Breaking Down The Chase

We are down to just six races until the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup. This would be a good time to look back at my picks for the Chase at the beginning of the season and look at the surprises and disappointments through 20 races.

My 16 Chase drivers:
Joey Logano
Jimmie Johnson
Jeff Gordon
Kevin Harvick
Brad Keselowski
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Matt Kenseth
Carl Edwards
Kyle Busch
Kyle Larson
Ryan Newman
Sam Hornish Jr.
Denny Hamlin
Kasey Kahne
Tony Stewart
Greg Biffle

The 16 Chase drivers as the grid stands after Indianapolis:
Joey Logano (1 win)
Jimmie Johnson (4 wins)
Kevin Harvick (2 wins)
Brad Keselowski (1 win)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2 wins)
Matt Kenseth (1 win)
Carl Edwards (1 win)
Denny Hamlin (1 win)
*Martin Truex Jr. (1 win)
*Kurt Busch (2 wins)
*Jamie McMurray
Jeff Gordon
Ryan Newman
*Paul Menard
Kasey Kahne
*Clint Bowyer

The (*)asterisk by the names are the drivers that are currently in the Chase that were not on my preseason list.

Let’s first look at the drivers I picked, that are currently in as of this Sunday’s race in Pocono.

Joey Logano: My preseason title pick got off to a hot start with the Daytona 500 win and some dominating Xfinity Series wins, but victory lane has eluded him since that February win in the Great American Race. I still like Logano’s chances because of the Ford horsepower on mile and a half tracks and Penske Racing’s strong qualifying efforts. Logano also has the ability to win the wild card at Talladega if something were to happen to Dale Jr. and the rest of the Hendrick bunch.

Jimmie Johnson: Johnson has four wins and three of them have come on 1.5-mile tracks. There’s no question the 6-time Champ is a contender, but is he the favorite at this point? Chad Knaus knows the tracks in the Chase, but their communication has been off at times this season, and Johnson must qualify better or he will have to climb out of a hole on race day as he has several times this year. The other story that bears watching is Knaus’ contract is up after this season. Will he stay if the team does not have success in the Chase?

Jeff Gordon: In his final season in Sprint Cup, Gordon has yet to win a race. It could very well come this Sunday at Pocono, but Gordon has had some bad luck this season. His final race at Indy was a disaster as he got caught up in a crash when Clint Bowyer spun out. Not making the Chase would be awful and a huge hit to NASCAR’s playoff that requires the big names. As this point, everyone has to be rooting for Gordon to avoid trouble and get to Richmond in the top 16.

Kevin Harvick: No one should sleep on the defending Cup champion. Despite only winning twice, both races came early in the season, Harvick is still a great qualifier and a consistent top five finisher. Plus, I would never count him out in a must-win situation like the one he faced in Phoenix at the end of the season last year. His pit crew needs to be better and come through in the clutch for him to win back-to-back titles.

Brad Keselowski: Keselowski has struggled, but managed to keep himself out of any controversy this season. That will all go out the window once the Chase starts because Brad will do whatever it takes to win and advance to the next round. Keselowski is great at Chicago and Loudon, and wins at those two tracks would put him in a great spot to win his second championship.

Denny Hamlin: Despite a win at Martinsville, Hamlin has been quiet, but he would be my dark horse pick if the Chase started today because of his lightning fast Joe Gibbs crew, and his success at tracks in the final ten races.

Matt Kenseth: Kenseth is never really dominant anymore, but he is still very competitive in a quiet way. He rarely struggles or fails to finish a race and his pit crew is among the best on any given Sunday.

Carl Edwards: The transition from Roush to JGR was tough at the start, but Edwards is finding some speed of late. The fuel mileage win at the Coke 600 was huge and can be credited to a great crew chief in Darian Grubb who has found a way to win a championship before.

Kasey Kahne: In no way do I think Kahne will make any noise in the Chase, but his consistency will get him into the conversation going into Chicago. Don’t forget, he has some of the best equipment in the garage with Hendrick.

Ryan Newman: The cinderella story of 2014 was real close to winning a championship until Harvick snatched it away. Newman has had another solid season, but things will really need to fall his way again for him to be in the elimination round in Miami this year.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: The ultimate NASCAR storyline would be Junior finally breaking through and winning his first championship this year. Even more than that, it would be great for the sport if he just makes the final four at Homestead. His restrictor plate racing may be as good as his fathers at this point in his career. I’m just gonna say he’s going to win the Chase race at Talladega right now, but it’s hard for me to know what else will happen with NASCAR’s most popular driver.

Now let’s look at what I got wrong on my Chase picks at this point.

Martin Truex Jr.: The biggest surprise to me and other NASCAR experts is the success of Truex and Furniture Row Motorsports. He actually should have more than just the win at Pocono after dominating the Richmond and Kansas races in the spring. A lot of his success can be attributed to crew chief Cole Pearn, who has quickly become one of the brightest young minds in the garage. Does he have enough to win the Chase? Whatever happens, Truex has already had his best season in Cup.

Kurt Busch: No one would have thought Busch would be this good, especially after being suspended for the first three races of the season due to the domestic dispute he had with his ex Patricia Driscoll. Busch has been a factor in a lot of races and took the win at Richmond and Michigan. He has worked well with crew chief Tony Gibson after he came over from Danica Patrick’s team late last season.

Kyle Busch: The Busch brothers should do a reality show on this season and call it “Defying The Odds.” The younger Busch came back from a brutal crash at Daytona to win four of the last fives races. With the huge win at the Brickyard, Busch is the first Sprint Cup driver since 2007 to win three straight races. He is almost a lock to get into the top 30 and make the Chase at this point.
Busch has been dominant and he is truly benefitting from a Joe Gibbs Racing resurgence that makes him a legitimate championship contender. It’s a remarkable story, but even with his unprecedented run, Busch tends to get very frustrated with any lack of success or chaos early in the Chase.

Jamie McMurray: See the exact same thing as Kasey Kahne. These guys are almost the same driver just with different teams.

Sam Hornish Jr.: I figured Hornish would be this year’s A.J. Allmendinger and qualify for the Chase with a road course win. He finished 10^th at Sonoma and still has a chance at Watkins Glen in August, but that would be the only way he gets in after a disappointing first season with Richard Petty Motorsports.

Greg Biffle: Roush Fenway Racing is about as low as it can be right now, but Biffle could still creep into the playoff. He is very good at Michigan.

Kyle Larson: A sophomore slump has seen Larson’s chances of making it very slim. He is so close to winning, but he has to channel his frustrations into success for that to happen in 2015.

Tony Stewart: Smoke admitted to Steve Letarte of NBC that he has lost confidence in this his worst Sprint Cup season. I think he needs a veteran crew chief, but he insists Chad Johnston is not the problem.

Paul Menard: Another upset pick to win a race in the Chase if he can hold on to his points position. His goal should be to stay out of trouble and not record any DNFs in the next few weeks.

Clint Bowyer: Still hanging on in 15th right now, but might be bumped out if Busch clears the top 30. More races like his sixth place finish at Indy will help him.

(Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

Rowdy Keeps Rolling

BY JOSH SABO

(Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

The story keeps getting more incredible with each win. Kyle Busch hopes it will end with a trophy celebration in Homestead in November.

Ok I’m getting a little ahead of myself, but after winning the 5-hour Energy 301 in
Loudon, New Hampshire this past weekend, Busch is no longer thinking of how he can qualify for the Chase, he’s thinking about how to win the whole thing.

After a couple of bad finishes at Dover and Michigan, just about everyone counted Busch out of the Chase. Now he has won three of the past four NASCAR Sprint Cup races and he is the talk of the motorsports world. Overall, he has won three of the eight races he has run in since returning in May from the broken leg and foot.  

“This is pretty special,” Busch said in the press conference at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“This is something that I’m not sure we ever would have expected, you know, Adam(Stevens), myself, Joe(Gibbs), the team, anybody, the organization for that matter. It certainly has been a perfect storm, everything is working in our favor right now.  We’re doing the right things at the right times.  Adam is making some really good adjustments and some really good calls. “

Busch held off Brad Keselowski over the final 45 laps of green flag racing until Alex Kennedy brought out a caution on the white flag lap to end it.

This week we even saw a little of the Rowdy Busch that we have been accustomed to in year’s past. Busch made an aggressive move in getting his lap back from leader Kevin Harvick that was crucial in getting to victory lane. 

“I just kind of bulldozed my way through there a little bit, moved them down the frontstretch, the 2(Keselowski).  There was just enough gap for me to fit between the 2 and the 4(Harvick).  When I did that, I got on the inside of the 4 getting into turn one and cleared them both on the front straightaway. Good maneuver.  I felt like that was a smart move at that time.  I keep saying we got to pick and choose our battles, and that was a battle right there that obviously we were in a hurry and we needed to do the right things to be on the lead lap, if there were a caution to come out with all the oil that was on the racetrack.”

It turned out to be the race-winning move.

Harvick, Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Carl Edwards all had good cars, but Busch was just in the right place at the right time and benefitted from a caution flag that came out at the perfect time.

Busch has gained 70 points in the standings the last two weeks and is now 58 points out of 30th place, where he needs to be to advance to the Chase.

 “Today we may not have been the best car, we were early, but towards the end I’m not sure that we were.  We put ourselves in the right spot to be able to capitalize.  Sometimes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series you got to be able to do that.  Today was one of those opportunities for us.”

Busch’s crew chief Adam Stevens wants to get into the Chase first, but he is confident in his team’s ability to put a great car on the track into the season’s final months and challenge for a championship.

“I think it’s all about how we prepare the cars and execute, like I’ve said.  Even while Kyle was gone, I feel like we’ve shown that we have speed and we have solid cars.  Since Kyle’s come back, maybe it’s put a little bit more speed in them. To that point, with the Chase format, with the eliminations, then it all coming down to one race, if we can keep our head on our shoulders and get in first, then continue to prepare good cars and execute, I think we can.”

It was a nice weekend sweep for Joe Gibbs Racing as Busch got the Cup win, Carl Edwards won the pole on Friday, and Denny Hamlin won the Xfinity race on Saturday.

A visibly frustrated Brad Keselowski finished second, his fourth top five finish this season and his first since Texas in April. He told NBC Sports after the race he was hoping for a break while chasing down Busch in the closing laps, and he didn’t get one. He’s only won once in 19 races this season.

The series now moves to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Jeff Gordon’s final race at the Brickyard.

Kentucky Win Is Big For KB’s Chase Hopes

Brad Keselowski wanted the weekend sweep at Kentucky. Kyle Busch wants to make the Chase after missing the first three months of the Sprint Cup season. On Saturday night, Busch wanted it more.

Busch used the debut of a new aero package to his advantage as he tracked down Joey Logano and passed him for the lead he would not relinquish on lap 249. The fans at Kentucky Speedway saw a lot more passing and several different racing lines that made for the best show the track has seen in just its fifth Sprint Cup race.

“I could move down (the track), I could turn down and I could get underneath him,” Busch said in the post race press conference.

“We kind of swapped the lead a couple times for a couple laps and then finally I was able to get by him and move on away. I enjoyed the race, I really did. I guess I did more so than anybody else because I’m in Victory Lane.”

SPARTA, KY – JULY 11: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota, leads Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil/AutoTrader Ford, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway on July 11, 2015 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images)

I think the verdict from fans and NASCAR media members is much the same as Kyle’s. The race was entertaining. For a while it looked like Keselowski was going to run away with it. Then Busch asserted himself as the front runner. Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin also threw their hat in the ring. Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth had good cars. The margin of victory was a bit deceiving at the end, but none of the drivers came out and ripped the way the cars handled so that has to be a good sign.

Busch now has two wins in the last three Sprint Cup events, and is 87 points out of 30th place in the points. After missing the first 11 races of the season because of the injuries he suffered in the Daytona Xfinity race, NASCAR granted Busch a waiver to get into the Chase if he won a race and finished in the top 30 in the points after the cut off race at Richmond.

Busch is well on his way to pulling off this feat.

Busch’s astonishing comeback is a great tale, but watching Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. get together on the track also provided headlines early Sunday morning.

It was a rough night for each of NASCAR’s most popular drivers. Junior had brake troubles all night and he couldn’t stop when he slammed into the back of Patrick’s car sending her into the wall on lap 208. Patrick then hit Junior as they came into the pits and had some choice words for him on her radio, which comes as a surprise to no one. Patrick uses her team radio as a sounding board almost every race and it doesn’t take much to set her off. Here’s the transcript courtesy of our friends at the Charlotte Observer:

“Just uh, didn’t have any brakes,” Earnhardt told his crew after the wreck.

“(Expletive) 88, did he (expletive) hit me?” Patrick asked over the radio.

“Oh yeah, he said he didn’t have any brakes,” her crew radioed back. “We’ll see.”

“Go (expletive) yourself, I mean, really?” she radioed back. “If you didn’t have any brakes, why would you drive in underneath me?”

Am I surprised with Danica’s comments? Absolutely not. This is what she does. She’s very competitive and she isn’t going to hide what’s on her mind. That’s pretty evident by her march down pit lane trying to find Ryan Briscoe in the 2008 Indy 500. Don’t forget her face-to-face argument with Denny Hamlin after the Budweiser Duels at Daytona. Is she always right about what happens on the track in these altercations? No. But all drivers, in the heat of moment, make comments on their radios, and most of the time they cuss out other drivers. Danica did not talk to reporters after the race.

I think the stories saying her and Dale Jr. have to “mend fences” before New Hampshire next weekend are a bit ridiculous. I’m sure they will talk and I’m they will say all the right things to the media in Loudon. But it’s not like they came to blows on pit road and they have a history of incidents. Patrick actually drove for Junior in the Xfinity Series a few years back.

Patrick’s outbursts are unnecessary at times. But they are no different than any other driver including her car owner Tony Stewart. She will get ripped for going after the sport’s most popular guy, but this is racing. It’s intense. Things happen. It was a racing accident, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t frustrating on an already difficult night for Patrick.

Patrick would finished 34th and Earnhardt 21st.

(Above Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

Truck Race Ends Early With Another Serious Crash

BY JOSH SABO

Despite a day filled with rain, and a leaky track, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was able to race on Thursday night at Kentucky Speedway. The race was called with five laps remaining because of a wild crash involving Ben Kennedy.

Kennedy got some together with David Gilliland and hit the catch fence on the front stretch causing damage and forcing NASCAR to declare Matt Crafton the winner before completing the entire distance. Kennedy was unhurt in the wreck in which his truck got airborne, flew into the fence, and slid into turn one on top of the wall. 

“I remember being up on the wall for quite some time. I didn’t really see much. I just saw a bunch of dust and debris flying. Thank God for everything that NASCAR has done to keep this sport safe
’cause for me to get out of my car on my own power after a hit like that is pretty incredible.”

Sparta, KY – JULY 9: Track officials check the damage to the fence after Ben Kennedy, driver of the #11 Local Motors Toyota, crashed into it during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 225 at Kentucky Speedway on July 9, 2015 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images)

There were no injuries in the grandstands.  NASCAR decided to declare the race over because of the amount of time it would take to repair the fence.

A big focus of the upcoming weekend will be the new rules package being tested in Sprint Cup. The teams were supposed to test Wednesday, but the session was rained out, as was a rescheduled session on Thursday. With the weather, the bumpy Kentucky surface, and these changes NASCAR hopes will increase passing, things could be pretty interesting in Saturday night’s race.

On Kyle Larson:
As I mentioned in the Speed 4 Thought podcast with Ken Carman earlier this week, I still think Kyle Larson will make the Chase and win a race this season. As David Scott of the Charlotte Observer wrote on Thursday, Larson has just one top five this year, compared to eight last season. Larson was pretty critical of himself to Scott and other reporters in Daytona and knows he must be better.

“I had a lot of good moments last year; none, really, this year. (I need) to fire the races off better. That’s been our kind-of struggle: to start most every race off being 100 percent competitive.We always seem to get there throughout the race, but the tough part is knowing those adjustments that you have to make after practice.”

If you’re looking for this week’s podcast you can listen here:

(Above Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images)

 

Dillon Walks Away From Scary Crash, Safety Questions Remain

I called it a night at 1:45am with 60 laps to go in the Coke Zero 400. I figured I would get some sleep after the long day at Norwalk and watch the finish on my DVR in the morning.

Just after 6am, I woke up to find about 20 text messages on my phone ranging from “Holy Sh**” to “Please tell me you were awake to see that??”…

Instantly I thought about a huge crash in the race. It’s what we now expect at every plate race. It’s what we expect at Daytona. It’s why the stands were still full at 2:00 Monday morning. It’s called drama. It was chaos at the finish line. It scared the hell out of drivers that have been doing this their entire lives.

I totally understand the concern for the fans in the wake of Austin Dillon’s #3 Chevrolet flying through the air and ripping up the catch fence at Daytona. I heard a caller on SiriusXM NASCAR radio saying that all sorts of small debris was flying through the air, along with oil and other engine fluid. It’s a miracle that no one was seriously hurt or killed. But why are racing fans in this position to be even slightly injured or require medical attention?

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – JULY 06: Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, is involved in an incident following the checkered flag during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway on July 6, 2015 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

A few years ago I went to the Coca-Cola 600 with a bunch of friends in Charlotte. We bought the cheapest tickets we could on the day of the race for $25. The tickets were in row three at the start/finish line. When we got to our seats during the pre-race we were thrilled. “Wow this is gonna be awesome,” we all thought. Then the green flag dropped. 

The intensity of 43 cars rocketing by at over 190mph just a few feet from your face was a feeling that is hard to describe. Not only did it shake the ground we were sitting on, but it took your breath away every lap and shook your insides. It was an incredibly uneasy feeling, and I have been to all kinds of races all my life and raised in a family where hearing loud engines up close was commonplace. After 10 laps, we moved to an emptier section that had seats a little higher. Sure some fans love being that close, but they do not need to be so close at Daytona or Talladega.

The seats that low usually do not sell well because fans cannot see the whole track. Daytona and Talladega should eliminate them for future races or just not sell them until they can be taken out. I love speed. I mean I absolutely love it. But I don’t need it to be right in my face for three hours to truly enjoy a race. One thing is certain, NASCAR needs to continue to develop ways to make the fans safer at all tracks. The drivers are getting paid a lot of money to put their lives on the line. The fans are paying lots of hard-earned money to enjoy the race and get home safely. 

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – JULY 06: Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, is involved in an on-track incident following the checkered flag during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway on July 6, 2015 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

All around social media and on racing websites today the question was, “how can NASCAR fix restrictor plate racing?” There’s a good answer. They can’t. There is no magical solution that will keep the same intrigue and guarantee the safety of all drivers, crew members, and fans. Danger is a major reason why people watch racing. The same issue of slowing cars was brought up after a thrilling IndyCar race in California two weeks ago that saw Ryan Briscoe’s car flipping violently at the finish. Briscoe climbed from his car unscathed.

Slow the cars down? How is that going to help? As Larry McReynolds of Fox Sports said on Monday, if you slow the cars down 10mph at the super speedways you’re still going to see huge wrecks, and most likely the same amount of airborne cars. There is no quick fix. Racing is dangerous. Always has been, and always will be. NASCAR has done nothing but develop better safety initiatives ever since the loss of Dale Earnhardt at Daytona. They will continue to do this, and the debate will always be how to better the sport as it relates to competition. And the drivers will continue to say how crazy it is that they are racing inches from each other at speeds in excess of 200mph… until they climb into the car again the next weekend.

Austin Dillon finished seventh as what was left of his car slid past the finish line. Seventh place paid over $166,000 in the Coke Zero 400. Ryan Newman finished eighth, which paid over $151,000. Ryan Newman said this after the race:

“NASCAR got what they wanted. That’s the end of it,” Newman told USA TODAY Sports of restrictor plate racing. “Cars getting airborne, unsafe drivers, same old stuff. They just don’t listen. They just don’t pay attention to safety. Simple as that.”

Will Power won last year’s IndyCar Championship. Power had this to say after the MAVTV 500 in Fontana where Briscoe’s crash took place.

“Someone is going to die. This is the Las Vegas situation all over again, but 500 miles,” Power told USA TODAY Sports alluding to IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon’s horrific crash that ended his life in 2012. “Someone or multiple people need to lose their jobs over this, because this is an absolute disgrace.”

I’m not saying that money matters more than human life. I’m saying that the drivers get paid a ton of money to do something that they don’t believe every human can do. They’re fearless and talented. They are the best in the world at what they do. If they have ideas about how to make things safer than the sanctioning bodies and tracks should listen. There is plenty of time to sit down, talk, and make adjustments. But the danger will always be there. No one is going to pay to watch stock cars drive around Daytona in a single file line at 150mph. No way. So to complain that NASCAR is not listening and does not pay attention to safety is dead wrong. Sure Ryan Newman has a closer view than me, but just the changes that Daytona made to the turn one area after the Kyle Busch crash in February seemed like an action that showed they care about driver safety. Safer barriers are at all high speed tracks and changes are made after almost every event based on situations that arise. 

Austin Dillon walked away from that horrifying, unbelievable wreck. The fans in the stands did as well. It could have been much, much worse. Let’s all try and focus on that for a minute.

(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

 

Blistering Fast Weekend Yields Upsets At Norwalk

You don’t see very many mosh pits at NHRA drag races. That is unless, Doug Kalitta wins the top fuel final.

Kalitta beat Antron Brown to win the top fuel class at the Summit NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

“It was a great team effort today,” Kalitta told NHRA.com. “It’s tough to win out here, and I’m glad we were able to pull it off today. You have to be on your game. It was a great weekend, and the Bader family put on a heck of a show.”

The tradition started by the Kalitta Motorsports team to pile on top of each other at the starting line celebrating a win goes all the way back to the late Scott Kalitta’s championship years in 1994 and ’95. It’s a testament to the unbelievable amount of work it takes to prepare these
mind-blowingly fast dragsters for a three second run down the quarter-mile track.

“The safest place to be when a Kalitta car wins is actually in the car,” quipped former driver David Grubnic after a Top Fuel victory in Topeka a few years ago. “The start-line celebrations can really be good.”

And the second such celebration this season for Kalitta was a good one on a day where upsets were prevalent throughout all four pro classes.

Jack Beckman continued his hot streak in Funny Car with a final round win over Courtney Force. It looked like Force had the race won at the halfway mark, but she smoked the tires and Beckman took home the Wally for the third time this season.

“The interesting thing about a Nitro Funny Car is they’re pretty darn fast and the visibility’s pretty horrible,” Beckman told the media after the race. “So when you’re motoring along at 260 mph at half-track, you’re thinking you’re about the fastest thing on the planet at that point. And when you don’t see the other car, you’re thinking ‘I got this.’

Beckman beat all three Force cars, beating Robert Hight and the 16-time world champion John Force, while also getting the best of Tim Wilkerson in the semifinals. Force took out Matt Hagan in the semifinals after the Funny Car points leader had been scorching the track all weekend.

Greg Anderson took home the honors for hometown Summit Racing, defeating Drew Skillman in the Pro Stock final. But the big story was Pro Stock top qualifier and defending world champion Erica Enders-Stevens was eliminated in the first round by Alan Prusiensky. One of the most popular drivers in the stands on any given weekend, Enders lost control of her car almost instantly and Prusiensky cruised to an easy win, stunning the crowd at Summit Motorsports Park.

Karen Stoffer edged out Angelle Sampey in an all-female Pro Stock Motorcycle final. It was the final featuring two women in the class since 2002.

(Photo courtesy of NHRA.com).

Kyle Walks Into Victory Lane

So you’re saying there’s a chance.

That’s what Kyle Busch’s team and fans have got to be saying after the win in Sonoma last Sunday that opened the door for him to qualify for the Chase if he now finishes in the top 30 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings before the final ten races.

NASCAR put in this special stipulation after Busch missed the first 11 races of the season with a broken leg and broken foot suffered at Daytona in February. Just four months later, Busch was in the victory lane after tracking down Jimmie Johnson and holding off his brother Kurt and Clint Bowyer on the picturesque Napa Valley road course.

Going into this weekend’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, Busch sits in 37^th place, 130 points behind Cole Whitt in 30th place.

It appeared that Johnson had the Toyota/Save Mart 350 locked up as he pulled away from Busch and Bowyer in the closing laps. Johnson had a 2.71 second lead on Bowyer with 12 laps to go. Then Casey Mears lost his wheel, the yellow flag came out, and all the contenders came down pit road…..except Johnson.

Busch took four fresh tires and restarted seventh with seven laps to go. But he stormed through the field reaching the second spot in a lap and a half. Johnson had no shot as Busch easily took the lead with five laps left.

Car owner Joe Gibbs was very pleased with the outcome.

“I think it’s a great sports story because if you think about Daytona, and for Kyle to come back from really a broken right leg and a broken left foot, the race that we were really worried about when he came back was this race because it was going to be obviously road racing.  It takes a lot of pressure on your foot.  So I think it’s a great story for us.”

“I knew it was going to get painful and I was going to have to power through it,” Busch said after the race. “It kind of started to cross my mind, but you know, when you’ve got fresh tires and seven laps to go and you see the checkered flag waiting for you, you know, you forget about all those things.”

After a huge celebratory burnout, Busch’s M&M’s Toyota couldn’t quite get into victory lane, so in another great twist to the story, Busch had to walk into the winners circle. 

Busch isn’t guaranteeing a playoff spot just yet though.

“Yeah, you know, certainly it’s feasible.  There’s no reason why it shouldn’t be.  This team is good enough to be that way, and I should be good enough to be that way.  I certainly put us in a hole bigger than it should have been at Dover and at Michigan.  Those were entirely just my fault, obviously, and I’ve got to be better than that.  We can’t have any more of those.  That’s obvious.  But we’ve just got to be smart about how we race.”

It was a Busch brothers 1-2 finish for the first time in Sprint Cup history.

Busch drove the wheels off his Haas Automation Chevrolet to finish second and keep his run of impressive racing going with his third straight top five finish. Put Busch in the conversation for title contenders.

Bowyer’s third place finish was his best of the season. Johnson faded to sixth after leading a race high 44 laps.

We’ve now seen 11 different winners in 16 races this season.

(Photo by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images)