Monday, March 25, 2013

Nascar Pit Road: Week 5

Auto Club Speedway
  
Wow! That doesn't even begin to sum up week 5 in Fontana, CA. Drama so crazy it seemed to be written and sent straight over from nearby Hollywood.  Kyle Busch came away with the win, but is that really what anyone remembers from this race? It is crazy to think the race winner and guy who led the most laps on the day is the background story, but it happened Sunday at Auto Club Speedway. Caution after caution waved and Kyle Busch always seemed to be up front, and when the green waved he would pull away time after time. Then came the final restart, Clint Bowyer spun out with 15 to go, and Nascar Fans saw about 6 different lines to take. Three wide all the way back and Logano got past Kyle, and so did Denny Hamlin. A week after the JoLo and Denny confrontation and their we were with the two "friends" one and two. On the last lap everything broke lose and it looked like Logano just pushed it too hard through the corner and pushed up into Hamlin. Logano bumped him, as a result Hamlin got loose and lost control wrecking both. Logano continued to finish 3rd but Hamlin spun down into the inside of the turn and hit the wall straight on where their was no Safer Barrier. (Still don't understand why Nascar doesn't mandate them every where possible?). The news on Hamlin is still out, last updates it was a back injury but he was stable. (Check back or check my Twitter for updates on his condition).

To start the Nascar season this has to be the race of the season. Even without the Denny v Logano shove fest, the last 15 laps had some of the best racing of the season. It could have been perfectly timed cautions, or that teams are figuring out the Gen 6 cars, but either way it was entertaining.

Joey Logano once again found himself in the middle of everything, and not just with Denny Hamlin, This week Tony Stewart wasn't happy with him. After the race a mini brawl started with the two teams and Tony trying to throw punches but failing to conect. After Tony was asked what got him so hot.
Smoke got blocked by Logano on the final restart in a race Tony had a chance at winning. Smoke was totally in the wrong here, their is no way you just let a guy go with 15 left when you want to win, but non the less it added even more drama in this trip to Fontana.

A few other things came up during the race such as Greg Biffle getting into Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth early in the race. Both didn't seem too happy about it.
Past all the drama a few other great story lines happened after Kyle Busch got the win. Dale Earnhardt Jr had another strong race this week. Jr started slow but his team figured it out and he jumped back for another top 5 while taking over first in the points standings. Greg Biffle started in the back of the field and made his way up to 6th. Brad Keselowski also started in the back (Engine) and ran up front most of the day but on the last restart fell way behind and slid to a 23rd place finish which resulted in him giving up first in the standings. Also one last storyline to mention out of many, Kurt Busch and the little team that could mark another top 5 on the season. For race results, check Auto Club 400 2013. Also check back this week for more storyline articles on the blog.
 
 
Rising, Coasting, and Falling drivers after Auto Club Speedway.
 

Risers:
Kurt Busch finished 5th

  • Kurt Busch- Kurt took on a mid race speeding penalty and eventually found himself a lap down. That didn't stop Kurt from getting it back and making moves down the stretch. At one point it looked like he may challenge his Brother for first. That's back to back top 5's for Kurt and his small team and the first time in Furniture Row History that has happened.
  • Joey Logano- JoLo looked good all day. He was constantly up front and around Hamlin (Mostly in front of him). The race really came down to their feud when they found themselves 1 and 2. Joey may have raced a bit too hard and pushed too far up the turn, and it resulted in them both crashing, but what else was he going to do? That is racing and hopefully Hamlin is ok. I was not a fan when JoLo said "He got what he deserved" but I'm hoping it was just emotions and he didn't realize that Denny was taken off via stretcher. **Update Logano didn't know how serious it was and is also hoping Denny is ok.** JoLo said he had to race it hard to hold him off and he just couldn't hold it, said that Denny raced him clean and gave him plenty of room. Past that he had his best finish at Fontana and on the season with a 3rd place.
  • Kyle Busch- Lets just say Fontana has been Kyle's track. Heading into this years race he had lead 231 of 329 of the laps in the past two races. No different this year as he lead 125 of 200 laps and got the win. No one is hotter than Kyle right now with the last 3 races resulting in a 4th, 2nd, and 1st. The Sprint Cup win finished off a weekend sweep after his Nationwide win on Saturday.
  • Honorable mention: Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon
Coasting:
  • Paul Menard- Menard hit the wall and caused a caution when his tire went down, dropped to 30th, and went a lap down. Menard finished the day 8th. It was that kind of day at Auto Club Speedway. 10th, 9th, 7th in the past 3 weeks, Menard is racing like he wants to finish the season in the top 15.
  • Dale Earnhardt Jr- Hey Kyle won the race! Denny and JoLo got into it again! Tony Stewart is calling for JoLo's head! Oh, and Jr took over first place in the standings. It has to be a drama filled race when the sports most popular driver is the back story. If you are counting that is 5 top 10's and 3 top 5's this season.  One would have to think that Jr should notch a win at some point in the season, one would also think it is coming soon.
  • Kasey Kahne- After his 2nd place finish and then his win at Bristol, Kahne cooled off a bit this week. He still finished a respectable 9th but never really seemed in contention to win. Good job by this team to get points and keep the car on the track.
Falling:
  • Brad Keselowski- BK started the day moving to the back of the pack by replacing an engine. He responded by pushing up to the front pack. He looked to be a lock on the top 10 and a top 5 contender but on the final restart he fell way, way back and finished 23rd. Fontana was a speed bump that he wasn't expecting after good qualifying and a good run from the back of the pack. We will see in two weeks how he takes this bump as a defending champ.
  • Tony Stewart- Well Smoke has been down all season so this may be beating on a man who is down, but when you are a past champion and the start of your season has gone this way there is no way I will look past it. I will give it to him, he almost started the long climb out from the bottom. Stewart was up front all day, but on the last restart got blocked by Logano, and then said he may be on the verge of a cut tire and finished 22nd. Disappointing day, that ended with him taking it out on Logano. This could get real interesting at Martinsville, but if its the Tony we all know it could just be "Smoke."
  • Juan Pablo Montoya- Down early, Montoya finished 38th. That is 10 spots behind Danica. Montoya actually qualified well at Fontana, 12th, but that was as close to the front as he got. Montoya is just hanging onto the 30th spot in the standings.
  • Dishonorable mention: Clint Bowyer (Late problems lead to this spot, look for a quick bounce back)
     
Hamlin v Logano on the last lap


Pit Road (Week 5 Power Rankings)
  1. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-2)- JR may not be as HOT as Kyle Busch, but he has been in the top 3 all year, and taking over #1 in the points has got to count for something. Plus he took a bad car and worked all day to get it to 2nd.
  2. Kyle Busch (LW-8)- He has been the hottest driver in the last three races hands down. The win jumps him past last years champ. Can you argue against 4th, 2nd, and 1st? This team is clicking.
  3. Brad Keselowski (LW-1)- Rough ending to a good week. Qualify 3rd, change engines and start in the back. Make a run to the front, get a speeding penalty. Make another run to the front, last restart drop back to 23rd after being strong. It was not what BK wanted, but his first finish outside the top 5 brings him down a notch. Lets see what happens with his first drop of the season.
  4. Kasey Kahne (LW-4)- If Kyle has been the hottest driver in the last 3, Kahne is 1B. Kahne finished 2nd, 1st, and now 9th this week. Kahne was trying to find the right setup all day but never really did, he managed to salvage a top 10 though.
  5. Jimmie Johnson (LW-3)- A slow day at a track Jimmie normally runs well at. JJ is still sitting in 2nd in the points standings, but hasn't been too hot the past few.
  6. Carl Edwards (LW-5)- Quiet. In one word that's what comes to mind about Carl's day. He managed to finish with good track position and get his car into the top 5 with a 4th place finish.
  7. Greg Biffle (LW-6)- Along with BK, Biffle started the day moving back to the back of the pack. He along with BK steadly moved up. Though Biffle didn't loose track position at the end of the day and finished 6th. Biffle hasn't had a chance at winning too many races this season, but he still finds himself in the 5th spot in the standings.
  8. Matt Kenseth (LW-7)- Another week and another good race for Kenseth. Once again though he ran into problems, his name was Greg Biffle. Biffle got into him and it may have caused the tire that went down, not long after that lost Kenseth some track position. Kenseth still fought through and finished 7th. He doesn't normally retaliate but Martinsville would be a good place to get a little "nudge" back at Biffle if he wanted to.
  9. Joey Logano (LW-NR)- Carl may have been the quiet one in the race, but Logano has been the quiet one in the standings (definitely not quiet off the track). He is sitting 9th on the season and just notched his first top 5 this year. Denny and JoLo got into it again late in the race but he still finished 3rd in a day where he was up front challenging all day. Logano only needs one more top 5 to tie last season, two.
  10. Paul Menard (LW-NR)- Menard was in no position to win the race, but hey that is three top 10's in a row. Menard has got to love the start he has gotten off to and the possibility of getting a win. Not only that, but he is in a spot to make the chase as of today, 8th. Granted it is early, but Menard has been contestant the past three and I had to give him the slight edge over the deserving Kurt Busch who drove the wheels off his Furniture Row Chevy on Sunday.
Dropping Out- Denny Hamlin (LW-10) and Clint Bowyer (LW-9)
Just Missed- Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick

This week I will also be adding in Tweets of the Race (Tweets from Fontana), an Updated March Madness Nascar Style: Final Four, and a few articles to get you through the week off until Martinsville. I also may do a Tweets of the Week: Week Off Addition.

Then next week we will have a Martinsville Preview and Tweets of the Week leading up to Martinsville. So get ready!

As always chek out and follow me on Twitter for the most recent updates!

**Denny Hamlin Update**
 


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