Junior: 'The right guy won the championship'

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Zack Albert

Four-time winner in 2014 endorses Gordon’s suggested tweak of new format

DORAL, Fla. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t exactly have a front-row seat for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup finale’s championship battle, finishing 14th in the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. But a day later and having had some time to reflect on the new playoff format’s conclusion, NASCAR’s most popular driver said he thought it was an invigorating success.

"I thought it couldn’t have gone any better for NASCAR," Earnhardt Jr. said Monday at the Trump National Doral, site of the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series awards banquet later that night. "I always go back to thinking about how I ran and what I could’ve done, but looking at the event as a whole, I thought it was great for NASCAR. I thought the right guy won the championship and I thought it was good to have a mix of different seasons, if you will — you had the guy with no wins and all the consistency, you had the guy with one win, a couple of guys with multiple wins, youth and experience. Everything across the board was represented and we got to see it play out."

Kevin Harvick stormed to the front on fresher tires at the end of the Ford EcoBoost 400, denying runner-up Ryan Newman for the victory and the championship, as Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano also faded late in their bids for the title. But all four hopefuls spent time contending for the lead, and the rash of yellow flags at the end forced their crew chiefs into varying pit-road gambles down the stretch.

"I thought those cautions at the end changed the strategy, but they were all legit," Earnhardt said. "There was a lot of stuff happening on the race track and it was an exciting race even without the championship battle involved, but I loved the way it played out. I think that NASCAR has got to be really pleased."

Earnhardt’s own path in this year’s Chase ended in the Contender Round elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway, but he made the most of his ousting with his first Martinsville Speedway victory the following week. While he wasn’t able to race for the title, he said that the system provided plenty of memorable moments, culminating in Sunday night’s finale.

Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate and a four-time series champion, said he would like to see tweaks adopted for future postseasons, including a separate points system for Chase drivers that wouldn’t penalize mistakes relative to the balance of the field, potentially awarding points for the rounds of 16, 12, 8 and 4 on a scale that equals the amount of title-eligible drivers remaining (16 points for first, 15 for second, 14 for third and so on).

Earnhardt said that such a proposal might prompt even more intensity, a tough task after a season full of high-pressure moments.

"I like his idea as far as us racing under a separate points system where you have 16 drivers and you get 16 to 1 point regardless of your finishing position, you’re just graded against the drivers in the Chase," Earnhardt said. "I think that’s fair and I think that would be easy and simple for the fans. I don’t particularly know that it would’ve played out any differently, but I believe yes, it’d be simpler and not so challenging for the drivers. It would allow us a little freedom to race a bit more aggressively, knowing that well, I’m just going to cost myself a couple of points versus 20. Much different scope and you can definitely race with more freedom because I felt, at times, stymied a little bit, by my ability to go out there and be aggressive. I felt sort of hog-tied and racing with too much caution, just trying to do X instead of thinking about Y and Z.

"I like that idea a ton, and I think you still maintain the integrity of the system we have and the excitement of it."

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Posted on November 17, 2014 by Zack Albert

Sprint Cup Series star tells tale of his own childhood mischief

DORAL, Fla. — When Kyle Busch‘s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup title hopes fizzled in the Contender Round finale at Talladega Superspeedway, there was still plenty of racing to focus on as he turned the page from this season to 2015 preparations in all three national series. But there’s another, more important focus from a different perspective coming next year, in the form of a bundle of joy for himself and his wife, Samantha.

Busch talked at length about his approaching growth into fatherhood Monday before the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series awards banquet, where he’ll accept team owner championship honors for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the truck tour. The couple announced in October that they were expecting their first child in May.

With on-track action complete for the year, the Busches are preparing for an offseason of shopping, studying up for their new arrival and working out schedule logistics.

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"That is priority number one since Talladega is just trying to get everything ready and all set," Busch said. "We’ve been online trying to find stuff, trying to figure everything out, reading books and what all comes with it. For us, you’ve got December and January pretty much to figure out what your nursery is going to be because as soon as you go to Daytona for two weeks, you’re home for three days and you’re gone for a month when you do your West Coast swing and then it’s a month later before the baby’s there. It’ll all come quick, I’m sure."

Though Busch regularly wheels cars at 200 mph for a living, he said the thought of hands-on participation in childbirth terrifies him. So does infancy.

"I’m ready for 2, 2 1/2. I’m ready for that age, right now. I could do that, no problem," Busch said, pointing to newly crowned Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick and his 2-year-old son, Keelan. "Walking around, talking a little bit, all that stuff. The zero to 12 months freaks me out — way too much work. We’ve got to figure it out on our own."

Busch alluded that the two may have their hands full, especially if the newborn’s earliest years are anything like his. He said as a youth, he escaped through the front door of his family’s home on a handful of occasions, usually on the way to his grandmother’s, just a couple of houses down the road. "I knew where the fun was," Busch smiled.

The couple should be content as long as the new child is able to avoid repeating the father’s mischief as a toddler. Busch recalled one of the first automotive experiences of his life, something that sounded as if it was plucked from a Calvin & Hobbes comic strip.

"I think I was 5 or something like that, my mom, she gave me the keys and was like, ‘here, go get in the truck. We’re leaving in 5 or 10 minutes.’ I was bugging her too much, I guess, so she gave me the keys," Busch said. "So I got in the truck, turned the key. I didn’t turn it on, I just turned the key enough to where — it was a 1983 Chevy Silverado — I pulled the lever and knocked her into neutral and rolled across the street into the neighbor’s wall.

"When she came out, I was in the passenger seat and she goes, ‘what the hell happened?’ and I go, ‘I don’t know. Wasn’t me.’ It was fine. I don’t think the neighbors ever fixed their wall, but I fixed the truck."

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