The only thing more surprising than Kasey Kahne's victory on Sunday in the Toyota/SaveMart 350 at Infineon Raceway was the fact that he held off Tony Stewart -- one of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' best road course racers -- to do it.
Kahne even said so himself in Victory Lane.
But win Kahne did, picking up his first of the season and the 10th of his career. Kahne also got owner Richard Petty back into Victory Lane; the last time The King saw one of his cars win a race was in Martinsville, where John Andretti won in the No. 43 in 1999. For a team struggling with funding and resources, Kahne's win was a bright spot for Richard Petty Motorsports and a possible building block.
RPM also saw A.J. Allmendinger (seventh) and Elliott Sadler (10th) finish in the top 10.
Kahne led 37 laps in taking the win and putting himself three points outside of the cutoff for the Chase, but he really had to fend off Stewart, who finished second, to do it. On four separate occasions in the late stages of the race, Kahne had to battle Stewart on double-file restarts, trying to get the preferred line going up the hill and into the second and third turns. Amazingly, he was able to do so each time.
When you beat Stewart on a road course, you've really accomplished something.
The restarts worked better than most anticipated, creating excitement for the fans and turning the race into an exciting finish without creating too much chaos. Many of the turns heading up and down that hill after the start-finish line at Sonoma aren't wide enough to handle one car, so it was impressive to see restart after restart go incident-free. Infineon was the first true test of the new restart rule, and I daresay it was a success.
The race didn't come down to fuel mileage, thanks to the bevy of late cautions, but several teams tried that strategy to little avail. Robby Gordon, who's pretty stout on road courses in his own right, was the hardest hit. Leading during a round of green-flag pit stops, Gordon was trying to get into his fuel window when a caution flag came out before he had a chance to pit.
On an oval, pitting under caution is usually a good thing. But at Sonoma, with so many other cars on the track having already pitted, the strategy backfired on Gordon, who finished 36th.
As expected, the field surrounding the 12th spot in the standings tightened considerably. Juan Pablo Montoya finished sixth to vault himself into 12th place, but he's only three points ahead of Kahne, 40 ahead of David Reutimann and 46 ahead of Jeff Burton. Brian Vickers, in 17th, is only 123 points out of the Chase, while seventh-place Denny Hamlin is only 92 points ahead of 12th.
Though Kyle Busch is still in ninth, 45 points ahead of Montoya, his 22nd-place finish on Sunday was indicative of the way the No. 18 team has run the last several weeks -- really, since his win at Richmond back in early May. Even though Busch has three wins this season, tied for the most with Mark Martin, he is in danger of potentially missing the Chase if his team can't turn things around.
With Daytona in July and Watkins Glen in August still on the schedule, there's a chance for another jostle or two in the point standings. The Race to the Chase will likely come down to the wire again, and that, combined with the new double-file restarts, should make for some exciting racing heading down the "regular season" stretch.
Not that Kahne cares much. He's probably still sipping that Northern California wine in Victory Lane.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/SaveMart 350
1. Kasey Kahne**
2. Tony Stewart*
3. Marcos Ambrose
4. Jimmie Johnson
5. Denny Hamlin*
6. Juan Pablo Montoya
7. A.J. Allmendinger
8. Clint Bowyer
9. Jeff Gordon
10. Elliott Sadler
11. Partick Carpentier
12. Max Papis
13. Carl Edwards
14. Jamie McMurray
15. Kurt Busch*
16. Brian Vickers*
17. Ryan Newman
18. Matt Kenseth
19. Joey Logano
20. Bobby Labonte
21. Paul Menard
22. Kyle Busch*
23. Casey Mears
24. Boris Said
25. Martin Truex Jr.
26. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
27. Ron Fellows
28. Greg Biffle
29. Kevin Harvick
30. John Andretti
31. David Reutimann
32. David Gilliland
33. David Ragan
34. Jeff Burton
35. Mark Martin
36. Robby Gordon*
37. Scott Speed*
38. Sam Hornish Jr.
39. David Stremme
40. Reed Sorenson
41. Brandon Ash
42. Dave Blaney
43. P.J. Jones
*led a lap (5 bonus points)
**led most laps (5 more bonus points)
Monday, June 22, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Toyota/SaveMart 350 preview
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will mix things up a bit this weekend, as the series heads to wine country in Sonoma, Calif. for the season's first road course race at Infineon Raceway. The Toyota/SaveMart 350 is one of just two stops on the schedule that requires drivers to turn left and right, adding a twist into the usual fare of oval racing.
Road course races are, by and large, unique creatures. Some Sprint Cup drivers will readily admit they're not good at it, and some teams will even replace their regular drivers for the weekend in favor of "road course ringers." This weekend, for instance, Michael Waltrip will give up his ride in the No. 55 NAPA Toyota for Patrick Carpentier. Phoenix Racing, which normally fields cars on a part-time basis with Sterling Marlin and Brad Keselowski, will bring in Ron Fellows for this weekend's race.
Boris Said and Brian Simo will also be among the road course specialists hoping to compete this weekend.
Even with the road course specialists, look for a Sprint Cup regular to take the checkered flag this weekend. Kyle Busch is the defending race winner (he actually won both road course races last season), but he'll have to contend with the likes of Jeff Gordon, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya and Marcos Ambrose if he wants to defend his title.
Jeff Gordon is the all-time winningest driver at Infineon, taking five checkered flags; his last came in 2006. Robby Gordon won here in 2003, and two of his three career Sprint Cup victories have come on road courses. Stewart, the points leader, has a pair of wins at Infineon, while Montoya picked up his only win in the series at this track two years ago.
Ambrose hasn't won at Infineon, but his road course background will serve him well. Ambrose won the Nationwide Series race at Watkins Glen last season before finishing third in the Sprint Cup race there, and last year he ran well at Infineon before a broken transmission relegated him to a 42nd-place finish.
Jeff Gordon, Stewart and Montoya have the momentum heading into this weekend's event. Gordon finished second last week to gain some ground on Stewart in the points, though Stewart did rack up yet another top-10 finish at Michigan. Montoya has three top-10s in his last four races, and a strong performance at Infineon could be just the spark Montoya needs to vault himself into the Chase.
One thing to look out for is how the new double-file restarts will affect the race. The first two races under the new rule -- Pocono and Michigan -- were wide and gave the drivers a lot of room to run. Sonoma, with its narrow pavement and hilly terrain, does not. How will the drivers handle a restart with, say, 20 laps to go as they dive off into the first couple turns side-by-side? It should be exciting, and an old racing adage -- cautions breed cautions -- springs to mind.
That's assuming, of course, we see full-course cautions. Road courses tend to use local yellows, where there's no passing in that section of the track, but the rest of the course would remain clean and green.
Gotta love road course racing in NASCAR, if for no other reason than it's something different.
For all the attention the road course specialists get, it's always a safe bet to go with a full-time driver in the series. Look for Stewart to pick up his second victory of the season, celebrating in Victory Lane with a bottle of whatever wine's in season.
Road course races are, by and large, unique creatures. Some Sprint Cup drivers will readily admit they're not good at it, and some teams will even replace their regular drivers for the weekend in favor of "road course ringers." This weekend, for instance, Michael Waltrip will give up his ride in the No. 55 NAPA Toyota for Patrick Carpentier. Phoenix Racing, which normally fields cars on a part-time basis with Sterling Marlin and Brad Keselowski, will bring in Ron Fellows for this weekend's race.
Boris Said and Brian Simo will also be among the road course specialists hoping to compete this weekend.
Even with the road course specialists, look for a Sprint Cup regular to take the checkered flag this weekend. Kyle Busch is the defending race winner (he actually won both road course races last season), but he'll have to contend with the likes of Jeff Gordon, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya and Marcos Ambrose if he wants to defend his title.
Jeff Gordon is the all-time winningest driver at Infineon, taking five checkered flags; his last came in 2006. Robby Gordon won here in 2003, and two of his three career Sprint Cup victories have come on road courses. Stewart, the points leader, has a pair of wins at Infineon, while Montoya picked up his only win in the series at this track two years ago.
Ambrose hasn't won at Infineon, but his road course background will serve him well. Ambrose won the Nationwide Series race at Watkins Glen last season before finishing third in the Sprint Cup race there, and last year he ran well at Infineon before a broken transmission relegated him to a 42nd-place finish.
Jeff Gordon, Stewart and Montoya have the momentum heading into this weekend's event. Gordon finished second last week to gain some ground on Stewart in the points, though Stewart did rack up yet another top-10 finish at Michigan. Montoya has three top-10s in his last four races, and a strong performance at Infineon could be just the spark Montoya needs to vault himself into the Chase.
One thing to look out for is how the new double-file restarts will affect the race. The first two races under the new rule -- Pocono and Michigan -- were wide and gave the drivers a lot of room to run. Sonoma, with its narrow pavement and hilly terrain, does not. How will the drivers handle a restart with, say, 20 laps to go as they dive off into the first couple turns side-by-side? It should be exciting, and an old racing adage -- cautions breed cautions -- springs to mind.
That's assuming, of course, we see full-course cautions. Road courses tend to use local yellows, where there's no passing in that section of the track, but the rest of the course would remain clean and green.
Gotta love road course racing in NASCAR, if for no other reason than it's something different.
For all the attention the road course specialists get, it's always a safe bet to go with a full-time driver in the series. Look for Stewart to pick up his second victory of the season, celebrating in Victory Lane with a bottle of whatever wine's in season.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
NASCAR talking to foreign automakers
NASCAR chairman Brian France admitted over the weekend at Michigan International Speedway that the sanctioning body was talking to several foreign manufacturers about the possibility of entering the sport in the coming years. France wouldn't reveal the name of those manufacturers, but said that in order to qualify for admission into the sport, the companies had to have manufacturing plants in the United States.
With both General Motors and Chrysler facing bankruptcy issues, and in one degree or another pulling their support from the teams, the move makes some sense; you can bet NASCAR wants to have more than two manufacturers in the sport who aren't in need of government assistance. Not that Ford and Toyota are doing all that great, but they're certainly better off than Chevrolet and Dodge.
Among the foreign automakers with American plants: Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. None of those companies make engines that would meet NASCAR's comparatively-archaic technological specifications, but if Toyota was willing to take that challenge, I would imagine a lot of these other automakers would, as well.
When NASCAR let Toyota into the sport, they used the same logic; Toyota had plants in America that were being used to build their automobiles, so NASCAR allowed those makes to be represented. The Tundra, manufactured in America, was introduced to the Camping World Truck Series in 2004, while the Camry -- built in Kentucky -- made its NASCAR debut in the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series in 2007.
An unfair foreign invasion, you say? While the Camry is being built in America, the Ford Fusion, Chevrolet Impala and Dodge Charger are not. Fusions are built in Canada, while Impalas and Chargers are being built in Mexico. All the while plants and dealers are shutting their doors in this country.
Good ol' red, white and blue, right?
Don't get me wrong; I love America as much as the next guy. I'm even a proponent of buying American (I own a 1997 Pontiac, and it saddens me to know I'll never be able to buy a new one) ... but when the likes of Toyota and Honda are putting out a better product, who are we to blame people if they want to take advantage of that? It's not NASCAR's fault American automakers are in such trouble, and NASCAR is not flying in the face of tradition by listening to foreign manufacturers.
I'm sorry to tell you this, NASCAR purists, but the sky will not fall if Honda fields a Cup car in 2012.
Personally, as long as the manufacturers represented in NASCAR have American plants, and the vehicles running around the tracks are built in America, then what's the big deal? Sure, Toyota is a Japanese company, but the Camry that flies around the track every Saturday and Sunday is built right here in America.
There is a chance such a move isn't needed; if GM, Chrysler and Ford all make it out of their respective financial issues without having to completely pull out of NASCAR, the sanctioning body might decide it likes where it is with four manufacturers. But NASCAR does need to have a plan in place, just in case the manufacturers have to pull out completely.
Besides, Toyota isn't the first foreign make to run in NASCAR. Do a little research into the sport's history, and you'll see foreign cars littering the early years. In the early days, NASCAR ran Aston Martins, Austin-Healeys, Citroens, Jaguars, MGs, Morgans, Porsches, Renaults and Volkswagens.
In a road race in Linden, N.J. in 1954, in fact, Jaguars finished first, fourth, fifth and sixth. So it's not like NASCAR opening its doors to foreign nameplates would be anything earth-shattering or unique. If Big Bill France was willing to let it happen back in the day, then why should be villify Brian France if he's considering the same thing?
With almost all American companies trying to outsource overseas, NASCAR is trying to reward car companies that have plants -- and by extension, jobs -- right here in the United States. Really, what's so wrong with that?
EDIT: Jenna Fryer, who covers NASCAR for The Associated Press, wrote an interesting article on this subject. You can read it by clicking here.
With both General Motors and Chrysler facing bankruptcy issues, and in one degree or another pulling their support from the teams, the move makes some sense; you can bet NASCAR wants to have more than two manufacturers in the sport who aren't in need of government assistance. Not that Ford and Toyota are doing all that great, but they're certainly better off than Chevrolet and Dodge.
Among the foreign automakers with American plants: Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. None of those companies make engines that would meet NASCAR's comparatively-archaic technological specifications, but if Toyota was willing to take that challenge, I would imagine a lot of these other automakers would, as well.
When NASCAR let Toyota into the sport, they used the same logic; Toyota had plants in America that were being used to build their automobiles, so NASCAR allowed those makes to be represented. The Tundra, manufactured in America, was introduced to the Camping World Truck Series in 2004, while the Camry -- built in Kentucky -- made its NASCAR debut in the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series in 2007.
An unfair foreign invasion, you say? While the Camry is being built in America, the Ford Fusion, Chevrolet Impala and Dodge Charger are not. Fusions are built in Canada, while Impalas and Chargers are being built in Mexico. All the while plants and dealers are shutting their doors in this country.
Good ol' red, white and blue, right?
Don't get me wrong; I love America as much as the next guy. I'm even a proponent of buying American (I own a 1997 Pontiac, and it saddens me to know I'll never be able to buy a new one) ... but when the likes of Toyota and Honda are putting out a better product, who are we to blame people if they want to take advantage of that? It's not NASCAR's fault American automakers are in such trouble, and NASCAR is not flying in the face of tradition by listening to foreign manufacturers.
I'm sorry to tell you this, NASCAR purists, but the sky will not fall if Honda fields a Cup car in 2012.
Personally, as long as the manufacturers represented in NASCAR have American plants, and the vehicles running around the tracks are built in America, then what's the big deal? Sure, Toyota is a Japanese company, but the Camry that flies around the track every Saturday and Sunday is built right here in America.
There is a chance such a move isn't needed; if GM, Chrysler and Ford all make it out of their respective financial issues without having to completely pull out of NASCAR, the sanctioning body might decide it likes where it is with four manufacturers. But NASCAR does need to have a plan in place, just in case the manufacturers have to pull out completely.
Besides, Toyota isn't the first foreign make to run in NASCAR. Do a little research into the sport's history, and you'll see foreign cars littering the early years. In the early days, NASCAR ran Aston Martins, Austin-Healeys, Citroens, Jaguars, MGs, Morgans, Porsches, Renaults and Volkswagens.
In a road race in Linden, N.J. in 1954, in fact, Jaguars finished first, fourth, fifth and sixth. So it's not like NASCAR opening its doors to foreign nameplates would be anything earth-shattering or unique. If Big Bill France was willing to let it happen back in the day, then why should be villify Brian France if he's considering the same thing?
With almost all American companies trying to outsource overseas, NASCAR is trying to reward car companies that have plants -- and by extension, jobs -- right here in the United States. Really, what's so wrong with that?
EDIT: Jenna Fryer, who covers NASCAR for The Associated Press, wrote an interesting article on this subject. You can read it by clicking here.
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