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No. 7 driver says team was prepared for bout of bad luck

In the immediate aftermath, Regan Smith was fuming. A few days later, he’s able to take a more constructive view of the incident that sheared his 58-point lead in the Nationwide Series almost by half.

Smith’s 11-race streak of top-10 finishes ended Saturday at Road America in a 32nd-place result — his worst of the season. That wasn’t due to the JR Motorsports driver’s lack of experience on the 4-mile road course — he was running in the top five late in the event when he was the victim of a chain-reaction accident that involved Parker Kligerman banging into Owen Kelly, who in turn sent the points leader spinning out.

Smith was clearly unhappy after the race, and with good reason. What had been a 58-point series lead with the potential to become even bigger had instead been whittled down to 28 over new points runner-up Justin Allgaier, who finished second to race-winner AJ Allmendinger. On Tuesday, Smith tried to take a wider view of the situation, particularly given how rough road course events have become at NASCAR’s national division.

“I think it’s a fine line. You’re certainly not happy about it. You’re certainly not happy about the way things went down towards the end of the race and the way that the driving turned into more slamming instead of actual racing,” Smith said on a conference call with reporters.

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“With that said, it’s in the rearview mirror, and you can’t change that it took place the way that it did. All you can do is focus on going forward. One of the reasons that we’ve worked as hard as we have this year, to not only get the points lead, but to try to have the points lead be as large as it was, (was) in case something like that did happen somewhere and we crossed bad luck.”

The solace, he said, is that the No. 7 car showed plenty of speed, even on a road course — which isn’t Smith’s specialty. The findings from Road America may pay dividends with road course events at Watkins Glen International and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course looming in consecutive weeks in August.

“That was an area where people have maybe highlighted, thinking that the 7 car wouldn’t have speed, and we were contending for top-five and even passing for the lead at one point in the race,” Smith said. “I would then just say, going to Mid‑Ohio and going to Watkins Glen, that guys aren’t going to take that for granted anymore that they can make points up on us. Instead, that’s going to be an area where we’re going to be looking to gain points further on down the road.”

Smith has won twice this season, at Talladega and Michigan, and has held the series lead for seven consecutive race weekends. He now ventures back into more familiar territory — an intermediate layout Friday night at Kentucky, followed by a race at 2.5-mile Daytona, where he was going for the lead on the final lap before being involved in a multi-car accident.

“We’ve got a very confident group here, and that includes myself as a driver in not only what my capabilities are, but also what the capabilities of this race team are. We’re to the point now that the cars they’ve been putting under me this year, I know what to expect,” he said.

“I know what’s going to happen week in and week out with how they’re going to feel right off the truck, and how our weekend is going to flow and how we’re going to adjust and what kind of speed we’re going to have in the race. With that said, I think that confidence is almost as important as the momentum. I feel like we can make up for any up or down momentum swings because we’re that confident as a race team, and we believe that much in what we’re doing at JR Motorsports.”

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Veteran’s run of 704 in a row was second-longest among active Sprint Cup drivers

When the Sprint Cup Series takes the green flag Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway, the starting field will be missing someone who’s been a fixture on the circuit since 1993.

Bobby Labonte confirmed Tuesday that he will not race this weekend, and therefore end a streak of 704 consecutive premier-series starts that stands as the third-longest in history. Ricky Rudd owns the longest ever at 788 starts, while Jeff Gordon holds the longest active streak at 705.

“It is disappointing the way it is happening,” Labonte wrote in a chat with fans on the website of his JTG Daugherty Racing team. “I have had a couple of offers this morning, but I have declined them because I don’t want anybody else that has an opportunity to do what I do, what they love, to have to sit on the sideline for my sake.”

The 2000 champion of NASCAR’s premier division, Labonte has not missed a start since the beginning of his full-time career in 1993. AJ Allmendinger is in Labonte’s usual No. 47 car for Saturday night’s event at Kentucky. JTG Daugherty announced three weeks ago that Allmendinger would pilot the No. 47 for five races as a comparative measure to help a team that ranked 27th in the Sprint Cup standings at that point.

"We probably need an alliance with another team or a teammate. That would be the start."
— Bobby Labonte

Allmendinger also drove the No. 47 at Michigan, but Labonte landed a ride for that event in Phoenix Racing’s No. 51 car to keep his streak alive. Austin Dillon is competing in the No. 51 in this Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT) at Kentucky.

“Bobby is our guy for this season and we are focusing on making the car better for this season,” team co-owner Brad Daugherty wrote in the chat. “That is our focus. We don’t look to next year until the end of this year, so right now we are doing everything we can to help Bobby Labonte do as best as he can this season.”

The 49-year-old Labonte was in the No. 47 this past weekend at Sonoma, and Daugherty confirmed the former champion would be back in the vehicle for next week’s event at Daytona. Allmendinger — winner of the Nationwide Series race Saturday at Road America — is expected to pilot the car for the Aug. 11 road course race at Watkins Glen, as well as two other races where the team is looking for sponsorship.

“I feel like AJ is a hell of a driver, I also know that what I feel in a race car is right,” Labonte wrote. “We had a great test in Kentucky and I am disappointed that I am not going. But as you move forward, you need to support our race team. Even though I might not agree, it is still going to benefit us to keep moving forward in a positive way.”

JTG Daugherty operated for several years as a satellite team to Toyota brethren Michael Waltrip Racing, but severed that relationship and moved into its own shop prior to last season. But life as a single-car team has been a struggle — the No. 47 car placed 26th in owners’ points after last season, and currently sits 30th. Meanwhile, MWR placed two cars in the Chase last season, and won Sunday’s event with Martin Truex Jr.

“We have had conversations and we are trying to figure out what would be the best move for us going forward,” Daugherty said. “We came out of the MWR situation simply because we were all struggling. Obviously, they have fixed a lot over at MWR so someone like that may be a suitable partner again. We will have to see.”

Daugherty added the team is considering an alliance similar to the one it had before. “We moved out of MWR because it wasn’t working,” he wrote. “But as we step back, we are competitive people, we want to race and run up front. The way this sport is going, you have to align yourself. So it is a great option going forward and we are looking at it very seriously.”

Labonte agreed. “We probably need an alliance with another team or a teammate,” he wrote. “That would be the start."

Labonte said he inquired about JTG Daugherty running a second car at Kentucky, but added the organization wouldn’t be able to do it. “One car is the limit of our capacity at this time,” he wrote. As a result, the 21-time race winner doesn’t plan on being at the track at all this weekend.

“Thanks for all of the support,” Labonte added. “We all have a passion for what we are doing, we all believe (in) what we are doing with the program, and we want to make sure we continue to represent all of the sponsors the right way.”

The goal, Daugherty said, is for Labonte to hopefully reap the benefits of whatever Allmendinger might discover by having a fresh opinion on the car. But what the future may hold for Labonte and the No. 47 remains unclear.

“We have not discussed 2014,” Daugherty wrote. “I am hoping we get this thing turned around and Bobby drives this car for a long time.”

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After weak Sonoma showing, Kyle Busch drops four spots

                                   

1. Jimmie Johnson       

Outlook: A ninth-place finish isn’t a huge victory for Johnson, but it’s enough to hold on to most of his points lead. After a rough go of it at Michigan, all four Hendrick cars rebounded at Sonoma.
Standings: 1st, 573 points

2. Carl Edwards          

Outlook: Edwards has held onto second place in the standings for quit some time now — since Richmond, in fact — and is slowly starting to chip away at Johnson’s points lead. Will he catch him? Not unless something crazy happens.
Standings: 2nd, 548 points 
RELATED: Edwards post-race reaction

3. Clint Bowyer            

Outlook: Heading into the race, Bowyer (and Danica Patrick) hoped to receive the respect he felt he deserved from Jacques Villeneuve. After finishing 5th to Villeneuve’s 41st, the French Canadian will have no choice but to do so.
Standings: 3rd, 528 points
RELATED: Bowyer post-race reaction

4. Matt Kenseth        

Outlook: Kenseth knew going in that he hasn’t fared well at Sonoma in the past, but was determined to improve this time around. He still finished 19th, but at a track where he’s failed to crack the top 20 five times, he’ll take it.
Standings: 5th, 481 points

5. Kevin Harvick         

Outlook: With six straight top-10 finishes, Kevin Harvick should keep doing whatever he’s doing. Quick, have his PR team get the 29 other MLB teams on the phone to see if he can throw out the first pitch.
Standings:  4th, 510 points

 

 

6. Greg Biffle             

Outlook: Sitting in 13th place and out of a Chase spot just three weeks ago, Biffle has turned on the jets with an average finish of 3.67 since then to put his name firmly in championship talks. Kentucky should be interesting, where he’s finished 21st in both Sprint Cup races at the track.
Standings: 6th, 479 points

7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 

Outlook: Not the biggest fan of Sonoma, for Earnhardt to finish 12th at the road course is huge. Even still, he wasn’t the only Earnhardt making headlines this week.
Standings: 7th, 479 points
RELATED: Junior takes road less traveled

8. Brad Keselowski        

Outlook: Keselowski did have the lead at one point on Sunday. And then Martin Truex Jr. took it from him. At this point though, it has to be a little concerning that Keselowski seems to get further and further from Victory Lane each week.
Standings: 9th, 454 points

9. Kasey Kahne              

Outlook: Potential winner of the Quaker State 400? Kasey Kahne. The driver needs a win badly, placed second in the race last year, and, oh yeah, he’s sponsored by Quaker State.
Standings: 11th, 445 points

10. Kyle Busch               

Outlook: It’s hard to believe a driver with two wins (Busch) can be lower in the standings than two without them (Bowyer, Earnhardt), but it’s the truth. His DNFs don’t help that cause, as he’s one of just four in the top 20 to have more than two.
Standings: 8th, 461 points
RELATED: Busch, Edwards wreck

11. Martin Truex Jr.         

Outlook: You all had Martin Truex Jr. ending his 218-race winless streak at one of the toughest races of the season, right? Truex’s victory was exciting and inspiring, but he can’t celebrate his victory and entrance into Chase contention for too long. There are plenty waiting right behind him.
Standings: 10th, 453 points
RELATED: Truex Victory Lane 1-on-1 | Final Laps

12. Jeff Gordon             

Outlook: Gordon needed another dominant day at Sonoma and he did get that, but that one extra spot could make a difference. Without that tally in the ‘W’ column, Gordon’s Chase chances are significantly lowered.
Standings: 13th, 405 points
RELATED: Gordon post-race reaction

13. Tony Stewart             

Outlook: His four-race top-10 finish streak ended at Sonoma, a track he generally runs well at. The history at Kentucky is too short to get a great idea of how he’ll run, but he’s made enough progress over the past month to put himself back into contention.
Standings: 15th, 433 points
RELATED: Stewart hits Hamlin

14. Kurt Busch               

Outlook: Another race, another bonus point for leading a lap for Kurt Busch. You’ve got to figure he’ll be breaking through for a win before the Chase starts. Otherwise he has little shot of making it.
Standings: 17th, 425 points
RELATED: Busch post-race reaction

15. Paul Menard            

Outlook: The curve seems to be adjusting for Menard, who hung around the top 10 in the standings for most of the year but hasn’t actually finished a race better than 10th since Fontana.
Standings: 12th, 445 points

16. Joey Logano             

Outlook: After two miserable finishes at Talladega and Darlington, Logano is on a bit of a roll since, averaging a finish of 8.4 over five races. The streak has helped him regain some position in the standings, but, like nearly every other driver, he needs a victory to really feel some stability.

17. Aric Almirola             

Outlook: In the same category of Menard, Almirola’s early season success seems to be leveling out a bit as he adjusts to being in the 11-20 range in the standings. He hasn’t shown much  reason to believe he’ll snap out of it, but it’s already been a season full of surprises, so who knows?
Standings: 16th, 428 points

18. Ryan Newman            

Outlook: Newman and Gordon make an unlucky pair as the only two drivers in the top 20 with four DNFs. Because of this, despite two top-five and seven top-10 finishes, he’s below someone like Almirola — who has no top-fives and just four top-10s — in the standings.
Standings: 18th, 418 points

19. Marcos Ambrose        

Outlook: Ambrose really had a shot to do some serious damage in the standings with a victory at Sonoma, one of his best tracks. He still finished seventh, which is fantastic for most drivers at a road course, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Standings: 22nd, 380 points
RELATED: Ambrose post-race reaction

20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.        

Outlook: Stenhouse has really impressed in his first year on the circuit. His 27th-place finish at Sonoma isn’t great by any means, but he still managed to beat big names Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton, and Kyle Busch. This year wasn’t about making the Chase; it was about the experience. He’s getting plenty of it.
Standings: 19th, 406 points

In the rearview

Note: These rankings have been determined by a poll that included writers Kenny Bruce, Holly Cain, David Caraviello and Zack Albert, and video host Alan Cavanna.

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Posted on by Zack Albert

With Daytona 500-winning father, the Truck Series rookie has talent in his corner

Is it not enough that Jeb Burton is getting pointers from his father, Ward, a former Daytona 500 winner? It turns out that the first-year phenom also has a five-time Sprint Cup champion in his corner.
 
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie has been a quick study in the first seven races of the season, coming up aces in qualifying all year and putting all the components together for his first career victory in the series’ most recent race at Texas Motor Speedway.
 
But Burton suggests that the learning process isn’t all based on fatherly advice. That’s where the influence of Jimmie Johnson has come in.

"All my guys are pumped up. We’ve got the speed every week. Hopefully, we can go do it again this weekend."

— Jeb Burton

“Jimmie obviously is one of the best there ever was, and I’ve talked to him about a lot of stuff off the racetrack, about how to be better and just working out and trying to be the best you can be,” Burton said during a NASCAR teleconference Tuesday. “I think that’s why he’s so good. He’s so focused. I’ve told him, that’s my role model, and that’s who I want to be like. So for him to take the time and talk to me, it really means a lot.”
 
Burton will try to put the wisdom to good use in Thursday night’s UNOH 225 (8 p.m. ET, SPEED) at Kentucky Speedway. The event will end a three-week layoff for the series and a long honeymoon for the 20-year-old driver after a maiden voyage to Victory Lane.
 
“Everything’s calmed down,” Burton said when asked if the celebration had sunk in yet. “It was a really cool experience, but once we got back on the plane, on I think it was Saturday, it was kind of over for me. I was ready to get back in the (truck) and do it again. All my guys are pumped up. We’ve got the speed every week. Hopefully, we can go do it again this weekend.”
 
With his first victory in the books, Burton can now race without the burden of wondering when his breakthrough win will come. He had been close before his Texas triumph, starting up front week in and week out with superlative qualifying performances.
 
Burton started seventh in the season-opening race at Daytona. In the six races since, he’s clinched three pole positions and three third-place starts. Finally in Fort Worth, he found the race-long effort to match his qualifying prowess.
 
“It was definitely really good to get it done at Texas,” Burton said. “We should have won at Kansas and spun out. Charlotte, we had a loose wheel. Martinsville, we had stuff go wrong. So finally to put it together was definitely gratifying. We’ve got the speed every week. So hopefully we can keep doing it.”
 
The next stage for Burton will be Kentucky Speedway, a circuit where the rookie has never competed. His Turner Motorsports team opted to test there two weeks ago, and Burton found himself running comparable — and sometimes better — laps than series points leader Matt Crafton.
 
Although Kentucky shares similarities to Texas in length (1.5 miles) and layout, the Bluegrass State facility’s rougher surface will make the 225-mile race a unique challenge.
 
“We have a really, really good truck there. Pretty pumped up about it,” Burton said. “Like the race track. I like the bumps. It makes it a handful to drive, and I think it kind of puts it back in the driver’s hands a little bit. So I’m excited to get there.”

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Posted on by Zack Albert

No. 78 team comes back from penalty for fourth-place finish at Sonoma

Kurt Busch has been fast seemingly everywhere in recent weeks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule.
 
Unfortunately for the No. 78 driver, that near-omnipresent speed extended onto pit road last Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.
 
Yet even with a double whammy of pit-road speeding penalties, Busch pressed forward both in the race and in the points standings, finding positives in his fourth-place finish in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 — though still wondering what might have been.
 
“It was good and it was bad,” Busch said. “Second (place) might’ve happened if we weren’t speeding. Fourth happened because I gave it all I had to get back up there.”

“It was all on my shoulders. I just had to saddle up, pull up my bootstraps and go.”

— Kurt Busch

Busch had already done a masterful job with forward progress after starting seventh and forging into the lead by Lap 19 in the 110-lap event. But a 34th-lap stop disrupted his momentum after he was whistled for speeding entering the pits. It only got worse the next lap, when Busch came back down pit road to serve his pass-through penalty and was nabbed for speeding again.
 
The ensuing stop-and-go infraction temporarily knocked him off the lead lap into 38th place, forcing a feverish rally from there on.
 
“It was all on my shoulders. I just had to saddle up, pull up my bootstraps and go,” Busch said. “We had a better car than fourth, but we’ll take fourth. We’re happy with that.”
 
That Busch passed 21 cars in the final 25 laps was inspiring enough, but it also established a new performance standard for the Colorado-based Furniture Row Racing team. Busch’s sixth top-10 finish of 2013 is the most in a single season for car owner Barney Visser’s team since its inception in 2005. Further, his fourth top-five effort is one more than the team had achieved in all its previous years.
 
For this year’s purposes, Busch is inching closer to putting the No. 78 Chevrolet into its first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup postseason. He jumped three spots in the standings Sunday, moving up to 17th place and cutting five points off his margin to 10th place, the final spot for automatic entry into NASCAR’s playoffs — a position currently held by race-winner Martin Truex Jr.
 
But to make up the 28 points that separate him from 10th place, or to snatch a victory that would improve his hopes of a Chase Wild-Card spot, both driver and team will need to put together consistent, complete races. That could begin in Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT) at Kentucky Speedway.
 
“We’re knocking on the door,” Busch said, “but we’re tripping on the threshold when it opens.”

 

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NASCAR Contenders Live Sweepstakes launches; Grand Prize winner to take home 2014 Toyota Tundra CrewMax Limited

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 24, 2013) — Back by popular demand, NASCAR Contenders LiveSM Sponsored by Toyota will make its return to Chicago on September 12 for the second-consecutive year, just days before the first race of the 2013 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ at Chicagoland Speedway.

"NASCAR Contenders Live gives Toyota a grand stage on which to connect with the fiercely loyal NASCAR fan base."
–Toyota National Manager of Motorsports and Engagement Marketing Keith Dahl

Signaling the start of the most intense and competitive stretch of the NASCAR season, NASCAR Contenders Live features all 12 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers interacting on stage, providing fans an insider’s look at how the competitors plan to claim the ultimate prize: a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. 

The event, which was sold out last year, will take place at the Grand Ballroom at Chicago’s famed Navy Pier from 1:30 p.m. CT – 3:00 p.m. CT. Fans can buy tickets beginning July 19 by visiting www.NASCAR.com/contenderslive.

NASCAR President Mike Helton will also be making his return to NASCAR Contenders Live, offering fans the rare opportunity to ask questions of him in an open forum, prior to the drivers taking the stage.

Additionally, Official NASCAR Partner Sprint will be supporting NASCAR Contenders Live by having Miss Sprint Cup at the event interacting with NASCAR fans and drivers.

“In collaboration with Toyota, a long standing Official NASCAR Partner, NASCAR Contenders Live was a rousing success with our fans last year,” said Norris Scott, NASCAR vice president of partnership marketing. “The event is unique because it showcases the competitive nature of the top stars in our sport and their passion to be a champion.”

In addition to attending the event, fans can enter the NASCAR Contenders Live Sweepstakes for the chance to win a number of compelling prizes at www.NASCAR.com/contenderslive. One grand prize winner will take home a 2014 Toyota Tundra CrewMax Limited, which is newly redesigned for 2014; two tickets to NASCAR Contenders Live; two tickets and VIP passes to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway on September 15; and $500 travel cash. 

Other prizes include: a 2013 NASCAR Contenders Live full-size helmet autographed by the 12 2013 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers; five Sprint Samsung Galaxy Tab® 2’s; four SiriusXM Satellite Radios; and four $50 SiriusXM Satellite Radio gift cards.

“We are pleased to partner with NASCAR on the fan favorite NASCAR Contenders Live event taking place on September 12 for the second year in a row in the Windy City,” said Keith Dahl Toyota National Manager of Motorsports and Engagement Marketing. “NASCAR Contenders Live gives Toyota a grand stage on which to connect with the fiercely loyal NASCAR fan base.”

For tickets to Chicagoland Speedway’s two summer weekends of NASCAR racing featuring the STP 300, July 19-21, and the GEICO 400, Sept. 13-15, visit www.ChicagolandSpeedway.com or call 1-888-629-RACE(7223).

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Chase spots are still anyone’s game with 10 races left before the cutoff

SONOMA, Calif. — Welcome, Martin Truex Jr., to the Chase conversation.

By winning Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, Truex wrote his name boldly on the list of likely participants in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

With 10 races left before the Chase field is set at Richmond, Truex is 10th in the Cup standings, having gained three spots on Sunday. He also has a win in his back pocket, should he slip out of the top 10 and need one of two wild card berths to make the Chase — an opportunity available to the drivers in positions 11-20 with the most victories.

Last week, Truex was an afterthought where the Chase was concerned. This week, he’s solidly in the mix.

But just as Truex’s win on Sunday shows how dramatically a driver’s fortunes can change with a win — as with Tony Stewart‘s victory earlier this month at Dover — it also highlights the unprecedented volatility of the standings this year.

Usually, by the time the Cup series leaves wine country, we have a relatively clear picture of who will make the Chase and who won’t.

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A year ago, eventual Cup champion Brad Keselowski was 10th in the standings — right where Truex is. Keselowski trailed Matt Kenseth, then the series leader, by 106 points. Truex’s 120-point deficit to current leader Jimmie Johnson isn’t radically different from Keselowski’s last year.

When you look at positions 11-20, however, the picture changes drastically. Last year, after 16 races, Keselowski in 10th had a 31-point lead over 12th-place Kyle Busch, a 65-point advantage over 16th-place Marcos Ambrose and a whopping 88-point cushion over 20th-place Jamie McMurray.

In other words, the first 16 races already had produced significant gaps in the standings particularly as they applied to positions 11-20.

This year, positions 11-20 are far more compressed and consequently much more capricious. Yes, Truex is 10th, but he’s only 20 points ahead of 15th-place Tony Stewart, who dropped five positions in the standings after a disappointing 28th-place run on Sunday.

A scant margin of 28 points separates Truex from 17th-place Kurt Busch, who overcame a pair of pit road speeding penalties on Sunday to salvage a fourth-place finish. Between Truex and 20th-place Jeff Burton there’s a 50-point edge, barely more than one race in points value.

Truex was able to make a significant move at Sonoma precisely because of the compression of the standings in positions 11-20. But what Truex did, any other driver in the group can do. Sunday’s runner-up, Jeff Gordon, is winless through 16 races and in 13th place — on the outside looking in.

A Gordon victory in the next 10 races could change that dramatically. With Gordon only 12 points behind Truex, a string of top fives could accomplish the same thing. Ditto for Joey Logano in 14th. Logano, though winless, is a mere 14 points out of 10th place.

The bottom line is that Truex can enjoy the victory that broke a 218-race drought, but he can’t relax. The 10 drivers in the compact group immediately behind him have the same opportunity to make the same sort of move.

Yes, Truex can feel justifiably proud of joining the Chase discussion, but at this point, there are still too many voices arguing for their own Chase eligibility to provide any degree of comfort.

For those currently on the Chase bubble, security isn’t likely to come until the series arrives at Richmond, 10 races down the road.

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Sonoma shakes it up

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Road America

 

Posted on by Holly Cain

Currently sitting in 25th place, Denny Hamlin is running out of time but remains focused

SONOMA, Calif. — Denny Hamlin still had grass on his drivers suit as he debriefed with his Joe Gibbs Racing team following a frustrating Sunday afternoon at Sonoma Raceway.

“That happens when you wreck,’’ Hamlin offered, shaking his head.

Typically a championship contender, Hamlin looked disappointed and dejected Sunday afternoon.

He knows the opportunities are dwindling for him to race himself into NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup post-season. And after missing four races recovering from a back injury, he is understandably feeling a certain sense of urgency.

Sunday’s outing on the 1.99-mile Sonoma road course didn’t help matters.

Although he ran among the top-10 early in the race, Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota was hit from behind by Tony Stewart midway through the event, sending him hard into the Turn 7 tire wall. He went off track again later in the race avoiding another incident and ultimately finished 23rd, his Camry beaten, his mojo battered, his driver’s suit littered with dust and grass.

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“I said before the weekend started, I get run over and spun every year,’’ Hamlin said. “Tony (Stewart) was just the guy today. He didn’t do it on purpose. We were trying to pass someone, that’s it.’’

Still, it contributed to Hamlin’s third finish of 20th or worse in the last four races and he now sits 25th in the Sprint Cup standings with two and a half months left to set the 12-driver Chase field. His best shot at the postseason is to get among the top-20 in the standings and win a race or two to secure one of the two Wild-Card berths.

He’s 83 points behind 20th place Jeff Burton and is perfectly aware it’s a deep hole to dig out of.

“I’d have to have a lot of stuff go my way that’s for sure,’’ Hamlin said. “Once we get past this race here, you could say our wheelhouse is coming up. But still we’re not gaining anything on 20th place.

“We need a lot of help and a lot of stuff go to our way, honestly. But we’re not running as strong as the Chase guys right now so you’ve got to earn it. You can’t just expect other guys to make mistakes.’’

Hamlin insists that he feels fine physically inside the race car, despite suffering a broken vertebrae in an accident at Auto Club Speedway in March. And he certainly looked in fine form when he initially returned to competition full-time in May.

He finished runner-up at Darlington, S.C. in his first full race back then fourth the next week in the sport’s longest race of the year, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. He even won back-to-back pole positions at Charlotte and then Dover, Del.

After making it look easy, Hamlin has had tough times since.

“I feel fine,’’ Hamlin insisted. “There’s nothing I feel inside the car that’s keeping me from performing better. But we missed the setup a couple weeks and had bad stuff happen. It’s just frustrating we can’t get a finish.’’

Hamlin said initially that if he didn’t qualify for the Chase, he might consider sitting the late season out in order to allow his back to heal better.

But Sunday, he didn’t see that as a likely possibility.

“Not until, it (making the Chase) absolutely can’t happen, would I even think about it,’’ Hamlin said.

“My physical status at this point is not keeping me from performing well. It’s other things at this point.

“I don’t think my strategy changes at all. I continue to try and win every week and do all I can. I’m just trying to get a good finish at this point. It seems like these road course races are just free-for-alls.’’

In the meantime, Hamlin stressed that his team just needs to get back on track.

“They’re performing better than us and that’s the benchmark we need to set ourselves at is our teammates,’’ Hamlin said. “We should be able to run with them and they didn’t get good finishes for different reasons but we’ve been on the tail-end of the trio the past few weeks.

“Of course, you could argue first few weeks back, we were the best car. So it’s circumstantial and I hate to get all emotional over a couple bad weeks but it’s obviously something we can’t afford at this point.’’

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Posted on by Staff Report

TSM picks driver, who won 2012 finale, for No. 30 Chevrolet

Cale Gale will return to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for the first time since winning the 2012 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Gale will drive the No. 30 Chevrolet for Turner Scott Motorsports in the UNOH 225 (Thursday, 8 p.m. ET, SPEED) this week at Kentucky Speedway.

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"I can’t thank everyone … enough for this wonderful opportunity to get back behind the wheel of a truck," Gale said in a team release. "TSM has a great intermediate track program and I don’t expect anything different from my team, I hope that we will be able to bring home a solid finish for everyone at Turner Scott Motorsports."

Since the thrilling win at Homestead, Gale has been a crew chief for developmental drivers. He prefers to be in the car, but noted that without a full ride or backing, he had to make a living.

The finish at Homestead was one of the best of the season, as Gale tailed leader Kyle Busch during a green-white-checkered restart. In the No. 33, Gale eventually got a great run off Turn 4 as the white flag dropped and banged with Busch through the final lap.

Video: Watch the thrilling end of last year’s finale

Gale led the duo to the start/finish line on the inside; it appeared Busch might have enough momentum up top to make the last-gasp pass, but Gale squeezed Busch’s truck into the fence to win by .014 seconds.

"It’s not my style, but I knew that, if I could pinch him a little bit, I could get the advantage, and pretty much, that’s what I was thinking at that point," Gale said after the race. "A guy like me, it’s my first opportunity to come down for the checkered flag in a NASCAR race. Kyle’s a racer. He’s been in the same position I’ve been in. We’ve all seen hungry racers get an opportunity and take it. That’s what you have to do in this sport. He owes me, but I saw the checkers in the final race.
 
"When it comes down to the final straightaway to win at Homestead in the last race, and your first NASCAR win, I believe anybody would do it."

The 28-year-old driver has 32 career starts in the Camping World Truck Series. In addition to his win at Homestead, Gale has three top-fives and 10 top-10s.

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Posted on by Staff Report

Biffle places in top 10; Logano keeps hot streak going

For the second consecutive week, Greg Biffle led the way for the Coca-Cola Racing Family.

Coming off his first win of the season at Michigan International Speedway, Biffle placed eighth at Sonoma Raceway, his third top-10 in the past four years at the 1.99-mile road course.

In just two weeks, Biffle has gone from out of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup to sixth place in the points standings.

No other driver from the Coca-Cola Racing Family joined Biffle in the top 10, but Joey Logano was closest. He finished 11th and is still very much in the hunt for one of two Wild-Card entries.

Ryan Newman finished 15th.

A roundup of the Coca-Cola Racing Family in order of how they finished at Sonoma:

Greg Biffle (No. 16)

Roush Fenway Racing, Ford 

Recap: It’s time to start looking at Biffle as more than just a guy who excels on the 1.5- and 2-mile tracks that populate the circuit. Sonoma’s showing proved that this is one versatile veteran. Although his performance on short tracks this year hasn’t been the best, Biffle looks like a threat to finish in the top-five every week.
Quotable: “It was a great day. We could have been a little bit better, but I’m happy with a top-10. Our pit strategy didn’t go our way, but it was close. We wanted to stay on the track all day because we knew that would lead to a good finish and that’s what we did. We’re pretty happy with it.”
His standing: Biffle is sixth in the standings with 479 points.
Outlook: Biffle doesn’t have a great history at Kentucky Speedway, but it’s difficult to judge his performance because there have only been two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at the 1.5-mile tri-oval. Biffle’s banked win and recent strong showings gives him some cushion to fall back on if he has another less-than-stellar showing.

Joey Logano (No. 22)

Penske Racing, Ford

Recap: Logano wasn’t too disappointed that his streak of five consecutive top-10s ended at Sonoma. That’s because Logano finished 11th at the tricky 1.99-mile road course, then stated that his streak of top-11 finishes was at six. Logano is in 14th place in the standings, and he’s off the radar. But he shouldn’t be. Not including the 25-point penalty he incurred after his car failed inspection earlier this year, Logano would be in eighth place in the points standings. Of course, the penalty happened, so the driver of the No. 22 Ford needs to keep it up — and possibly win a race.
Quotable: “It was eventful. I was kind of disappointed at the beginning of the race because we were going backwards in a hurry. I couldn’t get into the corner and couldn’t get off the corner. We just had some braking issues and some chassis setup stuff for the exit, but the guys did a good job. They got the car better. We never had enough speed, so we really just focused on making sure we had some tires at the end because I had about 20 laps of good in it and then it hit a light switch and I’d go backwards in a hurry. We made sure we had something at the end because we knew we weren’t good on the long runs, so we put tires on it and tried to forge our way forward. We came up 11th — just a little bit short for our goal to get through today with a solid top-10, but from where we started today it was a good finish for us, but it’s never good enough.”
His standing: Logano is 14th in the standings with 439 points.
Outlook: On 1.5-mile tracks this year, Logano’s best showings are Charlotte (fifth), Texas (fifth) Las Vegas (12th). He could be in line for another good week at 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway.

Ryan Newman (No. 39)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Recap: Newman’s been around long enough to have several Sonoma starts under his belt. His streak of finishing outside the top 10 continued, though, at a track where he hasn’t finished better than 15th since 2008. The small positive outlook from that is Newman’s 15th-place finish came Sunday.
Quotable: “I just couldn’t drive the way I needed to. We didn’t have the best Haas Automation Chevy this weekend, but the guys worked hard and definitely made it better for the race today. We just would have liked to have made it even better.”
His standing: Newman is 18th in the standings with 418 points.
Outlook: Just 10 races remain until the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field is set. Due to Martin Truex Jr. winning at Sonoma, Newman needs a win and several strong showings over the remainder of the season to have a shot.

Denny Hamlin (No. 11)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Recap: Hamlin ran in the top-10, but his outside chance of pulling off the win unspun when he was, well, spun into the grass by fellow Coca-Cola Racing Family driver Tony Stewart. Hamlin said he knew it wasn’t intentional, and he still managed to finish ahead of Stewart in 23rd place. Still, the driver is dejected. His Chase chances are still flickering, but it’s getting darker by the day.
Quotable: “I said before the weekend started, I get run over and spun every year. Tony was just the guy today. He didn’t do it on purpose. We were trying to pass someone, that’s it. We need a lot of help and a lot of stuff to go our way, honestly. But we’re not running as strong as the Chase guys right now so you’ve got to earn it. You can’t just expect other guys to make mistakes.”
His standing: Hamlin is 25th in the standings with 320 points.
Outlook: Perhaps a trip to the Bluegrass State will help Hamlin gets over his blues. With not much historical data on which to rely, anybody could win Saturday night’s event. If Hamlin pulls through, he’d get a chance to re-look at the points standings and figure out what it might take to get him in the top 20.

Tony Stewart (No. 14)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Recap: For the first time in more than a month, Stewart had a bad result at a race. The driver had climbed his way into the top 10 with consecutive finishes of seventh, first, fourth and fifth. At the 1.99-mile Sonoma road course, Stewart was involved in a number of scrapes, but he got the better of almost all of them. Almost. At the end of the event, Stewart and Jeff Burton got tangled, and the resulting wreck moved Stewart from inside the top 10 to 15th in the standings.
Quotable: “Just too many mistakes today.”
His standing: Stewart is 15th in the standings with 433 points.
Outlook: Now is not the time for Stewart to stew. He still has a spot in the Chase, but if Martin Truex Jr. slips out of the top 10 and Kasey Kahne stays outside the top 10, both would almost certainly rank higher than Stewart in the standings. That means Stewart’s Chase chances, so certain even a week ago, are still up in the air.

Danica Patrick (No. 10)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Recap: Patrick’s first foray to a road course in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was frustrating, as it so often is for first-timers. The driver of the No. 10 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing finished 29th, gaining two positions from her starting point. She went off the road twice, including on Lap 64 with a cut tire and hit the tire barrier, bringing moderate damage to her car.
Quotable: “It was a long day — a long weekend. We just couldn’t get the car to the point where I was comfortable with it. It’s disappointing because I know the GoDaddy guys worked really hard all weekend. We just couldn’t get much to go our way this weekend. Having the cut tire and going into the tire barrier was just sort of salt in the wound. Hopefully we have a better weekend next week at Kentucky.”
Her standing: Patrick is 27th in the standings with 292 points.
Outlook: Don’t be surprised if Patrick pulls out a solid showing at Kentucky. One of the biggest hindrances for her this year is that other drivers have so much more experience on these tracks than her. Given that this is the third Cup race at Kentucky, that gap of information isn’t nearly as wide this week.

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READ: Sonoma, Road America
weekend recap

READ: Toyota/Save Mart 350
highlights

READ: Standings Shuffle
Sonoma shakes it up

READ: Allmendinger wins
Road America