Posted on by Zack Albert

Entire team shares joy of Talladega win

RELATED: Junior eager to compete in Coca-Cola 600

CONCORD, N.C. — One by one, Hendrick Motorsports employees took their places Tuesday afternoon, forming a receiving line that reached into the deeper regions of the Nos. 48 and 88 shop. Rarely has being single-file meant so much to a NASCAR team.

With each movement forward, a resounding signal came from the Hendrick Victory Bell, a relatively new but already rich tradition. Each blast from the bell’s clapper helped trumpet the No. 88 team’s most recent Talladega Superspeedway triumph — resounding in its own right — courtesy of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt himself stood at the end of the line, individually congratulating each team member for the win nine days earlier. It was a moment to see Junior not as the 40-year-old son of anointed stock-car royalty or as NASCAR’s most popular driver, but as merely another member of the team.

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"I think he just likes to be really in tune with his guys," said Travis Peterson, in his first year as an engineer for the No. 88 operation. "He’s obviously a huge figure and everybody sees that side of him, but I think he likes to just be his regular self and be buddies with everyone who’s on his team, just to know you on a more personal level.

"He wants everyone to enjoy it and have a good time. He doesn’t want it to be such a strict job. He wants everybody to enjoy racing, since for us, it’s not a real job — it’s what we enjoy doing. We just make our hobby into a career."

Earnhardt shook every hand Tuesday to extend what was already a raucous celebration of his sixth career victory at Talladega. There was enough bell-ringing to make churches envious, but there was also the personal touch of heartfelt appreciation at the end of the line.

Since Earnhardt has an ownership stake in the Hendrick-affiliated JR Motorsports team, he’s already comfortable keeping tabs on racing operations from the shop floor. But beyond the ownership connection, there’s humility that transcends his at-track stardom.

"I don’t think it’s the ownership. It’s just his personality," said Rob Lopes, the No. 88 Chevrolet’s tire specialist. "He’s one of us, he knows what it takes and what goes into this deal. He knows it’s not just him, he knows it’s not just us — it’s a whole team thing and he know that without us, there is no him and without him, there is no us. It’s just ‘us.’ "

Lopes has been with the team since 2011, the year that HMS president Marshall Carlson first broached the idea for a Victory Bell tradition, taking a page from college football’s playbook with the creation of unique trophies for rivalry games. In the five years since, Hendrick cars have scored 41 wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

When the ritual was first created, Earnhardt was in the midst of a career-long slump that spanned more than three seasons. On the other side of the shop, stablemate Jimmie Johnson had just polished off the last of his five consecutive Sprint Cup championships for the No. 48 team.

Over the last two seasons, the division of success has balanced out somewhat, but the competitive fire hasn’t. Each team wants its place at the bell’s side. The fact that Tuesday’s celebration happened to take place within earshot of the office of Chad Knaus, Johnson’s crew chief, wasn’t lost on the No. 88 crew.

"In here, we’re one. But at the end of the day, we’re also competitors," said Adam Jordan, the No. 88 team’s interior mechanic. "We work together, but man, I really want to beat Chad Knaus every single day of the week. He just gets pissed when we beat him and vice versa."

Said Lopes: "It’s probably the healthiest competition out there, but it’s also the best-oiled two-car team you’re going to see. This building here has been referred to as one team that fields two cars, and that’s the way we treat each other."

After the shop portion of the ceremony was complete, the Victory Bell was off for the rest of its journey, hitting virtually every office on Hendrick Motorsports‘ sprawling 100-plus-acre campus. Fittingly, Earnhardt did the driving, turning the upright controls that helped the wagon’s go-kart wheels find their way around.

Peterson was able to celebrate atop the pit box — by his own admission, excitably so — at the track two weekends ago. But seeing the Victory Bell make its usual rounds, clanging all the while, brought home the team concept — from the engine and machine shop all the way through accounting and human resources — as the celebration touched all corners of the company.

"When you’re traveling, you get to experience it going to Victory Lane, being part of the intense moments of the race, but watching on TV is just not the same," Peterson said. "Being able to bring this around and get everybody involved is great for everyone who is here on the weekdays while we’re gone and keeps grinding on the cars."

WATCH IT AGAIN: Full race replay of Talladega, other races

Earnhardt handed a gift to each crew member as he exchanged greetings Tuesday afternoon. Inside each packet was a team-specific sticker commemorating the victory for each team member.

To hear the team members tell it, the celebration rarely deviates from its structured schedule, save for perhaps the recognition for winning the Daytona 500, NASCAR’s crown jewel race. While a certain amount of routine goes into each Victory Bell celebration, Lopes said savoring the spoils while adding another chapter to the team’s winning heritage never gets old.

"Any race, you don’t ever take a win for granted because you never know when your next one is going to be and you never know when your last one is going to be," Lopes said. "So you treat them all special. The bigger milestone races, sure, they might hold a little bit more light up to it, but … a win’s a win. The points are the same. The stickers that they put on next to a driver’s name, they aren’t a different color for a different race, they’re all the same.

"A win’s a win — we’ll take it."

Posted on by Zack Albert

Youngest national series winner will be age-eligible to run full time next season

RELATED: NASCAR’s future is bright … and young

Cole Custer was one of five returning members back for an encore with the unveiling of the 2015-16 NASCAR Next class of up-and-coming drivers on May 5. 

In the year-plus since being tapped to the youth initiative, Custer said he’s benefited from the extra visibility that the program provides. Landing a prized spot with JR Motorsports, co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., hasn’t hurt.

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The 17-year-old Custer said he’s learned plenty about the sport’s inner workings from his NASCAR Next participation, especially in dealing with media requests as his profile rises. But he suggests there may be some carryover in the confidence category as well.

"We’re definitely going to have more hype going into our future races because of this, but it’s something that’ll bring some momentum going into the races, too," Custer said. "Just being talked about — you’re known now. I think it definitely helps you going in."

When JR Motorsports announced in January that it would expand its racing program in to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Custer was selected for a 10-race slate. Though his truck resume spanned just nine career starts at the time, one of those was a comeback victory from the pole position last September at New Hampshire, making him — at 16 years, 7 months and 28 days old — the youngest winner in one of NASCAR’s three national series. 

The triumph — and the potential for more in the years ahead — made team owners take notice.

"It’s definitely jump-started it," Custer said of the win’s impact on his career. "We had a real good run there at Loudon and that was a real key thing in trying to progress in a different series and with different teams, meeting new people. I think it was just something that was real important for me."

PHOTOS: Meet the NASCAR Next Class of 2015

Custer carried the flag for JRM in the organization’s Truck Series debut at Martinsville Speedway in March, springing into the lead with five laps left in regulation before late-race contact shuffled him back in the finishing order. While 16th place wasn’t the favored result, the performance — bookended by a front-row starting spot and leading laps late — was encouraging.

Custer said there’s pressure that goes along with the expectations. He also indicated he hopes the team can handle both.

"For sure. They expect championships and wins at that program. That’s the deal there," Custer says. "We definitely want to go out there and win every single weekend, and we think we have the capability of it." 

Custer’s schedule this season is a partial one, in part because of a NASCAR-mandated age limit of 18 years old for tracks longer than 1.25 miles. Though he’ll be free to compete virtually unrestricted when he turns 18 next January, he said his 2016 plans are still in the formative stages.

"We’re not fully sure right now," Custer said. "We’re really focused on this year and trying to succeed but we’ll see. Hopefully, I would love to run full-time for them, but we’ll see in the future. I think there’s a lot of different things that happen, and we’ll see."

MORE: Learn more about NASCAR Next

 

Posted on by Nascar

Allgaier discusses cautions, Charlotte to have new tires and more

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Justin Allgaier says he understands the concern voiced about the timing of caution flags in the past two weeks, but said Tuesday from his team’s shop in Spartanburg, South Carolina, that he has no issues with how the end of the races have been officiated.

"Obviously if you are the car that everybody’s screaming by, you’re probably going to have a lot greater issue with it," the HScott Motorsports driver said.

Two weeks ago at Talladega after Carl Edwards crashed on the final lap of the GEICO 500, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was critical of the lack of a caution flag being thrown for his incident as well as how others reacted after his No. 19 Toyota slid down onto the apron then shot back up on the racing surface.

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Several cars, including Allgaier’s, were still at speed and with no caution being thrown shot past Edwards’ out-of-control entry.

"I saw the crash, and I’ve seen enough crashes in that regard with the way that it happened to know that they don’t (normally) come back onto the race track," Allgaier said.

"When I came into the sport, the answer was always lock it down and turn to the left, that was always the big deal. In my mind, and seeing what happened to Carl, I felt like the way the circumstances were playing out that that’s what was going to happen."

Edwards’ teammate, Denny Hamlin, voiced similar concerns this past weekend after he was involved in a crash at Kansas Speedway.

"I keep spinning out, I keep hitting the wall and I can’t figure out why everyone is still coming at 200 (mph), and I look and the green light is still on," Hamlin said afterward.

"They didn’t throw a caution until seven seconds after I wrecked. Luckily nobody hit us. They’ll continue to monitor the situation is what they’ll say."

On Monday, Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s executive vice president and chief racing development officer, said officials hoped to speak with Hamlin this week.

Officials did throw the caution at Talladega when a multicar incident occurred just moments after Edwards’ spin.

"My spotter had already done a great job calling the wreck out, the back straightaway wreck had already happened, so obviously the attention had already moved to that because there were more cars involved," Allgaier said.

"The first wreck was kind of buttoned up and we’d already kind of written it off. I think when I got there I wasn’t at full speed by any means but I wasn’t (going) 50 mph, either."

On larger tracks such as Talladega where drivers often would have enough time to slow their cars before making their way back around to the scene of an incident, officials lean toward allowing the race to finish under green-flag conditions when it’s the last lap of the race. If the crash is severe, then getting emergency vehicles dispatched to the scene takes precedence.

If a crash brings out the yellow flag before the leader has taken the white flag (signifying one lap remaining), officials will make up to three attempts at a green-white-checkered finish.

RELATED: NASCAR’s racing flags and what they mean

Allgaier says that’s important for the fans.

"I look at the IndyCar finishes that end under yellow. They had one earlier this year I think, and I think everybody would have loved to have seen it … finish under green.

"For us, we get three attempts. If you can’t figure out in three attempts, we probably don’t need to finish it. But I feel like if I was a fan paying money to see a race, I’d like to see it end under green."

New Right-Side Tires for Charlotte

A Goodyear tire test in March has resulted in a change to the right-side tires for teams competing in this weekend’s Sprint All-Star Race (May 16, 7 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM) as well as next weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 (May 24, 6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).

The new tire contains a multi-zone tread, according to Goodyear. The outboard 10 inches of the tire features the same compound used at Charlotte Motor Speedway last season.

Aric Almirola (Richard Petty Motorsports), Kasey Kahne (Hendrick Motorsports), Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing) and J.J. Yeley (BK Racing) participated in the tire test.

The left-side tire is the same as that used in ’14.

Teams competing at CMS in Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series NC Education Lottery 200 (May 15, 8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1 , MRN, SiriusXM) will use the same tire set-up as those in Sprint Cup.

XFINITY Series teams competing this weekend in Iowa in the 3M 250 (May 17, 2 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM) will have the same left-side tire set-up as last season, but it will be paired with a new right-side configuration.

Kansas Penalty Totals

NASCAR officials meted out 30 penalties during the running of Saturday night’s SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas, flagging teams most often for pitting before pit road was officially open. It’s a common occurrence during events as teams typically hit pit road early to repair damage as soon as possible, knowing that the violation will result in re-starting the race at the back of the field. It’s a loss of track position that, in most cases, they’ve already lost.

J.J. Yeley and the No 23 team became the first to be penalized this season for pitting after already having taken the wave-around. The infraction occurred on Lap 100. The penalty was the loss of one lap.

There have been 30 or more penalties handed down in seven of this year’s 11 Sprint Cup races.

Posted on by Nascar

Despite troubles, Team Penske driver scores fifth-place finish

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – If Joey Logano hopes to contend for this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, the Team Penske driver and his No. 22 team will have to avoid the kind of mistakes that took them out of contention during Saturday night’s rain-delayed SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway.
 
Logano passed more cars than any other driver at Kansas, 147 according to NASCAR loop data, and came home with a not-so-terrible fifth-place finish, his sixth top-five result in this year’s first 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

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But missteps by the driver and team continually put the yellow Ford at the back of the field, requiring Logano to work his way through rush-hour-like traffic on at least two occasions.
 
"We inverted the field on ourselves," Logano said sheepishly. "We got most cars passed and it was fun, but … man, we did a terrible job. That’s pretty much what it comes down to."
 
The Daytona 500 winner joins the rest of the series this week at Charlotte Motor Speedway, site of Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star race (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, Sirius XM). A week later, Charlotte plays host to the Coca-Cola 600 (May 24, 6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM), the series’ longest affair.
 
He has finished as high as second in the non-points race and his average finish in points races there is better than any other facility. But he has yet to win at the 1.5-mile track.
 
And unless they avoid problems such as those that surfaced at Kansas, he’ll remain winless at Charlotte.
 
Although he started on the pole for the fourth time this season last weekend, and led the first 29 laps of the 267-lap race, a penalty during pit stops on Lap 95 (his crew was over the wall too soon) dropped him to the tail end of the field.
 
After working his way from 32nd back inside the top 10, Logano was flagged again on Lap 186 when he came down pit road before it was open under caution. That miscue sent him back to the rear once more, this time just outside the top 15.
 
"I typically hear it on my radio, whether (pit road) is open or closed," he said of the mistake. "I heard the call to pit but I never looked (at the pit entrance lights). I saw no one else was pitting and thought ‘we’re going to get off strategy here. I’m the only guy (pitting).’"
 
Fortunately for the team, Logano’s car had speed. He was back inside the top 10 once again by Lap 220 and fifth by the time the checkered flag finally appeared.
 
"We got a top five out of it because we had a fast car and we were able to recover," he said. "But just on all aspects we all just did a terrible job; We know how to do it, we’ve done it before, we execute really well; we just kept screwing up."
 
Logano made it to the Championship Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup a year ago, winning a career-best five times in his second season with the Penske organization. Based on his team’s showing thus far this year, he’s once again considered one of the favorites to battle for the title.
 
As long as he and the team avoid putting themselves in the type of precarious positions they found themselves in last weekend.
 
"We had a fast race car and that’s what saved us," Logano said. "But our execution was not very good. We’ve got to raise our game a little bit. We’ve got to clean it up."

Posted on by Staff Report

See which drivers are set to compete in Saturday night’s race

Entry # Driver Owner Crew chief Manufacturer Sponsor

1

1

Jamie McMurray

Felix Sabates

Matt McCall

15 Chevrolet

Bass Pro Shops

2

2

Brad Keselowski

Roger Penske

Paul Wolfe

15 Ford

Miller Lite

3

4

Kevin Harvick

Tony Stewart

Rodney Childers

15 Chevrolet

Hunt Brothers Pizza

4

5

Kasey Kahne

Linda Hendrick

Keith Rodden

15 Chevrolet

Time Warner Cable

5

11

Denny Hamlin

J D Gibbs

Dave Rogers

15 Toyota

FedEx Express

6

14

Tony Stewart

Margaret Haas

Chad Johnston

15 Chevrolet

Bass Pro Shops / Arctic Cat

7

18

Kyle Busch

Joe Gibbs

Adam Stevens

15 Toyota

M&M’s Red Nose Day

8

19

Carl Edwards

J D Gibbs

Darian Grubb

15 Toyota

ARRIS

9

20

Matt Kenseth

Joe Gibbs

Jason Ratcliff

15 Toyota

Dollar General

10

22

Joey Logano

Walter Czarnecki

Todd Gordon

15 Ford

Shell Pennzoil

11

24

Jeff Gordon

Rick Hendrick

Alan Gustafson

15 Chevrolet

Axalta

12

31

Ryan Newman

Richard Childress

Luke Lambert

15 Chevrolet

Cat/Quicken Loans

13

41

Kurt Busch

Gene Haas

Tony Gibson

15 Chevrolet

Haas Automation

14

43

Aric Almirola

Richard Petty

Trent Owens

15 Ford

Smithfield

15

47

A J Allmendinger

Tad Geschickter

Brian Burns

15 Chevrolet

Kingsford

16

48

Jimmie Johnson

Jeff Gordon

Chad Knaus

15 Chevrolet

Lowe’s Patriotic

17

88

Dale Earnhardt Jr

Rick Hendrick

Greg Ives

15 Chevrolet

Mountain Dew Baja Blast
Posted on by Staff Report

See who is on competing in Friday night’s event

Entry # Driver Owner Crew chief Manufacturer Sponsor

1

3

Austin Dillon

Richard Childress

Gil Martin

15 Chevrolet

Dow

2

6

Trevor Bayne

John Henry

Bob Osborne

15 Ford

AdvoCare Ford Fusion

3

7

Alex Bowman

Tommy Baldwin

Bono Manion

15 Chevrolet

TBA

4

9

Sam Hornish Jr

Richard Petty

Bono Manion

15 Ford

Victory Junction/Shop.com

5

10

Danica Patrick

Tony Stewart

Daniel Knost

15 Chevrolet

Mobil 1 / Aspen Dental Chevrolet SS

6

13

Casey Mears

Bob Germain

Bootie Barker III

15 Chevrolet

GEICO Military Chevy SS

7

15

Clint Bowyer

Rob Kauffman

Brian Pattie

15 Toyota

 Cherry 5-Hour Energy/Special Operations Warrior Foundation

8

16

Greg Biffle

Jack Roush

Matt Puccia

15 Ford

Ortho Ford Fusion

9

17

Ricky Stenhouse Jr

John Henry

Nicholas Sandler

15 Ford

Fastenal

10

23

J J Yeley(i)

Ron Devine

Joe Williams Jr

15 Toyota

Dr. Pepper "I’m a Pepper"

11

25

Chase Elliott(i)

Rick Hendrick

Kenny Francis

15 Chevrolet

NAPA AUTO PARTS

12

26

Jeb Burton

Anthony Marlowe

Patrick Donahue

15 Toyota

Maxim Fantasy Sports

13

27

Paul Menard

Richard Childress

Justin Alexander

15 Chevrolet

Serta / Menards

14

30

Jeff Green(i)

Curtis Key Sr

Dave Fuge

15 Chevrolet

Curtis Key Plumbing

15

32

Mike Bliss(i)

Archie St Hilaire

Clinton Cram

15 Ford

TBA

16

33

Alex Kennedy

Joe Falk

Patrick Tryson

15 Chevrolet

TBA

17

35

Cole Whitt

Bob Jenkins

Randy Cox

15 Ford

Speed Stick

18

38

David Gilliland

Brad Jenkins

Donnie Wingo

15 Ford

Love’s Travel Stops

19

139

Travis Kvapil(i)

Gordon Smith

Mike Chance

15 Chevrolet

TBA

20

40

Landon Cassill(i)

Michael Hillman

Mark Hillman

15 Chevrolet

Snap Fitness

21

42

Kyle Larson

Chip Ganassi

Chris Heroy

15 Chevrolet

Target

22

46

Michael Annett

Harry Scott Jr

Jay Guy

15 Chevrolet

Pilot Flying J

23

51

Justin Allgaier

Harry Scott Jr

Steve Addington

15 Chevrolet

BRANDT

24

55

David Ragan

Michael Waltrip

Billy Scott

15 Toyota

Aaron’s Dream Machine

25

62

Brendan Gaughan(i)

Jay Robinson

Scott Eggleston

15 Chevrolet

Vydox Plus

26

66

Tanner Berryhill

Jay Robinson

John Monsam

15 Chevrolet

TBA

27

78

Martin Truex Jr

Barney Visser

Cole Pearn

15 Chevrolet

Furniture Row/Visser Precision

28

83

Matt DiBenedetto

Ron Devine

Douglas Richert

15 Toyota

Dustless Blasting

29

95

Michael McDowell

Bob Leavine

Wally Rogers

15 Ford

Thrivent Financial

30

98

Josh Wise

Mike Curb

Gene Nead

15 Ford

TBA
Posted on by Pat DeCola
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/jimmie-johnson/
JimmieJohnson
1
Hendrick Motorsports
The first driver to three 2015 wins, Johnson has a great chance to pick up a fourth and a $1,000,000 check over the next two weeks at Charlotte, where he once won five of six straight races.
RELATED: Johnson holds off Harvick for Kansas win

Tough to fault Harvick for finishing second or better for the eighth time in 11 races, but Johnson’s three wins – all of which have come at 1.5-mile tracks – speak volumes. Either way, it’s a toss-up for No. 1 between these two this week, as it likely will be from here on out.
RELATED: Harvick reacts to Kansas race
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/dale-earnhardt-jr/
DaleEarnhardt Jr.
Hendrick Motorsports
Logano has earned four poles this season, finishing fourth (Atlanta), third (Martinsville), fifth (Richmond) and fifth (Kansas). The whole “start out front, stay out front” strategy seems to be working for him.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/brad-keselowski/
BradKeselowski
1
Team Penske
RELATED: Logano talks Kansas struggles
Truex’s race-high 95 laps led at Kansas were exactly 94 more than he led in all of 2014. That about sums up how things are going for the No. 78 driver this year as opposed to last year.
RELATED: Pit strategy foils Truex, No. 78 team late
Junior came within just a few laps of winning consecutive races for the first time in his career. Still, that third-place finish, behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and JR Motorsports employee? He’ll take it.
RELATED: Junior shakes off travails as teammate wins
Keselowski may get lucky if his first child is born over the next two weeks while the series is home at Charlotte – he presumably wouldn’t miss the All-Star Race or Coca-Cola 600. That said, despite his win at the 1.5-mile speedway in 2013, it historically hasn’t been a stellar track for him.
With Kevin Harvick the clear A+ driver at Stewart-Haas Racing right now, Busch isn’t too far off, hovering somewhere in A-/B+ territory. He once led nearly half of the Coca-Cola 600 (2010) — no small feat — so look for him to be strong over the next few weeks. Especially since he won’t be flying back and forth to Indianapolis.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/denny-hamlin/
DennyHamlin
-2
Joe Gibbs Racing
Gordon couldn’t quite match his Kansas feat of a year ago – i.e. picking up his first win of the season – but his fourth-place finish was still strong. As a four-time Sprint Cup All-Star Race winner and three-time Coca-Cola 600 winner, Gordon always does well at home, too.
As perhaps the lone bright spot of the Joe Gibbs Racing organization right now, Kenseth continues to rise both in the standings and Power Rankings. Now, he’ll head back to Charlotte to try to shake off the 19th-place finish the last time the series was there, along with the memory of his infamous run-in with Brad Keselowski.
RELATED: Kenseth spins, upsets Stewart
Newman picked up his seventh top-10 of the season at Kansas, but with so many ahead of him also having strong runs, he gets the short end of the “Didn’t do anything wrong, but drops anyway” stick.
RELATED: Newman reacts to final appeal ruling
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/clint-bowyer/
ClintBowyer
Stewart-Haas Racing
Many pegged the No. 42 as the stronger Chip Ganassi Racing car heading into 2015, but take a look at the standings. McMurray is eighth, with Larson a disappointing 22nd.
Kahne continues to start well (front row last two races) but hasn’t quite put it together in 2015 yet. If we don’t see strong performances from him over the next two weeks (career-high four wins at Charlotte) it may be time for the No. 5 team to reassess where they’re at.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/danica-patrick/
DanicaPatrick
-3
Stewart-Haas Racing
Hamlin was the odd man out in a four-wide situation that only had room for two, maybe three, cars on Saturday, and wrecked his race car. Still, just four top-10s in 11 races for a Championship 4 driver in 2014 is concerning.
Posted on by Brad Norman

No. 88 driver focused on earning first career Coca-Cola 600 win

RELATED: Junior goes from ‘big trouble’ to top 5 | Johnson gambles, wins

Although the Kansas race made Dale Earnhardt Jr. panic at one point late Saturday night, the No. 88 Hendrick Chevrolet’s fast finish to third in the SpongeBob SquarePants 400 has him excited about coming to Charlotte.

Junior said in this weeks "Dale Jr. Dowload" on Dirty Mo radio that the No. 88 team was confident coming off the truck at Kansas and started the soggy Cup race well, then things fell apart.

"Everybody was real loose. It was a bit of a shock, I think, for everyone how loose the track was. So everybody was skating around, having trouble. We were, too, but not as bad as most guys.

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"Then the next run it got worse. The next it got worse. We’re working on the car, and it’s getting worse. So I was freaking out. I’m panicking because we’re trying to fix the car, doing some pretty big stuff, and it’s getting worse."

A rain delay of 2 hours and 16 minutes wound up being a saving grace for Junior and the No. 88 crew. Junior said he climbed up on the pit box during the rain delay and let his emotion fly with crew chief Greg Ives.

"I’m about to go nuts, what are we gonna do, Greg?" Junior recalls saying at the start of the rain delay. "Greg said it was good I pushed him, but I think I aggravated him more than anything.

"He made some great changes. Him and Kevin and the guys put their heads together and did some good things."

Junior said the car was more like he expected after the race restarted, with good handling and great speed.

"So we took off haulin’ ass there, everything’s going good, passing cars," Junior said on Tuesday’s radio show, which took a few times to record because Gus Earnhardt was barking a lot as his master fired up the grill.

"Fun restarts on the outside, especially following Kyle Larson around the top. Me and him must have passed 10 cars on that one restart. The kid’s got some talent."

Larson wound up finishing 15th in the SpongeBob SquarePants 400, moving the Chip Ganassi Racing driver up two spots in the points standings to 22nd place. Earnhardt Jr. remains in fifth place, trailing leader Kevin Harvick by 77 points and Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson by 29 points.

Junior said he thought he might have been able to steal the win from Johnson had he started on the outside rather than behind Johnson on the inside on Saturday’s final restart.

But now his attention turns to the races at Charlotte, where he believes his strong finish last weekend bodes well.

"It’s got me excited for Charlotte. We’re going to another track for the first time with Greg Ives. We got a lot of stuff that we feel like worked there in the past. Bring on his new ideas and see what happens."

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Junior says he feels no pressure in running the Sprint All-Star Race, because it’s all or nothing with the $1 million on the line for the winner. He’s much more intense about the Coca-Cola 600.

"What I’m really wanting to focus on is the 600. I want to win that 600. I’d rather win the 600 than the All-Star Race. I just would. It’s just a much more important race for me."

Junior finished 19th in the Coca-Cola 600 last year. He never has won the 600, his best finish of fourth coming in 2000.  He won the All-Star event as a rookie in 2000.

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Earnhardt Jr.: ‘We were in big trouble when the race started’

RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid
SHOP: Dale Jr. gear

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Following Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s victory at Talladega Superspeedway, much of the conversation toiled around a hot topic — Did Jimmie Johnson ease off and let his teammate win in order to all-but-secure the No. 88 will be in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup this fall?

The answer was no, but it made for an interesting story line in Saturday’s SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway, when Earnhardt lined up next to his teammate on the front row for the final restart with six to go, and appeared to have the edge at first on the No. 48 Chevrolet of Johnson.

Even though the 88 would slip behind Johnson’s eventual race-winning car — maybe you could say he was just trying to let his race shop teammate pick up his record 23rd win on a 1.5-mile track — Junior came away from a rain-soaked Kansas happy, as a third-place finish was looking like a long shot before a two-hour rain delay interrupted the race.

"We had good adjustments. We were in big trouble when the race started," said Earnhardt, who, out of the top 10 at the time, tweeted:

"We thought we had a good car and we about screwed it up," he continued on pit road after the race. "We finally figured it out and all the guys back home gave us the tools to get it done."

The heavy skies above Kansas Speedway and a green, rubber-free track wouldn’t naturally make for a situation in which a loose race car had a shot, so the No. 88 team deserves a lot of credit for giving Earnhardt a Chevrolet that could battle it out with the other stout Chevys of Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr.

A good car is nothing without a good driver, though, and Junior showed late that restarts are quickly becoming his bread and butter as he picked up a few tips from a somewhat unlikely source.

"We had a few (great restarts), yeah, I mean I watched that No. 42 (of Kyle Larson) I was like ‘I know he’s going to do something; I’m going to just do what he does.’ Larson will hang it out there," Earnhardt said. "We went up there and me, him, the No. 22 (of Joey Logano) and a couple of guys passed like 10 cars in a couple of laps."

A few great restarts — and Junior didn’t even have the lane he wanted on the final one. 

"I was real jealous of that lane (Johnson) had," he said. "I think I could have done a better job than he did with it on that first lap. I couldn’t believe we still hung with him coming back with five to go or whatever. I thought he would have took off with that outside groove. I sure was jealous where he was restarting."

Earnhardt almost didn’t even get a chance to battle for the win, loose or snug race car.

About three-quarters of the way through the race, a four-wide battle between Junior, Busch, Denny Hamlin and Sam Hornish Jr. nearly got ugly, as it occurred where there’s really only room on the track for two cars. Hamlin took the brunt of it, getting pinched out and ruining his race car.

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"I know I’m going to get asked about the Denny Hamlin deal," Earnhardt said. "We were four-wide there and I thought I was where I was supposed to be. But there was not enough room for two cars on the outside of me. My fault; everyone else’s fault I think.

"I hate it for Denny because it ruined his car and ruined his night. The No. 41 (Busch) kind of got me tight off the bottom and then went four-wide. I was sitting there with the No. 41 there and them guys were coming off the wall and ran into us. It was just a mess."

On the whole, a long, but solid night for the No. 88 team, which sits fifth in points with a win in hand and can try a few different strategies at home the next few weeks, with the series shifting to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the sport’s Sprint All-Star Race (May 16, 7 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1) and Coca-Cola 600 (May 24, 6 p.m. ET, FOX)

"(My team has) really have been working hard all year," Earnhardt said. "We are working real well together and winning some races. Looking forward to the next one."