NASCAR Comment Matt Kenseth

Hello, race fans! I thought I try something today. Make a comment. And I’m starting with Matt Kenseth. Matt started the Season off with a win at the Daytona 500. He then went on to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Ca. And won there! Winning the first two races of the Season has not been done since Jeff Gordon did it in 1997, when he won the Daytona 500, and then the race at Rocknigham, NC.

What I find interresting is that on the cover of NASCAR Scene was a photo of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. with the caption “Coming Clean”. That he regains respect because he admitted he was at least partially responsible for the big crash at Daytona, when Brian Vickers dove down to block Jr. and put them both below the out of bounds line. Jr. then drove back onto the tack and got into Vickers to spin him into oncoming traffic. Not the photo of Matt winning the first two races of the Season.

Last year, if you’ll recall, Matt didn’t have that good of a Season. He was without his long-time Crew Chief Robby Reiser for the first time since 1998. And he went winnless. Not like the Mr. Consistency he normally is. He even finished in eleventh place. He has not been out of the Top Ten since 2002.

In 2003 Matt won his first Championship. He was the model of consistancy all Season, but had only one win. In my opinion, that was why now NASCAR CEO, Brian France, started the Chase format for winning the Championship. He clinched the Title before the last race, despite having only one win. Now you are only crowned Champion if you do well in the last ten races. And the top 12 after 26 races are seeded in the Chase according to how many wins they had during the first 26 races. So Matt finished in eleventh place with no wins in 2008.

But this is 2009. A new year. At the Daytona 500, Matt started near the rear in his gold and black DEWALT Ford. And won the race! They went on to the Auto Club 500, and Matt won that in his black Carhart Ford, after starting in the rear. This week they go to the UAW Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV. He will be driving a red, white and blue USG Sheetrock Ford.

To sum up, Matt Kenseth has won the first two races of the 2009 Season with two different Sponsors. No one has ever won the first three races of a Season. And if he does, it will be with three different Sponsors. With his new Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer. (They call him the Blick. I guess the announcers have trouble pronouncing the name.) I can hardly wait for the race to start. Can he do what no one has ever done? And will he be on the cover?

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Race Review: Auto Club 500

Today’s Race Review is of the Auto Club 500 held at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Ca. This is a two mile track and they will race 250 laps. It starts at 4:00 PM Pacific time so they can start the race in the sunshine and finish it under the lights. Not the best strategy, in my opinion. 66 is now Dave Blaney. 71 last week was Mike Wallace, who didn’t make the Daytona 500. This week it is California native, David Gilliland. Five cars failed to qualify: #64 Todd Bodine, from the Camping World Truck Series, #37 Tony Raines, #51 David Starr, also from the Trucks, #73 Mike Garvey, who also failed to qualify for the Daytona 500, and #09 veteran Sterling Marlin.

The pole sitter is #83 Brian Vickers with a speed of 183.164. However, he changed his engine, and will start from the rear. Also starting from the rear with engine trouble are: 00 David Reutimann, 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and 55 Michael Waltrip. 43 Reed Sorenson crashed in practice and starts his back-up car from the rear. That puts third place 26 Jamie McMurray on the pole. The weather is overcast and it looks like rain may be a factor. In my opinion, if they started the race earlier, rain would not be a factor. Actor Hugh Laurie gives the command to start the engines.

So, here we go. 48 Jimmy Johnson leads the first lap from starting second. They are four-wide back there in the field. 18 Kyle Busch gets by 16 Greg Biffle. 2 Kurt Busch holds off brother 18 Kyle for fourth. The first caution comes out on lap 5, with 7 Robby Gordon getting into the wall. But the caution is for sprinkles. 39 Ryan Newman has lost his transponder, so he pits to get a new one, and will get his spot back. He lost his end plate on the spoiler, so he has to go back in to get a new one.

Twenty-one cars stay out on the track. The other twenty-two pit. 17 Matt Kenseth comes out of the pits first in 22nd. Several cars come back to the pits for fuel, as the dryers are still on the track. They go Green on lap 23, with 48 still leading. 29 Kevin Harvick and 42 Juan Pablo Montoya battle. 29 gets by. 2 and 18 battle some more. 24 Jeff Gordon gets by 18. 16 Greg Biffle gets by 18. 2 gets by 26 for second. 24 gets by 26 for third. 11 Denny Hamlin and 29 battle. 11 gets by. 29 and 17 battle for eleventh. 16 gets by 26. 87 Joe Nemechek is being pushed to the garage. 83 Vickers gets by 12 David Stremme for 21st.

The second caution comes out on lap 40, again for rain. This time everyone pits. Out of the pits, it’s 2 Ku. Busch, 48 Johnson, 24 J. Gordon, 16 Biffle, 6 David Ragan, 17 Kenseth, 18 Ky. Busch, 14 Tony Stewart, 26 McMurray and 11 Hamlin as the top ten.The Green Flag comes out on lap 46. 48 and 2 battle for the lead. 48 finally takes the lead. 2, 24 and 16 battle for second. 99 Carl Edwards gets 28 Travis Kvapil sideways. 00 Reutimann gets by 5 Mark Martin. 29 and 99 battle. 2 and 24 battle for second. 36 Scott Riggs, 66 Blaney and 87 Nemachek are in the garage.

24 goes to the apron to get in front of 2 for second. 14 gets by 18. 24 catches Leader 48. 20 Rookie Joey Logano, 82 Rookie Scott Speed, 71 Gilliland and 41 Jeremy Mayfield are a lap down. 16 gets by 2 for third. 48 and 24 battle for the lead. 07 Casey Mears, a lap down gets in the way, but 24 takes the lead. And now after lap 83 we get Green Flag pitting. 16 Biffle and 99 Edwards lead during the pitting. And 24 is back in the lead after everyone pits.

16 gets by 48 for second. 17 and 2 battle for fourth. 6 Ragan gets into the wall. 29 and 6 battle. 18 and 99 battle. 18 scrapes the wall. 36 Riggs is back on the track, 9 laps down. 99 and 18 battle for seventh. 99 finally gets by 18. And there is more Green Flag pitting with 130 laps or so to go. 16 beats 24 out of the pits. 24 catches 16 while 16 is in traffic. And the third caution comes out again for rain. 88 Earnhardt, Jr. stays on the lead lap and 55 Michael Waltrip gets the Lucky Dog free pass. The announcers declare 48 has lost the handle on that car. He’s all the way back to third! 42 Montoya stayed out to lead a lap. 17 Kenseth is out of the pits first to lead. They ran 96 Green Flag laps. It will be a double-file restart with 99 laps to go.

24 gets by 16 for second. 48 and 16 battle for third. 48 gets by. 48 and 24 battle for second. 48 takes second from 24. 6 Ragan is overheating. Probably trash on the grill. 48 is falling back. He popped out of gear. The fourth caution is again for rain. 5 Martin’s engine is heading south. 17, the leader pulls up to the Pace car to get rid of debris on the grill. 14 Tony stewart stays out to lead. In fact, 42, 5, 12 David Stremme, 00 and 55 all stay out because they figure the race will be called. 88 lost a cylinder. The Flag man signals two to go and those who stayed out, now pit. 83 Brian Vickers is the Lucky Dog.

They go Green with 72 laps to go. 18, 2, 6 are three-wide. 5 Martin is up in smoke. But he is on the apron and out of harm’s way, so they stay Green. 2 and 16 get by 18. 2 and16 battle for fourth. 16 gets the spot. 24 and 48 battle for second. 24 gets by. Seventeen cars are on the lead lap. 14 gets by 26 for tenth. 42 and 26 get by 29. 18 gets by 2 for fifth. 24 catches leader 17. 24 J. Gordon takes the lead. 16 gets by 17 for second. 18 and 48 battle for fourth. 48 cuts 18 off. 18 finally gets by 48 for fourth.

The fifth caution comes out during the commercial. 29 Harvick blew a right front tire and got hard into the wall. 12 David Stremme stays out to lead. Everyone else pits. 29 lost the engine before he blew the tire. 16 overshoots his pit and runs over his air hose. He has to back up before they can service him. The crew adds brake fluid to 26. Sixteen cars are on the lead lap.

They go Green with thirty-five to go. 17 Kenseth is leading. 2 gets “push loose”. 20 and 55 battle. 99 gets by 48 for sixth. 24 is catching 17, the leader. 16 gets by 48 for seventh. 16 gets by 99 for sixth. 11 gets by 2 for fourth. 8 Aric Almirola has engine trouble. 16 gets by 11 and 2 for fourth. 17 and 24 leave third place 18 seven seconds behind. 24 is smoking his tires, trying to get to 17.

17 Matt Kenseth wins the Auto Club 500. This is only the fourth time in NASCAR history that a driver won the first two races. And it was accomplished last in 1997 by Jeff Gordon, who went on to win the Championship. Also notable, Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series, both on the same day, the day before. However, he fell short of all three on the same track. And Jeff Gordon is still winless. Kenseth could go on to win the first three races in Las Vegas, something that has never been accomplished.

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Race Review: The Daytona 500

Welcome race fans to the fifty-first running of the Daytona 500. This will be 5 Mark Martin’s twenty-fifth attempt to win the Daytona 500. Starting from the rear in back-up cars will be 39 Ryan Newman, 17 Matt Kenseth, 82 Rookie Scott Speed, 29 Kevin Harvick, 21 Bill Elliott, 14 Tony Stewart, 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. and 34 John Andretti. 17 Kenseth will start dead last in 43rd. The yellow out of bounds line is now a double yellow line. No passing! You cannot advance your position if you go below it. There will be a competition caution around lap 25 because there was rain last night and they need to check the tires. If they pit before the competition caution, they will not be allowed to fuel the car. Former Champion Bobby Allison throws the Green Flag.

24 Jeff Gordon pushes pole sitter 1 Martin Truex, Jr. 5 Mark Martin, starting second falls behind 24 in third. 1 Truex, Jr. leads the first lap. 5 Martin takes the lead. 18 Kyle Busch takes the lead. 29 Harvick is slicing up the middle. 12 David Stremme and 83 Brian Vickers race in the middle lane. The first caution comes out on lap 12. 26 Jamie McMurray got below the double yellow line and tried to get back in, in front of 8 Aric Almirola. 8 tries to stay off 26 and 6 David Ragan gets into 8 and spins him.

18, 5, 96 Bobby Labonte, 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 99 Carl Edwards, 2 Kurt Busch and 11 Denny Hamlin stay out. 36 Scott Riggs gets loose in front of 20 Rookie Joey Logano, and they stack up behind them. The second caution is the competition caution on lap 27. 20 Logano tries to stay out to lead a lap, but everyone has to pit during a competition caution, so he comes in the second time around without leading a lap. He will restart in 40th.

41 Jeremy Mayfield comes back into the pits and they take a look under the hood. 99 Edwards goes low to gain three spots. 88 Jr. and 18 battle for the lead. 18 blocks. 88 gets a run on 18 and 18 goes high to block. When 88 looses momentum from the block, 18 dives low to keep the lead.  He better not do that too many more times, or he will be taken out. 31 Jeff Burton almost gets into the wall and falls back. They are three-wide for third. 34 John Andretti makes an unscheduled pit stop and goes a lap down. 66 T. Labonte goes a lap down. 7 Robby Gordon goes a lap down. 14 Stewart pushes 88 Jr. into the lead. 14 steps in front of 88 to take the lead.

The third caution finally comes out after 28 blows a tire and gets into the wall. They all pit and 88 misses his pit stall. He has to go all the way around and try again. 14 Stewart takes the lead.11Hamlin slides ahead of 18. 29 Harvick looses the draft. 24 J. Gordon and 14 Stewart battle for the lead. 24 takes the lead with a push from 18. 55 Michael Waltrip and 33 Clint Bowyer get together. 39 Newman pits with a tire going down. The car falls off the jack and he looses two laps.

The fourth caution comes out during the commercial. 20 Logano pounds the inside wall. 82 Speed got loose and 20 checked up to avoid him. 16 Greg Biffle was right behind 20 and clipped 20 when he checked up. 24 J. Gordon leads them into the pits. Coming out of the pits, 24 is leading. They show footage of 18 beating 11 out of the pits, but somehow, they put 18 into the lead. They aren’t sure who is leading, so we go to a commercial.

83 gets stuck in the middle. And they are racing three-wide, six rows long. 88 Jr. pushes team mate 48 Jimmy Johnson up the middle. 24 dives down and 99 Edwards follows. They get by 1 for second and third. 11 gets behind 99.  18 leads at halfway. No one has ever won after leading halfway. 18, 11, 99 and 16 pull away. The right front tire of 24 is going away, and he pits. 48 and 82 also pit. 77 pits with much steam coming out. 24 blends in behind fourth place 16. The fifth caution comes out for debris and 24 Jeff Gordon is the Lucky dog and gets his lap back. The debris is from 12 Stremme who blew a tire.

88 has his right front tire barely on the line of his pit box. They service him anyway, and NASCAR holds him a lap. 19 Elliott Sadler is leading. The sixth caution is the Big One and 18 gets into it. 88 Jr.  and 83 Vickers are racing to be the first one a lap down. 83 blocks 88 and puts him below the double yellow line. 88 gets back onto the track and gets into 83. 83 goes up the track into everyone and everyone behind get into it.

The top ten now are 19 Sadler, 43 Reed Sorenson, 17 Kenseth, 31 Jeff  Burton, 44 A.J. Allmendinger, 14 Stewart, 5 Martin, 29 Harvick, 33 Bowyer and 1 Truex, Jr. The seventh caution comes out when 31 gets loose in front of 77 Hornish, Jr. 77 and 31 get into the wall. 98 Paul Menard lets up and 6 Ragan gets into 98 and spins him. 31 gets black flagged to go to the pits and take off the pieces that are hanging off his rear end. 44 and 29 push 17 Kenseth into the lead. 19 falls back.

The eighth caution comes out with 48 to go. 17 got into 43 Sorenson and 43 got into the wall. They stack up behind 43. 77 gets into 8 Almirola and 9 Kasey Kahne. 8 and 9 spin off. Then it starts raining and they throw the Red Flag. After a while, NASCAR decides it’s too humid to blow the water from the rain off the track and declare 17 Matt Kenseth the winner, since they raced more than half the race. A lousy way to end the Daytona 500, if you ask me.

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NASCAR Racing 2009 Cast of Characters

It’s been a long off-season and a lot has happened. So, instead of telling everyone who is who during my review of the Daytona 500, I’m going to tell you before my review. There are a lot of new faces and numbers. Even new Teams for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Dale Earnhardt Inc. merged with Chip Ganasse to become Earnhardt Ganasse. They have #1 Martin Truex, Jr., #8 Aric Almirola and from Ganasse #42 Juan Pablo Montoya. They will be driving Chevys. Ganasse gave up his #41 car and now Jeremy Mayfield took that number and started his own Toyota Team. Former DEI driver Regan Smith will drive #78 for Furniture Row Racing.

Hendrick Motorsports let Casey Mears go and now Mark Martin will drive the #5 car. Casey went over to Richard Childress Racing, to drive the #07 car that Clint Bowyer drove last year. Clint will drive the new fourth car, #33 with Cheerios as the Sponsor. #31 had Sponsor AT&T last year, but Sprint won’t let them be a sponsor after 2008. So, Jeff Burton will drive the Catepiller car this year.

Tony Stewart joined Haas GNC Racing and now is the owner of Stewart Haas Racing. Tony will drive the old A. J. Foyt #14 car. And his team mate is Ryan Newman, driving his old #39. They will drive Chevys and are getting support from Hendrick. At Joe Gibbs Racing, the #20 will be driven by Rookie Joey Logano. David Stremme will drive the Penske car #12 that Ryan vacated.

On the Ford side, with Yates Racing, they merged with Hall of Fame Racing. The #38 driven by David Gilliland is gone. The points go to new driver Paul Menard, driving #98. Travis Kvapil is still in the #28, but his points will go to HOF driver #96 former Champion, Bobby Labonte. The Wood Brothers and their #21 car will race only a partial schedule this year with former Champion Bill Elliott in the #21. #6 David Ragan has new Sponsor UPS.

Richard Petty Enterprises merged with Gillette Evrenham and is now Richard Petty Motorsports. They still have #9 Kasey Kahne and #19 Elliott Sadler. Petty’s #43 will be driven by Reed Sorenson. And #44 will be another Petty car with the Petty blue paint scheme driven by A.J. Allmendinger. If they can secure Sponsorship, they will race the full Season.

Over in the Toyota camp, Red Bull Racing let Almendinger go near the end of the 2008 season. Rookie Scott Speed will replace Allmendinger, but he gets a new number. He will drive #82 this year. JTG Daugherty Racing has Marcos Ambrose from the NASCAR Nationwide Series driving the #47. Former Crew Chief Tommy Baldwin started his own Team with Scott Riggs as the driver in the #36. David Reutimann is back in his old #00 with Michael Waltrip Racing.

John Andretti will be driving the #34 car. And has secured points to get him into the top 35. Former Champ Terry Labonte will drive #66 Toyota in the Daytona 500, and then Dave Blaney will take over. Joe Nemechek has his own Team #(1)87, however he failed to make the Daytona 500. NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Brad Keselowski attempted to get into the Daytona 500 in the #09 car.

The others who failed to get into the Daytona 500 are: #08 Boris Said, #(1)27 Kirk Shelmerdine, #(1)71 Mike Wallace (there will be no Wallace or Petty in the Daytona 500), #37 Tony Raines, #73 Mike Garvey, #(1)75 former Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope,#(1)23 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Mike Skinner, #51 NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Kelly Bires, #(1)46 Carl Long, #64 Geoff Bodine and #(1)57 Norm Benning.

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Race Review: Gatorade Duels Race 2

Hello, race fans. If you’ll recall, the qualifying for the “Super Bowl” of racing, the Daytona 500, is two races called the Gatorade Duels. In the first race the pole sitter, #1 (fitting, right?) Martin Truex, Jr. leads. In this second race #5 Mark Martin leads. Those two are the only ones who know where they start the Daytona 500. Everyone else has to race for their position. Again, this race has half of the 35 drivers locked in with Owner points from 2008, and half of the drivers trying to race their way into the Daytona 500.

Before we start, 39 Ryan Newman, who was supposed to start on the front row had to change the engine, and will start this race in the rear. That puts 28 Travis Kvapil on the front row. And because 14 Tony Stewart finished second in the first race, 78 Regan Smith is guaranteed a spot in the Daytona 500. In this race, he is racing for position, not to get in.

So, here we go! 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. leads the first lap. 00 David Reutimann pulls out, but has no help. 5 Martin pulls outside with help from 42 Juan Pablo Montoya. 88 and 5 battle for the lead. 5 Martin takes the lead. 88 Earnhardt, Jr. takes the lead back. 08 Boris Said, who has to race his way in, gets into the wall and into 39. 39 Newman pits with a tire going down.

The first caution comes out when 08 Said blows a tire and puts himself and 82 Scott Speed into the wall. Everyone pits. 88 overshoots his pit stall. 42 Montoya gets into the wrong stall and has to back out onto pit road and try again. Out of the pits, it’s 5 Martin leading, followed by 18 Kyle Busch, 11 Denny Hamlin, 96 Bobby Labonte, 00 Reutimann and 83 Brian Vickers as the top five.

29 Kevin Harvick pushes 39 Newman. 42 Montoya pushes 44 A. J. Allmendinger past 41 Jeremy Mayfield. 73 Mike Garvey goes to the garage. He will not race in the Daytona 500. 71 Mike Wallace looses the draft. 64 Geoff Bodine has electrical problems and heads for the garage. He also will not be in the Daytona 500. 88 pits under Green with a tire issue. 5 and 83 also pit with tire issues.

The second caution comes out when 00 Reutimann gets into 39 and they both get into the wall. They, however, will both race in the Daytona 500. 83 and 5 are ahead of the leaders when the caution comes out, and stay on the lead lap. 39 had to get by the slower car of 57 Norm Benning and 00 pushed 39 before he got straaightened out. 41 Mayfield takes two tires and comes out of the pits first. 5 and 83 stay out, since they just pitted, and lead.

They go Green with eight to go. 11 Hamlin pushes 18 Kyle Busch into the lead. 5 and 11 get together. And 18 Kyle Busch wins his Gatorade Duel. 41 Mayfield and 44 Allmendinger, finishing ninth and tenth, raced their way into the Daytona 500.

The seven drivers who raced their way into the Daytona 500 are 14 Tony Stewart and 36 Scott Riggs from the first Gatorade Duel, 41 Jeremy Mayfield and 44 A.J. Allmendinger from the second Gatorade Duel, and on time 21 Bill Elliott, 28 Travis Kvapil and 78 Regan Smith. 66 Terry Labonte will get the final spot with his Champion provisional.

So, there you have it. The second Gatorade Duel. Now the line up for the Daytona 500 is set. I’ll let you know how it went after the Daytona 500.

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