Race Weekend Central

Thinkin’ Out Loud – Joey Logano Makes Late-Race Pass to Claim First All-Star Victory

Who’s in the headline – The No. 22 of Joey Logano was festooned with a myriad of pictures from the 50 years of Team Penske. On a full moon Saturday night, the collective spirits of all of the drivers who have piloted a car for “The Captain” rode along with Logano as he navigated the pandemonium that was the Sprint All-Star Race. With the four fresh tires required by the rules before the final 13-lap sprint, Logano chased down Kyle Larson and passed him with two laps to go. He walked away over the final two laps to score his first win in the annual All-Star event.

What happened – The All-Star Race is all about putting on a show for the fans. The rules are designed and changed routinely, in an attempt to provide the best excitement they can. The rules unfolded into some confusion and interesting judgment calls Saturday evening. A caution flag caught Matt Kenseth at the end of the first segment, having not pitted during the required time.

When the mandatory stops were made at the break, there were several cars a lap down. All teams pitted but the lap down cars were not able to take a wave around so they started the second segment a lap down. Chase Elliott tried to make a pit stop halfway through the second segment after a restart for a caution brought on by weepers on the track. When he slowed, several cars were caught in a wreck that ended the night for Kenseth, Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart, who was running his final All-Star event. Kyle Busch was caught speeding on a subsequent pit stop and found himself 13th heading to the second break. Jimmie Johnson also attempted to drop back behind the mandatory inversion so that he’d have track position for the final restart.

After Greg Olsen, tight end for the Carolina Panthers and honorary pace car driver, drew 11 cars for the invert to start segment three, Johnson started on the front row for the final segment with worn tires alongside Kyle Busch. As much as track position has been a factor at Charlotte in recent history, the tire that Goodyear brought gave up too much and the front row cars were sitting ducks when the field hit the backstretch on the first lap of the final 13.

Kyle Larson made a bold move to the inside in Turns 1 and 2, clearing the field and looking to head for the win. Unfortunately for Larson, the handle wasn’t there as the laps wound down and Logano worked him over until he made the pass with two to go to head to the win.

Why you should care – Aside from the confusion over the rules, one thing was very evident between the Sprint Showdown and the All-Star Race Saturday night:  the new rules package afforded drivers the ability to catch and pass cars ahead of them when their car was better. It has been years since we’ve seen that happen at Charlotte, especially at night.

The other takeaway from Saturday is that the future of the sport looks bright from a driving talent standpoint. Ryan Blaney, Elliott and Larson put on a show during the Showdown. The finish of the final segment looked strikingly similar to arguably the greatest finish in the history of the sport between Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven at Darlington in 2003.

What your friends are talking about – Aerodynamics and tires have been a huge part of the change in racing this season. The All-Star race was a test for a couple more tweaks to the aero package for the Cup series. It appeared to be a success based on the action seen during the Showdown and the last two segments of the All-Star Race. NASCAR refused to implement new rules last season that appeared to be capable of improving racing for the Chase. With this package presenting promise, let’s hope that the sanctioning body chooses to implement them before the end of 2016.

Kevin Harvick signed a contract extension with Stewart-Haas Racing, putting an end to rumors that the 2014 Cup Series champion would make a move to stay under the bowtie brand.

Billy Silas is once again the owner of Rockingham Speedway. There were no other bids received after he made a bid to purchase the track from the Richmond County Clerk of the Court. Silas was part of the group that initially purchased the track with Andy Hillenburg in 2008. It is unclear, at this point in time, if Silas intends to return racing to the historic track once again.

Daytona International Speedway spent $400 million on renovations in the Daytona Rising Project. The SportsBusiness Journal announced their 2016 Sports Business Awards on the 18th and Daytona was recognized as the Sports Facility of the Year. The flagship track of ISC is known as the World Center of Speed, and the makeover has positioned it to be a premier facility for years to come.

Who is mad – Stewart was one of the cars that was caught a lap down when Kenseth didn’t pit before Jamie McMurray brought out a caution at the end of segment one on Saturday night. Halfway through the segment, he was trying to race his way into a lucky dog position when Elliott attempted to pit and triggered a chain reaction wreck that took out Stewart, Kahne and Kenseth. After being checked in the infield care center, Stewart called it “the most screwed up All-Star race I’ve ever been a part of” and said he was glad it was his last one.

Johnson was near the front a couple of times on Saturday night, but it became apparent near the midway point of segment two that he was not going to make it to the top 4 by the time of the inversion. The No. 48 team made a call as the laps wound down for Johnson to drop back into the 12th spot, so that he’d be close to the front after the draw for the inversion. While the inversion worked in Johnson’s favor, his tires were simply too worn out for him to come close to holding off the cars starting immediately behind him with fresh bologna’s. If there had been six or eight cars ahead of the fresh tire cars, it might have played out differently.

Kyle Busch still hasn’t won a Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch was hoping to garner a big win for his sponsor M&M Mars with a special paint scheme for their 75th anniversary. He led a race-high three times for 15 laps, but had a speeding penalty when he made his mandatory stop near the middle of the second segment. That penalty put Busch in a situation similar to Johnson. He dropped to 13th before the inversion, but his right side tires were even older than Johnson’s. The 2015 Cup Series champion had nothing for the oncoming hoard with fresh tires and ended up 10th in the final rundown.

Who is happyDale Earnhardt, Jr. ran in the middle of the pack for the first ¾ of the race, but his pit stop in segment two made his car very racy and he was able to work to the front of the pack. He went three-wide on the final restart to make it to third place, but was unable to challenge Larson or Logano in the closing laps. Following the race, Earnhardt acknowledged that his team was experimenting with some items to look for speed and they have hit on some tweaks that seem to work. He’s optimistic about his Coca-Cola 600 chances.

As down as Larson was after the race, he has to be able to look in the rear view mirror and realize he had a pretty great Saturday. Larson led the final segment of the showdown and overpowered Elliott in a fender banging, smoking brawl to the finish line to advance to the All-Star race. He then raced to the front of the second segment to be the first car with fresh tires starting the final segment. He made a bold move to take the lead and led up until two laps to go. He’s getting closer and closer to that first Sprint Cup win.

Trevor Bayne has been looking for a second Sprint Cup win for five years. Roush Fenway Racing has been struggling for speed for a couple of seasons. Bayne made a very bold move to split the leaders and beat Elliott by inches to advance to the All-Star Race. Bayne finished the race in seventh, and had a great battle with Kurt Busch during the final segment that displayed some great racing talent.

When the checkered flag flew:

Joey Logano scored his first career win in the All-Star race.

This was Logano’s sixth start in the All-Star race.

His previous best result was second in 2013.

Brad Keselowski finished second in the All-Star race for the second time in his career.

He was also the runner-up in 2012.

Logano and Keselowski’s first and second place finishes is the first time in the 32 years of the event that a team has swept the top two spots.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third in the All-Star event.

This was Earnhardt’s best run since he finished second to Ryan Newman in 2002.

Earnhardt Jr. has the most laps completed and the most top 10 finishes among active drivers.

What is in the cooler – From a pure racing standpoint, the All-Star race and the Showdown were as good as the event has seen in over a decade. The confusion over how to handle the Kenseth faux pas at the end of the first segment and the limited number of cars on the lead lap after the second segment hampered the overall impact of the rules. In the end it was an All-Star weekend that has the racing world talking and people excited about the direction of the aerodynamic package. As a result, it receives four Hornet’s Nest beers from Olde Mecklenburg Brewery.

Where do you point your DVR for next week – Next Sunday is the greatest day in racing every year. The day starts with the Grand Prix of Monaco. It is followed by the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. The day wraps up with the longest race on the Sprint Cup schedule, the Coca-Cola 600. Coverage begins at 6:00 PM on Fox. It can also be heard on your local PRN affiliate and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90.

About the author

What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? The writer, radio contributor and racetrack announcer coordinates the site’s local short track coverage, hitting up Saturday Night Specials across the country while tracking the sport’s future racing stars. The writer for our signature Cup post-race column, Thinkin’ Out Loud (Mondays) also sits down with Cup crew chiefs to talk shop every Friday with Tech Talk. Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.

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janice

from what i’ve seen, glad i couldn’t stay awake. of course i wished i had a good luck picking winning lottery numbers as making the assumption about princess sparkle pony being in all star rate. yep, she’s a real “all star”. what a fiasco. sunday am when i saw who won…oh well i can say is it wasn’t a gibbs car.

Charles Jenkins

janice, I did watch the “event”. I was in for the evening and it is such a habit to watch NA$CAR for me. I, like many, used to plan around racing and rarely missed a green flag lap but now I miss a lot of green flag laps and even some entire races. The confusion that unfolded was entertaining more than the track activity. None of the broadcasters and I mean all of them, DW, Jeff, Chris, et.al. had a clue what was going on. In their defense, NA$CAR did not either so how could they have. When the NFL player opened the envelope with the “magic number” for how many positions had to get tires and said to the effect..”I have no idea what is going on”…. it was priceless!!! Just sad for this long time fan to keeping holding on even though I know that “it” will never be what it used to be. The motor sports entertainment, made for TV events are here to stay. Funny how having a few laps of “get up on the wheel” and a close finish are now being described by most media as a great race.

spot1

Didn’t watch a lap of it (and still haven’t). Was at the racetracks around here all weekend. Bet it was better racing than the “All-Star” race.

DoninAjax

I thought there was a “rule” that the “two tire” pit stops had to be done before the last five laps. Typical Brian rule.

It’s a holiday up here today. Queen Victoria Day. Wasn’t she ruling when DW started his Cup career? Lots of fireworks.

Steve

At least the frontstretch staff is consistent. Once again they give Johnson a pass once for sand bagging. It should have been a shock to no one that they did it, considering gaming the system has been the key to their six 10-race championships.

DoninAjax

If they were using tires from Bedrock Concrete Tires Johnson would have won in a cakewalk. But he can’t manage tires that give up. So that’ll be the end of those tires.

Bill B

Well it (whatever “it” was) certainly was entertaining however not as a sports event. It seemed to have more of a game show feel… WHAMMY!!!
After a while I just kind of watched the pretty cars as they went around the track and tried to just release endorphins without caring about the legitimacy of the race itself. Now that I don’t have a driver it’s easier than you may think.

I agree with Steve 100%. Nothing made me happier than watching teams try to game the system and get burnt. Kenseth on the pit stop and Knauss/Johnson sandbagging to get to be at the front even more so (it was so obvious). Gaming the system is for drivers that suck and can’t win any other way. Neither of those teams qualify IMO as they are both capable of winning at any track at any time. You want to game the system…. go faster than anyone else and pass everyone in front of you.

Upstate24fan

The racing was great. The format ehh… not so much. NASCAR got stumped with that late 1st segment caution and the penalty for Kenseth. They should have just waived around the cars on the tail end of the lead lap before the caution pit stop. It would have saved a ton of confusion. The biggest problem I’ve had with the All Star Race hasn’t been the format, it’s that the racing at Charlotte has stunk since the repave. It finally feels like that is starting to change. There was more action in the Showdown than the last 10 All Star Races combined, and we had a late pass for the win in the All Star Race. Tire wear was obvious, Jimmie and Kyle dropped like rocks at the end. This forebodes really well for the 600.

Steve

Upstate, it actually doesn’t. They won’t be using the same package for the 600, so it will be a normal parade with clean air as king, except this one will be 100 miles longer.

bud sudz

Steve, they are still using a new package vs. last year that has led to better racing. Hopefully, the 600 will mirror the Atlanta race, with passing-multiple grooves/tire wear and long green flag stretches that make the race a marathon where lucky dogs and wave arounds don’t put 25 cars on the lead lap at the end of the race. The 600 should be a matter of survival with 8-12 cars around (on the lead lap) to decide it at the end.

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