Tomas Scheckter To Fill In For Justin Wilson at New Hampshire
Dreyer and Reinbold Racing General Manager Larry Curry announced that Tomas Scheckter will be filling in for Justin Wilson, behind the No. 22, in the MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225 this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Scheckter has 116 IndyCar Series starts, including two victories and 44 top 10 finishes, most recently the Indianapolis 500 this year. He has made 14 starts in the past with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing.
“Even though we get that extra run time there Thursday (practice day), we have to cut to the chase fast,” Curry said. “We know him and he knows us, and it will take him only two or three laps to know what he needs out of the car and how we can adjust it.
“It was more of a choice based on who was available and who we had a relationship with. That was pretty simple actually.”
Wilson will miss New Hampshire after suffering a stable burst fracture of the fifth thoracic vertebra during practice at Mid-Ohio on August 6th. Wilson was release from an Indianapolis hospital on August 9th.
“Obviously, I have a little bit of a backache, but I’m just frustrated to not be at the racetrack,” Wilson said. “I think that we just started to get our season turned around and the car was really good at Mid-Ohio and I’m disappointed about that. I know that I’m going to miss the ovals and I think we’ve found some good stuff that was going to help our oval performance.
“So I’m just disappointed to not be the car, but my back is the most important thing. I’m going to try and get that to heal and get back to 100 percent as soon as possible and get back in the car. Also, the response has been incredible and it’s really nice to see that rather it’s on Twitter from the fans, or drivers and ex-drivers. Everyone has been really supportive, so thank you to all of them.”
IndyCar medical director Dr. Michael Oliger says Wilson will be treated with a back brace and be out for at least three months. Curry said that team co-owners Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl haven’t selected a driver for the races past New Hampshire. The schedule includes three road/street courses and two ovals after New Hampshire.
“We are talking about a lot of things on how we want to approach the rest of the year with the three road courses,” Curry said. “The next time we see our trucks in Indy will be after Labor Day, and then we only have four days to have the stuff ready for Japan. So we have to make some decisions quickly for the Infineon test.”
Surprising and Not Surprising: Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono
On a weekend where the patriarch of Pocono Raceway, Doc Mattioli, dramatically announced his retirement and sporadic rain made both the NASCAR Camping World Truck race and the ARCA Series race two-day events, it was no wonder that there was drama aplenty in the 38th Annual Good Sam RV Insurance 500.
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[/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Long Pond, Pennsylvania track known affectionately as the ‘Tricky Triangle’.
Surprising: Although known for his victory lap celebrations displaying a large American flag, it was surprising how the race winner put aside both the celebration and the pain of his broken ankle to patriotically pay tribute to the lives of the troops lost this weekend.
Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, climbed gingerly from his race car after taking the checkered flag to pay tribute to the Navy Seals and all who protect the country.
“I’m no hero,” Keselowski said. “The heroes are the guys that died in Afghanistan this weekend. And I want to spend time thinking about them.”
“I have a cousin in the Navy Seals,” Keselowski said. “It was really inspirational to me. That’s what it means to man up.”
“They were my inspiration for this weekend,” Keselowski continued. “I’m glad that we could win today but those are the heroes. I just drive race cars.”
This was Keselowski’s third victory in 74 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his second victory in the 2011 season. This was also Keselowski’s first victory at Pocono Raceway.
Not Surprising: With Keselowski’s set up in his car, it was no surprise that his teammate Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge, finished third. This was Busch’s 12th top-10 finish in 22 races at Pocono Raceway.
Although Kurt Busch did everything he could after the race to deflect the attention, it was also not surprising that he had the most significant altercation in the race, on and off the track. Busch got into it with five-time champ Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, as the two battled for position late in the race.
“Today was definitely a hard fought battle,” Busch said. “We were hanging on to it at the end. And I brought her home third.”
“We had a good battle all day, especially at the end with the 48,” Busch said. “We’ve had our battles and a lot of times I come out on the short end of the stick. But what I saw today was good hard racing.”
“That’s what race fans love to see, that’s what they bought this ticket for, that’s what they’re sitting in the grandstands, rooting on their favorite driver for to see him get out there, mix it up clean, and bring it home, just like what we were third and fourth.”
Surprising: At a track the he admittedly does not do well at and after spinning in the early laps of the race, as well as being penalized for pitting too soon, it was surprising to see the other Busch brother, Kyle, finish in the runner up position. This was the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota driver’s fifth top-10 finish in four races at Pocono but his 13th top-10 finish in 2011.
“The guys were flawless this weekend,” Busch said. “We worked real hard at it and it was fast.”
“That last caution killed us,” Busch continued. “I was really hoping to see it go green the rest of the way. Our car was fast out front.”
“All in all, it was a great day to come in second at one of my worst tracks.”
This was the second race of the day in which Busch finished second. He was also the bridesmaid to Kevin Harvick in the Camping World Truck Series race, held over due to the rain.
Not Surprising: Speaking of weather, it was not surprising to see it impact the race, which ended up being was halted for a rain delay lasting one hour, 40 minutes and 46 second. Principal among those drivers who suffered the consequences of the precipitation was pole sitter Joey Logano.
The driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet not only started the race in front but was in the lead when the rains came pouring down. In spite of doing every rain dance possible, Pocono Raceway got the track dry and the race resumed. Logano, however, did not resume well, struggling after the race restart, cutting a right rear tire down late in the race and finishing 26th.
“We just had a flat,” Greg Zipadelli, Logano’s crew chief, said. “You can’t predict that.”
Surprising: Teammates Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, and Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, had their hopes for a good race weekend surprisingly dashed at the ‘Tricky Triangle.’
Vickers suffered an engine failure early in the race and suffered his first DNF since Talladega, officially finishing 39th.
“We lost an engine,” Vickers said dejectedly. “It was tough. I think we had a good car.”
“We just haven’t had things go our way.”
Teammate Kahne also did not have things go his way. He got into a late race collision with Juan Pablo Montoya and finished 28th.
“We started the weekend off pretty strong,” Kahne said. “But in the race we just were behind.”
“It definitely wasn’t what I expected, especially for a team that’s run so well here in the past.”
Not Surprising: Since Jeff Gordon won the June 12th Pocono race, it was not surprising to see him power his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet back from a qualifying encounter with the wall to finish top ten in the August 7th Pocono race.
“I’m happy with our finish considering were we started, deep in the field,” Gordon said.
It was also not surprising that his fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammates had good finishes as well, with Jimmie Johnson in fourth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 9th and Mark Martin in 13th.
“We had a good car all day long and I’m real happy how that worked out,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said.
Surprising: With all the focus on ‘Iron Man’ Keselowski for gutting out his win and the new feud brewing between five-time champion Jimmie Johnson and one-time champion Kurt Busch, the driver of the No. 27 Certain Teed/Menards Chevrolet went surprisingly unnoticed.
Yet Paul Menard followed up his surprising win from last week at the Brickyard with a tenth place finish at Pocono.
“It was a good follow-up to last week’s win,” Menard said. “We fought hard for this top-10 finish.”
Not Surprising: It was not surprising that the three turns of Pocono wreaked havoc with many drivers, most significantly the driver of the No. 6 UPS Ford. David Ragan brought out the second caution early in the race when he spun, heavily damaging the back end of his car.
“I was probably a little too aggressive this early in the race,” Ragan said. “I ran out of race track and didn’t have enough room to chase it.”
With his 34th place finish, David Ragan not surprisingly became NASCAR’s biggest loser, plummeting three positions in the point standings to 19th, all but shattering his Chase hopes.
Surprising: There were a surprising number of lead changes, however, they were primarily due to green flag pit stops and not passing on the track. Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, had the lead four times for 65 laps and yet, in spite of that, still finished a surprisingly poor 15th at a track where he has excelled in the past.
Not Surprising: Given the intensity of the restarts, especially on the long Pocono straightaway, it was not surprising to see yet another driver get bit by a changing lanes before the start-finish line penalty. Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M/811 Ford, was assessed a pass through penalty, yet was able to learn from his mistakes, overcome it, and rebound to finish 8th.
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono
Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished seventh at Pocono, just days after signing a multi-year contract extension with Roush Fenway Racing, leading two laps on the way to his 13th top-10 result of the year. He remains atop the Sprint Cup point standings, and leads Jimmie Johnson by 11.
“Jack Roush went ‘all in,’” Edwards said. “Now, he’s ‘all out,’ and I’m a very rich and happy man. He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, and I put my name on the dotted line. That’s called a ‘dollar sign.’”
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[/media-credit]But how about that finish in Saturday’s Nationwide Series U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway, in which I crashed into and pushed Ricky Stenhouse’s car across the finish line. What a great time for Nationwide insurance to push their ‘accident forgiveness’ promotion.”
2. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson posted his seventh top-5 finish of the year, taking fourth in the Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono. Johnson and Kurt Busch scrapped for third place during the final laps, and after the race, the two exchanged words and had to be separated by their crews. Johnson is second in the point standings, 11 behind Carl Edwards.
“Kurt Busch is a lot like a cosmetic surgeon’s scalpel,” Johnson said. “He really knows how to get under your skin. Lucky for him, I have compassion for a driver whose personal life is obviously in turmoil. Kurt is just a few weeks removed from marital breakup; I didn’t want him to get ‘dumped’ again, so I held back.”
It’s true that Kurt and I had to be separated by our crews. And it’s also true that Kurt and I are separated by four Sprint Cup championships.”
3. Kyle Busch: Busch chased Brad Keselowski down the stretch at Pocono, but was unable to catch the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, falling short of his fourth win of the year and instead settling for the runner-up spot. Busch improved one spot in the point standings and is now 16 out of first.
“In a footrace,” Busch said, “the result would have surely been different. But let’s give Keselowski credit for dealing with the pain, and by ‘pain’ I don’t mean his teammate, and my brother, Kurt Busch. Brad puts the ‘Ow!’ in Keselowski.”
4. Kurt Busch: Busch outdueled Jimmie Johnson for third at Pocono, banging doors down the stretch in a battle that continued after the race. Busch and Johnson argued vehemently after the race and had to be pulled apart by their respective crews. Busch improved two spots in the point standings to fourth and is now 14 out of first.
“They say the No. 48 crew is one of NASCAR’s best,” Busch said. “I agree. Not only did they keep Johnson out of trouble, they also did the same for me, because without their intervention, I likely would have been punched.”
But I refuse to back down from Johnson. And I’ll tell him that. I’ll speak my mind, and say to him the same thing I would say to my most bitter rival, or my car owner, or the former Penske technical director. I have a dirty mind, and I’m not afraid to speak it.”
5. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished a mediocre 14th at Pocono, his fourth-consecutive finish outside the top-10. Since winning atCharlotte in late May, Harvick’s best finish is a fifth, and while he’s still considered a championship contender, he needs to rekindle his winning ways before the Chase starts.
“I’ve got three wins on the year,” Harvick said, “and not much else lately. It’s known around here as the Harvick ‘win or else’ strategy.”
But if I need a good kick in the behind, recent history tells us that Richard Childress is probably good for it.”
6. Jeff Gordon: Gordon overcame a poor qualifying effort, starting 31st, on the way to a solid finish of sixth at Pocono, his tenth top-10 result of the year. He remained seventh in the Sprint Cup point standings, and is 52 out of first.
“Did you see the size of Brad Keselowski’s broken left ankle?” Gordon said. “With that being said, let me congratulate him on such a ‘swell’ victory.”
7. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth faced handling issues and faltering brakes at Pocono, yet recovered late in the race to finish 16th. Kenseth fell one spot in the point standings to sixth, and is now 26 behind Carl Edwards.
“What’s the significance of Jack Roush’s lucrative offer to Carl Edwards here at Roush Fenway?” Kenseth asked. “Well, it means there’s at least one person who wants Carl around.”
8. Tony Stewart: Stewart finished 11th in the Good Sam RV Insurance 500, following Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Ryan Newman, who finished fifth, across the line at Pocono. Stewart overcame a flat tire early in the race, falling a lap down, before rallying to nearly crack the top 10.
“Let’s hear it for Brad Keselowski,” Stewart said. “The guts it must take to not only drive, but win, with a broken foot. It appears nothing can stop young Keselowski, except a wall at Road Atlanta.”
9. Ryan Newman: Newman finished fifth at Pocono, scoring his seventh top-5 result of the year. He remained eighth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 62 out of first and a well-cushioned 40 point edge over Denny Hamlin in 11th.
“I imagine Brad Keselowski had to be gentle with his broken left ankle,” Newman said. “For that kind of courage, Tony Stewart and I commend him. That’s something I think neither Tony nor I would be able to do, because, as our personalities suggest, we’ve never ‘pussy-footed’ around anything.”
10. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski took an unlikely victory, winning at Pocono despite a broken left ankle suffered in a scary crash at Road Atlanta on Monday. Keselowski zoomed past Kyle Busch on a lap 185 restart and held off Busch over the final 15 laps. It was Keselowski’s second victory of the year, and placed him in prime position to claim a Chase For The Cup wildcard spot.
“I guess it’s now a good thing to be called a ‘wildcard,’” Keselowski said. “Sure, my win at Pocono was a surprising one. Surprising not because a driver won with a broken foot. Surprising because a driver was taking legal pain killers.”
