Richmond – A Camoflage Affair
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[/media-credit]It was a short track. It was a night race. So this race should have been an incredible journey back to the old school racing that made NASCAR a household word. But from the beginning of the week end it was obvious that something was missing. The first races of the weekend might have been the problem. Did they set the pace.
The K&N East series race lacked luster and excitement. It was to be blunt, dull. It was a close race at the front between Darrell Wallace Jr and Max Gresham. Wallace, from Mobile, Ala., gained his third victory in just his 13th career start in the K&N Pro Series East. He took the lead from Gresham for the first time on Lap 55, and the two later swapped it following a restart on Lap 78, and for the decisive time on Lap 79.
“We just had to be patient, and be there at about halfway,” Wallace said. “[Max] Gresham was pretty strong, and I think we just a little bit better car and a better line, and we just took it away from him.”
Next on the schedule was the Denny Hamlin Late Model charity race. A thunder storm that moved through the area kept the crowd to a minimum but Denny Hamlin finally won his own charity race.
Although he was scheduled to start on the pole for the race, he choose to start from the back. Hamlin moved his way through the pack avoiding accidents along the way to join team mate Kyle Busch at the front of the field. The final restart came when Max Gresham and Darryl Wallace Jr tangled causing the final caution.
Busch took the lead at the green but ran out of gas on the back stretch allowing Hamlin and Michael Waltrip to take over the point. “I’m glad he ran out of fuel because it might have got ugly,” Hamlin said. “Trust me; if Kyle wouldn’t have run out of gas, I would have done everything possible to get around him.”
Hamlin, who said last week that the race raised over $100,000 last year, said he will wait to see how much money was raised this year, then give 10 percent to help tornado victims. Where that money will go specifically will be determined by where there is the most need, he said.
His usual charities — the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, St. Jude Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital in Richmond — will receive the other 90 percent of money raised.
Friday would bring the Nationwide Series to the spotlight with Carl Edwards starting the Fastenal Ford Fusion from the pole of the Bubba Burger 250. The race would have strange turns of events throughout its course.
The most prominent of those oddities was the lack of cautions. Only 2 yellow flags waved for the entire race. The long green flag runs made for a decisively boring race that saw Denny Hamlin lead for 199 of the 251 laps.
The second was a penalty assessed by NASCAR to pole sitter Carl Edwards. Edwards who ran out of gas and had to push started was penalized for working on the car outside the pit box even though the rule clearly gives him 3 boxes to be pushed by crew to restart the car. The penalty put the pole sitter 5 laps down and for the most part eliminated him from competition.
NASCAR would announce on Saturday that they had made an error with the penalty and in fact Edwards and his Jack Roush crew were in the right. No change was made to the finishing order.
The third oddity came when Aric Almirola’s Hellmann’s Chevrolet ran out of fuel on the back stretch. Almirola who asked for team mate Josh Wish to give him a push, instead found help from former Jr. Motorsports driver, Brad Keselowski. Keselowski pushed the car to the opening of the pit road and then took a run with a hard push to propel the 88 down the pit road before resuming his position on the track.
Almirola who was not under power at that time was deemed to be speeding on pit road. His crew who worked quickly to refuel and change tires got the car to refire almost immediately.
As Almirola left the pit road it was deemed that he was speeding off pit road as well. To further add confusion to the issue, television commentators stated the speeding was to avoid going a lap down and a penalty would be assessed. With in seconds Almirola began to back up in the line up to the last position on the lead lap as is customary for speeding under caution. The final position was 7th. Almirola came across the line in 5th position on the checkered flag which waved with the caution flag.
The 88 was originally credited by NASCAR timing and scoring as finishing in the 5th spot. Shortly after the conclusion of the race Almirola was relegated first to the 6th position and then finally to the 14th spot one lap down. NASCAR put him one lap down due to the speeding penalty and said he should have started at the end of the one lap down cars.
Almirola who was obviously upset, stated, “They are going to have to explain this one to me. I went from 5th to 14th after the race.” Almirola and Crew Chief Tony Eury Sr spent time in the NNS hauler discussing the issue.
In defense of Almirola, he was scored first 5th then 6th then 14th. He was not alone in his finishing position being changed after the race several drivers’ positions changed and the final finishing order was not available until after 1 AM CST. At that point Nascar.com still listed Aric Almirola and the 88 in 5th position. The next morning the line up had been changed yet again.
The final oddity occurred when Danica Patrick was shown as the driver for the 7 car out of the JR Motorsports stable. The NASCAR 2011 game sponsored car was driven by Josh Wise and finished 6th. Speeds “unofficial results” show Patrick as finishing 3rd in the 7 car. The 7 car however, was never in the 3rd position on the race track.
The Sprint Cup race would be frustrating to say the least. Long green runs were followed by yellows every 10 laps and then a long green flag run to the checkers. The viewers at home and the fans in the stands seemed to be the only people wondering about the outcome, the announcers for Fox seemed to know who the winner would be from the beginning of the race. Constant proclamations of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin would indeed prove to be the case as the Gibbs team finished 1st and 2nd.
The race was full of action typically seen on a short track. Tempers flared between Juan Montoya and Ryan Newman with Newman going to the hauler to see “what they intended to do with the 42.” Montoya exited the track on a golf cart immediately following the race with no comments given to the press.
Jeff Gordon who undoubtedly had one of the strongest cars in the field was wrecked in a multiple car pile up on the front stretch and hit hard with the driver’s side door on the only accessible wall that did not have a safer barrier. Gordon was slow to exit the car, but said later on Twitter that he was fine, but would be sore for a couple of days.
The usually strong Budweiser Chevy faded late in the race to finish a lap down, a performance very uncharacteristic of Kevin Harvick. He was not the only car to struggle uncharacteristically. Jimmie Johnson rallied late to finish 9th but struggled the entire race. As did Dale Earnhardt Jr who had to stop late in the race for fuel and was thus relegated to a 19th place finish 2 laps down.
The fact that a short track race became a fuel mileage situation was frustrating. Fuel mileage races are for the most part a boring affair. This was no different. Although it had all the short track action, it was just an ok race. It left this writer scratching her head.
What happened? Why did this race go from being a promise of exciting old school racing to a snoozer? All the pieces were there. Yet the most excitement came from the radio communication of drivers like Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr, and Ryan Newman. If you were not able to partake in the scanner communications the race was well drab.
This race truly was a camouflage affair. It had all the promise of the hunt and yet at the end it fell short of its promise. It was not the track itself. It was not the cars or even the drivers’ performances. It was that one missing link. It was the missing something that kept the race from being good that made it just ok.
Richmond was full of the high strung antics of the thoroughbreds that make up the Sprint Cup roster. The angry words, the angry antics, the promise of long memories, drivers who were angry at cars, engineers, teams, pit stops and well just themselves; for all of the hype Richmond fell short of being a good show. That perhaps was the biggest surprise of all.
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Congratulations to Darrell Wallace Jr on his K&N East series win. He showed the grace and class in victory lane that one must possess to be a champion of the sport. I look forward to watching him grow within the sport. Congratulations to Denny Hamlin on his Nationwide Series win. He put on a dominating performance. Congratulations to Kyle Busch on his Sprint Cup win. Happy Birthday Kyle and may you have many returns on the day. Kudos to the Lowes Race team on never giving up, the perseverance of champions was never more evident than it was in Richmond on Saturday night. You proved how you became 5 time champions and why you are challengers for the 6 pack.
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.
Competitors Don’t Condone Juan Pablo Montoya’s Retaliation in Richmond
Rubbing is racing but Juan Pablo Montoya had none of it Saturday night in Richmond. Never known to back down, Montoya was out for revenge after contact with Ryan Newman sent his pole-winning car to pit road for repairs and an eventual 29th place finish.
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[/media-credit]The two got together on the backstretch on lap 106 after Newman got into Montoya’s right rear. It bounced the No. 42 off the wall and damaged the right quarter panel and spoiler. Upon returning to the track, Montoya went in search of Newman to return the favor and the Stewart-Haas Racing driver knew it was coming telling his team “it’s not cool.”
On lap 236 Montoya succeeded and Newman suffered damage to the left side and rear of his No. 39 Chevrolet. NASCAR did not black flag Montoya nor called him to the hauler for the obvious payback, instead telling him to steer clear of Newman the remainder of the race. When the checkered flag flew Montoya hightailed it out of the track, avoiding reporters and Newman who went to NASCAR for an explanation.
Fireworks were expected, media were in place as well the cameras after Newman stated during the race things would be taken care of outside the car. Instead everyone was left with nothing more than seeing what was once a hot ballon slowly deflate instead of explode. Short track racing at its best as tempers flared but there was no expected confrontation. It would be easy to pass off Montoya’s actions as just the repercussions of racing on a short track, but there’s a little more too it.
First, it’s not the first time Newman and Montoya have had a disagreement over track space. But it was seeing Montoya leave without confronting Newman that was much different than the Montoya seen in the past. In 2007 at Watkins Glen he got out of the car during the race and engaged in a discussion with Kevin Harvick, which turned to shoving and helmet pulling, after the two spun in turn one. Harvick said at the time it seems Montoya is running over someone every week.
At Homestead in 2009, he repaid Tony Stewart from early in the race when the two went door-to-door. The hit was again blatant and obvious, much like what occurred Saturday night. He’s not afraid to insult others, even his own teammate as he did last year at Las Vegas, or go at it with his pit crew and crew chief. Montoya can get as red hot as the color of his Target Chevrolet.
His competition is well aware of it too. They know what they’re getting into when they go head-to-head with Colombian. But whether Montoya was justified in feeling angry about the contact from Newman it doesn’t mean he has much sympathy.
Third place finisher Kasey Kahne normally isn’t aware of other on track action unless it’s around him. Kahne though, said Saturday night in regards to the incident that things are going to happen in this sport and a driver just needs to be strong and focus on getting what points he can.
Montoya has only made the Chase once in his NASCAR career, 2009. During that season his crew chief had to continually remind him about the big picture. He’s more of a here-and-now type driver and wants to get what he can, when he can and forget about the rest. If that means he has to ruffle a few feathers then so be it, he’s here to win not make friends.
Montoya is in a position to make the Chase early in the 2011 season. He sits ninth in points following his finish in Richmond with four top 10s in the first nine races. Actions though like on Saturday could end up costing him later in the season not only in terms of the Chase but he still searches for his first win on an oval.
There’s no room for repaying every driver who rubs him the wrong way. Whether it’s Newman or champions like Stewart, Jeff Gordon or telling Mark Martin he needs driving lessons, Montoya isn’t going to back down and neither will his competitor’s opinion’s of his racing style.
“I watch the screen,” said second place finisher Denny Hamlin when asked if he had seen the incident.
“I don’t like it. Every time Montoya has damage and you see who did it, they usually end up getting wrecked,” he continued. “You usually know that’s coming. You have to realize, Montoya, I like him, I think he’s a helluva driver but you can’t wreck everyone every time you get in an accident. Accidents happen. Guys make mistakes. Why hold grudges?”
More importantly said Hamlin “Makes it tough to get in the Chase, too.”
Surprising and Not Surprising: Richmond’s Crown Royal 400
After the sounds of the US Marine Drum and Bugle Corps playing the National Anthem and the command to start engines by surviving war hero and race namesake Staff Sergeant Matthew Hansen faded, Saturday night racing was officially underway at Richmond International Raceway.
Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Crown Royal Presents the Matthew and Daniel Hansen 400.
Surprising: It was surprising to see just how quickly the pole sitter Juan Pablo Montoya, in his No. 42 Target Chevrolet, fell from his prime starting position into a world of trouble with Ryan Newman, piloting the No. 39 US Army Medicine Chevrolet.
After some tussling back and forth for position, Newman had had enough with the ever assertive Montoya, sending JPM into the wall on Lap 106. Montoya returned to the track and on Lap 236 took his revenge. [media-credit id=5 align=”alignright” width=”258″][/media-credit]
After being spun out by Montoya, Newman was definitely hot under the collar. “I can’t believe they’re not going to black flag that 42 car,” Newman said. “I’m going to take care of this after the race.”
Newman did indeed head straight for the NASCAR hauler after the race to share his concerns and see what the sanctioning body had to say about the incident. Montoya, on the other hand, waved off the media, jumped on his golf cart and headed back to the motor coach lot without comment.
Newman declared he just wanted the situation to be handled fairly by the sanctioning body.
“I know that he (Montoya) ran up on me of (Turn) 2 there and I clipped him. I mean I’m not going to try to dump myself into the wall,” Newman said. “But to retaliate the way he did just didn’t show much class.”
Not Surprising: Since the track was Richmond, it was not surprising to see the Joe Gibbs Racing team at the front of the pack when the checkered flag flew. While Denny Hamlin had dominated the weekend, winning his own charity race as well as the Nationwide event, it was JGR teammate Kyle Busch, in his award winning M&Ms Pretzel Toyota, that led 235 laps including the final 84, to claim the victory.
“This race tonight was a good one,” Busch said. “We knew if we could go through traffic, we could win.”
“We just really got beat by our teammate,” Hamlin said. “He drove a great race. Our cars were dead equal. We just got beat.”
Surprising: There were definitely some surprising names in the top ten finishers when the checkered flag flew at RIR. Both Red Bull drivers, Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, and his teammate Brian Vickers, behind the wheel of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, had good nights.
Kahne, still smarting from his recent knee surgery, finished third and Vickers posted a tenth place finish.
Another driver David Ragan, piloting his No. 6 UPS “We Love Logistics” Ford for Roush- Fenway Racing, had a strong car especially at the end of the race, finishing fourth.
“It was a fun night,” Ragan said. “This is my favorite track to come to. Back in 2007, we finished third here and I have really liked the place since.”
The final driver not usually in the top ten but with a great run at Richmond was AJ Allmendinger. With new sponsor Nautica on his No. 43 Ford Fusion, the ‘Dinger brought his car home in the seventh spot.
“Sometimes in these races, you have to get a little lucky,” Allmendinger said. “We have been on the bad end before with good cars so I will take luck over skill any day.”
Not Surprising: Although mightily struggling for much of the race, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson found his inner rally and finished eighth.
“We had a good finish out of it but it was a long, long night,” Johnson said. “We got the car semi-competitive and then finally got some strategy, got back on the lead lap and we went from there. So, frustrating night but a good points night.”
Surprising: Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon had a surprisingly bad night. Gordon yet again found a non-safer barrier wall and wrecked into it driver’s side first.
The crash on Lap 301 also collected Paul Menard, Mark Martin, David Reutimann, Bobby Labonte, Jamie McMurray and Matt Kenseth.
“It knocked the wind out of me,” Gordon said after his visit to the infield care center. “I seem to find the worst angles of walls.”
“What a shame,” Gordon continued. “The Dupont Chevrolet was so strong. With 100 laps to go everyone was losing their patience including me. I just wish they had a safer barrier there.”
Not Surprising: Unfortunately, it was not surprising that Team Penske continued their struggles. Kurt Busch, in the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, had all kinds of trouble, from the initial wreck involving Montoya, continuing throughout the race. Teammate Brad Keselowski, in the Blue Deuce, was also involved in several crashes. Busch finished 22nd and Keselowski finished 36th.
Surprising: After returning to the lead lap via the ‘lucky dog’ process, Dave Blaney, with his newly committed sponsor Golden Corral on his No. 36 race car, managed to move forward at the end of the race to finish 13th, his season’s best. Blaney, racing not start and parking for Tommy Baldwin Racing, has now locked himself into the top 35, firmly ensconced in 32nd in the point standings.
Not Surprising: Carl Edwards had another strong run, posting a fifth place finish in his No. 99 Scotts EZ Seed Ford. He also maintained the top spot in the point standings, nine points over second place Jimmie Johnson and thirty points ahead of race winner Kyle Busch in third.
“That was a lot of work,” Edwards said. “I think that feeling of fifth here tonight will be replaced with the points lead feeling in a little bit and that will feel better.”
In Knee-d of a Good Result: Hamlin and Kahne Battle Back in Richmond
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[/media-credit]After the Crown Royal presents the Matthew & Daniel Hensen 400 concluded on Saturday night in Richmond I put in a call to my doctor. A checkup wasn’t needed and I wasn’t hurt but I had a request – sign me up for knee surgery.
The hope is that I might hit the lottery or have some stroke of good luck. After all, both Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne had knee surgery in the last year and have had great fortune since then. Hamlin won seven races last season and nearly won the championship. He finished second Saturday night in Richmond, his best finish of the 2011 season.
“It was a good night,” said Hamlin. “We knew pretty early on, the 18 was going to be tough. It’s tough when you share notebooks. You know those guys got exactly what you got. Every trick in the book on short tracks, those guys have it. Kyle has the talent. We knew they were going to be tough to beat.”
Continued Hamlin, “It’s all we had. My plan was to really conserve the first part of the last run and let him go out there and run. I was going to just kind of sit back and wait and save my tires. Just when I tried to make a run, I didn’t have the grip I needed to close in enough.”
Following his impressive performance in 2010, Hamlin’s No. 11 team started on a sour note early in the 2011 season. From blown motors to bad luck, they were buried in the points and were already written off by many. It was a losing the championship hangover.
Except, there’s always Richmond, his home track. If there were something seriously wrong with Hamlin and his team it would show with a poor performance. Just days after denying that his crew chief was going to be replaced, Hamlin went out and won his charity event Thursday night.
Friday he did his best Kyle Busch impression by leading 199 of 251 laps to win the Nationwide Series race. Now two-for-two on the weekend the attention turned toward sweeping the weekend and turning his season around.
Mission accomplished. Hamlin easily drove from his 11th starting position to take the lead on lap 73 from none other than Kahne. He would lead 37 of 400 laps but was no match for his teammate and brought home a much-needed top five.
“It’s my best finish of the year,” said Hamlin about whether he was upset he didn’t win. “I’m ecstatic, to be honest with you. You can’t be mad at second place. Yeah, I want to win, trust me. It burns that you didn’t win. But how we didn’t win I can live with.”
Meanwhile, Kahne finished third, also his best finish of the season. Last week he had surgery to repair his right meniscus after like Hamlin, he hurt himself playing basketball. Many have joked that team owners should begin putting a clause in driver’s contracts about avoiding any other sport.
“My knee feels fine,” said Kahne. “It’s actually a little bit tight, you know, a bit swelled up maybe. But other than that, it feels fine. I never thought about it once throughout the race. So it was more about the car. So if you’re not thinking about it, it’s obviously not hurting.”
Early Saturday night it appeared Kahne was having trouble when overheard on his radio that his foot was slipping off the pedal. Whatever the problem was it quickly worked itself out, Kahne became one of the quickest cars on the track and soon was running in the top five.
As the race neared its conclusion and fuel mileage entered the picture the No. 4 Red Bull team suddenly became a little more animated. A great opportunity had presented itself and they were ready to take advantage of it as they brought home their first top five of the year.
“Well, I’d say at Phoenix we ran top 10 the whole race,” said Kahne. “Here we were more probably closer to fifth, sixth, right in there, third to sixth or seventh. We were a little bit better tonight for sure … it’s kind of been a while since we had a car that could win. At points tonight I felt like we had a shot. Early on, I thought I was driving away. I saw Denny in my mirror. Made me mad for a second. It was a solid night for us.”
Hamlin and Kahne remain winless on the season. After nine races they sit 17th and 18th respectively in points. In order to run however, one must walk or in this case you must limp before you can walk then run and Saturday night was a step in the right direction for both drivers running to victory lane and making the Chase.
Next week the Sprint Cup Series heads to Darlington Raceway where both Hamlin and Kahne have won in the past.
