Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
~~~~~~~~~~
5 p.m. - 6 p.m. NASCAR RaceHub FOX Sports 1
Sprint Cup Race Recap: Harvick Dominates Phoenix as Championship Field is Set
by Justin Tucker
Prior to the 2014 Sprint Cup Series season, NASCAR introduced a drastic change in the Chase for the Sprint Cup format that would see a greater emphasis on winning. An expanded chase field would see 16 drivers battle in a tournament-like environment, one that would see four drivers after Phoenix advance to Homestead-Miami Speedway for a one-race, winner-take-all showdown for the championship.
While many NASCAR fans were left feeling skeptical about the changes, officials hope Sunday erased those lingering doubts. Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and Joey Logano put on a show that surpassed all expectations and went down to the closing laps, all Final Four drivers inside the top 5 and battling hard to take the title. Harvick eventually emerged as the favorite, charging from 12th place with fifteen laps to go with four fresh tires to pass Hamlin for the race lead. That was all Harvick needed, up front with seven laps to go as he was able to hold off a surging Newman by a half a second to claim his fifth win of the season and the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship of his career.
As the checkers fell, Harvick's wife and biggest supporter DeLana sobbed on the pit box as the celebration started. Harvick was quick to hug his crew chief Rodney Childers and car owner Tony Stewart, who told Harvick at the end of 2013 that he could help him win a Cup championship. Harvick, who made the move to leave Richard Childress Racing was overcome with emotion while speaking post-race, accomplishing his ultimate goal in just the first season working with Stewart-Haas.
"Been trying for 13 years," an emotional Harvick said. "This week ate me up. If it wasn't for Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart, I would have been in bad trouble this week. Those guys really helped me get through the week. After every practice, Jimmie was in there, and in our team debriefs Tony was constantly telling me just to go race and that it's just another race.''
Team owner and Harvick's longtime good friend Stewart spoke of his championship run post-race.
"That's about as emotional as you can get, to have one of your greatest friends go out in one of your race cars and win a championship in the toughest series in the country,'' Stewart said.
Behind them, Ryan Newman's Cinderella run came up just one spot short on Sunday night. While proud of his season, Newman didn't hide his disappointment.
"We didn't have quite enough," he said in just missing an opportunity for the championship. "That's disappointing, but like I said, it was an awesome team effort, and I think, again, this is a great racetrack to have a race like this, and I thought there was some amazing passing, and we don't get that at every racetrack."
Brad Keselowski finished third, Paul Menard fourth and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-5 finishers of the Ford EcoBoost 400. Matt Kenseth was sixth, Hamlin seventh, Clint Bowyer eighth and Jimmie Johnson was ninth. Jeff Gordon, who dominated much of the evening. rounded out the top 10 after choosing to pit for fresh tires during a late caution.
Hamlin gambled on pit strategy in the closing stages of the race, staying out on old tires but Harvick's fresh rubber proved to be too much after another caution put Harvick in position to pounce.
"I loved our chances, but they weren't there at the end,'' Hamlin said. "Strategy is part of winning, and the strategy for us didn't work out with the cautions."
Logano's championship bid come to an end on a yellow flag pit stop when his No. 22 Ford fell off the jack with less than 30 laps left in the race. Logano feel from sixth to 29th and only recovered to finish a disappointing 16th.
"We just didn't execute from every angle it seems like,'' said Logano, who was seeking to be the third-youngest series champ at age 24. "We're all trying really hard, we're all trying to go as fast as we can. It's like everyone running the wall out there going as fast as you can. Sometimes you make a mistake, and we knew coming into this race you can't afford to make one mistake and put yourself behind. We just made a couple tonight which put us back. Obviously our pit crew has done a good job this year. I'm not putting them down over one thing. It just was bad timing on one of them.''
Logano also hit the wall mid-race, damaging his car at a time he looked to be the top contender. Instead, he finishes fourth in points despite having the best average finish of all 16 Chasers; under the 2004-13 versions of the sport's Chase format, he would have won.
A look at Sunday's Ford EcoBoost 400. There were 18 lead changes among five different drivers and 13 cautions for 52 laps slowed the pace to 122.28 MPH.
Justin Tucker is a newsletter contributor at Frontstretch. To reach Justin, please contact newsletter manager Phil Allaway at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.
It took 54 combined Nationwide and Cup series starts but Matt Kenseth finally found Victory Lane in 2014, holding off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch to win the Ford EcoBoost 300 Saturday evening at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kenseth passed Kyle Larson with three laps to go, then held off all challengers to earn his first win in any top NASCAR division this season.
Kenseth beat Busch to the flag by .713 seconds to claim his second career Nationwide victory at Homestead. Busch, despite the runner-up spot wrapped up a phenomenal year in the series, posting 25 top-5 finishes in 26 Nationwide starts. Behind him, Larson was dominant for a second straight race this weekend, leading a race-high 111 laps before ultimately finishing third. Camping World Truck Series regular Ryan Blaney was fourth while Chris Buescher was best of the Nationwide Series regulars, slotting in fifth. Regan Smith was sixth, Ty Dillon seventh, Brad Keselowski eighth, Elliott Sadler ninth and Brian Scott rounded out the top 10.
Saturday's only championship drama was the owner points battle between the No. 22 Penske Racing team and the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing organization. After 300 miles, it was the No. 22 group claiming their second straight title by 23 points over their rivals. Chase Elliott locked up the driver's championship last weekend at Phoenix and enjoyed the celebration at Homestead, running a ho-hum 17th to leave his final margin at 42 points over JR Motorsports teammate Regan Smith. Elliott Sadler finished third in points, followed by Brian Scott and Ty Dillon; all five drivers, remaining in top-tier rides will be back to battle for the series title next season. Trevor Bayne was sixth in his final full-time Nationwide season, followed by Chris Buescher, Brendan Gaughan, Ryan Reed and James Buescher.
The Good:
It's hard to argue with the success of JR Motorsports in 2014. The combination of Chase Elliott and Regan Smith led the Nationwide Series points standings for a majority of the season, upping the organization to a level it hadn't seen in several years. Their four wins and combined one-two finish in the championship standings have them set for even greater success in 2015.
Chris Buescher flew under the radar in 2014, but don't expect him to be able to do so next season. The Prosper, Texas native recorded his first series win at Mid-Ohio in August and recorded 14 top-10 finishes in 2014. Buescher will have a new teammate in 2015 in Elliott Sadler; expect that veteran presence to propel Buescher to greater heights.
The Bad:
Coming into 2014, we all expected James Buescher to pick up where he left off after a successful run in Camping World Trucks. However, Buescher struggled mightily in his freshman Nationwide Series campaign, recording only two top-10 finishes in 33 starts. The offseason is going to be crucial for Buescher and RAB Racing, who haven't yet decided if they'll stay together after such a difficult campaign. The 2012 Camping World Truck Series champ is at a crossroads while plotting the next step of his career.
Fond Farewell:
Nationwide Insurance exited as title sponsor of NASCAR's second-tier series after seven years. Nationwide will move over to be a primary sponsor in the Sprint Cup Series for Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who is losing his National Guard sponsorship after Sunday's race. Comcast's XFINITY will take over as title sponsor for NASCAR's second-tier series starting in 2015.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~by Justin Tucker
In what appears to be his swan song for Kyle Busch Motorsports, Darrell Wallace, Jr. picked up his fourth win of 2014 by holding off a dominant Kyle Larson to win the Ford EcoBoost 200 Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Wallace edged Larson by .294 seconds to the checkers. Timothy Peters finished third, Kyle Busch was fourth, and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-5 results. Tyler Reddick finished sixth, while Ty Dillon was seventh in a last-minute drive in place of Brennan Newberry for NTS Motorsports. Joe Nemechek was eighth, Matt Crafton ran ninth and Johnny Sauter rounded out the top-10 finishers.
Friday night's 200-mile battle served as a recoronation for Matt Crafton as the defending series champion just needed a 21st place or better to become the first driver to claim back-to-back Camping World Truck Series title. Crafton would drive a smart and tactical race on his way to a ninth-place run, easily taking home the big trophy. Crafton joins Ron Hornaday, Jr., Todd Bodine and Jack Sprague as the series' only multi-time champions.
Ryan Blaney would finish second in the title chase, 20 points behind Crafton. Darrell Wallace, Jr. ran third in points, followed by Johnny Sauter and Timothy Peters. German Quiroga finished sixth, while Joey Coulter was seventh. Jeb Burton and Ben Kennedy tied for eighth in the standings; Burton officially gets eighth due to his second-place finish in Texas a couple of weeks ago. Bryan Silas rounds out the top 10 in the 2014 championship tally.
The Good:
Incredible how much a driver can mature over a year's time, but Darrell Wallace, Jr. has done exactly that. To go from only one win in his rookie season to four in what appears to be his final year in the Camping World Truck Series speaks volumes about his undeniable talent. A charge to the front at Eldora, the series' only dirt track stands out along with a repeat victory at Martinsville; if not for a poor early-season start, he would have been a true title contender. Wallace is going to make a car owner, likely Joe Gibbs, very happy in the XFINITY Series next season.
Tyler Reddick came into 2014 as a virtual unknown in the Camping World Truck Series. By the end of this season, it wasn't uncommon to see Reddick near the front of the pack in the No. 19 Ford for Brad Keselowski Racing. Reddick recorded three top 5s and six top 10s over the series' last seven races, setting the table for a full-time run next season. With Ryan Blaney moving on to the XFINITY Series, look for Reddick to move over to the No. 29 and become a serious threat to break into the win column.
The Bad:
Not trying to pick on John Wes Townley here.... OK, maybe I am, but Friday night at Homestead was another example of the lack of progress he has made since moving into the series. His crash on lap six marked the third time in four races that he was crashed out of an event, an ugly finish to 2014 after a promising start. With only two top-10 results in the series' final 13 races, Townley needs to go back to the drawing board this offseason and figure out how to start 2015 off on the right foot.
Other News to Note:
Ben Kennedy won the 2014 Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year, while the No. 51 truck from Kyle Busch Motorsports won the owner's championship. It's the first time any member of the France family lineage has completed a full season in NASCAR's top three divisions. (Kennedy)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Behind Gordon, Matt Kenseth finished seventh in points after a decent sixth-place finish on Sunday. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. gained two places to claim eighth after running 14th, his final race paired with crew chief Steve Letarte. Carl Edwards kept the ninth spot that he entered Homestead in, but had a miserable day. Edwards hit the wall in turn 3, damaging his Fastenal Ford and losing multiple laps in the pits getting repairs. He would eventually finish 34th, four laps down. Finally, Kyle Busch dropped two places to tenth after breaking an axle leaving pit road. He would return to the race, but finished 39th, 21 laps down. Luckily for Busch, he had enough of a cushion to edge out Jimmie Johnson by 11 points; Johnson, who wound up 11th had the lowest finish of his Cup career in the season standings.
~~~~~~~~~~
Never Fear, The Underdogs Are Here: Homestead 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: AJ Allmendinger for JTG-Daugherty Racing; 1 win, 2 top 5s, 5 top 10s, 13th in points
Perhaps the best thing about the new Chase was that it put smaller teams on more equal footing — if they could win a race, they could make the show and get some valuable airtime for improving performance. With his team part of a new alliance with Richard Childress Racing, Allmendinger made good on his half of that deal, making the Chase with a win at Watkins Glen. Entering the playoffs with nothing to lose, the 'Dinger's run proved impressive, rising as high as eighth in points before sliding back late. A crash at Homestead dropped him to 13th in the final standings, easily his worst performance of the playoffs. However, the No. 47 bunch has to be proud of their performance...it's a once backmarker team and a once washed up driver finding redemption in a lot of left turns.
Underdog Selection No. 2: Casey Mears for Germain Racing; 1 top 5, 3 top 10s, 26th in points
At the beginning of the year, with a brand-new alliance just inked with RCR, the No. 13 would have been my pick as the team with an outside shot at a Chase berth. They're an organization with Truck Series titles to their credit, manned by a veteran driver and crew chief in Mears and Bootie Barker. Mears is an outstanding restrictor plate racer, so the team looked to be in good shape for at least a surprise victory. To be fair, had the rains not come at Daytona in July, there might have been a Chase berth - Mears was fourth and strong in that race, taking home the team's first top-5 finish in Cup competition. But overall, this group didn't quite live up to expectations. Mears had a better points finish in 2013 than he had this season, but didn't quite have the finishes his team should have been capable of. It wasn't a bad year; it just wasn't quite what it could have been.
Underdog Selection No. 3: Michael Annett and Reed Sorenson for Tommy Baldwin Racing; most improved team (33rd & 34th in driver points)
TBR is an organization who is doing everything right in trying to improve their place in the sport. For an underfunded team, it's all about the small steps: turning top 35s into top 30s and top 30s into top 25s. There is no overnight success for a small team, but there are small gains that lead to a solid foundation. Annett and Sorenson both posted an average finish inside the top 30, and both had some solid days on the track, competing with better-funded teams for position. One thing they need to continue to improve on is having the strong finishes for both teams each week… this season, if one driver had a top finish, the other often wasn't quite on par. That's a small step to take, but this team should be pleased with their performance overall.
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 Ford EcoBoost 400 was brought to you by the letter "D" for Decisive. Jeff Gordon was dominant for much of the race thanks to a great car and that crucial first pit stall. However, Kevin Harvick had the best pit strategy and darted through the field to take the all-important win. - Phil Allaway
~~~~~~~~~~
Sidebar Stories: Homestead
by Phil Allaway and Ashley McCubbin
"It's really not a big deal," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's Senior Vice President of Competition. "We were just trying to clarify what went on...It's fine. We just wanted to clear the air and clarify everything. It's really not an issue."
"That's a good question. You know, I think as you go back in time and you just really think about everything that's led up to this point, this is what we race for. You show up to race for the Sprint Cup championship trophy, and to be able to come here in our first year with Gene (Haas, co-owner) and Tony (Stewart, co-owner) and Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and all these guys on the team, you really have been able to experience something that you don't get to experience very often. Just for the fact that I feel like I've been a part of something that you get to know everybody's name, you get to know - you get to race with your friends, with Tony. I've gotten to know Gene, who's made just a huge financial commitment to this team. So you get to know all these people.
"And in the end, it's really about the people. I can drive the car, but these guys have made some bold decisions, whether it be on the pit box tonight, changing the pit crew, whatever it may be. You get to be a part of something from the beginning, and for me that was what I was looking for, to be a part of something that you could build from day one, and you felt like you knew everything that was going on for the most part.
"I got to race with just a good group of guys. I'm just really proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. They've been just phenomenal through this process. They've all been through it, and for the most part our team has not. But a lot of these guys on our team hadn't won a race, either.
"To come in here and be able to have that experience and guidance as a driver, I've never really looked at - you've been frustrated in some of the situations, but as we've raced the cars and experienced the situations, I just feel like this format was made for us this year because of the fact that we had to build a new team. We made some mistakes along the way. I don't think any of us ever dreamed of making all those mistakes in front of the world, leading races and the things that we were doing. But in the end, I feel like it all built up to this moment to be able to experience and handle the things that we did today.
"It's unbelievable. It is so hard to win a championship at this level, and NASCAR in general, and especially with this Chase format. Every week, it showed how intense it was, how much pressure there was on the drivers, the crew chiefs, the crew members, pit crews. Just unbelievable how much everything had to go right and how special it was when big moments happened." - Kevin Harvick, race winner and 2014 Sprint Cup Series Champion
"To see these guys win at Charlotte was a huge win, and then again at Phoenix, and rise to the occasion. I think it showed why Kevin and Rodney were championship material and why they're worthy of being the 2014 champions tonight." - Tony Stewart, championship winning co-owner
"These guys did a really good job. We had a couple pit stops that kind of put us back, but the guys stepped it up the last couple pit stops and we gained a few spots, gave ourselves a shot. Luke (Lambert, crew chief), I thought, made a great call on the two-tire stop, and we got some track position. And then when Jeff pitted, that kind of caught me by surprise and gave us the front row. Had a decent start there with Denny, and then luckily just got past him when the caution came back out again.
"But the game changer for us I think really was the one caution that was before Gordon pitted that I think Denny was leading, and we were in a better situation than they were on tires. We had rights and they had stayed out, which I think was the right call for them at the time had the race gone green. But it had a couple late race cautions. I didn't see why, but in the end, I'm just so proud of our team. Caterpillar Chevrolet was good all day. Luke and the guys did an awesome job. We came back for the entire season to make our best finish our last finish. It is disappointing, don't get me wrong, but there's no point in being a sore loser. It's some motivation, some momentum for the offseason to get started for Daytona, and just look forward to the opportunity for next year." - Ryan Newman, finished second
"Yeah, it was a heck of a season, not just for me but for all of Team Penske, whether that's the No. 2 Cup car, No. 22 Cup car or No. 22 Nationwide Series team, certainly a year that we'll look back on with a lot of pride. I'm kind of wishing it wasn't over, but we still have some work to do to continue to work and get better. We just‑‑ all season long, Rodney Childers and his No. 4 car just did an excellent job having speed, and certainly capitalized with it at the end. We had great speed this year, which is something I'm proud of, but we were always just a little tick behind. But I think in the end, they leveraged that very well, and we have to go back and work a little bit harder and find a little more speed and try to keep up with that.
"Like I said, all in all, an incredible season for us and something we're really proud of. In some ways, I hate to see the season come to an end, and honestly I'm ready to be at Daytona next week for the 500. That's probably not the most popular comment in the world, but sometimes I'm not the most popular guy." - Brad Keselowski, finished third
"We had a tough battle. The handle on the car wasn't where we thought we were from practice. The pit stops didn't really help us keep the track position. We were the last car on the lead lap a few times. Restarts – they sometimes were good, sometimes I missed it, and at the end of the day to come home 11th after battling, it was almost good to get a tough day out of the way in 2014 with (crew chief) Tony Gibson." - Kurt Busch, finished 11th
"We were really competitive all season long with the Target team, and came really, really close to winning a couple of them. Starting off the year finishing second, really really early in the season at Fontana was great. There was a lot of room on the Kyle Larson bandwagon on to start the season. I think a lot of people chose Austin Dillon to win it, and I was pretty confident in myself and in my team that we could do it. I knew there would be some ups and downs, but I felt like we would be the top contender once we got halfway through the season, and we definitely were. Really proud of that, proud of the effort everybody has put in on these race cars. We've gotten better throughout the season, and just is a huge honor to win this title with all the other names that have won it." - Kyle Larson, finished 13th, 2014 Sunoco Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year
"Obviously not too good. It's been an awesome season for this whole No. 22 bunch. We were out there, a lot of top 5s, a lot of wins. Coming into today, we knew what we had to do, we just didn't execute from every angle it seems like. I got the wall a little bit early in the race, and we lost the shape of our car and we lost a little bit of track position before that. Was able to recover towards the end of the race to where we were all in line, and we came down pit road, and I just had a mistake on pit road and went all the way to the tail end of the lead lap there, trying to fight back there with 15 to go.
"Unfortunately, a great season like that makes this overall finish fourth because of one mistake, but that's what the rules are. We understand that. This team did a great job of consistently being fast. In previous years, that would have been perfect. But coming into this race and the way the points go, it doesn't pay any more obviously. Just didn't execute perfectly tonight, and for that reason we'll finish fourth. But we still feel like we did a lot better than fourth this season." - Joey Logano, finished 16th
"I had a flat right-rear. I was having some fun racing with some of those guys. I went under Austin Dillon and I heard a noise and I thought, 'Oh, somebody's engine is blowing up,' and it was my tire flapping and I just drove in there and backed into the fence. If I would have been just a little bit quicker realizing what was going wrong I think we would have still had a good finish, but I had a good time. We finished the race and got to race a little bit there at the end with Michael Annett and that was fun.
"Overall, it's just been an honor to work with everybody here. If it weren't for Jack Roush and Ford and everybody that has worked so hard I definitely would never have had all the success we've had, so the No. 99 will always be a part of my life." - Carl Edwards, finished 34th
~~~~~~~~~~
ADVERTISEMENT
Are you looking to advertise your website, product or brand? A good way to get your name out there is via direct advertising here in the Frontstretch Newsletter! Interested parties can contact us at tony.lumbis@frontstretch.com for details.
~~~~~~~~~~
TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Thinkin' Out Loud – Homestead – Cup Championship – A Cup Full of Budweiser
by Mike Neff
Pace Laps: Winning, Chad Knaus' Non-Trouble, Matt Crafton Makes History
by the Frontstretch Staff
The Big Six: Questions Answered After the Ford EcoBoost 400
by Amy Henderson
Kevin Harvick and Rodney Childers: A Match Made in Heaven
by Joseph Wolkin
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: In 1994, the Formula One World Championship came down to a duel between Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill. Schumacher won the title, but it didn't come without a heap of controversy in Australia. What happened?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: If you look at the results of the 1998 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami at the then-Homestead Motorsports Complex, you'll notice that Dennis Vitolo dropped out of the race after 90 laps due to "driver injury." What was this driver injury, and when did it occur?
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 Ashley McCubbin
-- Fan's View Commentary by S.D. Grady
-- Numbers Game: Ford EcoBoost 400 by Tom Bowles
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Who's Hot / Who's Not in Sprint Cup: Homestead-Offseason Edition by Brad Morgan
We'll take a look at which drivers are carrying momentum into the offseason.
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Got something to say about an article you've seen in the newsletter? It's as easy as replying directly to this message or sending an email to frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com. We'll take the best comments and publish them here!
©2014 Frontstretch.com
--
Feel free to forward this newsletter if you have any friends who loves
NASCAR and great NASCAR commentary. They can subscribe to the Frontstetch by visiting http://www.frontstretch.com/notice/9557/.
If you want to stop your Frontstretch Newsletter subscription, we're sorry
to see you go. Just send an email to
TheFrontstretch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com from the address that you
recieve the Frontstretch Newsletter.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Frontstretch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to thefrontstretch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
No comments:
Post a Comment