Memorial Day Racing Recap

I truly love the Memorial Day weekend and all the racing that goes along with it.

It is a certain time of the year that has provided me a ton of memories with my family and friends, grilling out, tailgating, and either watching the races or attending them.

This year was totally different. With the Cleveland Cavaliers in the midst of the Eastern Conference Finals, I worked the whole Sunday in the dramatic Game 3 overtime win. I am certainly not complaining, but for a huge racing fan, not being able to watch live on the biggest day of motorsports of the year was tough. Good thing for DVRs.

There is so much to cover, but this is a blog not Grantland so I’ll try and sum up the important stuff.

Juan Pablo Montoya has gray hair now. When he won his first Indianapolis 500 he did not. So after winning Sunday’s 99th Indy 500, I determined that JPM is much, much older now, and so am I. But some people just get better with age, and that seems to be true with Montoya who won his second IndyCar race of the season and looked like very much like the aggressive, crafty drive he was when he first won the race in 2000.

Watching the Coca-Cola 600 on my DVR late Sunday night and already knowing Carl Edwards had won, with 50 laps to go I texted my dad and asked him how the hell the #19 Toyota got out front. Real simple: pit strategy. Of course. Edwards was a non-factor the entire race. But when a race is 600 miles long, the dominant car does not always win.

Martin Truex Jr. had maybe the best car of the night, but the fuel mileage hurt him in the end. Truex ended up 5th after leading the most laps. As much as rookie crew chief Cole Pearn has helped this team improve dramatically from last season, his inexperience has shown in the past two races with chances to win. Pearn seems like a great racing mind and he will figure it out and get the #78 in victory lane soon enough.

In Formula One, it seemed appropriate that the Grand Prix of Monaco came down to a pit stop strategy gone wrong for Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes team. That’s because I’m still waiting to see an actual pass on the track in this year’s edition of the famed race at Monte Carlo.

If Formula One racing was a restaurant, it would be that really trendy, popular one that was really expensive and you’d have to go it once because everyone who was cool has been there. But when you got to this hip spot the food was an incredibly small portion of something you had never heard of before and wasn’t nearly as good as you expected it would be. That’s the Grand Prix of Monaco. It looks like an amazing show and a great place to mingle with the richest and most beautiful people in the world, but the race left a lot to be desired. It was a snoozer and that’s not good when America is trying to wake up during it’s 7:30 AM start.

Don’t get me wrong, going to an F1 race is on my list, especially with that massive track they have in Austin, Texas. The selling point to Formula One is the quickness, the speed, the technology, and the beauty, not necessarily the competitiveness. On any given raceday, there are three drivers who can win, that’s the problem.

Nico Rosburg won on this day, his third straight win at Monte Carlo. I get it, F1 is an acquired taste and on Memorial Day the morning race is always on my list, but until they get a competitive American driver, which could be next year with Gene Haas’ team, and someone who can beat Lewis Hamilton besides his own teammate, the races seem to just drag on with no real storylines besides how much Hamilton and Rosburg hate each other.

I’ll check back in with F1 later this summer when Hamilton wins his third world championship.

(Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

Major Concerns Surround Indy 500

For the first time in quite a while I’m at a loss for words when it comes to the Indianapolis 500.

After reading the details regarding James Hinchcliffe’s major accident during Monday’s practice at the speedway, I don’t know what IndyCar is going to do to keep drivers safe in this Sunday’s 99th running of the 500-mile race.

Hinchcliffe’s was the fourth serious crash in a week at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. All of them have involved a car going airborne or turning over.

RACER’s Robin Miller and Marshall Pruett reported that Hinchcliffe was bleeding profusely after a huge impact into the turn three wall. Quick response by the safety and medical teams saved his life after a suspension wishbone caused the majority of the physical damage he suffered. The report also said the emergency workers declared the incident a “Code 5,” upon arrival. That is the signal reserved for traumatic situations.

After surgery, Hinchcliffe remained in intensive care but was resting comfortably on Tuesday morning according to RACER.

2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan told the Indy Star they were “four completely different crashes.”

There are a lot of nervous people in Speedway, Indiana right now.

What is scary is all of the incidents have involved drivers with experience on ovals, not Indy rookies. (Hinchcliffe, Helio Castroneves, Ed Carpenter, and Josef Newgarden). Lots of drivers and IndyCar experts are saying there was a definitive cause for each crash, but watching cars go airborne so frequently is concerning, especially since the cars have been running by themselves on the track. On Sunday they will be racing extremely close together in packs.

Monday after the crash, IndyCar impounded Hinchcliffe’s car and stopped practice. It later resumed with no incidents. The cars will not be on the track again until Friday’s Carb Day.

Kanaan expounded on the dangers of the sport.

“First and foremost we need to understand that this is very dangerous sport. Every time we hop in that race car we don’t know if we’re going to come out of it, if we’re going to come out of it in one piece, if something is going to happen to you, and that’s what we have to live with. That’s what makes us different than other people. That’s why not everybody can do this.”

Obviously the race will go on. But clearly IndyCar, Chevrolet, and Honda have struggled with how their new aero kit would respond at the unbelievable 230mph speeds at Indy. The drivers and teams are going to say these were freak accidents and that could be true. But concern is there and some more testing at the track might have helped, instead of wasting time with a poorly attended Indy Grand Prix earlier this month. Instead they will have to figure it out on the fly, during the intensity of the Indianapolis 500.

“It’s definitely a concern and we don’t know enough about it,” said IndyCar legend Mario Andretti who once flew end over end in a testing crash at IMS.

“The cars today have such huge square inches of floor area, and unfortunately they are susceptible to flying. I’ve said that from the beginning and I’m one of the ones who had experience.”

Last year’s 500 pole winner Ed Carpenter reiterated that there is still a lot to figure out.

“We have multiple variables going on this year. We have new tires, there’s a new underwing (floor) with a huge hole in it, and aero kits. It’s all just speculation at this point and we really need to learn what’s causing this.”

It seems there will be a lot of learning this Sunday.

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

 

 

Gamble Pays Off For The 48

Chad Knaus did it again.

A late race gamble not to pit led to another win for Jimmie Johnson in the SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway late Saturday night.

The crew chief of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet surprised the field by electing not to put on fresh tires and get fuel while Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. did. Johnson held off Harvick in the final six laps to claim his third victory of the Sprint Cup season.

Truex led much of the race and looked he was on his way to his first win since 2013 at Sonoma, but after the stop faded to ninth. Talladega winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third, followed by Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, and Matt Kenseth.

The late race stategy was uncharacteristic of Knaus who usually wants to have four fresh tires on restarts.

“We knew that we were going to need to have probably four or five guys at the minimum stay out for us to have any shot at pulling it off,” Knaus said at the post-race press conference.

“We were tossing back and forth what we should do, and I didn’t want to say too much until the very last moment, and when I threw it out there to Jimmie and he said, well, let’s gamble.  So when we did that I felt very confident the 88 was going to stay out, I felt very confident the 24 was going to stay out.  I didn’t know about the other guys.  And I felt like even if those other guys came down, like 78, for instance, he took fuel.  And I really expected the 4 to take fuel as opposed to taking right side tires.  Once he took right side tires, I knew that he was going to be difficult.  I knew that he was going to be the one to beat. We started to set up that strategy three stops from the end, and it worked out.”

“And I ran out of gas doing a burnout, so we timed it just right,” Johnson chimed in.

KANSAS CITY, KS – MAY 09: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway on May 9, 2015 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

Johnson and Harvick are the only Sprint Cup drivers to win on 1.5-mile tracks in the last seven races. Johnson has won four and Harvick three, and in the four wins by the #48, Harvick was the runner-up every time in his Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet.

“On the big tracks, aero, balance, the engine performance, the small details – that’s what separates our team from others,” said Johnson, who has also won at Atlanta and Texas in 2015.

It was also quite an accomplishment after Johnson nearly crashed his car in the opening laps of the race. Johnson got completely sideways and saved his Hendrick Motorsports Chevy as he came down off the banking, throwing sparks everywhere. He fell back to 40th, but gradually made his way back to the front throughout the very long night that featured a two hour rain delay. Johnson was also irritated with a weak qualifying effort on Friday. He started 19th.

“It’s easy for even the successful teams in the sport to have confidence waver over the course of a weekend, over the stretch of time, over the course of a year, whatever it might be.  It comes in and out, and honestly we live and die by the NASCAR timing and scoring, and the last time we were on track, it’s all you have to live off of.  The last time we were on track we were 19th. Once the race got going, I felt like my car was more stable than others that I was around.  I saw some really nervous race cars, and once I could get a little gap of clean air, I could put down a couple good laps and I could hear that on the radio.  I knew that if we could ever get there that we could be competitive.”

Competitive is putting it mildly. Dominant is more accurate. In the last five races, Johnson finished 1^st at Texas, 2^nd at Bristol, 3^rd at Richmond, 2^nd at Talladega, and ended up in victory lane with SpongeBob and friends at Kansas.

Johnson and Knaus now head to Charlotte Motor Speedway where they have won the All-Star Race four times, and the Coca-Cola 600 four times.

The All-Star Race, which will feature the return of Kyle Busch to competition for the first time since his broken leg in February, will be run Saturday night at 9pm.

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Family Tradition

Like father, like son.

Dale Earnhardt Sr. was arguably one of the best superspeedway drivers of all-time. It’s pretty obvious his son is following in his footsteps. Dale Jr. won the GEICO 500 at Talladega in dominating fashion this past Sunday. It was his sixth career win at Talladega. His father won there 10 times. This win ended a Dega drought that went back to 2004 for Junior.

It’s no secret Junior is the most popular driver in the sport. He has also never doubted that it is because his father was so beloved in the deep south.

“Yeah, I felt like we had a lot of supporters here (at Talladega) because of dad’s success.  He won so many races here. I think about all the races he won here and at Daytona.  I love when we go to Victory Lane because I feel like I add to his legacy there.  All I ever want to do is make him proud.  I feel like when we win at those tracks where he was successful, that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Junior was emotional in victory lane with his father’s birthday just past.

“I don’t really get to think about him that much.  His birthday came and went.  Today, it made me think about his birthday, how much I miss him, how much he meant to me and so many more people that I can’t even fathom the number of folks that he had a relationship with in this sport, a connection with, all his fans out there really enjoyed seeing him compete here.”

He also claimed several times that he can’t believe how blessed he is at this point in his life.

“Everything is just so good for me right now, my personal life, my racing, the team I’m with,  I don’t know why,” Earnhardt Jr. told Fox Sports in victory lane.

“I don’t feel like I deserve it. I just feel overcome, you know, with a lot of emotion.”

He seems to have formed a quick chemistry with crew chief Greg Ives, who won his first race in Sprint Cup. Ives knows the pressure that comes along with tuning the most watched car on the track every single race.

“What Junior Nation says on our bad days is nothing less than what my daughter will tell me when I get home.  They’re going to have great things to say, they’re going to have bad things to say.  The honesty is what I want.  I don’t care about fluff and buff.  I want the honesty.  I want the truth.  I want to know we’re going to get better.  That is the only way this team is going to be in competition when it comes down to Homestead.  That’s the only way we’re going to grow.  Honesty, that’s what I want.”

Now Ives and Dale Jr. can take solace in knowing they have clinched their spot in the Chase.

No one really made a challenge on the #88 in the closing laps. The race was run single file for the much of the final 40 circuits. There was only one big crash on lap 47, a 14-car wreck that involved Kasey Kahne, Trevor Bayne, Joey Logano among others. Jimmie Johnson was second followed by Paul Menard and Ryan Blaney, who scored his career-best finish in fourth.

Some thought Johnson let his teammate win the race without a challenge so he could score a big win and advance to the Sprint Cup playoffs later in the season.

“It’s more about preserving where you’re running. The fact that the amount of numbers in that lane makes that lane successful, when there’s 43 nose to tail, you can’t pull out unless there’s quite a few that are going to go with you. I think it’s more about preserving your running order. You almost have to throw the mindset out of advancing and not go backwards is kind of what happens, I think.”

Earnhardt had some overheating issues in the closing laps, but it did not slow his Nationwide Chevrolet down.

Junior kicked himself for not being more aggressive in the closing laps of the Daytona 500 earlier this year. This time around he did what he wanted. He went into the lead and did not relinquish it. An expert on drafting at restrictor plate races like this one, Junior thinks the mentality has changed and hanging back until the final laps is no longer the strategy to win.

“The leader’s hard to pass.  He just pulls in front of the line that’s coming and that pushes him on out.  The line don’t continue to come up to the leader where they can make a move to go around him.  We call it the beach ball, it’s giant.  Shoves the leader out.  You don’t get as many opportunities on runs that are successful to pull out and pass the leader.  You end up shoving him away.

That’s why leading is the place to be.  It was the place to be in the Daytona 500 a year ago.  It’s the place to be today I felt like.”

In his final win at Talladega in 2000 and also his final win ever, Dale Earnhardt Sr. came from 18th to the front in the final five laps. He made it look easy. On Sunday, Dale Jr. did the same.

(Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)