Johnson's spin could have huge implications

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Nascar

Six-time champ, needing a boost, will start 32nd Sunday

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — It is not the deepest in the field Jimmie Johnson has ever started a race in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.

But his 32nd-place qualifying spot for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (ESPN, 2 p.m. ET) is the furthest back in a Chase race since his 32nd-place qualifying run at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2005 — a year before his first title.

Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 team finished 40th at Homestead.

Given the new format for the Chase, a similar result here Sunday wouldn’t be the death knell for the six-time champion, but it would certainly put his title hopes in jeopardy.

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Johnson’s car isn’t slow — he was 14th in Friday’s opening practice and 17th in Saturday’s opening session. Instead, it was a spinout on the second of two qualifying laps Friday that relegated the 39-year-old to a poor starting position.

It’s just the type of start the series’ leading Chase race winner hoped to avoid.

During a Friday gathering with the media, Johnson said the 1.5-mile track has begun to show slight signs of aging since a repave project two years ago.

Warm temperatures could create a situation in which the track surface would take more rubber, thus allowing the racing groove to widen and create more opportunities for passing. But with cooler temperatures Friday and Saturday, that hasn’t been the case, making a poor starting position much more difficult to overcome. Sunday temperatures are expected to be in the low 70s.

"It puts a huge importance on today in qualifying and the pit road (pit stall) pick," Johnson said prior to his qualifying misstep. "And then when you get in the race, the strategy.

"We saw a lot of two-tire stuff when we were here in the spring and I would imagine it would be the same (Sunday), so track position is really going to be the name of the game."

Johnson has 69 career Sprint Cup victories, 24 of which came in the Chase. One of those Chase wins came here, in 2011, and after he qualified 19th.

Brad Keselowski holds the record for winning from deepest in the field at Kansas, capturing the 2011 STP 400 after starting 25th.

The winner of three races in a four-race span earlier this season, Johnson is coming off a third-place finish a week ago at Dover. It was his best finish since winning at Michigan in June.

In the opening three-race Challenger Round at Chicago, Loudon and Dover, Johnson qualified seventh, sixth and eighth. He finished 12th, fifth and third.

Four of the seven remaining races will be contested on 1.5-mile tracks, layouts that Johnson calls his team’s "bread and butter."

"They’ve really been a strong suit for the No. 48 team over the years," he said. "This year, we’ve been competitive, but not dominant. And that’s what we’re looking to get sorted out here pretty late in the season.

"We can run well, but we would prefer to have more control than we do right now. And with as many 1.5-mile (tracks) that are left on the schedule, we have to get there."

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Posted on October 4, 2014 by Nascar

Regan Smith still second in standings, but farther back after Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A day that began on a difficult note didn’t get any better for NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Regan Smith, and as a result the JR Motorsports driver lost ground to teammate Chase Elliott in the battle for the series championship.

Smith crashed in qualifying Saturday morning, the team rolled out a backup car and then issues throughout the Kansas Lottery 300 left the 31-year-old 22nd at the finish, eight laps down to race-winner Kyle Busch.

With Elliott finishing 10th, Smith saw what had been a 26-point gap grow to 38 with just four races remaining.

"It really started yesterday," Smith said of his team’s struggles at the 1.5-mile track. "We just didn’t have the speed we wanted so we kind of changed a lot of stuff to go out and qualify this morning."

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Smith said the car was "really loose" in the first qualifying session, and then in the second "I backed into the wall."

"Anytime you do that," he added, "you’ve got to roll (out) a backup car two hours before the race (and) you really have to expect anything to happen."

Smith made steady progress in the early stages of the race, taking advantage of numerous cautions to drop on to pit road and allow his team to make adjustments.

By Lap 53, he was running inside the top 15. But as the race headed into its final 50 laps, a broken sway arm brought him to pit road for extended repairs.

"My guys did a great job, just getting the car … to where we could get to the grid with it, much less being competitive there for the first stages of the race," Smith said. "It was kind of what we anticipated for the day.

"Disappointing, you know, it’s obviously disappointing."

Although he extended his points lead, Elliott, one of seven Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders in the field, wasn’t pleased with his result, either.

"We really struggled, and there’s no excuse for that so we just had a bad day today," the 18-year-old said. "Regardless of what the points situation looks like, this was not the performance we were hoping for today. I’m bummed about it."

Kevin Harvick trailed Busch across the line, followed by Ryan Blaney and Paul Menard. Fifth-place rookie Ty Dillon was the highest finishing series regular.

While Smith trails Elliott by 38, Dillon managed to close to within two of Smith (1,030-1,028) for the No. 2 spot.

Brian Scott, who finished ninth, is fourth (-57) while Elliott Sadler, seventh on the day, is fifth (-60). 

"I thought we were going to be a little farther inside the top 10 there towards the end of the race and got to racing with those guys and just kind of made a mistake and got us put back," Elliott said. "So we’ll try to be better for Charlotte and move on."

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