State Of The Sport: On Johnson, Patrick And Earnhardt Jr.

May 22, 2013 By 1 Comment

Although many fans proclaim that she hasn’t performed well as a stock car driver, Danica Patrick maintains a huge fan base and is considered one of the most-ably marketed drivers in racing.

The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race was a bust for some of the fans of the sport. They poo-pooed Jimmie Johnson as winner, tried to eschew Danica Patrick winning the fan vote and were once again upset about Dale Earnhardt Jr. not performing better or getting too much coverage.

One friend of mine posted about how the live audience hated on Patrick so badly and was then shocked at the replies the thread garnered. He asked me privately to explore the reasons why women hate Patrick. I wish it were an easy request.

First let’s explore the NASCAR landscape. From 2005-2011 there were only two NASCAR Sprint Cup champions. Their names are Tony Stewart (2005, 2011) and Johnson (2006-2010). Even when not winning the Cup, Johnson and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team are winning races.

Stewart, while performing well earning bookend Cups to Johnson’s unprecedented five in a row, is far less consistent a competitor and although still “in the mix” last year and this, is not a dominant force at present.

The Johnson juggernaut, make that the Johnson/Knaus/HMS juggernaut, is virtually unstoppable. Some may argue that they were stopped for two seasons running by the likes of Stewart and last year’s surprise champion Brad Keselowski. But Johnson was right there in championship-striking distance.

Winning five in a row was the exception, not the rule. Even champion Dale Earnhardt won in couplets rather than all championship years strung together. That’s more “normal”.

What’s happening here is history. Johnson is making it and when you witness it the enormity of his accomplishments can easily be lost to the annoyance of having seen this before – over and over again.

Johnson has, quite frankly, done it all in NASCAR Sprint Cup. Won Daytona 500s? Yes. Won the All-Star Race? Yep, a record-breaking four times.  Won championships? Heck yeah, the only driver to do it five consecutive times. He’s won at the best tracks, the most difficult circuits, and every kind of way. Johnson is, in a word, amazing.

Looking back in history other amazing NASCAR drivers were also loved by many and detested by scores of people. Dale Earnhardt? Even in death and ‘til this day, yes. Richard Petty? Yes, him, too. With 43+ drivers to throw your fandom to, it’s very frustrating to have one dominate so completely. It can be, well, boring.

It appears that Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t getting all the attention he once did – he still gets plenty – however, he’s quietly gone about creating a good start to the 2013 season.

But one day your children and your children’s children will be asking you whether you remember this era in NASCAR and you can tell them yes.  They’ll be awed and ask you what it was like and you’ll chuckle. Revisionist history will kick in and you’ll tell the children how truly exciting it was to watch Johnson and his team rack up the accolades, wins, and championships. Because somewhere, deep down, you know it is awesome.

As for Patrick, I have to say my piece. So many people ask my opinion of this driver. Many times, for reasons I don’t quite understand, I have to defend her to people who wrongly pick on her. Quite frankly, this is frustrating to me.

Does Patrick perform up to the par she, her team, her fans, or I would like her to? Certainly not. But there is a tremendous learning curve coming from open wheel  – IndyCar in Patrick’s case – to NASCAR stock cars.

Patrick has done well enough in her first seasons running NASCAR and certainly does garner a ton of attention. She does for NASCAR what is sorely needed, brings mainstream fans over to our sport.

Informal polling on my part has found that most people I talk to about NASCAR who don’t know anything about our sport know about Patrick. They are drawn to her like the proverbial moth to the flame. Patrick is a headliner, a superstar, and a sublime creature that the whole of America seems fascinated by completely.

And what hardcore, “curmudgeony” NASCAR fans refuse to see is it has nothing to do with her talents in the cockpit and that is OK. The sport needs a superstar. Earnhardt Jr. has filled the role for well over a decade. He is still a mega-star. But the time is now for the diminutive driver with the pretty smile, long locks, and big sponsorship dollars.

Patrick earned the fan vote last Saturday night at Charlotte. She is, by far, the most popular driver out in the field. Little girls, grown men, moms and dads, open wheel fans and all race fans with pure heart root for Patrick. She is a phenomenon who has learned to market herself brilliantly, play up her assets, and assemble a fan base that defies reason. I say good for her.

There was no illicit wrongdoings, cheating, nor subterfuge to allow Patrick to win the fan vote. There didn’t need to be. She won it fair and square as “the people,” the fans, voted. It wasn’t a surprise to anybody because she has that big of a fan base. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

Would it have been cool for another driver to get the vote? I suppose, but he would have had to amass an enormous campaign to win and, let’s face it, no one did.

Then there are the complaints that Patrick did nothing in the race. Too true. She didn’t. Patrick is not an all-star because of a fabulous string of wins; she is still a rookie. But the fan vote wasn’t about the best record; it was about putting your favorite in the race. Their favorite is clearly Patrick.

So, back to the original question, why don’t women (and some men) like her? I think jealousy is a big part of the equation. There, I’ve said it. People who are successful are often the target of those wishing they, too, were as successful.

Patrick is very attractive, very wealthy, and living her dream driving a race car for a living. Her path to the “Bigs” was not paved with the same hardships as others. And given her rather lackluster performance in the top tiers of motorsports, Patrick has driven makes people upset that she is still lauded over and still has a top ride.

But as a team owner, having Patrick in your stable is nothing short of brilliant. In an economy that has been suffering for years Patrick still commands huge money. She commands it because the people seek her out.

My theory is this: if the media hadn’t fawned all over Patrick when she first started sniffing around NASCAR and continue to do so with rabid attention when it hasn’t been earned, no one would be as upset about her career.

It’s the over-rambunctious, over-solicitous, overly nauseous media coverage of this driver that makes her the center of such scorn.

The only person who seems to really be benefitting from this is Earnhardt Jr. With the constant limelight off of him – there still is a pretty huge limelight on him and always will be – Earnhardt Jr. has been able to quietly get the racing job done in the last couple of seasons.

The critics of our sport say it’s “boring”, “going in the tanks”, and “not the same product as it was”. Well, no, it’s not the same.

NASCAR has had to modernize, adjust, evolve, and just plain change. From expanding its regional borders to better safety equipment, more money and more media involvement, this sport is nothing like its predecessor. Only it is.

There were always people who complained, argued, and swore they’d never watch again. But the people are watching, the fans are cheering, and the drivers are performing. Johnson is making history, Patrick is revitalizing the sport, and Earnhardt Jr. is, well, Jr. And for Junior Nation that’s all he ever needs to be.

Now, I’ve got to be going, I’m gearing up for the Coca-Cola 600. I can’t wait to see how Johnson, Patrick, Earnhardt Jr., and the rest of the NASCAR Sprint Cup field do! How about you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Here Are Potential All Star Race Winners: Pick Your Favorite

May 15, 2013 By 71 Comments

Jimmie Johnson, the winner of the 2012 edition of the Sprint All Star race, is going to be a favorite to win this year’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

With the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star race merely hours away it’s all I can think about this weekend. I get super excited about the prospect of an all-out, ego-driven, no-holds-barred race where points aren’t on the line but bragging rights are.

In the past we were treated to the likes of legendary moves like Earnhardt’s misnamed “pass in the grass” or a sparks-fueled finish that sent winner Davey Allison to the hospital in 1992, but that’s for reminiscing.

This year there are so many strong contenders for the win that it defies imagination!

Here’s my list of this year’s potential winners of this one-of-a-kind contest.

Jimmie Johnson – Yes, sure this is a no-brainer pick, but I am not sold on this three-time winner of the All-Star race (2003, 2006, 2012). He certainly knows the formula to win and has enormous success at the event, but he has a lot of strong competition here. Last year Johnson had the win coming out of Darlington, but this year he does not. Johnson may be a sure bet – he has wins at the Daytona 500 and Martinsville to date. It’s hard to bet against Five-Timer.

Matt Kenseth – A new manufacturer, a new team, and being a “seasoned” older driver could have led Kenseth to stumble during the transition but he was hot right out of the gate. Driving for Joe Gibbs Racing has been a rebirth for Kenseth’s career – and he wasn’t floundering at Roush Fenway Racing last season. This year Kenseth has already racked up three wins – Las Vegas, Kansas, and Darlington – the latter coming on the heels of a high-profile penalization for Kenseth and the JGR team and a realized appeal. It seems like Kenseth doesn’t know how to lose this season and a win here, something he hasn’t accomplished since 2004, would be some great icing on the cupcake of the first leg of the season.

Kyle Busch – Kenseth’s current teammate, Busch is having a far more successful year than last. With wins at Fontana and Texas, Busch is hard charging. Winning at this venue for this esteemed contest would be a great coup for Busch and would possibly signify a career boost that could indicate a more intense, focused, and, well, lucky Busch than the past where he chokes in the Chase if he even races his way into the post-season.

Carl Edwards had a good season in 2011, the year in which he won the All Star Race. He’ll be one of several contenders for victory this year.

Carl Edwards – Does anybody need a boost more than Edwards? Well, yeah, certainly, but Edwards wouldn’t say so. A lackluster season last year ended with a terrific win in Phoenix earlier in the season. Edwards won the All-Star Race in 2011 so he knows how to get the job done. The question is, does he have the equipment, team, and mental comfort to do it this year? Cousin Carl’s fans would say undoubtedly yes!

Kasey Kahne – Performing well in Hendrick equipment, running toward the front a lot, and earning a win at Bristol puts Kahne on the fast track to victory at this contest. Kahne won in 2008, it is possible for him to revisit victory lane five years later.

David Ragan – “Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner” at Talladega, Ragan may seem like a long shot to win but he raced his way into the event in 2011. Ragan is a proven racer and his team has a ton of heart. He may not be considered a front-runner, but Ragan is in the race for certain.

Kevin Harvick – “The Closer,” “Happy”, and the guy with nothing to lose and everything to gain from winning this season, Harvick is on the hunt to continue his attention-grabbing season.  Harvick won here in 2007 and he’s looking to do it again to impress his alleged future boss, Tony Stewart.

Tony Stewart – A “racer’s racer” Stewart has proven in his career he can win on any surface in any equipment, including three NASCAR Sprint Cup titles. But lately “Smoke” does not indicate fire but tirades. He’s clearly unhappy with the team’s lack of performance and needs a reboot on his season. Stewart won this contest in 2009. If it’s hot in Charlotte on Saturday night, this could be his night. He certainly needs it to be to change the direction his season has been going.

Kurt Busch – Champion, hothead, a driver’s driver who has so much raw talent it cannot be contained, the elder Busch is a very possible winner at the All-Star Race. He won here in 2010 and I’d bet the farm his memory muscle remembers back that far. Kurt Busch has been running well all season and aching to score a win. Look for him to come on strongly Saturday night.

Joey Logano – Like Kenseth, Logano’s switch to a new team, Penske Racing in his case, has done much for his self-esteem. Logano is running well and seems to enjoy flexing his racing muscles. Logano may be a long shot, but a win at the All-Star race would be fabulous for this driver once labeled “Sliced Bread.” He has the goods.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. – This is a good year for Earnhardt Jr. coming into the All-Star Race as he is automatically entered. In recent years he’s been brought in to the event by receiving the most fan votes and last year by racing to the win in the Sprint Showdown. This year Earnhardt Jr. is running decently and could possibly take this contest hands down. It would do so much to continue the esteem building needed and jump-start his bid to The Chase and ultimately that heretofore out-of-reach championship.  Earnhardt Jr. has a legion of fans, a great team and equipment, and the knowledge to find victory lane. He’s a contender.

Denny Hamlin – Recovering from a severe back injury that took Hamlin out of contention for six weeks this season, Hamlin returned to racing for a full event at Darlington and earned a second place finish to teammate Kenseth. He is determined, focused, and under the gun to earn a ton of points to get a coveted spot in the Chase. A win at the All-Star Race would be more momentum for the team and perhaps indicate a potential win at the following week’s Coca-Cola 600. Hamlin seems to pull out all of the stops when he is injured and recovering. Look to him to be an enormous threat.

Jeff Gordon – If you’ve been around long enough people sometimes forget your greatness. Gordon is still great and is a driver who can claim three victories in this contest in the years 1995, 1997, and 2001. It’s been a long time since he’s won at this event, but Gordon’s still got it and would be a fan-favorite if he took the victory on Saturday night.

Mark Martin – Veteran, gentleman, mentor, racer, Martin is many things including winner of the All-Star Race in 1998 and 2005. A bit of a vagabond since leaving his ride with Roush, Martin still flickers brilliance at any race he competes. I would never count Martin out in this event.

Of course names like defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Marcos Ambrose and Ryan Newman are all clawing for the win as well.

It’s a fabulous time to be a NASCAR fan with the depth of competition so rich and full. The All-Star Race is a spring party that is full of music, pageantry, and ego-infused racing at its most delectable. I’ll be watching to see who wears the crown at the end of the night.

Who’s your pick?

 

 

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Johnson, Keselowski Will Likely Slug It Out Until It’s All Over

November 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Jimmie Johnson won for the fifth time this year, and second in a row in the Chase, at Texas to widen his lead over Brad Keselowski in a very close fight for the championship.

Perhaps this is a near-perfect championship fight for the NASCAR Sprint Cup title:

Have at least two drivers slug it out as if they were boxers in a heavyweight title bout. They feverishly trade punches and get a bit bloodied. But when the fight is over both are still standing and one wins by the slightest of margins.

After the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway it seems, for now, that is exactly what we have.

Points leader Jimmie Johnson won the race when he passed Brad Keselowski, who was a mere two points in arrears when the race started, on the last lap to secure his second straight win in the Chase For The Sprint Cup.

As a result Johnson is now seven points in front of Keselowski as he seeks to win his sixth championship in the last seven years. There are only two races remaining in the Chase – in other words, there are two more rounds left in this heavyweight fight.

And either man could win.

At Texas, Johnson did virtually everything he needed to do to secure a title. He not only won the race, he led the most laps (168) to gather valuable bonus points which, in turn, allowed him to pad his margin over Keselowski.

In a fight for a championship, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Keselowski’s runnerup finish may have cost him points to Johnson, but he is very likely slug it out to the end.

Still, the issue was in doubt until the very end of the race.

Keselowski, who drives for Penske Racing, was in control of the race by lap 313 of 334. When the race’s eighth caution period began on lap 322, caused by debris on the track following Kasey Kahne’s meeting with the wall, Johnson led just one lap after the restart on lap 327.

Keselowski, running as fast as he had throughout the race – and with only two fresh tires – retook the lead and was in front of Johnson and third-place Kyle Busch.

But with just three laps to go, Mark Martin crashed after a brush with Carl Edwards, which brought out another caution period and set up a green-white-checkered finish.

On the restart Johnson took the advantage. Using an outside line, he whisked past Keselowski, who seemed to slip a bit and may have decided it was best to let up rather than be involved in an incident.

Johnson, who said the restarts with Keselowski were “very physical,” admitted that he gestured a warning notice to his rival prior to the final dash. “There is no sense in taking us both out in the process,” he said. “If he was taking me out, you can count on the fact that I would have been on the gas and trying to take him with me.

“You know, it just doesn’t need to come down to that.  Brad, also, after the race, came into victory lane and shook my hand.

“The cool thing about it is we walked right up to that line, got right to the edge, and then it stopped. He showed a very classy move coming to victory lane and shaking my hand afterwards, too.”

Keselowski admitted that on the last restart that, for him, discretion was the better part of valor.

“Yeah, I felt like we were just going to wreck,” he said. “I wasn’t looking to be the guy that wrecked him poorly.

“I didn’t really enjoy the last time that happened with Kyle (Busch) over here, and I don’t think he did either.  He might not believe that, but that’s just not the way you want to run a race, and not the way I want to win a championship.

“That was pretty much the only choice I had, was to put ourselves in a bad position like I did before. I felt lucky to survive that one.”

Johnson’s victory was his fifth of the year for Hendrick Motorsports, which ties him with Keselowski and Denny Hamlin for the most this season.

He has now won two consecutive poles and races in the Chase, first at Martinsville, where he moved past Keselowski in the standings, and now at Texas.

Clint Bowyer finished sixth at Texas and remains in third place in the standings, but he is 36 points in arrears.

He is not officially out of championship contention – only Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr., 11th and 12th, respectively, are.

But in reality, it’s down to Johnson and Keselowski, as it has been for the past few weeks.

And both drivers know it.

“It’s my dream to run for a Sprint Cup championship,” Keselowski said. “Certainly I would have liked to have won today, but I feel like we’re fighting the good fight and doing some great things as a team that I’m really, really proud of.

“Obviously, it’s not going to come easy.  We’re going to have to win one of the last two races.

“But anything worth doing in life shouldn’t come easy and I appreciate the efforts of the people that I’m around to make it happen.”

Despite his achievements in the Chase, Johnson continues to say he can’t afford to let up. He, like Keselowski, knows that anything can happen and thus is not willing to say a title is in the bag.

Which, incidentally, is certainly the case.

Chad Knaus, Johnson’s crew chief, agrees. He knows Keselowski and team will keep up the good fight.

“Oh, yeah they’ve done a good job,” he said. “You have to realize that’s Penske Racing.  It’s not like it’s a slouch team. Those guys have been building good cars for a long time.

“I think Paul (Wolfe) is a great crew chief and Brad is a really good driver. So I think they’ll be there through the end.”

“We have a small amount of control, but we’re definitely in control.” Johnson added. “We don’t have to catch up or make up any points. But seven points is nothing to feel comfortable about and to relax on.

“We’re still going to go into Phoenix and act as if we’re behind and go in there to try to sit on the pole and win the race again.”

And so the slugfest continues – and is likely to do so until the final bell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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With Victory, Jimmie Johnson Adds To Hendrick Glory At Indy

July 29, 2012 By 1 Comment

Jimmie Johnson won the Brickyard 400 for the fourth time in his career. He and Jeff Gordon have combined to win eight races at Indy for Hendrick Motorsports.

SPEEDWAY, Ind-The list of NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers who have won at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway over the past 19 seasons is short. But it is composed of some of stock car racing’s most iconic stars.

Two are from Hendrick Motorsports, the Concord, N.C.-based powerhouse organization that has dominated the win column at IMS with eight victories in 19 years.

Hendrick’s success dates back to the race’s inaugural running in 1994, when Jeff Gordon drove to victory lane in the Brickyard 400, the second most prestigious NASCAR race, behind on the season-opening Daytona 500.

Gordon went on to win at Indy three more times for a total of four victories.

Jimmie Johnson, another of Rick Hendrick’s championship drivers, is now another four-time victor at IMS with his strong, winning performance in the 2012 Brickyard 400.

Johnson won what was officially known as Crown Royal Presents the Curtiss Shaver 400 at The Brickyard by a staggering 4.758 seconds over Kyle Busch. The victory was Johnson’s third of the 2012 season. He is fourth in the point standings.

Johnson joins Al Unser Sr., Rick Mears, Michael Schumacher – and Gordon – as four-time winners at Indianapolis

“To come here and win is a huge honor, then to have four wins – I’m at a loss for words,” Johnson said. “I can tell you this, I’m so proud of my team. I’m so proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports.

“(Crew chief) Chad Knaus gave me one heck of a race car today and pit road was awesome, too. It was a total team effort and we put it on them today that was nice.”

Johnson was especially appreciative of Gordon, what he has accomplished at IMS, and memories of coming to the track as a child – with a dream to win at the track in an Indy car.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished fourth at Indy and that, along with Matt Kenseth's accident early in the race, has moved Earnhardt Jr. into first place in the point standings.

“I looked up to him (Gordon) and it’s really wild for me to get my start driving a Cup car for him,” Johnson said. “To tie (Gordon and hero Mears) and what they’ve accomplished, again, I just hoped to come here and race. I had no idea this would turn out.

“I can remember how I watched the Indianapolis 500 with my grandfather and my dad sitting on the couch. My grandfather told me stories about Indy and that he came here and was at the race track.

“I’m glad to have my own memories here for my family and also I must say I couldn’t do it without the support of my wife and daughter. It’s a total team effort on all fronts.”

Finishing third was Greg Biffle, followed by Hendrick Motorsports drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Gordon. Pole position winner Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart rounded out the top 10.

The impressive top-five finish propelled Earnhardt Jr. into the Sprint Cup points lead. It’s the first time he has been in that position since 2004 at Talladega Superspeedway.

“We were looking forward to this race,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We wanted to run well here and wanted to win this race. We want to get a trophy here and go to victory lane. One of our teammates was able to do that so we are proud for the company.

“We’re happy with the finish. We are ready to start seeing a little bit more materialize for us. We’re really happy with what we are doing and trying to keep our minds focused on what is working for us.”

Matt Kenseth, driver of the Roush Fenway Racing Ford, fell to second in points after dropping to 35th in the race.

Kenseth was involved in a multi-car crash with Joey Logano and Bobby Labonte on lap 132 as he attempted to go high to move around the crash. He held the points lead since June 10th at Pocono Raceway.

Kenseth is considered a lame duck of sorts, having previously announced he will be leaving Roush at season’s end to drive for another team. He hopes to give team owner Jack Roush a championship before he leaves.

“Yeah, it is frustrating,” Kenseth said. “I got hung out on the restart which is one thing. I was trying to get through there and Tony Stewart wiped the whole side off my car in the straightaway for no reason and that kind of made me mad.

“I was in front of the Marcos Ambrose and saw he had a run, so I went down to block and he went across the grass and shot me up out of the groove there.

“It is crazy there at the end. You could see the wreck happening and I was just hoping I wasn’t going to be in it.”

Gordon ran strong throughout the 160-lap race. The former resident of nearby Pittsboro would have loved a fifth win at IMS, but was happy for Johnson and the No. 48 team he co-owns with Hendrick.

“I don’t think we could have passed Jimmie,” Gordon said. “Those guys were definitely the class of the field today and had the track position. They’re a strong team. They deserve that win today.

“I’m pretty disappointed really. It’s always nice to finish in the top five but at this point in the season, the way our season has gone with so many missed opportunities that we’ve had, I feel like it was a little bit of a missed opportunity today. We needed track position there at the end and we didn’t get it when it counted most and it cost us.”

Considering all the frustration and disappointment Earnhardt Jr. has been through over the past few seasons, Gordon was happy to see him take the point lead.

“I give them a lot of credit,” Gordon said. “It’s really awesome that they’re out front. They’ve been consistent and if they can keep that consistency up and maybe even take it up a notch when the Chase starts, they’re going to be a real threat for the championship. So, they’re running good.

“It’s good to see it. I’

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With Current Scenario, Battle For Chase Spot Could Be Riveting

June 26, 2012 By 1 Comment

Brad Keselowski is currently in 10th place in the point standings and with two wins seems certain to make the Chase this year. But if he slips out of the top 10 and others behind him win again, his situation could well change.

As it stands now, we have a very interesting, even stimulating, situation when it comes to just which drivers are going to make NASCAR’s 2012 version of the Chase.

After Sonoma, there was a logjam of drivers scrapping for one of the 12 open positions. To be more exact, there are eight drivers in competition for one of four available spots.

The top 10 in points after the year’s 26th race, at Richmond, are automatically entered in the Chase. The remaining two, called the “wildcard” entries, are the drivers with the most wins who are ranked among the top 20 in points.

My opinion is that, currently, the drivers ranked one through nine in points seem to be secure – barring meltdowns, of course, which are always possible.

Most secure among this group are five-time champ Jimmie Johnson, fourth in points with two victories, fifth-place Tony Stewart, who also has two wins, and Denny Hamlin, ranked eighth with a couple of victories.

That each has two wins means they have solid insurance policies for the Chase, even if they slip in points.

Brad Keselowski also has two wins and he ranks 10th in points. That should be enough, but then, if he falls out of the top 10 he could be in a scramble with other drivers. After all, he’s only 11 points ahead of Carl Edwards, who presently ranks No. 11.

It’s well known that Edwards figured to be a championship contender this year after he lost the 2011 title to Stewart on the first tiebreaker in NASCAR history – Stewart have five wins, Edwards one.

Edwards could solve his dilemma by doing one of two things, or both. He certainly needs to advance in points. But wins would be very beneficial.

Edwards agrees and says his strategy is to win.

If he can’t advance in points and can’t win, Kyle Busch is ready to pounce. The Joe Gibbs driver is 12th in points, just 20 behind Edwards and, most important, he has a victory.

Lately, his racing luck has been horrendous. He suffered three consecutive blown engines before he finished 17th at Sonoma.

Still, right now, Busch has the edge. If the Chase began today he would be in and Edwards out.

But even Busch cannot be comfortable. Ryan Newman is 13th in points and has a victory at Martinsville. Joey Logano is 15th with a win at Pocono and Kasey Kahne, whose season started horribly, was triumphant at Charlotte and is 17th in points.

Another win for any of them puts Busch on the hot seat.

And this scenario intensifies the delicacy of Edwards’ position. He would be fifth in line if the Chase began today.

But the Chase hasn’t begun. Ten races remain before it does.

Anything can happen.

A driver who seems certain to make the Chase may find himself struggling to remain among the top 10 and thus have to rely on an earned win, or wins.

For example, after the race at Kansas in early June last year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stood third in points. He had not won a race but the assumption was he was high enough in the standings to overcome that.

Five-time champion Jimmie Johnson seems almost assured of making the Chase and have a chance at a sixth title. He is fourth in points with two victories, a very comfortable spot.

He almost didn’t. He had a horrible summer. By the race at Pocono in the first week of August, he had tumbled to 10th in points and the Chase was five weeks from its beginning.

He stayed in 10th for another week, then climbed to No. 9, where he remained for four races and was his position at Richmond, the season’s 26th race.

At Richmond Earnhardt Jr. finished 16th and fell to 10th in points – he held on to survive a near meltdown.

This year he’s already gained that insurance victory and his summer has begun very well.

He had already earned more top-10 finishes than any other driver by Dover in early June. He finished fourth there, eighth at Pocono and won at Michigan, after which he was second in points, four behind Matt Kenseth.

Earnhardt fell to third in points after a 23rd-place finish at Sonoma but to be honest that was not a major surprise. He has not done particularly well at the road course.

He has never earned a top-10 finish. He’s been 11th three times.

But, consider that over the same number of summer races last year, Earnhardt Jr. fell from third to seventh in points.

Which means he’s on a much better path this year – and, certainly, his victory offers him major assurance.

On the other end of the spectrum is Jeff Gordon, a four-time champion. Not only is he distant from the top 10 in points – 18th – he doesn’t have a victory to put him in title contention.

He has 10 races to earn one. Fact is, he’s likely going to have to win twice to be a Chase player.

He thinks it’s possible and there’s no reason do doubt him.

He did win three times last year to comfortably move into the Chase – and one of them came over the summer’s10-race span that ended at Richmond. Gordon won at Atlanta.

But, this year, one win isn’t going to cut it.With so many scenarios and possibilities, it seems highly likely the competition for a spot in the Chase is going to be very keen.

That should spark a great deal of interest among fans – and the media – which should, in turn, be very beneficial for NASCAR.

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Hendrick Teams Differ In Season Performance, But All Able To Win 600

May 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Although he hasn't won since Michigan in 2008, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has enjoyed a revitalized season in 2012 and has become a strong suit at Hendrick Motorsports. But he has yet to win.

CONCORD, N.C. – While Jimmie Johnson is considered a strong favorite to win the Coca-Cola 600, and thereby continue the resurgence of his Hendrick Motorsports team, his teammates won’t share his status.

Make no mistake, certainly they would like to win and it’s very possible that one of them will.

But, truth be known, they would likely be very pleased if they could finish among the top five – maybe even the top 10 – in the longest race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit.

Unlike Johnson, who has won the last two NASCAR events within a week, his three teammates have experienced different results this year.

Critics would give them “mixed” reviews.

One of them has had a solid year, but he still hasn’t won.

Another started his inaugural season with Hendrick horribly. But he has rebounded with top-10 finishes in each of the last five races.

The third has had such an uncharacteristically poor season that he’s even joked about it. Unless things improve dramatically he won’t make the Chase and get a shot at a fifth career championship.

Along with Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be considered a potential 600 winner. He, too, has been on a streak of sorts.

He won the Sprint Showdown and one segment of the Sprint All Star Race, won by Johnson. In the 600, Earnhardt Jr. will race the same Chevrolet in which he won the Showdown.

All of this seems to bode well for Earnhardt Jr. Additionally, even though his record in the 600 hasn’t been particularly good over the past several years, he was en route victory last year when he ran out of gas.

“You definitely feel you let one get away,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “When you come close to winning a race you definitely think about what you might have done different, or ‘If only this or that.’

“But you don’t think about that too much. You can get distracted and not really be thinking about what you’re trying to do that moment.”

Earnhardt Jr. was once the weakest link in the Hendrick chain. No longer.

This season he has finished out of the top 10 only twice and has five runs of seventh or better – including two runnerup and two thirds.

He’s been hovering near the points lead for most of the season. Going into the 600 he was in third place, just 14 points leader Greg Biffle. He’s two positions and 25 points ahead of Johnson.

Earnhardt Jr., who earned his last win at Michigan in 2008, has been flirting with victory so often that many supporters say it’s now only a matter of time.

That time could come at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“I think we’re confident,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We know what kind of potential we have and we are all expecting to improve over some of the things we did last week.

“It’s (crew chief) Steve Legate’s and his group’s job to get together and squeeze a little more speed out of the car. We need to try to work harder to go better and to go faster.

“If the car is good enough and we do everything we need to do, we’ll be right there with an opportunity to win a race. That’s what you have to concentrate on.”

Hendrick teammates Jeff Gordon (left) and Kasey Kahne have had their struggles this season. Kahne is making advances but Gordon is still slumping.

Team owner Rick Hendrick was among the many who thought Kasey Kahne would be a perfect fit at his organization.

After all, Kahne, who replaced the departed Mark Martin, came with excellent credentials. At age 32 with eight full seasons under his belt, he had won 12 races, including one with the lame duck Red Bull team last year at Phoenix.

But his season started miserably. Because of several misfortunes, his best run was a 14th at Fontana. He finished 29th or worse in four races. By the sixth race of the year he was 31st in points.

He been on a rally ever since. He came to Charlotte with a five-race string of top-10 finishes. He has climbed to 16th in points.

Obviously Kahne would like keep his good roll going at Charlotte.

“To me, the season hasn’t been great,” said Kahne, who will make his 300th career start at CMS. “But I do think some people may have thought it was much worse than what it was.

“I feel like we’ve been running pretty well since the start of the season. But we really haven’t made those big gains yet. We have speed and it’s obvious it’s right there. We just need to put it all together.”

Kahne isn’t sour about how his season started. He believes it was a result of certain circumstances.

“I am happy for everybody at Hendrick Motorsports over what’s been accomplished so far,” he said. “And as for the way we’ve run, I don’t think it’s necessarily me. Our team isn’t running as well as we would like – for now.

“But it is nice to know that everything we need is right there. We have the same stuff everyone else has and we’ve been able to use some of it to get better.

“If we hit on things hopefully we can run as good as the No. 48 (Johnson) has been running.”

Jeff Gordon is now in his 20th NASCAR season, all of which have been spent with Hendrick.

He has won 85 races and four championships. He was, without a doubt, the star player at Hendrick until Johnson’s rise, marked by five consecutive titles.

In 2012 what was once Gordon’s “star” has become a black hole.

He has only two finishes among the top 10 and seven of 20th or worse – including four beyond the top 30.

He’s been hammered by a series of improbable, unfortunate incidents that include everything from engine failure to poor pit stops to a tire that goes flat not once, but twice.

Gordon’s luck has been so bad Hendrick declared on national TV that he wouldn’t get in an airplane with him.

Even Gordon has been upbeat in post-race interviews following another disappointing race. He said there is a reason for that.

“What are you going to do other than keep your head up and work hard?” Gordon said. “You go to the next race and try to change it.

“We’ve got too good of a team and too good of a race cars to try to get down on ourselves about the way things are going. It’s tough.

“The timing gets tougher and tougher all the time because the more races that go by that we don’t get the results, the harder and harder that mountain is to climb.

“We just have to stay positive and say, ‘Hey, this is our week, this is our week.’ You can do that for only so long. We’re still doing it. Hopefully, we’ll see the results.”

For Gordon, who is 24th in points and in need of at least one victory to have any chance at the Chase as a “wildcard” entry, the results could come in the 600. He has won five times at Charlotte, one less than Johnson.

“I am excited about this weekend,” Gordon said. “At the All Star Race we learned a lot and also learned from Jimmie’s bunch, who dominated the race.

“We learned, as a team, on what we can do to be really, really good this weekend.”

In the 600 there will be four Hendrick teams on four different levels of performance. All of them, of course, hope for a good, productive outing.

One of them may have the ultimate performance.

That’s because any one of them could win. That’s a given.

 

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It’s Early, Yes, But Do We See A Rise In Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

March 12, 2012 By 1 Comment

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has had a strong start to the 2012 season and has fostered talk that he might well be on his way toward turning his fortunes around and become the type of competitor he was expected to be at Hendrick Motorsports.

With only three Sprint Cup races completed in 2012, Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been a contender.

Yes, it’s early. But there’s talk – perhaps whispers – that NASCAR’s most popular driver is beginning to create hope that his winless drought, now at 132 races, is just about to end.

But wait. We’ve been down this road before.

This potential storyline has been in the headlines and on websites several times since Earnhardt Jr. joined Rick Hendrick’s powerhouse team in 2008.

When the announcement was made that Earnhardt Jr. would occupy a Hendrick Chevrolet, it was expected that wins and championships would be the driver’s to collect. It wasn’t a matter of if but of when.

Soon, reality began to set in. While other Hendrick teams, such as those of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, would define the meaning of success, Earnhardt’s existence was merely rise and fade, rise and fade and maybe even rise again.

Consistency hasn’t been part of his program in any of the past four seasons.

Based on past performances, there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical that a turnaround is in the offing for Earnhardt’s Concord, N.C.-based team.

The vast majority of motorsports writers have taken a wait and see approach, especially after what has transpired in the past.

Although Earnhardt Jr. has been here before, there just might be a reason to think he and crew chief Steve Letarte may be on to something.

Let’s give this a chance.

During Speedweeks at Daytona, leading up to the season-opening Daytona 500, Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 team were billed as having one of the stronger Chevrolets in the field.

He ran strong in the Bud Shootout, in his Gatorade 150-qualifying race (good enough to start fifth) and finished second just behind race winner Matt Kenseth in the 500.

At Phoenix, he struggled in qualifying and started 29th but after some adjustments to the car, finished a respectable 14th.

In race three at Las Vegas on Sunday, he qualified fourth, led 70 of 267 laps and finished 10th. His Las Vegas outing, in which he led more laps than he did all last year, was impressive – but came up short.

Earnhardt Jr. thought he had a car capable of winning but blamed himself for falling so far back in the closing laps. At the end of the race he was frustrated.

But earlier he was happy with the positive vibes felt throughout the weekend.

“Well, when we were fast leading the race the car was really tight,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I knew by the end of the race, especially with all of those cautions we had at the end, that it was going to be a really tight race track and we needed to free the car up.

In his Hendrick Chevrolet, so far this year, Earnhardt Jr. has scored two top-10 finishes in three races, including a second place in the Daytona 500. He is currently fourth in the point standings.

“I didn’t get Steve enough information throughout the day to really give him the idea of how tight the car was. The track sort of went past us as far as our handling goes.

“The Chevrolet was really good all weekend. We had good speed. Hopefully we can keep bringing cars like that to the race track and we will get some opportunities to win.

“We had good speed, led some laps. This is a tough series. When you get back in traffic, it gets very competitive.”

Earnhardt Jr. seemed confident and upbeat, feelings that he hasn’t enjoyed much during his tenure with Hendrick.

He might not have had quite enough at Vegas, but he felt good enough to be optimistic about upcoming races – if for no other reason than he knows how he can improve his contributions.

“We weren’t bad, we weren’t terrible and the car was great at the start of the race but it was tight then, even when I was driving away from guys,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I was like, ‘Man, we are going to have to free it up’, because the track was going to get way tighter.

“You know that from years and years of driving and I should have known how it drove that first run. We should have worked on it and I should have told Steve more about it. I should have let him understand what was going on more.”

Talent, horsepower, sponsorship dollars and state-of-the-art chassis and race cars have always been a staple at Hendrick Motorsports. Every employee wants for absolutely nothing.

It’s the chemistry between driver and crew chief that can’t be bought. That’s something that must be constructed over time through a great deal of trial and error.

In 2012, Earnhardt’s strength and confidence continues to grow with Letarte in only their 39th race together.

Could it be possible that an important crossroads has been reached between Earnhardt Jr. and Letarte? Have they found something that gives them new confidence each time they unload at the track? Are they close to reaching that place where consistency is part of their weekly game plan?

It’s possible. Perhaps very possible.

But again, we’ll have to wait and see how well they perform in the coming weeks.

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A Few Random Thoughts On NASCAR 2012 – Part One

February 12, 2012 By 3 Comments

tonDuring this NASCAR offseason – which many fans find excruciating long and puts them in dire need of a racing “fix” – we’ve all heard, seen or read plenty of pre-season predictions from media pundits.

Nothing wrong with that, of course. When there’s no actual racing it’s just natural to offer thoughts about what lies ahead for the sport and who will, or won’t, be winners and maybe title contenders.

There’s been so much of it I don’t think I’ll take the risk of boring you, not that I won’t anyway.

Instead, I’ll offer some quick opinions. No deep thinking here, just my initial impressions on random NASCAR issues and people.

To wit:

Danica Patrick: I am pretty sure many fans are already tired over the amount of attention she’s getting, but, unfortunately for them, it’s only going to increase in 2012.

She’s back on the Nationwide circuit but what’s really going to put her name in the headlines is her first attempt at Sprint Cup competition.

She will run 10 races with a championship organization, Stewart Haas Racing, which, through its new association with Tommy Baldwin Racing, has already secured a starting spot for Patrick in the Daytona 500.danni

To some all of this has been a contrived gimmick to ensure Patrick participates in NASCAR’s most popular and prestigious race.

Well, not really. That aside, here’s what I surmise:

I think Patrick is going to be more competitive this season than most people currently think. She may be a marketing dynamo but no one should forget she has driving talent.

After all, that’s what got her here. And now it’s going to be nurtured by a high quality team.

Tony Stewart: There’s no reason to think he can’t win another championship. But I believe it’s going to be a bit harder for him to do so for two reasons:

If he makes the Chase but again is winless with 10 races to go, it would be a highly unlikely that he could win five of them once more – if that’s what he needs to do to repeat as champ. I think Stewart needs to improve his odds this year.

If he makes the Chase, at the very least he should not do so without a win to his credit.

It’s been proven over time that teams with stability and which have not undergone major changes tend to remain cohesive and repeat their successes.

Now that Patrick’s team has been added to the fold there’s a new challenge for Stewart Haas – in other words, there is more on Stewart’s plate.

This may not sound like a big deal, but how the team and Stewart deal with added responsibility, and potential problems, could play role in the season’s outcome.

Tommy Baldwin Racing: The team has been flying under the radar for a couple of seasons now, pigeon-holed by many, and I include myself, as a second-tier operation.

But the one-car organization was good enough to earn a spot among the top 35 in owner points last year. To me, that means it’s achieved more than we might have expected, for which it deserves credit.

It lured Stewart’s organization and the new association should provide Baldwin’s team with additional resources – which could make it even better.

That’s exactly what I think it will be in 2012.

Carl Edwards: I think it’s obvious that any driver who came as close to winning a championship as Edwards did last year should be listed as a contender in 2012. It’s only logical.

And he will be.

It’s also been said that since he lost the title to Stewart by the tiebreaker – Stewart had five wins to just one for Edwards – if the Roush Fenway driver grabs a few more victories in 2012 that will assure him a title.

Will it? Victories count for a lot but they only add punch to overall season performance.

In other words, Edwards needs to be at least as competitive as he was in 2011, when he had one more top-five finish and seven more among the top 10 than Stewart, for additional wins to assure him a title.

Can he do that? Sure. Will he? We don’t know that.

Which is why Edwards is, as far as the media is concerned, a marked man. Move over, Danica.

Jimmie Johnson: Simply put, to think that he, crew chief Chad Knaus and Hendrick Motorsports don’t have the wherewithal to rally and win a sixth championship is ridiculous.

Johnson’s No. 48 team has proven it’s the best at Hendrick, which, incidentally, is the top team in NASCAR. Why even think it can’t win another title?

Here’s my opinion: I think Johnson is not only after a sixth title, he and his team are also on a mission to win eight and break the record of seven held by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt – and the sooner the better.

Kurt Busch: When he was with Penske Racing, a high-quality team, Busch never shied away from blasting the organization, via radio communication or even publicly, for what he perceived to be incompetence. He threw in some personal insults.

He did the same thing on television for all to see.

Now he is with Phoenix Racing and owner James Finch. The organization cannot match Penske resources. Which begs the question, how can Busch expect things to be better and therefore keep his mouth shut?

Finch is one of the most candid owners in the garage area. He’s straightforward and, from all evidence, is not a one to accept insubordination.

He’s already said that if Busch were a member of his team and behaved as he did in 2011, he would have his fanny kicked.

Which is why I think the Finch-Busch union will end badly.

Electronic Fuel Injection: Long overdue in NASCAR but I can understand the sanctioning body’s willingness to avoid it and keep racing as inexpensive, and simple, as possible.

But it was inevitable. Carburetors don’t exist in today’s passenger cars.

I don’t believe there will be any problem for the teams to adapt to EFI, nor do I believe it will adversely affect competition. It is, as they say, simply a matter of change – squirt, not suck.

But in 2012 there will be at least one incident where NASCAR punishes, or at least warns, a team or teams about abuse of EFI regulations to gain a competitive edge. Trust me on this one.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Quickly – He needs to win; he needs to have a breakout season. You’ve heard this before and you have heard it from me for the last time. I’m done. Honest.

I have a few more thoughts that I will divulge the next time around, which is in a couple of days. Hope you will bear with me. And always feel free to offer your opinions.

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Three Drivers Who Must, And Will, Be Considered Contenders

January 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Jimmie Johnson Tony Stewart Carl Edwards

Any talk of Cup championship contenders for 2012 has to include (from left) 2011 champ Tony Stewart, runnerup Carl Edwards and five-time titlist Jimmie Johnson. Each fits a competitive category that is always a part of any pre-season speculation.

As a season approaches for any professional sport, when it comes to the quest for a championship there are, among others, three classifications of contenders:

The team that won it last season and wants to win it again. The team that narrowly lost it last season and is compelled to earn it. And the team that used to earn it on a regular basis, but then failed to do so, and wants to regain what it lost.

Those same classifications – again, among many others – can be applied to NASCAR Sprint Cup racing and are clearly defined as we move into the 2012 season.

The driver who won the championship last season and wants to win it again is Tony Stewart.

The driver who narrowly lost it and is compelled to become this year’s titlist is Carl Edwards.

The driver who used to earn a title on a regular basis, then failed to do so a season ago and wants to regain what was lost, is Jimmie Johnson.

I think it is well within reason to assume that any discussion about who will become the 2012 champion has to prominently include these three.

I daresay all three will be cast as pre-season favorites. Boy, that’s getting a grasp of the obvious, isn’t it?

All three will be facing their own competitive challenges, and, of course, we never know what will happen – what unexpected circumstances will arise – during the course of the season.

Stewart went through most of the 2010 season without a victory and at one point, clearly discouraged, he declared that his Stewart Haas Racing team wasn’t good enough to compete in the Chase.

Stewart did indeed make the Chase but was ninth in points and still winless after 26 races. That he would rise to win a title over the course of the year’s final 10 races was not given much of a chance.

But then came along one of those unexpected circumstances. Stewart won the first two races in the Chase and sped his way into No. 1 in points. No longer an also-ran, he was now a contender.

In perhaps the most dramatic finish ever in the Chase, Stewart won three of the final four races in a duel with Edwards.

The two were tied in points – the first time ever in NASCAR – but Stewart claimed the title with more victories. His five, all earned during the Chase, to Edwards’ one.

That Stewart will win the 2012 title again in such a dramatic way is probably not likely even though he’s shown it can be done.

I think Stewart would prefer a calmer scenario. To achieve that, he can’t be winless over 26 races and sweat out making the top 12 in points. He will be best served if he wins early and as often as he can.

That way he’ll enter the Chase higher in points and as an established contender. Seems that could make things a bit easier.

There are other circumstances to consider, such as the relationship Stewart builds with new crew chief Steve Addington.

But Stewart has obviously shown he can overcome sizable adversity to win a title. Thing is, if he can avoid it, he doesn’t want to have to do it that way again.

Losing a championship the way Edwards did is the kind of thing that can send a competitor to a psychiatrist.

To match a rival in a torrid duel only to lose by a tiebreaker rule has got to be disheartening and emotionally draining.

There are many who have said that if Edwards can overcome the obvious disappointment of 2011, he will go a long way toward claiming his first career championship.

Judging by what Edwards has said lately he won’t experience any emotional or mental funk in 2012. He said he learned a lot about himself and the competition last year and will simply be a tougher driver this season.

He added he didn’t need any time to himself nor did he go into an introverted funk at the end of 2011. He was ready to race. He could have started the year’s final race at Homestead all over again.

That’s all well and good but basic math says Edwards is going to make his championship quest a lot easier if he can win more than one race in 2012 – especially before the Chase begins.

For the first time in five years, from 2006-2010, Johnson won’t be starting a season as the defending champion.

I have a suspicion that Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus are so unfamiliar with this situation, and so determined to change it, that they intend to do all they can in 2012 to restore past glory.

Johnson has said as much. He said his team has done everything it could to learn what did not work in 2010, avoid it and start the season strongly.

He added his Hendrick Motorsports team could make some changes as to how it does things, but there will not be any major restructuring. It is not needed.

He also said he must avoid the few mistakes that he felt cost him the championship. “We need to learn from those mistakes,” he declared.

Despite a lost title Johnson did not have a bad season in 2011. He won five races. He finished sixth in points.

I think he’s right on target when he says no major changes need be made.

Still, Stewart, Edwards and Johnson, like all the others, will have to deal with those pesky “unexpected circumstances.”

But, together, they are thus: The driver who wants to repeat, the driver who came close and wants to win and the driver who is determined to restore what was his for so long.

It’s clear any talk of a championship has to include them.

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With New Sponsor And Increased Confidence, Things Are Good For Stewart

November 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

Stewart

Tony Stewart announced that his Stewart-Haas Racing team has received new sponsorship for this year and next from Quicken Loans, which will serve as a primary backer for Ryan Newman in 2012. It's all going well for Stewart, whose win at Martinsville put him just eight points behind Carl Edwards with three races remaining.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – Right now things are going along swimmingly well for Tony Stewart.

Four days ago he won the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. The victory propelled him into second place in the point standings, just eight points behind leader Carl Edwards.

There are just three races left in the Chase for the 2011 title and more than a few predict that it all could be settled between Edwards and Stewart at the last event of the year at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

As pleasing as all that might be for Stewart the driver, perhaps now he is as equally satisfied as Stewart the team owner.

On Tuesday, Stewart announced that Quicken Loans would join Stewart-Haas Racing as a primary sponsor for the No. 39 Chevrolets driven by Ryan Newman and an associate on the No. 14 Chevys raced by Stewart.

Quicken will be Newman’s primary sponsor for nine races in 2012, coming on board with the U.S. Army, slated for 21 events and Tornados, which could be the principal backer for as many as five more.

It’s anticipated that Stewart Haas will make at least two more sponsor announcements in the future.

For any NASCAR team to acquire new financial support is a significant achievement. Sponsorship is the lifeblood of every organization and it has not been easy to gain in the last few years, largely because of the sagging economy.

As a result some organizations have gone out of business while others – make that several others – have had to enact massive layoffs.

It’s a situation that continues today and has already affected the NASCAR landscape. Two of Sprint Cup’s most powerful teams – Roush Fenway Racing and Richard Childress Racing – will likely be reduced from four teams to three because of a lack of sponsorship.

Nearly all organizations now have multiple sponsorships for their teams. This allows them to implement the competitive budgets they need without having to pitch one company for full-season financial support.

Where single sponsorships were once common, they are now prohibitively expensive and a very hard sell.

“There is still a loot of value in NASCAR and announcements like we made today prove that,” Stewart said. “But the economy is tough. I always talk to sponsors about how aggressive our team is. We are young and we’re able to step outside the box. Some of the organizations which have been around a long time kinda get in the mode of, ‘This is who were are and this is how we do it.’

“I don’t think we are stuck in that rut. We find creative ways to take what potential sponsors’ goals and objectives are and make it work for them.

“It’s nice to have multiple cars to work with. Ryan’s car has not had a single season-long sponsor and that makes it very appealing to that partner that doesn’t necessarily want spend all the money it takes to sponsor one car for one year. They can share.

“We saw that a couple of years ago with the No. 88 team (Hendrick Motorsports with partner sponsors Amp Energy Drink and the National Guard). That arrangement made things very attractive for other sponsors.”

There’s no doubt that Stewart’s victory at Martinsville enhanced his team’s value and made it more rewarding for its present sponsors with increased appeal to potential new ones.

“NASCAR racing is a performance-based industry all the way around,” Stewart said. “Whether you are on the competition side or the business side, it’s very important to win races.

“But it’s also important to be able to figure out things outside the box and not just about asking partners to write checks. It’s about how they can use the sport to grow their business.

“It is still every bit as difficult as it was two years ago when the economy fell off. We talk about the competition on the track but it’s just as tough off the track. It’s very competitive today and that is what makes having an announcement like this one very special.”

While Stewart the businessman has already achieved a measure of success, he will play a different role in the championship hunt.

It will be Stewart the competitor that gets the job done on the track. The native of Columbus, Ind., knows exactly when to make the identity change; when to put on the game face.

“I’ll put it on Thursday like I always do,” Stewart said. “I’ve been in this sport long enough to know where and when to put the right focus.”

Stewart’s win at Martinsville bolstered his, and his team’s, confidence largely because they were successful at a track on which routinely they haven’t performed well.

Stewart was so elated with the victory, and how he stood in the Chase, he suggested Edwards would be so worried he would suffer a lack of sleep.

Stewart maintains those sentiments and admits increased confidence has a lot to do with that.

“At Martinsville we had a car that, after 200 laps, looked like it was going to be one or two laps down at the end of the day,” he said. “It didn’t and that’s what gives us the sense of confidence.

“We are through the Talladegas and the Martinsvilles and now we are going places where I feel like we can control our own destiny.

“It’s nice to know that you don’t have to rely on anyone else having problems. It’s nice to know we can control our own destiny.

“It’s an awesome position to be in right now.”

Stewart feels his team can do very well at the three upcoming tracks – Texas, Phoenix and Homestead.

“Everybody in the organization has worked hard. It’s not like we’ve done something different,” said Stewart, whose three victories this year have all come in the Chase. “We are coming around to the tracks where we run well. At Martinsville, we were at a track where we don’t run well, and we got it turned around.
“But I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again over the next three weeks. You take it one day at a time. I said before the Chase started I didn’t think we were one of the teams that deserved to make it. I wasn’t on my list of guys I thought could win this thing.

“Now, we can win it. But we still have to go out and do our job. We have three tracks ahead that are really good for us and we look forward to running them.

“And that’s a perfect position to be in right now.”

 

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