Kyle Busch Wins Monster of a Truck Race; Nemesis Kevin Harvick Finishes Fifth
Kyle Busch, behind the wheel of No. 18 Traxxas Toyota, put the controversy and trash talking with Kevin Harvick from last week’s Darlington race behind him to win the Lucas Oil 200 Truck Series race at the Monster Mile in Dover, Delaware.
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[/media-credit]Busch’s win also tied him with Mark Martin for the most wins in all three series, with both drivers now at 96 victories. He is also the first two-time winner in the Camping World Truck Series at Dover International Speedway.
This was Busch’s 27th victory in 90 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races. The win also was his third victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2011.
“It was a really good truck,” Busch said. “I can’t say enough about this Toyota.”
While Busch seemed to dominate most of the race, he affirmed that it was not as easy as it seemed.
“Overall the race went pretty well for us,” Busch said. “It wasn’t quite the walk in the park it seemed. This place is so difficult and so challenging and you feel like you’re always on edge.”
Busch said that he and his nemesis Harvick managed to race each other clean and without issues.
“I thought today’s race was good,” Busch said of his competition with Harvick. “We had some close moments and we raced each other hard but it was fine. All is good as far as I know.”
For his part, Kevin Harvick finished fifth after an eventful race. Harvick, piloting the No. 2 Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet, had to rebound from a speeding penalty to work his way back through the field to score that top five finish.
Red Bull rookie Cole Whitt had almost as good a race as winner Kyle Busch, finishing in the runner up position. The driver of the No. 60 Red Bull/Fuel Doctor Chevrolet posted his first top-10 finish, his first top five and his career best finish.
“It’s crazy,” Whitt said. “I’m happy to be here in the first place. Trying to live the dream and chase it and drive door to door with half these guys, let alone Kyle Busch, is pretty cool.”
“We had a great truck all weekend and this thing’s been pretty spot on,” Whitt said. “We’ve just been turning things around from the way the season started.”
“Early in the race, we were good on long runs and our truck just couldn’t do it on short runs,” Whitt said, crediting that issue to his runner up status. “That’s what it just turned in to be. It was all short runs after that.”
Whitt also acknowledged that he went to school at the feet of Kyle Busch, especially on those late race restarts.
“Kyle is one of the best in the business on restarts,” Whitt said. “He definitely schooled me a few times and then I felt like I got a good one there at the end but it wasn’t good enough.”
“We’re all small team trying to make it big.”
Matt Crafton, driver of the No. 88 Menards/Certain Teed Chevrolet, came in third but that was good enough for him to claim the points lead in the Truck Series.
“At the beginning of the race, I couldn’t fire off and I was really, really loose,” Crafton said. “But at the end of the run, we’d be one of the best trucks on the race track.”
This was Crafton’s sixth top-10 finish in 11 races at the Monster Mile. He is now leading the points by five over teammate Johnny Sauter.
“It’s great to be the points leader,” Crafton continued. “We just need to keeping doing what we’re doing and running top five every week and having these top three finishes and throw a couple of wins off and see where we are at Homestead.”
Austin Dillon, behind the wheel of the No. 3 BassProShops/Remington/Tracker Boats Chevrolet, finished in the fourth spot. Harvick rounded out the top five.
Another notable in the race finishing order was rookie Joey Coulter, who qualified fifth and finished sixth in his No. 22 RCR/Rip-It Chevrolet. This was Coulter’s first trip to the Monster Mile and the driver and his family were thrilled with the result.
Brendan Gaughan, James Buescher, Ron Hornaday, Jr. and Justin Marks, the pole sitter rounded out the top ten.
Matty’s Picks – Vol. 1 – DOVER – May 15, 2011
With the discontinuation of the Speedway Media Pick’Um Challenge, I have decided that I like picking drivers so much that I would start my own column each week dedicated to who I think will win the race come Sunday afternoon.
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[/media-credit]Now I am not claiming to know everything there is to know about motorsports, but I like to think that I might be a little more knowledgeable about racing than your average fan. I’m not saying to re-mortgage your house on my picks (my apartment is way too small for another guest to move in), but at least you will have something to laugh at following the checkered flag on Sunday.
I seem to have fairly poor luck with picking the driver who I actually think will win on Sunday. If you have a favorite driver that is hurting in the points standings, you may want to let me know before my column is published on Friday, as many of my picks have been seen exiting the track on the back of a wrecker rather than in Victory Lane. My luck has been in my Dark Horse picks as of late (excluding not picking Trevor Bayne at Daytona).
With all this said, I have decided to stick with two picks per week; ‘Who I actually think will win’, and a “Dark-Horse” pick. The Dark Horse may not always be a team that is fighting for the 35th spot in Owner’s Points, but it might be a driver that is due for a win, starting a race for the first time, or it might be a driver that makes people say “not a chance he will have a top-10, what is he thinking?”
I have also decided to include a brief recap of how my picks faired during the prior week, and what my stats have been like up to that point.
Who I really think will win
For my first column, I have decided to pick my mother’s least favorite driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He must behave himself this week as he was placed on probation Tuesday for his incident with Kevin Harvick last week at the conclusion of the Southern 500 at Darlington. Kyle Busch is my pick for this week at Dover because of his recent stats at The Monster Mile. I have completely overlooked his less than impressive average finish of 20.8 at Dover, to examine the fact that he has two wins in the last five Sprint Cup races there. I think that Busch really had the car to beat last week and will flex his muscles this week and end up in Victory Lane on Sunday afternoon.
Dark Horse Pick
I have picked this next driver a few times this year, and each time he has impressed. Paul Menard is having a decent year for Richard Childress Racing, with two Top-5’s and 3 Top-10’s so far in 2011. Dover is Menard’s second-best track with respect to average finish (20.43 in 7 starts). He has yet to register a Top 5 but does have a Top 10 at the Monster Mile in the Sprint Cup Series. Menard has become familiar with running in the Top 10 this year, so look for a strong finish for him this week.
Be sure to stop by next week for a preview of both the Sprint Showdown Race as well as my picks for the All-Star Race Saturday night. If you have any insight or would like to help me pick for next week, you may send comments to riotwvu@yahoo.com.
Until next week, you stay classy NASCAR Nation!
Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch Show Unleashing on the Radio Can Be a Good Thing
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[/media-credit]Before Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch starting ripping each other and dominating the headlines, Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch were making headlines by ripping their teams. Changes have been made to both the Truex Jr. and Busch teams over the last two weeks, after both drivers appeared to have had enough with what was taking place.
For Truex Jr. things came to a head two weeks ago in Richmond when he again had a car capable of contending for a top 10 finish but wouldn’t be around at the finish. It was a continuing trend for the No. 56 NAPA team from Michael Waltrip Racing, strong early but sputter to the finish. At Richmond the culprit was a loose wheel after Truex Jr. drove to the lead for a total of 12 circuits.
That’s when things started to go wrong as the loose wheel lead to an unscheduled pit stop and soon they were multiple laps down. In the end they would finish 27th after Truex Jr. blew up on the radio telling his team “You’re all f—— fired. Every goddamn one of ya!” A few days following the race MWR did indeed fire pit crew members on the 56 team: front and rear tire changers and carriers.
Said Truex Jr. last week, “The last five weeks have been very tough on this NAPA team. We’ve run well and have very little to show for it. But in Richmond, it was hard not to say anything when our night ended the way it did. NASCAR is an emotional sport. We go from taking the lead and me screaming, ‘Hell yea!’ on the radio to having a loose wheel and going several laps down. I got pretty upset.”
Truex Jr. continued by saying when things are going wrong changes need to be made, even the driver should he not be doing his part. For Truex Jr., he says he wants to win more than anything in the world and continually having problems is what lead to his outburst.
And while Truex Jr.’s fit behind the wheel might have been new, the same can’t be said for Penske Racing’s Kurt Busch. Ever since the season opening Speedweeks and Daytona 500, nothing has gone right for the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil team. The won two of the three races they were entered in but since leaving Florida it’s been downhill and fast for the team.
Busch has repeatedly blown up on his radio, calling out his team for their troubles. They’ve dropped like rocks through the point standings going from first to currently sitting eighth heading into Dover.
At Richmond Busch let off more profanity laced communication to his team, of the most memorable, “We look like a monkey f—— a football. The f—– Penske cars are a f——- joke.” Busch then turned his attention to Penske technical director Tom German and laced him with unpleasant thoughts.
Before Darlington, Busch said he felt that ranting over the radio helped. While many others in and around the sport have stated in the past they don’t believe in handing team business over the radio, for Truex Jr. and Busch it ended up being a benefit.
Others believe in taking care of business behind closed doors. No reason to spread it around the media and make things worse. Even drivers who are having issues with other drivers sometimes refused to speak about it in public, instead choosing to make a phone call or send a text message.
Blowing up over the radio is becoming a popular and now effective way of getting what you want. Truex Jr. and Busch never heard about how they shouldn’t have publicly insulted their crew members, who might have already felt bad. Instead, they were noted as having some pull in their respective organizations.
Truex Jr. with the new crew and for Busch, it was announced earlier this week that German was going to be leaving Penske to attend the Sloan School of Management at MIT. Whether or not it was solely because of Busch’s rant is up for debate, but the timing is certainly ironic, which Busch not only noted Friday at Dover but said that “my voice has been heard through the Penske organization.”
It is not however, the first time a driver has been heard loud and clear. Last year in the Nationwide Series when driving for his own team, it almost became a weekly occurrence for Kevin Harvick to be upset with his pit crew, even calling them idiots during a race he would eventually win.
After California late last year he told them he was terrified to come down pit road and that if they couldn’t stand the pressure they needed to find something else to do. Then again, Harvick was battling the same problems in the Cup Series at the time and after saying his team wasn’t gaining him positions on pit road team owner Richard Childress swap his pit crew with teammate Clint Bowyer’s.
While his crew members weren’t swapped out or fired, Dale Earnhardt Jr. made sure they knew how he felt once saying, “If the wheels come off and I hit the wall real hard, I get to whack every damn one of you with a hammer.”
Of course as Truex Jr. said, this is an emotional sport and on any given weekend 43 driver frequencies can seem better suited for Comedy Central then victory lane. Every individual handles adversity and pressure situations differently. Some can control their tempers and have high tolerance levels.
Truex Jr. and Busch finally crossed theirs and repercussions were felt. Fortunately for both the wanted results may now be just around the corner. Sometimes, making your problems public works out well and Truex Jr. and Busch might have just opened the flood gates for more drivers to start ranting, raving and calling for and getting changes from the driver’s seat.
