Posted on by Brad Norman

Can Dale Earnhardt Jr. complete four-race Hendrick sweep?

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Editor’s note: The following drivers are ranked according to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings. Driver Reports includes the top 16 in the points standings and drivers currently in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field.

1. Matt Kenseth (No. 20)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota

Standing: Kenseth leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings with 463 points.
Past five races: 3rd at Dover, 3rd at Charlotte, 10th at Kansas, 37th at Talladega, 5th at Richmond.
Season stats: 5 top-fives, 10 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Pocono, Kenseth’s average finish is 16.2 and his average running position is 13.4 over the past nine years. In 28 career starts at Pocono, he has three top-fives and 10 top-10s.
Quick hit: After seven weeks at No. 2 in the points standings, Kenseth now leads all drivers for the first time since late in last year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Can he keep it coming out of Pocono? Well, maybe. Kenseth’s average place is three positions better than his average finish in the loop data era, which means he’s had trouble closing out races here. Combine that with his three consecutive finishes outside the top 20 and it seems that the door is ajar for Jeff Gordon to reclaim the top spot.

2. Jeff Gordon (No. 24)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet 

Standing: Gordon is second in the standings with 461 points.
Past five races: 15th at Dover, 7th at Charlotte, 1st at Kansas, 39th at Talladega, 2nd at Richmond.
Season stats: 1 win, 5 top-fives, 9 top-10s.
Track history: At Pocono, Gordon’s average finish is 9.9 and his average running position is 10.3 over the past nine years. In 42 career starts at Pocono, he has six wins, 19 top-fives, 29 top-10s and two poles.
Quick hit: Gordon has won at Pocono twice in the past three years, and although he was winless here in 2013, the veteran finished second in the fall race. The Tricky Triangle can be vexing and perplexing, so Gordon’s series-best 42 starts here matter more than it would at, say, a mile-and-a-half track. A top-10 run is almost certain, with the potential for more.

3. Carl Edwards (No. 99)

Roush Fenway Racing, Ford 

Standing: Edwards is third in the standings with 438 points.
Past five races: 14th at Dover, 4th at Charlotte, 6th at Kansas, 30th at Talladega, 9th at Richmond.
Season stats: 1 win, 3 top-fives, 7 top-10s.
Track history: At Pocono, Edwards’ average finish is 13.3 and his average running position is 14.4 over the past nine years. In 18 career starts at Pocono, he has two wins, five top-fives and eight top-10s.
Quick hit: A Ford hasn’t won at Pocono since 2010, a span of six races — which is certainly not bad, but three other manufacturers have won during that time. Edwards may not be the guy to snap that skid, though. His one win here came in 2008, and he’s finished outside the top 10 in four of the past six events. Getting back into that category is a reasonable goal.

4. Jimmie Johnson (No. 48)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

Standing: Johnson is fourth in the standings with 436 points.
Past five races: 1st at Dover, 1st at Charlotte, 9th at Kansas, 23rd at Talladega, 32nd at Richmond.
Season stats: 2 wins, 5 top-fives, 8 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Pocono, Johnson’s average finish is 9.2 and his average running position is 9.6 over the past nine years. In 24 career starts at Pocono, he has three wins, 10 top-fives, 16 top-10s and three poles.
Quick hit: On Sunday, Jimmie Johnson can become the first driver since … well, Jimmie Johnson … to win three consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. In 2007 Johnson won four in a row during the Chase to cement his second consecutive title. Johnson also won three in a row in 2004 and is the only driver this century to accomplish the feat. Considering he has one win and four top-fives in the past six Pocono races, he has a legitimate chance to make it happen once again.

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

Standing: Earnhardt Jr. is fifth in the standings with 429 points.
Past five races: 9th at Dover, 19th at Charlotte, 5th at Kansas, 26th at Talladega, 7th at Richmond.
Season stats: 1 win, 6 top-fives, 8 top-10s.
Track history: At Pocono, Earnhardt Jr.’s average finish is 17.6 and his average running position is 14.8 over the past nine years. In 28 career starts at Pocono, he has seven top-fives, 11 top-10s and one pole.
Quick hit: Junior can complete a Hendrick Motorsports sweep, of sorts, on Sunday. In order, the past three Pocono races were won by Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne, leaving Earnhardt as the only remaining member of Hendrick Motorsports needing a win. He’s never won at the Tricky Triangle, but he recorded two top-fives there last year.

6. Joey Logano (No. 22)

Team Penske, Ford 

Standing: Logano is sixth in the standings with 414 points.
Past five races: 8th at Dover, 12th at Charlotte, 4th at Kansas, 32nd at Talladega, 1st at Richmond.
Season stats: 2 wins, 6 top-fives, 7 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Pocono, Logano’s average finish is 15.6 and his average running position is 15.0 over the past nine years. In 10 career starts at Pocono, he has one win, one top-five, three top-10s and two poles.
Quick hit: Logano’s second career win came at Pocono, and his average finish since 2012 — a span of four races — is 7.8. He has figured this place out after starting his Sprint Cup career with six consecutive finishes outside the top-10 at the 2.5-mile track. As has been the case so often this season, Logano should be considered among the favorites.

7. Kyle Busch (No. 18)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Standing: Busch is seventh in the standings with 411 points.
Past five races: 42nd at Dover, 9th at Charlotte, 15th at Kansas, 12th at Talladega, 3rd at Richmond.
Season stats: 1 win, 3 top-fives, 6 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Pocono, Busch’s average finish is 17.8 and his average running position is 15.4 over the past nine years. In 18 career starts at Pocono, he has four top-fives, seven top-10s and one pole.
Quick hit: Busch can’t let last week’s horrific result — a wreck when he was among the best in the field — spill over into this week. It’s happened in the past, but this appears to be a more mature version of ‘Rowdy.’ We’ll know for sure if he finishes in the top 10.

8. Brad Keselowski (No. 2)

Team Penske, Ford 

Standing: Keselowski is seventh in the standings with 404 points.
Past five races: 2nd at Dover, 10th at Charlotte, 13th at Kansas, 38th at Talladega, 4th at Richmond.
Season stats: 1 win, 5 top-fives, 6 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Pocono, Keselowski’s average finish is 13.6 and his average running position is 16.0 over the past nine years. In eight career starts at Pocono, he has one win, two top-fives and three top-10s.
Quick hit: Keselowski has won at Pocono before, with his current team but under a different manufacturer. Keselowski’s average running position here over the past nine years ranks outside the top 15 among active drivers, but he’s performed well enough here over the past two years — and throughout this season — to earn your trust in NASCAR Fantasy Live.

9. Denny Hamlin (No. 11)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Standing: Hamlin is ninth in the standings with 379 points.
Past five races: 5th at Dover, 22nd at Charlotte, 18th at Kansas, 1st at Talladega, 22nd at Richmond.
Season stats: 1 win, 3 top-fives, 4 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Pocono, Hamlin’s average finish is 12.6 and his average running position is 11.0 over the past nine years. In 16 career starts at Pocono, he has four wins, eight top-fives, 10 top-10s and two poles.
Quick hit: Hamlin has won consecutive Pocono races twice, but he finished dead last in the 2013 fall race. He also crashed out in the 2012 fall race, and Toyotas have only won twice in the 13 Cup races run so far in 2014, compared to five wins at the same point last year. So despite his four-win history at Pocono, Hamlin isn’t in the same category as someone like Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon.

10. Kyle Larson (No. 42)

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Chevrolet  

Standing: Larson is 10th in the standings with 377 points.
Past five races: 11th at Dover, 18th at Charlotte, 12th at Kansas, 9th at Talladega, 16th at Richmond.
Season stats: 2 top-fives, 5 top-10s.
Track history: Larson does not have a start at Pocono in a NASCAR national series race.
Quick hit: Larson rallied from one of his worst showings of the year to place 11th at Dover, despite starting from the rear of the field due to an engine change. He’ll likely be hard-pressed to match that result at Pocono — a truly unique track on which Larson has zero career starts, although the rookie tested here in May.

11. Ryan Newman (No. 31)

Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet 

Standing: Newman is 11th in the standings with 374 points.
Past five races: 31st at Dover, 15th at Charlotte, 11th at Kansas, 18th at Talladega, 8th at Richmond.
Season stats: 4 top-10s.
Track history: At Pocono, Newman’s average finish is 10.8 and his average running position is 11.0 over the past nine years. In 24 career starts at Pocono, he has one win, nine top-fives, 12 top-10s and two poles.
Quick hit: Newman could add another layer of intrigue to the 16-driver Chase Grid by picking up his first victory of the year. Pocono may be the perfect place to do so — in the loop data era, he ranks fourth on the circuit in average place and average running position. Going against him, however, if the fact that a Richard Childress Racing car hasn’t won here since 1993 and Newman hasn’t finished in the top five yet this year.

12. Kevin Harvick (No. 4)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Standing: Harvick is 12th in the standings with 373 points.
Past five races: 17th at Dover, 2nd at Charlotte, 2nd at Kansas, 7th at Talladega, 11th at Richmond.
Season stats: 2 wins, 4 top-fives, 6 top-10s, 2 poles.
Track history: At Pocono, Harvick’s average finish is 10.9 and his average running position is 14.1 over the past nine years. In 26 career starts at Pocono, he has five top-fives and nine top-10s.
Quick hit: Pocono is one of seven tracks on the circuit where Harvick has yet to win, and he’s had 26 chances to do so. This year could be different due to the No. 4 team’s overwhelming strength on the track every week, although stats favor Harvick nabbing his third win of the season at Michigan next week over Pocono this week.

13. Brian Vickers (No. 55)

Michael Waltrip Racing, Toyota 

Standing: Vickers is 13th in the standings with 366 points.
Past five races: 43rd at Dover, 6th at Charlotte, 14th at Kansas, 4th at Talladega, 12th at Richmond.
Season stats: 2 top-fives, 5 top-10s.
Track history: At Pocono, Vickers’ average finish is 17.2 and his average running position is 15.0 over the past nine years. In 14 career starts at Pocono, he has four top-fives and five top-10s.
Quick hit: Vickers is coming off easily his worst showing of the season, with a busted engine sending him to a last-place finish at Dover. Now the driver has very little wiggle room in the standings, as he’s above Austin Dillon — the final driver in the Chase Grid, as it currently stands — by just eight points. No reason to panic, but certainly Vickers must outperform his most recent showings at Pocono (39th and 22nd).

14. Paul Menard (No. 27)

Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet 

Standing: Menard is 14th in the standings with 362 points.
Past five races: 10th at Dover, 8th at Charlotte, 17th at Kansas, 6th at Talladega, 24th at Richmond.
Season stats: 1 top-five, 7 top-10s.
Track history: At Pocono, Menard’s average finish is 22.2 and his average running position is 22.3 over the past nine years. In 14 career starts at Pocono, he has two top-10s.
Quick hit: After notching nine top-10s in 2013, Menard already has seven through 13 races this year. Is he a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup dark horse? Pocono will help answer that question as he finished 30th and 32nd in last year’s two races. A top-15 — or even a top-20 — run would put the veteran in good shape entering the summer stretch.

15. Austin Dillon (No. 3)

Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet  

Standing: Dillon is 15th in the standings with 358 points.
Past five races: 20th at Dover, 16th at Charlotte, 19th at Kansas, 15th at Talladega, 27th at Richmond.
Season stats: 1 top-10, 1 pole.
Track history: Dillon does not have a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Pocono. In two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts, he has one top-five and two top-10s.
Quick hit: It’s been five races since Dillon had a car capable of finishing in the top 10, and he’s dropped five spots in the standings during that time. With veterans Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne lurking just below Dillon, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender needs to turn his performance around, and quickly.

16. Greg Biffle (No. 16)

Roush Fenway Racing, Ford

Standing: Biffle is 16th in the standings with 357 points.
Past five races: 38th at Dover, 21st at Charlotte, 16th at Kansas, 2nd at Talladega, 15th at Richmond.
Season stats: 2 top-fives, 4 top-10s.
Track history: At Pocono, Biffle’s average finish is 16.6 and his average running position is 14.1 over the past nine years. In 22 career starts at Pocono, he has one win, three top-fives and six top-10s.
Quick hit: Last week was the third consecutive race in which Biffle finished worse than he did the previous event. The good news is that streak almost has to stop at Pocono, considering Biffle finished 38th at Dover. He’s never finished worse than 30th at the 2.5-mile track, and owns one top-five and three top-10s in the past five starts.

27. Kurt Busch (No. 41)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet

Standing: Busch is 27th in the standings with 241 points.
Past five races: 18th at Dover, 40th at Charlotte, 29th at Kansas, 33rd at Talladega, 23rd at Richmond.
Season stats: 1 win, 2 top-fives, 2 top-10s.
Track history: At Pocono, Busch’s average finish is 12.9 and his average running position is 10.6 over the past nine years. In 25 career starts at Pocono, he has two wins, 10 top-fives, 14 top-10s and one pole.
Quick hit: Want a sleeper pick this weekend? You’re looking at him. In the last eight races here, Busch has three top-fives and six top-10s. His two finishes outside the top 10 were due to crashes. The bigger problem this year may not be wrecking, but Busch’s equipment — if the No. 41 Chevrolet’s engine holds up, he could see his best finish since winning at Martinsville in March.

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‘Rowdy’ considers Johnson among the greats, discusses on-track incidents

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Q: Who is in your personal hall of fame?

(Denver Broncos quarterback) Peyton Manning for my own reasons; (Seattle Seahawks quarterback) Russell Wilson for my own reasons; Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison.

Q: Of all the racers, who are, in your opinion, the top five in the world?

The top five racers in the world, that’s a wide-open question and pretty tough to answer. But if I had to choose, I’d say (Formula 1 champion) Kimi Raikkonen is really good, (Formula 1 champion) Sebastian Vettel is really good, (World Rally champion) Sebastian Loeb is another awesome racer. I’d also add Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt. Those guys and what their accomplishments are speak for themselves.

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Q: Do you identify with legends in this sport?

I feel like I identify with some of the NASCAR legends in my mind. Dale Earnhardt is a guy who would say what was on his mind and would be able to put his car where he wanted to and didn’t care what the competition did or said or thought about it. Darrell Waltrip was a guy who’d kind of run his mouth a little bit, but was then able to back it up on the race track. Jeff Gordon was a young kid coming in, and he was very successful very early on. A lot of people felt he won too much early so a lot of people hated him for that. You know, so there are a lot of guys that I feel like I can identify with, for sure.

Q: Are you a fan of NASCAR’s colorful history?

I’m a huge fan of NASCAR’s colorful history. It’s a sport that’s been around for many a year — since the 1940s and 1950s — and the characters of the sport are what have made it what it is today. Your Richard Pettys, Dale Earnhardts, your Jeff Gordons, your Cale Yarboroughs, your Donnie and Bobby Allisons. Everybody who has made a name for themselves in the sport or who has become a Hall of Fame member — they all have their own way and they all have their own cut of how they like to do things and that just makes this sport what it is.

Q: You’ve been in your fair share of dust-ups and calamities. What do you think after the dust settles and things calm down?

Most times I just feel the same as what I did as it was going down, that you know you’re fighting tooth and nail for every spot on the race track or whatever and sometimes you get into guys. And when you have the events unfold the way they do, sometimes you wish you did things differently or sometimes you wish you said things differently. But in all reality, you have to fight for what you think is right at that particular moment and whether it’s always the right thing to do or not, you just go with it right then and there in that moment. And I think that these moments are good for NASCAR. Certainly it shows character. It shows emotion. It shows drive. It shows passion. It shows everything of what the NASCAR sport is and what drivers are. What teams mean to the sport, you know, a driver you are fighting out there or other drivers, but it’s also the fact that you are doing it with the team behind you. You’ve got to go out there and win races or otherwise you’re not going to be here.

Q: What does Daytona International Speedway mean to you?

Daytona is a historic superspeedway. It was the first ever superspeedway made on a beach. And when racing moved to the asphalt speedway, the speeds went up and then the prestige went up. All that history that’s been around since the ’60s, the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and now 2000s. You always feel it when you roll in there. The biggest thing that gets you going is knowing that it’s the start of the season and the start of the NASCAR season has the biggest races of them all, the Sprint Unlimited, the Budweiser Duels and the Daytona 500 and just being able to line up for the Daytona 500 is something that you dream of as a kid. You go to the speedway as a kid and you visit Daytona USA and you get the tram tour around the race track, and it’s just the amazing feeling of being there for the first time and seeing it. But then to get your taste of it and to actually get down to racing in that race is something like none other. And you try to treat it as any other race, but sometimes it’s difficult to do.

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From a solar farm to the unique Victory Lane, count down the peculiar qualities of Pocono

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Doc Mattioli was an original, thank goodness. There’s just no other way to explain how — or why — this former Philadelphia dentist walked away from his practice to pour his savings into a northeast Pennsylvania spinach farm that would become the most unique race track on the NASCAR circuit.

At least, that’s one word for it. Some might call the place a throwback, or quirky or peculiar, or all of the above. In the case of Pocono Raceway, each term probably fits. Although the track has been modernized in many ways — most notably in the area of driver safety — it still retains a timelessness and a tongue-in-cheek charm that’s been evident ever since Joseph "Doc" Mattioli and his wife Rose caught the racing bug and sank an original investment of $300,000 into what would eventually become a triangular 2.5-mile track.

Four decades later, the personal touches are still evident at a race track that’s independent in just about every sense of the word. Things are just done differently at Pocono, and a lot of that goes back to Doc, whose grandchildren now operate the facility. But it’s still very much Doc’s place, as the welcome sign when you roll through the tunnel will attest — as do these top 10 reasons why Pocono Raceway remains perhaps the sport’s most unique venue.

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10. Solar farm

All that stuff about the track being a throwback? It stops as soon as you cross the street, where rows of solar panels containing over 39,000 photovoltaic modules sit behind a thick stand of trees. Unassuming Pocono also happens to be the world’s largest solar-powered sports venue, with those panels cranking out more than 10 million kilowatt hours of electricity (and counting) to date. The 25-arce solar farm went online in 2010, and whatever electricity the track doesn’t use is pumped into the community’s power grid. It all saves the track hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in energy bills. Who knew a throwback facility could be so forward-looking?

9. Sheep

In order to maintain the solar farm, Pocono management hired an army of specialized groundskeepers — who also happen to be a touch wooly. Each summer about 50 sheep watch over the area, keeping the grass maintained in the process. The track didn’t want to use mowers, which would not only conflict with the eco-friendly intent of the farm, but also might inadvertently send a rock flying into a glass panel. So every year sheep are trucked over from State College, Pennsylvania, and keep the grass trim and fertilize all in one. Surely, Pocono-branded wool sweaters showing up at merchandise stands can’t be far behind.

8. Dancing trees

Anyone who’s ever watched a Pocono race on TV has seen them — the row of trees which begins in Turn 1 and lines the outside of the 3,000-foot Long Pond Straight, their branches writhing and wiggling in the disturbed air each time cars roar by. Not too long ago the trees were the only thing extending above the wall in that area, and Kasey Kahne became a little too familiar with the native flora when part of his car got up onto them during an airborne accident in 2010. Partly in response to that crash, a catchfence now rises from the wall. But the trees are still there, and even with the fencing they still dance each time the cars zoom past.

7. Rocks

Long before there was a NASCAR Hall of Fame, Doc Mattioli began commemorating the greatest drivers at his race track — in stone. Within the infield are large rocks bearing the names and most famous car numbers of nine past Pocono winners: Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Rusty Wallace, Darrell Waltrip, Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt. While there are some curious omissions (such as five-time winner Bill Elliott) this rock garden was part of Mattioli’s own personal Hall of Fame. The family added a rock in memory of Doc after his passing in 2012.

6. Long John

In the 1990s, Mattioli undertook a near-complete rebuild of the facility, attempting to correct mistakes that had been made in the venue’s original construction. The $3 million effort included an update of the paddock and midway areas. Perhaps most notably, Doc scrapped all 375 toilets behind the grandstand and replaced them with what’s since become known as Long John — allegedly the biggest bathroom facility in the world, 1,000 stalls put in place "so that we would be assured we would have no lines," Mattioli wrote in a letter to fans. According to famed racing commentator Chris Economaki, Doc himself once had to wait in a such a line, and determined there would be no more at his place. 

 

5. Victory Tower

At Pocono, a Victory Lane is not quite enough. No way. This most original of NASCAR tracks demands an original place for winners to celebrate — hence the Victory Tower, a three-level structure that stands over the frontstretch. Technically it’s called the Richard Petty 200 Victory Circle, complete with images of the King in cowboy hat and sunglasses, no matter that Petty won his 200th premier-series NASCAR race down the coast in Daytona Beach. He was the first NASCAR winner at Pocono in 1974, and every winner who celebrates in that structure is reminded that he (or maybe she, one day) is following in the tire tracks of the King. And there’s more history: three original bricks from Indianapolis Motor Speedway were buried near it in 1972.

4. Steeples

Rose Mattioli was always a fan of horse racing, and gave her husband grief for not taking her to Churchill Downs. So Doc brought a little of the bluegrass to Pocono, erecting a pair of steeples — they’re actually ornamental lightning rods, made by a company from (of all places) Mooresville, North Carolina — above the grandstand in an homage to the Kentucky Derby. He didn’t stop there: a uniformed bugler plays the call to the post before each race, and there’s a Mint Julep Club that hosts special receptions. One of the steeples was blown down by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, but it was replaced last year. The legacy of all things horsepower in the Pocono Mountain region continues to endure.

3. Stars

As soon as you drive up to Pocono, you get the idea that the place is a little … different. That’s because greeting visitors at the tunnel entrance is a giant sign featuring an outline of the track surrounded by eight stars, all but one of which have a number inside. Much like the rocks, this was another of Doc’s ways of remembering the track’s most legendary NASCAR drivers — Petty, Earnhardt, Wallace, Waltrip, Yarborough, Allison and Pearson, each with a car number inside a star. The blank star once contained the No. 6 of Mark Martin, who appeared ready to step away from full-time racing after the 2005 season. It was removed when he continued to compete. Safe to put it back now, guys.

2. Turns

Pocono’s defining characteristic, though, is literally built into the asphalt itself. The triangle as we know it today was the brainchild of architect Rodger Ward, a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. And in its design, he called upon three venues from the past, using each as a model for a corner. With 14 degrees of banking, Turn 1 was drawn from Trenton (N.J.) Speedway, which hosted eight NASCAR events and many prominent open-wheel races. Turn 2, the now famous tunnel turn, is banked 9 degrees and taken from Indianapolis. Turn 3 is a banked 6 degrees in homage to the Milwaukee Mile. The intent was to present three different challenges within the same race track, and decades later that remains the case.

1. Doc

It all goes back to Doc. Every last bit of it. Pocono stands today, the only family-owned track among all the speedways that host the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, because Doc got hooked on racing one Sunday afternoon in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, and then almost by accident — the Mattiolis started as the guarantor of the mortgage, but soon were majority investors — was pouring money into this massive project off Interstate 80. With his booming voice and sometimes stern countenance, he could be demanding to the family members who worked for him. "They’re going to run it, or they’re going to starve," he told a Philadelphia newspaper upon turning operational duties over to his grandchildren.

But they called it the School of Doc. The steeples, the stars, the rocks, the bugler and so many other things that make Pocono what it is came straight from Doc, who — along with wife Rose — was among the first to shake hands with drivers as they passed across the introduction stage. His grandkids carry on that sense of originality. In the summer of 2012, for the first race weekend after Mattioli had passed away the previous January, a new sign was erected just inside the tunnel entrance: "Welcome to Doc’s Place." They knew he would have hated it. But they also knew it will always be true.

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Austin Dillon, Greg Biffle, Brad Keselowski the odds-on favorites

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It’s Triple Crown season, when horsepower is on full display. Carl Edwards was in bluegrass country Tuesday when he visited with famed jockey Steve Cauthen at a horse farm to promote the NASCAR weekend coming up later this month at Kentucky Speedway. A chestnut thoroughbred named California Chrome will go for the biggest trifecta in the equine world Saturday outside New York City. And 100 miles west of Belmont Park, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will compete Sunday at a Pocono race track that features its own pair of twin spires.

For all the recent talk about the double, which Kurt Busch last month became just the fourth driver to undertake, among auto racing railbirds there isn’t much argument about NASCAR’s version of the triple crown — probably because the odds of anyone ever achieving it seem about as remote as a claimer winning at Churchill Downs. California Chrome will try to become the first horse in 36 years to sweep its sport’s top three races — will NASCAR have to wait that long before one driver takes championships in each of its top three series?

As it is, it’s been 20 years since NASCAR added a third national circuit in the form of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 1995, and really only once during that span has a driver truly approached pulling off this elusive hat trick — 2005, when former NASCAR Nationwide Series and Truck Series champ Greg Biffle finished tied for second in Sprint Cup points, 35 behind eventual victor Tony Stewart, and perhaps a few dropped lug nuts at Texas short of a title. Before or since, no one has really come close.

Perhaps that will change in the years ahead, given that the Truck and Nationwide ranks each boast a wealth of young talent — with likely more to come, given what we’re seeing in the K&N Pro Series — and it’s quite conceivable others might follow the model set by Austin Dillon, who competed in both circuits and won both titles before graduating to NASCAR’s top level. Today, though, we’re looking at a short field. Even so, have Pocono’s resident bugler sound the call to the post, and let’s load the most likely candidates into the starting gate.

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Odds-on favorites

Austin Dillon
Stable: Richard Childress Racing
Lineage: Won Nationwide Series championship in 2013; won Camping World Truck Series championship in 2011
Morning line: 20-1
Handicapper’s report: Very competitive as a Sprint Cup rookie, at 15th in points in a season where he attracted a lot of attention by bringing back the No. 3 made famous by Dale Earnhardt. Won the pole for the Daytona 500 and could very well win a race on a restrictor-plate track, even though he’s led just one lap all year. Still, a season-long championship is a much bigger step, and Dillon needs more seasoning at the sport’s top level before that becomes a realistic goal. Even so, all the pieces seem to be in place, and at 24 he would appear to have plenty of time ahead of him to pursue the lone national series trophy not already on his mantle.

Greg Biffle
Stable: Roush Fenway Racing
Lineage: Won Nationwide Series championship in 2002; won Camping World Truck Series championship in 2000
Morning line: 30-1
Handicapper’s report: As previously mentioned, came very close to completing the collection in 2005, and then finished third in final points three seasons later. But Biffle hasn’t been a serious championship threat since, and he’s in the midst of a slow start that has him 16th in points. Still, this is a team that should make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, and each time he does, he gives himself a chance at the lone national series title he’s missing. Yet at 44 and in a contract year, Biffle is facing a potential career crossroads that could define how much longer he’s competitive at NASCAR’s top level — and how much longer he’ll realistically be able to chase the sport’s triple crown.

Brad Keselowski
Stable: Team Penske
Lineage: Won Sprint Cup Series championship in 2012; won Nationwide Series championship in 2010
Morning line: 80-1
Handicapper’s report: Would seem to have the most difficult step already behind him, given that he claimed the sport’s premier series championship two seasons ago. But would Keselowski really want to take a (perceived) step backward at some point and race for a Truck title? At just 30, he would seem to have plenty of time ahead of him to do whatever he wants. And, he does own a team in Brad Keselowski Racing that fields entries in the Truck Series. Can we envision a time, many years from now, when Keselowski has achieved everything he wanted at the Sprint Cup level and decides to race his own truck for a title, just for kicks? Oh, we can only hope so.

Off the board

Bobby Labonte
Stable: HScott Racing (part-time)
Lineage: Won Sprint Cup Series championship in 2000; won Nationwide Series championship in 1991
Morning line: None
Handicapper’s report: Was left without a full-time ride at the Sprint Cup level when JTG Daugherty Racing turned to AJ Allmendinger prior to this season, and started the Daytona 500 this year for the former Phoenix Racing team now owned by Harry Scott Jr. Like Keselowski, he has the hardest part out of the way, and late last year seemed open to the prospect of jumping in a truck and going after the lone national title that’s eluded him. He did win a race in that series at Martinsville in 2005, after all. But nothing ever materialized, and these days Labonte has been working as an analyst for NBC and NASCAR.com.

Johnny Benson Jr.
Stable: Grand Rapids, Mich.
Lineage: Won Camping World Truck Series championship in 2008; won Nationwide Series championship in 1995
Morning line: None
Handicapper’s report: Won a Sprint Cup race at Rockingham in 2002, but competed in only one more full season at the sport’s top level after that. Won the Truck Series in 2008 for Bill Davis, but didn’t have a full-time ride the next year. Benson was always a capable driver who seemed plagued by lack of funding, whether it was on the car in which he nearly won the Daytona 500 in 2000, or during the latter stages of his Truck career. These days he’s gone back to his roots, racing super late models in the northeast and Midwest. Given that he hasn’t started a national series race of any kind since 2010, his days in NASCAR would appear to be over.

Potential futures

Ryan Blaney
Stable: Brad Keselowski Racing
Lineage: Race winner in both Nationwide and Truck series
Morning line: 50-1
Handicapper’s report: If there’s a leading candidate right now to follow the Dillon route and climb into the Sprint Cup Series on the heels of titles in the two lower circuits, then it has to be Blaney, just 20 and already with race wins in Trucks and Nationwide. He’s currently seventh in Truck points, 19 off the lead. If he ends up running full-time Nationwide next year for Penske (to which he’s under contract), he’ll be with the team that won the 2010 title with Keselowski and finished as runner-up last year with Sam Hornish Jr. After that? Who knows. It’s a long-term bet, but one worth making.

Kyle Busch
Stable: Joe Gibbs Racing
Lineage: Won Nationwide Series championship in 2009
Morning line: 100-1
Handicapper’s report: An elite driver who’s proven he can win in everything, even if he’s still lacking a Sprint Cup crown. Might already have a Truck title if not for NASCAR’s relatively recent rule that drivers must choose only one series in which to accrue championship points. But at just 29, Busch has plenty of runway ahead to chase anything he wants. Like Keselowski, he owns a Truck Series team, and given his urge to get behind the wheel and compete, who knows what he might do if he ever claims the premier series title. If there’s a leading candidate to be racing Trucks at 50, it’s Kyle Busch.

Kevin Harvick
Stable: Stewart-Haas Racing
Lineage: Won Nationwide Series championship in 2006
Morning line: 200-1
Handicapper’s report: Seems very close to a Sprint Cup championship, given that he’s finished third in final points in three of the last four seasons, and is currently tied for the series lead with two race victories. With SHR, he’s in equipment capable of leading every lap barring breakdowns or mistakes that have been too frequent to this point. But another hardcore racer who once owned a Truck Series team (and has 14 wins in that series), and another driver who later in his career may very well be tempted to chase that last remaining championship should he finally break through and lay claim to NASCAR’s biggest prize.

Carl Edwards
Stable: Roush Fenway Racing
Lineage: Won Nationwide Series championship in 2007
Morning line: 500-1
Handicapper’s report: Top-flight Sprint Cup competitor with a proven record of title contention — he’s third in points this year, and has finished second or third four times in his career at NASCAR’s top level. Like his teammate Biffle, in a contract year that could go a long way toward shaping his future, yet with almost certainly more leverage due to performance, and a decade younger at 34. Has a background in the Trucks, with six career wins and a fourth-place finish in 2004. But with two kids at home and a likely second career in television ahead of him, it’s natural to think that the Sprint Cup trophy is the last big championship Edwards has in his sights.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Stable: Hendrick Motorsports
Lineage: Won Nationwide Series championships in 1998 and 1999
Morning line: 1,000-1
Handicapper’s report: Two-time Nationwide Series champion and Daytona 500 winner who is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career, showing a degree of consistency not seen since his heyday at Dale Earnhardt Inc. At fifth in points and with a race victory, expected to be a serious contender for the Sprint Cup title come playoff time. But if he ever checks that rather large box, would Earnhardt really be tempted to one day try the Trucks — a series in which he has zero career starts? Probably not. Maybe he could be enticed by the idea of accumulating a few more wrecked vehicles for the collection in the woods on his property.

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The strong showing of next generation of drivers hints at the future potential 

DOVER, Del. — As veteran drivers Kyle Busch and Matt Crafton battled at the front of the pack at Dover International Speedway, consistently behind them was a fight just as fierce for a spot in the top five. This one, though, was between teenagers.

Cole Custer, John Hunter Nemechek, Brandon Jones and Tyler Reddick were each fighting for their career best NASCAR Camping World Truck Series finish in the Lucas Oil 200, highlighting the potential of a young, new class of drivers.

Custer’s hopes at beating his 12th-place finish at Martinsville ran dry with his fuel cell after a pit stop where his team was unable to fill his tank. The 16-year-old driver of the No. 00 Chevrolet sputtered to pit lane, the incident sending him to a 14th-place finish, three laps down from leader Busch.

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"We were just biding our time," Custer said after the race. "We had a really good Haas Automation Chevrolet Silverado, but we ran out of gas on the backstretch and that was too much for us to overcome."

Custer started near the back of the field after qualifying 28th, but by Lap 80 of the 200-lap race was in the top 10.

"I thought we had a really good truck," he said. "I thought we could’ve had a top-five finish, but sometimes things just don’t go your way."

Instead, 17-year-old Brandon Jones would represent the high-school-aged drivers in the top five. Jones made a steady charge forward throughout the race from his starting position of 29th, hitting the top ten halfway through the race and finishing the race with a career-best finish of fourth.

"Oh, (the top-five felt) amazing — especially to come here to Dover," Jones said. "This is such a crazy track in this truck. Last year, I ran in the K&N car, and it doesn’t even compare to the truck. With just one practice, everybody fought really hard to get the truck really good… Looking forward to the next ones."

Jones, who is competing full-time in the K&N Pro East Series for Turner Scott Motorsports, will race again in the Truck Series in the UNOH 225 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

To move into the top five, Jones had to push 16-year-old Nemechek out of it. Nemechek ran in the top 10 for nearly the entire race, rarely falling below his starting — and finishing — position of sixth.

"It felt good to accomplish that as a team," Nemechek said of the race. "All the hard work that we’ve put in over the winter and spring, now it’s all starting to pay off. We’re a brand new team, we’re a small team, so it shows we can run up front with the equipment we have and we can be competitive."

Also in the top 10 was 18-year-old Reddick, who scored his first top ten in the series with an eight-place run.

The strong showing of this next generation of drivers hints at the potential of the series’ future. Nemechek, son of veteran race car driver Joe Nemechek, is scheduled to compete in eight more races this season, all at tracks compliant with NASCAR’s age regulations. As the drivers hit the 18-year-old age minimum to compete full time in the series, they’ll likely become a more permanent presence on the Trucks circuit.

"I’ve actually been racing some of those guys for a while," Ben Kennedy, who finished seventh, said after the race. "John Hunter Nemechek, I raced with him a little bit in the late model series, and Brandon Jones in the K&N Series — and they have a great bunch of talent. …I think there’s a lot of talent coming up through the series and I think you could definitely see that out there today, and with the whole NASCAR Next program."

The NASCAR Next program is an effort by the sport to help develop young drivers. Custer was one of the 12 drivers selected as a NASCAR Next driver when the roster was revelaed in April; the others have a good chance at joining the program in the future.

"Ben Kennedy actually was the (Sunoco) rookie of the race, but we had several teenagers running up front, including Brandon Jones, John Hunter (Nemechek) and Tyler Reddick, and doing a nice job at a tough race track," Chad Little, managing director of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, said.

Custer, Nemechek and Reddick will all be competing again in a truck at Gateway Motorsports Park on June 14th for the Drivin’ for Linemen 200. But don’t expect them to stop there.

"I think give it another ten years or so, and they’ll be some more names in the Cup series," Kennedy said.

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Posted on by Holly Cain

Edwards and legendary jockey Steve Cauthen share Kentucky memories

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Fittingly as the sporting world is abuzz in anticipation of a possible Triple Crown feat in horse racing this weekend, Sprint Cup Series driver Carl Edwards visited legendary jockey Steve Cauthen’s horse farm near Kentucky Speedway where Edwards will go for his own Kentucky Triple Crown later this summer.

Edwards and Cauthen — who rode Affirmed to the last Triple Crown 36 years ago – exchanged accessories and insight on Tuesday afternoon. Cauthen presented Edwards with authentic riding silks – even emblazoned with the Ford Racing logo – some goggles and a green horseshoe. Edwards in turn, gave Cauthen a helmet shield, and racing gloves.

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When Edwards returns for the June 28 Cup race he will be attempting to be a Kentucky Speedway triple winner. The Roush Fenway Racing driver got his first ever NASCAR national series win there in 2003 in the Camping World Truck Series and won the Nationwide Series race on the 1.5-miler in 2005. 

"From 2003 until now, everything has changed for me, but that was really the one moment when my career changed and took off, that first win for Jack Roush in the Truck Series," Edwards said. "To have the opportunity to come back 11 years later and to potentially have won in all three of NASCAR’s major series at Kentucky Speedway is really exciting.

"And to be here with Steve is really exciting. A lot of parallels (between the sports), it’s pretty neat to hear him describe horse racing. And you’ve got to be fearless."

Cauthen spoke also spoke about the similarities between the racing, including the kind of preparation it takes in advance of a big outing such as the Triple Crown – a race he won at only 18 years old.

"It was a long three weeks the build-up to it and I just tried to treat it like any other race even though you know it’s not any other race," Cauthen shared. "You just focus on the best situation to get your horse up front or in Carl’s case, your race car up front.

That’s something Edwards has proven he knows how to do.

Edwards has two top-10 finishes in three Cup starts at Kentucky, including a runner-up in his No. 99 Fastenal Ford in last year’s race. His Nationwide Series win in 2005 came from the pole position and he also has another runner-up in that race.

"Kentucky is a driver’s race track and really a lot of fun," Edwards said. "To me, to win there, there’s a lot of pride there because of how tough of a race track it is."

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Posted on by Holly Cain

NASCAR returns to Daytona for the Coke Zero 400 on July 5

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Eleven months ago Greg Biffle ceremoniously shoveled a little dirt and competed in a front-loader race as part of ground-breaking activities for the $400 million DAYTONA Rising redevelopment project at NASCAR’s most famous track, Daytona International Speedway.

The Roush Fenway Racing driver arrived at the speedway Wednesday and couldn’t believe his eyes.

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"Pretty incredible to see how much they’ve gotten done since we were here last,” Biffle said. "I took the stairs to the first level of the new section and from the first seat in the new section you can see the entire race track. It’s incredible, it’s going to be such a great spot to watch a race from, I can’t even believe it."

As part of the visit, Biffle was hoisted high into the air to demonstrate one of his No. 16 Ford sponsor 3M’s fall protection harnesses. He also toured the newest construction and even installed one of the new seats himself in what’s complete of the upper level concourse.

"The seats are bigger, have cup holders and arm rests,” Biffle reported. "I sat in them for a while actually and took in the view. And I’ll tell you what, the view of the infield road course is incredible. Those will feel like million dollar seats to watch the Rolex 24."

DIS President Joie Chitwood wasn’t surprised that Biffle was surprised about the progress.

"It’s amazing to me from March till today how much work we’ve done,” Chitwood said. "It looks like we’ve done more work in the last three months than we did the first six months.

"Steel goes up quicker than I believed. There are escalators in. You’re starting to see the restroom buildings on the concourses, it’s just amazing how it looks so much more defined than it did.

"What’s cool is Greg Biffle is actually one of the drivers who performed the ground breaking ceremony. He’s coming back a year later and it went from moving some dirt and running heavy equipment to millions of pounds of concrete on the ground and millions of pounds of steel in the air.

"I think fans, partners, the industry are going to be blown away by how much work that we’ve had the last couple months. I feel good about that. Always nice when work is so visible."

Of course the first phase of construction involved infrastructure – millions of pounds of concrete poured and huge steel beams erected. Now the amenities and updated look – or "reimagining" as its being described – are much more apparent. Certainly they will be obvious when the people arrive in Daytona Beach for the July 5 Coke Zero 400.

Chitwood said construction – expected to be complete by January of 2016 — is even slightly ahead of schedule. Work will continue until about 10 days before race weekend in order for the facility to properly prepare to host the race and race fans. After the event, it’s just a fast nine-day clean-up before workers begin again in earnest.

And being ahead of schedule will come in handy for Florida’s upcoming summer afternoon thunderstorm season.

"It’s a lot different because Coke Zero is just a quick weekend, three to four days of activity versus two or three months we had from January to March, so a lot different approach,” Chitwood said. "But people are going to be blown away by how much different the property looks with concrete and steel in the air. It’s all good.”

Of all the new updates Biffle saw and the impressive views he took in at the 50-year old facility, it was a much simpler "wow" moment for him – he was most awed by the massive escalators that are already going up in the new grandstands.

"It’s about the entire experience and the fan amenities are really going to play a role here,” Biffle said. "Once the fans get a chance to see the views, go to the massive new restrooms and restaurants, it does say a lot about our sport. It puts us in a different league.

"It’s so fitting for this to be the birthplace of the sport and the showcase for it at the same time."

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Posted on by Jason Lofing

Conti sweeps past Stergios and Overland as Hansen triggers a race-ending caution.

Michael Conti pulled-off a surprising victory Round Seven of the 2014 NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series at Dover International Speedway Tuesday night, beating Chris Overland, PJ Stergios and Nick Ottinger on a restart with three laps to go. The win was Conti’s second triumph in the last three in the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series events.

“What a finish! . . . (I) can’t say the car was the best it could have been tonight, but it was good when it counted.” – Michael Conti

With nine laps of sim racing remaining Conti appeared destined to finish no better than third as Ottinger and Joey Brown both passed him with 15 laps to go and were not struggling as much with their tires. Things changed drastically, however, when Brown spun off of Turn Four on Lap 191, bringing out the caution flag.

Even though only three laps would remain in the race when the green flew again, most of the leaders decided to pit for tires due to the massive tire falloff. Two drivers, Stergios and Overland, decided to roll the dice and stay on the track. Ottinger was the first car off pit road with four new tires and lined up third with Conti on his outside in fourth, also on new tires. Both drivers hoped the front row would not spin their tires and that the race would stay green long enough to regain the lead.

The restart saw both Stergios and Overland get away with minimal wheel spin; fairly surprising considering their tires had over 50 laps on them. Instead, it was Ottinger who spun his tires and nearly swerved into Conti. Ottinger’s bobble gave Conti any lane he wanted in Turn One as he looked to overtake Stergios and Overland as quickly as possible.

Conti chose the outside lane, hoping the two drivers in front would keep their cars near the bottom. The plan worked to perfection as Conti took the long way ‘round, using his fresh rubber to make a sensational three-wide pass for the lead. And not a moment too soon: the yellow flew just a couple seconds later when Danny Hansen got spun around battling for fourth. With only three laps to go, the race ended under yellow, giving Conti a somewhat unexpected win.

“What a finish!” said Conti, who moved into the series points lead with his victory. “(I) can’t say the car was the best it could have been tonight, but it was good when it counted.”

Stergios finished second and Overland was third as the two just missed-out on pulling a big upset. Ottinger had to settle for fourth while Peter Bennett rounded-out the top five with a quiet but solid run.

Tire management was critical from start to finish as drivers could only go about half a fuel run before their lap times literally fell off a cliff. Conti started on pole and jumped out to a comfortable lead, but as the run wore on his car developed a bad push while Ottinger and Brown stayed more consistent.

About half the field chose to pit once their tires began falling off, but that move backfired when the caution flew for the first time on Lap 49.  Normally this would not have been a big deal as the cars that pitted could take the wave-around and get their lap back, but at Dover cars commonly go two laps down while pitting.

With only two cautions in the first 190 laps, the drivers trapped a lap down never had a chance to recover. Thus only 13 drivers finished on the lead lap, far lower than normal in the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series.

The final run of the race before Brown’s accident was the most interesting in terms of tire wear. Drivers knew they could not go the distance on fuel, but they had to balance pitting early to take advantage of fresh tires while risking being trapped laps down. Conti pitted a few laps before Ottinger and Brown and pulled out to a three second lead after the round of stops was complete.

As the laps ticked down, Ottinger and Brown slowly started cutting tenths off of Conti’s lead. By 20 laps to go, those tenths became closer to half a second as Conti’s Chevy SS hit the tire performance cliff hard.  In fact, he looked to be dead in the water as far as competing for the win before he was saved by the caution for Brown’s spin.

The win vaulted Conti into the championship lead. He leads Ottinger by eight points while Jake Stergios sits 16 points behind after a 13th place finish at Dover. Chad J Laughton fell to fourth after connection issues caused him to finish 32nd and Ray Alfalla is fifth despite finishing P19 after being trapped a lap down on the first round of pit stops

With their visit to the fastest one mile track complete, the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze competitors shift gears as they look forward to another fast track up next on the schedule – Michigan International Speedway. Long green flag runs at the wide and fast track are commonplace and it would not be surprising to see fuel mileage heavily influence the outcome. Look for Ottinger, Alfalla and Hansen to be strong as they ran up front all race earlier this season at Michigan’s sister track, Auto Club Speedway. Will a familiar face make another trip to victory lane or will fuel mileage and unpredictable tire wear usher a new driver to victory lane? Be sure to catch all the action in two weeks’ time on iRacing Live!


Posted on by Staff Report

At home or on the go, keep tabs on both Cup and Truck Series races this weekend

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This weekend brings the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to Pocono Raceway and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to Texas Motor Speedway.

The Sprint Cup Series Pocono 400 is Sunday, June 8, at 1 p.m. ET with coverage on TNT.

The Camping World Truck Series WinStar World Casino and Resort 400 is Friday, June 6, at 9 p.m. ET with coverage on FOX Sports 1.

For more information on track times, press conferences and GarageCam, you can check out this weekend’s schedule. For TV times check out this week’s TV schedule.

We know you may not have the time to watch the race action without any interruptions, so if you’re on the go, here’s how to keep up at Pocono and Texas.

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NASCAR.com’s live Cup leaderboard and Truck leaderboard update in real-time and offer constant text updates of lead changes, cautions, strategies, strong runs and everything in between. On the go? Download the NASCAR Mobile app to follow the leaderboards live from your device.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series RaceBuddy is back on NASCAR.com and NASCAR Mobile. Get 10 live high-definition feeds, including views of pit road and battle cams. Plus, ride along with in-car camera feeds for Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart. 

Lap-by-Lap will keep you caught up even if you can only take a peek here and there. Check in now and then to read back through all the laps you’ve missed, or keep an eye on the feed for real-time race updates.

For an interactive experience, join crew chief Brad Parrott for in-race analysis as he chats with readers about the Pocono 400.

We’ll also be sending race updates via Twitter through the official @NASCAR and @NASCARStats handles.

Haven’t tried RaceView yet? If you sign up, you’ll get virtualized video of cars on the track from various angles and hear what your favorite team is saying over the radio. Use it as a second screen or as your only screen. Just want to scan the radios? You can have that too with RaceView Audio. On a mobile device? Get RaceView Mobile here.

If you want to be more involved in the on-track action, you can manage your own fantasy team on NASCAR.com and follow your team’s performance in NASCAR Fantasy Live. Mobile users can also download NASCAR Connect, a game from OneUp Sports that allows users to play other fans with race predictions, for some off-track competition while drivers battle it out on the track.

Live Press Pass streams will keep the NASCAR action rolling even after the winner rolls in and out of Victory Lane. Catch interviews with the top finishers immediately following the checkered flag, and stay tuned to NASCAR.com throughout the week for the latest news.

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At Dover, Truex posts best finish with Furniture Row Racing

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DOVER, Del — When Martin Truex Jr. and the Furniture Row Racing team started preparing for the 2014 season, they acknowledged that, as a new team, they would need some time to learn each other.

"I think going to a new team is always something that at first you’re nervous about," Truex said before the Daytona 500.

The team came together quickly, starting second for the season-opening Daytona 500, but seemed to have missed the impact that sheer bad luck would have on the No. 78 Chevrolet SS.

Even on a weekend where Truex posted his season-best finish of sixth in the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks, the team had to deal with another head-scratching issue.

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"Today, my second run on track I ran into a bird," Truex told ESPN’s Brant James after the incident happened during practice. "Tore left-front fender all to pieces. A little bird. Just coming back straightaway, flew down. Boom. Front fender. It’s crazy. Crazy things have happened."

The incident with the bird caused some damage to the car’s left headlight area. Though the team easily repaired the impacted area, it was another example of how things just haven’t gone their way.

It all started back in Daytona. His second-place qualifying effort eased the nerves from a first race with a new team. But a crash during the Daytona Duels, caused by Jimmie Johnson running dry on gas in the final lap, sent Truex to the back of the field in a backup car. He fought his way back, but the excitement of the start for the one-car team — the best ever at the season-opening event — quickly wore off when Truex blew an engine and finished 43rd.

The team had similar things to say after competing at Auto Club Speedway, where — again in a backup car — it battled back only to hit debris and end the day in 23rd, capping off a weekend that dealt the team more than one "punch to the gut," the driver said.

So when Truex and team had their season-best finish of sixth at Dover, it was a welcome turn of fortunes.

"You can just feel it — that we’re heading in the right direction," he said.

Since joining the Furniture Row Racing team for the 2014 Sprint Cup Series season following the scandal at Richmond and NAPA’s sponsorship withdrawal, and with it the No. 56 Toyota, from Michael Waltrip Racing, the team has built cars its new driver has been happy with. Pit stops aren’t the problem, either — in fact, Truex and team had the sixth-fastest pit times at Dover.

"We’re learning about this car and how to be competitive with it," Truex said. "We’re getting closer and closer to finding that sweet spot. One constant we have had all year is excellent pit stops and today was a continuation of how good these over-the wall guys are. You know when you come into the pits there’s a good chance you’re going to gain spots."

Truex spent a total of just over 4 minutes, 58 seconds on pit road at Dover, compared to race winner Johnson’s 4 minutes, 41 seconds. There were 24 penalties passed out for pit road violations at the Monster Mile, which has gained a reputation of being one of the hardest pit road entrances. Eight of those violations were for speeding on or off pit road, four were mistakes made by the pit crew, and each had significant impacts on the race. None of those penalties went to the No. 78 team.

Bad luck aside, Truex still has time to turn his season around. When Kurt Busch came to the Furniture Row Racing team in 2013, he had six finishes of 20th or worse through Dover, the 13th race on the schedule, with four top-10s. After taking his second tour at Daytona, five races later, he doubled his count of top-10s.

With Michigan coming up on the schedule — one of the tracks where Truex has the most top-fives in his Cup career with three — and an increasing comfort level within the team, his season could very well end like Busch’s did last year.

"We’re a new team and takes a while to get all the pieces of the puzzle in place," Truex said. "We’re learning about this car and how to be competitive with it. We still have a ways to go but the feeling is upbeat knowing that we have more speed and can be more competitive."
 

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