Posted on by Brad Norman

Can Edwards rebound at Dover, slow Johnson’s momentum?

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. Jeff Gordon (No. 24)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet 

Standing: Gordon leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings with 432 points.
Past five races: 7th at Charlotte, 1st at Kansas, 39th at Talladega, 2nd at Richmond, 7th at Darlington.
Season stats: 1 win, 5 top-fives, 9 top-10s.
Track history: At Dover, Gordon’s average finish is 12.7 and his average running position is 12.5 over the past nine years. In 42 career starts at Dover, he has four wins, 17 top-fives, 24 top-10s and four poles.
Quick hit: Gordon really seems to have figured Dover out the past three races — or perhaps he’s refigured it out. After all, Gordon has won four times here, but the most recent victory was 2001. His finishes of second, third and fourth since the 2012 fall race suggest a return to Victory Lane is not only possible, it’s probable.

2. Matt Kenseth (No. 20)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Standing: Kenseth is second in the standings with 421 points.
Past five races: 3rd at Charlotte, 10th at Kansas, 37th at Talladega, 5th at Richmond, 4th at Darlington.
Season stats: 4 top-fives, 9 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Dover, Kenseth’s average finish is 12.1 and his average running position is 9.1 over the past nine years. In 30 career starts at Dover, he has two wins, 13 top-fives, 19 top-10s and one pole.
Quick hit: A Toyota has only won twice at Dover in the Sprint Cup Series — it was Kyle Busch in both cases. It might be Kenseth’s turn to add his name to that list, and at the same time join 2013 rival Jimmie Johnson in notching his first win of the season. Kenseth’s average running position is three places better than his average finish, so he’ll have to stay out of trouble as the race winds down.

3. Kyle Busch (No. 18)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Standing: Busch is third in the standings with 408 points.
Past five races: 9th at Charlotte, 15th at Kansas, 12th at Talladega, 3rd at Richmond, 6th at Darlington.
Season stats: 1 win, 3 top-fives, 6 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Dover, Busch’s average finish is 12.8 and his average running position is 10.9 over the past nine years. In 18 career starts at Dover, he has two wins, nine top-fives and 12 top-10s.
Quick hit: An engine failure in 2012 is the only Busch blip over the past four years. During that eight-race span, Busch has one win, four top-fives and seven top-10s. Given the reliability of JGR’s engines this year, expect Busch to be among the favorites to win.

4. Carl Edwards (No. 99)

Roush Fenway Racing, Ford 

Standing: Edwards is fourth in the standings with 408 points.
Past five races: 4th at Charlotte, 6th at Kansas, 30th at Talladega, 9th at Richmond, 13th at Darlington.
Season stats: 1 win, 3 top-fives, 7 top-10s.
Track history: At Dover, Edwards’ average finish is 9.6 and his average running position is 10.4 over the past nine years. In 19 career starts at Dover, he has one win, eight top-fives and 12 top-10s.
Quick hit: Edwards’ struggles at Dover last year appear to be more of an aberration than a case of possible systemic problems. Yes, his average finish in last year’s two events was 24.5, but the rest of Edwards’ career presents a clear picture of how to navigate this 1-mile concrete oval. Edwards might not be the clear-cut favorite, but he’s in the conversation — and seems due for a bit of luck.

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

Standing: Earnhardt Jr. is fifth in the standings with 394 points.
Past five races: 19th at Charlotte, 5th at Kansas, 26th at Talladega, 7th at Richmond, 2nd at Darlington.
Season stats: 1 win, 6 top-fives, 7 top-10s.
Track history: At Dover, Earnhardt Jr.’s average finish is 17.6 and his average running position is 17.9 over the past nine years. In 28 career starts at Dover, he has one win, six top-fives, 10 top-10s and one pole.
Quick hit: Earnhardt Jr. has long said he loves the type of racing a track like Dover produces, but only recently has he had good finishes to go along with his good feelings. After an eight-race stretch of finishing outside the top 10 from 2008-2011, Junior has two top-fives, three top-10s and an 11th-place finish over the past two years here. Expect him to contend for a win like he did last fall when the No. 88 finished second.

6. Jimmie Johnson (No. 48)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

Standing: Johnson is sixth in the standings with 388 points.
Past five races: 1st at Charlotte, 9th at Kansas, 23rd at Talladega, 32nd at Richmond, 3rd at Darlington.
Season stats: 1 win, 4 top-fives, 7 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Dover, Johnson’s average finish is 6.6 and his average running position is 6.8 over the past nine years. In 24 career starts at Dover, he has eight wins, 12 top-fives, 17 top-10s and three poles.
Quick hit: Jimmie Johnson’s worst Dover finish since 2004 came in this event last year, but ‘Six-Time’s’ 17th-place run was the product of being black-flagged for jumping a late restart — he was running second at the time. With any perceived pressures off his back after winning last week at Charlotte, there’s absolutely no reason for anyone other than Johnson to be considered the favorite on Sunday.

7. Joey Logano (No. 22)

Team Penske, Ford 

Standing: Logano is seventh in the standings with 378 points.
Past five races: 12th at Charlotte, 4th at Kansas, 32nd at Talladega, 1st at Richmond, 35th at Darlington.
Season stats: 2 wins, 6 top-fives, 6 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Dover, Logano’s average finish is 15.4 and his average running position is 17.8 over the past nine years. In 10 career starts at Dover, he has two top-fives and six top-10s.
Quick hit: Team Penske’s two cars were the only Fords in the top 12 last year in this race. Don’t expect that to be the case again, but at the same time, Logano is among the best bets to put a Ford in Victory Lane at Dover for the first time since 2011. He’s finished the past four races at the Monster Mile in the top 10.

8. Brian Vickers (No. 55)

Michael Waltrip Racing, Toyota 

Standing: Vickers is eighth in the standings with 365 points.
Past five races: 6th at Charlotte, 14th at Kansas, 4th at Talladega, 12th at Richmond, 26th at Darlington.
Season stats: 2 top-fives, 5 top-10s.
Track history: At Dover, Vickers’ average finish is 17.3 and his average running position is 19.2 over the past nine years. In 15 career starts at Dover, he has one top-five and two top-10s.
Quick hit: This year, Vickers has performed well on tracks in which he has a spotty history. What’s in store for the No. 55 team at a track where he’s had recent success? That’s one of the more under-the-radar story lines for a guy who ran well here last year and also won in 2013 at a track of a similar distance.

9. Brad Keselowski (No. 2)

Team Penske, Ford 

Standing: Keselowski is ninth in the standings with 361 points.
Past five races: 10th at Charlotte, 13th at Kansas, 38th at Talladega, 4th at Richmond, 17th at Darlington.
Season stats: 1 win, 4 top-fives, 5 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Dover, Keselowski’s average finish is 16.0 and his average running position is 14.7 over the past nine years. In eight career starts at Dover, he has one win, two top-fives and three top-10s.
Quick hit: Keselowski has two top-fives in the past three Dover races — including one win — but also has three career finishes of 20th or worse in eight starts at the track. Given his success this season, particularly in the new qualifying format, expect the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion to continue his recent hot streak rather than revert to his old habits.

10. Ryan Newman (No. 31)

Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet 

Standing: Newman is 10th in the standings with 361 points.
Past five races: 15th at Charlotte, 11th at Kansas, 18th at Talladega, 8th at Richmond, 10th at Darlington.
Season stats: 4 top-10s.
Track history: At Dover, Newman’s average finish is 15.1 and his average running position is 12.3 over the past nine years. In 24 career starts at Dover, he has three wins, six top-fives, 12 top-10s and four poles.
Quick hit: Newman ran well at Dover during the prime of his career, but his more recent history is spotty. Four finishes outside the top 20 in the past six races here carries more weight than his loop data numbers, which rank in the top 10 of active drivers.

11. Greg Biffle (No. 16)

Roush Fenway Racing, Ford

Standing: Biffle is 11th in the standings with 351 points.
Past five races: 21st at Charlotte, 16th at Kansas, 2nd at Talladega, 15th at Richmond, 5th at Darlington.
Season stats: 2 top-fives, 4 top-10s.
Track history: At Dover, Biffle’s average finish is 9.8 and his average running position is 10.7 over the past nine years. In 23 career starts at Dover, he has two wins, six top-fives, 11 top-10s and one pole.
Quick hit: This is not the type of race track where Biffle consistently runs well, but his numbers are reason to shove that thought off to the side. He’s one of just three drivers with an average finish better than 10.0 in the past nine years, and his average running position is fourth over that same time frame. Yeah, he’s struggled this year, but the veteran is a sleeper play in Fantasy Live this week.

12. Kevin Harvick (No. 4)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Standing: Harvick is 12th in the standings with 345 points.
Past five races: 2nd at Charlotte, 2nd at Kansas, 7th at Talladega, 11th at Richmond, 1st at Darlington.
Season stats: 2 wins, 4 top-fives, 6 top-10s, 2 poles.
Track history: At Dover, Harvick’s average finish is 14.6 and his average running position is 15.9 over the past nine years. In 26 career starts at Dover, he has three top-fives and 12 top-10s.
Quick hit: Harvick seems to have figured Dover out, with five of his 12 career top-10s here coming in the past six races. Given that the No. 4 team has outperformed expectations at tracks where Harvick previously had been average, you can again look for his Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet to run up front as it has over the past month.

13. Kyle Larson (No. 42)

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Chevrolet  

Standing: Larson is 13th in the standings with 344 points.
Past five races: 18th at Charlotte, 12th at Kansas, 9th at Talladega, 16th at Richmond, 8th at Darlington.
Season stats: 2 top-fives, 5 top-10s.
Track history: Larson does not have a Sprint Cup Series start at Dover. In two career Nationwide Series starts at Dover, he has one top-five and two top-10s.
Quick hit: Larson’s 18th-place finish at Charlotte was his worst showing since a 27th-place result at Martinsville in March. His run at Dover should show if the rookie is able to overcome any mental obstacle that comes with a rough outing — and so far, Larson’s cleared all hurdles this year.

14. Denny Hamlin (No. 11)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Standing: Hamlin is 14th in the standings with 340 points.
Past five races: 22nd at Charlotte, 18th at Kansas, 1st at Talladega, 22nd at Richmond, 19th at Darlington.
Season stats: 1 win, 2 top-fives, 3 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Dover, Hamlin’s average finish is 20.5 and his average running position is 16.3 over the past nine years. In 16 career starts at Dover, he has two top-fives, five top-10s and two poles.
Quick hit: Despite starting on the Coors Light Pole twice over the past three races, Dover hasn’t been hospitable to Hamlin, and the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has looked downright pedestrian in four of the past five races. Improving on his best Dover finish from 2013 (20th) would be a start.

15. Austin Dillon (No. 3)

Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet  

Standing: Dillon is 15th in the standings with 334 points.
Past five races: 16th at Charlotte, 19th at Kansas, 15th at Talladega, 27th at Richmond, 11th at Darlington.
Season stats: 1 top-10, 1 pole.
Track history: In one career start at Dover, Dillon finished 27th and had an average running position of 33.1.
Quick hit: Dillon continues to churn out consistent finishes and keep himself in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup as the Chase Grid currently stands. Eventually, he may have to win, but for now the solid stuff is enough.

16. Paul Menard (No. 27)

Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet 

Standing: Menard is 16th in the standings with 328 points.
Past five races: 8th at Charlotte, 17th at Kansas, 6th at Talladega, 24th at Richmond, 41st at Darlington.
Season stats: 1 top-five, 6 top-10s.
Track history: At Dover, Menard’s average finish is 20.0 and his average running position is 20.9 over the past nine years. In 13 career starts at Dover, he has one top-10.
Quick hit: One-third of the way through the season — and nearly halfway until the Chase Grid is set — and Menard is on the brink of wedging his way into the postseason conversation. The No. 27 car has looked like a top-10 machine in two of the past three weeks, but those events were on superspeedways. The veteran still has to show he can consistently compete for top-10s on short tracks.

28. Kurt Busch (No. 41)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet

Standing: Busch is 28th in the standings with 215 points.
Past five races: 40th at Charlotte, 29th at Kansas, 33rd at Talladega, 23rd at Richmond, 31st at Darlington.
Season stats: 1 win, 2 top-fives, 2 top-10s.
Track history: At Dover, Busch’s average finish is 16.9 and his average running position is 13.2 over the past nine years. In 27 career starts at Dover, he has one win, six top-fives and eight top-10s.
Quick hit: Even after a four-point day at Charlotte, Busch shows no danger of falling out of the top 30 in points. So the Martinsville win has saved his season so far, but the No. 41 team simply has to start producing. A 20th-place finish would be a huge relief at this point — and would also serve as Busch’s third-best showing of the year.

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‘Rowdy’ talks tripleheader, likes and dislikes at the track

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Q: What are your goals for 2014?

My goals for 2014 … obviously you want to win championships whether we win championships in Sprint Cup, Nationwide or the Camping World Truck Series. That’s our goal. To win all three, that would be awesome. To win just the Cup one, obviously that would be awesome in itself, but that’s what we are out to do — win a lot of races and championships.

Q: You often race upward of two to three times a weekend in NASCAR’s three national series. Why?

I have a reputation that I’d race anything, anywhere, and I just like to race. That’s what I grew up doing. I always grew up racing (on) Fridays and Saturdays. Whether it was legends cars, modifieds or late models. I was always racing, sometimes two divisions in a night. It was pretty fun, and I think that’s why I just like to race so much. I think that’s the reason that I race all three NASCAR divisions in one weekend now, is just to get out there and race as much as I can. I’d rather be out on the track than just sitting in the motor home. I feel like I can learn more by participating in the race than sitting there and watching it on TV. As you get older, sometimes things change in that respect, and your body can’t handle that much stuff going on. But I’ll keep doing it as long as I feel healthy enough to do it.

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Q: Is it hard to be so heavily involved in the sport both as a driver and a team owner?

Sometimes it’s difficult to balance everything. It’s not terrible, but being a driver and an owner — definitely being an owner in the sport — has taught me a lot more about what the sport’s involvement is for the driver side and for the crew member side and everything else. It’s definitely a crazy business. It’s a challenging business, that’s for sure. Juggling sponsor shirts or fire suits and helmets and all that stuff definitely gets complicated sometimes, but that’s what we love to do.

Q: When you’re at the races, what do you enjoy most?

I’d say I enjoy winning the most of course, but beyond that it’s the competition. It’s the best of the best, the best in the world in stock car auto racing. For me to be one of the top drivers is pretty cool and to go out there and try to win these big races and even compete for the championship is what it’s all about.

Q: What do you enjoy the least?

I think what I enjoy the least about this sport is the politics of it, but also just the pure difficulty of it. You wish it was easier, but yet I think it’s on the second side of the sword, it’s fun in how difficult it all is. Whether it’s the business side or whether it’s just the pure racing side, I think I also just dislike wrecking and blowing up. Those are two of the worst things you can do, whether it’s your own fault or whether it’s anyone else’s fault. It just sucks that you have issues that can happen to you like that and take you out of being able to compete in races.

Q: We all hear the old cliché about racers being most comfortable in the car. Is it true? When you are at a race, do you actually feel the most comfortable when you get in the car?

Yeah, of course I feel the most comfortable in the car, obviously that’s what you grew up doing. It’s what you were born to do or raised to do. You aren’t necessarily raised to be a business guy or a sales guy with sponsors and then you become a race car driver. You are a race car driver, and you have to learn to do all the other things, too. You have to learn how to negotiate the media, educate the sponsors and work with team members and the rest of the processes that make the sport go around.

Q: Could you race Formula 1, and if so, why don’t you?

I could probably race Formula 1 and why I don’t is because no one has called me for a ride. If they did, I’d like to win a Cup Series championship first and then go on and do Formula 1, but I’m starting to get too old.

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David Caraviello picks his next 10 for enshrinement

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It’s been barely a week since the five newest members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame were elected, and it will be several months still until they or their families receive the blue blazers which are symbolic of the sport’s highest honor. But the introduction of new eligibility requirements, which in turn have thrust more names into consideration for enshrinement, make it natural to want to look ahead and wonder who might next hear the Hall’s call.

The impact of those revised requirements — which opened the facility’s doors to competitors from more contemporary eras — was felt immediately in the election of Bill Elliott, who under the old rules would have had to wait several more years even though he hadn’t raced a full schedule since 2003. Future lists of nominees will almost certainly include more drivers like Elliott, mixing in those modern names with the historical figures who will likely remain mainstays on the ballot. We can probably look forward to more classes like this current one, which mixes both old and new.

For the moment, the attention is rightly placed upon Elliott, Rex White, Fred Lorenzen, Joe Weatherly and Wendell Scott, who will take their rightful places in the Hall of Fame on Jan. 30, 2015. But soon after that, it will be time for the nominating committee to once again convene and determine the 20 names to be placed in consideration for the class of 2016. Only five go in each year, of course, but in one writer’s opinion here are the top 10 candidates to next receive a slate blue jacket with that Hall of Fame logo right over the heart.

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10. Ray Evernham

Of course, he has to make the nomination list first, something the greatest crew chief of his era has somehow been unable to do. But Evernham certainly has the credentials, having won three titles and 47 races with Jeff Gordon, and then 15 more events as an owner. For nearly a decade, no one was more innovative, no one was more demanding, no one was better. Had he not left Hendrick Motorsports in late 1999 to spearhead Dodge’s return to NASCAR, he certainly would have won more. As it is, he’s done plenty to at least make the list, if not earn outright induction. Hopefully, those who compile the nomination list aren’t holding his current role as a Hendrick consultant against him. Regardless, his absence to this point is inexcusable. They’re not going to make Chad Knaus wait this long, are they?

9. Red Byron

It’s easy to overlook the first champion of NASCAR’s premier series — Byron recorded only two victories, both of them coming in a 1949 season consisting of just eight events. But the fact that the man made it that far at all is astounding, given that he did it on one leg. On a bombing run over the Pacific in World War II, Byron’s B-24 Liberator was hit by anti-aircraft fire that rendered his left leg almost useless. He would suffer through pain for the remainder of his life, yet after a long convalescence he still managed to race and win, essentially bolting his bad leg into the car. In an era of roughnecks and moonshiners, Byron was truly the first professional race driver, with a full understanding of the vehicle and what it took to stay at the front. He might not be NASCAR’s most decorated champion, but he may have been its most complete.

8. Bobby Isaac

The North Carolinian might be best known for one moment at Talladega in 1973, when he pulled onto pit road and got out of his car claiming voices had told him to quit racing. But that single instance can’t overshadow Isaac’s splendid career, which included the 1970 championship and a long, successful stint in Nord Krauskopf’s K&K Insurance car. Isaac had monster years in 1969 and ’70, taking 28 checkered flags over that span, enjoying his best days right before the schedule was shortened and the sport entered the modern era. On NASCAR’s all-time win list, every driver ahead of him has already been elected, or is a shoo-in for eventual enshrinement. He has more wins than Fireball Roberts, Dale Jarrett, Joe Weatherly or Rex White, making it virtually certain that Isaac will one day join them in the Hall.

7. Robert Yates

It’s natural to wonder how much more Robert Yates Racing might have achieved had fate not intervened, and Davey Allison not been lost in a helicopter crash and Ernie Irvan’s career not been cut short by a head injury. But even as it stands today, Yates built a beast of an organization that won 57 times and claimed the 1999 title with Dale Jarrett. Yates had the benefit of some great drivers — Allison, Irvan, Jarrett and Ricky Rudd — and turned out engines that were among the best of their time. For a while on restrictor-plate tracks, no one was better, as Yates’ five victories at Daytona — three of them in the 500 — will attest. Yates cars won everywhere, from Darlington to Charlotte to Indianapolis to Sonoma, and even though the team became a shadow of its former self in its final years, the legacy always endured.

6. Richard Childress

For all their accomplishments, modern car owners like Childress and Rick Hendrick seem to gaining zero traction toward Hall of Fame election. That’s too bad, because any owner with six titles, 105 race wins, and four decades of success behind him should go right toward the head of the line, regardless of what comes next. Drivers may wear the helmets and fire suits, but owners are the sport’s ultimate risk-takers, particularly those like Childress for whom racing is their primary business. There seems to be faction among Hall voters which believes candidates should be finished competing before they’re elected, a mindset that clashes with other sports like the NFL, which enshrined owners such as Al Davis and Art Rooney while they were still active. NASCAR owners like Childress deserve the same degree of respect.

5. Curtis Turner

Another driver whose statistics don’t do justice to his full impact, Turner was a dynamo and a showman who emerged as perhaps the biggest NASCAR star of the 1950s and ’60s. He only won 17 races, and he never really came close to winning a title, and he was once banned for trying to form a union. But he also never ran anything close to a full schedule, picking off the big races and the big paychecks, often while dodging both the state police and federal aviation authorities at the same time. When he was truly focused, he could do amazing things like lead every lap from the pole, or win 22 races in the same car across two different divisions, removing the top for convertible events. His death in an airplane crash cut short one of the sport’s more varied and colorful careers. NASCAR may not have always loved Turner, but the fans sure did.

4. Benny Parsons

He may have been beloved in later years for his homespun delivery as a television analyst, but don’t let that fool you — the former Detroit taxicab driver could flat-out wheel a race car. Much like his predecessor Ned Jarrett, Parsons parlayed a successful driving career into a stint as a television and radio analyst that only served to burnish what he had done behind the wheel. But driving is what he did best, and it showed in a career where he won 21 races and the 1973 premier-series championship. Parsons could show spectacular consistency, finishing in the top five in points for nine straight seasons between 1973-80. Like the next driver on this list, he sometimes gets knocked for points racing, but he was a product of his era. Parsons has come close to election a few times, and the complete picture will soon earn him enshrinement.

3. Terry Labonte

Like Parsons, maybe Labonte didn’t win quite as often as he should have — he owns 22 victories at NASCAR’s top level — but those two championships are very difficult to overlook. With last week’s election of Joe Weatherly, Labonte is now the lone eligible driver with multiple premier series titles still awaiting enshrinement. His 1996 crown was particularly notable, in that it came amid Jeff Gordon’s best years and prevented the younger driver from winning four titles in a row. Once again, you have the issue of a nominee still competing — Labonte qualified for his final Daytona 500 only one day before he was nominated, and also started at this season’s Talladega spring race. But he still meets the criteria, and if two driving titles aren’t enough to get voters to look beyond that bias, then maybe nothing will.

2. Mark Martin

Like Evernham, Martin should already have made the cut for nomination — he was eligible beginning this year due to the change in criteria, but somehow left off the list. That’s a head-scratcher, given that Martin showed sustained excellence over four decades, winning 40 races — more than a slew of guys already in the Hall — and finishing as championship runner-up five times. He didn’t win a title. It shouldn’t matter, given the rest of his resume. If anything, he’s the figure most responsible for the change in eligibility criteria, given that he redefined the idea of retirement age and proved some drivers can win races and contend for titles even at 50. The guy set the standard for athleticism behind the wheel, his first and last race wins coming 20 years apart. Martin is a first-ballot Hall of Famer if there ever was one, so it would be nice to see him make the nomination list first.

1. Rick Hendrick

NFL owners like Lamar Hunt and Wellington Mara were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame while still active in their sport. Coaches like Rick Pitino and Mike Krzyzewski were elected to basketball’s Hall with plenty of years still ahead of them. And yet, the most successful team owner in NASCAR history didn’t even show up at the announcement this year, because he knew his name wouldn’t be called. It’s not just that Rick Hendrick hasn’t yet been elected — it’s that he doesn’t even appear on the list of names barely missing the cut. How is that possible, with 221 race wins and 11 titles to date? Again, there seems to be that bias against nominees still competing, even if they meet all the criteria. What’s the concern, that Hendrick’s plaque will need to be updated a few times? He could be active for another decade — will he need to sit and wait that long until he’s finally enshrined? The only certainty is that with every title Hendrick wins, the more glaring his omission becomes.

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Caraviello: Kurt Busch has reshaped how the public views him

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As a polarizing driver with a rather colorful history, Kurt Busch is no stranger to the sound of boos coming from the crowd. Being a Busch brother, they just seem to go with the territory, whether they’re actually warranted or not. But when the 2004 champion of NASCAR’s top series stepped out of a helicopter and onto the grassy infield area of Charlotte Motor Speedway this past Sunday afternoon, he heard something very different indeed.

The crowd assembled in the frontstretch grandstand welcomed Busch with a warm ovation that moved the Stewart-Haas Racing driver to tip his cap, as if he were a ballplayer acknowledging cheers after a home run. On the way from his impromptu landing spot to the driver introduction stage for the Coca-Cola 600, he slapped hands with fans lined up along a railing. Halfway though his first attempt at the Memorial Day weekend double, a driver who’s been on the receiving end of so much grief from spectators — in fairness, some of it deserved — basked in pure admiration.

It was like that all month for Busch, who became just the fourth man to compete in both the Coca-Cola 600 and the Indianapolis 500, and over the course of that long, single Sunday did so much to reshape how the public views him. It maybe didn’t end how he’d hoped — Busch’s No. 41 car was just rounding into shape Sunday night when it was involved in a pit road collision, and then lost an engine which left him 193.5 miles short of his goal of completing all 1,100 — but mere statistics were vastly overshadowed by the respect he earned in the endeavor.

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Now, within the gates of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage area, respect is something Kurt Busch has never lacked. The guy can wheel it like few people in the world, a fact that is indisputable among those whose opinions matter most. But even so, hearing other competitors rave about his undertaking spoke volumes. This was a driver putting in a tremendous amount of work for something he didn’t really have to do. This was a driver representing not just himself, but all of his peers in a completely different discipline of racing. This was a driver putting himself out there just for the challenge of it, his sixth-place finish at Indy shining brightly even if the double itself met a premature end.

"It’s pretty spectacular," Chad Knaus, crew chief for 600 winner Jimmie Johnson, said in the media center after the race. "… Kurt did a great job. The thing that really amazes me is, we all talk about communication. To be able to go and put himself in that world, begin to try to communicate with those guys that have a completely different vocabulary than what we do on the Cup side, it’s spectacular to go through that. Showed a lot of maturity on his part, a lot of desire. I thought that was pretty awesome."

It was, and it seemed capable of netting top-10 finishes in both races before everything started to go south late in the longer NASCAR event — which, for all the focus on Indianapolis, is always the key to any double attempt. When it ended, Busch seemed just fine physically, as if he had another 900 miles left in him. He was also very patient with a crush of reporters as large as anything Dale Earnhardt Jr. has ever seen. He even spoke briefly to a few writers on pit road prior to the 600, something yours truly can’t recall any driver in a similar circumstance doing before. Yes, when it comes to handling the media during a double attempt, it’s Kurt Busch who has set the bar.

These days, though, should we really be surprised? Perhaps no driver in NASCAR has been through more character-building experiences over the past three years than Busch, who showed plenty of mettle in his climb back to race-winning form after his split with Roger Penske. His work with the Armed Forces Foundation, in particular former service members dealing with the insidious condition that is post-traumatic stress disorder, has provided perspective and a dose of humility. Adding to all that was the double, which some could have argued was a needless exercise given Busch’s position in points, but in the end proved a testament to a work ethic that’s among the more underrated in the garage.

"I really like the work he is doing with the armed forces, and it says a lot about what’s important to him more than anything he is doing on the race track," Earnhardt said on the eve of the double. "He’s doing some amazing work and making an impact. That’s doing a lot for him — like it matters — in my eyes. I respect him a lot more because of that. The racing thing — hell, we all like to race, so I can understand his enjoyment of doing the Indy deal. … He’s representing the entire sport. Whether he knows it or not, he’s got a lot of people, drivers, crew and just about everyone in the infield pulling for him to do well because he is representing all of us. He’s definitely put in a strong effort to make a different impression. I have to hand it to him. He’s done a lot of work."

And it paid off — not just in his sterling performance at Indianapolis, not just in his physical preparedness, but in also the goodwill Busch engendered with the public at large. The double is behind him now, and some serious work looms ahead in the effort to get that No. 41 car — which lingers 28th in points — in shape for a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup that Busch will likely qualify for by virtue of his Martinsville victory earlier in the year. But the double also allowed many to glimpse a different side of a driver nicknamed "the Outlaw" for a reason. In going to Indianapolis he represented something much bigger than himself, and upon landing in Charlotte he heard cheers from race fans who elevate true racers above all else.

"I think it’s nice to see the fans recognize him for what he has done," said Rick Hendrick, who provided Busch with advice through some of the driver’s darker days. "I think it was outstanding."

His performance in the Indy 500 may have garnered the most attention Sunday, but when it came to the double in its entirety, that arrival in Charlotte eclipsed everything else. Still buzzing from his run at the Brickyard, Busch was greeted warmly by a grandstand crowd that’s at times been hostile toward him, and then embraced two military veterans and PTSD sufferers whose names appeared on a decal on his vehicle. Yes, the effort ended prematurely, with his No. 41 car parked behind its transporter while the 600 went on without him. But while he stood in a darkened garage area, it was clear the double had helped many to see Busch in a new light.

Editor’s note: Tune in to NBC on Sunday, June 8 at 4:30 p.m. ET for "Kurt Busch: 36," a documentary produced by NASCAR Productions, on Busch’s Indy-Charlotte double. A 60-minute director’s cut will air the following day, Monday, June 9, at 11 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.

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Posted on by Staff Report

Partnership marks his second high-profile online sponsor of the season

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Phil Parsons Racing and driver Josh Wise have landed sponsorship from motorsports simulator iRacing for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Dover International Speedway.

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The partnership marks the second high-profile online sponsor this season for Wise, who won the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Fan Vote. Internet site Reddit adorned the No. 98 car at Talladega Superspeedway earlier in May and at Charlotte Motor Speedway for all-star festivities.

"I have used iRacing for the past six years as a training tool for my weekly NASCAR races because of how accurate their simulation and track layouts are," Wise said. "It has been such an awesome year for us with so much fan support on these projects."

The team announced Tuesday that funding for the sponsorship is scheduled to come from a monthlong drive with discounted subscriptions and add-ons for iRacing’s online racing community.

Wise currently ranks 36th in the Sprint Cup standings with a top finish of 20th place at Talladega. The series’ next event, the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks, is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET (FOX).

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Posted on by Zack Albert

Former Mexico Series champion ranks third in Truck Series standings

German Quiroga‘s third-place ranking in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series puts him squarely in the conversation for championship hopefuls. But Quiroga knows as well as anyone that title talk doesn’t heat up until much later in the season.

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As the series heads to Dover International Speedway, Quiroga can still claim to be headed in the right direction as the only driver on the circuit with top-10 finishes in the first four races of 2014. While it’s still more than five months until the final checkered flag of the year, he hopes the groundwork has been established for season-long contention.

"It’s good, for right now," said Quiroga, who turns 34 on Thursday. "To be honest, the season has just begun, just four races. We have to work harder. One of our goals in the beginning of the season was to try to be champions. … Top-10s, top-fives — for sure, it’s great. I know what we need to be champions. We have the equipment; we have the people, which is the most important thing; we have the sponsors that have supported me very well in Net10 and OtterBox.

"For sure it’s one of our goals and we’re in a great position right now. We need to keep learning and fighting and trying to be better each race so we can get the most out of each one of them. The more points we can achieve each race, the better we can be when we get closer to Homestead."

Quiroga, in his second full season in the truck series, has been in championship battles before, demonstrating a knack for sealing the deal. Prior to making his first ventures into the Camping World tour, Quiroga enjoyed a three-year run (2009-11) as champion of the NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series in his home country.

With his rookie campaign behind him, Quiroga carries seasoning into his sophomore truck season with the Red Horse Racing team. From a communication and experience standpoint, the benefit of returning to many tracks he saw last year for the first time has also played a factor.

"For sure it helps knowing that we’re going to be at race track where I’ve been and we’ve done well," Quiroga said. "I can relate that to be more specific with my crew chief so we can have a better truck by the end and finish like we want, trying to start finishing in the top five."

Quiroga’s first visit to Dover last season had the makings of another top-10 result, until his No. 77 truck’s handling soured late, dropping him from eighth to a 13th-place finish in the final 30 laps. His goal this go-around is for a reversal at the Monster Mile, a unique concrete track that still registers a familiar feel.

"We’re going to try to fix that in practice so by the end instead of losing spots, we can gain some," Quiroga said. "I really like that track. It fit me well. I guess smaller tracks are more like what I’m used to racing in the past in my country, so I’m looking forward to it. I think it can be one of the first top-fives for us and for sure, I’m excited to go back to Dover."

For championship goals to come full circle, Quiroga says that top-10 finishes will need to transform to top-fives and potential victories over the course of the season. Early indications are that he has found some early chemistry with crew chief Butch Hylton, who moved over to Quiroga’s No. 77 Toyota from the No. 17 team of Red Horse stablemate Timothy Peters in the offseason.

The challenge now is to keep the momentum up before title talk reaches its highest point in November.

"I think everybody’s on the same page," Quiroga said. "We want to fight for the championship — I think for now we are good, but we need to improve our results. For sure, we want to be able to start finishing in the top five and contend for a win, so we’re working on that. I know everyone on my team is willing to do the same thing, so we’re working hard. We’re having a lot of fun and learning as much as we can from each other."

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Take advantage of NASCAR.com’s exclusive virtual ride-along for rest of 2014

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As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season nears the halfway point of the 2014 regular season, 10 winners in 12 races have divided up the checkered flags. But the biggest winners week in and week out at NASCAR.com have been the best-informed race fans in motorsports — users of NASCAR RaceView and NASCAR RaceView Mobile.

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Now as the season enters its crucial summer stretch, everyone can get in on the action with reduced pricing on both applications for the remainder of the season, including the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.

RaceView, the first and only real-time 3-D virtual re-creation of a major sporting event, is now available at the low price of $44.95 for the remainder of 2014. New subscription pricing of $29.99 for the RaceView Mobile app is available.

With the RaceView product, fans will have access through mobile, tablet and PC devices to an interactive 3-D display using Sportvision’s RACE f/x system technology with military-grade GPS that tracks each car’s placement to within 2 centimeters. Over 35,000 subscribers have already taken advantage of the RaceView’s virtual ride-along features, including:

— 45 audio channels
— 5 viewing angles
— 3 race modes
— 2 full-field leaderboards
— Lap-by-lap updates
— Weekly paint scheme previews

RaceView Mobile has already eclipsed 377,000 downloads this season with nearly a half-million unique users in 2014. Users have access to virtual track tours, live-race interaction, post-race driver data, driver pages and paint scheme updates, along with continual news updates from NASCAR.com’s editorial network.

The RaceView Mobile service remains free to users of Sprint devices with an unlimited data plan. All other users can download the application for free from Apple iTunes or Google Play.

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Joe Gibbs Racing driver still looking for first win of season

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CONCORD, N.C. — One unexpected winless streak ended Sunday night in the Coca-Cola 600, while another continued. And both involved the drivers who battled down to the final race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title one season ago.

Jimmie Johnson broke through for a record seventh career victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and a first this season for the defending and six-time champion of the sport’s top circuit. Left still waiting to make an initial trip to Victory Lane in 2014 was Matt Kenseth, who led the series with seven wins last season and led with fewer than 20 laps remaining Sunday night, but ultimately settled for third.

With Johnson at last notching a mark in the victory column, it’s Kenseth — who sits second in the standings, and whose nine top-10 finishes in 12 races are tied for the series lead — who becomes the most notable championship contender without a win this season. Kenseth’s most recent victory was at New Hampshire in the second race of last year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, and the skid since now stands at 20 starts heading to Dover International Speedway next week.

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At Charlotte, he certainly was in the mix — Kenseth passed Jeff Gordon for the lead with 16 laps remaining, but Johnson muscled past the No. 20 car on the low side with nine circuits to go, and then Kevin Harvick got by to take second. The third-place result was Kenseth’s best of the season, but also another close call for a driver who is in contention on almost a weekly basis but still without a victory to show for it.

"Me personally, whenever your team does everything, everything falls the right way, they put you out in the front at the end of the race, you don’t win the race, you’re always frustrated and disappointed," Kenseth said. "You don’t get a lot of those opportunities. Although I felt like I did everything I could possibly do, we just weren’t quick enough to hold them off. So, yeah, a little frustrated we didn’t get the win."

The speed — or relative lack thereof — in his car seemed a concern for Kenseth in the immediate aftermath of the 600, particularly in light of how Johnson was able to pass him in the end. "Honestly thought we were going to be in pretty good shape," Kenseth said of his position as the finish loomed. But then his car tightened up, and suddenly Johnson was past him.

"Man, he was just mowing me down," Kenseth said. "He could do that pretty much anytime he wanted to tonight. Every time I raced by him, when he wanted, he had at least two tenths (of a second) in the back, or three. I had clean air, everything lined up, had the lead, I just couldn’t go fast enough to hold them off. That’s a little bit disappointing. I feel like we’re gaining on it. Certainly we’re not where we were at this time last year, all of us there leading a bunch of laps and being in contention to win. I feel like we had a top‑five car tonight, and finished third with it."

By this point last season, Kenseth had three race victories in the bag and was leading double- and triple-digit laps on almost a routine basis. He led 42 circuits Sunday night, bringing his season total to 304 — an amount he had easily surpassed by the sixth race of the 2013 campaign. NASCAR made a few aerodynamic tweaks to the Sprint Cup car prior to this season, which has made the vehicle more of a challenge for some teams compared to a year ago.

"We’re working on it," Kenseth said. "Whether you’re the fastest car in the garage or the slowest in the garage, you’re always trying to work on it to get better. Panicking has never helped anything. Like I said, I feel like we’re gaining on it. We’ve just been off a little bit all year. Honestly I thought we ended (last) year really strong. … We haven’t been like that all season. I don’t know if it’s the aero, rules changes. We just have been off a couple tenths at all these tracks. We’re digging hard trying to figure it out. We’re just not quite there yet."

In fairness, it’s hardly like the No. 20 team has fallen off the map — Kenseth has recorded top-10s in seven of his last eight starts, and now trails the leader Gordon by 11 points in the standings. But race victories are at more of a premium now with wins being the primary criteria for inclusion in the revamped 16-person Chase, and Sunday night Johnson became the 10th driver to bask in confetti and champagne this season.

"I think you’ve just got to keep working on it the same, as hard as you can each and every week. It’s not like you can try harder and work harder and make it happen," Kenseth said. "You’ve just got to keep digging at it, keep trying to get better. It’s not like we’re way off. It’s not like we’re terrible. All mile‑and‑a‑halfs except for Kansas, we’ve been running top five or six. We’re getting better. We’re not way, way off. We just need a little bit extra to run with those guys."

Sunday night seemed to back that up — the No. 20 team overcame a baseball-sized hole punched in the nose of the car, caused by some unseen piece of debris, and patched with a combination of aluminum and tape. Crew chief Jason Ratcliff placed the onus for the third-place finish on himself, saying his adjustments toward the end of the race weren’t as effective as he hoped they’d be.

"I just made the wrong adjustments there at the end. A couple of runs prior to that, we were able to run in front of Jimmie there for a number of laps, and be OK. Then we went too loose. We felt, hey if we can fix that, maybe if we get in that same situation again, we’ll have a shot at it. But I just overdid it," Ratcliff said. "I think the car has speed, it’s just got to be — I don’t want to use the word perfect, but the window of opportunity is a little bit smaller than you like to see. I felt like our cars last year, we never wanted to miss it, but if we did on one side or the other, the car still had speed in it. Whereas right now, we’re just not there."

The progress is gradual. "It’s taking more time than we had hoped," Ratcliff said. His message to Kenseth over the radio immediately after the race was in a similar vein. "Getting closer," the crew chief told his driver. They’re doing it one top-10 finish at a time, as Kenseth works to end his skid and become the next driver to break through the gate to Victory Lane.

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Posted on by Holly Cain

Cain: Plan for a possible stretch of ‘Six-Time’ summer dominance

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Silly doubters. Clearly, Jimmie Johnson was simply making his quest for a historic seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title more dramatic.

With great pleasure the reigning champ turned the tables on the racing media late Sunday night after celebrating in Charlotte Motor Speedway‘s Victory Lane as the winningest driver (seven) in the storied track’s history — and the newest victory-qualified driver for the 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup as the Chase Grid currently stands.

"What the hell are you all going to write about now? We won," Johnson said to reporters before taking questions.

He was smiling, but he was only half-joking.

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The only thing more rare for Johnson than going this long into the season before scoring his first victory is for Johnson having to face tough, relentless questions about when he was going to win.

And the first one he got Sunday was tongue-in-cheek on whether he had trouble finding Victory Lane since it had been "so long."

"Twelve long races," Johnson said, smiling. "I guess we’ve created this environment for ourselves. I honestly wasn’t stressing. The fact that 12 races created that much buzz just means we’ve done a lot of great things over the years, so I’ll turn it into a compliment."

Typical Jimmie. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more upbeat presence in the garage. Of course, as he alluded, life is good when a 12-race winless streak is enough to send your fans and the racing media into near panic mode on your behalf.

This is a team sometimes chided for winning too much, so 12 weeks of "almost" was unfamiliar territory.

But this is Jimmie Johnson — "Six-Time" — and you don’t earn that nickname because you can’t handle pressure, real or perceived. 

He wasn’t as aggravated about not winning as he was annoyed with everyone else’s harping about him not winning. He came to expect the questions in his weekly press conferences at the track, recently raising the subject himself before reporters could even ask.

Even before he won the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night, he was among the drivers eligible for the Chase based on points collected — a statistic of which he politely reminded people in the last few weeks.

"More than anything, I just got tired of answering the question," Johnson said. "There wasn’t a lot of frustration due to the pressure of winning. There was frustration in not having fast race cars, but that’s a different situation. In my opinion, I don’t believe there will be 16 different winners. I feel like a strong championship points position would get us into the first phase of the Chase.

"Granted, (the win) simplifies things. … We really want to heat up and win races later in the season, especially before the Chase starts."

He’s got to like his chances again in Sunday’s FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway. Johnson’s eight wins at the Monster Mile are the most in track history, and his 2,704 laps led in the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet are most among active drivers. His average finish in 24 starts is an astounding 8.7.

He nearly swept the series’ two stops at Dover last season, winning there during the Chase and being in position to win last June. Instead, he was black-flagged for jumping a restart with 19 laps remaining and ended up a frustrating 17th place.

If he doesn’t win Sunday at Dover there’s always summer stops at Pocono or Daytona, both venues where he’s won three times and is the defending race winner. And there’s always Indianapolis, where Johnson is a pause-worthy four-time winner. 

In Johnson’s case, there is not a particular time of year when he is most dangerous, not just one particular track he "owns." Johnson has been so consistent, so superior across the board.

So as pundits pondered and critics considered the chance of a chink in the armor, Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Chad Knaus put their heads down and kept at it. Glancing at the 66 previous race trophies and huge, golden Sprint Cup championship trophies they had won together certainly had to reassure.

"What they’ve been able to accomplish together, it’s been amazing" team owner Rick Hendrick said of the pair. "I always say, I’m just glad I don’t have to race against them. … The thing that amazes me the most is they are always digging to be better."

Which raises the better point to contemplate: It isn’t so much whether Johnson will win again or how many weeks will go by between victories, but instead how many races he wins and championships he’ll claim before he stops.

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