Pitting

Kurt Busch, not Kyle, gets the sweep at Charlotte

Kurt Busch pulled off “the double” at Charlotte Motor Speedway, winning the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest race, one week after taking the checkered flag there in the sport’s All-Star race.

While Busch put on a dominating performance, leading 252 of 400 laps, it wasn’t as easy as that statistic might make it seem. Late in the race, Busch faced a formidable challenge from this year’s Daytona 500 winner, Jamie McMurray.

McMurray, who drives for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, was trying to give owner Chip Ganassi a “double” of his own. Ganassi fields several teams in the Indy Racing League and one of his drivers, Dario Franchitti, won that series’ biggest event, the Indianapolis 500, earlier in the day.

But Busch’s Sprint Cup team owner, Roger Penske, also has teams in the IRL, and it wasn’t a good day for those teams.

“Most important, Roger, this one was for you,” Busch said. “I thought about that Ganassi car behind me. He wasn’t going to get by.”

Kurt’s younger brother, Kyle, was unable to have a “double” of his own. Kyle won Saturday’s Nationwide series race and was going for a weekend sweep.

It was a day marked with pageantry and patriotism in celebration of the Memorial Day weekend.

Actors Jessica Biel, Sharlto Copley, Bradley Cooper and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, stars of the upcoming feature film, “The A Team,” attended the race to promote the June 11 movie opening.

Hamlin wins SHOWTIME Southern 500, same old story for Gordon

This is really getting old. And I’m not even the one driving the car.

Yes, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. where winning is everything and second place is just the first loser, it was another frustrating night for Jeff Gordon at Darlington Raceway.

Yes, Gordon led more laps of the race than any other driver.

Yes, Gordon’s pit crew had fast, perfect pit stops.

And yes, once again, Gordon failed to win because of simple bad luck at a bad time.

To his credit, Gordon took the defeat in stride, and also took the blame for the loss. It wasn’t his fault, though. As he was getting ready to make his final pit stop, the cars behind him closed in and Gordon realized he wouldn’t be able to cut to the pits without causing an accident.

So Gordon stayed out an extra lap before pitting. But just as he entered the pits, the yellow flag flew for someone else’s accident. Gordon drove through pit lane without stopping to avoid losing a lap, but it dropped him to 11th place. He finished fourth, a victory in itself.

Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin was standing in victory lane despite his bad knee. It was Hamlin’s third win this year, and his second in two days, having won the Nationwide series race at Darlington just one day earlier.

So how long will Gordon be able to maintain his composure before the frustration gets to him?

As long as it takes.

Gordon and his team are extremely strong, and a new trophy or two or three will be in their showcase at Hendrick Motorsports soon — probably. If not, it won’t be due to frustration or lack of effort.

Jeff Gordon strong at Richmond but still “disappointed”

I know it’s hard to feel sorry for him.

On the surface, Gordon appears to have everything one could want in life: a happy family, a job he loves, millions of dollars in his bank account — you get the picture.

But when it comes to that job Gordon loves, he’s happiest when he’s winning. And in his last 89 races, Gordon has only won once.

The four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champ came up short again Saturday night, this time at Richmond International Raceway. “It’s a little disappointing we haven’t won some races yet. [But] if we keep doing this, those will come.”

As frustrating as it is to finish second, Gordon said he is pleased with the performance of the No. 24 team this year. “Other than the win column, I feel like we’re dominating races,” he said. “We’re leading at times. We’re leading laps pretty much everywhere we go. We’re running up front. We’re putting ourselves in a position to win late in races. Our pit crew is strong. Everything is going good, other than getting the win.” 

Kyle Busch, who won the race on the eve of his 25th birthday, was the class of the field for most of the evening before fading. But his No. 18 team kept working, and the payoff was a trip to victory lane.

And it was another second-place finish for a disappointed Jeff Gordon.

Danica & Dale Jr. are drivers gone wild in Daytona

If today’s Nationwide series race at Daytona International Speedway is any indication, Sunday’s 52nd running of the Daytona 500 should be a real doozy.

Fan favorites and power owner/driver combo Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick both took wild rides in the race, which featured multiple multi-car accidents. By the time the smoke had cleared, “Smoke,” also known as Tony Stewart, was the winner.

But Stewart would trade the Nationwide win any time with going to victory lane in the Daytona 500.

“I really don’t know what to expect [in the Daytona 500],” Stewart said. “I assume it’ll be similar to the qualifying races but having a full field, you’ll have a lot of cars that will be right.”

Stewart added that since he doesn’t plan to ever race the Indianapolis 500 again, winning the Daytona 500 is his ultimate racing goal.

Meanwhile, Danica-mania continued at full blast. As her heavily-damaged car was pushed into the garage area for evaluation and repairs, Patrick was greeted by a huge crowd of media as well as fans.

I just wonder what would have happened if Patrick and Earnhardt had been involved in the same incident, forcing the masses to choose which way to go.

My guess is that Danica would win that contest, and that’s saying a lot considering how popular her boss, Earnhardt, is.

Patrick will race the Nationwide series again next week in California.

Jack Roush takes responsibility for Roush Fenway 2009 struggles

After winning 11 races and placing three cars in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2008, Roush Fenway cars won only three times in 2009, with two making the Chase - though none placed higher than seventh in the final standings.What went wrong? Jack Roush said the team misused its time, and he blamed himself for it. “We spent our time, and a disproportionate amount of it, trying to find that next breakthrough, that next steered rear axle that we introduced in 2008, which was part of the reason we were so dominant on the mile-and-a-half tracks, and the coil-bound front spring which we introduced in 2002 when the people with Greg Biffle found that,” Roush said. “It didn’t come. We didn’t find it.”

Meanwhile, Roush Fenway didn’t spend enough time massaging the cars, trying to lighten them up as much as possible, trying to smooth out the bodies. “We got best-balled on the tweaks and the sanding,” Roush said. Ford stepped up their commitment for this season, to make up for “my ineptitude,” Roush added. Roush Fenway increased its engineering staff from 30 to 36, which means the organization can continue to look for the next breakthrough while still working on the little things that make the cars go fast. “I couldn’t be more excited about 2010,” Roush said. “I’ve learned from 2009, when I thought it was going to be a slam dunk to come back and dominate the mile-and-a-half tracks and to be a contender for a championship again. We just missed it.”

Carl Edwards didn’t win in 2009 after going to Victory Lane nine times in 2008, though he did reach the Chase. He also fell short of the Nationwide series title but returns with a vengeance for 2010. “Our goals are simple: I want to win both championships,” Edwards said. “When Matt [Kenseth] won the [Daytona] 500 and then California, probably all of us thought, ‘Well, this is going to be it. This is going to be fun.’ Throughout the year, we did struggle. I know I personally learned a lot about myself and about the team and what we need. We’ve been able to work on that stuff. I’m excited to get the year going.”

Matt Kenseth failed to get the No. 17 DeWalt Ford into the Chase for the first time in his career. He worked with crew chief Drew Blickensderfer for the first time last year and hopes their relationship can continue to grow. “I feel like there’s maybe a little stability there,” Kenseth said. “I think he knows a lot more what I like and don’t like, probably more what I don’t like. I’ve learned a lot of things about him as well. We’ve got a lot of exciting things going. We made a lot of upgrades on our cars from last year. But the bottom line is we’ve got to do it on the race track. We’ve got to have better results than we had last year. We’ve got to get back into championship form.”

David Ragan, driver of the No. 6 UPS Ford, has even simpler goals. “It’s pretty simple: We’ve got to win races in 2010,” Ragan said. “I’m encouraged by the things with our race cars. I feel like we’ve got a pretty good grasp on things for Daytona. The real test will be when we unload in California. But it’s plain and simple: We’ve got to win races next year. We’ve got to be competitive, from the short tracks to the mile-and-a-half tracks to the speedway tracks.”

Kasey Kahne on Ford, the merger and sprint car racing

On being back with Ford:

It’s kind of different, but that’s what it is. The Ford people have actually been good to me over the years. They were great when I first kind of began racing, and they’re good again now. So I look forward to winning more races for them.

About being back with Yates:

I didn’t expect to ever be back with Yates, but things change and I am now – not necessarily with Robert. I’m back with the Yates engine program, which is a really strong engine program, and Richard Petty Motorsports. But yeah, it’s been somewhat of a circle. On all the changes he’s had over the past years: It’s a little bit difficult because you never know exactly what’s going on, but the thing that’s nice and the thing that I have had that’s the same is my team and Kenny Francis. This is our fifth year together. To me, those are the things that you build on. Those are the things that make you a championship caliber team down the road. I’m glad I’ve been able to stick with Kenny and I hope to stick with him for a long time.

On his expectations starting the year:

I expect to be good right off the bat. Daytona is so much different than any other track because of the drafting and all that. It seems like everybody’s fast at Daytona at times. So that one I feel like we should be right in the middle of that. But when we get to California and Las Vegas, I fell like hopefully we’re one of the cars in the Top 5 out there and hopefully right in the middle of it all.

On dealing with the uncertainty of the merger:

My team has been great to work with and we try to put it out of our heads when it comes to practice and racing and qualifying and we do our thing. I think with my sprint car teams, it’s been fun to just get away from the Cup stuff and be able to worry about that and how good they’re running to make sure they’re as good as they can be, the best sprint car teams out there. So I think I’ve been able to put some of it away and worry about my stuff at the same time and know that I don’t have control over those things.

On the Kasey Kahne Foundation returning to Pennsylvania this year:

I hope so. That’s something that we’ve done for a few years and it’s really been good. Last year, Kyle Busch went and the fans up there really enjoyed it. It was a great show. Hopefully we can keep doing that and keep going to Williams Grove. It’s been a nice race up there. It raises money for the Kasey Kahne Foundation, which is a neat, fun project that we started five years ago for underprivileged and chronically ill children. Hopefully we can keep supporting that and raising money and putting smiles on kids’ faces.

On the Chili Bowl:

I had a really good time. The Chili Bowl is always fun. The A-Main didn’t go quite the way I wanted. My teammate spun out in front of me and I hit him, so that kind of screwed my Chili Bowl up. But we still ran good. We were actually one of the best cars there. We just didn’t win the race.

Elliott Sadler on NASCAR rule changes and impending fatherhood

On new rules:

I’m 100 percent happy they’re putting it back in our hands. I can’t think of any better way to do it. We’re 43 drivers that honestly during a race only knows what’s going on inside our car and what’s around us. I know it’s tough for them to sit up in their booth and see everything that’s going on. Let us police it. This is like going to NBA basketball and telling LeBron James ‘you can’t do the pick-and-roll anymore.’ You’ve got to figure out a different way to score. It’s hard to tell a driver, ‘You can’t bump draft,’ ‘you can’t do this.’ Maybe I know how to bump draft better than the next guy, so I need to use that as a tool for me. And if you take that away, I don’t think that’s good racing and good leaving it in the hands of the drivers.

We made it to this point for a reason. Let us race hard and if we want to do something stupid that’s going to tear up 20 cars, that’s our fault and we’re going to have to pay for it in points at the end of the day. But let us race how we should be able to race. We let bump drafting go on at every other track. Let it happen at Talladega and Daytona also. I’ll tell you what happened at Talladega in the fall was with the no bumping rule in the middle of the corner, we were having to lift, which means we were hitting each other harder, way harder in the straightaway, and that caused a wreck. So I just think us policing it ourselves is way better. I think if they want to cut out bump drafting, make the front of these cars as weak as you can make them so you bust the radiator wide open. As far as telling us, ‘you can bump here, you can’t bump there,’ I don’t think it’s right. Because I might know how to do it better than the next guy and I want to be able to have that tool.

About his impending fatherhood:

With the baby coming, I just think it’s going to help me clear my head a little more during the week and appreciate things that are going on at home so when I get back to the race the next weekend, I can be focused on that. But you don’t want to be a failure for your son, either. So you’ve got to try to bust your butt all you can, too. So we’re definitely looking forward to that time in our life and it’ll be here in the next couple weeks. We’ve got a lot of great doctors that are helping us and working on it and we’re going to make sure I can be there and be a part of this great experience. We’re going to be on the cautious side if anything, but we’re going to make sure that I’ll be there. If not, she won’t let me back in the house, probably.

You know who I leaned on the most and I look at is Dale Jarrett, because I can share anything in the world with him. And I’ve already asked him about sharing time at home, being at home with your kids with all the time that we spend on the road. And he gave me some great advice and things to go by. All the other people I’ve talked to that have young kids now, it’s just how much enjoyable it is and how great it is, and even when you have a bad day, it’s not really that bad of a day when you get to go home and spend it with your kids. So that’s how I’m l looking at it right now.

Carl Edwards and I have talked a little bit being that we’re now on the same Ford team. I told him it’s cool if his little girl and my little boy want to play and become really good friends at the racetrack and stuff like that, it’s great. I don’t know how well he liked that idea, but I thought it was pretty cool. We’re both excited about it and we can’t wait to share those moments and we both say we’re very lucky to have the wives that we have that can take care of that stuff while we’re racing. So that’s cool

Kevin Harvick on the black No. 3 and great racing

On Richard Childress’s grandson, Austin Dillon, driving the black No. 3 truck and bringing back the black No. 3 to Cup racing:

I’d see the black 3 and I’d just want to beat it every week. That’s just how I think.

But I think it’s really good for the sport. I think it’s really good for RCR to keep it in the family and it’s great to have it a part of the truck series. But I think it also comes with a lot of questions for Austin and things like that. But I’m excited to have him a part of the sport. I think it’s the right place for Austin to be racing and get the experience that he needs. It’s going to be fun to see him progressing in his career and we’ll help him as much as we can, but obviously our goal is to beat that truck every week, too.

Do you think they’ll use that number again someday in Cup?

No, I don’t. But it’s not mine. I think we should retire it like they do with certain numbers in the NFL.

What makes a great race?

Good finishes, and you’ve got to have some action. I think in that action there comes a few wrecks every once in a while. From a driver’s perspective, you probably don’t want any accidents, but that’s part of the sport, part of the competition, part of the things that make it happen.

Having all the cars run the same speed is not a good race because they all wind up following each other. In my opinion, that’s one of the biggest things. The cars are so close, that’s one reason that it’s so hard to pass.

Jeff Burton on rule changes, the black No. 3 and NASCAR

On NASCAR’s proposed rules changes: There are a lot of things that changed. So what we have to do right now is we’ve got to be willing to say, ‘we’ve got to start over.’ And the work that we do starting two weeks ago, when the spoiler was first being talked about, until the time that we start running our first spoiler race, that’s going to determine how successful we are.

Every team is scared to death about how it will affect them, and every team – the people that are inside the sport and understand what it takes – everybody’s heart rates are up, their pulse rates, their blood pressure’s higher. This is a stressful thing for us, and it’s going to re3quire a lot of work, a lot of effort. And it’s a daunting task. It really is. It’s not taking a wing off and bolting a spoiler on. It’s not that. And the teams that do it the best, it’s going to show up really, really clearly.

Do you think the black No. 3 should ever be back in Cup?

I do. The No. 3 has a history to it and it has a heritage to it. And that history and heritage is linked not only to Dale Earnhardt, but it’s linked to Richard Childress Racing as well. And they collectively made the 3 a symbol of success, a symbol of a commitment to do everything it took to win. Some people hated it. It was either loved or it was hated.

And it has such a huge part of our sport. It should only be back in the right situation. It has to be a special situation. It can’t be, ‘okay, we’ve hired Bob and Jim’s going to be the car owner, and so it’s a No. 3.’ That don’t work. That’s not acceptable.

But when Richard Childress is involved, the Earnhardt legacy has to be involved. All of those things have to come together. If all those things come together, then the 3 not only is a good thing to do, it’s the right thing to do. It shouldn’t be brought back as a gimmick.

With declining ratings, what do you think NASCAR needs to do to get some of that back?

I’m not real good at that. I love what I do for a living and I want the fans to be fired up and excited about it. I think what you’ve seen over the last six months, NASCAR really stepping back and looking and saying, ‘okay, what could be better? What do the fans think?’ They’re really getting a lot of input from the fans and you’re seeing them making a lot of changes due to what the fans think.

Most things NASCAR does has the consideration of the fans. I think that’s all we can do. Last year, the drivers made themselves available more than they’ve ever been available. The tracks said the drivers hide in their motor homes and do all that. I don’t know about other drivers, but I can tell you I did about 80 appearances last year. I wasn’t hiding in my motor home.

So we try to do more, and I think that’s a good thing. But at the end of the day, what fans want is a great experience. And anything we’ve got to do to make it happen, that’s what NASCAR’s in a position to do. I look at NASCAR a little bit like our team. We last year didn’t do what we needed to do to be successful. And over the last few years, NASCAR’s done some things for good reasons. NASCAR doesn’t do anything where they just say, ‘we’re going to do this just for the hell of it.’ Everything that they did had a reason, but some of those things weren’t embraced by the fans.

So NASCAR to me is in the same place that we have been as a company. They now have been weakened a little bit, been compromised a little bit, and it ultimately will make them stronger. It ultimately will make them re-focus on making the show the best it could possibly be. So there’s no question if you look at ratings, it’s been a little bit of a downturn. It hasn’t been the way it’s been related. We’re not in a catastrophic major problem. We’re in a situation where we have to do it a little better. And that’s what you’re going to see.

NASCAR is kind of on their heels a little bit. Th4ey’re going to get on their toes, get aggressive, and start making some changes that have the fans best interests at heart. But by the way, the changes they’ve made, it’s not like they sat in the board room and said, ‘You know what? We really don’t want the fans to be happy, so we’re going to make these changes.’

NASCAR has worked really hard on safety. Think about where we were seven, six years ago. Think about where we were and what the conversation was in comparison to where we are today. A lot of the procedures, a lot of things they’ve done have been for that. And they’ve been criticized for it. And I don’t think that’s fair. I think that NASCAR should be commended.

And they in some ways, they’ve received no benefit whatsoever for the things they’ve done to improve that, and I don’t think that’s fair. I haven’t agreed with everything NASCAR’s done and I never will agree with everything NASCAR’s done. But they haven’t intentionally made decisions to make fans mad, and they have worked exceptionally hard to try to put me in an environment that’s a hell of a lot safer than it used to be. And I have a lot of respect for that.

Clint Bowyer believes Childress problems are resolved

Clint Bowyer talked about the problems Richard Childress Racing experienced in 2009 and expects a turnaround for the organization in 2010. Here are his comments from Tuesday on the NASCAR Sprint Cup media tour:On what makes an exciting race:

When I go to a dirt track on a Saturday night, I want to see good hard racing. I want to see some action. I want to see a caution. You want to see all that. That doesn’t always happen when you’re racing 500 miles, but when I’m going as a fan to watch the dirt races on a Saturday night, that’s what I want to see.

NASCAR’s been able to put that product on the table for many years now. Has that gone stale or is it still the same? That’s not up to me. I’m in no position to say that. But I think the racing’s good. Could it be better? Probably. Could it be more exciting? I don’t know.

If somebody had that answer, I think they would probably voice it and it would be changed. I applaud NASCAR for making these changes. I think bringing the teams in, that was a meeting that certainly I appreciated. To be brought in on the carpet and say ‘hey, voice your opinions.’ They asked us to voice our opinions. I think they heard a lot of opinions and they voiced their opinions back, so I think it’s a positive direction that NASCAR has moved. I think the change is going to be exciting to stay tuned into for a fan, and we’ll see.

On race lengths:

I don’t think they need to be any longer, by no means. But you have to take care of everybody. You’ve got to take care of the promoter. He’s putting the show on for you and you’ve got to make sure he’s selling plenty of Coca-Cola and hot dogs in the stands.

You’ve got to take care of everybody. None of us could do this without our fans, and the TV package is so important to that. You’ve got to take care of everybody and everybody’s got to be able to understand that.

On his chances of being a contender for the championship:

I think it’s a very important season for me. I think I need to prove that I can get myself back in the Chase or us as a team can get back in the Chase. So I look at it as a proving season.

I think it’s going to be a long season. I think we’ve got a good race team. I think our organization is back to having a positive direction and I truly believe we can put three teams in the Chase. We’ve done that. We’ve proven that. Competition has picked up.

There are a lot of things we’ve done to pick our game up, too. I’m excited about the season. I’m looking forward to it, hopefully winning races and doing what I’m paid to do, winning races, being in the Chase, and having a chance to win the championship.

On his fitness regime:

I’m not going to lie. I haven’t been in a gym an hour a day, every day, in the off-season. But I’ve been hard at it everywhere. I’ve been working on my dirt car until midnight, 1:00 every night.

I always say, ‘what do I do for exercise? Just follow me for a day and you’ll see.’ I truly believe that keeps me in shape. I try to race as much as I can. I think there’s no better training than being in a race car and staying tuned in to that. That’s your office, inside the car, and we need to be in that as much as possible.

Being comfortable, being in shape, not wearing out mentally – I think that’s the first thing that goes. Maybe physically a little bit, but once you start losing that mental toughness, you’re in big trouble in the race car.