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The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Oct. 20, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition CLXXXIII
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Sprint Cup Race Recap: Brad Keselowski Wins at Talladega, Eliminator Round Set
by Justin Tucker
Regardless of his five victories in 2014, Brad Keselowski came into Sunday's Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway with his back truly against the wall. After a blown tire at Kansas and a tumultuous week at Charlotte, where he was fined $50,000 for his role in a post-race fracas, Keselowski needed a win at NASCAR's ultimate wild card to keep his hopes for a second series championship alive. To make things even more challenging Keselowski had to drop to the rear of the field for changing an alternator after qualifying.
Keselowski came through with his series-best sixth win of the season when it mattered the most, pulling away from the field on a green-white-checkered restart to claim his third win on the 2.66-mile oval. Most importantly, the win clinched Keselowski a spot in the Eliminator round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. which starts next weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Behind Keselowski was Matt Kenseth in second, Clint Bowyer third, Landon Cassill in a career-best fourth, and Ryan Newman fifth. Travis Kvapil finished sixth, while Kurt Busch was seventh. Marcos Ambrose was eighth, Kevin Harvick ninth, and Casey Mears would round out the top 10.
"I know there's probably some people out there that aren't really happy I won. I can understand that. But I'm a man like anyone else and not real proud of last week. But I'm real proud of today," Keselowski said. "I feel really good about the next round. This (current round) was always the round that scared me the most. For me, surviving this bracket was the biggest hurdle other than Homestead itself."
Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin survived and advanced to the next round.
The new Chase format provided its first surprises as it saw a trio of drivers from Hendrick Motorsports and one from Joe Gibbs Racing failing to advance.
The biggest surprise on Sunday was six-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson failing to advance after having the dominant car on the afternoon. Johnson led a race-high 84 laps, but was left out to dry on the last couple of late race restarts, leaving him to settle for a 24th-place finish and an early start on 2015.
"This year for sure there's disappointment," Johnson said. "But the disappointment has been the weeks leading up to right now. We've dealt with that. You're not going to win every championship battle you go into. You'd like to. The numbers show you don't win a lot of championships."
Johnson's Hendrick teammates Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kasey Kahne also failed to advance as did Kyle Busch, who was caught up in a multi-car crash around the midway point of the race.
The incident was started by Aric Almirola and JJ Yeley at the front of a huge drafting pack. Several cars in the incident spun including Busch's No. 18 after being hit by Austin Dillon. Busch drove his car to the garage and he told his crew, "We are destroyed. We are absolutely killed." Busch would finish 40th, 49 laps down
There were 38 lead changes among 19 different drivers and six cautions for 25 laps slowed the race pace to 160.302 mph.
Next week the Sprint Cup Series heads to the Martinsville Speedway for the opening race of the Eliminator round. The Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 gets under way at 1:43 p.m. ET next Sunday.
Justin Tucker is a newsletter contributor at Frontstretch. To reach Justin, please contact newsletter manager Phil Allaway at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
by Justin Tucker
Timothy Peters finally broke through in 2014, holding off the field on a green-white-checkered finish, to score the win in the fred's 250 powered by Coca Cola at Talladega Superspeedway Saturday afternoon. Peters held off Tayler Malsam by 0.143 seconds to score his eighth career Truck Series win. Spencer Gallagher finished a career best third, followed by polesitter Tyler Reddick in fourth. Despite going a lap down for a pit road speeding penalty under green, Ryan Blaney rallied to round out the top 5. Young gun Erik Jones finished sixth, and Chris Fontaine matched his career best finish in seventh. John Wes Townley came home eighth, while Darrell Wallace, Jr., who started deep in the field, finished ninth. Joe Nemechek rounded out the top 10 despite a pass through penalty for tandem drafting.
Championship Battle:
Ryan Blaney capitalized on a sub-par afternoon by Matt Crafton to cut into Crafton's lead on the championship with four races to go. Crafton finished 14th and left Talladega with a 16 point lead on Blaney. Darrell Wallace, Jr. is third, just 28 points back. Johnny Sauter is fourth after a disastrous day at Talladega and now sits 36 markers behind his ThorSport Racing teammate. Race winner Timothy Peters rounds out the top 5, 77 points behind Crafton.
The Good:
Spencer Gallagher scored his best career finish in the Truck Series with a third-place run Saturday afternoon at Talladega. Paired with his first ARCA Series win at Kansas three weeks ago, the top 5 gives Gallagher a great foundation to build from for 2015.
Ryan Blaney overcame a pit road speeding penalty and finished fifth allowing him to cut into Crafton's championship lead. The margin of 16 points with four races to go isn't insurmountable, but Blaney needs to pick up a win or two to ramp the pressure up on the No.88 team.
The Bad:
Matt Crafton had a roller-coaster day on Saturday that started with pit road contact with Bryan Silas as he was leaving his pit. Then, he was black flagged for tandem drafting with Joe Nemechek. The 14th-place finish has to feel like a win, and Crafton is probably grateful his championship lead didn't shrink more than it did.
The Ugly:
Johnny Sauter's hopes for a championship in 2014 were all but ended by a bolt through the radiator of his No.98 Toyota on lap 24. Sauter was credited with a 31st-place finish and now needs a miracle to get back in contention before Homestead.
Next Race:
The Camping World Truck Series heads back to the paper clip at Martinsville Speedway next Saturday for the Kroger 200. The green flag is scheduled for 1:46 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
Tracking the Trucks: fred's 250 powered by Coca-Cola
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Sometimes, you have wonder about NASCAR's wisdom in making Talladega an elimination race. Apparently, they think it's a good idea to give the drivers coronaries. Despite getting wrapped up in the first caution of the day and needing a Lucky Dog to get back on the lead lap, Joey Logano was able to finish in 11th, good enough to lead at the end of the Contender Round. His margin was a mere four points over the duo of Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman (Harvick gets the tiebreaker due to his victory in Charlotte). Of course, that is still pending NASCAR's decision on Newman's car. Denny Hamlin finished 18th but still moved up three places to fourth in the standings.
Chase Point Standings Through Talladega: 1) Joey Logano 3121, t-2) Kevin Harvick -4, t-2) Ryan Newman -4, 4) Denny Hamlin -21, t-5) Matt Kenseth -22, t-5) Carl Edwards -22, 7) Jeff Gordon -28, 8) Kasey Kahne -31, 9) Kyle Busch -35, 10) Brad Keselowski -36, 11) Jimmie Johnson -68, 12) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -76, 13) AJ Allmendinger -958, 14) Greg Biffle -974, 15) Kurt Busch -975, 16) Aric Almirola -1020.
Phil Allaway is the newsletter manager and a senior writer for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via email at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Critic84.
Never Fear, The Underdogs Are Here: Talladega-2 Edition
Are you a fan of a driver from a smaller team? Do you ever see one of these guys on the race results and wonder how he got there? NASCAR's small teams may not get much airtime during the race broadcast, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to talk about. Each week, Amy Henderson takes a peek into how the little guys fared in the race and picks three who stood out.
Underdog Selection No. 1: Landon Cassill and Travis Kvapil for Circle Sport; started 29th and seventh; finished fourth and sixth
One thing about restrictor plate racing: it puts everyone on nearly equal ground, and when that happens, some drivers shine. This week, that was an unlikely pair of teammates in Landon Cassill and Travis Kvapil. Kvapil tipped their hand early, qualifying seventh, and during the race, both drivers were able to take it to the front of the pack. Kvapil didn't lead a lap, but Cassill did, powering to the front under green to lead a circuit. Cassill made a couple of small mistakes, but he's never had the opportunity to run up front to learn how to race the leaders before. Those mistakes can be forgiven as he took his career-best finish to the bank. For this team, the television coverage alone was a huge boon, but for the small number of people who work in the shop and at the track, running at the front with the best in the sport was a reward.
Underdog Selection No. 2: Casey Mears for Germain Racing; started 19th, finished tenth
Casey Mears is a great lower-tier fantasy pick on a plate track because if he can avoid trouble, he can run up front. He's always been a strong plate racer, and that's highlighted now as his small team shines on the plate tracks almost every time out. He has three top-10 finishes on the plate tracks this year and finished 14th in the other one. At points on Sunday, Mears was running well enough to win, but the late cautions didn't fall in his favor.
Underdog Selection No. 3: Reed Sorenson for Tommy Baldwin Racing; started 36th, finished 14th
This little team has made some solid gains this season, and this week, Sorenson grabbed his season-best finish, despite nearly missing the show. Teammate Michael Annett was also looking good early on but was caught up in a multi-car crash of the type that's almost a given at Talladega. But people knew TBR was there on Sunday, and that's happening more and more this season.
Underdog Pick of the Week - Martinsville II: AJ Allmendinger for JTG-Daugherty Racing
I pegged Casey Mears for a top 10 at Talladega, and he delivered, though Landon Cassill and Travis Kvapil played spoilers for the top finishes. This week, teams go from NASCAR's longest oval to the shortest at Martinsville, and I like AJ Allmendinger's chances. He finished 11th there in the spring and second in the spring race in 2013. He's got a chance to improve on his spring finish and cart home a top 10 this time out.
Is your favorite driver among NASCAR's underdogs? Are you frustrated with the lack of coverage they receive during the race broadcasts? Amy has all the small teams covered each and every week in The Big Six. Be sure to check it out to see how your favorites fared!
Letter of the Race: Sunday's GEICO 500 at Talladega was brought to you by the Letter C for "Churning." Despite a whole bunch of wild action on-track, there was no crash on Sunday that took out 15 or more cars. That doesn't means that a number of people weren't battling upset stomachs due to nerves. - Phil Allaway
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Sidebar Stories
by the Frontstretch Staff
On Saturday morning, Kyle Busch announced via his Twitter page that his wife, Samantha, is expecting the couple's first child in May, 2015. Read more at Frontstretch
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"We knew we had to win obviously coming into this week, this day. When the weekend started, I thought we had the opportunity to do that. We had very, very fast cars at Daytona and Talladega here and the past three restrictor plate races. We certainly didn't just get handed this race today. We had the incident early in the race where I think the 1 car blew a tire out, I'm not sure, that's what I heard. He half spun, got into our door, kind of tore that up. Pretty hard hit. I thought the car was torn up pretty good. I still haven't seen it. But we kept our composure. I worked really well with my teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney. I love when a plan comes together. Everything just felt right today. We're here as winners because of that. " - Brad Keselowski
"I told Brad (Keselowski) not to look in the rearview mirror because we didn't like what happened last weekend. I said to look out the windshield. Since everybody cooled off, this is a place you can't retaliate obviously. Matt (Kenseth) was with him sometimes. He was behind the (No.) 48. A little give‑and‑take there. At the end I think the big push came with the (No.) 22. But obviously Kenseth is a world‑class driver, as they all are. I think Newman was in a position to make it happen, but fortunately he didn't have a pusher like we had." - Roger Penske, winning car owner
"We got a pretty good restart there and had a bunch of guys up there that are really good at this stuff so I got with Kevin (Harvick) and got going with him the best I could. Then he made a move on Brad (Keselowksi) and Brad went to block so it kind of opened the door. I just couldn't get a big enough run. I was almost under Brad off of (turn) two one time and I think it was Landon (Cassill) back there that did a good job of pushing me and giving me a lot of momentum, but I just didn't have the speed to get in there and challenge them down to the flag. Overall it was a good day for us. We did what we needed to do It's nice to get a good finish and move on to Martinsville." - Matt Kenseth, finished second
"Well, my game plan worked. It's so hard to strategize around this. At the end of the day you have to throw a Hail Mary at one point to put yourself in contention to win at these restrictor plate tracks. As I always said, if I throw a Hail Mary, I don't want to get intercepted more than I have to. I was in contention. I was in the spot I wanted to be in there in that next‑to‑the‑last run in the middle. Really did think that I was going to have a true shot at the win. Then the caution come out and got me on the bottom. Still, third place is a good day for us." - Clint Bowyer
"We wanted to win this race. We came here to win it. My team deserves it. Carsforsale.com deserves it. We don't have a lot to work with. But what we do work with, we set out to run good at these four superspeedway races, and we proved that this year. Fourth place is just amazing." - Landon Cassill, finished fourth
"Just a great result I guess in the end to make it to that next bracket for the Caterpillar Chevrolet. Everybody at RCR and ECR… just have to thank them for all their hard work and support. I think to me the next three races are the ones that are the most important to win. We have been knocking on the door here the last three. We will keep digging. I don't know how to answer any questions on that last restart. I don't know if I could have done anything better. I obviously could have done things worse, but just the way things line up happy to stay in the top 5 there in the last couple of laps." - Ryan Newman, finished fifth
"I thought we were in a good position. We had good restarts. We had survived wrecks - well we didn't survive all of them. We had that one mishap on pit road where everybody was pitting and you are supposed to be single-file and guys got to my inside and we had pitted early on pit road. Came from 30th with nine laps to go and had a shot at winning but didn't quite cash in. It's a shame that we didn't cash in for a win; that is what we are all here to do. I felt like on the last restart there (Clint) Bowyer was going to be our catalyst but it ended up he didn't stay attached to our rear bumper so I couldn't get to (Ryan) Newman in time and that outside grove was going. So, I had to get to the middle to salvage what I could and that was seventh." - Kurt Busch
"You just try and get the best finish you can. Basically the restart before, they all checked up in front of me so I went high to get momentum and that didn't work. I don't know why that didn't work, but it didn't. We had a great Farmer's Insurance Chevy – led laps and ran in the top 3 and back to the lead. Once I was 10th or eighth, it was just really difficult to get back to that point. I think we got back to fifth or sixth, but that was about it." - Kasey Kahne, finished 12th
"Two restarts from the end, I was trying to make something happen on the restart. I was in a weird position there behind the No. 2 (Brad Keselowski), and if I pushed him to the win, he moves on and I don't. So I tried going to his outside. I looked up and I had no friends in the mirror. We had a fast, fast Lowe's Chevrolet today. Disappointed we didn't advance, but truthfully the way the last two races went, today was an opportunity for us, and we were kind of playing with house money and just didn't get it done." - Jimmie Johnson, finished 24th
"I'm just mentally drained right now. It's always tough racing here at Talladega trying to put yourself in position to win. But when you have that much on the line and you know that your championship hopes are right there in that final moment, it's nerve racking. I'm proud of this team for the job they did. I'm just glad we made it. I can't wait for Martinsville. I can't wait for Texas. I can't wait for Phoenix. All are great tracks for us. This team has done some amazing work this year. These next three are where we are really going to shine and show it." - Jeff Gordon, finished 26th
"We were just all starting to shuffle around there and getting ready to pit, and I think it was the 83 in front of me, and I think he might have been trying to check up to get to the bottom. I just barely started to push him and it hooked his car and we all wrecked." - Aric Almirola, finished 39th
"My hats off to all these guys — everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing and everyone at TRD (Toyota Racing Development). It's a shame, everyone has been working really hard. I thought we were in a decent spot coming into the race and rode around in the back. Kyle (Busch) got checked up for the wreck and had everything saved up, but he got run over from behind. There is no safe place in here. The truth is that if you're out there on the race track at Talladega or Daytona, you have a pretty good chance that you're going to get in a wreck and today was our day. It's unfortunate, but that's the way it is." - Dave Rogers, crew chief for Kyle Busch (Note: Kyle Busch declined interview)
"All of this really started in that first incident when the (No.) 1 came down the track and got the right-front. We were just hanging on from there and trying to manage the race. We had a lot of right-front damage from that, so we were trying to manage the tires and just work on it. We had a right-front go down there, but you'll have that at Talladega. I'm happy with our team's performance because we had great speed in qualifying, practice and were up front there before all of this happened. I feel good about what our team is doing. I'm proud to be a part of it and now we'll just move on and finish out the year." - Michael McDowell, finished 41st
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Thinkin' Out Loud: GEICO 500 - Brad Keselowski Lives to Fight Another Day
by Mike Neff
Pace Laps: Chase Shakeups and Surviving Talladega
by the Frontstretch Staff
The Big Six: Questions Answered After the GEICO 500
by Amy Henderson
Should've, Could've, Would've for Hendrick Motorsports
by Joseph Wolkin
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: Current Nationwide Series regular Mike Bliss made his Winston Cup debut in the 1998 NAPA AutoCare 500 at Martinsville. Despite qualifying 25th and getting through practice and qualifying clean, Bliss still didn't make it to the green flag before damaging his car. What happened?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: In 1985, the Hal Needham and Burt Reynolds-owned Mach 1 team successfully managed to gain approval from NASCAR to have a special system installed on Harry Gant's No. 33 Skoal Bandit Chevrolet for the Talladega 500. What was this system?
Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee: Take 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 triviaanswers@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt ... FREE!
Coming Tuesday in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News by Greg Davis
-- Fan's View Commentary by S.D. Grady
-- Numbers Game: GEICO 500 by Tom Bowles
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Who's Hot / Who's Not in Sprint Cup: Talladega-Martinsville Edition by Brad Morgan
We'll take a look at which drivers are looking good as just four races remain in the Cup Series season.
Racing to the Point by Brett Poirier
Brett returns with another interesting commentary that'll make you think.
Jeff returns with his typical blend of sarcastic humor tilted towards one of NASCAR's controversial issues.
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