Posted on by

Vickers, Harvick, Patrick fought to the start/finish line — and beyond

Starting lineup | Viewer’s Guide | Video: Up to Speed

FORT WORTH, Texas — Hard racing on a short track left some drivers still trying to sort out hard feelings as NASCAR’s top series moved to Texas Motor Speedway.

Contact last weekend at Martinsville Speedway involving Danica Patrick, Kevin Harvick and Brian Vickers resulted in a few frayed nerves and one driver spinning another after the checkered flag. Earlier, Vickers had been in a group battling for position that resulted in Patrick spinning Dale Earnhardt Jr. Harvick later punted the No. 55 car at the finish after he, Patrick and Vickers leaned on one another going for 11th place off the final corner.

Friday in Fort Worth, it was clear that emotions had cooled, although drivers were still trying to sort things out. Vickers — this week beginning his stint as fill-in for the injured Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 car — said he called Harvick and didn’t get an answer, although the two had texted a few times.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• View all articles
• View all videos
• View all photos

“We were on a different page to start with, and I think we ended closer to the same page,” Vickers said. “Maybe not quite where we need to be. I’d like to spend a few minutes with him. He was somehow under the impression that I put him three-wide on a restart, but the reality is, I started on the inside and he started on the outside, and passed me and put himself three-wide. I didn’t have anything to do with that. He took his frustrations out on us. It’s unfortunate. It didn’t cost us anything in the race, but it tore our car up. I hate it for the team. This stuff is unnecessary. But I guess it’s Martinsville racing, right?”

Friday, Harvick had larger concerns — his engine expired in final practice, which will force him to start Saturday night’s event from the rear. Harvick has spoken with Patrick, who finished a surprising 12th in her first Martinsville event. Patrick, Vickers and Harvick crossed the finish line three-wide, with the No. 10 car on top and Vickers in the middle. Right after the trio took the checkered flag, Harvick sent Vickers spinning.

“I said thanks, because it looked like he was giving me a hand there with someone that was a little upset,” Patrick said of her conversation with Harvick. “He was a little upset with (Vickers), too. I think there were a lot of people upset with Vickers after Martinsville. I don’t know. I haven’t raced with him very much, so I’m getting on with my day. You saw what happened, and like I was told by a couple of people, I just got hit, and I did. At least I only lost one spot.”

To Vickers, it was just hard racing on a short track. He said all is OK between him and Earnhardt, who was battling a loose track bar and just holding on late in the race. But Vickers was running close behind Patrick when the earlier contact with the No. 88 car occurred, and initially took some grief from television analysts for sparking the event. Friday, he relayed his side of the situation to reporters in Texas.

“We all understand, it’s just racing at Martinsville,” Vickers said. “We all went in there and everybody kind of slammed on brakes, and (Patrick) got a little loose and the 43 (car of Aric Almirola) got me, and I got her. … I just wanted to kind of clarify that. … I spoke to Junior this week, and he was fine. He understood it’s Martinsville racing. I think he had a broken track bar, and they were just hanging on for dear life. But none of it obviously was intentional. I want to go out there and do the best I can and win. I’ve got to race hard, but we want to earn respect the right way.”

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by

Crew chief Owens has made the rounds, but still values the learning experiences

FORT WORTH, Texas — For Kyle Larson, everything is new. From tracks to procedures to accomplishments, so much seems untrodden for a driver journeying through a full NASCAR Nationwide Series campaign for the first time. And the same might be said for his crew chief, even if he’s seen and done it all before.

Trent Owens has been a fixture in the NASCAR garages for nearly a decade now, ever since his hopes of making it behind the wheel gave way to an engineering degree and a role atop the pit box. Over that time, the nephew to Richard Petty has worked with a staggering number of drivers — “I lost count,” he says when asked how many — and through that experience developed an open mind and a knack for adaptation.

But even a crew chief who’s worked with 32 different drivers at the national level can discover a new experience, and he’s in the middle of one right now. Owens has won five races at the Nationwide level, worked with the likes of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin and Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne. But now with Larson, the 20-year-old wunderkind who’s fast in everything he drives, the veteran crew chief is competing for a championship for the first time.

"I see the different driving styles, I see the different trends of how they race. …I just go at it with an open mind. I think that helps."

— Trent Owens

“This is really the first year I’ve had one driver that’s going to be with me the entire season,” Owens said inside the No. 32 team hauler at Texas Motor Speedway. “I’ve never run for a championship myself, so that’s going to be fun.”

It already has been, with Larson seventh in points and coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes. First with Braun Racing and then with Turner Scott Motorsports, Owens was a crew chief who juggled multiple drivers, adjusting to new attitudes and styles almost on a week-to-week basis. He worked with nine different drivers last year alone, winning with James Buescher at Daytona and Nelson Piquet Jr. at Road America. The closest he ever came to working a full season with one driver was in 2010, when he did 27 races with Reed Sorenson — and five more with two other guys.

A crew chief learns a lot by keeping that many balls in the air. How to avoid complacency. How to keep an open mind. How to work with all different kinds of personalities — or accents, in the cases of Miguel Paludo, Jacques Villeneuve and Alex Tagliani. Those experiences are paying off now that Owens has one single driver in his charge and can funnel all his focus and understanding toward one voice over the radio.

“I think it does make it easier,” he said. “When you have one driver for a long period of time, and that’s all you’ve ever had, you can probably become real complacent with a lot of things. Myself, having 20-something drivers, I see the different personalities, I see the different driving styles, I see the different trends of how they race. … I just go at it with an open mind. I think that helps.”

Owens isn’t sure if the pairing was intentional — co-owners Steve Turner and Harry Scott Jr. set up the program — but it certainly feels that way, given the juxtaposition of the crew chief’s wealth of experience at NASCAR’s national level, and the driver’s lack of it. No doubt, Larson can wheel it, but he also needs to grow familiar with event procedures, pit stops and the other small details that can lose a race. He needs someone to make use of the concise but accurate feedback he gives about the race car. And on the pit box, he has someone who once was a little bit like himself.

Not necessarily as a driver — “guys like Larson made me quit,” said Owens, who made 12 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts with a best finish of 14th — but as a rookie who could benefit from someone else’s experience. Owens was once a rookie crew chief, and he worked with drivers like Busch, Hamlin and Dave Blaney who helped accelerate his learning curve. With those guys, there was no guessing. They might not have been full-time in his vehicles, but their job was to jump behind the wheel and go.

“The biggest thing they bring over is, there’s no learning time with them,” Owens said. “They’re in the race car, and we’re dialing in the race car. There’s no learning the track, there’s no wait period. So from a rookie crew chief’s perspective, that’s good. We didn’t have both of us trying to learn. They were pretty much guiding me in what directions we needed to work toward. So I think that sped things up for me a lot.”

Now that situation has reversed itself, and it’s a crew chief helping to bring along a rookie driver adjusting to races that are longer and more involved than anything Larson experienced in the sprint car ranks. Of course, when it comes to what happens behind the wheel, Owens turns it over to his driver — who relies on more than just abundant natural talent to get the job done.

“He does have an exceptional gift for driving the race vehicle,” Owens said. “… And he excels at that. Behind the scenes, I think he studies well. He does his part as a driver and researches and looks at these tracks, and does his simulation on the iRacing or whatever these kids do now. But I think he does a very, very good job of that, and I think that’s sometimes overlooked, the work he puts in personally to show up and do good. I think he’s just really focused. This is all he wants to do is race. He has a very strong passion for being the best and winning. That’s something you’re born with. That’s not something you’re taught.”

It’s in Owens’ blood, too. His father Randy, also Petty’s brother-in-law, was killed in a pit road accident at Talladega when Trent was only four months old. The Petty family, he said, essentially took in him and his brother after that. As a teenager, he was working summers in the family business, Petty Enterprises, and living in the big house in Level Cross, N.C. Being in that environment, it was impossible to not want to race.

“At 13, they provided me with a summer job at Petty Enterprises. We went through every department in the building, checking out what I might and might not like,” said Owens, who doesn’t advertise his connection to the King. “That education, you can’t even buy. I don’t play that up, because they’re just people. They’re just family. But there’s no doubt, they’re the reason I’m doing what I’m doing. That passion was built in me early.”

And it continues this weekend — not just at Texas but at Rockingham Speedway, where Owens will also crew chief a Turner Scott entry for Larson in Sunday’s Truck Series event. The vehicle will feature an Autism Speaks paint scheme, and have the name of Owens’ 5-year-old son Gray — who suffers from the condition — over the right-side window opening. It will be another first for a crew chief who has seen it all before.

“That’s a real special deal,” Owens said. “I don’t even know how to thank them. … Just getting that awareness out there, and my team owners being willing to help in that, it’s pretty cool that they did that. It’s pretty rare to be a part of something like that. And then to be able to crew chief the vehicle — I don’t even know what to say.”


___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by

Busch’s dominance leads to third consecutive Nationwide victory

RESULTS

FORT WORTH, Tex. — Kyle Busch continued to celebrate his return to Joe Gibbs Racing’s NASCAR Nationwide Series program on Saturday night, winning the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. 

Winless in his own Nationwide equipment last year, Busch visited Victory Lane for the fourth time in six races this season, becoming the first driver in series history to win four of the first six.

The victory was Busch’s record sixth at Texas and his record 55th in the Nationwide Series. Brad Keselowski ran second, 2.272 seconds behind the winner. Austin Dillon was third, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick. 

Contact between Sam Hornish Jr. and Jeremy Clements on Lap 141 changed the complexion of the race and eliminated Hornish, who entered the event as the series leader. From that point on, Busch had the dominant car.

Hornish finished 34th and kept the points lead but saw his advantage over Regan Smith trimmed from 28 points to two.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• View all articles
• View all videos
• View all photos

"It was a tough race," said Busch, who capped a banner day on which he already had won the pole for Saturday night’s Sprint Cup event. "It was a good race, but we had to work hard to have a better race car throughout the race. Brad there was strong, and so was Sam, and it just sort of played into our favor there with some of the pit stops and pit strategy

"At one time, I thought I was fading way too fast, and I was like, ‘Hey, these tires are terrible,’ but we had to save ’em. We had to wait in order to put on our fresh tires there in the middle of the race. The car was awesome today."

Keselowski had a straightforward assessment of Busch’s dominance at Texas.

"If you put an elite driver in an elite car, you should get elite results," Keselowski said. 

In a scenario that augured well for Saturday night’s Sprint Cup tires, new tires made an enormous difference on Friday. In caution for debris on Lap 66, Keselowski, Hornish and Busch were among those who opted for fuel only, and those three drivers restarted at the front of the field on Lap 70.

Their stay at the point was short-lived. On Lap 73, Kasey Kahne, on new tires, passed Hornish for the lead. One lap later, Brian Vickers, also on fresh rubber, blew past Hornish into the second position. By Lap 90, Hornish had slipped to ninth, more than eight seconds behind Kahne.

The tradeoff was that Hornish, Keselowski and Busch each had saved an extra set of tires and they took advantage of the new rubber during pit stops under caution for debris on Lap 95. Kahne also changed four tires under the caution, leaving him with one set for the last half of the race.

After the restart on Lap 99, the roles were reserved. Hornish, on new tires, took the green in 16th and stormed through the field, wresting the lead from Matt Kenseth, who had stayed out under the caution, on Lap 107. Having lost several spots with a slow pit stop, Kahne overtook Hornish for the top spot on Lap 111, with Busch and Keselowski in hot pursuit of the two frontrunners. 

Busch dispatched both Hornish and Kahne to assume the lead on Lap 115 before caution flew on Lap 120 for Robert Richardson‘s second spin of the race. That shuffled the field again for a restart on Lap 128, with Keselowski quickly taking the lead, followed by Busch and Austin Dillon.

After Hornish’s demise, by the time the lead-lap cars came to pit road under yellow on Lap 168, all contenders were back on equal footing, taking four tires for the run to the finish.

Note: There were 22 lead changes among 11 drivers, both Nationwide Series track records, breaking the marks of 17 and 10 from the spring race of 2005.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Race – O’Reilly Auto Parts 300

Texas Motor Speedway

Fort Worth, Texas

               1. (2) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 200, $70225.

               2. (5) Brad Keselowski(i), Ford, 200, $53225.

               3. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 200, $51325.

               4. (11) Dale Earnhardt Jr.(I), Chevrolet, 200, $35125.

               5. (7) Kevin Harvick(i), Chevrolet, 200, $29225.

               6. (9) Matt Kenseth(i), Toyota, 200, $25300.

               7. (6) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 200, $29250.

               8. (16) Kasey Kahne(i), Chevrolet, 200, $21875.

               9. (13) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 200, $27585.

               10. (14) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200, $28200.

               11. (20) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 200, $26725.

               12. (8) Parker Kligerman, Toyota, 200, $26475.

               13. (10) Elliott Sadler, Toyota, 200, $27225.

               14. (1) Alex Bowman #, Toyota, 200, $30265.

               15. (25) Reed Sorenson, Ford, 200, $26130.

               16. (17) Kevin Swindell #, Ford, 200, $25745.

               17. (23) Chris Buescher, Ford, 200, $25235.

               18. (19) Nelson Piquet Jr. #, Chevrolet, 200, $24650.

               19. (27) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 200, $24515.

               20. (18) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 199, $25080.

               21. (28) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 199, $24295.

               22. (36) Jeffrey Earnhardt #, Ford, 199, $24185.

               23. (30) Dexter Stacey #, Ford, 199, $24000.

               24. (35) Blake Koch, Toyota, 199, $23890.

               25. (31) Jamie Dick, Chevrolet, 199, $24230.

               26. (15) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 198, $23645.

               27. (24) Johanna Long, Chevrolet, 197, $23535.

               28. (34) Kevin Lepage, Chevrolet, 195, $23415.

               29. (39) Juan Carlos Blum #, Ford, 194, $23240.

               30. (37) Eric McClure, Toyota, 194, $23430.

               31. (38) Robert Richardson Jr., Chevrolet, 190, $23000.

               32. (12) Kyle Larson #, Chevrolet, 190, $22890.

               33. (21) Travis Pastrana, Ford, 186, $22775.

               34. (4) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 159, $22664.

               35. (22) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Accident, 142, $22547.

               36. (26) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, Engine, 120, $21195.

               37. (33) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, Electrical, 96, $15075.

               38. (32) Hal Martin #, Toyota, Transmission, 53, $15040.

               39. (40) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, Electrical, 10, $14790.

               40. (29) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 3, $14755.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  123.853 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 25 Mins, 20 Secs. Margin of Victory:  2.272 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  8 for 42 laps.

Lead Changes:  22 among 11 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   A. Bowman # 1-4; S. Hornish Jr. 5-22; B. Keselowski(i) 23-26; L. Cassill(i) 27; K. Busch(i) 28-53; B. Keselowski(i) 54-65; J. Clements 66; M. Wallace 67; B. Keselowski(i) 68-69; S. Hornish Jr. 70-72; K. Kahne(i) 73-94; M. Kenseth(i) 95-106; S. Hornish Jr. 107-110; K. Kahne(i) 111-114; K. Busch(i) 115-122; B. Koch 123; S. Hornish Jr. 124-127; B. Keselowski(i) 128-141; K. Busch(i) 142-148; B. Keselowski(i) 149; K. Busch(i) 150-168; J. Earnhardt # 169; K. Busch(i) 170-200.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  K. Busch(i) 5 times for 91 laps; B. Keselowski(i) 5 times for 33 laps; S. Hornish Jr. 4 times for 29 laps; K. Kahne(i) 2 times for 26 laps; M. Kenseth(i) 1 time for 12 laps; A. Bowman # 1 time for 4 laps; M. Wallace 1 time for 1 lap; B. Koch 1 time for 1 lap; L. Cassill(i) 1 time for 1 lap; J. Clements 1 time for 1 lap; J. Earnhardt # 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in Points: S. Hornish Jr. – 221; R. Smith – 219; A. Dillon – 213; J. Allgaier – 212; B. Scott – 212; P. Kligerman – 186; E. Sadler – 185; A. Bowman # – 183; B. Vickers – 182; T. Bayne – 181.


___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by

Kyle Busch will start on front row alongside brother Kurt after edging him late

Read more: Lineup for Saturday’s race

FORT WORTH, Tex. — There was no beating the Busches Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.
The 42nd of 45 drivers to make a qualifying run in time trials for Saturday night’s NRA 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, Kyle Busch took advantage of the late draw and stole the pole from bother Kurt Busch by .086 seconds.

Kyle toured the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway in a track-record 27.509 seconds (196.299 mph) in winning his second Coors Light pole award of the season, his first at Texas and the 12th of his career.

Kurt, the 37th driver to make a qualifying attempt, ran 195.688 mph in securing the starting spot beside his brother on the outside of the front row.

 

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• View all articles
• View all videos
• View all photos

We used the whole toolbox today,” said Kyle, whose team had improved his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota throughout two practice sessions on Friday. “I can’t say enough about everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing, all the guys and gals at the shop that work so hard and give us some great equipment to come to the race track with.

“I appreciate that (crew chief) Dave (Rogers) and these guys dug in hard and worked hard to give us a good piece for qualifying, and I feel like we’ve got a good piece for the race (Saturday) night, too.”

Aric Almirola (195.009 mph) qualified third, followed by his Richard Petty Motorsports teammate, Marcos Ambrose (194.946 mph). Martin Truex Jr. (194.770 mph) nailed down the fifth starting spot for the seventh Cup race of the season.

It was a bittersweet performance for Kurt Busch, who was elated by the improvement of his No. 78 Furniture Row team but disappointed at not winning the pole.

“Because it was Kyle, I wouldn’t want to lose it anybody but him, but I’m bitter because I did lose it to him,” said Kurt, who was consistently fast in both Thursday test sessions and both Friday practices.

Series leader Jimmie Johnson, the only two-time Cup winner so far this season, will start seventh after a lap at 194.503 mph. Brad Keselowski, the defending series champion and second in the standings, qualified 16th. Dale Earnhardt Jr., third in points, will take the green flag from the sixth spot.

Danica Patrick will start 42nd. Scott Speed and Scott Riggs failed to make the 43-car field.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by

Montoya, son share special connection on the racetrack

On a recent visit to the race track, Juan Pablo Montoya was more nervous than he’d ever been before — and Montoya wasn’t even driving.

No, Montoya was experiencing the delicious agony of watching his son Sebastian compete in a go-kart race.

"One part of it is really, really cool to see, but it’s stressful," Montoya told the NASCAR Wire Service during a conversation at Martinsville Speedway. "I used to laugh about my mom getting nervous about me racing — now you get it."

"I’m not pushing him at all. I want to make sure it’s a hobby for him."

— Juan Pablo Montoya, on 8-year-old son Sebastian

Sebastian, who turns 8 this week, began racing late last summer and has been competing in about one event per month. Montoya, whose father Pablo encouraged his first forays into karting, has been careful not to push his son into racing.

"He always liked it," the Colombian driver said before NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at the Virginia short track. "We gave him (a go-kart) years ago, but we had it very limited, just for him to do some laps — they call them ‘baby karts.’ For his birthday last year, we gave him the go-kart, and it’s hard, the transition. He was doing probably 20 miles an hour, and now he does 60-something."

Montoya already can see potential in Sebastian’s driving.

"The progression has been incredible. I’m not pushing him at all. I want to make sure it’s a hobby for him. For me it was that way. I think, since Tiger Woods came out, every parent thinks they’ve got to go and do it every day. You don’t have to do that.

"Because the day they turn 13 or 14, they look at a girl… if you’re forcing them (in any sport), they don’t want to do it again. It’s got to be something fun for him. If he wants to go, we go. If he doesn’t, we don’t. Everything’s about go-karting for him right now, because it’s fun."

Even before his birthday, Sebastian has been racing in the 8-10-year-old classification against drivers who have been competing for two or three years, Montoya says.

"The first few times you get really nervous about him, and then you get more worried about him doing well," Montoya said. "You want to have really good equipment for him, but at the same time, you want him to learn. The better equipment you give him, the less he’s going to push himself.

"The problem is that, when you go to the nationals, the good kids have the best equipment as well. When we started, in the first race (in Florida’s winter series), he was last and miles off the pace in local races. Three weeks ago, he finished second.

"In local races, he’s doing really well, and in national races, he’s getting a lot better, but he still has a way to go, I think."

Montoya, who is based in Miami during the racing season, helps make sure Sebastian learns during occasional visits to the go-kart track at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"I push him a little when we practice together to learn to pass, and when he puts himself in a bad situation, I’ll make him pay," Montoya said. "I run my go-kart, and he runs his, and I’ll drive him off the race track.

"If he’s right behind me before braking, he’s got to go. If I’m behind him, and he lifts a little early, I’ll dive-bomb him as well. If he tries to pass me on the outside, I’ll drive him off the race track — I do, I do. I’m not going to put him into the tire barriers or anything, but there’s curbs at the exits, and I’ll make sure he runs over the curb to the other side, so he learns that, if you go there, it’s not going to work.

"But he loves it. We laugh about it, and it makes for a fun day."

Because of his schedule in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing, Montoya hasn’t seen Sebastian compete since January. In fact, Montoya’s wife Connie has taken on extra duty, driving Sebastian to his events in Florida. From a social standpoint, both parents have seen an enormous change in their son.

"He’s a very shy kid, but at the race track, he’s a different kid," Montoya said. "He’s learned to socialize, play around with all the kids, have a good time. It changed him as a person completely."

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by Holly Cain

Since breaking his winless streak, Edwards’ efforts have gone unnoticed among fights, rivalries

Starting lineup | Viewer’s guide | Fantasy power rankings | Kyle Busch breaks record

FORT WORTH, Texas — For a fellow that wows crowds with his signature victory backflips, stars in national commercials for Subway and has been an immediate asset to the ESPN Nationwide Series broadcast booth, Carl Edwards‘ success in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series this season has been a relatively low-profile affair.

With reigning Cup champ Brad Keselowski, five-time champ Jimmie Johnson and the sport’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrestling each week for the championship points lead and feuding drivers’ post-race brouhahas stealing headlines, Edwards’ workman-like run up the standings hasn’t spent much time in the spotlight.

He led a race-best 122 laps to snap a 70-race winless streak in February at Phoenix and has three top-five finishes in six races, but sits stealthily at seventh place in the standings entering Saturday night’s race at Texas Motor Speedway.

It may not have the wow factor, but it puts Edwards well within striking distance of the leaders and, with an early season victory, in prime position for a potential Chase berth.

And he’ll take that.

"I’ve been having a lot of fun. And it’s a huge relief to have a win early."

— Carl Edwards

“Yeah, we’ve been a little bit quiet, but that’s OK,’’ said Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford.  “I’ve been having a lot of fun. And it’s a huge relief to have a win early. That was big for a number of reasons: Number one, we felt like we could run that well, so to get that win based on the crew chief and the driver and the pit crew all working really well together that early in the season, that was huge.  The other thing is it lets us play around a little bit more with setups and driving and strategy because we already have that win and we’re pretty decently high up in the points, so it’s just been kind of relaxing and fun.’’

Of course, the affable Edwards is all smiles even when faced with trials and tribulations like an uncharacteristic free fall in the championship last year. His 15th-place ranking in 2012 was the worst of his career and the only the second time (the other was 2006) in his eight full-time seasons that he didn’t qualify for NASCAR’s postseason.

More typically, Edwards is contending for the title. He’s finished top-five in the standings four times and runner-up twice, including 2008 when he won a series-best nine races, and in 2011, when he tortuously lost the championship to Tony Stewart in a tiebreaker in the final race of the season.

Last year was tough and draining. And Edwards left this year’s season-opening Daytona 500 still shaking his head after crashing five different cars — mostly collected in accidents not of his own doing.

The win a week later at Phoenix put him back on track and seemed to bode well for his 2013 pairing with veteran crew chief Jimmy Fennig, who won the 2004 Cup title with driver Kurt Busch. At the track where he will compete this weekend, he has the sixth-best driver rating and only four drivers have led more than his 493 laps out front.

“I wish it was just up to willpower, because we would be all right, but it’s just the fact that Jimmy (Fennig) has a lot of experience,’’ Edwards said explaining the strong start. “I’m doing everything I can do. My pit crew has been a huge, huge part of our success this season. We had a bad race at Martinsville, but, other than that, our cars have also been very fast and very competitive.

“Doug Yates has been doing a great job with the engines. I think everything has to be there, and we’ve had a little bit of luck. Things have gone well, so I think if we just continue working as hard as we can, we’re running a little bit better now than we were last year. So we could weather a bad luck streak a little better right now, but it’s all the parts of the team.

“We’ve got good cars, good people, good pit stops.  That’s good stuff.”

He’s also got history in his back pocket at the super fast 1.5-mile Fort Worth track, where his Roush Fenway Racing team has nine wins with five different drivers and Ford has 11 victories overall.

Edwards owns three of those wins. He swept the track’s two races in 2008 and won this event in 2005 starting from the 30th position. His runner-up finish to Johnson in 2008 is the fifth closest finish in the track’s history.

“I don’t know why we’re so good here, but it is nice to come here,’’ Edwards said. “I think all of us look forward to coming here because of our past performances, and I know we expect a lot out of ourselves here.’’ ___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by Holly Cain

Five-Time used Twitter to announce wife’s pregnancy, poke fun at his perception

FORT WORTH, Texas — It was a big week on social media for last week’s big NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner Jimmie Johnson. He announced on Twitter that he and wife Chandra are expecting their second child in September.

And he had a little fun with Junior Nation, too.

Johnson addressed both subjects Friday morning in the Texas Motor Speedway garage. And he was still smiling.

"I saw a theme developing and I just felt like having a little fun with it and kind of stirring the pot."

— Jimmie Johnson

When Johnson — as the race leader — drove by Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s hobbled car during a late caution in Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway, he drew the ire of Earnhardt’s massively loyal and loud legions. They took to Twitter and questioned — many angrily — why the five-time champ would put his Hendrick Motorsports teammate down a lap instead of stopping on track and waiting for Earnhardt to get his car moving again. Earnhardt filed in line just behind Johnson.

“The car is stopped in the middle of the road and now it backs up and I know that I am the head of 42 cars,’’ Johnson explained. “I assume he’s (Earnhardt Jr.) backing up to let me by and I’ve been in that position where I’ve got to get turned around in front of the field and can’t, and my goal is to get the hell out of the way. I just assumed he was backing up to let me go through.

“After talking to him and Stevie (Letarte, Earnhardt’s crew chief), really the situation was I was just trying to get going and would liked to have not put him down a lap. But there is no fault held there by what I did. Again, I thought he was backing up to get out of the way.”

Instead of passionately defending himself to the Twitter universe earlier in the week, the good-natured Johnson chose to poke back.

“You haters have it right,’’ Johnson tweeted on Monday. “I’m a bad teammate, I have a cheated up car, I’m lucky and the race was fixed. Gotta love twitter.’’

On Friday, he was still grinning about the situation.

“I just honestly wanted to have fun with it,’’ Johnson said. “I saw a theme developing and I just felt like having a little fun with it and kind of stirring the pot. It’s funny, after that tweet I haven’t had much negative coming in.

“Again, I even said this in interviews earlier in the week, there is a small but loud fan base. I think all of us that work in the sport can sense that through the social channels. … I think there is a large chunk that are pro No. 48, then the majority are respectful of No. 48 (and) then there is a small portion that (isn’t). I will take those numbers. That is fine by me.”

Earnhardt said Thursday he wasn’t upset with Johnson and would have done the same thing himself.

“He did actually try to slow down and I think that he saw that I had two left-side flat tires and it was pretty pointless for him to wait,’’ Earnhardt said. “If he stopped at all, the guys behind him would have been able to pass him for that position. He couldn’t give up that opportunity or take that chance or that risk.

“I would have done the same thing Jimmie did. I’m leading the race. I’ve got to think about my team and my car and what I’m trying to do. I don’t think he did it out of spite or anything like that. He just was driving his race.’’

The resulting victory put Johnson back atop the Sprint Cup Series standings by six points over Brad Keselowski, and Johnson’s good news of his wife’s pregnancy capped off a good week.

Fittingly, Johnson made the announcement on Twitter that daughter Genevieve "is so excited to be a big sister”, considering that’s how the couple announced her birth in July 2010.

With the upcoming birth expected to come as the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins in earnest, Johnson said Friday he hasn’t arranged for a back-up driver yet.

“We know that we need to, but we still have some time,’’ Johnson said. “We are not sure who will be available come that time. 

“I was joking with Aric Almirola last weekend if he wanted to be my back-up driver again, but he clearly has a full-time gig and can’t do it. We will just have to see, but we will definitely have a plan like always. 

“Our doctor has told me that a father has never missed a birth. That gives me a lot of confidence that I will be able to do my weekend job and then be around during the week to meet number two.”

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by Staff Report

A few changes ahead of the O’Reilly Autoparts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway

Seth Barbour will fill in atop the No. 6 Cargill pit box for Roush Fenway and Trevor Bayne in tonight’s 300-mile Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Barbour, who normally serves as the No. 6 team’s head engineer, was slated to crew chief the No. 16 Roush Fenway NNS entry with rookie Chris Buescher in tonight’s race.

No. 6 team crew chief Mike Kelley left the track earlier in the day after not feeling well and is being treated at a local area hospital with flu-like symptoms. 

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• View all articles
• View all videos
• View all photos

Former Sprint Cup championship crew chief and current Roush Fenway vice president of competition Robbie Reiser will now serve as crew chief for Buescher and the No. 16 team in tonight’s race.

Barbour guided Buescher to a career-high seventh-place finish in his crew chief debut last month at Bristol.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by Staff Report

Veteran Cup drivers take places toward top of the leaderboard

Read more: Qualifying results

Alex Bowman kept Kyle Busch from winning his third Nationwide pole of the season at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday. The rookie’s fastest lap of 29.441 seconds won him the front starting spot for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300. Despite battling an illness in the morning, Bowman was able to clock a top speed of 183.418 mph.

Busch’s single lap of 29.478 seconds put him atop the leaderboard until Bowman took to the track. Busch, who finished just outside the top-10 fastest drivers earlier in practice, will start in second, putting two Toyotas in the front row.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• View all articles
 • View all videos
 • View all photos

Austin Dillon, Sam Hornish Jr., Brad Keselowski, Regan Smith, Kevin Harvick, Parker Kligerman, Matt Kenseth and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top 10, with most drivers noting a tight car.

Smith, fastest in the morning practice, couldn’t repeat the speed that gave him the final qualifying spot. He ran a best lap of 29.122 seconds this morning, but clocked a qualifying time of 29.556.

Rookie Kyle Larson will start 12th, just behind Dale Earnhardt Jr., after finishing .2 seconds behind the top speed.

Michael McDowell clocked at the bottom of the leaderboard, running 2.166 seconds behind Bowman. Scott Riggs, Joey Gase, Chase Miller, Jason White and McDowell did not qualify for the race.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 will air today, April 12, at 8:30 p.m. ET, on ESPN2.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by Staff Report

President Obama to honor No. 2 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship team

On Tuesday, reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Brad Keselowski will be honored by President Barack Obama at the White House along with other members of Penske Racing.

Penske Racing Owner Roger Penske, Penske Racing Vice Chairman Walter Czarnecki, No. 2 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew chief Paul Wolfe and other members of the Penske Racing team will join Keselowski.

The 2012 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup crown was Penske’s first in NASCAR’s premier series. Keselowski claimed Penske’s first national series title in 2010 with the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship.

This will be the 11th time the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion has been honored at the White House since 2000. NASCAR’s first official visit to the White House was in 1978 during President Jimmy Carter’s administration.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.