This Week in NASCAR: McGrew’s crew chief stint with Earnhardt one year old
This weekend’s race at Dover International Raceway marks the one-year anniversary since Lance McGrew became the crew chief of Dale Earnhardt Jr. McGrew replaced Earnhardt’s cousin and long-time crew chief Tony Eury Jr., who later moved over to Earnhardt’s Nationwide Series team, JR Motorsports, to become a part-owner and a crew chief.
So far, the change has appeared to work for the better, with Earnhardt currently sitting 12th in points compared to 18th in points one year ago.
“A lot of building blocks would be the best way to describe it,” McGrew said. “There’s been some good and some bad. I feel like we are finally getting to a place where I like the structure of the team, the way the guys are working together and how things get done in the race shop. I think we’ve seen flashes of that this year where we have run really, really well. I hate that we had issues at Richmond (Va.) and Darlington. It’s not as long of strides as I would like to have made, but the foundation is very, very good.”
Buescher leaves Phoenix Racing
NASCAR Nationwide Series rookie James Buescher has announced that he will part ways with Phoenix Racing, effective immediately, and focus solely on his Camping World Truck Series efforts with Turner Motorsports.
“It was a great opportunity presented to me to drive for Phoenix Racing and I appreciate everything that we were able to do at the beginning of this season,” Buescher said. “Unfortunately, things didn’t mesh as smoothly as we had hoped and I wish them nothing but the best. I feel that it is better for me to concentrate on my Truck Series opportunity with Turner Motorsports and I’m really excited to be back in the series full-time. We had an awesome Chevrolet in Kansas a couple weeks ago and were able to run up front which felt great. I’m confident that we can go to the track for the rest of the year and be in contention for wins.”
Dover fan attending race for 42nd consecutive year
Jack Hoenstine, 78, of Queen, Pa. has purchased tickets at Dover International Speedway to witness his 42nd consecutive race at the track.
Hoenstine says he doesn’t go to Dover for their horse race track, he goes for the “gas burners.”
“I’ve been to the 300 milers, the 500 milers, and now the 400 milers,” Hoenstine said. “They’ve got a horse race track there at Dover, but I go for the gas burners, not the hay burners.”
Hoenstine hasn’t missed a race at Dover since 1969.
“I’ve been to hundreds of NASCAR races over the years, too many to even count,” Hoenstine said. “My sister-in-law asked me, ‘My goodness, Jack, what if you saved all that money instead?’ Well, I wouldn’t have seen all them races, met the drivers, fans I’ve come to know, and had such a good time. I’ve always wanted to enjoy life, and NASCAR’s been a big part of that.”
Keyed Up Motorsports suspends operations
Team owner Raymond Key announced Wednesday that his Sprint Cup Series team, Keyed Up Motorsports, would cease operations until further sponsorship could be found for the car. The team announced earlier this month that they would enter the Sprint Cup Series All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, however they have taken these events off of the schedule.
Key also said that the “Fan Car” program they announced last week would be ceased immediately. Refunds will be given to those that signed up for the program.
“We look forward to returning to the schedule,” stated owner Raymond Key. “At this time we are taking a break from the schedule and working on securing sponsorship for future races.” Keyed-Up has not participated in an event since the Phoenix race in April, where driver Scott Riggs finished 28th. Riggs maintained a top-25 position with three laps to go when a right front tire blew, causing the final caution of the night. “I was very happy with Scott’s performance at Phoenix,” added Key, “and I welcome him back to the drivers’ seat when we return to the schedule.”
The team has been adamant that they will not “start and park” in order to earn money. “Start and park” is a term widely used in NASCAR to describe a car that doesn’t intend to run the full event and parks the car usually before the first pit stop to collect prize money.
Two teams penalized for Richmond rules violations
NASCAR has penalized the No. 7 and No. 55 Sprint Cup Series teams for rules violations found during pre-race and post-race inspections last weekend at Richmond International Raceway.
Crew chief Samuel Stanley, of the No. 7 Robby Gordon Motorsports team, has been fined $25,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31 after the No. 7 Ford was found to have unapproved additional door braces, which was found during opening inspection on May 7. Robby Gordon, both driver and owner of the car, will be penalized 25 driver and owner points for the violation.
An incorrect tooth count on the final driving gear caused for a $25,000 penalty for Zachary McGowan, crew chief for the No. 55 team. The violation will cause the loss of 25 driver points from driver Michael McDowell and 25 owner points from team owner Randy Humphrey. McGowan will also be placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.
No. 38 Nationwide team penalized for Richmond violations
NASCAR has penalized the No. 38 Braun Racing Toyota team after inspectors found that the team was using and unapproved left front shock absorber during post-race inspection on May 7.
Crew chief Stewart Cooper is being fined $10,000. Driver Kasey Kahne will lose 25 Nationwide Series driver points with team owner Ralph Braun losing 25 Nationwide Series owner points.
Hendrick reaches verbal agreements with Knaus, Gustafson
Team owner Rick Hendrick said Sunday before the Aaron’s 499 that he has secured verbal agreements with two of his crew chiefs. An announcement is expected within the next ten days.
“We absolutely should be able to announce something here in 10 days or so,” Hendrick said. “We’re weren’t that concerned about it, but that’s going to happen here real soon.
“… We have a verbal agreement but haven’t gotten anything signed. I didn’t feel like there was really any need to [make an announcement]. As long as we all understand where we’re headed, to me, I don’t think we need a contract.”
Both Knaus and Gustafson are set to become free agents after this season without deals.
The clock is also ticking for Hendrick to determine future driver Kasey Kahne’s plans for 2011, a responsibility he agreed to take to bring Kahne over to HMS in 2012.
“It’s just too early right now,” Hendrick said. “It’s like I said earlier: I talked to [Kahne] a year ago; he’s a young talent. Mark has told me he can’t drive beyond 2011. And so it’s one of those deals where he wanted to be there and I wanted him bad enough that we just said, hey, we’ll work it out. That one year, we’ll figure it out; we don’t have to have that done today. We’re looking farther down the road.”
With Kasey Kahne Signed Thru 2015 , Where Does That Leave Kevin Harvick?
Last week, a blockbuster announcement was made. Richard Petty Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne will be leaving the team after the 2010 season to join forces with Hendrick Motorsports in 2011.
HMS team owner Rick Hendrick, who takes great pride in knowing he is the most powerful dignitary in the sport today, left out one important detail during the press conference, which could have put an end to all the speculating which car Kahne will be driving in 2011.
Instead, Hendrick dodged the question by saying that he is the one responsible for Kahne’s ride in 2011, and until that million dollar question is answered, all eyes and ears will continue to be focused on him, which is exactly where he wants them.
In the meantime, many of the fans have put Stewart Haas’ racing at the top of the list, even though Stewart has made it clear he knows of no such arrangement.
“You guys need to talk to Kasey because we don’t know anything about it,” said Stewart when he first heard that his team was mentioned as a possibility.
Stewart also added that,
“If the right sponsor and right driver were to come along, we would consider a third team. But we’ve said that all along.”
Now once again, Stewart is not saying whether Kahne will or will not end up driving for his team next season, but one thing is for sure: Kahne will drive a car next season that in some way has ties to HMS.
The move by Hendrick to sign Kahne so early in the season only tells a small story of how much he was sought after. His overall appeal goes a long way to attract the attention of NASCAR’s most influential owner.
It was no big secret to begin with that Kahne no longer wanted to be part of the RPM family, along with Richard Childress driver Kevin Harvick, who also expressed his desire to leave the confines of his team and seek employment elsewhere.
So now that Kahne is penciled in for the next five years with NASCAR’s most prolific team, the next big move on the horizon is what will Kevin Harvick decide to do once his contract expires at the end of the season?
Since there is obviously no more room at HMS, that easily leaves out them out as a possibility for Harvick to find refuge at.
One of the bigger moves being speculated by the fans was that Harvick, along with his sponsor Shell/Pennzoil, would find a nice resting place at Stewart Haas racing for either the 2010 season if RCR would have allowed him to leave, or the following year in 2011 once his contract expired.
There was story after story written about how faithful and committed Harvick’s sponsors were to him, even though he hasn’t won a race in over three years with his last win coming in 2007 during the season opening Daytona 500.
Now with the announcement that his sponsor Shell/Pennzoil will be leaving at the end of the season, what type of bargaining power does he have, especially when you look at his mediocre career since coming into the season in 2001?
Stewart has made it clear that only if the right sponsor and driver came along he would consider a third team, which would technically leave Harvick on the outside looking in, since he no longer has a sponsor.
With only 11 wins while in his 10th season racing in the Sprint cup series, along with a 115 race win-less streak, it’s easy to see why Hendrick overlooked him as a possibility to fill Martin’s seat once he retires.
Or maybe Rick took offense when Harvick said that his star driver has a golden horseshoe stuck up his rear-end, while referring to the luck that the No. 48 team has.
If anything, it is now Harvick who probably wishes he had that horseshoe instead of Johnson, because from the looks of things he is not in a very good position especially with no sponsor to rally round him when it comes time to negotiate a contract.
Either way when HMS signed Kahne to his multi-year deal without giving any details of who he will be driving for in 2011, Hendrick single handedly closed the door on Harvick picking up a ride with the HMS logo anywhere on it.
Harvick will no longer be appealing with his bright red and yellow driver suit, but instead he will have to negotiate on just his name alone, which sorry to say only worsens his current situation.
His stats along with his on-track performance clearly show that he is not a championship contender in the Sprint cup series, even though he is a two-time Nationwide champion.
Owners today are looking for drivers who can bring sponsorship, or at least be appealing enough to attract one, and maybe this is a sign that Harvick should reconsider what RCR has to offer before they too recant their offer.
Now looking at the overall picture, RCR is not that bad of a team to drive for especially when Harvick just lost his one and only bargaining chip.
The Cool Down Lap: Kahne empowers Hendrick Motorsports—in many ways
In the new, fun game of NASCAR monopoly, Hendrick Motorsports just built hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place with the addition of Kasey Kahne to the driver roster.
After Monday’s rain-delayed Samsung Mobile 500, Hendrick’s Jimmie Johnson leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings by 108 points over Matt Kenseth, his closest pursuer. Johnson has won the past four Cup titles. Hendrick has claimed nine of the past 15 championships, dating to Jeff Gordon’s first title in 1995.
The addition of Kahne will make Hendrick stronger, even though owner Rick Hendrick hasn’t announced how he’ll fit Kahne into his plans next year, given that he already has quality drivers for all four of his cars. The initial premise was that Kahne would spend 2011 “on loan” to another organization—Stewart-Haas Racing, perhaps—and replace Mark Martin in the No. 5 Chevrolet in 2012.
Nonetheless, Hendrick would have Johnson, Gordon, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kahne all under contract in 2011, concentrating an abundance of talent, star power and merchandising appeal under the control of a single owner.
That’s a scary thought for the rest of the Cup garage. Jeff Burton sees it as a clear indication of owner Rick Hendrick’s relentless commitment to excellence.
“Adding Kasey to the mix sends a clear signal to everyone in the sport that he, moving into the future, intends on winning championships,” Burton said. “It’s an eye-opener. I know that every team in the garage wanted Kasey, and Hendrick ended up with him, and it is what it is.
“It’s the same reason that Jeff Gordon went there, the same reason that Mark Martin went there, same reason that Jimmie Johnson went there, same reason Junior went there—because people believe that, right now, he gives them the best chance to win championships.”
Hendrick may have an embarrassment of riches at this point, but there is much that remains unsettled. Though Martin approached Kahne about driving for Hendrick in September, a story both drivers confirmed at Texas, news of Kahne’s signing took almost everyone—including Martin—off guard. Clearly, it came before Hendrick, who is obligated to find Kahne a ride for next year, had settled the driver’s status for 2011.
Crew chief Chad Knaus, an inseparable part of the equation that added up to four straight championships for Johnson, has not signed a contract extension with Hendrick. It’s difficult to imagine a better situation could exist for Knaus, but he is a man who craves a challenge, and his market value has never been higher.
Similarly, Martin’s crew chief, Alan Gustafson, is in a contract year. Martin’s five wins and seven poles last year—not to mention constant praise from the driver—have elevated Gustafson’s visibility and stature immeasurably.
Yes, there are loose ends, but the announcement of Kahne’s signing may already have had a galvanizing effect on Hendrick’s drivers.
In analyzing his decision to come to Hendrick, Kahne touted the quality of the equipment.
“You get in a car like that, and if you’re not performing, then you’re the problem,” Kahne said of the No. 5 Chevrolet.
Kahne’s comment rang loudly in the TMS media center Friday. Perhaps it resonated with the No. 88 Hendrick team as well, given that Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose performance has lagged behind that of his prolific teammates, drove like a man possessed at Texas, leading 46 laps, finishing eighth and solidifying his position in the top 12 in the Cup standings.
“We have a lot to work on still,” Earnhardt said after the race. “We’re a good team. We can be a great team, and we just have to keep working.”
Whether Kahne’s signing had an effect, or whether it was simply the return to a rear spoiler at a downforce track, Earnhardt was up on the wheel.
If the addition of Kahne was an eye-opener, what might a resurgent Earnhardt be?
Notebook: Hard racing riles teammates Gordon and Johnson
FORT WORTH, Texas—Bad blood? What bad blood?
Jimmie Johnsons says he and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon will settle their differences after hard racing left them annoyed with each other in Monday’s Samsung Mobile 500 Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.
During one sequence, on Lap 240, Gordon pushed Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet through Turns 3 and 4, and the cars collided entering the tri-oval at the 1.5-mile track. The contact left a tire mark on the right side of Gordon’s car and ultimately cut the left front tire of Johnson’s, forcing him to make an unscheduled pit stop.
The real misfortune, however, was that the two strongest cars in the race couldn’t battle at the finish. Johnson rallied to finish second, .152 seconds behind winner Denny Hamlin, but a late-race wreck KO’d Gordon and dropped him to 31st.
“I’m just thankful, when we got together, that we weren’t both spinning down the frontstretch and wadded up,” Johnson said. “I was thankful he didn’t spin me out further in the corner. He was just on my bumper, pushing me through the center of the turn.
“It was like, man, I really can’t go anywhere if you’re there, pushing me. If you’d just get off my ass and let me get control of my car, I can accelerate.”
Gordon said he was disappointed with the way Johnson raced him.
“But, I’ll get over it, and so will he,” Gordon said. “We’ll talk about it. We’re good enough friends, good enough teammates. It’s more just the competitors in us coming out out there and the aggressiveness of wanting to win. Not anything against one another.”
Johnson agreed.
“Don’t get the headline writers out saying ‘Trouble at HMS,’ because it’s really no big deal,” he said.
Edwards victimized by multicar crash
The same nine-car wreck that took out Gordon also ended Carl Edwards’ race and dropped the driver of the No. 99 Ford out of the top 12 in the series standings. Polesitter Tony Stewart took responsibility for causing the incident.
“Tony was on two tires,” said Edwards, who finished 33rd and fell seven positions to 15th in points. “Jeff was on four, and Jeff kind of got Tony up in the third lane (on the outside), and I was going to follow Jeff down through the middle. There just wasn’t enough time. Tony started down just a little right there, and that’s all it took.
“It’s just too bad that we tore up all those racecars, but it’s hard racing. It’s a double-file restart, and there are guys with four tires and guys with two tires, and every once in a while you’ll have a wreck like that. That’s definitely not what we needed there.”
Kahne capitalizes
Kasey Kahne dodged the big wreck and finished fifth, thanks to the attrition.
“About six of them disappeared in front of me, and we were left,” said Kahne, who made headlines last week with the announcement that he’ll leave Richard Petty Motorsports at the end of the season and drive for Hendrick.
“It was a nice ending. I would have loved to win, like everybody here, but it was a good ending. We’ve had a great week, and the team did an awesome job. We probably weren’t the fifth-fastest car, but that’s where we ended up. We needed that.”
Notebook: Gibbs wasn’t about to pull Hamlin
FORT WORTH, Texas—Team owner Joe Gibbs wasn’t among those who questioned Denny Hamlin’s decision to stay in the No. 11 last Saturday at Phoenix.
On the contrary, Gibbs praised Hamlin’s dedication for completing the nearly four-hour Subway Fresh Fit 600, 10 days after surgery to repair the ACL in Hamlin’s left knee.
“Denny showed a lot of intestinal fortitude last week,” Gibbs said Friday night before his induction into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame. “When you stop to think about that, I’ve got to tell you, when we went down two laps, I think there’s a lot of people who would have said, ‘I’m getting out of this thing.’ ”
Gibbs won three Super Bowls as coach of the Washington Redskins and has three NASCAR Sprint Cup championships as the owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. When it comes to pulling a player, Gibbs’ mind-set is the same for both sports.
“He stepped up, and that was his decision,” Gibbs said. “He did a great job there. Always, on the guy staying in the game, I left it up to the players.”
The irony of being inducted into a hall of fame within shouting distance of Redskins’ archrival Dallas Cowboys wasn’t lost on Gibbs.
“I still have two bodyguards with me,” he joked before the ceremony.
Kahne comfortable with his choice
It was a relaxed Kasey Kahne who talked to the media Friday at Texas Motor Speedway—and with good reason. Though the details of his 2011 plans haven’t been announced, Kahne knows he’ll be in Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 Chevrolet starting in 2012.
Kahne has signed a long-term contract with Hendrick, starting in 2011, and will leave Richard Petty Motorsports at the end of the season. It’s incumbent on owner Rick Hendrick to find Kahne a ride next year, while Mark Martin completes his tenure in the No. 5 car.
“I feel good about it,” Kahne said after the formal interview session. “I know what I’m going to be doing for a while, and I know what I need to do the rest of this year. So I feel good.”
Kahne also feels good about Sunday’s Samsung Mobile 500.
“This is one of my best tracks,” he said, “so I think that we can run well and have some success and feel good about what’s going on.”
Singin’ in the rain
Rain washed out both Cup practice sessions Saturday at Texas—which was fine with Juan Pablo Montoya.
Montoya’s No. 42 Chevrolet team spent most of Friday’s prequalifying practice working on race setups. Consequently, Montoya thinks he may have an edge on Sunday in the eighth Cup event of the season.
“For today, I was hoping for rain—a lot of rain,” Montoya said. “And it’s good, because we think we’ve got a decent racecar. We actually started way off from where we needed to be. We made some good changes and seemed to gain on the car really fast, and I was pretty happy about that.”
Montoya’s only other preparation for the rainout was to find a few DVDs.
“I told my bus driver to go out and buy some movies,” he said. “I have ‘Criminal Minds,’ the TV series, and I picked like three or four different movies. So I’ll be entertained, believe me.”
Mark Martin: “I’m not going to retire”
When it was officially announced on Thursday that Kasey Kahne would be driving the No. 5 Chevrolet in 2012 for Hendrick Motorsports, the question that came up first was about Mark Martin, who has a signed contract with the team through 2010, and if he would actually retire after the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season.
Friday at Texas Motor Speedway, Martin delivered the simple answer: No.
“I would appreciate it if no one would write anything about me retiring, because I’m not going to retire,” Martin said. “I’m going to race in 2012. And so don’t even talk about it. I’m racing in 2012. There will be an opportunity for me I’m sure, that will be exciting and fun and that I can help people. I feel like I’ve done that. I feel like I did that in the No. 01 at DEI and I feel like I’ve helped the No. 5 team realize that they can win races and contend for a championship. And so I’ll find another opportunity that’s exciting to me and I don’t want to commit to that now. I want to make sure that Hendrick is set and they are set. It’s such an incredibly perfect scenario.”
However, at 51-years-old, it is apparent that Martin’s career as a driver is winding down. That doesn’t necessarily mean that he will leave NASCAR, though. Martin expressed interest in transitioning towards the ownership side of the sport.
“I’ll drive and I might drive and be consulting or I might be an owner driver, transition into an owner if there was another scenario as wonderful as Tony Stewart’s,” Martin said. “Certainly not going the hard route. It is hard enough just doing that. I think Tony’s scenario was great. I have a lot of great friends in the sport. Really, really great friends, from owners, people like Jack Roush and Jay Frye and just a lot of great friends in this sport. There are going to be plenty of things for me to do and be involved in the sport.
“But, for me to consider going away from NASCAR and crawling under a rock for the rest of my life, that’s no longer in the equation. I love what I do and I love this sport. You know since ’07 that has just grown and rebuilt and I recognize that now and it’s a part of everything that I am made of. It is part of the fabric.”
It was Martin that initiated Kahne coming over to HMS, after he had determined a full-time season in the No. 5 Kellogg’s/Carquest Chevrolet after 2011 wasn’t in the cards for him.
While Martin says the sport is still close to his heart, he wanted to be sure that there would be a driver better than him in the car after 2011. That driver was Kahne.
“It was really, really important to me to make sure that Hendrick Motorsports had someone better than me to come in behind me,” Martin said. “And I’m more comfortable now than I was a month ago because I didn’t know what that was going to be; although I knew I was going to drive through 2011. I didn’t know how that was going to work out with the timing because my choice for the guy that succeeded me here; the timing wasn’t exactly right. They were going to be open in ’11 and I was going to exit in ’12. So, this has fixed that. I’m happy about that. I’ve had the time of my life and I don’t understand how people want to put a negative spin on this. This is actually the most exciting thing that could ever happen to Kasey Kahne, to Mark Martin, to Hendrick Motorsports, and all of us. This is perfect. I don’t know why everybody is digging for something negative.”
“I initiated it before ever talking to Rick Hendrick because I didn’t want Rick to know that I was as concerned as I was about it,” Martin added. “So I talked to Kasey two or three times last year starting back around September and then I didn’t get involved after that. And to be real honest, I didn’t know the last month that it had gotten to this level. So I’m thrilled. It’s so exciting.”
Of course, for a younger driver such as Kahne to receive such heartwarming comments from a veteran of the sport is gratifying to say the least.
“Mark pulled me aside a few times and one time we sat in his bus for at least an hour and talked about things,” Kahne said. “He’s an unbelievable guy and an unbelievable race car driver, and to be able to sit there and talk to him and learn about something I have no idea about was nice for me. So, yeah, that was a huge part of my decision. I’ve always had that in the back of my head on what I had learned from Mark. Jimmie Johnson has been a big part of it as well. He’s always been a great guy to me and I think he’s helped me whenever I’ve had questions – not even about the whole Hendrick Motorsports thing – I’ve had questions about other things and Jimmie has always been there to help out. So I think between those two guys and then just sitting down with Mr. Hendrick and learning about the place, walking around the place, I was just really impressed and really excited to be a part of it now.”
Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Samsung Mobile 500
This weekend’s Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway will be the eighth race of this year’s Sprint Cup Series season. Last year, Jeff Gordon scored his lone win of the season in this race, leading a race-high 105 laps, including the last 28.
Before anything else, though, I’d like to comment on what a whirlwind of a week this has been as far as the silly season goes. Kahne to Hendrick in 2012, in a Jamie McMurray-esque situation? Two of the lower-tier teams changing drivers? Kelly Bires and John Wes Townley out of rides? Silly season keeps happening earlier and earlier every year, and I think NASCAR needs to look into implementing some restrictions on signings like Kahne’s. I understand that the drivers and teams are independent contractors, but how would Colts fans feel if Peyton Manning signed with the Titans for the 2012 season before even completing this year or the next?
Without further ado, and before I start ranting uncontrollably about the Kahne signing, let’s just go to the fantasy picks and call it a day.
My headlining pick for the weekend is Tony Stewart. Of active drivers, Smoke is the fourth-best at Texas, with one win and 10 top-10s in 16 starts. The win came in the fall of 2006, when he led 278 of the race’s 339 laps. Smoke also has to be buoyed by teammate Ryan Newman’s win last weekend at Phoenix, a great step towards asserting that Stewart-Haas Racing won’t fall victim to a sophomore slump in 2010.
As for a dark horse, I’m going to pick Kahne. Yes, he has been very mediocre at Texas, with only one win and two top-10s in 11 starts, but something tells me that his Richard Petty Motorsports team is going to go all out this weekend and in the next few weeks to try and prove that they can run up front, not only for Kahne’s potential replacements, but maybe even to keep him in the seat for 2011.
Okay, we’ve got three more picks to go. Is it fair enough for me to invoke Texas hold ‘em and call this the fantasy “flop”? (Heaven knows a lot of my picks tend to do so on raceday.)
The top active driver statistically at Texas is Matt Kenseth, with an average finish of 9.3. No other driver has a single-digit average finish at Texas, not even the great Jimmie Johnson. Kenseth has not won at Texas since 2002, but has led at least one lap in eight of the last ten Texas races. Over that span, his worst finish is 18th, with six top fives (including three runner-up finishes) and lead-lap finishes in all ten starts.
Kurt Busch is somewhat of a risky pick, but he did win the last time the Cup cars went to Texas. Granted, he only has one Texas DNF, but he hasn’t been as consistently up front at the track throughout his career as guys like Kenseth and Johnson. In fact, his only other top five finish came in his Texas debut, in the spring of 2001, when he finished fourth.
Finally, Jeff Burton has only recently asserted himself as a Texas contender, but he’s almost always been towards the front since joining Richard Childress Racing. He only led one lap in the one Texas race he won, but since 2006 he’s finished in the top 10 six out of eight times.
Kahne to drive Hendrick’s No. 5 car in 2012—but what about 2011?
Kasey Kahne will drive the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in 2012, replacing Mark Martin, who intends to retire from full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup driving after the 2011 season, team owner Rick Hendrick said Wednesday.
Kahne, 30, has signed a long-term deal with Hendrick Motorsports that starts with the 2011 season, leaving Hendrick with the obligation of finding a stop-gap ride for Kahne next year. Richard Petty Motorsports announced Tuesday that Kahne would not return to the No. 9 Ford in 2011.
The logical first choice would seem to be a temporary placement with Stewart-Haas Racing, a Hendrick customer. Owned by Tony Stewart and currently fielding cars for Stewart and Ryan Newman, Stewart-Haas receives engines, chassis and technical support from Hendrick Motorsports.
Hendrick, however, said Wednesday he has not finalized plans for Kahne for 2011. Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. drive for HMS, and NASCAR limits the number of cars an owner can field to four.
“It’s kind of a unique animal, in that we know what we’re going to do come ’12, but we haven’t locked in on what we’re going to do in ’11 yet, and there’s just a ton of options,” Hendrick said. “He has a contract (for 2011). It’s my responsibility to get him in a position—of course, he’ll have to agree to it—but it’s a stop-gap to get us to ’12. That’s just the commitment we made to each other.”
Hendrick did acknowledge that “parking” Kahne at JR Motorsports, owned jointly by Hendrick, Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt and Tony Eury Jr., is unlikely, given that JRM currently has no Cup program. JRM fields Nationwide Series entries for Jamie McMurray, Danica Patrick and Earnhardt Jr. in selected events.
“Junior’s made it pretty clear that he wants to see that a Nationwide organization, and I think, with the commitments to Danica and what’s going on there, that is totally Junior and Kelley’s call, but he’s been pretty vocal about wanting to make that a Nationwide operation,” Hendrick said. “But that could change subject to Danica’s decisions, and that decision is going to be made by Dale and Kelley.”
Sponsorship remains a question mark. Kahne drives the Budweiser Ford for RPM, but Hendrick said he has not discussed Kahne’s move to HMS with the beer company.
The role of crew chief also is an open question. Alan Gustafson fills that position for Martin, but Kahne is loyal to his current crew chief at RPM, Kenny Francis.
“My relationship with Kenny has been awesome,” Kahne said. “I get to work with him every week. We have a great communication between ourselves and what the car’s doing and what changes we need to make. I feel like we can win a lot of races this year, or some races this year, before the season’s done. I look forward to working with Kenny the rest of this year, and hopefully we work together in the future. Personally, I don’t know. That’s one of the things that I’m not sure of yet.”
Kahne, who has 11 Cup victories, said he talked to a number of teams about his future, including RPM, but opted for Hendrick as his next career move. Kahne’s first full season of Cup racing was 2004 with Evernham Motorsports, which has evolved through a series of mergers and acquisitions into RPM.
“I felt like I’ve been there for six years,” Kahne said. “It’ll be seven at the end of this one, and I want to do something different.”
HMS’s acquisition of Kahne brings more questions than answers
Kasey Kahne and Richard Petty Motorsports confirmed that they will indeed be parting ways after this season. According to sources, Kahne will be driving for Hendrick Motorsports’s No. 5 Chevrolet starting in 2012. However, the first stone to fall in what is shaping up to be a wild “Silly Season” brings many more questions than answers.
For instance, what is Kevin Harvick going to do? Harvick is a free-agent after this season, assuming he doesn’t re-sign with Richard Childress Racing sometime soon. It was said that he was moving over to HMS, however with the team’s driver lineup being virtually full after the team added Kahne, Harvick’s options are suddenly limited.
Other choices would be a fourth team at Joe Gibbs Racing, which has not yet announced any plans for a fourth car next year, or Stewart Haas Racing. However, the pairing of Harvick and team owner Tony Stewart could call in the question of whether or not that would be a good relationship.
Of course, you have the now vacated ride at Richard Petty Motorsports. Although, the team hasn’t been able to piece together any consistent performances in many years, which leads to the assumption that staying with RCR would be Harvick’s best option at the moment.
Or, could 2011 be the year Kevin Harvick Inc. makes the jump to Sprint Cup Series racing.
Besides Harvick, Kahne will need to find a ride for 2011—likely to be a ride with a strong HMS affiliated team in Stewart Haas Racing.
Sponsorship is another question. Is Budweiser going to find a new driver or stay with Kasey Kahne?
Next up is crew chiefs. Is Alan Gustafson, a crew chief that many consider to be on the level of a Chad Knaus, going to call the shots for Kahne, or will he move to another driver, such as Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt Jr. Or, will Kahne’s current crew chief, Kenny Francis, be able to follow Kahne over to the organization.
Other drivers who are expected to be looking for a ride or still needing a contract extension with their current team are AJ Allmendinger, Denny Hamlin, Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray, David Reutimann and Elliott Sadler.
With “Silly Season” getting off to an early start this year, many of the dominos are sure to begin falling soon.
And, one can’t help but forget that Chad Knuas, the championship crew chief for the last four years, has yet to sign an extension with Hendrick Motorsports. His contract will expire after this season. Speculation says that Knaus could try to arrange himself into a higher position with a team, if he doesn’t continue to crew chief Jimmie Johnson.
Kasey Kahne Signs Contract To Drive For Hendrick Motorsports In 2011
Sources close to ESPN have confirmed that Kasey Kahne, driver of the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 9 Budweiser Ford, who would have undeniably been the hottest free agent coming out of the 2010 season, has signed a multi-year deal to drive for Hendrick Motorsports.
The negotiations, which are still ongoing, would put Kahne into an HMS race car by the beginning of the 2011 season.
Sources close to ESPN have said that a decision on whose ride Kahne will take over has not been released, along with who his sponsor will be, if in fact Budweiser does not follow him in 2011.
As far as the current contract situation stands at HMS, the only realistic choice would be for Kahne to take over the No.5 car which is currently being driven by Mark Martin.
Since Martin’s contract will be the first to expire after the 2011 season, HMS would probably give Martin a release from his final year the same way they let Kyle Busch go after the 2007 season.
It was also speculated that Kahne could possibly drive a third car for Stewart Haas racing in 2011, which is considered an HMS satellite team, in anticipation of Martin retiring after the 2011 season which would put Kahne in the No. 5 after Martins retirement.
Busch who said at the time that he never felt he was pushed out after HMS learned that Dale Earnhardt Jr. was leaving DEI after the 2007, had this to say when his negotiations took a turn for the worse.
“Then Junior announced his availability and then that’s where we kind of stalled out again,” said Busch.
Busch also added that, “I’m not stupid. You guys aren’t stupid. It’s kind of common sense, I guess?”
Kahne, who is in his final year of his contract at RPM, has made it clear since last season that he wanted out of his contract, and with today’s news it is clear that he will no longer have that lingering over his head.
Kahne will finish out the rest of the 2010 season with RPM. Comments from HMS, or Kahne have yet to be released as of this time. RPM did release this statement earlier confirming that Kahne will be leaving the team.
“Kasey is a very talented driver and I have enjoyed watching him race. We all wish him nothing but the best and hope he succeeds in anything he chooses to do,” said team owner Richard Petty.
“Drivers like Kasey Kahne are the very reason we got into this sport. Kasey has helped us get to where we are today,” said George Gillett, owner of Richard Petty Motorsports.
Special Thanks To ESPN for Content.
RPM in default on $90 million loan
By Daniel Kaplan
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
Richard Petty Motorsports, the NASCAR team owned by George Gillett, has been in default on a roughly $90 million loan since at least February but expects to soon restructure the obligation, sources said last week.
The default on the debt underscores the harm NASCAR suffered from the economic collapse of late 2008 and, in particular, the impact of contraction among Detroit’s Big Three automakers on race teams. Gillett, who last year sold the Montreal Canadiens and still owns half of Liverpool FC, lost Chrysler’s backing of his race team when that company filed for bankruptcy protection. Ford is now supporting the four-car team.
“This is a very positive story,” Gillett said. “To lose Chrysler but regain the revenue and not go into the red, and the company is very healthy, that is an amazing story.”
Wachovia, which leads a syndicate of about a dozen financial institutions that issued the loan, declined to comment.
Gillett declined to comment on specifics of the restructuring because of the ongoing creditor talks, but he emphasized the default is technical in nature, meaning he did not miss a payment but, rather, failed to meet terms of at least one covenant.
Loans commonly have covenants that might, for example, require the borrower to sustain a certain level of cash flow. Before the economic troubles of late 2008, lenders were relatively lenient with these kinds of defaults, but they since have become more stringent and less forgiving.
One finance source, which requested anonymity because of knowledge of the deal, denied Gillett’s characterization, insisting the default was payment-related.
No one would dispute, however, that Gillett had unfortunate timing in his summer 2007 purchase of the team.
“George bought right at the peak,” said motorsports consultant Tim Frost. “Manufacturer support has dried up, and it was really strong when he bought the team.”
Upon purchasing what was then known as Evernham Motorsports, Gillett renamed the team Gillett Evernham Motorsports. According to a Uniform Commercial Code document filed Aug. 3, 2007, with the state of Delaware, where the team is incorporated, Gillett Evernham Motorsports obtained the loan from Wachovia. The document lists the collateral as being all assets of the debtor, meaning the loan does not have recourse back to Gillett personally; the debtor is the race team.
That likely bestows Gillett some leverage in his talks with the creditors because at best they could take possession of the garage assets and, perhaps, some contractual revenue from sponsors. They do not have recourse to his personal assets.
The team filed an amendment to the UCC document on Feb. 17, 2009, to account for the team’s name change to Richard Petty Motorsports. Gillett merged with Petty Enterprises in January 2009, bringing the stock car legend’s single car to the team.
While the name of the team is Richard Petty Motorsports, it’s owned by Gillett. The company’s application to establish the new entity in January 2009 with the state of North Carolina, where it operates, lists for its principal address Booth Creek Holdings, a Gillett-owned entity based in Vail, Colo.
Richard Petty Motorsports late last year merged with Yates Racing, which brought the Ford relationship into the fold.
Daniel Kaplan is a reporter with SportsBusiness Journal.
Kurt Busch wins at Atlanta
To put it as Kurt Busch did as he crossed the finish line on Sunday, “The deuce is back!”
Busch was able to survive through two green-white-checkered finishes to grab his third career win at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“I just think that it’s the most important thing to have communication early on and to make sure that you get in-tuned and know where everybody stands,” Busch said. “How is Steve (Addington) being absorbed? How is he delegating the work? So I’m just very, very happy to bring it on home. Just thanks to Miller Lite, Dodge…to Sprint…to the fans here and all the fans watching on TV. We’ve got a great combination right now.”
The victory was the first for the new crew chief/driver pair of Busch and Steve Addington. Atlanta was also the site of Addington’s first Cup Series win as a crew chief, with Kurt’s brother Kyle Busch.
Matt Kenseth was able to finish second to record another top-ten finish, something he has done in each of the four races so far this season.
“Our day was really good,” Kenseth said. “It was a really good, solid day for us. I thought most of the day, a couple times we got off and didn’t have a very good car, made good adjustments, got it where — I don’t know, one run where maybe it was a second- or third-place car. Most of the time we were a third- to a fifth-place car.
“We really good pit stops, good adjustments. Got lucky. Got a couple good restarts at the end, and slid into second. Overall I thought we had a good car, top-five car. The guys had a lot of fun. We were real competitive, so it was a good time.”
Juan Pablo Montoya appeared like he was going to grab his first victory at an oval track in NASCAR, however the caution that caused the first green-white-checkered finish appeared to snap his momentum after he had been catching then leader Busch by two-tenths of a second or more each lap before eventually pulling to within a half-second behind Busch’s rear-bumper.
“It was good,” Montoya said. “Never really had the fastest car except at the end before the last pit stop. We were coming. I thought we had a chance to get to the 2. Once you moved up the bottom in three and four, I thought, ‘Here we go, I think we got him.’ I could stay on the bottom. It was good. I was pretty happy.
“Came in, put tires on. First restart was pretty good. Second one spun the hell out of the tires. Kind of surprised me. We had those two lines. Went a little bit before the first line.”
Montoya crossed the finish line third.
Kasey Kahne rolled across the line fourth, leading a Richard Petty Motorsports resurgence that included Paul Menard, who finished fifth, and AJ Allmendinger, who finished sixth.
The fifth place finish Menard’s second career top-five. Menard was picked by many in the media as their dark horse for this race after he had put up impressive runs in the practice sessions this weekend.
“It felt really good,” Menard said. “The car was fast and a top five is a great way to start the year. The guys did their homework in the offseason and improved these cars so much.
“Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) made a helluva call there taking two tires at the end and get some clean track and we knew we probably weren’t going to hold off four tires, but it at least got us in front of the excitement and I guess there was some at the end. We dodged a bullet there at the end with all the action out there.”
Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Scott Speed rounded out the top-ten finishers for the Kobalt Tools 500.
Jimmie Johnson finished 12th to end the somewhat off-day from the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was the polesitter, was able to rebound to the 15th position by taking advantage of the final two restarts. Jeff Gordon finished 18th while Mark Martin finished 33rd after being involved in an accident during the first green-white-checker.
There were a total of 11 cautions for 53 laps. The most notable caution of the evening was the wreck between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski. Edwards appeared to intentionally wreck Keselowski, in pay back from an earlier incident today, sending Keselowski’s Dodge into the air and onto his roof. Edwards was eventually parked for the accident with further penalties from NASCAR pending.
Notes: Today’s victory by Busch means that he has now won at least one race in the last nine seasons, consecutively. … After finishing ninth, Harvick maintains his points lead after four Sprint Cup races, leading Kenseth by 26 points. … NASCAR estimates there were a total of 85,000 fans in the seats at Atlanta Motor Speedway—a track that has about 124,000 seats.
Notebook: No baby news yet for Edwards
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Carl Edwards always has his cell phone handy, given that wife Kate’s due date for the couple’s first child is Wednesday.
The phone didn’t ring on Saturday, when Edwards finished second to Tony Stewart in the DRIVE4COPD 300 Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
“Haven’t talked to my wife yet, no,” Edwards said after the race. “No news is good news, I guess. I should be hoping for a childbirth, but … Monday would be great. She’s got her legs crossed and I’ve got my fingers crossed.”
Edwards smiled. “Please — don’t print that,” he said.
Sorry, Carl. Too late.
LOOK OUT FOR HARVICK
Kevin Harvick, owner of Stewart’s winning car, finished third Saturday. In Sunday’s Daytona 500, he feels the top spot is within reach.
“I feel good about our track position,” said Harvick, who will start fifth in the Great American Race. “I’ve felt good about our cars all week. We’ve had a chance to win every race we’ve been in so far.
“(Sunday) isn’t going to be any different. I’m looking forward to it. You go and race as hard as you can. You can’t control the circumstances, but you can race hard all day. That’s what we’re going to do.”
Harvick hasn’t won a Sprint Cup points race since he edged Mark Martin by .02 seconds to win the 2007 Daytona 500, but he has taken the checkered flag in the 2007 Sprint All-Star race and the 2009 and 2010 Budweiser Shootouts. The latter two races were held at Daytona.
DANICA MANIA NOT LOST ON CUP DRIVERS
Lest you think the attention paid to Danica Patrick in the ARCA and Nationwide Series is lost on Cup-only drivers, Kurt Busch is proof otherwise.
Busch appeared at a Friday question-and-answer session at Daytona’s infield media center. Shortly after he sat down behind the microphone, a reporter asked, “Is this being transcribed?”
Busch had a nimble response to the question. “If I were Danica Patrick, would this be transcribed?” he asked.
Touche.
KAHNE DISAPPOINTED
Kasey Kahne, one of the favorites in the Daytona 500, would just as soon forget Saturday’s Nationwide race — even though he finished ninth in the No. 38 Toyota.
“We avoided a couple of wrecks, and we ran top 10 throughout much of the race,” Kahne said. “I’m just kind of disappointed. It wasn’t nowhere near as fast as it was in July (when Kahne finished fifth at Daytona).
“We came down here with high expectations and got let down. The car didn’t do anything. It drove good — and that was it.”
Johnson, Kahne win Duels; Waltrip makes 500 field
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Kasey Kahne won a drag race off the final corner to beat Tony Stewart to the finish line by .014 seconds in the second of two Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying races Thursday at Daytona International Speedway—and that was the second-closest finish of the afternoon.
In the first Duel, Jimmie Johnson—driving a backup car and electing to stay out on old tires—edged Kevin Harvick by .005 seconds as the field was set for the Sunday’s Daytona 500, the season-opening points race for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series.
By virtue of his finish, Johnson will start from the third position in Sunday’s race, with Kahne beside him in the fourth position on the grid. Harvick nailed down the fifth starting spot with his runner-up finish in the first Duel, and Stewart will take the green flag in sixth position.
Polesitter Mark Martin (21st in the first Duel) and second-place starter Dale Earnhardt Jr. (21st in the second Duel, after damaging the body of his car) claimed their positions on the grid in last Saturday’s time trials.
For Johnson, the four-time defending Cup champion, fighting to hold the lead on old tires was an adventure. Even as he took the checkered flag at the end of a four-lap green-flag run to the finish, Johnson wasn’t sure the race was over.
“Really didn’t know how many laps we had left,” Johnson said, speaking in staccato sentences. “I was hopeful it was going to be done soon. My spotter wasn’t really sure. As I went by the start/finish line sideways, I looked up and hoped that it was the checkered, because I felt like I was going to spin out. I stayed on the gas, saved it. Everybody else let off around me. I knew the race was over.
“Certainly an exciting final few laps. With the car on older tires, the push I was getting from the RCR (Richard Childress Racing) cars and from the 18 (Kyle Busch), when they get close to the rear bumper of my car, literally would start turning the wheel to the right to save it. It stuck. Didn’t turn around on me.
“Thankful I made it back. I think we put on one heck of a race.”
With finishes in the first race of 14th and 15th, respectively, Michael McDowell and Max Papis grabbed the two transfer spots into the 500 available to drivers forced to race their way into NASCAR’s most prestigious event. A casualty of the first Duel at the 2.5-mile superspeedway was Michael Waltrip, who was in danger of seeing his streak of 23 straight Daytona 500 starts end after a hard crash into the inside wall on Lap 53.
Waltrip’s fortunes, however, took a major turn for the better when Scott Speed, the second-fastest qualifier in last Saturday’s time trials among drivers not locked into the field, passed Casey Mears for the second transfer position in the second Duel, thereby putting Waltrip into the 500 based on his fifth-best qualifying speed among go-or-go-home drivers.
Driving a backup car, Mike Bliss drove his way into Sunday’s field with a 13th-place run in the second Duel, putting owner Tommy Baldwin in the Great American Race for the second straight year.
Kahne led only three laps of the second Duel but held off Stewart as the drivers streaked toward the finish line.
“I enjoy racing Tony, because if you beat that guy, you’ve really done something on that day,” said Kahne, who rode a push from Kurt Busch’s Dodge to the front of the field.
Kyle Busch ran third in the first Duel, followed by Clint Bowyer and Regan Smith. Jamie McMurray, AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Newman, David Ragan and Jeff Gordon completed the top 10.
In the second 150-miler, Juan Pablo Montoya finished third, trailed by Kurt Busch and Elliott Sadler. Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Marcos Ambrose, David Reutimann and Brian Vickers (who scraped the Turn 4 wall while leading on Lap 55) filled out the top 10.
