Four races into the 2013 season, the top performer at Richard Childress Racing is not the guy you’d expect. Not Kevin Harvick, the 19-time Cup winner and current flagship of the organization. Not Jeff Burton, the past-his-prime veteran who can still turn in a solid finish here and there. Not even Kurt Busch, whose Furniture Row Racing team is, according to him, basically a fourth Childress car.
Duel One – Kevin Harvick thought it was time to go, prior to the first green-flag pit stop of the race and he went, blowing by Trevor Bayne on Lap 37. That was pretty much all she wrote. The field spent the rest of the day simply trying to lap up Harvick’s beer exhaust, the Bud Chevy in another time zone just like the Sprint Unlimited Saturday night.
Duel Two – Jeff Gordon led. Then he sped… on pit road, so Kyle Busch pretty much took control from there. Kasey Kahne tried, and failed on the last lap to make a charge as teammate Matt Kenseth served as sacrificial lamb for Busch’s second career Duel victory.
For the first time in seven years, we have a Sprint Cup Champion not named Stewart or Johnson. History was made during 2013 Daytona 500 qualifying, Stanica was born, Kevin Harvick isn’t acting like a lame duck and the Gen-6 car has finally brought back brand identity to NASCAR. All this news and the season hasn’t even started yet! The past three months have brought more excitement to the 2013 season than Junior jumping ship to Hendrick Motorsports…
_The Daytona 500 will start off the NASCAR points race season this Sunday, and the cars from the Richard Childress Racing stable are heading into the event feeling rather confident after one of their own, Kevin Harvick, scored the first win of the season in the Sprint Unlimited. Sitting on the pit box for Paul Menard this Sunday will be Slugger Labbe. The veteran crew chief from Saco, Maine has been in Daytona’s Victory Lane before as a crew chief with Michael Waltrip; now, he’s looking to repeat the feat and bring his driver a maiden plate race triumph. Tuesday morning, he gave Frontstretch his views on how things have unfolded so far in Speedweeks, along with a little insight into the Battle at the Beach._
Kevin Harvick spent Saturday night “Happy” in Victory Lane, and why not? He’d won the first Cup race of 2013, established himself as a contender to win a second Daytona 500 and injected a much-needed boost of energy into struggling Richard Childress Racing. But the second he stepped out of that zone, into his media presser that merriness got entangled with a different type of off-track mission – one that involved holding up the middle finger.
“I missed all you guys,” said the winner, a sarcastic joke tinged with reality after walking in. “Because you were all busy being TMZ the other day. So now you all have to talk to me and I can be a complete prick.”
*Sprint Cup: Sandbag Central At The Beach?* No, I’m not talking about the soft stuff your NASCAR favorites will be tanning on the next two days, enjoying a well-deserved break at Daytona before practice starts up midweek. I’m looking at strategy, in particular during Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited that could cause a different look to Sunday’s Daytona 500.
During this weekend’s race, while Kevin Harvick led the most laps it was clear Matt Kenseth had the fastest car. For most of the first segment, his No. 20 Toyota remained in command up front, blocking any challenges while the field struggled to simply stay attached. But as rivals realized Kenseth was a favorite, they also recognized he suffered from a paralyzing disadvantage: both his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates were sitting in the garage, out of the race and unable to help. That left Harvick and company choosing to railroad past during the third and final segment, booting Kenseth from first place on Lap 62 to the outskirts of the top 10.
_Welcome to the Frontstretch Foto Funnies! Ever see a photo that’s just begging for a caption? We see them all the time! Each week, we’ll pick a few, and our let our staff give it their best shot. Then we’ll post the best ones for you!_
_Want to get in on the fun? Each week, we’ll also designate one of the photos for fan captions. Leave your best ideas in the comments below or on our Facebook page. We’ll choose our favorite one and reprint the photo next week with its new caption! This week’s Fan Foto is Photo No. 2 (the one with Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, and the cell phone). Ready, set…caption that!_
2012 was not a season to write home to mom about for the folks at Richard Childress Racing. For a three-car team used to competing for the postseason title, simply staying on the lead lap was the primary struggle in what came to be a year to forget. Kevin Harvick won one race, the lone victory for RCR on the Cup level and was the only driver in the stable to make the Chase. Paul Menard wrapped up the year in 16th place, virtually nonexistent at the front of the field while Jeff Burton posted just two top-5 results, both at Daytona en route to 19th in the final standings.
As the 2013 season dawns, the gang from Welcome, NC looks to turn the page and get back to the top of the heap. In the Cup Series, the driver lineup remains unchanged but it’s the mentality that has to be different.
Well that was quite the race wasn’t it?
In fact, so much happened between Jeff Gordon’s deliberate and premeditated wrecking of Clint Bowyer just before the leader took the white flag, I almost forgot there was still a race to finish whilst the fifteen-minute red flag delay occurred. In many ways Kevin Harvick’s victory and Brad Keselowski all but sealing his first Sprint Cup championship became little more than afterthoughts, given the melee and general carnage after Gordon’s remarkably ill-advised on track actions.
Brad Keselowski couldn’t catch a break in the final 50 laps of the race at Texas, but he caught a big one at Phoenix. Jimmie Johnson’s right-front tire failure and subsequent crash put Keselowski in the catbird’s seat (20-point lead) heading to Homestead-Miami.
Johnson must have left his golden horseshoe in Victory Lane at Texas, or maybe Kevin Harvick finally stole it. Either way, after Johnson caught all the lucky breaks at Texas, Keselowski caught them all at Phoenix. After Johnson’s wreck, the race wasn’t exactly a cakewalk for Keselowski, especially in the final laps. He had to avoid Jeff Gordon’s stupidity (more on that in Cold), then get to the finish while skating in oil and avoiding a massive accident on the frontstretch. It must’ve felt like Watkins Glen all over again, except the championship was on the line so it wasn’t as easy to laugh at.