Fan’s View: Who Finished in the Top 12 & Aren’t Even in NASCAR’s Chase
Brad Keselowski won and Jeff Gordon appeared late in the running to almost give him some competition. There is nothing very stunning about the major …
Brad Keselowski won and Jeff Gordon appeared late in the running to almost give him some competition. There is nothing very stunning about the major …
The caution flag flew for Matt Kenseth breaking a track bar mount on lap 310. The lead lap cars pitted and Brad Keselowski never visited pit road again, making his tank of fuel last 89 laps en route to his fifth win of the season and second of the Chase.
Roush Fenway Racing may have lost a truck arm Sunday at Dover, courtesy the No. 17 Ford of Matt Kenseth but in the stands they quickly gained themselves a new fan: Eeyore. How could the famous donkey, known for a need of modern day antidepressants _not_ be attracted to a trio of riveting quotes like these?
“In two out of three Chase races something either fell off or broke, so obviously that’s not good. Our performance hasn’t been very good either, so I don’t know. Today was a struggle. This is probably the worst we’ve run here for as long as I can remember. From the first lap on the track to the last lap on the track we were pretty much junk.” _Kenseth_
By Jeff Wolfe Brad Keselowski went from just trying to stay on the lead lap, to being the leader at the right time to win …
The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Schedule was released this week to great fanfare. Well, not really. Not at all, actually.
He called his shot. Then he didn’t. Then he did. Denny Hamlin set himself up for success no matter how he finished on Sunday and took credit for calling his victory thereafter. However, you can’t say this guy doesn’t have confidence and everyone seems to agree he is now, officially, championship material. However, Jimmie Johnson–much similar to the championship battle in 2010–was right behind him when the checkered flag flew–and has the points lead.
Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where race telecast criticism is the name of the game. This past weekend, the Sprint Cup Series raced at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with three lower level series (Whelen Modified Tour, K&N Pro Series and an exhibition race for the ACT Tour) as support. Meanwhile, the Camping World Truck and Nationwide Series each raced at a somewhat empty Kentucky Speedway.
It wasn’t a win for Jeff Gordon, and he still has a lot of ground to make up before he can even begin to think about that elusive fifth Cup title. But this week, Gordon certainly looked a lot more like… well, like Jeff Gordon. After starting on the pole, Gordon remained in the hunt throughout the race, running inside the top 10 all day long and ending the day in fourth place.
Between the Stewart butt grab and the Gordon mustache, you might have forgotten that there was an actual race with actual points for the actual Chase going on. Groundbreaking stuff, right? But, yes, there was a 400-mile postseason kickoff event, one that Brad Keselowski won to take control of the point lead. Yet Jimmie Johnson was right behind him, making sure he wasn’t forgotten either. Heck, he almost won the race himself and sits second in points! Title number six is still very much a possibility.
*1. Can Denny hold his momentum?*
In a Chase that can be defined in simple terms – Hendrick chassis vs. the field – Denny Hamlin stands out as the lone “wild card” capable of dethroning the Johnson juggernaut so many expect. Entering the Chase with two wins in his last three races, the driver of the No. 11 Toyota repositioned himself after a miserable summer and enters this Chase the No. 1 seed, albeit with a scant three-point advantage over his closest competition. The 2010 championship runner-up appears to have learned from that year of “almost,” now paired with a crew chief in Darian Grubb that’s won more Sprint Cup races since the start of 2011 than anyone else. Together, both create a compelling case of redemption and have the full focus of Joe Gibbs Racing behind them.