Motorsports, a couple of years to figure it out because it was so different. In the meantime, it was the same thing every week. Which Hendrick car would win or which Joe Gibbs Racing car would win (after they switched to Toyota). Richard Childress Racing, the home of Dale Earnhardt, and Roush-Fenway Racing were out to lunch. It also started the reign of five-time champion Jimmie Johnson. Over and over, Johnson won and won again. He will probably win again this year. The suspense is gone. It’s just a matter of time until Johnson wins again. Today, he sits four points out of the points lead with six races to go. Why? The creation of the NFL playoff clone called The Chase. The barrage of intermediate tracks in the “championship run” is tailor made for Johnson and the COT, but that’s not the problem according to many. It has to be something else, like new faces in the series. Enter Danica Patrick.

The theory is that Danica will bring in men. Lord knows she is a nice looking lady. Women want someone to root for and Danica is perfect. But will she get people to come out to see her race? Will TV ratings go up when she participates?

Ignoring the obvious problems with the product cannot be cured with the entrance of an attractive woman who is a media expert and a good driver. Until the day that the powers that be can figure out that flaws exist in the product they have given fans, nothing will turn around. NASCAR needs more Darlington’s and Bristol’s that offered slam-bang racing. That was what made the sport so exciting to the fans. Instead, NASCAR became, and has become, a sport where the usual happens on cookie-cutter tracks that all look the same. So don’t expect that little lovely lady to save us. It will be nice to have her around, but it isn’t the answer.

HOORAHS AND WAZZUPS: FUEL MILEAGE??? IT WAS ALL ABOUT OIL TEMPERATURE AT KANSAS

By

SM Staff

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October 10, 2011

During the NASCAR Sprint Cup weekend at the Kansas Speedway we watched a driver who understands the pressure of winning a championship once again rise to the occasion. The anticipated fuel mileage outcome of the race was actually determined by extremely hot oil and the Nationwide Series event also turned up a dominant winner while presenting a new driver feud based on an old issue. With those thoughts in mind, let’s begin with:

[media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”273″][/media-credit]HOORAH to Jimmie Johnson for scoring max points after winning the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas. Johnson led 197 of the race’s 272 laps in a dominant performance that was based on good driving, a good car and flawless service on pit road.

HOORAH to the numbers associated with Johnson’s win. It marked his second win of the season and his 55th career win which ties him at eighth with Rusty Wallace on NASCAR’s all time win list. Johnson now has a series high 20 Chase wins and he gave team owner Rick Hendrick his 199th victory. He also helped Chevrolet wrap up the 2011 manufacturer’s championship. The bowtie brigade now has 35 championships including the last nine years in a row.

WAZZUP with speculation that said Johnson’s five consecutive championship dynasty was over. That was three weeks ago. Since that time he’s moved from tenth to third in the standings only four points from the top of the rankings. The prospect of “Jimmie Five Time” becoming “Jimmie Six Pack” is alive and well.

HOORAH to Kasey Kahne’s strong second place showing, for Red Bull Racing, following an exciting green-white-checker finish. Kahne’s efforts could become a factor in the team’s ongoing effort to locate financial investors to keep this two car operation alive.

WAZZUP with the ironic circumstances behind that green-white-checker finish? It came from the race winner’s team mate: Jeff Gordon. It was anticipated that the finish of the Kansas would be about fuel mileage. Instead it was about the extreme heat of the oil in Gordon’s engine. Gordon came over the radio and announced that his oil temperature was pegged. In the waning laps of the race there was smoke emitting from his car. With three laps to go, the engine blew and set up the double file restart final shootout. Gordon’s bad luck resulted in a 34th place finish and he’s now tenth in the Chase standings, 47 points away. The math says he’s not officially eliminated as a Chase contender but the reality of it all says otherwise.

The HOORAH for making chicken salad out of chicken do do goes to Carl Edwards who turned a very long and frustrating day into a fifth place finish. Despite starting the race from the front row, the handling on Edwards’ Ford was terrible and he started going backwards the moment the race started. However, this Bob Osbourne led team didn’t lay down and that top five comeback now has them on top of the Chase standings. “This feels like a win, we should be posing for pictures and drinking champagne,” Edwards said.

WAZZUP with Tony Stewart’s late race slide through his pit stall while coming perilously close to hitting the pit wall? After the rolling the car back into the pit box, the result was a lengthy stop, a huge loss in track position and It turned an apparent top five into a 15th place finish. It also caused Stewart to drop from third to seventh in the Chase standings. Stewart came over the radio and apologized for the incident and said his foot accidentally hit the brake and the gas pedal at the same time.

WAZZUP with the dual broken axles on both of the Toyotas fielded by Michael Waltrip Racing? Drivers David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr found themselves stuck on pit road for axle replacements during the course of pit stops. It was rather bizarre.

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On the topic of dominant performances at the Kansas Speedway, HOORAH to Brad Keselowski for winning the Kansas Lottery 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Keselowski’s Penske Racing Dodge led 173 of the 200 laps. He scored his fourth win of the season and his 16th series win.

WAZZUP with that mystery odor than found its way inside of Elliott Sadler’s Chevrolet? It was crew chief Ernie Cope who eventually figured out that the strong stench was caused by brake fluid that oozed out of the master cylinder and spilled onto the headers which were generating an estimated 1,300 degrees of heat. Once the mystery was solved, the crew chief complemented the driver and told him “you have a very good nose.”

The Nationwide Series HOORAH for making chicken salad out of chicken do do belongs to Kevin Harvick’s crew. Driving his self owned car, and making his final series appearance of the season, Harvick sustained a broken front splitter in the race. He had to come to pit road six times, including two trips behind the pit wall, before the repairs were finished. Despite the frustrating circumstances Harvick and company came back to a lead lap sixth place finish.

WAZZUP with that heated exchange on pit road between drivers Brian Scott and Aric Almirola? Scott claimed that Almirola kept running into him on restarts and it’s been going on all season long. He also claimed that he was blocked on pit road. “He races you like a jack you know what . He obviously has an issue with me and now I have one with him,” Scott said.

On the other side of the spat Almirola said he felt like the problem started when their two cars got together during the September 9th race at Richmond which he tried to apologize for and Scott needed to get over it. “He races over his head, he’s fortunate that his dad has a lot of money and finances his racing,” Almirola said.

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In some final thoughts, WAZZUP with Sprint Cup drivers A J Allmendinger, David Reutimann and Reed Sorenson being sent to the rear of the starting grid prior to the race for missing driver introductions? This situation surfaces from time to time and it makes me wonder why that is. These teams have public relations reps and you would think that at least one member of the entourage would be in charge of getting their driver to his next scheduled appointment such as the driver introduction stage.

HOORAH to the Kansas Department of Transportation who, in a spirit of cooperation, decided to postpone highway construction for a week in an area that would have greatly impacted the commute to the Kansas Speedway. I’m sure the 82,000 plus fans who attended the Sprint Cup race really appreciated that gesture. For a moment there we had the making of another Kentucky Speedway traffic nightmare.