Posted on by Nascar

Ryan Blaney will also attempt to qualify for the Cup Series race at Talladega in October

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Ryan Blaney isn’t concerned about the physical demands of competing in Saturday night’s 5-hour Energy 400 at Kansas Speedway.

It’s the mental aspect that’s gotten his attention.

"The biggest thing is to have (the) mental preparation; you know you’re going to be in the car an hour and a half, two hours more than what you are in the truck race," Blaney, 20, said Thursday prior to Camping World Truck Series practice. "Just keeping your state of mind calm and focused for that long, that’s the biggest thing. 

"These cars, with all the luxuries we have in them with nice power steering, nice seats, you don’t get as physically worn out as much as you used to. It’s just the mental side you have to prepare for. I think that’s the biggest task, keeping your head on the entire race." 

Blaney will attempt to qualify the Team Penske No. 12 Ford in what would be his Sprint Cup debut here this weekend. He competes full-time in the NCWTS for Brad Keselowski Racing, and has made selects starts in the Nationwide Series for Team Penske. 

It’s the first of two scheduled Cup attempts for this season – Blaney will also attempt to qualify for the fall race at Talladega Superspeedway in October. 

"You definitely have to have a different mindset (for a Cup race), it being pretty much twice as long as the truck race," Blaney said. "It’s a whole different race, you have to pace yourself." 

Cup races can also have twice as many pit stop opportunities, allowing teams to work on the car more often during the course of an event.

"It’s definitely something you have to get used to," he said.

Blaney is fourth in the Truck Series point standings after two races. The SFP 250 is slated for Friday night at Kansas Speedway. 

Dave Blaney, Ryan’s father, will also be attempting to qualify for Saturday night’s Cup race. The younger Blaney is hopeful both he and his father will be in the 43-car starting lineup. Neither team has a guaranteed spot in the field. 

"We ran the truck race at Eldora last year; he ran a little bit better than me in the race and we didn’t get to run with him in the race," Ryan Blaney said. "But we ran a lot in practice together and that was a blast. 

"We’ve run a couple of smaller … dirt Late Model races against each other. I actually beat him for the win last year at a dirt Modified race somewhere (near) Watkins Glen. We were side-by-side off (Turn) 4 and we just edged him out. That was a lot of fun.

"To give him credit, I started second and he started like eighth or something. He came up through the field and was going to pass me if there had been another lap. I definitely gave him grief about it while I could."

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by Nascar

There has not been a back-to-back Truck Series winner at Kansas in 13 races there

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – In 13 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at Kansas Speedway, there has not been a back-to-back winner. In fact, there has not been a repeat winner at all.

Thirteen races, and Matt Crafton has run them all. Thirteen different winners and Crafton, as the defending champion of Friday night’s SFP 250, is the most recent.

"So I’ve got the monkey on my back this weekend to be able to try to do it and be a two-time winner here," Crafton said Thursday prior to opening practice for the series.

The defending series champion is also the series’ most recent winner of 2014, having scored a nightcap win at Martinsville in a race that was part of a Sprint Cup/Truck Series twin bill thanks to weather issues.

Crafton, 13th in the season-opener at Daytona, enters Friday’s race third in points. Timothy Peters and Crafton’s ThorSport Racing teammate Johnny Sauter are 1-2.

Going off his Martinsville victory, and last year’s championship run, Crafton expects similar results in the coming weeks as the series’ schedule begins to pick up steam.

"Just going to Martinsville and at the end of last year – I would say the last five or six races, I’m not saying we put it in cruise control, but we didn’t get to race quite as hard as we wanted to," he said. "I knew we had a lot of speed in our trucks, but I had to race really, really smart and couldn’t put myself in any bad positions.

"Everybody kept giving us a bad time at the end of last year – ‘you guys are just going to top-10 us to death.’ We were just trying to win the championship. Then we went into this season with guns loaded and it just kind of felt good to prove a point and know that we can win races when we need to."

Friday’s race will be the first under the lights for the series here, and most drivers have said they are unsure what to expect.

"I have no idea from day to night," said Crafton. "I don’t know what the track is going to do. I’m sure it will get more grip. Is it going to get free or is it going to tighten up? We don’t know. … Last year during the day it got very slippery and the groove started moving around so hopefully the groove will widen out tomorrow night as well and we can get a second and third groove going."

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by Nascar

As season carries on, winless heavyweights could get left in dust of Chase field

NASCAR’s list of potential championship candidates continues to grow, and we’ve not yet reached midway to the cutoff for this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Halfway to halfway isn’t here, but it’s drawing closer.

On the “who’s going to make the Chase” front, half the 16 positions up for grabs now appear to be spoken for, secured or otherwise claimed.

That’s unofficial, of course; one of those “If the Chase started today,” scenarios.

It doesn’t, by the way.

That being the case, it’s doubtful that anyone is running down the hallway in shops across the land, banging on dyno-room doors and yelling across chassis set-up plates, urging everyone to “get this thing turned around.” Panic, if it’s out there, awaits somewhere over the horizon. The series heads to Kansas City this week, meaning that we’re still plodding through the flatlands, literally and figuratively.

Denny Hamlin, who closed the curtain on 2013 with a win at Homestead, became the most recent winner of 2014, coasting his way to victory at Talladega Superspeedway with the appearance of a final yellow flag. He joins a list of not-so-surprising winners consisting of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Joey Logano. The races may be ripe for the picking, but the ladder’s getting crowded.

Winless streaks have fallen by the wayside — Earnhardt Jr. knocked the rust off and won right out of the box, ending a 55-race drought; Kurt Busch returned to Victory Lane after more than 80 fruitless attempts.

Maybe we won’t get to 16 different winners by early September. Then again, did anyone think the series would see eight in just the first 10 races? In the land of “anyone can win one of these things,” anyone usually comes up short. And that’s been the case this year as well.

As for those still searching for directions to Victory Lane?

No big deal? Plenty of time?

Earning one of the 16 available berths didn’t seem like such a difficult proposition back in February, when everything was fresh and new and the only thing between themselves and the Chase was a list of 26 opportunities. Twenty-six races? No problem; see you guys in Richmond.

But somewhere between Daytona and Talladega, opportunity took a holiday. Called in sick. Moved out and didn’t leave a forwarding address.

Drivers and teams that were considered sure-fire winners? Several are now 0-for-10. Including Jeff Gordon, a guy that used to win with regularity; Matt Kenseth, who led the league in individual race trophies collected last year; and Jimmie Johnson, a guy that goes 0-for-10 about as often as it snows in the desert.

The good news for those three is that they’ve been in contention even if they haven’t managed to close the deal. The bad news is there are no guarantees.

Clint Bowyer? Kasey Kahne? Tony Stewart? Winless, winless and winless. And perhaps more disturbing — on most occasions, those three haven’t really been close. Others are somewhere in between.

Here’s what you’ll likely hear in the coming weeks as drivers continue to come up short and the number of opportunities continue to dwindle.

“We’ve got some of our best tracks coming up.”

“This is the time of the year when we typically begin to run better.”

“As long as we maintain our points position, we should be OK.”

Race fans often complain of seeing the same driver win again and again. Domination isn’t often appreciated among the masses. It’s detested.

Fortunately, there’s been no such problem this season. Variety has been the constant, if such a thing is possible.

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by Staff Report

Truck Series qualifying begins Friday, May 9 at 4:40 p.m. ET

Entry No. Driver Sponsor
1 02 * Tyler Young # Randco/Young’s Building System Chevrolet
2 99 Bryan Silas Bell Trucks America Inc. Chevrolet
3 32 Tayler Malsam Outerwall Chevrolet
4 17 Timothy Peters Red Horse Racing Toyota
5 88 Matt Crafton Goof Off/Menards Toyota
6 07 Jimmy Weller III # Geneva-Liberty Steel/Polaris Chevrolet
7 31 Ben Kennedy # ALS Association Chevrolet
8 54 Darrell Wallace Jr. Toyota Time Sales Event Toyota
9 9 Brennan Newberry Qore-24 Chevrolet
10 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Mark One Electric Chevrolet
11 8 Joe Nemechek MD Anderson Cancer Center/smokeandsear.com Toyota
12 21 Joey Coulter VERTX Chevrolet
13 20 Austin Dillon(i) NTS Motorsports Chevrolet
14 36 * Scott Stenzel Mittler Bros. Machine & Tool Chevrolet
15 5 * John Wes Townley Zaxby’s Real Chicken Toyota
16 08 Todd Shafer Thunder Exhaust Chevrolet
17 13 * Jeb Burton Carolina Nut Co. Toyota
18 77 German Quiroga OtterBox Toyota
19 57 Norm Benning Boedecker Construction/GPC/Watt’s Truck Center Chevrolet
20 23 * Spencer Gallagher Allegiant Travel Chevrolet
21 51 Kyle Busch(i) ToyotaCare Toyota
22 30 Ron Hornaday Jr. Rheem Chevrolet
23 50 * TJ Bell America’s Lineman Chevrolet
24 19 Joey Logano(i) Reese Towpower Ford
25 29 Ryan Blaney Cooper Standard Ford
26 35 Mason Mingus # Call 811 Toyota
27 42 * Charles Lewandoski Randco/Young’s Building System Chevrolet
28 63 * Justin Jennings Mittler Bros. Machine & Tool Chevrolet
29 98 Johnny Sauter Nextant Aerospace/Curb Records Toyota
30 0 * Ryan Ellis(i) Grimes Irrigation & Construction Chevrolet
31 7 Brian Ickler Bullet Liner Toyota

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by Staff Report

Chat with fans during the NASCAR action at Kansas Speedway

 

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by Brad Norman

Johnson, Kenseth among drivers with strong Kansas history still seeking first win

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 347 points.
Past five races: 39th at Talladega, 2nd at Richmond, 7th at Darlington, 2nd at Texas, 12th at Martinsville.
Season stats: 4 top-fives, 7 top-10s.
Track history: At Kansas, Gordon’s average finish is 12.5 and his average running position is 9.8 over the past nine years. In 16 career starts at Kansas, he has two wins, nine top-fives and 11 top-10s.
Quick hit: Gordon’s success at this 1.5-mile oval came before the 2012 repave. The veteran won the first two Cup races here, and had a string of five consecutive top-fives from 2007-2011. In his last five races at the track, though, he has two top-10s and two finishes outside the top 20.

2. Matt Kenseth (No. 20)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Standing: Kenseth is second in the standings with 344 points.
Past five races: 37th at Talladega, 5th at Richmond, 4th at Darlington, 7th at Texas, 6th at Martinsville.
Season stats: 3 top-fives, 7 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Kansas, Kenseth’s average finish is 11.8 and his average running position is 9.6 over the past nine years. In 16 career starts at Kansas, he has two wins, six top-fives, nine top-10s and two poles.
Quick hit: Kenseth is one of four drivers to have an average running position of less than 10.0 over the past nine years at Kansas. He earned back-to-back wins in the fall of 2012 and spring of 2013. Kenseth’s 11th-place finish last fall ended a string of six consecutive top-10s (four of which were top-fives).

3. Kyle Busch (No. 18)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Standing: Busch is third in the standings with 343 points.
Past five races: 12th at Talladega, 3rd at Richmond, 6th at Darlington, 3rd at Texas, 14th at Martinsville.
Season stats: 1 win, 3 top-fives, 5 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Kansas, Busch’s average finish is 22.2 and his average running position is 18.8 over the past nine years. In 13 career starts at Kansas, he has two top-10s.
Quick hit: Busch’s average running position over the past nine years is 18th in the series, and he’s said for years that this is among his worst tracks. The results bear that out — he’s finished outside of the top 30 in three consecutive races. The last time out, he wrecked his primary car during practice and his backup car in the race.

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

Standing: Earnhardt Jr. is fourth in the standings with 328 points.
Past five races: 26th at Talladega, 7th at Richmond, 2nd at Darlington, 43rd at Texas, 3rd at Martinsville.
Season stats: 1 win, 5 top-fives, 6 top-10s.
Track history: At Kansas, Earnhardt Jr.’s average finish is 15.6 and his average running position is 15.1 over the past nine years. In 15 career starts at Kansas, he has one top-five, seven top-10s and one pole.
Quick hit: Junior has been uneven at this 1.5-mile track over his career, but his average finish since joining Hendrick Motorsports is 14.8 compared to an average finish of 17.1 before. Plus he has a runner-up finish on a mile-and-a-half oval already this year (Las Vegas), so consider the No. 88 team to have top-five potential.

5. Carl Edwards (No. 99)

Roush Fenway Racing, Ford 

Standing: Edwards is fifth in the standings with 328 points.
Past five races: 30th at Talladega, 9th at Richmond, 13th at Darlington, 14th at Texas, 13th at Martinsville.
Season stats: 1 win, 2 top-fives, 5 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Kansas, Edwards’ average finish is 9.9 and his average running position is 12.3 over the past nine years. In 13 career starts at Kansas, he has five top-fives and nine top-10s.
Quick hit: Edwards is one of three drivers with an average finish of less than 10.0 in the loop data era — the others are Jimmie Johnson and teammate Greg Biffle. This is one of Roush Fenway Racing’s best tracks, with three wins here over the past 10 races. Edwards is one of the favorites to win Saturday night.

6. Joey Logano (No. 22)

Team Penske, Ford 

Standing: Logano is sixth in the standings with 305 points.
Past five races: 32nd at Talladega, 1st at Richmond, 35th at Darlington, 1st at Texas, 4th at Martinsville.
Season stats: 2 wins, 5 top-fives, 5 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Kansas, Logano’s average finish is 23.7 and his average running position is 22.2 over the past nine years. In nine career starts at Kansas, he has one top-five and one top-10.
Quick hit: Do you believe Joey Logano has turned a career corner? If you do, ignore his first eight races at this track in which he recorded four finishes outside the top 25 and zero finishes inside the top 10. Instead, focus on last year’s fourth-place run and his dominance on 1.5-miles this year (fourth at Las Vegas, first at Texas).

7. Jimmie Johnson (No. 48)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

Standing: Johnson is seventh in the standings with 304 points.
Past five races: 23rd at Talladega, 32nd at Richmond, 3rd at Darlington, 25th at Texas, 2nd at Martinsville.
Season stats: 3 top-fives, 5 top-10s.
Track history: At Kansas, Johnson’s average finish is 5.3 and his average running position is 7.4 over the past nine years. In 15 career starts at Kansas, he has two wins, six top-fives, 13 top-10s and three poles.
Quick hit: Johnson ranks first on the circuit in average finish and average running position here over the past nine years. He’s finished in the top 10 for 10 consecutive races. He has three top-fives, including a win, in the past five races here. He’s not only the pre-race favorite, he’s a must-play for your Fantasy Live lineup.

8. Greg Biffle (No. 16)

Roush Fenway Racing, Ford

Standing: Biffle is eighth in the standings with 300 points.
Past five races: 2nd at Talladega, 15th at Richmond, 5th at Darlington, 6th at Texas, 18th at Martinsville.
Season stats: 2 top-fives, 4 top-10s.
Track history: At Kansas, Biffle’s average finish is 8.7 and his average running position is 9.1 over the past nine years. In 15 career starts at Kansas, he has two wins, seven top-fives, nine top-10s and one pole.
Quick hit: Biffle was agonizingly close to his first win of the season at Talladega, and now comes to one of his best tracks. He ranks second in the past nine years in average place and average finish, behind only Jimmie Johnson, so expect the veteran to run up front all night. A win would be the fifth at the track for team owner Jack Roush, which put him above Rick Hendrick (who has four).

9. Ryan Newman (No. 31)

Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet 

Standing: Newman is ninth in the standings with 299 points.
Past five races: 18th at Talladega, 8th at Richmond, 10th at Darlington, 16th at Texas, 20th at Martinsville.
Season stats: 4 top-10s.
Track history: At Kansas, Newman’s average finish is 22.4 and his average running position is 21.4 over the past nine years. In 16 career starts at Kansas, he has one win, three top-fives and four top-10s.
Quick hit: This is one of just two tracks on the circuit in which Newman has a win, but not a pole. (Daytona is the other.) Newman finished second, second and first in the first three races at the track. Since then, he has one top-10 in 13 starts. Perhaps having new equipment in his first year with Richard Childress Racing will be the spur Newman needs to improve here.

10. Brian Vickers (No. 55)

Michael Waltrip Racing, Toyota 

Standing: Vickers is 10th in the standings with 297 points.
Past five races: 4th at Talladega, 12th at Richmond, 26th at Darlington, 4th at Texas, 16th at Martinsville.
Season stats: 2 top-fives, 4 top-10s.
Track history: At Kansas, Vickers’ average finish is 21.1 and his average running position is 20.1 over the past nine years. In nine career starts at Kansas, he has one top-10.
Quick hit: Vickers finished outside the top 30 in both Kansas races last year in his part-time role with Michael Waltrip Racing. How much does that matter? Hard to say. You can’t ignore his spotty history here, but he’s also outperforming expectations this season as a full-time Sprint Cup driver.

11. Brad Keselowski (No. 2)

Team Penske, Ford 

Standing: Keselowski is 11th in the standings with 294 points.
Past five races: 38th at Talladega, 4th at Richmond, 17th at Darlington, 15th at Texas, 38th at Martinsville.
Season stats: 1 win, 4 top-fives, 4 top-10s.
Track history: At Kansas, Keselowski’s average finish is 10.3 and his average running position is 14.2 over the past nine years. In eight career starts at Kansas, he has one win, two top-fives and four top-10s.
Quick hit: This is one of Keselowski’s best tracks — exactly half his starts here have resulted in top-10s, and he’s finished in the top 20 in seven of eight races. With his average finish in the loop data era ranking fourth among 48 drivers, Keselowski is a favorite to claim his second win and all but clinch his spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup — provided no one tries to take revenge from the Talladega wreck last week.

12. Denny Hamlin (No. 11)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Standing: Hamlin is 12th in the standings with 292 points.
Past five races: 1st at Talladega, 22nd at Richmond, 19th at Darlington, 13th at Texas, 19th at Martinsville.
Season stats: 1 win, 2 top-fives, 3 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Kansas, Hamlin’s average finish is 14.8 and his average running position is 14.1 over the past nine years. In 11 career starts at Kansas, he has one win, three top-fives and three top-10s.
Quick hit: With his first win of the season last week, Hamlin emphatically snapped his four-race slump since missing the Auto Club event. Now that getting the all-important win is behind him, expect the 33-year-old to challenge for the win under the lights.

13. Kyle Larson (No. 42)

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Chevrolet  

Standing: Larson is 13th in the standings with 286 points.
Past five races: 9th at Talladega, 16th at Richmond, 8th at Darlington, 5th at Texas, 27th at Martinsville.
Season stats: 2 top-fives, 5 top-10s.
Track history: Larson has zero Sprint Cup Series starts at Kansas. In one Nationwide Series start, he finished 30th in 2013.
Quick hit: Fifth at Texas. Eighth at Darlington. Ninth at Talladega. What can’t Kyle Larson do? The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender is thriving at tracks in which he previously had no Cup starts. He’s another terrific play in Fantasy Live this week.

14. Austin Dillon (No. 3)

Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet  

Standing: Dillon is 14th in the standings with 281 points.
Past five races: 15th at Talladega, 27th at Richmond, 11th at Darlington, 21st at Texas, 15th at Martinsville.
Season stats: 1 top-10, 1 pole.
Track history: At Kansas, Dillon’s average finish is 26.0 and his average running position is 28.5 over the past nine years. In one career start at Kansas, he finished 26th in 2011.
Quick hit: Richard Childress earned his first win as a team owner at the track last year when Kevin Harvick drove the No. 29 — the same equipment Dillon is using — to victory. The organization’s superspeedway cars have been better than its mile-and-a-half program this year, though. Dillon finished 16th and 21st at the previous two races this year on 1.5-milers.

15. AJ Allmendinger (No. 47)

JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet  

Standing: Allmendinger is 15th in the standings with 279 points.
Past five races: 5th at Talladega, 6th at Richmond, 15th at Darlington, 23rd at Texas, 11th at Martinsville.
Season stats: 1 top-five, 3 top-10s.
Track history: At Kansas, Allmendinger’s average finish is 21.9 and his average running position is 22.2 over the past nine years. In eight career starts at Kansas, he has two top-10s and one pole.
Quick hit: Through 10 races, Allmendinger has the look of a driver intent on being a Chase spoiler. His two best finishes of the year have come over the past two races. To continue that trend at Kansas, he’ll need his best-ever finish at the track — his ninth-place effort in 2008 remains his best performance here.

16. Marcos Ambrose (No. 9)

Richard Petty Motorsports, Ford 

Standing: Ambrose is 16th in the standings with 268 points.
Past five races: 19th at Talladega, 18th at Richmond, 14th at Darlington, 20th at Texas, 5th at Martinsville.
Season stats: 2 top-fives, 2 top-10s.
Track history: At Kansas, Ambrose’s average finish is 19.6 and his average running position is 21.1 over the past nine years. In nine career starts at Kansas, he has two top-10s.
Quick hit: Ambrose has had two ninth-place finishes, matching his car number, in six starts here for Richard Petty Motorsports. While road courses are still his forte, the Australian has performed better at Kansas than most since the track’s repave.

19. Kevin Harvick (No. 4)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Standing: Harvick is 19th in the standings with 258 points.
Past five races: 7th at Talladega, 11th at Richmond, 1st at Darlington, 42nd at Texas, 7th at Martinsville.
Season stats: 2 wins, 2 top-fives, 4 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Kansas, Harvick’s average finish is 10.4 and his average running position is 12.2 over the past nine years. In 16 career starts at Kansas, he has one win, two top-fives, seven top-10s and one pole.
Quick hit: Harvick won last fall’s Kansas race from the pole, something he also accomplished at Darlington this year. The last three races have been his most consistent of the year, with finally no spell of car trouble. Consider him among the favorites.

27. Kurt Busch (No. 41)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet

Standing: Busch is 27th in the standings with 196 points.
Past five races: 33rd at Talladega, 23rd at Richmond, 31st at Darlington, 39th at Texas, 1st at Martinsville.
Season stats: 1 win, 2 top-fives, 2 top-10s.
Track history: At Kansas, Busch’s average finish is 15.4 and his average running position is 14.7 over the past nine years. In 16 career starts at Kansas, he has one top-five, four top-10s and one pole.
Quick hit: Since his Martinsville win, Busch has finished outside the top 30 in three of four races, and his non top-30 was a 23rd. Wins are more valuable with the new Chase format, and no one is more grateful for that than Busch. Still, if he doesn’t start collecting top-10s — or at least top-20s — beginning Saturday in Kansas, his spot in the top 30 of the points standings will no longer be assured.

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by

Renee Bartels: ‘We said as long as Kyle (Petty) would do it we would support it’

AUSTIN, Texas — Only 10 individuals have ridden in all 20 of Kyle Petty’s charity motorcycle rides across the continent. The most unlikely members of that group are David and Renee Bartels, a married couple from San Jose, California.

They aren’t big NASCAR fans. In the beginning, they didn’t know Richard Petty from Richard Gere. But they had a tiny connection that changed their lives, which introduced the couple to a culture foreign to them and launched them on a journey of thousands of miles.

When Kyle Petty and others cranked up the first Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America in 1995, they needed trucks to transport many of the motorcycles to the ride’s starting point. Petty contacted executives at Mayflower, then a NASCAR sponsor, and they agreed to supply trucks for the cross-country trip.

Day 5 recap

Started: Austin, Texas.
Finished: Beaumont, Texas.
Miles traveled: 247.6.

The Bartels own a Mayflower agency in San Jose. The first ride started near San Francisco, and Mayflower’s corporate office asked them to accompany the riders on the first leg of the trip to represent the company.

"They called us because they knew we rode bikes," Renee said. "We didn’t know anybody. We just showed up. We took off down Highway 101 and got to LA."

The end of that day’s first ride segment was supposed to be the end of the ride for the Bartels. Twenty years later, they still haven’t taken the exit ramp.

"We decided at the LA stop that we were having too much fun, so we decided to go on to the next step in Las Vegas," she said. "Then we said we’ll do one more — to Phoenix. Got to Phoenix and said, ‘Call the office and tell them we’re going all the way.’ "

They didn’t bring any changes of clothes or supplies, so they had to make some purchases along the way, but they were hooked.

Beginning with the second ride, the Bartels have provided the trucks to transport the bikes, and they have been along for every mile.

Before the ride became a vehicle to raise money for the Petty family’s Victory Junction Gang Camp, it raised funds for children’s hospitals, and the ride stopped at hospitals along the route.

"Here was a group of people taking their vacation time to go out and raise money and go into these hospitals and give it to those families," Renee said. "We went in with them and saw these big, burly guys praying with these families. It just touched us.

"We said that if they can take time out of what they do and spend their money in ways we saw as honorable, we said as long as Kyle would do it we would support it."

Joining the ride quickly put the Bartels in touch with Richard Petty.

"He rode with us the first year," Renee said. "After a 700-mile ride into Odessa, Texas, we stopped at a closed gas station. Somebody went to get some pizzas. We were sitting on the pavement there eating.

"A transient walked over and sat down next to Richard. He didn’t know who he was talking to. He said, ‘That looks like good pizza.’ Richard handed him his piece and said, ‘Here, have a piece.’ I thought right there, ‘Wow.’

"The compassion everybody gives to this is really what keeps you going."

Kyle Petty called the Bartels "a mainstay of the ride from the very, very beginning. Everybody loves them. They’re really quiet people, but they’re a core couple for us. We did a talent show on the ride one year, and they came out as Sonny and Cher — David as Cher and Renee as Sonny. It was hilarious because it was so out of character for them."

So was the ride. Until the first day back in ’95.

Day 5 recap

Started: Austin, Texas.
Finished: Beaumont, Texas.
Miles traveled: 247.6.

Notes: Wednesday’s breakfast was the most anticipated of the ride. It happened at a Krispy Kreme restaurant in Austin. Krispy Kreme was the ride sponsor for the day. Number of doughnuts consumed — incalculable. … Richard Petty is riding a three-wheel motorcycle on the ride because, as he said, his daughters told him he was not allowed on a standard two-wheeler. Many of the ride bikes are carrying a decal in memory of Richard’s wife, Lynda, who died in March after a long battle with cancer.

Thursday’s route: Beaumont, Texas, to Broussard, Louisiana; to New Orleans.

Donate: The Kyle Petty Charity Ride raises money for the Victory Junction Gang Camp, a summer camp for chronically ill children. To donate, victoryjunction.org.

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by

Host of smaller teams have chance to make Chase this season

RELATED: Play NASCAR Fantasy Live | Sign up for RaceView today

We are living in the age of the underdog.

At least from a NASCAR perspective, and the era to date has been bookended by a pair of surprising outcomes at the same track — Talladega Superspeedway, where an unknown Brad Keselowski driving for underfunded Phoenix Racing literally crashed the party in 2009, and where David Ragan and his Front Row Motorsports team pulled a similar upset four years later. There was no such shocker at the big Alabama track this past Sunday, but the potential for one continues to brew, like those first storm clouds forming out on the horizon.

Make no mistake, though — it’s coming, and when it hits the impact will be bigger than ever, given that a race victory now very likely translates into a berth to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. This past weekend Ragan guaranteed it, saying some smaller team would "absolutely" steal a playoff bid. That’s not hubris or optimism speaking — he has recent history on his side. Had this current Chase system existed the past few years, a host of smaller teams might have had their destinies altered by unexpected runs at the title.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

And there’s plenty of reason to believe it will happen for real this year, some lesser light seizing a surprise victory that ultimately leaves a more decorated driver on the outside looking in. Yes, Sunday at Talladega may in retrospect seem a missed opportunity, given that drivers like AJ Allmendinger, Josh Wise and Landon Cassill were all in the thick of it in the final laps. But the capricious high banks of the 2.66-mile track is hardly the only place where underdogs can bite.

Just look at the past four years, a span where rule changes have helped to level the competitive playing field, and where smaller teams struck with surprising regularity. There was Keselowski at Talladega in 2009, scoring what would go down as the lone victory of owner James Finch’s tenure. There was Trevor Bayne and the Wood Brothers stunning the world in the Daytona 500, Regan Smith making a gamble pay off for Furniture Row Racing at Darlington, and Marcos Ambrose breaking through for Richard Petty Motorsports at Watkins Glen — all in 2011 alone.

Ambrose repeated the feat at the same track in 2012. And 2013 saw Ragan’s jaw-dropper at Talladega, not to mention Kurt Busch making history by carrying single-car Furniture Row into the Chase for the first time, and doing it the hard way — on points. To put all that in the proper context, consider that before Keselowski’s stunner in 2009, you had to go back five more years to find another race winner that qualified as a real surprise. And Joe Nemechek had full-season sponsorship on the hood of his MB2 Motorsports car which won unexpectedly in 2004 at Kansas, the same track the circuit visits this week.

That was a different time, and the definition of a surprise winner was different as well. What else qualified as a shocker in 2004? Jeremy Mayfield winning the regular-season finale in a fully-funded Ray Evernham car. In 2005, it was Dale Jarrett winning at Talladega when there were TV commercials about him about driving the UPS truck — instead of his classic No. 88. In 2006, it was Brian Vickers in Hendrick Motorsports equipment accidently taking out the leaders at Talladega. In 2007, it was Casey Mears winning a fuel-mileage race at Charlotte in Hendrick’s fourth car, or Juan Pablo Montoya taking Sonoma in a fully-sponsored Ganassi machine. In 2008, it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. breaking a long winless streak at Michigan.

Today, the notion that any of those triumphs could be classified as surprises seems downright laughable. The dynamic has completely changed, to the point where some drivers who missed races back in the flush days of the middle 2000s — like Todd Bodine, Kenny Wallace and Kyle Petty — would today probably harbor hopes of stealing a victory somewhere along the way. When it comes down to who can win the title, the status quo will likely remain. But rule changes have added so much more depth to the competitive field, leading more teams to believe they can make the Chase.

Allmendinger stands as a textbook case. "Right now, it’s a week-to-week thing," the JTG Daugherty Racing driver said after finishing fifth Sunday at Talladega. "We only have four or five primary race cars right now. The guys keep doing a good job and I’m doing everything I can to make sure I bring them home in one piece each weekend. We’re slowly getting there."

Allmendinger said his No. 47 team has 35 employees — compare that to the several hundreds who work at the powerhouse shops — and yet here he is, 15th in Sprint Cup points and completely capable of picking off a race victory. No question, the former open-wheel driver has helped elevate the organization on his own since taking over the seat from Bobby Labonte prior to this year. An alliance with Richard Childress Racing has also certainly played a large part. JTG is trying to do what Furniture Row did last year, and ride a driver upgrade and an RCR technical alliance to a surprise berth in NASCAR’s postseason.

It could very well be in position, given that two road course races still loom on the schedule this summer, and Allmendinger has a pair of road-course victories in the Nationwide Series.

Then there’s Ambrose, who is showing vastly improved results for RPM and will be a favorite the moment the gates open at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. There’s Mears, whose No. 13 car has been hanging around all season. There’s Furniture Row, which has a very capable driver in Martin Truex Jr. if it can get a few things to go right. There’s Ragan, who lurks deep in the points, but could absolutely be a factor when the circuit returns to Daytona and the restrictor plates are bolted back into place.

All those drivers, and certainly more, are convinced they can win and potentially secure a Chase bid given the right set of circumstances. And why shouldn’t they? Over the past decade the definition of an upset has been completely altered, to the point where Smith or Ragan would certainly laugh at the idea of victories by Mayfield or Vickers being uttered in the same sentence. Those latter drivers were only considered underdogs because no true underdogs were around.

Well, now they are, and there’s a pack of them. And sooner or later, one is going to bite.

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by Holly Cain

Gordon joins Mark Martin as a driver to lead points standings 20 years after first win

RELATED: Gordon expected more from Keselowski | 20 years later, still battling the No. 2

It’s pretty exceptional in NASCAR when a driver commemorating the 20th anniversary of his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win is marking the moment while also serving as the current championship leader.

But then again, four-time Cup champ Jeff Gordon has long proved himself extraordinary in any decade.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

With 87 more victories since his maiden win in the 1994 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Gordon is third on NASCAR’s all-time wins list behind only a pair of Hall of Famers, "The King" Richard Petty (200 wins) and David Pearson (105).

On Wednesday, as Gordon, 42, looked over the NASCAR Hall of Fame exhibit that includes his original winning car, he reflected on the past and spoke encouragingly of the present — recalling some details of that career-changing night at Charlotte and sharing expectations for 2014.

"I can barely remember how we won Martinsville last year,” Gordon said with a laugh, noting the 20 years since he hoisted the original trophy.

"That’s why I love this event (at the Hall of Fame) that I just did. They showed video from that day and some crucial moments. It really makes me want to go back and get the whole video and watch the race because it was such a special day. 

"I remember I started on the front row, that we had a good car. We led quite a few laps, but Rusty (Wallace) was the car to beat. (Crew chief) Ray (Evernham) made that great call.

"Even watching (video of) me coming down pit road for that final pit stop made me chuckle because they didn’t measure pit road speed the same way we do now so it looked like I was speeding, but they didn’t have a way to measure other than by a stopwatch."

For as much as the sport has changed during Gordon’s two decades — championship formats, the cars, the drivers and as he noted Wednesday, pit-road speed enforcement — one thing has stayed the same, and that’s the hard-nosed racing he still experiences at every stop.

Gordon said he’s actually equal parts surprised and relieved he retained the Sprint Cup championship points lead for the fourth consecutive week after a rough Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway, when he was caught up in a "Big One" triggered by fellow Cup champ Brad Keselowski.

Six laps down at the time, Keselowski was trying to get his laps back at the front of the field and made a driving error that collected 14 other cars including Gordon’s No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet.

"I admire him (Keselowski) for wanting to try that, but I just don’t think that it was the smartest decision to make because I just don’t think he was going to really accomplish what he had set out to do,” Gordon said. "If he was two or three laps down, I get it, but when you’re six laps down or more, it just really doesn’t make sense to put yourself in that position and then wreck 14 cars in the process.”

Competing as a champion has always been as important as winning the championship to Gordon, who helped usher in a new era in NASCAR as he started reeling off wins against the old guard like Wallace, Darrell Waltrip and seven-time champ Dale Earnhardt and as he has continued to do with a new crop of mega-talented youngsters who remind many others of a young Gordon.

He has spoken often of his desire to win a Sprint Cup Series trophy to add to his case of Cup trophies because his last came with another series sponsor in 2001.

But while he hears the rumors his career is closing out or the doubters that question if he’s got another Cup trophy in him, Gordon has the ultimate trump card.

He’s Jeff Gordon. And he’s leading the points standings.

With two runner-up finishes in the last four races, he firmly believes he’s on the verge of getting that win that earns him essentially an automatic playoff position in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. If not, a top position in the rankings earns him a spot as well.

"I know that time is running short,” Gordon told reporters Wednesday in a teleconference with the national media. "I can’t say I’m sitting here concerned about it. I’ve had an amazing career. I’ve accomplished more than I ever thought that I would. Then this year my focus is on what a great racecar and race team that we have.

"I think it’s just part of my personality or maybe part of a race car driver’s personality that I don’t look too far ahead. I worry about the things that I can control. Right now the things I can control is that race car on the weekends, working as hard as I can with the team to get the best results."

Gordon is a two-time winner at Kansas Speedway, the site of Saturday night’s 5-hour Energy 400. Only his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. and two-time 2014 winner Joey Logano have more top-fives (five) this year.

He’s proof of what you get when longevity is combined with superb talent and a competitive spirit.

Even Gordon conceded he has a hard time believing he scored his first win 20 years ago in a year when gas had just topped $1 a gallon at the pump, NFL great O.J. Simpson was arrested on murder charges and Lisa Marie Presley married Michael Jackson.

Sure his resume and current points lead is a source of pride, but it’s not enough. Gordon is convinced it’s a matter of when, not if, he will visit Victory Lane again.

"We’re off to a great start," he said. "Right now I’m healthy. I’m in good shape. I’m having a lot of fun. We’re very competitive out there. That’s taking all of my attention. Besides the time I spend with my family, that’s where my focus is.

"(I’m) not really thinking of anything else other than maybe the urgency of how important it is to win this season if you’re going to win the championship."

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by Holly Cain

Following ‘Dega wreck with Keselowski, four-time series champion ready to move on

RELATED: 20 years later, Gordon still battling No. 2 car

As far as Jeff Gordon is concerned, NASCAR champions should naturally be held to a higher standard.

Three days after being collected in a multicar accident at Talladega Superspeedway triggered by a six-laps-down 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski, four-time Cup champion Gordon was still perplexed by Keselowski’s thinking. And driving.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

In a Wednesday interview on ESPN’s "SportsCenter," Gordon said you tend to expect more from a champion than racing the field so hard when you’re already several laps down. Gordon, who is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his first Cup win (in the 1994 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway), said he remembers going through a learning curve as well and making mistakes early on.

But, "I think the difference is Brad is not a rookie," Gordon said. "He’s not new. He’s a champion, and I think with champions, you expect a little bit more out of them. He’s aggressive, and that’s part of the reason why he’s been successful. But I think there’s a fine line between being aggressive and being smart or not being smart.

"And in this case, you know, you’re six laps down. Unless you get in front of the leader and get multiple cautions, and then you have to do it again and again to get six laps back, it’s very, very challenging and difficult to do."

Keselowski took a lot of heat from fellow drivers in the immediate aftermath Sunday.

However, he also assumed responsibility for the accident, which damaged 14 cars — including fellow Cup champs Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart — even as he explained he had every right to try to and get his laps back.

While testing a NASCAR Nationwide Series car at Iowa Speedway on Tuesday, Keselowski conceded the situation at Talladega won’t go down a shining career moment.

"Last weekend wasn’t much fun," Keselowski said of Talladega. "Windshield and bug.

"We’ve had some good weekends this year. Last weekend was probably our worst one. I don’t think anybody would argue that. Getting back on the track, getting back in a rhythm is never a bad thing even if you just had a good week so I’m certainly still learning."

Gordon said the two drivers haven’t communicated since Sunday, and he didn’t necessarily expect a long conversation and review.

"That’s just Brad," Gordon said. "I don’t have a problem with Brad. That race in Talladega is a wild, crazy race. I don’t agree with what he did. I hope he thinks twice about it.

"If I see him, I’m sure we will talk about it, but I’m just ready to go on to Kansas."

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceVie