Posted on by Brad Norman

Kenseth’s Texas record untouchable; Johnson, Stewart in play for 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. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

Standing: Earnhardt Jr. leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings with 227 points.
Past five races: 3rd at Martinsville, 12th at Auto Club, 24th at Bristol, 2nd at Las Vegas, 2nd at Phoenix.
Season stats: 1 win, 4 top-fives, 4 top-10s.
Track history: At Texas, Earnhardt Jr.’s average finish is 14.4 and his average running position is 11.5 over the past nine years. In 23 career starts at Texas, he has one win, four top-fives, 13 top-10s and two poles.
Quick hit: Junior’s first start at Texas resulted in his lone victory in the Lone Star State, and he’s been searching for his second in the following 22 starts. Earnhardt has finished better in the Texas fall race (day) than the spring race (night) for the past three years, so maybe running in the daytime on Monday is to his advantage.

2. Matt Kenseth (No. 20)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Standing: Kenseth is second in the standings with 218 points.
Past five races: 6th at Martinsville, 4th at Auto Club, 13th at Bristol, 10th at Las Vegas, 12th at Phoenix.
Season stats: 1 top-five, 4 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Texas, Kenseth’s average finish is 6.5 and his average running position is 9.0 over the past nine years. In 23 career starts at Texas, he has two wins, 13 top-fives and 16 top-10s.
Quick hit: Kenseth’s two wins here aren’t the most among active drivers, but check out those top-fives — a staggering 13 in 23 starts, meaning Kenseth has finished in the top five in 57 percent of his career starts here. His average finish at Texas over the past seven races is 4.6, with six top-five finishes. He’s the favorite to become the seventh different driver to win this year.

3. Carl Edwards (No. 99)

Roush Fenway Racing, Ford 

Standing: Edwards is third in the standings with 217 points.
Past five races: 13th at Martinsville, 10th at Auto Club, 1st at Bristol, 5th at Las Vegas, 8th at Phoenix.
Season stats: 1 win, 2 top-fives, 4 top-10s.
Track history: At Texas, Edwards’ average finish is 15.6 and his average running position is 12.3 over the past nine years. In 18 career starts at Texas, he has three wins, six top-fives, eight top-10s and one pole.
Quick hit: Edwards once won back-to-back races here, and he was on the pole last fall before running into engine issues. This is one of Roush Fenway Racing’s best tracks, too, so the company as a whole should put forth a good — and sorely needed — effort.

4. Jeff Gordon (No. 24)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet 

Standing: Gordon is fourth in the standings with 216 points.
Past five races: 12th at Martinsville, 13th at Auto Club, 7th at Bristol, 9th at Las Vegas, 5th at Phoenix.
Season stats: 2 top-fives, 4 top-10s.
Track history: At Texas, Gordon’s average finish is 17.8 and his average running position is 14.8 over the past nine years. In 26 career starts at Texas, he has one win, eight top-fives, 11 top-10s and two poles.
Quick hit: For all his talent and experience, this is one track Gordon has yet to master. Sure, he’s won here, but his average finish ranks outside of the top 10 among current drivers, a rarity for Gordon. He finished 38th in both races last year and has four finishes outside the top 30 since 2010.

5. Jimmie Johnson (No. 48)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

Standing: Johnson is fifth in the standings with 209 points.
Past five races: 2nd at Martinsville, 24th at Auto Club, 19th at Bristol, 6th at Las Vegas, 6th at Phoenix.
Season stats: 2 top-fives, 4 top-10s.
Track history: At Texas, Johnson’s average finish is 8.9 and his average running position is 10.3 over the past nine years. In 21 career starts at Texas, he has three wins, 10 top-fives, 16 top-10s and three poles.
Quick hit: Johnson is — again — among the favorites this week. He’s won twice in the past four races at Texas (and also has a runner-up during that span) and his Chase performance last year was an absolute masterpiece — 255 laps led in a victory that defined his sixth championship.

6. Kyle Busch (No. 18)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Standing: Busch is sixth in the standings with 189 points.
Past five races: 14th at Martinsville, 1st at Auto Club, 29th at Bristol, 11th at Las Vegas, 9th at Phoenix.
Season stats: 1 win, 1 top-five, 2 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Texas, Busch’s average finish is 14.0 and his average running position is 11.0 over the past nine years. In 17 career starts at Texas, he has one win, six top-fives, seven top-10s and one pole.
Quick hit: Busch’s victory last year in the spring race was the first at the 1.5-mile track for Toyota. That bodes well for ‘Rowdy’ entering Sunday. In 2013, Busch also won at Auto Club to give Toyota its first victory at that track. Busch won again at Fontana this year, so if the trend holds true, Busch will be in Victory Lane at Texas — again.

7. Brad Keselowski (No. 2)

Penske Racing, Ford 

Standing: Keselowski is seventh in the standings with 188 points.
Past five races: 38th at Martinsville, 26th at Auto Club, 14th at Bristol, 1st at Las Vegas, 3rd at Phoenix.
Season stats: 1 win, 3 top-fives, 3 top-10s.
Track history: At Texas, Keselowski’s average finish is 19.9 and his average running position is 19.5 over the past nine years. In 11 career starts at Texas, he has one top-five and three top-10s.
Quick hit: Keselowski has a lot going on this week. He exchanged words with Kurt Busch last weekend, and he’s returning to the race in which his car continually failed pre-race inspection in 2013 and eventually resulted in a massive penalty. The bet here is that the outspoken veteran compartmentalizes that and rises to the occasion with one of his best showings of the year.

8. Joey Logano (No. 22)

Penske Racing, Ford 

Standing: Logano is eighth in the standings with 187 points.
Past five races: 4th at Martinsville, 39th at Auto Club, 20th at Bristol, 4th at Las Vegas, 4th at Phoenix.
Season stats: 3 top-fives, 3 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Texas, Logano’s average finish is 20.0 and his average running position is 20.6 over the past nine years. In 11 career starts at Texas, he has three top-fives and three top-10s.
Quick hit: Three times this year, Logano has finished exactly fourth place. His three top-fives this year are second best in the series, along with Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski. Couple that with the knowledge that the No. 22 was among the best cars at the only previous race this year at a 1.5-mile track, and you have a driver with a real shot at winning.

9. Austin Dillon (No. 3)

Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet  

Standing: Dillon is ninth in the standings with 179 points.
Past five races: 15th at Martinsville, 11th at Auto Club, 11th at Bristol, 16th at Las Vegas, 24th at Phoenix.
Season stats: 1 top-10, 1 pole.
Track history: At Texas, Dillon’s average finish is 27.5 and his average running position is 29.3 over the past nine years. In two career starts at Texas, his best finish was 22nd in 2013.
Quick hit: Six races into the season, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender has been among the most consistent drivers on the circuit. A Richard Childress Racing driver hasn’t won here since 2007, though, so Dillon is a better bet to record another top-15 than he is to breakthrough for his first top-five.

10. Ryan Newman (No. 31)

Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet 

Standing: Newman is 10th in the standings with 174 points.
Past five races: 20th at Martinsville, 20th at Auto Club, 16th at Bristol, 7th at Las Vegas, 7th at Phoenix.
Season stats: 2 top-10s.
Track history: At Texas, Newman’s average finish is 18.0 and his average running position is 20.4 over the past nine years. In 21 career starts at Texas, he has one win, three top-fives, five top-10s and two poles.
Quick hit: Newman has steadily improved at Texas over the past three races, going from 12th to 10th to ninth. His previous single-digit finish before last fall’s race was in 2008, and he finished seventh earlier this year at another 1.5-mile track in Las Vegas.

11. Paul Menard (No. 27)

Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet 

Standing: Menard is 11th in the standings with 168 points.
Past five races: 10th at Martinsville, 9th at Auto Club, 21st at Bristol, 3rd at Las Vegas, 23rd at Phoenix.
Season stats: 1 top-five, 3 top-10s.
Track history: At Texas, Menard’s average finish is 20.6 and his average running position is 20.8 over the past nine years. In 15 career starts at Texas, he has one top-five and two top-10s.
Quick hit: Menard has finished on the lead lap at Texas just once in the past four races, and his Loop Data stats rank him outside the top 20 drivers over the past nine years. RCR’s consistency this year though — its drivers are ranked ninth, 10th and 11th in the points standings — might mean that Menard finishes above expectation.

12. Denny Hamlin (No. 11)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Standing: Hamlin is 12th in the standings with 165 points.
Past five races: 19th at Martinsville, DNS at Auto Club, 6th at Bristol, 12th at Las Vegas, 19th at Phoenix.
Season stats: 1 top-five, 2 top-10s, 1 pole.
Track history: At Texas, Hamlin’s average finish is 10.7 and his average running position is 12.7 over the past nine years. In 16 career starts at Texas, he has two wins, five top-fives and nine top-10s.
Quick hit: Hamlin is another driver that has won back-to-back races here before. But following that feat in 2010, his average finish in the seven races since is 14.8 — four spots worse than his Loop Data performance over the past nine years.

13. Brian Vickers (No. 55)

Michael Waltrip Racing, Toyota 

Standing: Vickers is 13th in the standings with 165 points.
Past five races: 16th at Martinsville, 7th at Auto Club, 9th at Bristol, 13th at Las Vegas, 25th at Phoenix.
Season stats: 2 top-10s.
Track history: At Texas, Vickers’ average finish is 23.6 and his average running position is 22.5 over the past nine years. In 15 career starts at Texas, he has one top-10 and one pole.
Quick hit: Vickers only has one top-10 here, but that at least came in the 2013 spring race in a part-time role with Michael Waltrip Racing. The bigger issue, though, is that Vickers’ full-picture numbers aren’t very good, and in the Cup Series’ past four races here, Vickers has started in just one.

14. Marcos Ambrose (No. 9)

Richard Petty Motorsports, Ford 

Standing: Ambrose is 14th in the standings with 162 points.
Past five races: 5th at Martinsville, 30th at Auto Club, 5th at Bristol, 24th at Las Vegas, 21st at Phoenix.
Season stats: 2 top-fives, 2 top-10s.
Track history: At Texas, Ambrose’s average finish is 19.5 and his average running position is 14.6 over the past nine years. In 11 career starts at Texas, he has one top-10.
Quick hit: Ambrose has improved mightily since breaking into the Sprint Cup Series in 2007. Ovals still give him problems, though, and Texas can be tricky with its high banks and old pavement. A top-15 — of which he has five in 11 starts here — would be a good finish for the No. 9 team.

15. Tony Stewart (No. 14)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet  

Standing: Stewart is 15th in the standings with 154 points.
Past five races: 17th at Martinsville, 5th at Auto Club, 4th at Bristol, 33rd at Las Vegas, 16th at Phoenix.
Season stats: 2 top-fives, 2 top-10s.
Track history: At Texas, Stewart’s average finish is 12.7 and his average running position is 10.8 over the past nine years. In 23 career starts at Texas, he has two wins, six top-fives, 12 top-10s and one pole.
Quick hit: Stewart ended his two-race streak with a top-five finish at Martinsville, but still climbed in the standings. He appears to be getting more comfortable in the car, but his performance this Sunday is more dependent on the work crew chief Chad Johnston and the No. 14 team have put in on the intermediate package since Las Vegas.

16. AJ Allmendinger (No. 47)

JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet  

Standing: Allmendinger is 16th in the standings with 152 points.
Past five races: 11th at Martinsville, 8th at Auto Club, 25th at Bristol, 18th at Las Vegas, 26th at Phoenix.
Season stats: 1 top-10.
Track history: At Texas, Allmendinger’s average finish is 21.6 and his average running position is 21.9 over the past nine years. In 10 career starts at Texas, he has two top-10s.
Quick hit: Allmendinger last raced at Texas in 2012, and his two starts that year came for two different teams. His renaissance is among one of the more intriguing story lines so far this year, but his lack of recent experience at the 1.5-mile track is a detriment.

20. Kurt Busch (No. 41)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet

Standing: Busch is 20th in the standings with 146 points.
Past five races: 1st at Martinsville, 3rd at Auto Club, 35th at Bristol, 26th at Las Vegas, 39th at Phoenix.
Season stats: 1 win, 2 top-fives, 2 top-10s.
Track history: At Texas, Busch’s average finish is 22.8 and his average running position is 16.7 over the past nine years. In 13 career starts at Texas, he has one top-five, three top-10s and one pole.
Quick hit: Busch’s best finish in the first four races was 21st at Daytona. Now he has consecutive back-to-back top-five efforts. His Texas history isn’t sterling (one top-10 in the past five races), but expect an improvement this year now that he has a more reliable machine under him.

25. Kevin Harvick (No. 4)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Standing: Harvick is 25th in the standings with 135 points.
Past five races: 7th at Martinsville, 36th at Auto Club, 39th at Bristol, 41st at Las Vegas, 1st at Phoenix.
Season stats: 1 win, 1 top-five, 2 top-10s.
Track history: At Texas, Harvick’s average finish is 11.7 and his average running position is 14.8 over the past nine years. In 22 career starts at Texas, he has three top-fives and 11 top-10s.
Quick hit: Harvick is consistently good at Texas but rarely great. His best finish of third came in 2006, but his last four races produced three top-10s and a 13th-place finish. Given how good his cars have been this year, don’t be surprised if he’s in contention for a top-three run.

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Count down Keselowski’s most outspoken and outlandish moments

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Brad will be Brad.

Thankfully.

We saw that much again this past weekend at Martinsville Speedway, when Brad Keselowski pulled no metaphorical punches — and hinted at delivering some physical ones — after his run-in with eventual race winner Kurt Busch on pit road early in the event. The moment was vintage Keselowski, honest and outspoken, leaving little to the imagination, and echoing through the social media universe at the speed of the No. 2 car on a pole run.

The 2012 champion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series certainly keeps things interesting, which was indeed the case when his battered race car — looking like a modified without its hood — returned to the track and traded paint with Busch for several laps. Like him or loathe him, there’s no doubt that Keselowski makes NASCAR more exciting, even if sometimes he may push things too far. Better that than not push at all, even if some series executives may sometimes disagree.

So now NASCAR’s premier series returns to Texas Motor Speedway, where last spring saw a defiant Keselowski in the wake of rear-end housings confiscated from both Team Penske cars. On the eve of that anniversary, and on the heels of this past Sunday’s shenanigans at Martinsville, there seems no better time to count down the top 10 moments of Brad Keselowski being his sometimes maddening, always quotable, and often gloriously controversial self.

10. Ranting on Ragan

Keselowski was steaming last spring over a lane change made by eventual race winner David Ragan before a green-white-checkered restart at Talladega, calling the move "blatantly wrong" on Twitter. "That lane won. BS." What Keselowski didn’t know at the time was that NASCAR had ordered Ragan to move to correct the running order, and the 2012 champ quickly issued an apology on his website. "I placed blame on David Ragan for the restart lineup confusion when it wasn’t his fault," he wrote. But true to form, there were no regrets over getting worked up in the first place. "Passion," he added, "is not something I will apologize for."

9. Calling out Kyle

There also weren’t any apologies in August of 2010, when Keselowski delivered what still may be the most famous moment ever during driver introductions at Bristol — where drivers take the microphone to introduce themselves. Keselowski wasn’t happy about an incident the night before in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race, when he bumped Kyle Busch out of the way and got taken out in response, and he let everybody know it. "Kyle Busch is an ass!" he shouted to the crowd, which roared its approval. "Just say what you mean and be real," Keselowski explained later. "They appreciate that." On that night, at least, they certainly did.

8. Jawing with Johnson

They weren’t dueling for the title as they had the season before, but the rivalry between the teams of Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson was still on a low simmer last fall. After winning at Texas, No. 48 crew chief Chad Knaus opined that their current rival for the title, Matt Kenseth, was "a little more formidable" than who they’d faced the season before. So Keselowski offered Kenseth some friendly advice on how to beat Johnson. "For them, I wouldn’t want to race somebody that’s going to race me hard. That’s not their wheelhouse," Keselowski said. "… I’d say, use the s— out of him. Every time you get, run him hard, because that’s his weakness."

7. Banging on Busch

In the tight quarters of Martinsville, even pit road can be hazardous. That was the case in the STP 500, when Keselowski and Kurt Busch made contact during an early yellow-flag stop, and the No. 2 car spent 30 laps undergoing repairs. When Keselowski returned he aimed his displeasure toward Busch, whom he banged into and then directed a strategic digit. "He does awesome things for charity, and he’s probably the most talented race car driver, but he’s also one of the dumbest," Keselowski said, "so you can put those three together." Busch seemed surprised by what he termed a "punk-ass move." After the race, Keselowski sounded ready to rumble for real. "He knows where I’m at. Leave Victory Lane," he said. "We’ll go."

6. Airborne at Atlanta

Talk about rumble — Keselowski and Carl Edwards did just that in a vehicular sense in the spring of 2010. Tensions were still high from their controversial finish at Talladega the previous season when Edwards, more than 100 laps down, took out Keselowski near the end of a top-10 run at Atlanta. Even worse, Keselowski’s car flipped into the air. "If they’re going to allow people to intentionally wreck each other at tracks this fast, we will hurt someone," Keselowski contended. NASCAR called in both drivers for a summit the next week, which seemed to cool things — until they tangled again four months later at the end of a Nationwide race.

5. Perseverance at Pocono

The photos posted to Twitter were not pretty — not of Keselowski’s race car, which had crashed head-on into an unprotected wall when his brakes failed during a test at Road Atlanta in August of 2011, or of his broken left ankle, which had swollen to the size of a softball as a result. But Keselowski not only raced at Pocono that next weekend, he scored a victory that would prove crucial to his playoff hopes. Dealing with foot and back pain and wearing a left shoe bigger than the right, Keselowski led the final 16 laps. Yes, the kid did more than talk tough. "I know it just hurt," he said then, "and it felt a whole lot better on the way to that checkered flag."

4. Fuming in Fort Worth

Keselowski’s penchant for outspokenness turned to defiance a year ago at Texas, after NASCAR confiscated the rear end housings of both Penske cars. The saga would continue for weeks, with NASCAR levying harsh penalties that would be amended somewhat on final appeal. Even so, the immediate aftermath left Keselowski stinging. "The things I’ve seen over the last seven days have me questioning everything that I believe in, and I’m not happy about it," he said after the race in Fort Worth. "I feel like we’ve been targeted over the last seven days more than I’ve ever seen a team targeted."

3. Swigging in South Florida

Who knew that Keselowski could celebrate as hard as he raced? He certainly showed that after clinching his first Sprint Cup title at Homestead in 2012, taking to the championship stage holding a beer glass half as big as he is, and filled to the brim with Miller Lite. Keselowski swigged from it regularly as the crowd chanted "Brad needs beer! Brad needs beer!" and then the new champion conducted a memorable interview with ESPN’s SportsCenter. How did it feel? "Pretty damn awesome," he told the studio anchor. "I’ve got a little buzz going here. I’ve been drinking for a little bit. It’s been pretty good, man. I can’t lie."

2. Triumph at Talladega

It was another victory in 2009 that introduced the brash, opinionated Keselowski to the public at large. Charging to the finish at Talladega, Keselowski remembered Regan Smith being black-flagged the previous fall because he had dipped below the yellow line. So when Carl Edwards came down the track approaching the checkered, Keselowski didn’t budge — and the resulting contact sent Edwards hurtling into the fence, injuring several fans. Afterward, the winner was unapologetic. "I was here to win," Keselowski said. "… Holding your line was the way to do it. I’m sorry it caused a wreck and for those that are hurt. But that’s just the situation with the rules, and the way it is."

1. Shot seen ’round the world

And yet, if there were three words which cemented Keselowski as the motorsports force of nature he has become, they were these, typed into his iPhone during a red flag that interrupted a 2012 Daytona 500 pushed to Monday night by rain: "Fire! My view." The accompanying image of Juan Pablo Montoya’s collision with a jet dryer went viral, landing Keselowski 160,000 new followers on Twitter. Suddenly, he wasn’t just a driver. He was a social media trailblazer — posting from the seat of a race car! It was creative and crazy and a little rebellious all at the same time. The practice was ultimately banned, but not before Keselowski sent a Twitter photo that captured the attention of not just NASCAR, but sports fans around the world.

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Busch’s win at Martinsville marked his first trip to Victory Lane since 2011

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It was at Martinsville Speedway two years ago when the depth of the professional purgatory Kurt Busch had been cast into began to be truly defined. Starting his sixth race for a Phoenix Racing team operating on a financial shoestring, Busch had issues in qualifying and rolled off 40th. He suffered two tire failures, and as his crew attempted to repair one of them, the air gun broke. He wound up 18 laps down in 33rd place — so far from a grandfather clock, it was impossible to see the hands on the dial.

At that point, it was natural to wonder if the Busch who had claimed the 2004 championship and won races in every season since would ever return to the same level again. That he was immensely talented, there was no doubt — he had coaxed a rain-shortened ninth-place finish out of the same No. 51 car just a week earlier at Fontana — but he had also burned bridges at two powerhouse organizations and was running short on options. No matter who had instigated it, no matter whether it was a mutual parting or not, his split from Penske Racing had cast him into a wilderness with no obvious return route.

Two years later, Busch was back at Martinsville, not just within reach of a Ridgeway clock but packing one up to bring home. His victory Sunday at the half-mile oval constituted the apex — so far — of one of the more amazing career comebacks in NASCAR history, one for which there is no true comparison or precedent. There he was dueling with old rival Jimmie Johnson again, just as he had done at the height of his Penske days, as if nothing had ever changed. But so much has. The 84-race span between Busch’s two most recent wins represents a fall and rise unlike anything the sport has ever seen.

Now, NASCAR is no stranger to comebacks — if anything, this is a sport built for them, given how long drivers can compete relative to athletes in other fields, and the multitude of factors capable of derailing a racer’s career. In fact, Busch isn’t the only current driver making one; the co-owner of his No. 41 car, Tony Stewart, is back behind the wheel after missing the final three months of last season with a broken leg, and AJ Allmendinger is embarking upon a hopeful first full-time campaign since losing his ride over a positive drug test. Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. could be termed in the midst of a comeback, one that hit full stride late last season after a lull in his career.

But Busch’s is unique in so many ways — he reached such heights, and he fell so far, and for such uncommon reasons before digging himself out again. Think back to December of 2011: here was a champion driver with 24 career wins who had made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in four of his six years with Penske, cut loose after an acrimonious season with zero top-tier options available to him. He spent a season toiling with cash-strapped Phoenix, then a season pulling unheralded Furniture Row Racing into relevance, and returned to an elite team after a fortuitous conversation with Gene Haas at a Chevrolet dinner. Now he’s a winner again, and likely back in the Chase. Think what you might about the elder Busch brother, but if his comeback continues trending in its current direction, it could be nothing short of legendary.

Does anything compare? There’s Cale Yarborough, who won 13 races driving for the Wood Brothers, and left for open-wheel racing due to manufacturer cutbacks before returning to win three championships with Junior Johnson. There’s David Pearson, who won three titles with Cotton Owens and Holman-Moody, who left due to a pay decrease and struggled in a brief stint with the team owned by Chris Vallo and Ray Nichels before returning to prominence with the Woods. There’s Buddy Baker, who didn’t click with Bud Moore’s team and moved on to join forces with Harry Ranier. And yet, none of those examples quite match up with the saga Busch has been on the past two years.

And then there are the drivers who, like Stewart, returned from health issues or injuries to compete again at a high level. Ernie Irvan was a 12-time winner at NASCAR’s highest level before suffering a head injury in a 1994 crash at Michigan, and after more than a year of recovery he returned to win three more times. Tim Richmond was an 11-time winner who missed nearly a dozen events in 1987 due to complications of the condition that would ultimately take his life, but returned to win back-to-back races before his career drew prematurely to a close. Darrell Waltrip missed five races with a broken leg in 1990, and returned to win five more races over the following two seasons.

Now, clearly, comebacks from physical illness or injury comprise a special category unto themselves, given the pain involved in recovery and the potential for skills to be diminished in the aftermath. The fact that Irvan returned from such a devastating injury — doctors originally gave him just a 10 percent chance of survival — to once again win races, and might have kept on winning them if not for another accident, almost certainly stands as the most impressive NASCAR career comeback of all time. But that’s not to denigrate the rebound we’re witnessing now by Busch, who’s had to do a different kind of healing, a type that’s involved repairing his reputation and regaining the trust of some in the garage area.

And in the process, complete a comeback with no equal. Some may draw parallels to the story of Curtis Turner — who won 16 races before being banned by NASCAR for trying to form a driver’s union, and sat out four years before returning to claim his final career victory — but Turner never ran a full season, never won a title, and had been out of racing for two years by the time of his fatal airplane crash. There’s no real equivalent to the steepness of Busch’s career arc, and the reason for the sudden trough in the middle. And anyone who doubts his continued rise need only to look back at the past two seasons, during which Busch rebuilt himself without benefit of the resources he has surrounding him now.

So yes, for Kurt Busch it has indeed been an eventful two years between those Martinsville races of 2012 and 2014 — one representing the bottom, and the other the highest crest since. The career comeback in between has been nothing short of extraordinary, even in a sport that’s seen just about everything. And the really interesting thing? It’s only just beginning.

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For sixth straight year, fans can cast vote on NASCAR.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 2, 2014) — They’ve helped Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and David Pearson reach the pinnacle of their NASCAR career, and today fans can once again aid in ushering in a new group of legends into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Fan voting for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2015 opens today on NASCAR.com (www.nascar.com/halloffame) and runs through Tuesday, May 20 at noon ET. The five nominees receiving the highest percentage of votes will comprise the Fan Vote ballot. This ballot will be included among the 54 submitted by the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel to determine the Class of 2015. Voting Day for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2015 is Wednesday, May 21, 2014.

"The NASCAR Hall of Fame is the only hall of its kind where fans have had a voice in the induction process since its inception," said Brett Jewkes, NASCAR chief communications officer. "And the reason is simple. NASCAR fans are extremely passionate and knowledgeable about the sport and its history, and have demonstrated that with their selections for the first five classes."

Last year, Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, Dale Jarrett, Benny Parsons and Fireball Roberts were on the Fan Vote ballot. Jarrett and Roberts were enshrined as part of the Class of 2014.

The following 20 nominees were voted upon by the 22-person Nominating Committee at its first-ever in-person meeting Feb. 21, and will appear on the Fan Vote ballot on NASCAR.com.
 
Buddy Baker, won 19 times in NASCAR’s premier (now Sprint Cup) series, including the Daytona 500 and Southern 500
 
Red Byron, first NASCAR premier series champion, in 1949
 
Richard Childress, 11-time car owner champion in NASCAR’s three national series
 
Jerry Cook, six-time NASCAR Modified champion
 
Bill Elliott, 1988 premier series champion, two-time Daytona 500 winner and 16-time Most Popular Driver
 
Ray Fox, legendary engine builder and owner of cars driven by Buck Baker, Junior Johnson and others
 
Rick Hendrick, 14-time car owner champion in NASCAR’s three national series
 
Bobby Isaac, 1970 NASCAR premier series champion
 
Terry Labonte, Two-time NASCAR premier series champion
 
Fred Lorenzen, 26 wins and winner of the Daytona 500 and World 600
 
Raymond Parks, NASCAR’s first champion car owner
 
Benny Parsons, 1973 NASCAR premier series champion
 
Larry Phillips, only five-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion
 
Wendell Scott, NASCAR trailblazer was the first African-American NASCAR premier series race winner, and first to be nominated for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame
 
O. Bruton Smith, builder of Charlotte Motor Speedway and architect of Speedway Motorsports Inc.
 
Mike Stefanik, winner of record-tying nine NASCAR championships
 
Curtis Turner, early personality, called the "Babe Ruth of stock car racing"
 
Joe Weatherly, two-time NASCAR premier series champion
 
Rex White, 1960 NASCAR premier series champion
 
Robert Yates, won NASCAR premier series championship as both an engine builder and owner

 

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Posted on by Staff Report

Tire technology to make debut at 1.5-mile Fort Worth track

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The multi-zone tread tire introduced last season by Goodyear will make its 2014 debut at a new track — Texas Motor Speedway.

Goodyear is bringing the technology to the 1.5-mile Fort Worth facility for the first time, anticipating higher speeds and loads under the current aerodynamic rules package being used for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars. The multi-zone tread is a right-side tire that combines two distinct rubber compounds, an outside 10 inches designed for traction and an inside two inches — the part which takes the most heat and abuse — toughened for durability.

Goodyear introduced the multi-zone tread last season, using it at Kansas Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. In addition to Texas, the technology will also be used this season at Richmond International Raceway.

"This season, we’ve already broken track records on the two intermediate tracks we’ve raced so far — Las Vegas and California," said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of race tire sales. "There’s no reason to think Texas won’t be more of the same."

Texas was chosen for the zone-tread because it is an abrasive surface that also generates vey high speeds. The left-side tires will be the same ones used at Texas since 2011, and were also employed at Darlington Raceway, Chicagoland Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2013. NASCAR Nationwide Series teams will use the same tire combination this weekend.

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See the new looks for this weekend’s action at Texas

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SPRINT CUP SERIES PAINT SCHEMES | Entry List

Jamie McMurray will drive the No. 1 Bell Helicopter Chevrolet

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Michael Annett will drive the No. 7 Accell Construction Chevrolet

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Denny Hamlin will drive the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota

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Clint Bowyer will drive the No. 15 Willie’s Duck Diner Toyota

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Greg Biffle will drive the No. 16 3M/Give Kids a Smile Ford

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Trevor Bayne will drive the No. 21 Motorcraft Quick Lane Tire and Auto Center Ford

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Joey Logano will drive the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil/Hertz Ford

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Jeff Gordon will drive the No. 24 Axalta/Texas A&M School of Engineering Chevrolet

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Landon Cassill will drive the No. 40 Gallery Furniture Chevrolet

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Aric Almirola will drive the No. 43 Eckrich Ford

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AJ Allmendinger will drive the No. 47 Bush’s Chevrolet

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Brian Vickers will drive the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota

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Joe Nemechek will drive the No. 66 Land Castle Title Toyota

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NATIONWIDE SERIES PAINT SCHEMES | Entry List

Kevin Harvick will drive the No. 5 Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet

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Matt Kenseth will drive the No. 20 Game Stop-Lego the Hobbit Toyota

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Ryan Blaney will drive the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive the No. 88 Ragu Chevrolet

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Posted on by Zack Albert

Elliott, Earnhardt, Harvick, Smith a formidable quartet in 300

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Going "all in" is a practice typically reserved for Las Vegas. But JR Motorsports is pushing all its chips toward the center of the table for a full strength-in-numbers effort in the NASCAR Nationwide Series‘ race this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
 
For the first time in JRM’s 10-year tenure on the Nationwide circuit, the Mooresville, N.C.,-based operation will field four cars in a single race, marking the feat with a four-Chevrolet lineup in Friday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2). The team will deploy series regulars Regan Smith (No. 7) and Chase Elliott (No. 9) with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standouts Kevin Harvick (No. 5) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88), the team’s owner.

JR Motorsports has fielded a trio of entries in each of the series’ first five events this season and the multicar attack has paid off. All three teams are solidly in the top 10 in the Nationwide Series’ car owner standings.
 
"Our company has been performing really well so far this season and it’s heading in a great direction," said Earnhardt, the current Sprint Cup points leader. "Knowing we are bringing four cars that all have an opportunity to win is really cool for me and shows how hard everyone at JR Motorsports is working. Hopefully we can put one of our cars in Victory Lane Friday night."
 
The performance so far from the team’s stable of Nationwide regulars has shown up in the drivers’ standings as well. Smith, helped by his victory in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, ranks in a tie for first place with Roush Fenway Racing’s Trevor Bayne. Rookie phenom Elliott isn’t far behind: The 18-year-old stands just eight points back in fourth place, with four top-fives already in his young five-race Nationwide career.
 
The series last competed March 22 at Auto Club Speedway. While Smith relished the chance to"stop and hit the reset button" over the two-week break, he said he was eager to return to the track in hopes of improving for the balance of the season.
 
"It certainly isn’t commonplace in this sport but it was a positive for our team," Smith said of the idle weekend from the track. "We’ve been clicking off top-10s since Phoenix, but we all know that isn’t going to be good enough. We can do much better. Now is our time to regroup and refocus. Texas is a great track where we’ve had some success. The goal is to get back to running up front and winning races."
 
Harvick, a five-time winner in the series at Texas, has finished no worse than third place in his three Nationwide starts this year. Earnhardt, who has one win in each the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series on the 1.5-mile Fort Worth track, has an 11th-place effort in the season opener and a fourth place at Vegas in his only two Nationwide events in 2014.

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Sprint Cup Series manufacturers have all visited Victory Lane at least once in 2014

RELATED: Goodyear sets six spring tests | TRD has found a home in California

Over the past two seasons, NASCAR has completely revamped the cars in its premier series in an effort to enhance the product on the race track. Next on the horizon appears to be a change to the engines.

NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France said Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that modifications to the engines — which would likely bring a reduction in horsepower — are the next step in further enhancing the sport’s on-track product, although he was unsure if such changes would be in place for next season.

"We’re going to make that happen, and that’s part of the overall rules packages that we design that hopefully control costs, hopefully make the racing better," France said. "The engine is an integral part of that. We also have to be in step as much as possible with the car manufacturers and where they’re going with technology and different things. It all has to come together, and that’s the next significant part of the rules package. … The engine will get a significant change. I’m not going to say (for) ’15, but we are certainly sizing that up. It’s very important for us to get that right."

According to representatives of NASCAR’s three manufacturer partners, who took part in a conference call with reporters Tuesday, a potential reduction in engine horsepower is still in the very early stages.

"With some clear objectives in mind, NASCAR is talking to their stakeholders, not only us as manufacturers but all of the engine builders that are party to this process," said David Wilson, president and general manager of Toyota Racing Development. "So the process is correct, it’s healthy. We’re still talking along with NASCAR. We’re talking between ourselves about the various options, and it’s still in the consideration phase. I really don’t think we have much to say beyond that."

Sprint Cup Series engines generate 850 horsepower, and are built by five manufacturer-specific companies — TRD and Triad Racing Technologies (Toyota), Roush-Yates Engines (Ford) and ECR Engines and Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet). Most of the changes made in recent years have focused on the cars, beginning with the rollout of the more brand-identifiable Generation-6 vehicle for the 2013 season, and an aerodynamic package that was further refined before this year.

All of those changes were made with manufacturers in step with NASCAR. Any engines changes would take the same approach, said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president for Chevrolet performance vehicles and motorsports.

"The approach that we took on the development of the Gen‑6, we’re using a very collaborative approach between the manufacturers and NASCAR from the sanctioning body’s perspective on really discussing what are the options, what are the ideas, and in the end depending on where that ends up, it will impact how much work happens at the manufacturer versus the teams," Campbell said. "The key is we keep the racing exciting, and then we make every resource we apply to the engines and the engine builds go as far possible. That’s really the key."

Toward that end, NASCAR’s manufacturer partners certainly like what they see so far. Tweaks to the aerodynamic package accompanied changes to qualifying and the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, all of which have combined to stoke action on the track. The result has been six different winners in the first six events of this season — the longest such opening stretch without a repeat winner since 2003 — and all three manufacturers having visited Victory Lane at least once.

"I’ll tell you, here in the first six races, it’s been some of the most fantastic and spectacular racing that we have seen," said Jamie Allison, director of Ford Racing.

It was a push from the manufacturers that ultimately led to the Gen-6 car, which more closely resembles its brethren in the showroom. "Each of us continues to reap the benefits" of that movement, Wilson said. So not surprisingly, the refinements made to the vehicle prior to this season once again started with manufacturer representatives, who met with NASCAR last year.

"We sat down with NASCAR and their technical group, and we agreed on the base objective, and that is how do we improve the quality of racing that we’re seeing on the race track? And from there, set about the very systematic process of testing," Wilson said. "We worked with the race track twice. We were across the wind tunnel a couple times. And what came from that was a defined set of changes that we’ve been racing this year. As my two colleagues have already pointed out, we’re seeing some of the most exciting racing each and every weekend. So again, a great example of how we can achieve more by working together."

An emphasis in that effort was enhancing competition at the 1.5-mile tracks that comprise the bulk of the Sprint Cup schedule. Toward that end, Monday’s event at Texas Motor Speedway — the second 1.5-mile venue visited this season, after Las Vegas in March — offers another potential litmus test.

"I think actually we’re heading in the right area, and the racing has been quite good," Campbell said. "But with only one race at that kind of category of a track, I think Texas will be another one to look at here and see how the racing is. … So far, so good, but we only have one under our belt, and Texas will be the next."

On SiriusXM, France said the Sprint Cup intermediate package is "probably 40 percent of where we want to be. We’ve made some gains. Part of it is making the car easier to drive, better to drive. That’s part of it. But we’re not, candidly, where we’re going to be in a year or two."

France said he is pleased with the sport’s direction, and says the goal of all the recent changes within the sport — from the car, to the qualifying and championship formats, and now likely the engine — are to build in long-term stability.

"The direction that we’re going allows us not to have to make any significant chances in the future," France said on SiriusXM. "We know exactly what we’re trying to do with the rules package. We think the (Chase) format is something we can build on for the next 10 or 15 years, or longer. We don’t want to change things just because we feel like it. It’s always difficult …. So I love the general direction we’re at. We’re past the majority of the changes, and now we can build on where we’re at."

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Posted on by Holly Cain

Surprise of SHR adding fourth car fades after team’s two wins in six races

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When Gene Haas introduced the well-travelled Kurt Busch as the fourth driver for the Stewart-Haas Racing team last August, it caught some by surprise — to a certain extent, even co-owner Tony Stewart.

But Haas was so confident in the 2004 Sprint Cup champ Busch that he was willing to put his company Haas Automation on the side of the No. 41 Chevrolet and to convince his then-ailing co-owner Stewart (weeks removed from a serious leg injury) that adding a fourth team to their operation would work, even if it meant massive infrastructure change.

Only six races into the 2014 season and both of Stewart-Haas Racing’s newbies, Kevin Harvick and Busch have wins.

And Busch sure made Haas’ gamble look like easy money Sunday in Martinsville, Va., Victory Lane, where fittingly, the victor’s gift — a grandfather clock — confirmed Busch’s time had come. Again.

"Obviously, it feels good," said Haas, who held an impromptu teleconference with reporters Sunday night from his California home.

"Basically, there were a lot of naysayers and doubters out there about Stewart-Haas Racing. Tony (Stewart) having his injury last year and it looked like we were all washed up and out of business. But it just goes to show you that there is a team behind everybody that was always the backup plan we are still going forward.

"Racing is tough. Every time you win you typically lose three times. … The challenges are great and that is what makes me feel good that we could overcome our adversaries. You feel really good when you are racing hard against people that don’t give you an inch and then you can actually beat them."

And for a driver who has cultivated and embraced an image worthy of his nickname, "The Outlaw," it’s of little surprise that Busch’s first win in two seasons came with a little controversy for good measure.

He had fender-bending tiffs with Brad Keselowski on pit road and on-track that ended with the two drivers reminding one another that they each have long memories and a whole lot of season left to right being wronged.

In his winner’s interview, Busch called Keselowski’s retaliation from an early race collision on pit road a "punk-ass move."

Then Busch — who likes to spar with media as much as his competitors — in the middle of a live ESPN interview referred to the studio host as one of the "clowns" in the media "trying to egg on" a confrontation between the two drivers instead of simply giving Busch his day’s victory due.

By nightfall, Keselowski had already posted on Twitter that he had "moved on" from the whole sordid ordeal, even taking back any blame he’d given his former Penske Racing teammate Busch for the initial run-in on pit road.

On Monday, Busch seemed more annoyed than angry telling NBC Sports that it was "all a part of racing." However, he reiterated his intentions to "race him (Keselowski) hard and not back down" in the future.

In many ways Sunday afternoon was indicative of Busch’s career. No one doubts the former champ’s supreme talent behind the wheel, but it comes with conditions — a good dose of patience and tolerance to properly manage his sometimes volatile personality.

When that passion and skill set is focused, no one’s harder to beat.

It sometimes seems as if Busch is racing like a guy with a chip on his shoulder, but it would be hard to argue the method.

After losing his ride at Penske Racing in 2011, he spent 2012 over-achieving for the small-budget Phoenix Racing and then last year humbly helping the single-car Furniture Row Racing team become legitimately competitive week in and week out.

So this win wasn’t just vindication for Haas, but for Busch too.

"You know, it was a process," Busch said of getting back into Victory Lane after an 83-race winless streak. "It was a challenge to work with those Furniture Row guys. I thought we were knocking on the door about the 10th race in last year, and we couldn’t win.

"It’s amazing how many things have to fall into place, and so I never doubted myself. I never gave up. I kept trying to find little stones to uncover and rocks to overturn to try to make teams better for the way that I knew how to make them, and I was just trying to find the right combo, trying to find the combo that (crew chief) Daniel (Knost) found today, and Stewart‑Haas Racing is that combination for me.

"It’s great to win six races in with a brand‑new team like this and have that feeling of a competitive organization around you.

For Haas, it’s part relief and part ‘I-told-ya-so.’ "

He was right.

"We have obviously found a solution for Kurt Busch," Haas said. "When he is in the Winner’s Circle he doesn’t bitch about anything so that is where we need to keep him."

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