A lot of people don’t like Joey Logano. For some reason, ever since the Team Penske driver broke into the NASCAR Cup Series in 2008 as an 18-year-old prodigy heralded by Mark Martin, Logano has rubbed people the wrong way.
_Darian Grubb is a Sprint Cup championship crew chief, winning the 2011 title with Tony Stewart. He was starting his second season as the head wrench for Denny Hamlin when Hamlin was injured at California a couple of weeks ago; now, he finds himself calling the shots for multiple drivers filling the seat in his car until they return. With the rules as they are, Grubb’s team will still have a chance to make the Chase if they can stay on top of the car and then win a couple of races with Hamlin in the seat._
_When Frontstretch caught up with Grubb this week, he told us about running Martinsville with Mark Martin and what the FedEx team faces as they head to Texas this week. Grubb covers things from tires to cool temperatures and the difference between having his primary driver in the seat behind him at the track and a sub._
*Sprint Cup: Camrys Go Kaput At Daytona* Heading to 50 laps to go in Sunday’s Daytona 500, it wasn’t a question of _if_ Toyota would be the first foreign manufacturer to win the race but _who_ would have the honor of holding the trophy. At one point, the top six drivers were all running Camrys, pulling away from the pack in a rare display of one make’s dominance over the field. Would Matt Kenseth stay on cruise control, dominating the race to the tune of 86 laps led and win the 500 back-to-back? Or how about Kyle Busch, recovering from a jack problem on pit road to run solidly inside the top 5? Could the third man in the Joe Gibbs Racing trio, Denny Hamlin, snooker them both? Or would one of the three Michael Waltrip Racing entries, driven by Mark Martin, Clint Bowyer, or Martin Truex, Jr. take control?
On lap 16, Tony Stewart attempted to change lanes and make a move on race leader Matt Kenseth. While he wasn’t cleared by his spotter, Stewart chose to shift down low which resulted in his left rear corner making contact with the right front of Marcos Ambrose. Stewart’s car got out of shape, made contact with the apron and sent a shower of sparks over several cars that were pursuing him. Jimmie Johnson checked up in the high line, which caused Denny Hamlin to make contact with the five-time champ, turning him down in front of the oncoming pack and ultimately taking out one-third of the field. The accident eliminated defending champion Kyle Busch, two-time Unlimited champion Jeff Gordon, 2006 winner Denny Hamlin and 1999 winner Mark Martin. Just like that, the field was reduced by one-third, many contenders sat idle in the garage and the drafting – along with the racing – became a shell of its former self.
There’s a name not often mentioned as the catalyst for Brad Keselowski, 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion. For every Roger Penske, Paul Wolfe, or Miller Lite VP with a bucket load of cash there’s just one name I will always think of, one whose own failure could have changed the course of the sport.
Mark Martin.
Dale Jarrett said it best: as much as everyone wanted to see the race end, and as close as some teams were on fuel mileage, there needed to be a caution for Danica Patrick on the green-white-checkered attempt. NASCAR’s failure to throw the yellow was costly. As Harvick took the checkers, several cars sustained heavy damage as their drivers raced for position coming to the finish line, only to realize that there was fluid on the track from Patrick’s limping car. Menard slammed into the back end of Patrick’s slower car so hard that the No. 10 was thrown into the air. Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Menard and Brad Keselowski all suffered damage. Kurt Busch’s car was destroyed and on fire.
*Did You Notice?…* A focus on everything but the drivers at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing? As we spoke about “in Mirror Driving today,”:https://frontstretch.com/md/42022/ EGR is switching to Hendrick engines next season, moving away from an internal program combined with Childress in an effort to improve on-track performance. That follows a total housecleaning, at the end of 2011 where just about everyone important _behind the scenes_ got a Pink Slip lump of coal from Target Santa. Among those who got the axe: Competition Director Steve Hmiel, Team Manager Tony Glover and Lead Engineer Ed Nathman. Considering Hmiel and Glover were at the top of the charts in the ‘90s, with Mark Martin and Sterling Marlin, respectively; they had dozens of Cup Series victories, Daytona 500 triumphs and pole positions earned in a combined six-plus decades of NASCAR service.
With Tuesday’s announcement making official what everybody has known for the past two months, 2003 Winston Cup Champion Matt Kenseth has left Roush Fenway Racing, and will be moving to Joe Gibbs Racing. To say that Roush Fenway is a talent vacuum might not be much of an understatement. Over the course of the past five years, consider the drivers that they have lost: Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, and Matt Kenseth in the Cup Series alone. Sponsorship has taken a hit as well, adding to the list of Office Depot, UPS, AAA, DeWalt, Crown Royal, and Carhartt.
The big question for Brian Vickers is: where does he go from here? He has done an admirable job filling in for Mark Martin in the No. 55 for select races, but Martin is signed with Michael Waltrip Racing for the lion’s share of the 2013 schedule as well, and Vickers deserves a ride before 2014. Vickers is a proven commodity with two Sprint Cup wins and a Nationwide Series title… and yet, his name hasn’t been heard in the mix for a ride. MWR has been reportedly looking at a fourth team for Vickers; but as of yet, that’s merely a possibility. He’s as good as some of the drivers whose names are being bandied around… and why his name isn’t among them might be the biggest question of Silly Season.
Jimmie Johnson had the dominant car once Mark Martin was speared by the pit wall opening in a scary, mid-race crash. But as J.J. was strolling to what would have been his series-leading fourth victory, a valve spring failed with less than 15 miles left to run. That handed Greg Biffle Christmas in August, gift-wrapping him a second victory after a green-white-checkered finish and a pesky push from Michigan native Brad Keselowski.