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Allgaier has high hopes for 2014 as he makes his second Sprint Cup start
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Justin Allgaier spent his day at Kansas Speedway going from hauler to hauler, team to team, car to car.
Driving the double is still new to the 27-year-old NASCAR Nationwide Series regular, who will make his second career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start Sunday in the No. 51 Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing.
Allgaier ran three total practice sessions totaling nearly four hours on Friday, choking down a peanut butter sandwich in between the two Nationwide sessions, and qualified 21st for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 Cup race.
"The challenging part for me is, whether you have a lot of time or not, just being able to mentally prepare for each car," Allgaier said in the No. 51 hauler following a long day. Sprint Cup and Nationwide cars are so different in how they drive, the setups, your crew members. Everything.
"For us, we had a really good (tire test) Thursday and practiced well (Friday) morning in Cup. It was easy to go into a Nationwide car because I wasn’t frustrated. And when I jumped into the Nationwide car, we were fast right off the truck. If one goes wrong and another goes wrong, you’re like, ‘Man, what’s the deal.’ But on a weekend like this, we unloaded off the truck with both cars really well."
Allgaier’s NASCAR career has — to this point — consisted of full-time rides in the Nationwide Series since 2009, the past three years coming in the No. 31 for Turner Scott Motorsports. He’s currently sixth in the points standings, and he’s finished sixth or better in every season in which he’s had a full ride.
He has a new chassis for Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300, and finished seventh and 13th in Saturday’s two practices in his familiar No. 31 Brandt Chevy. He has three top-10s in four Nationwide starts at the 1.5-mile facility.
The Nationwide race, though, isn’t at the forefront of Allgaier’s mind. He’s thinking big, thanks to an unexpected Sprint Cup date after Harry Scott Jr., co-owner of Turner Scott Motorsports, purchased Phoenix Racing from James Finch in late August.
"Obviously, the goal (for 2014) is to try and put something together to run the 51 car full-time," Allgaier said. "We still need a little bit of sponsorship and some of the pieces of the puzzle to fall in the right spot, but I would say that’s the main focus. Not that if I ran the Nationwide car again that it would be settling. The stuff we’ve learned this year and my relationship with (crew chief) Scott Zipadelli, if that was what I ended up doing, we could go and be a threat for the championship next year.
"But being 27 and getting the opportunity to do this, it makes me want to put my focus on trying to get to the Cup side."
Allgaier joins a heady list of drivers competing in both races at Kansas. Among the drivers performing double duty this weekend are Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Paul Menard and Brad Keselowski. Two of those four drivers are in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship hunt. One is the defending series champion.
And while those guys have more Cup experience and rides on multi-car teams, Allgaier has a quiet confidence about his immediate future. He sounds like a guy who’s put in the hours at his current job and is ready for a promotion.
"I don’t necessarily view this as an audition (for a Cup ride)," Allgaier said. "If something’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. You know, I don’t think that I could do anything that’s going to be so great or so bad that would hinder a future opportunity. At the same time, the racer in me says, ‘I want to run wheel-to-wheel with Jimmie Johnson and be battling for the lead 400 miles into this race.’
"The likelihood of it is not great, but the racer in me tells me that’s where I need to be at."
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Gibbs teammates hungry, but in need of help to gain ground
With five events remaining in the season, the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship battle shows all appearances of coming down to a two-man race. All of which makes the driver in third place seethe.
"Look, hoss, I’m competitive, man," Elliott Sadler said. "I don’t care what we’re playing, I don’t play to finish fourth. We want to win, or I want to run up front, or I want to win the damn race or I want to be in the championship discussion. So if I sat here and told you, ‘Oh, it’s fine,’ I’d be lying through my teeth."
While front-runners Sam Hornish Jr. and Austin Dillon are separated by just four points at the top of the standings, Sadler is a somewhat distant third, 42 points off the pace. This after two seasons in which Sadler was Ricky Stenhouse Jr.‘s toughest competition for the title, where he twice finished as runner-up to a driver who has since moved on to the Sprint Cup Series.
Over the previous two seasons, Sadler has stood first or second in Nationwide points for all but 12 weeks. So his current situation is a little unusual, not to mention uncomfortable. In his first season at Joe Gibbs Racing, the veteran NASCAR racer needs the drivers ahead of him to suffer some missteps in order for him to become a factor in the championship mix once again.
"I’ll be honest with you, I feel like we’re going to need some help," Sadler said at Charlotte Motor Speedway, during an event to promote breast cancer awareness. "We’re on the outside looking in. And what I mean by on the outside looking in is, I think one of those cars has to stumble. Because it’s 40-some points, five races to go. I don’t see the (Hornish) running 20th every week. That’s what I mean by on the outside looking in. If he has an issue or two, then we’ll have a chance. But what that means for us is, we’ve got to be there to pick the ball up. If we run like crap, it doesn’t matter if he has a screw-up or not."
Hornish had one of those last weekend at Dover, where a pit road speeding penalty sent the Penske Racing driver to his worst finish in two months. Sadler finished 14th, enough to trim 12 points off his deficit and move into third place in the standings.
He’ll need more outcomes like that to get back into the title picture. His JGR teammate Brian Vickers, fifth in the standings and 47 points out, is in the same situation. "It’s their championship to lose," Vickers said. "They have to have more days like they had at Dover."
Although Sprint Cup star Kyle Busch has dominated the Nationwide ranks this year, winning 10 races in JGR equipment, his teammates have suffered through more trying campaigns. Neither Sadler nor Vickers has reached Victory Lane, and both have been plagued by inconsistences that have prevented them from mounting a real challenge to those at the top of the standings.
"We’ve run as strong or stronger than they have consistently, the guys who are racing for the championship. But we’ve just had a lot of things happen to us this year — blown engines, loose wheels, pit issues, incidents on the track," Vickers said. "When we finish, we’re pretty consistently in the top five or three. But if we’re not in the top five, we’re not like seventh. We’re like 30th. And I think that’s what hurt us this year more than anything."
Sadler ticks off items like an engine failure at Bristol, a brush with the wall at Atlanta, a spin at New Hampshire. "Those lows, with the one-point system that we have and the competition level that we have in the Nationwide Series, you can’t gain but so many points," he said. "What I’ve learned in the Nationwide Series the last couple of years is, those lows end up being real low. Like real low. You can’t have many of those. You can’t have but so many finishes worse than like a 15th. You have too many of those … you’re just not going to make it."
Vickers is moving back into the Sprint Cup ranks after this season to drive for Michael Waltrip Racing. Sadler said JGR and sponsors were talking about him returning to the organization in 2014. "All them are working on it," he said. "If they want me back, they’ll let me know. But I think we should be back."
In the meantime, the Virginia native is trying to crawl back into a championship mix where he’s been a major player over the past two seasons. That quest continues Saturday at Kansas Speedway, where he’s finished fourth and third in each of the previous two years. But even with another run like that, he’d likely still need help to prevent Hornish and Dillon from deciding the title among themselves.
"It is frustrating, because the last two years I felt like I was more in control of my own destiny, and more in the middle of it, and winning races and sitting on poles and doing all those things," Sadler said. "This year it’s been a little more frustrating, because we haven’t really broke that barrier yet. We haven’t led the points all year long. Every time we got to second, something happened and we’d fall back to third or fourth. We’d shoot ourselves in the foot every once in a while. So a little frustrating, yeah."
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Veteran driver knows he’s not that far from title number five
MORE: Full Chase coverage | Watch: "The Crossing"
A late and final addition to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship field, Jeff Gordon is the first to tell you he’s happy to be there.
But make no mistake, he’s not just happy to be there.
Three races into the 10-race Chase, Gordon may not be quite riding the bumpers of championship leaders Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch, but he’s keeping them honest.
A fourth place at Dover last week and a sixth place two weeks ago at Chicago has helped the four-time Cup champ climb into the top five in the championship standings, 39 points behind leader Kenseth entering Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (ESPN, 2 p.m. ET) at Kansas Speedway.
Gritty and racy on track with smiles and "atta-boys" in the garage, Gordon arguably carried the least pressure into NASCAR’s postseason. He was added to the championship mix two days before the Chase began by NASCAR Chairman Brian France, who expanded the normally 12-driver field to 13 in wake of a controversy at the Sept. 7 regular season finale at Richmond.
Gordon’s never looked back. Instead he’s competing like a driver with everything to gain and perhaps a point to prove to those prematurely sending the 42-year old future Hall of Famer into retirement.
When Gordon climbed out of his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet after the race at Dover last week, he was energized and talking like the fierce competitor who once regularly beat out current Hall of Famers such as Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett for championships in the late-1990s and early 2000s.
"Once you’ve made it in to the Chase — however you make it in — you have to step up your game,’’ Gordon said on Dover’s pit lane, alternately accepting and offering congrats to his Hendrick Motorsports team.
"My team stepped it up weeks before the Chase began. I love it. And I’m having fun going to the race track every week right now."
Running well certainly helps that.
He’s had five top-10s in the last six races — including three straight heading into the Sept. 15 Chicago Chase opener. His lowest finish in that span was 15th at Loudon, and he led laps (36) there.
Gordon’s won at all seven of the remaining Chase venues, including twice at Kansas (2001 and 2002). He was 13th there earlier this season despite crashing his primary car in practice and racing from a lap down late in the race.
"Certainly, Chicago, New Hampshire and here are three good race tracks for us. This coming up track, at Kansas is going to be the big test for us," Gordon said. "If we can perform well there, then we have Martinsville and Charlotte and Homestead, we have some great tracks for us.
"Certainly coming off some momentum here, I’m excited and looking forward. The team is excited and on top of their game right now."
As the Chase begins to establish the favorites and the "thanks-for-playing" drivers, it’s evident Gordon considers himself a worthy contender. He wasn’t merely satisfied for a top-five Sunday, but a bit remiss at not hoisting the trophy in Victory Lane.
"It’s bittersweet because I feel like we had a shot at winning the race there if the (last) caution hadn’t have come out," Gordon said. "We were sitting there second on the restart and just couldn’t get going on two tires. We came home fourth though, still not bad.
"But you always want more."
"That’s a great big picture day for sure. I hate to bring up last week (15th at New Hampshire), but had we not had that issue we would really be in a good position (in the championship).
"We’re not bad and we’ve got a lot of racing left to go. We keep performing like this there’s a lot more points we can gain."
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Twenty drivers slated to compete for 2014 seat with Rev Racing
The 2013 NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine participants include:
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Name & Age |
City & State |
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Devon Amos, 22 |
Rio Rancho, N.M. |
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Annabeth Barnes, 18 |
Mooresville, N.C. |
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George Beasley, 21 |
Las Vegas, Nev. |
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Nicole Behar, 15 |
Otis Orchards, Wash. |
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Ryan Bernal, 19 |
Hollister, Calif. |
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Collin Cabre, 19 |
Thonotosassa, Fla. |
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Megan Creech, 20 |
Ashland, Va. |
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Claire Decker, 18 |
Eagle River, Wis. |
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Paige Decker, 20 |
Eagle River, Wis. |
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Natalie Decker, 16 |
Eagle River, Wis. |
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Ruben Garcia, Jr., 17 |
Mexico City, Mexico |
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Blake Kisner, 18 |
Chanute, Kan. |
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Katlynn Leer, 14 |
St. Moulton, Iowa |
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Jack Madrid, 18 |
San Clemente, Calif. |
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Hannah Newhouse, 16 |
Twin Falls, Idaho |
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Sergio Pena, 20 |
Catharpin, Va. |
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Dylan Smith, 21 |
Randolph, Vt. |
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Kenny Stewart II, 16 |
Carson, Calif. |
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Cody Thompson, 20 |
Fremont, Calif. |
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Sam Wright, 18 |
Vancouver, Wash. |
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As the NASCAR Drive for Diversity (#NASCARD4D) program approaches its 10-year anniversary, NASCAR and Rev Racing have selected the participants for the 2013 NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine.
The drivers will participate in a rigorous on- and off-track evaluation process for the opportunity to join the NASCAR D4D program and compete for Rev Racing during the 2014 season. The combine will be held at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va., from Oct. 21-23.
The annual Combine is the first step in identifying and developing the future stars of the sport. Kyle Larson and Darrell Wallace Jr. are among the drivers who have graduated from the NASCAR D4D program after attending the annual combine and driving for Rev Racing.
Ryan Gifford, who currently drives for Rev Racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut driving for Richard Childress Racing on Aug. 3.
“The NASCAR Drive for Diversity Program has contributed to the success of some of the most promising young drivers and crew members in our sport,” said Marcus Jadotte, NASCAR vice president, public affairs and multicultural development.
“The drivers announced today will have an opportunity to compete at the 2013 D4D Combine and earn a place on the 2014 NASCAR Drive for Diversity/Rev Racing roster.”
NASCAR officials and Rev Racing representatives chose the 20 up-and-coming drivers from 95 applicants representing the United States, Canada and Latin America.
“We are excited about this year’s group of Combine participants,” said Max Siegel, owner/CEO of Rev Racing.
“They represent a great cross-section of talent and experience, and any one of them would make a great addition to the 2014 Drive for Diversity team.”
All of the drivers attending the Combine will be mentored and coached by the Rev Racing staff, along with the team’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East drivers Mackena Bell, Ryan Gifford, Bryan Ortiz and Daniel Suarez.
The Hampton Convention & Visitor Bureau and Langley Speedway have partnered with Rev Racing and NASCAR to support the 2013 NASCAR D4D Combine. Langley Speedway will host the Combine for the third consecutive year.
The paved 0.395-mile short track is one of the flattest tracks in the region with six-degree banked corners and four degrees of banking on the straightaway. Langley Speedway is an ideal track to test the abilities of NASCAR’s up-and-coming talent.
The next NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race – Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Race No. 4 – will take place at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN, Motor Racing Network Radio and SiriusXM Satellite Radio, with additional coverage on NASCAR.com.
An additional eight young drivers will join these 20 drivers on Oct. 23 and compete for the opportunity to drive for Rev Racing during the 2014 Summer Shootout Series in INEX Legends and Bandoleros.
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Name & Age |
City & State |
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Jairo Avila, 17 |
Alhambra, Calif. |
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Austin Geer, 11 |
Johns Creek, Ga. |
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Kylin Hammer, 11 |
Meadowview, Va. |
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Ryleigh Lemonds, 10 |
Yorktown, Va. |
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Enrique Limon, 15 |
Mexico City, Mexico |
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Jaiden Reyna, 7 |
Newport News, Va. |
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Ashley Rogero, 15 |
Naples, Fla. |
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Walter Thomas, 15 |
Indianapolis, Ind. |
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Speeds proved to be noticeably slower than Kenseth’s record set last year
RELATED: Testing Results | Full Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – That fast lap turned in by Jimmie Johnson, just as Thursday’s open test session at Kansas Speedway was drawing to a close?
"Jimmie was fast? That’s weird," NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader Matt Kenseth deadpanned.
"I don’t think top speed on the board really meant a lot today. … I mean, we were 13th on the board and we weren’t near that good. That made it look a lot better than we ran most of the day. I don’t think that one lap on the board meant a lot … unless you’re on the top and then it meant a lot."
"It meant a lot to me," said Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards, who spent a lengthy portion of the day with his No. 99 Ford atop the scoring pylon. "Most of the practice it meant a lot; at the end it didn’t mean anything."
Johnson, the five-time Cup champion, is currently second in points, trailing Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing) by eight points after three races in this year’s Chase For The Sprint Cup. Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 here is stop No. 4 in the 10-race Chase.
Johnson snapped off a lap of 182.648 mph to displace Edwards (182.531) for the top position.
Kurt Busch (Furniture Row Racing), Jeff Burton (Richard Childress Racing) and Paul Menard (RCR) rounded out the top five.
Thirty-eight teams were on hand for the open test and a chance to get better acquainted with the new Goodyear zone tread tire that will be used in Sunday’s race.
It will be the second time this season Goodyear has provided a tire built with the zone tread technology, a process that combines two different compounds on the surface of the tire.Zone tread tires were also used last month at Atlanta.
Because of the fast speeds expected, coupled with lack of tire wear, left-side tires here this weekend feature a more tractive compound that provides increased grip.
Goodyear officials said the outside of the right-side tires consist of the same compound used at Kansas previously while the inside three inches feature a more heat resistant compound.
Overall, most seemed pleased with the tire selection.
"Right now I would say it’s a better tire," Jeff Gordon said. "I don’t think any of us like the box that Goodyear is put in when we come to a newly surfaced track and have to put a rock hard tire on there for durability.
"It’s not because that is the best performance tire – it’s because they have to play it safe because of the high heat and the speeds that we are running. Right now what I’m feeling it feels good."
Morning rain delayed the start of the test, but the sky cleared and the temperaturerose as the three-hour session progressed.
"At the beginning of the day the tire had a ton more grip, I thought," Edwards said, "and as it rubbered up, the track got a little slicker and my car was a little bit loose into (Turn) 3, so I’d kind of back it down in there and you could actually drive it.
"It’s not knife-edge, hard-to-drive. I believe you’ll see two- and three-lane racing. It appears that way, so I think it’s good. I can’t tell how much fall-off there is because I only made about a five- or six-lap run.”
John Darby, Sprint Cup Series Director said officials "didn’t see anything, which is good news."
"We’ve had test days like this before where the end result was Goodyear scrambling … to get six more trailer loads of tires in here … to help work through the problem," he said. " … It’s a lot more secure feeling when there’s 43 guys all nodding and acknowledging the fact that they’re not going to have a problem."
Sixth through 10th in the session were Joey Logano (Penske Racing), Kevin Harvick (RCR), Kyle Busch (Gibbs), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush) and Nationwide regular Justin Allgaier (Phoenix Racing).
One Cup practice is scheduled Friday, with qualifying slated to begin at 5:10 p.m. ET.
Kenseth, a winner in the first two Chase races, won both the pole and the race here earlier this season.
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