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Announcement made at the Speciality Equipment Market Association Show in Las Vegas
Less than a month after Ford’s new-look Daytona Prototype car set a new closed course speed record at Daytona International Speedway, Ford roared Tuesday that its new EcoBoost sports car engine package will power Telcel/TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) next year in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
The Ganassi organization, winner of seven of the last 10 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype Championships, will debut Ford’s 3.5-liter V6 EcoBoost racing engine in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas will look to add to their 27 combined victories since 2007.
With NASCAR President Mike Helton and IMSA Chairman Jim France taking part, the announcement was made at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas as Ford continues its strategy of introducing product-relevant technology into racing.
(Photos courtesy of Ford Racing)
Pruett started his career with Ford in 1985, becoming a full-time Ford factory driver in 1986 and winning four IMSA and SCCA Trans-Am championships in three years. He also had Blue Oval rides for two seasons in Indy car and his one full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, running the No. 32 Tide Taurus for Cal Wells in 2000.
"Coming back to Ford is the perfect way to bookend my career," said Pruett. "To be honest, without Ford, there is no Scott Pruett. Ford gave me the chance to drive my first real race car – the front-engine Mustang GTP in 1983 — and then they were willing to take a chance on me when no one else did in 1985 and 1986."
Pruett’s car owner, Chip Ganassi, who runs two Chevrolet SS cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, looks forward to running Ford in the inaugural season of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
"We are very excited to be switching to Ford power for our sports car program," Ganassi said. "Over the last 10 seasons we have been able to experience a great deal of success in GRAND-AM and now with the dawn of the new United SportsCar Championship we feel that Ford power will be a key ingredient to writing the next chapter of our sports car program. I can’t wait for the 24 hours of Daytona to get here."
With CGRFS, Ford adds 17 championships at the top levels of North American motorsports and five Rolex 24 At Daytona wins, including its fifth this past January.
"Partnering with Chip and his championship-caliber organization in this new sports car series is a critical ingredient to our Ford EcoBoost program in USCC," said Allison. "Chip’s team has a legacy of winning in endurance sports car racing, excellent technical capabilities, and race proven experiences — all elements we were looking for to field our Ford EcoBoost racing program."
Michael Shank Racing was the first team to run the engine, and on Oct. 9, Colin Braun set a new closed course speed record of 222.971 mph, as well as FIA records for standing start 10-mile and 10-kilometer runs.
Watch interviews from the SEMA unveil with Allison, Ganassi and Pruett below:
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Five-time champion holds seven-point edge in the standings
RELATED: Full Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage
CHARLOTTE, N.C.– Every week he’s a threat to win, and every year he’s a championship contender. By all rights, Jimmie Johnson should be the most confident driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage.
And yet every week, he says, he arrives with a list of potential concerns regarding how competitive he and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team will be once he rolls out onto the track.
Five consecutive championships (2006-10) and 66 career victories have done little to temper his apprehension or his method for dealing with it.
Not even a dominating performance at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, his sixth win of the season and one that earned him a seven-point lead over Matt Kenseth with two races remaining in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, silenced the noise.
The concern, he said, is always there.
"Absolutely," Johnson, 38, said Tuesday during an appearance at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. "I know you’re only as good as your last race, so that should help, but every weekend there are just different challenges. And even if we were going to another mile and a half (track), I would find something to be concerned about."
Johnson doesn’t dwell on the negative. But he also doesn’t ignore it, he said.
"I’m probably a sport’s psychologist’s worst nightmare, because I look at the negatives and try to learn from them and prepare myself based on them," he said. "I’m generally an optimistic guy but for whatever reason I focus on mistakes I’ve made or … issues we’ve had, potential issues that exist, just to have my head around that stuff and be ready going into a race."
This weekend’s AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway has given Johnson more than enough fodder on which to focus. A year ago, he was in the same position, coming off a Texas win with a seven-point lead over Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski.
But a right-front tire issue at Phoenix midway through the race short-circuited the team’s efforts, and by the end of the day, he had fallen 20 points behind Keselowski. It was a deficit he failed to overcome.
"So making sure we don’t do that is going to be top priority," Johnson said of the tire problem. "We had a competitive car; (I) could have used some more comfort and overall grip in the car. So just focusing on that and making sure the car drives real good."
The battle between Johnson and Kenseth is the second closest in the modern era with two races remaining. In 2011, Carl Edwards held a three-point lead on Tony Stewart with two to go. This year’s tight contest matches last year’s from a points standpoint.
PIR is one of Johnson’s strongest tracks – he’s a four-time winner there and sports an average finishing position of 6.4 in 20 career starts.
Kenseth has two more career starts, but only one win at PIR, and an average finishing position of 17.2.
Although he won’t be on the track until Friday, Johnson said he’s already "run a lot of laps" around the 1-mile track "in my mind."
The visualization is a carryover from his days on his high school swim team when his coach had athletes memorize swim strokes and turns.
"And it helped me kind of embrace it," he said.
Once he made the switch from off-road to NASCAR, he found that running laps on the track in his mind – searching for that perfect line – helped prepare him for what was to come.
"I think it’s just the way I’m wired, the way I prepare and feel good about preparing for each race," he said.
"I continue to run laps in my mind whether it’s while I’m training or before I go to sleep, and just try to show up as well prepared as possible."
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Get an inside look with in-car cameras and audio
Busch has not had a victory at Phoenix since win in 2005
Kyle Busch is the youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver to win at Phoenix International Raceway. Busch won the Nov. 13, 2005 race when he was 20 years, 6 months and 11 days old. It was his second career Cup win and remains his only Cup win at Phoenix.
Veteran trails by seven with two races to go; Junior cracks top five
1. Jimmie Johnson (No. 48)
Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet
Where he stands: Johnson leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings with 2,342 points.
Last week: Sunday was Johnson’s most powerful performance of the season, a Texas turnaround that leaves the five-time champion atop the standings in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup after a maximum points day. Entering the AAA Texas 500 tied at the top with Matt Kenseth (Kenseth owned the tiebreaker), Johnson left with a seven-point lead and a new black cowboy hat, given to the race winner. He led 255 (of 334) laps and is two races away from winning his sixth career championship as the series heads to Phoenix International Raceway. Watch Johnson in Victory Lane in the video below.
What he said: "Matt didn’t have maybe the best day and still finished fourth. This thing is going to go to the last lap at Homestead, and it is going to come down to mistakes. I’m very excited about our performance and what we did here. We’ll enjoy this, but there is still two weeks of very hard racing ahead of us."
Outlook: In 20 career starts at Phoenix International Raceway, Johnson has four wins, 13 top-fives, 16 top-10s and one pole. In the past eight years at Phoenix, Johnson ranks first out of 60 drivers with an average place of 7.0. He finished second in the first 2013 race at Phoenix.
2. Matt Kenseth (No. 20)
Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota
Where he stands: Kenseth is second in the standings with 2,335 points.
Last week: Kenseth did all he could to keep the No. 48 in his view. Even with a few blazing final pit stops, there was nothing the Joe Gibbs Racing driver could do to slow Johnson’s assault on the field. In fact, Kenseth may have pressed too hard. He was busted for speeding on pit road on Lap 173, and his ensuing pass-through penalty dropped him from second to 16th (you can watch video below). A caution for debris on Lap 188 bunched the field back up, and from there, Kenseth drove back into the top five and finished fourth. One week after Kenseth gained ground at Johnson’s best track (Martinsville), he lost it all back at perhaps his strongest remaining track.
What he said: "Honestly, the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) had us from the time they unloaded until the time they put it back on the truck. They were just dominant all weekend. … That speeding penalty got us behind — we definitely didn’t need that, but really I don’t know at the end of the day if that really affected our finish much."
Outlook: In 22 career starts at Phoenix International Raceway, Kenseth has one win, five top-fives, nine top-10s and one pole. In the past eight years at Phoenix, Kenseth ranks 15th out of 60 drivers with an average place of 16.0. He finished seventh in the first 2013 race at Phoenix.
3. Kevin Harvick (No. 29)
Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet
Where he stands: Harvick is third in the standings with 2,302 points.
Last week: Harvick moved up to third in the standings after a top-10 finish at Texas, but his ascent was more due to Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon having rough days. Gordon, who was third in the standings entering the race, blew a tire, hit the wall hard and finished 38th. Busch finished outside the top 10, allowing Harvick to gain enough points following his eighth-place run. Harvick gambled late by being the first driver to pit during green-flag runs. If a caution fell, he would have been in good shape to make a charge toward the top. When that didn’t happen, he slowly last ground over the final 10 laps. With two races to go, he is 40 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.
What he said: "We struggled a bit today with the handling of our Budweiser Chevrolet. It seemed like no matter what we tried we couldn’t tighten it up enough, and then at the end we went a little too far. We still had a strong finish and gained a spot in the point standings."
Outlook: In 21 career starts at Phoenix International Raceway, Harvick has three wins, six top-fives and 10 top-10s. In the past eight years at Phoenix, Harvick ranks fifth out of 60 drivers with an average place of 11.0. He finished 13th in the first 2013 race at Phoenix.
4. Kyle Busch (No. 18)
Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota
Where he stands: Busch is fourth in the standings with 2,290 points.
Last week: At first, it looked like Texas would go down as one Kyle Busch’s most memorable showings of 2013. The No. 18 Toyota crunched the wall early in the race after blowing a tire (watch video of that below), but Busch’s team was able to repair the car on pit road and keep the driver on the lead lap. Rowdy drove through the field and was second during the final green-flag pit stops. But Busch was caught speeding on pit road, and his top-10 hopes were over after that. His 13th-place showing actually enabled Busch to move up one spot in the standings, but he lost ground in points.
What he said: Busch was not available for comment. Crew chief Dave Rogers said: "Kyle feels terrible because he sped on pit road late in the race, but this is a team and we’ve got his back. He was giving us all he had to give us the best finish possible and we took a little bit more than what was there. That’s OK, we’ll go to Phoenix and Homestead and race them."
Outlook: In 17 career starts at Phoenix International Raceway, Busch has one win, three top-fives, 10 top-10s and two poles. In the past eight years at Phoenix, Busch ranks eighth out of 60 drivers with an average place of 12.0. He finished 23rd in the first 2013 race at Phoenix.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88)
Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet
Where he stands: Earnhardt Jr. is fifth in the standings with 2,280 points.
Last week: Earnhardt Jr. delivered a performance Sunday that matched the paint scheme of his No. 88 Chevrolet — golden. With a car that was exceptional on the long runs, Junior took advantage of a light day of caution flags (five) and steadily picked off drivers in his path. All except one, at least. There was no catching Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, but Junior finished second. It’s his third runner-up finish of the Chase and moves the veteran up to fifth in the standings. Of Earnhardt’s three second-place runs in the postseason races, two have come at races in which Johnson has won. He also finished second to Five-Time in the season-opening Daytona 500.
What he said: "We came here and tested so we thought we would have a good chance to win it here. Obviously our teammate was here testing too, so it paid off for him. Congratulations to Jimmie. We’ve been working really hard. (Crew chief) Steve (Letarte) has done a great job. It’s paying off. We’re getting close."
Outlook: In 22 career starts at Phoenix International Raceway, Earnhardt Jr. has two wins, five top-fives and nine top-10s. In the past eight years at Phoenix, Earnhardt Jr. ranks 21st out of 60 drivers with an average place of 17.2. He finished fifth in the first 2013 race at Phoenix.
6. Jeff Gordon (No. 24)
Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet
Where he stands: Gordon is sixth in the standings with 2,273 points.
Last week: Gordon’s surge toward the top of the standings is stymied, his championship hopes severely dented. All this one week after his first win of the season, a Martinsville masterpiece that put the veteran at third in the standings. At Texas, he absolutely crunched his car after a tire blew, and needed more than an hour in the garage to get it back on the track (watch video below). Gordon’s 38th-place finish netted him six points. Leader Jimmie Johnson, meanwhile, earned 48. The wreck caused Gordon to drop three places in the standings, the worst fall of the week.
What he said: "It’s a shame. This team has worked so hard to get ourselves in this position and we can’t have things like this happen. This is going to hurt."
Outlook: In 29 career starts at Phoenix International Raceway, Gordon has two wins, 10 top-fives, 20 top-10s and three poles. In the past eight years at Phoenix, Gordon ranks third out of 60 drivers with an average place of 10.7. He finished ninth in the first 2013 race at Phoenix.
7. Clint Bowyer (No. 15)
Michael Waltrip Racing, Toyota
Where he stands: Bowyer is seventh in the standings with 2,273 points.
Last week: Bowyer continued a Chase trend of finishing in the top 10, but just barely. In the eight postseason races, Bowyer has five top-10s. Three of those are 10th-place finishes (including the Texas race), and he also has an 11th-place effort at Charlotte. That’s the Bowyer we saw in the regular season — no wins, but lots of solid finishes. Over 26 races, it’s enough to climb into the top three in the points standings. In the 10-race Chase, you need wins to compete for the championship.
What he said: "We started a little further back than we liked but we got to the front pretty fast. We made good adjustments all afternoon and gave it all we had to get into the top 10. We’ll go to Phoenix now with the aim of winning or at least getting a top-five."
Outlook: In 16 career starts at Phoenix International Raceway, Bowyer has two top-fives and six top-10s. In the past eight years at Phoenix, Bowyer ranks 16th out of 60 drivers with an average place of 16.7. He finished sixth in the first 2013 race at Phoenix.
8. Greg Biffle (No. 16)
Roush Fenway Racing, Ford
Where he stands: Biffle is eighth in the standings with 2,269 points.
Last week: Perhaps the most memorable part of Biffle’s day was when he gave a love tap to the No. 48 of Jimmie Johnson as the race leader was planning his pitting strategy. There’s no bad blood between the two drivers, but it was a little reminder that Biffle hadn’t forgotten last week’s contact between the two at Martinsville. Biffle, who generally has success as Texas, finished 12th on the day after starting 18th. | Click here to read a roundup on the six members of the Coca-Cola Racing Family
What he said: "That was a tough one. The car wasn’t very good in traffic and it seemed like we missed maybe the front gaps a little bit on the start. We didn’t get it until it seemed like about 20 to go or 30 or 50 or whatever that last pit stop was. We just weren’t where we wanted to be."
Outlook: In 19 career starts at Phoenix International Raceway, Biffle has five top-fives and seven top-10s. In the past eight years at Phoenix, Biffle ranks 10th out of 60 drivers with an average place of 14.8. He finished 17th in the first 2013 race at Phoenix.
9. Joey Logano (No. 22)
Penske Racing, Ford
Where he stands: Logano is ninth in the standings with 2,251 points.
Last week: Logano continues to rally from a horrific start to the Chase, when he finished 37th at Chicago. He had one of the best cars on the track at Texas and finished third, the second time this postseason he’s finished in that position. Logano was one of two drivers to move up two spots in the standings with two races to go. | Click here to read a roundup on the six members of the Coca-Cola Racing Family
What he said: "From the start of the race we started moving our way forward and I thought I was a second- or third-place car all night. I don’t know what number I came in to pit but a couple laps before that Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) got in front of me and I tried my heart out trying to pass him. Overall we can’t be disappointed with a third-place finish, but the 48 car was just ridiculously fast."
Outlook: In nine career starts at Phoenix International Raceway, Logano has one top-five and three top-10s. In the past eight years at Phoenix, Logano ranks 18th out of 60 drivers with an average place of 17.0. He finished 26th in the first 2013 race at Phoenix.
10. Kurt Busch (No. 78)
Furniture Row Racing, Chevrolet
Where he stands: Busch is 10th in the standings with 2,246 points.
Last week: Busch struggled with his No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet all day at Texas. He consistently was running last among Chase drivers, and was the first Chase guy Jimmie Johnson put a lap down. It was a bit puzzling, considering Busch finished fourth at Chicagoland and second at Kansas — also 1.5-mile tracks — in the postseason. He finished 17th. By virtue of a tiebreaker he would lose to Johnson, Busch has been eliminated from title contention.
What he said: "It wasn’t a good day, or for that matter, a good weekend. We were off since we unloaded on Friday and never found the right balance for this track. We gave it everything we had, but yet it was disappointing because these mile-and-a-half tracks should be good for us."
Outlook: In 21 career starts at Phoenix International Raceway, Busch has one win, four top-fives and 11 top-10s. In the past eight years at Phoenix, Busch ranks fourth out of 60 drivers with an average place of 10.7. He finished 27th in the first 2013 race at Phoenix.
11. Carl Edwards (No. 99)
Roush Fenway Racing, Ford
Where he stands: Edwards is 11th in the standings with 2,226 points.
Last week: Edwards had the worst day among the Chase contenders and was among the drivers officially eliminated from championship contention. He started on the Coors Light Pole and led the second-most laps (38) to Jimmie Johnson (255) before trouble hit. During early cautions, Edwards used his prominent pit placement — the first one — to beat Johnson off pit road. His car faded toward the back though, and eventually a valve spring broke. His No. 99 Ford was done for the day after 187 laps, and Edwards was scored with a 37th-place finish.
What he said: "We had such a great weekend going. The car, during the middle part of the race we were struggling but we were starting to get it worked out. … We will just go on to Phoenix and hopefully get another win there and go to Homestead. We gotta get in the top 10 so we can go to Vegas one way or another."
Outlook: In 18 career starts at Phoenix International Raceway, Edwards has two wins, seven top-fives, 11 top-10s and three poles. In the past eight years at Phoenix, Edwards ranks ninth out of 60 drivers with an average place of 12.9. He won the first 2013 race at Phoenix.
12. Ryan Newman (No. 39)
Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet
Where he stands: Newman is 12th in the standings with 2,224 points.
Last week: Newman was officially eliminated from championship contention on Sunday. Although the Stewart-Haas Racing driver finished ninth, he’s now 12th in the standings and 118 points behind Jimmie Johnson. | Click here to read a roundup on the six members of the Coca-Cola Racing Family
What he said: "There wasn’t much that we didn’t try to change. We just couldn’t get it to where I needed it to be. But in spite of how much we struggled today, to finish ninth was good. We’ll certainly take that after the day we had."
Outlook: In 22 career starts at Phoenix International Raceway, Newman has one win, eight top-fives, eight top-10s and four poles. In the past eight years at Phoenix, Newman ranks 12th out of 60 drivers with an average place of 15.5. He finished 40th in the first 2013 race at Phoenix.
13. Kasey Kahne (No. 5)
Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet
Where he stands: Kahne is 13th in the standings with 2,209 points.
Last week: Kahne ran in the top 10 for most of Sunday’s race, even serving as a shield of sorts for teammate Jimmie Johnson when Matt Kenseth approached the No. 5 car. Kahne’s Chevrolet became more powerful as the race went on, and he finished fifth, giving Hendrick Motorsports three drivers in the top five. It was a nice reversal for Kahne, who had finished 36th and 27th, respectively, in the previous two races.
What he said: "The Hendrick (Motorsports) cars were good today. Congrats to them. I’m glad we were able to have kind of a flawless race, and race all day and make a little bit of ground at the end."
Outlook: In 18 career starts at Phoenix International Raceway, Kahne has one win, three top-fives and six top-10s. In the past eight years at Phoenix, Kahne ranks 24th out of 60 drivers with an average place of 19.5. He finished 19th in the first 2013 race at Phoenix.
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READ: Gordon’s Chase hopes
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WATCH: Hendrick isn’t
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Logano’s strong run at Texas helps him move up in the standings
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returned to a 1.5-mile track for the first time in three weeks with Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway.
The intermediate track provided a great run for Joey Logano, who finished third in the race. He also moved up in the point standings.
Denny Hamlin also had a strong run to score his third top-10 finish in the past four races.
A roundup of the Coca-Cola Racing Family drivers in order of how they finished at Texas:
Joey Logano (No. 22)
Penske Racing, Ford
Recap: It was a strong run for Logano at Texas. The 23-year-old spent nearly the entire race in the top 10 and spent most of the final 100 laps in the top five. Logano, who started 12th, also was credited with leading Lap 299. Logano would finish the race in third place, which was not only his best career finish at Texas, but also his second top-three finish of this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Quotable: "There were times in practice I thought we were one of the fastest cars here and some time in practice I thought we were a 10-15th place car. We went through our notes and made sure we understood all the changes and put together a fast race car today. From the start of the race we started moving our way forward and I thought I was a second or third place car all night."
His standing: Logano is ninth in the standings with 2,251 points.
Outlook: Logano has only raced nine times at Phoenix International Raceway. In those nine opportunities, Logano has not claimed a win, but he earned a top-five finish once in 2010.
Denny Hamlin (No. 11)
Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota
Recap: With a seventh-place finish at Texas, Hamlin continued his strong racing over the final weeks of the season. Hamlin spent much of the race running in the top 15 and by Lap 260, had made his way into the top 10. After slipping back to 13th place on Lap 300, Hamlin made a late charge to finish seventh. This was Hamlin’s third top-10 finish in the past four races.
Quotable: Hamlin was unavailable for comment.
His standing: Hamlin is 23rd in the standings with 689 points.
Outlook: Hamlin has fared well at Phoenix in 16 career races at the track. He won there in March of 2012 and has posted eight top-five finishes there. His last three runs at Phoenix have resulted in a win, a second-place finish and a third-place finish.
Ryan Newman (No. 39)
Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet
Recap: Newman spent much of the race in the top 20, with his position peaking on Laps 240 and 241, when he held the lead. Newman battled a loose handling race car over the course of the afternoon, but was able to pilot his No. 39 Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet to a ninth-place finish. That was his fifth top-10 finish in the Chase. Despite the top-10 finish at Texas, Newman has been mathematically eliminated from winning the Sprint Cup championship this season.
Quotable: "We fought with the handling of our Outback Steakhouse Chevy all day, but Matt (Borland, crew chief) and the team worked on it every stop, and it had gotten better. We just couldn’t get it to where I needed it to be. But in spite of how much we struggled today, to finish ninth was good. We’ll certainly take that after the day we had."
His standing: Newman is 12th in the standings with 2,224 points.
Outlook: In Newman’s 22 races at Phoenix, he’s seen Victory Lane once — in 2010. As for other personal marks, he has claimed eight top-fives, eight top-10s and four poles there. When Newman visited Phoenix earlier this year, he finished 40th and completed only 137 laps due to a crash.
Greg Biffle (No. 16)
Roush Fenway Racing, Ford
Recap: At a place where he has two wins, Biffle had a bit of a strange day at Texas on Sunday. He ran consistently in the top 20 and was credited with leading Lap 300. However, it just seemed like the Biff was having a hard time making his way through the field over the course of the race. He finished 12th in the AAA Texas 500.
Quotable: "That was a tough one. The car wasn’t very good in traffic and it seemed like we missed maybe the front gaps a little bit on the start. We didn’t get it until it seemed like about 20 to go or 30 or 50 or whatever that last stop was. I don’t know. We just weren’t where we wanted to be. It was a tough day."
His standing: Biffle is eighth in the standings with 2,269 points.
Outlook: Although Biffle has no wins at Phoenix in his 19 races there, he does have five top-fives and seven top-10 finishes under his belt. Perhaps a return to the desert will bring out another memorable finish for Biffle.
Danica Patrick (No. 10)
Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet
Recap: It was a tough day at Texas for Patrick, who was consistently running in the back half of the field. Her car was too loose early and then when the temperatures cooled off, her car began handling too tight. The end result was a 25th-place finish that saw Patrick end the race three laps down. She did gain three spots in the standings, though.
Quotable: "We were loose early on, but then as it got cooler, it definitely tightened up. I’m proud of how hard everyone worked all weekend and throughout the race. Everyone kept their head up and worked hard to get it better."
Her standing: Patrick is 25th in the standings with 611 points.
Outlook: With two starts at Phoenix, Patrick’s average starting position is 38.5 and average finish of 28.0, with one DNF earlier this season due to a crash on Lap 184. In order for Patrick to better her finishing position, she needs to make an impact in her qualifying run in ensure she starts out on the right foot.
Tony Stewart (No. 14)
Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet
Recap: Stewart missed his 13th consecutive race this past weekend and watched Mark Martin pilot his No. 14 Chevrolet to a 11th-place finish. Stewart is still nursing his broken leg and won’t return in 2013.
His standing: Stewart is 29th in the standings with 594 points.
Seven points separate veterans with championship in balance
RELATED: Full race results | Updated standings | Chase coverage
FORT WORTH, Texas — Matt Kenseth was all smiles Sunday evening when he climbed out of his No. 20 Home Depot Toyota on Texas Motor Speedway‘s pit road despite losing seven points in the NASCAR championship to Jimmie Johnson, who was celebrating in Victory Lane 30 yards away.
Johnson turned in a dominating performance on the track’s high-banked oval, leading 255 of the 334 laps to win his second straight AAA Texas 500, while Kenseth rallied to a fourth-place finish, overcoming a mid-race pit road speeding penalty.
Seven points between them, with two races remaining to settle the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, keeps everything really, really interesting as far as these guys are concerned.
"I’m still confident; I wish I was seven points ahead, but still, at the end of the day, it’s in our hands," Kenseth said. "If you win both of the last two races, the math works out where we still win it (all)."
"I think I’ve got the greatest race team out there and we’re going to go there and work as hard as we can and see where it ends up.
"We’re right in it. As good as my team is, if we can hit everything right, we can have days like he (Johnson) had today," Kenseth continued. "We’ve had them this year. I still feel good. I’m confident and looking forward to getting to Phoenix."
And even after hoisting the weekend’s trophy, Johnson wasn’t ready to assume anything. He left Texas seven points up on Brad Keselowski last year and lost the championship.
"I hope history doesn’t repeat itself," said a smiling Johnson, whose crew chief Chad Knaus characterized Kenseth as a "more formidable" opponent.
"That (last season) is the perfect example of this thing isn’t over until it’s over. Last year we had eight great races and two bad ones and didn’t get the championship. Very important to finish strong. There are two very important races left."
"I have been watching a lot of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighting lately, and you’ll fall into a rhythm and think that somebody has got the fight won, and it doesn’t end that way," Johnson cautioned. "That’s how this is going to be. Matt didn’t have maybe the best day and still finished fourth. This thing is going to go to the last lap at Homestead, and it is going to come down to mistakes.
"I’m very excited about our performance and what we did here. We’ll enjoy this, but there is still two weeks of very hard racing ahead of us."
While the title drama and suspense remains for the Johnson and Kenseth duel, the contenders have separated themselves from the rest of the field.
Jeff Gordon, who was the pair’s closest challenger coming into Texas, dropped three positions in the standings after a blown tire early in the race relegated him to a 38th-place finish.
Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch are ranked third and fourth but trail Johnson by 40 and 52 points, respectively. Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne were mathematically eliminated Sunday.
And so it appears the title will most likely be settled between Johnson and Kenseth in what should be a compelling story line of high competition among former series champions. In the eight weeks of Chase competition, they have kept each other honest and been around one another on the starting grid as well as in the results. Every day has seemed a good day for these two, each of whom has stepped up his game and forced the other to, as well.
"Through all the years I’ve raced against them, I’ve never seen them bad anywhere,’" Kenseth said of the five-time champ’s No. 48 team. "You know they are going to have their A-game every week, and I think we have pretty much every week, too.
"We weren’t going to beat them on speed tonight no matter what. We were just a little off and they were just extremely on. If we had hit all our adjustments perfect tonight and I would have done a better job we might have run second. That’s still a good job, though."
And while the number of contenders may be shrinking, the intensity of the competition has not. Anyone involved with either Kenseth, the 2003 Cup champ, or Johnson, who won a historic five straight titles from 2006-2010, would expect it to be this way.
"I don’t know how it could get any harder than it is right now," Johnson’s team owner Rick Hendrick joked after the race. "It’s nerves and it’s not going to end. I think it’s going to be the last lap at Homestead. This is just going to be a dogfight there. The teams are that close."
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of Kenseth after Texas |
READ: Gordon’s Chase hopes
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WATCH: Hendrick isn’t
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WATCH: Drivers sound
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Kevin Harvick won the 2013 edition of the race
RELATED: Full Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage
The field for the 2014 edition of The Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway is taking shape with 20 Sprint Cup Series drivers earning starting positions for the race.
The season’s first event, The Sprint Unlimited, is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 15. FOX Sports One will televise the 75-lap, non-points event that serves as the kick off to the stock car portion of Budweiser Speedweeks.
The field for The Sprint Unlimited consists of the pole winners for all the 2013 Sprint Cup season events as well as the past winners of the race (who have also attempted to qualify for at least one Cup race during the past season).
The 20 drivers that have qualified for the race include 10 of the 13 drivers in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
The drivers who have qualified for the 2014 edition of The Sprint Unlimited by virtue of winning a Coors Light Pole Award are: Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Marcos Ambrose, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Mark Martin, Jamie McMurray, Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
As past winners of the event, Terry Labonte, Ken Schrader and Tony Stewart have qualified for the race.
MORE:
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of Kenseth after Texas |
READ: Gordon’s Chase hopes
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WATCH: Hendrick isn’t
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WATCH: Drivers sound
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