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The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
April 11th, 2011
Volume V, Edition LXII
Kenseth Dominates To Break Texas Winless Streak
Matt Kenseth thrives on being a late-race bloomer, coming out of nowhere to grab the best finish possible David Pearson-style.
But with a 76-race winless streak on the line? Probably better not to leave anything to chance.
Kenseth did just that at Texas, putting together a rare, dominant performance Saturday night in which he led nine times for 169 laps en route to an 8.315-second win over Clint Bowyer. That left the No. 17 car taking the checkers for the first time since Fontana, the second race of the 2009 Cup Series season after inheriting the lead for the final time after green-flag stops cycled through with 14 laps to go.
For Kenseth, this one was never really in doubt down the stretch although several drivers tried to stretch their fuel following the fifth and final caution of the race on Lap 216. In particular, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon (one lap down at the time) attempted to make it on one more stop but both ran out of gas and were too far back to contend for victory; for Stewart, a pit road penalty on his final green-flag pit proved disastrous and left him limping home 12th, the last car on the lead lap once his Sunoco tank went dry.
That left Bowyer as the only real challenger, leading 41 laps during the midsection of the race (Laps 200-250). But his progress was permanently hampered by a near-wreck involving the lapped car of Brian Vickers with 87 to go. Making a spectacular save in the tri-oval, he held onto the No. 33 Chevrolet but lost his momentum, then the lead to Kenseth and the car was never the same after that.
"I just forced the issue a little too much," he said. "Got loose underneath, having got into him, and almost ruined the night. I was dirt tracking it... not supposed to do that."
Ragan, who won his first career pole in his 153rd career start, led the field to the green flag, leading the early stages until the first caution of the evening came out on lap 11 when Tony Raines went up in smoke in turn 4. Every single car on the track except Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski and Andy Lally took the opportunity to pit, resulting in a logjam on pit road that made post-race traffic look like child's play. In the pits, Tony Stewart made contact with Dave Blaney's car, spinning Blaney around and damaging his right-front fender in the process. After pit stops, the top-5 were Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Lally, Ragan, and Kenseth as the race went green.
"There was just a big pile-up," said Martin of the incident; he took the hardest hit into the backstretch inside wall with no SAFER Barrier. "It's just racing."
But for Kenseth, this one was the type of racing he hadn't enjoyed in quite sometime.
Tracking the Top 12: New Points Leader Again, Kenseth Wins Big
Whether it's the new system, teams trying to get a handle on the new nose, or just good old-fashioned competition, this year's points battle has turned out more exciting than normal early.
Texas kept that 2011 tradition going.
After finishing in third place, Carl Edwards has taken the point lead for the third time this year, continuing the streak of having a different championship leader after each race. Kyle Busch, who the led the standings going into yesterday's event, was looking strong until a loose left rear wheel persisted; two different, unscheduled pit stops eliminated any chance of a top-5 finish. Busch finished the evening two laps down in 16th place and, as a result, lost the number one spot in the standings. He now sits in second, nine markers back from Edwards.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. continues to show early season improvement with another top-10 results, a ninth-place effort leaving him sixth in points, the highest he's been all year. Ryan Newman, who was second in the points just two weeks ago, fell back to seventh overall after a ho-hum performance, quietly running a lap down in 14th place. Finishing one spot ahead was Juan Pablo Montoya whose charge to the 13th position left him eighth in the standings.
Kevin "The Closer" Harvick was unable to make it three in a row this week after winning the previous two races. Nor was he able to overcome pit road obstacles early, nearly involved in a David Reutimann spinout ahead of him that cost precious track position. As a result, he was never a factor and finished two laps off the pace in 20th position - his worst finish since the Daytona 500. As a result, Harvick fell back four spots in the standings and now sits ninth.
Tony Stewart's hard luck continues after running out of fuel on the final lap, but his 12th-place finish was enough to move him back into the top-10 in points. Paul Menard's second fifth-place result of 2011 moved him up to 11th, four markers out of the final position in the Chase, while Clint Bowyer's third-place finish moved him into a tie for 12th with Jeff Gordon. Gordon and Hendrick teammate Mark Martin are the two drivers who fell back this week for Hendrick Motorsports after finishes of 23rd and 36th, respectively.
Standings: 1) Carl Edwards 256; 2) Kyle Busch -9; t-3) Matt Kenseth -13; t-3) Jimmie Johnson -13; 5) Kurt Busch - 16; 6) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -21; 7) Ryan Newman -23; 8) Juan Pablo Montoya -24; 9) Kevin Harvick -28; 10) Tony Stewart -43.
"Wild Card" Drivers: Paul Menard (11th in points, no wins), Jeff Gordon (14th in points, one win)
Tracking the Top 35: Bad Weekend For Front Row Motorsports
Texas is a weekend Front Row Motorsports would like to forget. Not only was Travis Kvapil the only driver that failed to qualify, but FRM teammate David Gilliland and quasi-teammate Tony Raines were knocked out early in the going. Raines brought out the first caution on lap 11 after leaking fluid on the track and lost several laps to make repairs. While they did get back on track, the team was only able to finish 34th, falling out of the top-35 in the owner standings as a result. And before 50 laps were even complete, Gilliland had smacked the wall hard and ended the day in 42nd - however, that team is still relatively safe (31st in owner points) with the help of their third-place finish in the Daytona 500.
One week after falling out, Germain Racing moves back into the top-35 with their No. 13 GEICO Toyota. Driver Casey Mears was able to pilot the car to a respectable 26th-place finish and they now have a four-point cushion over the 36th-place team of TRG Motorsports, still on the outside looking in after rookie Andy Lally struggled to 31st position, ten laps off the pace.
2011 Top-35 Standings:
33) FAS Lane Racing's No. 32 Ford (Ken Schrader) +21 over 36th place.
34) Robby Gordon Motorsports' No. 7 Dodge (Robby Gordon) +15 over 36th place.
35) Germain Racing's No. 13 Toyota (Casey Mears) +4 over 36th place.
36) TRG Motorsports' No. 71 Chevy (Andy Lally) -4 behind 35th place.
t-37) Front Row Motorsports / MaxQ Motorsports No. 37 Ford (Tony Raines) -6 behind 35th place.
t-37) Tommy Baldwin Racing's No. 36 Chevy (Dave Blaney) -6 behind 35th place.
39) Front Row Motorsports' No. 38 Ford (Travis Kvapil) -31 behind 35th place.
Garrett Horton is a Contributor to Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at garrett.horton@frontstretch.com.
Got NASCAR-related questions or comments about 2011? John's got answers!
A new year means a new columnist to answer all your pressing questions about the sport! Our legendary flagman John Potts is taking over our Fan Q & A, so be sure to stack his inbox with plenty of queries and comments for the New Year! Send them his way at john.potts@frontstretch.com; and if you're lucky, you'll get your name in print when he does his weekly column answering back to you – the fans!
Secret Star of the Race: The Race You Never Saw
On a night where two of his Roush Fenway teammates finished in front of him, shining bright while a third started from the pole it's easy to forget Greg Biffle crossed the line fourth at Texas. It was a relatively quiet, consistent run for the Biff who never seemed to have the speed to run up front – he led only seven laps – but after starting ninth spent most of the day within striking distance in scoring his season-best finish of the year.
"It was a great run for us," he said afterwards. "We really felt like we had a faster car than that but that is the positive thing… we had a really fast car."
That's an important, take-the-positive-out-of-it attitude to have considering the deficit the No. 16 team has dug themselves this season. Leading just 18 laps total in seven races, fuel mistakes at Las Vegas have been compounded by poor-handling cars at short tracks (Phoenix, Martinsville) to leave him a distant 18th in the Cup standings, 30 points behind the Chase cutoff and Tony Stewart.
STAT OF THE WEEK: 245. Laps led by Jimmie Johnson this season through seven races. Despite failing to crack Victory Lane, that number leaves him projected to collect 1,291 laps led on the season – just a shade below last year's 1,315 and right on pace with his last five championship-winning efforts on the Sprint Cup level. – Tom Bowles
Big Six: Samsung Mobile 500
by Amy Henderson
Who…gets my shoutout of the race?
One major hole in NASCAR broadcasts is the failure to give due coverage to drivers who do not fall into a select group, even if they're having a top-10 run. Saturday's race was no exception as Marcos Ambrose ran solidly in that category all night long, but was mostly mentioned in passing as he raced with those deemed more worthy of coverage. That's a shame because Ambrose ran as well as anybody all night, flat beating the likes of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Busch on the racetrack. Ambrose may be widely regarded as a road course specialist, but he's been quietly improving on the ovals. Maybe someday, we'll actually get to see it.
What… was THAT?
All rookie drivers have a learning curve to follow, even the Daytona 500 Champion. But Trevor Bayne had an added challenge this weekend - one that landed him in the hospital once he got home. "Not sure if it's a spider bite or a tick bite…but either way I'm in a hospital bed with a needle in my arm," Bayne tweeted on Sunday afternoon. Bayne reportedly started feeling ill on Tuesday but gutted it out for the race weekend with help from the infield care center at Texas. He went to the emergency room after getting back to North Carolina, where he was admitted for testing. Bayne, whose quest for All-Star Race sponsorship has been fruitful (the team will likely add the All-Star event as well as next week's race at Talladega to the schedule) is out of the hospital at press time, cleared to race this week but still recovering from the mysterious ailment.
Where…did the polesitter wind up?
It's no surprise there was a Roush Fenway Ford on the pole at Texas (see below), but it was somewhat of a surprise that it was David Ragan, who usually takes a backseat to his three teammates. Ragan showed that he could run with the big boys on Saturday night as well, leading several laps and racing for a top-5 finish before winding up seventh. With UPS' contract up at the end of the year, finishes like that are critical for his Roush Fenway future.
When…will I be loved?
Usually the villain of the race earns the title on the track, that guy left wondering when he'll be loved because he caused something he may or may not regret later. But this week's winner wasn't even in the race. Carl Edwards' mom, it seems, inadvertently gave her son a mild case of food poisoning with Friday night's dinner, and the driver was feeling the effects during the race on Saturday. Teammate Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., was on standby, but Edwards finished the race, ending up third and taking over the points lead to boot. Maybe he needs to have her cook that again at Homestead…
Why…the sudden resurgence for Roush Fenway Racing?
Here's one with a simple answer. Roush's stable of drivers, which includes one champion from each of NASCAR's three national touring series didn't suddenly remember how to drive. This two-year slump has never been a question of talent. What happened was a little help from their friends at Ford in the form of the FR9 engine. The FR9 adds horsepower to the Ford stable, to be sure, but the real advantage may be in its superior cooling system (one which was not allowed at the time Chevrolet, Toyota and Dodge developed their current engines) that allows those teams to run with more tape on the grille. This adjustment adds downforce, causing better handling and hence the real advantage of the FR9. Until the other makes develop an engine with technology in line with Ford's, it may not matter who's driving them anyway.
How…competitive is the Sprint Cup Series so far this year?
Amy Henderson is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com. She can be reached via e-mail at amy.henderson@frontstretch.com.
TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud: Texas Spring Race Recap
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: The 1982 Winston 500 at Talladega is notable for being the first race in which a driver qualified at over 200 MPH. Benny Parsons, driving a Pontiac LeMans, won the pole for the race and nearly pulled off the win as well. What kept Parsons and his LeMans out of Victory Lane?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
A: Coming off of Turn 2, Scott Sharp got squeezed into the outside wall by Max Papis. Papis then slid into the wall off of Sharp's fender, then went down the track towards the inside wall. Unfortunately, Kinser was there. Papis caught Kinser in the right rear corner and pitched the No. 11 into two side rolls before the Pontiac Firebird came back down on all four wheels. Kinser walked away. The crash can be seen in this clip. Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds have the call for SPEED.
Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee: If we mess up, you get the shirt off our backs! If we've provided an incorrect answer to the Frontstretch Trivia question, be the first to email the corrected trivia answer to trivia@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt ... FREE!
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Coming Tuesday in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from TBA
-- Sitting In The Stands: A Fans' View by Mike Neff
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
The Yellow Stripe by TBD
Danny is off this week, but we'll have another captivating commentary in his place.
What's Hot / What's Not in Sprint Cup: Texas-Talladega Edition by Summer Dreyer
Summer takes a look at post-Texas numbers to see who's got the most momentum heading into Talladega... and beyond.
Five Points To Ponder by Bryan Davis Keith
Bryan's back with his weekly edition of talking points to get you set for the Aaron's 499 Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.
Talking NASCAR TV by Phil Allaway
Last weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series were back in action at Texas Motor Speedway. In addition, the Izod IndyCar Series raced Sunday afternoon at Barber Motorsports Park in Versus' first race of the season. Were these race telecasts up to snuff, or were they missing something? Check out our weekly TV critique to find out.
5th Column TBD
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