With an intense heat radiating from the track and an even more intense return to the track for Tony Stewart, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 55th annual Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon started second at Bristol but encountered handling issues that left him mid-pack for much of the race. He finished 16th, one lap down, and leads the Sprint Cup points standings by 27 over Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Ford Racing NSCS Notes & Quotes:
Irwin Tools Night Race Advance – Bristol Motor Speedway
Friday, August 22, 2014
Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 Ford...
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt finished 11th at Watkins Glen after an untimely late caution cost him any chance of winning. He passed Jeff Gordon to take over the lead in the Sprint Cup points standings, and now leads Gordon by four.
Things are not rosy at Roush Fenway Racing. Lately, they’ve lost their top driver to apparently Joe Gibbs Racing, and today they lost 3M as a primary sponsor on the No. 16 Ford of Greg Biffle. The performance has been putrid at best all year even though Carl Edwards has two wins, but Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. have not had the performance that a top team should have.
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt used a no-tire pit stop to take the lead and subdued the challenge of Kevin Harvick down the stretch to win the GoBowling.Com 400 at Pocono. The victory completed Earnhardt’s season sweep at the “Tricky Triangle” and was his third win of the year.
One of the biggest announcements of the Brickyard 400 weekend was that Roush Fenway Racing driver Carl Edwards would not be returning to the stable in 2015. In my honest opinion, this was beyond unprofessional by Jack Roush, especially on the morning of the fifth and final major of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon blew past Kasey Kahne on the final restart with 17 laps to go and cruised to his record fifth Brickyard 400 win. It was his second win of the season and strengthened his lead in the Sprint Cup points standings.
With the announcement by Roush Fenway Racing that Carl Edwards would not be returning in 2015 still reverberating throughout the garage, here is what else was surprising and not surprising in the 21st Annual Crown Royal presents The John Wayne Walding 400 at The Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The first shoe dropped Sunday morning. It was almost certain when Jack Roush revealed that Trevor Bayne would be driving the No. 6 Ford in 2015. Roush has only had three cars in recent seasons because of the lack of sponsorship, and it was almost unbelievable that he would field four in 2015.
