Matt Crafton ready to take on Martinsville

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Zack Albert

ThorSport will have strength in numbers at Martinsville

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series may have had a five-week layoff, but it hasn’t kept the circuit’s defending champion from staying occupied.

Matt Crafton’s schedule will pick up even more this weekend at Martinsville Speedway ahead of Sunday’s Kroger 250 (5:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1), the truck tour’s second race of the season. It will mark the veteran’s 25th career start at the tight, .526-mile oval.

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Crafton has hardly been idle since the season opener at Daytona, placing 12th in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 8 and subbing for new father Paul Menard in Sprint Cup Series practice and qualifying last weekend at Auto Club Speedway. Both opportunities presented a break from the routine that the 37-year-old driver has found beneficial.

"Absolutely, at least to get some seat time," Crafton said. "We did race the Nationwide car in Vegas and this is the most laps I’ve turned in a Cup car since I’ve been doing this for Paul. But anytime you can run anything, it’s always good."

Despite all the extracurriculars, Crafton will be back at home — both in a truck cockpit and at Martinsville. He finished second in this race last year, one of two runner-up finishes on the paper-clip layout since his truck career began in 2001.

He’s come close to winning one of the historic track’s signature grandfather clock trophies before, most notably in 2012 when a late-race brush from Sprint Cup regular Denny Hamlin cost Crafton one of his best shots. Saturday’s 250-lapper provides another chance to fill the Martinsville void.

"I want that damn clock," Crafton said. "Two years ago, I was leading with five or six laps to go and got moved on a restart by one of these Cup drivers (Hamlin). It’s still salt in the wound because I thought we had a very good shot at getting the clock there. Hopefully we can do it this year."

Strength in numbers may be on Crafton’s side this weekend. ThorSport Racing teammate Johnny Sauter is a two-time Martinsville winner, including a come-from-behind victory in this race last year. The team has also brought back Jeb Burton — holder of two straight third-place finishes at Martinsville — for the second time this season in its No. 13 Toyota entry.

While the Ohio-based team has plenty of resources and short-track-savvy drivers to draw information from, Crafton said his preferred race package doesn’t quite mesh with Sauter’s.

"We’ll see how each other does, but we both have such different driving styles, our setups are so different," Crafton said. "We can sit there and talk about it, but it’s not really close. Still, this is just what Johnny’s done. He and I have both raced a lot of short tracks growing up and that’s the style of race tracks that we came from."

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Posted on March 24, 2014 by Nascar

A statistical look ahead to this week’s Sprint Cup Series stop at Martinsville

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 24, 2014) –Below is a look at some of the top statistical performers at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia going into the STP 500 on March 30.

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MARTINSVILLE-SPECIFIC STATISTICS

Clint Bowyer (No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota)

· Four top fives, 10 top 10s

· Average finish of 12.6

· Average Running Position of 12.5, sixth-best

· Driver Rating of 93.8, seventh-best

· Average Green Flag Speed of 91.182 mph, seventh-fastest

· 5,803 Laps in the Top 15 (72.2%), eighth-most

· 512 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), sixth-most

Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota)

· Eight top fives, nine top 10s

· Average finish of 16.0

· Average Running Position of 13.2, seventh-best

· Driver Rating of 97.0, sixth-best

· 402 Fastest Laps Run, fifth-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 91.292 mph, fourth-fastest

· 6,323 Laps in the Top 15 (70.0%), fifth-most

· 578 Quality Passes, fourth-most

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet)

· 10 top fives, 15 top 10s

· Average finish of 13.2

· Average Running Position of 11.0, fourth-best

· Driver Rating of 98.9, fourth-best

· 455 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most

· Series-high 1,042 Green Flag Passes

· Average Green Flag Speed of 91.288 mph, fifth-fastest

· 6,963 Laps in the Top 15 (77.1%), third-most

· 619 Quality Passes, third-most

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet)

· Eight wins, 27 top fives, 34 top 10s; seven poles

· Average finish of 6.8

· Average Running Position of 6.2, second-best

· Driver Rating of 121.1, second-best

· Series-high 1,029 Fastest Laps Run

· 857 Green Flag Passes, 11th-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 91.640 mph, second-fastest

· 8,167 Laps in the Top 15 (90.4%), second-most

· Series-high 660 Quality Passes

Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota)

· Four wins, nine top fives, 13 top 10s; three poles

· Average finish of 8.1

· Average Running Position of 8.8, third-best

· Driver Rating of 111.4, third-best

· 572 Fastest Laps Run, third-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 91.421 mph, third-fastest

· 6,609 Laps in the Top 15 (82.3%), fourth-most

· 560 Quality Passes, fifth-most

Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet)

· One win, three top fives, 11 top 10s

· Average finish of 16.2

· Average Running Position of 13.8, ninth-best

· Driver Rating of 92.9, eighth-best

· 220 Fastest Laps Run, 10th-most

· 869 Green Flag Passes, 10th-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 91.074 mph, eighth-fastest

· 5,947 Laps in the Top 15 (65.8%), seventh-most

· 510 Quality Passes, eighth-most

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet)

· Eight wins, 17 top fives, 21 top 10s; three poles

· Average finish of 5.3

· Series-best Average Running Position of 5.8

· Series-best Driver Rating of 124.0

· 954 Fastest Laps Run, second-most

· Series-best Average Green Flag Speed of 91.652 mph

· Series-high 8,333 Laps in the Top 15 (92.2%)

· 647 Quality Passes, second-most

Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Miller Lite Ford)

· One top five, five top 10s

· Average finish of 10.4

· Average Running Position of 13.5, eighth-best

· Driver Rating of 89.2, ninth-best

· Average Green Flag Speed of 91.071 mph, ninth-fastest

Jamie McMurray (No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet)

· One top five, 12 top 10s; one pole

· Average finish of 16.2

· Average Running Position of 15.9, 12th-best

· Driver Rating of 84.2, 12th-best

· 854 Green Flag Passes, 12th-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 90.964 mph, 11th-fastest

· 4,817 Laps in the Top 15 (53.3%), 12th-most

· 386 Quality Passes, 12th-most

Ryan Newman (No. 31 Quicken Loans Chevrolet)

· One win, seven top fives, 11 top 10s; three poles

· Average finish of 15.3

· Average Running Position of 15.2, 11th-best

· Driver Rating of 87.4, 11th-best

· 142 Fastest Laps Run, 12th-most

· 938 Green Flag Passes, sixth-most

· 5,058 Laps in the Top 15 (56.0%), 10th-most

· 478 Quality Passes, ninth-most

Tony Stewart (No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet)

· Three wins, nine top fives, 15 top 10s; three poles

· Average finish of 13.8

· Average Running Position of 11.1, fifth-best

· Driver Rating of 98.5, fifth-best

· 376 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 91.200 mph, sixth-fastest

· 6,113 Laps in the Top 15 (71.6%), sixth-most

· 417 Quality Passes, 11th-most

Martinsville Speedway Data

Season Race #: 6 of 36 (03-30-14)

Track Size: 0.526-mile

Banking/Turn 1 & 2: 12 degrees

Banking/Turn 3 & 4: 12 degrees

Banking/Frontstretch: 0 degrees

Banking/Backstretch: 0 degrees

Frontstretch Length: 800 feet

Backstretch Length: 800 feet

Race Length: 500 laps / 263 miles

Top 10 Driver Ratings at Martinsville

Jimmie Johnson…………………… 124.0

Jeff Gordon………………………… 121.1

Denny Hamlin………………………. 111.4

Dale Earnhardt Jr…………………… 98.9

Tony Stewart…………………………. 98.5

Kyle Busch…………………………… 97.0

Clint Bowyer…………………………. 93.8

Kevin Harvick………………………… 92.9

Brad Keselowski……………………. 89.2

Ryan Newman……………………….. 87.4

Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2013 races (18 total) among active drivers at Martinsville Speedway.

Qualifying/Race Data

2013 Coors Light Pole winner:

Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet

98.400 mph, 19.244 secs. 04-05-13

2013 race winner:

Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet

72.066 mph, (03:38:58), 04-07-13

Track qualifying record:

Denny Hamlin, Toyota

99.595 mph, 19.013 secs. 10-25-13

Track race record:

Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet

82.223 mph, (3:11:55), 09-22-96

Martinsville Speedway:

History

· Opened in September 1947 by H. Clay Earles, Martinsville, originally a dirt track, is one of the oldest continuously-operating race tracks in the United States.

· The first NASCAR-sanctioned race at Martinsville was on July 4, 1948.

· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was Sept. 25, 1949.

· The track was paved in 1955.

· The first 500-lap event at Martinsville was in 1956.

· Concrete corners were added atop asphalt in 1976.

Notebook

· There have been 130 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway, one in the inaugural year and two races per year since 1950.

· 593 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville; 374 in more than one.

· NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty has the all-time most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Martinsville with 67 starts; Jeff Gordon has the most among active drivers with 42.

· Curtis Turner won the inaugural Coors Light pole at Martinsville Speedway in 1949.

· 57 drivers have Coors Light poles at Martinsville, led by NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip with eight; Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with seven.

· 12 drivers have won two or more consecutive Coors Light poles at Martinsville Speedway. Four of the 12 have won three consecutive poles at Martinsville: Glen Wood (Fall of 1959 and 1960 sweep); Darrell Waltrip (1979 sweep and spring 1980); Mark Martin (fall of 1990 and 1991 sweep); Jeff Gordon (2003 sweep and spring 2004).

· Youngest Martinsville pole winner: Ricky Rudd (4/26/1981 – 24 years, 7 months, 14 days).

· Oldest Martinsville pole winner: Morgan Shepherd (4/26/1987 – 45 years, 6 months, 14 days).

· 47 different drivers have won at Martinsville Speedway, led by Richard Petty with 15; Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon lead the series among active drivers with eight wins each.

· 23 drivers have multiple wins at Martinsville Speedway only four active drivers have multiple wins: Jimmie Johnson (eight), Jeff Gordon (eight), Denny Hamlin (four) and Tony Stewart (three).

· Hendrick Motorsports leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in wins at Martinsville Speedway with 21.

· 21 of 130 races (16.1%) at Martinsville Speedway have been won from the Coors Light pole; seven of those 21 wins came from active drivers: Tony Stewart (2000), Jeff Gordon (2003 twice), Jimmie Johnson (2008, 2012, spring 2013) and Denny Hamlin (2010).

· The Coors Light pole is the most proficient starting spot in the field at Martinsville producing more wins (21) than any other starting position.

· 36 of the 130 (27.6%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway have been won from the front row: 21 from the pole and 15 from second-place.

· 95 of the 130 (73%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Martinsville Speedway have been won from a top-10 starting position.

· Five of the 130 (3.8%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.

· The deepest in the field that a race winner has started was 36th, by Kurt Busch in the fall of 2002.

· Youngest Martinsville winner: Richard Petty (04/10/1960 – 22 years, 9 months, 8 days).

· Oldest Martinsville winner: Harry Gant (09/22/1991 – 51 years, 8 months, 12 days).

· NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt leads the series in runner-up finishes at Martinsville Speedway with seven; Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with four, followed by his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson with three.

· Richard Petty leads the series in top-five finishes at Martinsville Speedway with 30; Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 27, followed by Jimmie Johnson with 17.

· Richard Petty leads the series in top-10 finishes at Martinsville Speedway with 37; Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 34, followed by Jimmie Johnson (21).

· Jeff Gordon leads active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Martinsville Speedway with a 7.238. Ryan Newman is the only other active driver with an average starting position at Martinsville in the top-10 (9.417).

· Three active drivers have a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series average finish in the top-10 at Martinsville: Jimmie Johnson (5.333), Jeff Gordon (6.833) and Denny Hamlin (8.125).

· There have been five NSCS green-white-checkered finishes at Martinsville Speedway: fall 2007 (500/506), fall 2008 (500/504), fall 2009 (500/501), spring 2010 (500/508), and spring 2012 (500/515).

· Jeff Gordon has participated in the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway without a DNF (42).

· Tony Stewart (4/18/1999) and Scott Riggs (4/10/2005) won their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light poles at Martinsville Speedway.

· Mike Bliss (09/27/1998), Travis Kvapil (10/24/2004), Michael McDowell (3/30/2008) and Scott Speed (10/19/2008) made their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career starts at Martinsville Speedway.

· 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers have posted consecutive wins at Martinsville Speedway. Fred Lorenzen won four NSCS races straight (the most) from the fall of 1963 through the spring of 1965.

· All 10 active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers who have won at Martinsville Speedway participated in at least two or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Tony Stewart won at Martinsville with the fewest previous appearances (three).

· Ryan Newman competed at Martinsville Speedway 20 times before winning in the spring of 2012; the longest span of any the 10 active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners.

· Four drivers have made 10 or more attempts before their first win at Martinsville Speedway: Mark Martin (12); Bobby Labonte (18), Kevin Harvick (19) and Ryan Newman (20).

· Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway is the 4/1/2007 race won by Jimmie Johnson with a MOV of 0.065 second.

· Danica Patrick is the only female driver to compete at Martinsville Speedway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Driver	Starting Position	Finishing Position	Date
Danica Patrick	32	12	4/7/2013
Danica Patrick	41	17	10/27/2013

· Seven car numbers have produced five or more Martinsville Speedway NSCS wins:

Car Number – Drivers – (Years)

o No. 43 – Richard Petty (1960, ’62, ’63, ’67 sweep, ’68, ’69 sweep, ’70, ’71, ’72 sweep, ’73, ’75 and ’79); John Andretti (1999)

o No. 11 – Cale Yarborough (1974, ’76, ’77 sweep, ‘78); Darrell Waltrip (1981, ’82, ’83, ’84); Geoff Bodine (1990 sweep); Denny Hamlin (2008, ’09, ’10 sweep)

o No. 28 – Fred Lorenzen (1961, ’63, ’64 sweep, ‘65 and ‘66); Buddy Baker (1979); Ernie Irvan (1993).

o No. 2 – Dale Earnhardt (1980); Rusty Wallace (1993, ‘94 sweep, ’95, ’96 and ‘04)

o No. 48 – Jimmie Johnson (2004, ’06, ’07 sweep, ’08, ’09, ’12, ‘13)

o No. 24 – Jeff Gordon (1996, ’97, ’99, ’03 sweep and ’05 sweep, fall 2013)

o No. 3 – Ricky Rudd (1983); Dale Earnhardt (1985, ’87, ’88, ’91, ’95)

NASCAR in Virginia

· There have been 282 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races among nine tracks in Virginia.

Track Name	City	NSCS
Martinsville Speedway	Martinsville	130
Richmond International Raceway	Richmond	115
South Boston Speedway	South Boston	10
Langley Field Speedway	Hampton	9
Old Dominion Speedway	Manassas	7
Southside Speedway	Richmond	4
Starkey Speedway	Roanoke	4
Norfolk Speedway	Norfolk	2
Princess Anne Speedway	Norfolk	1

· 169 drivers in NASCAR national series history have their home state recorded as Virginia.

· 19 drivers from Virginia have won at least one race in NASCAR’s three national series. 11 of the 19 Virginia native NASCAR winners have won in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Driver	NSCS	NNS	NCWTS
Joe Weatherly	25	0	0
Denny Hamlin	23	11	2
Ricky Rudd	23	1	0
Jeff Burton	21	27	0
Curtis Turner	17	0	0
Ward Burton	5	4	0
Glen Wood	4	0	0
Elliott Sadler	3	9	1
Emanuel Zervakis	2	0	0
Lennie Pond	1	0	0
Wendell Scott	1	0	0
Tommy Ellis	0	22	0
Jimmy Hensley	0	9	2
Rick Mast	0	9	0
Hermie Sadler	0	2	0
Elton Sawyer	0	2	0
Stacy Compton	0	0	2
Jon Wood	0	0	2
Jeb Burton	0	0	1

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Posted on March 24, 2014 by Staff Report

Each week an expert will answer a tech question on GarageCam presented by Mobil 1

RELATED: Mobil 1 Technology Center

Each week the host of NASCAR.com’s GarageCam presented by Mobil 1 will take an automotive technology question and get it answered by the experts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage.

This week in Fontana, host Matthew Dillner asked No. 4 Sprint Cup Series crew chief Rodney Childers how important fuel load is throughout a race.

Watch the video above to hear the answer, and be sure to tune in to GarageCam presented by Mobil 1 this week in Martinsville and see another question answered.

Nationwide Series GarageCam, presented by Mobil 1: 2:30 p.m. ET, Friday, March 28. (Watch here)

Sprint Cup Series GarageCam, presented by Mobil 1: 11:30 p.m. ET, Friday, March 28. (Watch here)

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Posted on March 24, 2014 by Staff Report

Johnson has won the short-track race nearly half the time over the past decade

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are winless through the first five races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, but the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway
could bring an end to that for one of them. Eight of Gordon’s 88 career
wins have come at Martinsville, including last October. Johnson,
meanwhile, has celebrated in Martinsville’s Victory Lane 42.1 percent of
the time over the past decade (eight wins in 19 races). Johnson and
Gordon are two of the most successful drivers on the Sprint Cup circuit.
Johnson has won the points title six of the last eight years and Gordon
is a four-time champion.

Posted on March 23, 2014 by

Busch holds off Kyle Larson in heart-pounding final laps for victory

RELATED: Race results | Standings

FONTANA, Calif. — In a race that saw tire problems turn the contest upside-down, Kyle Busch
won Sunday’s Auto Club 400 in a green-white-checkered-flag finish that
took the fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event of the year six laps past
its scheduled distance.

The first driver on four fresh tires for a restart on Lap 205 at Auto Club Speedway, Busch passed Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart on the next-to-last lap, bringing rookie Kyle Larson with him.

Able to keep Larson behind him on the final lap, Busch crossed the finish line .214 seconds ahead of the 21-year-old, who had won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the two-mile track one day earlier.

The victory was Busch’s second straight and third overall at Fontana, his first of the season and the 29th of his career. Kurt Busch, who like Stewart took right-side tires only on the final pit stop on Lap 200, ran third, followed by polesitter Matt Kenseth and Stewart.

Jamie McMurray, Brian Vickers, AJ Allmendinger, Paul Menard and Carl Edwards completed the top 10.

"I knew four tires was going to win the race, so I’m glad (crew chief) Dave (Rogers) called that," Busch said in Victory Lane. "There was some great racing up front between Tony and Kurt there. It was really interesting to watch that.

"I went into Turn 1 thinking I’m going to run the middle and then Tony started sliding off the bottom and I’m like, ‘Nope, not having it.’ I had to get some brake and cut my car to the left and drove underneath him and got him cleared off Turn 2, and I was able to keep Kyle Larson behind me."

Though he ran second, Larson nevertheless earned Busch’s admiration in the process.

"Man, what a shoe that boy is," Busch said. "If he would have gotten alongside of me, it would have been a whale of a race. I drove off into Turn 3, but I heard ‘Car inside’ on my left.

"If he drove it in further than I did, Jesus must have told him to stop… What an awesome race this track produced!"

Larson was surprised he was able to reach second place after restarting ninth in the bottom lane for the green-white-checker.

"I was thinking I was going to line up eighth," Larson said, "but then the 40 (Landon Cassill) stayed out, and I had to line up on the bottom, and I was disappointed because the bottom had been getting jammed up once we got to Turn 1. I was surprised–I just watched it on TV and it was pretty wild–we were four wide there into (Turn) 1.

"Came out in fourth there, I think, and then got to second off Turn 2 the next lap and thought I might have a shot at Kyle, depending on where he’d go into Turn 3. But he was good enough to keep it on the bottom and stay ahead of me. But we’ll take second. Long race and definitely didn’t expect to run second, so I’ll take it and head back to North Carolina with a smile on my face."

Until the final seven laps, the race had all the makings of a routine victory by Jimmie Johnson, who had a commanding lead over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon as the event approached the regulation distance of 400 miles.

But Johnson, who led 104 laps, blew a left front tire and drove his car to pit road, handing Gordon the lead. No caution.

Brad Keselowski suffered his third left rear tire failure a lap later but stayed out of harm’s way. No caution. The same fate befell Marcos Ambrose on the same lap. No caution.

Finally, when Clint Bowyer’s Toyota spun on Lap 198, thanks to a flat left rear tire, NASCAR called the caution that set up the two-lap dash to the finish.

The tire issues that surfaced during Saturday’s practice sessions—particularly in the left rear position—plagued drivers throughout the race, not just at the finish. Kevin Harvick caused the first caution on Lap 20 when his left rear tire blew.

Harvick charged through the field and was running third on Lap 138 when another blown left rear forced him to pit road. With tire debris strewn across the backstretch, NASCAR called a caution on Lap 141, with Johnson in the lead.

Keselowski, who suffered two flat left rears during Saturday’s practice, had two more during the race but both yellow flags rescued him in both cases. Twice Keselowski brought the No. 2 Ford to pit road under caution with the tire soft, escaping a failure at speed that could have damaged the car.

But the third failure, in the closing laps, dropped the 2012 series champion to 26th at the finish.

The race winner, though, had no tire problems and suggested that other teams might have been overly aggressive in lowering tire pressures.

Notes: Gordon was shuffled back on the final restart and finished 13th. … Johnson came home 24th, the last driver on the lead lap. … Menard, who skipped Friday’s qualifying to be with his wife after the birth of their daughter, posted his ninth-place finish after starting from the rear of the field because of the driver change. Matt Crafton had qualified the car. … Sam Hornish Jr. ran 17th in Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota, after Hamlin left the track for a local hospital before the race to treat a sinus infection that impaired his vision. Hornish had been at the track on standby for Kenseth, whose wife, Katie, is expecting the couple’s third daughter.

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Posted on March 23, 2014 by Holly Cain

Race winner Kyle Busch had no problem with the Goodyear tires

FONTANA, Calif. — Largely dependent on their final outcome in Sunday’s race, drivers were either fully satisfied with the tires supplied to them at Auto Club Speedway or extremely frustrated by the volatility.

By some estimates there were about 20 blown or flat tires in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 — including four within one two-lap span late in the race. There was a similar rash of left side tire issues during Saturday’s practices, something Goodyear attributed to teams running air pressures much lower than the company recommended.

Race winner Kyle Busch said neither he nor his two Joe Gibbs Racing teammates had any issues with tires.

“I don’t know what it’s a testament to, but our team believes it’s too low of air pressure and that’s what those were doing to get them to wear funny and essentially blow out during the run,’’ Busch said. “It’s sort of like playing with fire. If you pour too much gas on it or let too much air out of it, the thing is going to go boom.”

His crew chief, Dave Rogers, conceded he intentionally played it safe — and was ultimately rewarded.

“I think we lacked some speed on the stopwatch and I was pretty confident that I could drop left-side air pressure and pick some of that speed up,’’ Rogers said. “But it wasn’t worth it, it wasn’t worth putting the car in jeopardy, putting Kyle in jeopardy, so we played it conservative and today just worked out for us.’’

That’s exactly what Goodyear’s Director of Racing Tire Sales Greg Stucker suggested to teams following Saturday’s practice.

“It’s really no different than what we talked about yesterday in practice,’’ Stucker said Sunday. “The vast majority of issues today have been left rears although we’ve had some left fronts so obviously it’s the application of whatever particular suspension adjustments or settings are. Plus guys were being very, very aggressive with air pressures to get as much grip as possible. Given the situation, air pressure is the tool they can adjust. Some guys made the adjustments and others haven’t.’’

After the race, NASCAR’s Vice President for Competition Robin Pemberton said he was comfortable with the tire that Goodyear supplied and echoed the thought that teams had the flexibility to run the proper air pressures.

“Over the past few years we’ve been on a path to add mechanical grip, give more options to the teams,’’ Pemberton said. “We’ve opened up camber rules for grip in both the front and the rear of the car. They have a lot of tools to use if they choose to do so.

“But the tires weren’t wearing. At some parts of the race the tires were abused a little bit, so I guess that’s why the failures.’’

Jimmie Johnson was not among the group of drivers that had tire issues in practice. But unfortunately for the six-time champ, a problem arose at the worse possible time: while he was leading the race with six laps to go in regulation.

It is the second straight week Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s Chevy had a tire issue while running up front. He was running second at Bristol last week when a tire came apart.

“It’s unfortunate since we were the leader at the race and looked like we were going to win at our home track,’’ Johnson said Sunday. “When anything happens (with tires), it’s the team’s fault and that’s the standard response back to all of us when a tire goes down. I guess we’re all at fault this weekend.

“We haven’t had one problem all weekend long, from the practices through the race. (Crew chief) Chad (Knaus) was giving me tire updates and all, that was the least amount of pressure I had because I had a nice margin on the 24 and was just kind of managing things up front. Really shocked to have a problem like that.

“I think there’s maybe something bigger. These cars are much different this year, faster, and maybe that means they’re more abusive on the tire and something needs to be addressed there. It seems like a few weeks in a row that there’s been some issues. Maybe there’s a bigger picture there that needs to be investigated.”

Penske driver Brad Keselowski would agree.

“There were a lot of reasons why we blew a tire today or two or five over the weekend and the field did,’’ said Keselowski, whose Penske Racing team had four blown tires in Saturday’s practice, too.

“I don’t know what to really say about it. As a driver you are left between the choice of driving your car to the limit and blowing a tire out or being a ‘wuss’ and saving it. I saved it as best as I could and probably, arguably, was not following the 100-percent rule until the last run. That is what you had to do. It was the box we were all forced into today.

“I pushed it hard on the last run and I was one of at least three guys that blew a tire. It was really unfortunate. If I didn’t push the car hard I wasn’t going to have a good day. It was a matter of who blew it first. “

Keselowski clarified on Twitter following the race that it wasn’t a matter of wear, but “more like massive unpredictable failures caused by increased demands” such as “greater heat, higher load and faster speeds created this season.’’

Pemberton acknowledged there were going to be some teams and drivers unhappy with Sunday’s tire situation, but expressed his confidence in Goodyear’s effort.

“We’ve talked to Goodyear,’’ Pemberton said. “We have asked, the competitors have asked, for them to bring more aggressive tires, to bring tires that they need to manage and want to ‑‑ how they use them and how they get the most out of them. At this point in time I think Goodyear, it’s the same tire that we’ve run on in the past. Just the car is a little bit different.

“But as always, we’ll get back and we’ll look at it, but right now I think Goodyear has done a pretty good job with it."

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Posted on March 23, 2014 by Holly Cain

Filling in for Denny Hamlin, Sam Hornish Jr. managed to finish 17th at Fontana

FONTANA, Calif. – An hour before the green flag in Sunday’s Auto Club 400, Sam Hornish Jr. was chatting with his former boss Roger Penske in the garage, contemplating what he’d have for lunch and envisioning being first on board the plane home. Then he got a text message.

Hornish’s new team, Joe Gibbs Racing, needed him immediately at Denny Hamlin’s hauler. Originally on hand to substitute for JGR driver Matt Kenseth should his wife Katie go into labor, Hornish instead was unexpectedly tabbed to drive Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota when NASCAR refused to medically clear Hamlin to race.

So while Hamlin was being taken to a nearby hospital to be examined for a severe headache and vision problems, Hornish scrambled into his drivers suit and made it to the starting grid just as the national anthem was starting.

"Once you’re within an hour of the race, you’re thinking it’s not going to happen today," Hornish said. "But it was a great experience to work with these guys and basically get out there and run some laps because it’s been so long since I got in a car. This is the first time I’ve been in a JGR car with the engine running."

It was only the second Sprint Cup start in two years – the last coming at Kansas in April of 2013. He is set to run seven Nationwide Series races for JGR this season, but the first one wasn’t scheduled until May 3 at Talladega, Ala.

After moving to the rear of the 43-car field because of the driver change, Hornish methodically worked his way forward. He was running among the top-10 with 25 laps remaining when his Toyota Camry was tagged from behind by Paul Menard’s Chevrolet.

Hornish somehow managed to collect the car off the wall and salvage it for the remainder of the race scoring a 17th place finish. His JGR teammate Kyle Busch won the race for the second straight year.

"For him to have 45 minutes notice, throw on a fire suit and jump in someone else’s car and take off knowing nothing about the car and not having run a Cup race in a while, it really was a successful day," said crew chief Darian Grubb.

"It was truly impressive. And I think we had a real shot at a top-10 before we got knocked away. He did a great job, can’t even ask for anything better."

Hornish was pleased with the showing and actually frustrated about the accident – something he was confident wouldn’t have likely happened if he had been a fulltime competitor.

The overall outcome was especially encouraging considering his time out of the car and the need to adapt to someone else’s ride.

Hornish joked he needed to stretch out, demonstrating how his shoulders were hunched up for the three hour race — "I’ve learned I have broader shoulders than Denny.’"

"But this is the first time I’ve been in a car since Homestead ended last year," Hornish said. "It’s good to knock some of the dust off and run with it. I thought we were going to be able to bring it home nice and shiny with a top-10 out of it, but didn’t get it done today.

"I was really happy that with 20 laps to go we were running as close to the front as we were." Then he smiled, "I imagine with half a practice session we’d be able to run a little bit better."

Hornish said he is hopeful Hamlin will be back in the car at Martinsville, Va. next week – especially considering Hamlin is a four-time winner at the track.

Hamlin was evaluated and released from a local hospital after undergoing tests and a CT scan. He will be further evaluated this week in Charlotte, Joe Gibbs Racing said in a statement.

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Posted on March 23, 2014 by Holly Cain

Hamlin’s replacement Sam Hornish Jr. finishes 17th in the Auto Club 400

FONTANA, Calif. – Denny Hamlin was evaluated and released from a local hospital on Sunday. He underwent a CT scan to see what may be causing severe headaches and vision problems his Joe Gibbs Racing team confirmed. He will be further evaluated this week in Charlotte, Joe Gibbs Racing said in a statement.

Sam Hornish Jr. substituted behind the wheel of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 because in the hour before the green flag dropped NASCAR did not medically clear Hamlin to compete.

"We do (go forward assuming Denny will be back next week.)," his crew chief Darian Grubb said after the race. "But it’s going to be touch and go for right now obviously with him still in the hospital getting a CT scan. Last I heard the vision was getting worse and the pain was getting worse so we’re just going to wait and see what happens. Hopefully we’ll get some good news this afternoon."

Before the race, JGR President J.D. Gibbs said initially the team thought it was a sinus infection that was causing the headaches and vision issues. But Grubb said it soon became apparent, it may be more serious.

"For him to go to the infield care center, for one thing, it must have been pretty bad for him," Grubb said. "Then it got to where he couldn’t see and was having trouble with vision in his left eye with all the pressure that was going on. At that point, NASCAR did some testing and knew he could not follow the finger going by his eyes as he should have been so they knew at that point, they weren’t going to let him go.

"It wasn’t just a headache, it was more serious than that.

"That’s why they’re doing the CT scan now. He had them on the whole time and was just holding his head, it hurt him so bad. You could tell by the look on his face he was really worried."

Team owner Joe Gibbs confirmed that Hamlin left the track immediately before the race started and that by late afternoon "they are still running tests. It will be later on before we get results."

Hornish finished 17th in the car — his first Sprint Cup Series start since April of 2013 at Kansas Speedway.

It marks the second straight year that Hamlin ended his race day hospitalized. He broke vertebrae in his lower back in a last lap accident at Auto Club Speedway a year ago and said this Friday he had circled Sunday’s race on the schedule with hopes of redeeming himself with a victory.

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Posted on March 23, 2014 by Holly Cain

Joe Gibbs Racing driver replaced by Sam Hornish Jr.

RELATED: Update on Hamlin’s condition

FONTANA, Calif. — Only minutes before the start of Sunday’s Auto Club 400, Joe Gibbs Racing officials announced that driver Denny Hamlin was not medically cleared to race because of a sinus infection that was causing vision problems.

Sam Hornish Jr. will drive the No. 11 FedEx Toyota in his place — the second time Hornish has been called into emergency substitute duties. He replaced AJ Allmendinger at Daytona in July of 2012, arriving minutes before the start of that race.

"The doctors here say Denny has to go to hospital right now and get it checked out,” said Joe Gibbs Racing President JD Gibbs, who only found out about the situation 10 minutes before driver introductions began. "They (NASCAR) just said, ‘hey we can’t approve it, until he gets checked out by ophthalmologist.’ "

The Gibbs team was frantically working on the car on pit road even during pre-race ceremonies while Hornish was changing into his drivers suit and helmet.

Crew chief Darian Grubb said they wouldn’t need — or have the chance — to change out the seat for Hornish. The last Sprint Cup race he competed in was April of 2013 at Kansas. He finished 37th.

"Hopefully it’s nothing but they think it’s better for him to be checked out,” team founder Joe Gibbs said.

About 20 laps into Sunday’s race, Hamlin put out a statement through his Twitter account:

"So disappointed that I can’t compete today. Sorry to all my fans. Thought we had a car that could win today. Good luck to @SamHornish."

Hamlin was involved in a major wreck last year at Auto Club that left him with a fractured back, causing him to miss four races and part of a fifth.

He was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation and released. He will be further evaluated this week in Charlotte, Joe Gibbs Racing said in a statement.

Darian Grubb confirms Denny Hamlin not cleared medically to race today – having an issue with his eyes.

— Holly Cain (@_HollyCain) March 23, 2014

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Posted on March 23, 2014 by Holly Cain

Toyota Racing Development seeing results of innovative motorsports entry pay off

COSTA MESA, Calif. — Located in a quiet Costa Mesa business district — an hour’s drive southwest of this week’s NASCAR venue Auto Club Speedway — sits a non-descript grey brick building identified only by three letters: "TRD." This is the brain trust and engineering headquarters for Toyota Racing Development.

Just inside the front doors your eyes are drawn to a pedestal holding a three-foot high bright red statue — a Japanese "daruma" — an homage to Zen Buddhism that is both motivating and interactive. According to legend, in a small ceremony you paint in the left eye of the doll when setting a specific goal. You paint in the right eye — finishing the doll’s face — when that goal is accomplished.

This one is still winking. It awaits Toyota’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver’s championship.

Photo credit: Toyota Racing Development

It is a symbol of what has been a unique and fruitful East meets West relationship as Toyota celebrates its 10^th year in NASCAR after an unconventional and highly ambitious entrance onto the American stock car scene.

As President and General Manager TRD USA David Wilson explains, Toyota was extremely conscientious of manner and appearance. This was as much a cultural consideration as a sporting outlet.

As Wilson explained, originally Toyota’s decision to enter NASCAR “was about participating in a sport that is iconically American and hitching our wagon to that.

“At the time, (Toyota) literally didn’t care about winning, it was about participating. From our end here (at TRD), we wanted to win and we were confident it would come in time. And it has.

“It (NASCAR) was the right place to talk to the fans about the Americanization of Toyota and the fact we build cars and trucks here,’’ Wilson said. “In doing that research and talking to the fans we also realized it was going to be a very polarizing consideration for the NASCAR fan base: a “foreign” manufacturer joining the ranks. And so a lot of that dictated the method with which we entered the sport.

“I don’t think our expectations in the first year were that aggressive, knowing we were new to the sport,’’ Wilson continued. “From an indirect benefit, that somewhat demonstrated to the fan base that we were being respectful of their sport, we weren’t going in there heavy-handed.”

This week, TRD invited a small group of racing journalists to tour the facility for the first time ever and it was immediately apparent in tangible ways that Toyota’s involvement in the sport is about a broader philosophy.

The engine-making facility was built in 1995 as Toyota was making inroads in open-wheel and drag racing genres. It now employs 182 workers — an engineer assigned to every engine part. Really.

Photo credit: Toyota Racing Development

It is impressive in its size — two massive buildings that measure 32,000 and 47,000-square feet each, house five engine dynamometers, automated parts-making machines the size of a truck, massive inspection bays and all the offices and work stations you’d expect of a high technology-based work space.

The walls surrounding the engine “build shop” are decorated in wallpaper that gives the impression you are deep inside the Bristol Motor Speedway. A motif of empty grandstands rises floor to ceiling — empty because that’s when this behind-the-scenes type work is done.

Blue prints sit on tables throughout the area. Huge carts of metal shavings sit in the parts-production line and half-completed engines sit tagged and awaiting the next stage of completion. It takes approximately 130 man-hours to build a single engine.

Engineers work shoulder-to-shoulder with technicians, turning out 55 engines a week to be delivered to Toyota’s Sprint Cup teams — a contingent led by Joe Gibbs Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing.

One team is building engines, while simultaneously another team is dis-assembling the most recently race-used motor. Every single engine is taken apart piece-by-piece and rebuilt and reused when possible.

On large carts, used engine pieces are cleaned and separated, and tagged with helpful notes such as “light crash, spun backwards” or “ran hot in race.”

There is great cost in being so removed from NASCAR’s traditional hub outside Charlotte, N.C., some 2,500 miles away — but also benefits. And Toyota has made it work.

“If we can’t deliver a product to them that’s as good or better than what we could do there, then we’d have to move,’’ Wilson said. “But that hasn’t happened.’’

Certainly Toyota’s home track Auto Club Speedway has been a veritable Toyota showroom.

Matt Kenseth put his No. 20 Dollar General Toyota on the Coors Light pole for Sunday’s race. Toyota driver Kyle Busch is the defending race-winner, his trophy sits in the TRD front foyer just across from the daruma.

It is a striking reminder that Toyota’s intentionally unique methods — in locale, approach and philosophy — have been rewarded. Persistence, patience and perspective have produced achievement.

Three drivers in the past four seasons — Kenseth in 2013, Clint Bowyer in 2012 and Denny Hamlin in 2010 — have finished runner-up in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. And last year’s cumulative 14 wins in a Camry gave Toyota the season-high total and a runner-up in the manufacturer’s race.

“Spiritually, since we’ve come into the sport, it’s been such a positive reaction,’’ Wilson said. “Our board meetings are much more pleasant. If you look at the reasons Toyota came into NASCAR, for the first time since engaging in top-tier motorsports, the company engaged us.

“From a personal level it makes you feel good to be here. That support and warmth goes all the way back to Japan. They have embraced this as the right place for our company.”

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