Gordon Makes History At The Brickyard

(Above Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

What a dominating day for Jeff Gordon as he became the winningest NASCAR driver ever at the track best known for IndyCar racing legends. Gordon won the 21st edition of the Brickyard 400, this year called the Crown Royal presents The John Wayne Walding 400, by pulling off a sick pass of teammate Kasey Kahne on the outside of turn two with 17 laps to go. The pass came on a late restart which have been Gordon’s achilles heel in recent seasons. Gordon started on the outside of Kahne powered around him and after a slight bobble, grabbed the top spot and pulled away to a 2.35 second lead.

Gordon visited victory lane at Indy for the 5th time in his Sprint Cup career, tying Formula One driver Michael Schumacher as the winningest driver in track history. Indy traditionalists will tell you Rick Mears, Al Unser, and A.J. Foyt are the true record holders, but this is an evolving racing world. Indianapolis Motor Speedway now hosts a large number of events and although the attendance was not great the drivers still consider this a premier race on the schedule. In 21 races at Indy, the Indiana native has now won five times and finished in the top ten on 17 occassions. That’s an unbelievable level of competitiveness at a track where Gordon grew up wanting to race at. It is certainly a dream realized that he is so competitive and now is in the record books.

As it stands I think Brad Keselowski has the best shot to knock off Jimmie Johnson and win the 2014 Sprint Cup Championship. But as I continue to say anything can happen with this new Chase knockout format. You certainly cannot count out Gordon with his team seemingly hitting on all cylinders and it really has set up to be a year to remember for Dale Earnhardt Jr. But how can you not root for Gordon to get his 5th Cup title? With six races remaining until the Chase begins a lot has yet to be determined, but it would be safe to say that Keselowski, Johnson, Harvick, and Gordon are the biggest favorites to compete for the title. Here’s a look at the Chase grid going into Pocono.

1. 2-Brad Keselowski 666 pts – 3 Wins (Las Vegas/Kentucky/Loudon)
2. 48-Jimmie Johnson 628 pts – 3 Wins (Charlotte/Dover/Michigan)
3. 24-Jeff Gordon 717 pts  – 2 Wins (Kansas/Indianapolis)
4. 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. 693 pts – 2 Wins (Daytona 500/Pocono)
5. 99-Carl Edwards 603 pts – 2 Wins (Bristol/Sonoma)
6. 22-Joey Logano  591 pts – 2 Wins (Texas/Richmond)
7. 4-Kevin Harvick 565 pts – 2 Wins (Phoenix/Darlington)
8. 18-Kyle Busch 609 pts – 1 Win (Auto Club)
9. 11-Denny Hamlin 572 pts – 1 Win (Talladega)
10. 43-Aric Almirola 496 pts – 1 Win (Daytona #2)
11. 41-Kurt Busch 456 pts – 1 Win (Martinsville)
12. 20-Matt Kenseth 661 pts
13. 31-Ryan Newman 606 pts
14. 15-Clint Bowyer 577 pts
15. 42-Kyle Larson 562 pts
16. 3-Austin Dillon 559 pts

Force Gets First Win At Norwalk

NORWALK, OHIO – I have always been a NASCAR fan at heart and also a huge open wheel racing supporter even after the CART-IRL split, but drag racing was a tough sell that I just didn’t seem to get; until I saw it live and in person. Three years ago, I attended the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals out in Norwalk, Ohio, and I was hooked. I spent some time at the track this past weekend as well and continue to be impressed by the show of speed.

It is really hard to describe what it is like to see two Nitro Funny Cars explode from the start line and rocket down a quarter-mile in just four seconds, under four seconds for the top fuel cars. From the smell, to the earth rumbling beneath you, and the unreal feeling when the cars take off like a shot out of a cannon, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series is just unbelievable. It is unlike any kind of racing I have ever seen in person. The only major form of racing that I have not experienced is Formula One and I can assume it is not as intense as NHRA drag racing. I mean were talking about 10,000 horsepower fire breathing engines spewing nitromethane gas.

Sunday’s final eliminations were highlighted by legend John Force’s 140^th career Funny Car win in a close race over Ron Capps. It was surprising to learn that Force claimed his first career win at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk. He won his second race of the 2014 season with a final round 4.113 second run at 317.27 mph. Force summed up the great experience that the Bader family puts on not just for the big NHRA event, but all season long in Ohio.

“It was special to me,” Force told NHRA.com. “The Bader family is P.T. Barnum doing this year-round, 90-some races a year. They light the fire under those fans. Look at the crowd on Friday night and that whole fireworks show. I’ve been real lucky in my career, and you want to win them all, but I really wanted this win.”

All-around great guy Antron Brown beat Shawn Langdon in the final round of top fuel with a 3.797 second run at 318.84 mph.

Erica Enders-Stevens continued her recent dominance of the Pro Stock class with her fourth final round victory of the season over Dave Connolly. Enders-Stevens won with a 6.632 at 210.44 mph.

Andrew Hines took the Pro Stock Motorcycle crown beating Hector Arana Sr.

(Above image courtesy of Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images Sport)

NHRA Ignites Ohio

NORWALK, OHIO – Two amazing nights of fire and the field is set for eliminations in the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals on Sunday. Qualifying concluded late Saturday night with some earthshaking runs at the Norwalk, Ohio quarter-mile under perfect weather conditions. It was well worth the price of admission as a packed house saw the qualification runs in the breath-taking pro categories.

In Top Fuel, Shawn Langdon set a new track record with a 3.745 second run at 325.22 mph to take the top spot. Doug Kalita qualified second and Antron Brown was third.
Langdon will face Terry McMillen in round one. Richie Crampton qualified 15th despite a huge engine explosion in the third qualifying session that delayed the action.

In Funny Car, Del Worsham with another track record 4.000 second run to give him the top spot in qualifying. Worsham’s DHL Toyota clocked in a 321.88 mph and will face Jeff Diehl in the first round. John Force (4.016 secs) qualified second and Tommy Johnson Jr. was third.

Erica Enders-Stevens will be tough to beat in Pro Stock as no one could beat her record shattering run from Friday of 6.523 seconds, 212.63 mph. Enders-Stevens will be looking for her 10th career Pro Stock win and her first Norwalk victory on Sunday. V Gaines failed to qualify for the eliminations.

Eddie Krawiec took P1 in Pro Stock Motorcycle with a 6.889 second run at 194.94 mph.
In Round One he will face 18-year old Swedish driver Elvira Karlsson who qualified 16th in her American drag racing debut. Hector Arana Jr. bounced back from a tough Friday to qualify second.

Here are the Round One pairings for Sunday:

Top Fuel
#1 Shawn Langdon vs. #16 Terry McMillen
#2 Doug Kalita vs. #15 Richie Crampton
#3 Antron Brown vs. #14 Clay Millican
#4 Bob Vandergriff vs. #13 Pat Dakin
#5 J.R. Todd vs. #12 Troy Buff
#6 Steve Torrence vs. #11 Larry Dixon
#7 Tony Schumacher vs. #10 Khalid AlBalooshi
#8 Spencer Massey vs. #9 Brittany Force

Funny Car
#1 Del Worsham vs. #16 Jeff Diehl
#2 John Force vs. #15 Tim Wilkerson
#3 Tommy Johnson Jr. vs. #14 Tony Pedregon
#4 Matt Hagan vs. #13 Jeff Arend
#5 Ron Capps vs. #12 Courtney Force
#6 Robert Hight vs. #11 Cruz Pedregon
#7 Chad Head vs. #10 Alexis DeJoria
#8 Jack Beckman vs. #9 Bob Tasca III

Pro Stock
#1 Erica Enders-Stevens vs. #16 Travis Mazza
#2 Shane Gray vs. #15 Mark Hogan
#3 Allen Johnson vs. #14 Larry Morgan
#4 Chris McGaha vs. #13 John Gaydosh Jr.
#5 Vincent Nobile vs. #12 Shane Tucker
#6 Jeg Coughlin vs. #11 Rodger Brogdon
#7 Dave Connolly vs. #10 Greg Anderson
#8 Jason Line vs. #9 Jonathan Gray

Pro Stock Motorcycle
#1 Eddie Krawiec vs. #16 Elvira Karlsson
#2 Hector Arana Jr. vs #15 Jimmy Underdahl
#3 Jerry Savoie vs. #14 Steve Johnson
#4 Chaz Kennedy vs. #13 Michael Ray
#5 Hector Arana vs. #12 Shawn Gann
#6 Scotty Pollacheck vs. #11 Angie Smith
#7 John Hall vs. #10 Andrew Hines
#8 Matt Smith vs. #9 Adam Arana

Coke Zero 400 Postponed

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 has been postponed until Sunday morning at
11:00 AM ET. The Florida summer weather has plagued the track all weekend and so now we will have a day race if the weather cooperates. David Gilliland and Reed Sorenson will lead the field to the green flag. Landon Cassill will start 3rd, Bobby Labonte 4th, Jimmie Johnson 5th and Matt Kenseth will go off from the sixth starting position. TNT will resume their coverage at 11:00 AM, 
while MRN will be on the air at 10:45 AM.

Later we will get the latest from Norwalk Motorsports Park as I spent some time checking out the NHRA final qualifying sessions.

(Above photo courtesy of Patrick Smith/ Getty Images Sport)

 

Rain A Factor In Daytona

Rain was a factor on Thursday at Daytona International Speedway as the first Sprint Cup practice was delayed and shortened to 45 minutes, while the second night session was cancelled due to storms in the area. The cars did do some drafting in the first session, but the time was limited. Qualifying is scheduled for Friday at 5:00 PM, but as with any
Florida day, storms could pop up again.

(Photo courtesy of Patrick Smith/Getty Images Sport)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Coke Zero 400 Practice #1
Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
4:00 PM ET

Results
1. 1-Jamie McMurray 201.952 mph 44.565 secs
2. 42-Kyle Larson 201.889
3. 15-Clint Bowyer 201.839
4. 2-Brad Keselowski 201.771
5. 24-Jeff Gordon 201.712
6. 22-Joey Logano 201.654
7. 17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 201.590
8. 16-Greg Biffle 201.261
9. 40-Landon Cassill 200.714
10. 78-Martin Truex Jr. 200.696
11. 13-Casey Mears 200.669
12. 47-A.J. Allmendinger 200.615
15. 10-Danica Patrick 200.405
25. 14-Tony Stewart 199.089
32. 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. 198.247
42. 48-Jimmie Johnson 191.274

Johnson Finally Gets One On A Perfect Day in Michigan

(The summer has caught up with me and I’ve gotten a bit behind with the blog, so here’s my belated Michigan recap.)

I have been going to NASCAR races at Michigan for a while now. I’ve seen Jimmie Johnson dominate a lot of races and I have seen Jimmie Johnson fail to win a lot of those same races. All that changed this past Sunday when Johnson took advantage of a huge strategy call by the best crew chief in NASCAR, Chad Knaus. Knaus chose to pit under green with 35 laps remaining in the race. Johnson was the first to pit during the green flag stops and ended up first after everyone stopped. Even with ten laps remaining and a three second lead, many still thought some sort of misfortune would dispell the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet. It did not and Johnson won his third Sprint Cup race of the season and claimed the fifth straight win for Hendrick Motorsports.

Getting a win in Michigan was a tremendous weight off of the shoulders for Johnson and Knaus. Early in May, many in the NASCAR media were wondering what had happened to the #48 team and why they hadn’t won in the first two months of action. There were some spats on the radio between the two and Johnson admitted that the team was behind others because of their run for the championship at the end of 2013.
As someone who follows Johnson very close, I was not concerned because of what were seeing now. Things can change in the blink of an eye in racing, and all of sudden we are going into the halfway point of the season talking about who can stop Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates.

Will Johnson win his 7th Sprint Cup Championship? I’m not willing to say that yet because of the new format of the Chase. But I can say that as long as Chad Knaus is involved you can never count them out or ever worry about their ability to be competitive. If I had to make a predicition on the Chase, I would be willing to say that Johnson will be among the final four that will be racing for the title at Homestead in the last race. Right now, I’ll say it will come down to Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. But there could be a surprise in there and I have already made it known how much I really like Kyle Larson to make some noise and win a race or two.

I have to give Michigan International Speedway and their track president Roger Curtis a lot of credit. They really know how to put on a great NASCAR weekend. I only made it up for Saturday and Sunday this past Father’s Day weekend because of other work committments, but I had an absolute blast and it is well worth the money to drive up three hours from Cleveland and see the Nationwide race on Saturday and the Cup race on Sunday. This was not always the case with my Michigan experience, but I gotta say the track has made major improvements to make the experience much more enjoyable and the racing a lot more exciting. The camping is phenomenal and this year despite our usual rowdiness, the security and campgrounds staff was very courteous. We were really allowed to enjoy a fun, crazy NASCAR weekend without cries to turn down the music and go to bed. As for the track, there is not a bad seat in the house and the crowd was tremendous. The move to take out the turn three grandstands was a good one and made the crowd feel bigger and better. The track was clean and the concession lines were fast. There are also plenty of exhibits and other things to do around the track on raceday. Finally, being to some of the fastest tracks in the country, it is amazing to me how fast NASCAR is going at MIS. It really is mind-boggling when you go down to the first few rows of the grandstands and watch these machines rocket past. If you have never experienced NASCAR I highly recommend Michigan International Speedway for your first one. A NASCAR experience is one that can convert you into a passionate fan and last a lifetime and I personally put my stamp of approval on MIS.

(Photo courtesy of Jason Miller/Stringer, Getty Images Sport)