Welcome to the Club Kasey!

By Sherri Breaton

Opening Ceremonies for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motorspeedway
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

When Kasey Kahne drove into Victory Lane at the Coca-Cola 600 on May 27^th, he earned his wings into the winning club that is Hendrick Motorsports. He now joins the ranks of the many great drivers that helped achieve 200 plus Cup victories.

''It's something I've been looking forward to for a long time,'' Kahne said after winning NASCAR’s longest race for the third time.

Kasey Kahne captures the checkered flag at the 2012 Coca-Cola 600
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

Kahne crossed the finish line nearly five seconds ahead of Denny Hamlin followed by Kyle

Busch in third and current points leader Greg Biffle fourth. It was Kahne's 13th career win

and first since last November in Phoenix.

For much of this race, it looked as if Biffle was untouchable. He led 204 laps and dominated the race early on. His car seemed to be performing the best in the Charlotte NC heat. Once the sun went down and night fell, the track cooled but Kahne got HOT! Kahne led 96 laps, including the final 42.

''Kasey's car was just better at night,'' Biffle said.

It was just a matter of time for Kahne to get a win this season. Up until now he basically had a streak of bad luck with his cars. Once they figured things out all he had to do was what he does best-DRIVE IT! Congrats Kasey for one of hopefully many wins in the future for you and your team!

Kasey Kahne with his first trip to Victory Lane with his new team at Hendrick's
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

What the heck happened to the stellar pit crew of Jimmie Johnson? After taking home last week’s top honours at the All Star Pit Crew Challenge, their performance this week cost their driver a possible victory. When Johnson attempted to make his final pit stop of the long night on Lap 354 of the 400-lap event at Charlotte Motor Speedway, he was running third behind race winner Kahne and Denny Hamlin.

Crew Chief Chad Knaus has requested a two tire pit stop in an attempt to save Johnson time to get off pit road and jump in front of the current leaders. Then things got ugly. Once the jack drops that is the cue to the driver that he is good to go. Well the jack dropped and Johnson took off...with his gas man Brandon Harder and his fuel can still stuck to the car.

I looked at my husband and said “I can’t wait to hear the radio transmission from Knaus after this. He is going to be flipping out.” A few moments later we watched the replay of an animated Chad on the pit box and listened to the following.

"Go! Go! Go! STOP! STOP! STOP! ", Knaus yelled over the radio as he watched the chaos ensue. "Oh my God! We just destroyed our [#*&%ing] day!"

The Gas Man for the #48 walks away after a major pit crew foul up
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

NASCAR tends to frown upon cars leaving pit road with equipment and/or people still stuck to the cars.

So the powers that be at NASCAR handed him a scolding. The Lowe’s 48 car was ordered to serve a stop-and-go penalty. This ended up dropping his position to 13^th place and a lap down from the lead lap. Johnson was never able to recover the momentum he needed and finished just outside the top 10 in 11^th place.

Of note, Danica Patrick was the first woman to drive the 600 since Janet Guthrie in 1976. She finished the race five laps down in 30th place, which was her best finish in her three Sprint Cup races so far. Her sole goal for the race was to just finish and she managed to accomplish just that. It really is a long race and she had a poor starting position due to a lousy qualifier but she stuck it out to the end. Kudos to Danica!

The race was the quickest ever for the 600 at 3 hours, 51 minutes, 14 seconds, nearly five minutes faster than the mark set in 1995.

This week we are headed to the “Monster Mile” at Dover International Speedway for the Fedex 400 Autism Speaks to see if 2011 winner Matt Kenseth can pull off a repeat.

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What a Great Week to be a Jimmie Johnson/Hendrick Motorsports Fan!!

By Sherri Breaton

For all of you Jimmie Johnson haters, I will give you fair warning, this week is about bragging rights.

Within a one week period Jimmie Johnson handed team owner Rick Hendrick his 200^th Nascar Sprint cup victory, then won over a million dollars at the Sprint All Star Race this past Saturday May 19^th, 2012.

The week prior, May 12^th, Jimmie took the checkered flag in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington ending a 16 week drought for the driver. It was also his 56^th career win putting him just ahead of Rusty Wallace in eighth place in the overall all time driver record.

The entire Hendrick stable of drivers, crews and family celebrating their 200th Cup win
Photo courtesy of  Nascar.com

It was an exciting final restart where defending champion Tony Stewart raced Johnson hard in an attempt to delay that 200^th win. Unfortunately his lost fuel pressure and was passed by Denny Hamlin for the number two spot. Stewart, co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing gets his chassis, engines and tech support from Hendrick Motorsports had nothing but praise for Mr. Hendrick and his organization following the race.

“I think it's phenomenal, especially with the competition over here getting tougher and tougher. It's getting harder and harder to win these races”

"Especially for it to happen in the Southern 500 -- it's such a historic race. It's a pretty cool milestone”, said Stewart.



Rick Hendrick, Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus celebrate the 200th win
for Hendrick Motorsports at the 2012 Southern 500
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

One week later Jimmie Johnson would earn a record tying third All-Star race after leading the entire final ten lap shootout in Charlotte, NC.

Johnson and his crew chief Chad Knaus had one heck of a strategy and it paid off in a one million dollar cheque. It might have seemed strange to see Johnson intentionally cruising slowly at the back of the field, which he did for about 60 laps. He drove the car hard for the first and last segments and just poked along for the three in between. That strategy placed him in the ranks of the late great Dale Earnhardt Sr and fellow Hendrick team mate Jeff Gordon as the only three time winners of the All-Star Race.

Of course credit must also be given for this win to Johnson’s Pit Crew. The 48 team won the Pit Crew Challenge earlier in the week, handing their boss the prime first pit position which definitely played to his advantage

Jimmie Johnson celebrates with a cheque for one million bucks
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

After the race fans witnessed something completely out of the ordinary for victory lane celebration. Rick Hendrick actually climbed into the window and went for a ride hanging out of the #48 on the straightaway.

He said, ‘Come pick me up,’ said Johnson, “But once I got there, he didn’t want the ride anymore. I told him, ‘No, you’ve got to get on.’



Jimmie Johnson picks up a hitchhiker (Rick Hendrick) on the straightaway
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com 

Rick Hendrick is not exactly a young man and as memorable of a moment of celebration that it was, he did not look very comfortable or very safe for that matter. Johnson later said he had a hold of his leg from inside the car and he could feel the wind sucking him out of the window. Later at a press conference Mr. Hendrick reflected on his shenanigans.

"That was the dumbest thing I've ever done in racing," Hendrick said. "I thought I was going to be a busted watermelon."

Well thankfully he made it to victory lane in one piece and into the hearts of every fan out there with that little celebratory display.

Also of note, for any of you “Bachelorette” fans out there, this season’s bachelorette is none other than Emily Maynard, mother of Mr. Hendrick’s grandbaby Ricki Anne. Emily was engaged to Ricky Hendrick, race car driver and only son of Rick Hendrick, who was tragically killed in a plane crash along with nine others in 2004. One week after his death Emily learned that she was pregnant with his daughter.

This week the field remains in Charlotte for the Coca Cola 600.

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Smoke Rains on Kyle Busch's Parade....

Tony Stewart, winner of the Auto Club 400 by default due to rain.
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

Well sort of... it was more like Mother Nature who did it but nonetheless Tony Stewart was deemed the victor in the rain shortened Auto Club 400 from Fontana, California. Stewart was in the lead when cars were parked due to the rain. Since showers were forecasted for the rest of the day and the halfway mark had come and gone, the defending Sprint Cup Champion earned the victory with only 129 of 200 laps run. Although Kyle Busch, led the most laps at the California track, he failed to become the first driver for Joe Gibbs Racing to win here.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had another impressive finish coming in third followed by Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards,  Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman (Tony’s team mate), Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top ten respectively.  

I was quite happy to hear that NASCAR has reduced the sentence to car/team owner Rick Hendrick for the “incident” at this year’s Daytona 500 involving the car not passing inspection and violating some body frame rules. Crew chief, Chad Knaus and car chief, Ron Malec, were both released of their suspensions and allowed to resume command on the pit box (although nothing every truly changed as they were allowed to remain there during the appeal process). The 25 driver points that were previously deducted were reinstated, however, the $100,000 fine remained intact.

As it stands this week in the overall points, fellow dog lover Greg Biffle is sitting in first place followed by expectant father Kevin Harvick (do you think this new baby will make him smile more? LOL), then Dale Earnhardt Jr. (can you believe I am saying this??), then Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth round out the top five.

Dale...the elves in the trees are waiting to make cookies... PLEASE SHAVE!
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

I kid about Dale Jr., but I really do root for this guy to have a good season. Years past rumours swelled that his lack of finishing in victory lane were directly attributed to his discord with his step-monster Teresa Earnhardt. Everyone expected great things from Jr., once he started driving for Hendrick’s in 2008.  While “great things” clearly have not happened, I do feel in my heart that they will. Dale is a talented driver, with the brains, experience and funds backing him from Hendrick’s that should enable this. I think he is still somewhat “gun shy” since his second degree burns in 2004. That was a pretty serious accident and I am sure beyond painful and I wonder how much this plays with his mind when driving still.  He just hasn’t seemed the same ever since. I think this might just be the year that Jr. finally shines through. I just really wish he would find a razor. Didn't he used to be one of Gillette's Young Guns?? UGHHHH it just does nothing for him...he looks like a cross between the Lucky Charms Leprechaun and a Keebler cookie elf. Come on Dale...I realize you can look like Sasquatch and the fans will still vote you number one favourite but can't you just clean it up a little for the female fans in the audience?!?!

This week NASCAR returns to it's southern roots as we head to Martinsville Speedway for the Goody's Fast Relief 500. Founded in 1947 by the late H. Clay Earles, Martinsville Speedway is only track which has hosted NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races every year since the division’s inception in 1949.  At .526 miles in length, Martinsville Speedway is the shortest track on the Sprint Cup circuit. But because of its size and shape – described most often as the shape of a paperclip – Martinsville offers some of the most exciting and close racing in the sport.  Also because of its size, fans are closer to the action than any other track. The cars are never more than a few hundred yards away and sometimes they seem close enough to reach out and touch. This track is on my "bucket list" of tracks to watch a race!!!


By Sherri Breaton

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The Smoke Show in Vegas

By Sherri Breaton

Tony Stewart wins the Kobalt Tools 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com 

Tony Stewart was able to hold off Jimmie Johnson twice on a restart to win the Kobalt Tools 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With only four laps left, Tony maintained the lead and captured the checkered flag .461 seconds ahead of Johnson. Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards came home third through fifth, respectively. Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray, Trevor Bayne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed the top 10.  While last week was considered a sweet revenge for former crew chief Dariun Grubb with his win in Phoenix with Denny Hamelin, this week was even sweeter for Smoke as this is the first time he has been able to clinch a victory in the city of lights in the desert.

Tony Stewart leads Jimmie Johnson on a restart at the
Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com 

It’s also equally ironic that Stewart is running Hendrick’s engines and was able to beat the 5 time champ to the finish line. Jimmie was rough on the restarts after countless cautions.

Said Johnson on the restarts:

"They were awfully strong, (the Stewart team), the last two restarts ... second to the last restart, I just blew it. He got away from me. The next to the last start, I felt like I got a good one. He still cruised away.” Ya, you blew it.

Besides the obvious disappointment in missing the win by “that much” the fact that the #48 Lowe’s Chevy was able to rebound from having to start from the rear due to having to utilize the back up car as a result of a wreck in practice, to a solid second place finish is nothing to be ashamed of.

The #48 team is still embroiled in the appeals process as a result of the car they were planning on using in the Daytona 500, (keys words...”planning”...the car never made it to the racetrack and as karma would have it, Jimmie crashed and burned on lap two and was out of the race for the night) was deemed illegal.

Rick Hendrick was denied Tuesday, setting up one last-ditch plea to prevent crew chief Chad Knaus from having to sit out six races along with car chief Ron Malec, and driver Jimmie Johnson from losing 25 points.

I have to agree with Kyle Petty on this so called “committee” that oversees the appeals process at NASCAR. This panel is made up of a bunch of “old farts” as Kyle says, retired drivers, owners, crew chiefs, mechanics, officials etc, that decide the outcome of these infarctions. As Kyle said on air during the pre-race show, “you would be hard pressed to find two people on that panel who have actually attended a race in the past two years if not more”. They really need to change this process and have a committee consisting of recent retires and/or people who are current with today’s racing standards and what is considering “cheating” and what is considered “pushing the limitations of technology and trying to beat your competitors at the same game”.  Hendrick said he will now make one final appeal to John Middlebrook, a former General Motors executive who serves as chief appellate officer on the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel. No date has been established yet for the final appeal. For now we will wait and Chad will remain on the box until such time.

Next week, we are on to Bristol Motor Speedway, and the always fan favourite “driver introductions”. Bristol is the only track that allows the drivers to choose the song in which they will be introduced to. Some of them in the past have been both funny and ironic. I will provide the full list along with the race recap next week post race. 

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Victory for Hamelin in Phoenix

Denny Hamelin wins the 2012 Subway Fresh Fit 500
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

Phoenix International Speedway
Photo courtesy Nascar.com

"It feels so good to be competitive again!"


Those were the words shouted out over the radio by Denny Hamelin to his crew chief. Denny finally redeemed himself with his 18^th career victory  at Sunday's Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. In his second race with 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship crew chief Darian Grubb calling the shots from his pit box, Hamlin managed to hold off Kevin Harvick in a 53-lap green-flag race to finish the 312-lap race at the one-mile track. The win allowed Hamlin to take over the series points lead for the first time since giving it up in the final race of 2010 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. As an at-home spectator, it wasn't exactly a nail biter of a race. Quite frankly it was somewhat anti-climactic after last week's Daytona 500. I was waiting to hear that Juan Pablo Montoya took out a hot dog vendor's cart. I am quite sure, however, it was sweet justice for Darian Grubb, who was fired from Stewart-Haas Racing after last season even though he helped Tony Stewart win the Cup championship. It must feel good to beat Tony Stewart to victory lane.


Kevin Harvick lost fuel pressure with less than two laps left but still managed an impressive second place followed by Greg Biffle in third, then by Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., and Jeff Gordon. Pole-sitter Mark Martin and Joey Logano rounded out the top 10.

Other drivers encountered their fair share of trouble:

Clint Bowyer (30th) blew two right front tires in the first 25 laps. Kasey Kahne (34th) hit the wall early in the race. And Stewart (22nd) fell two laps down after being unable to restart his Chevrolet after turning it off in an attempt to save fuel under caution.

The starting line-up at Phoenix
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com 

The often used tactic of shutting down the engines to save fuel then quickly restarting them bit Tony right in the butt late in the race. He lost a lap during a caution when he couldn’t re-fire his car and had to get a push from the wrecker to make it back to the pits. He finished 22nd.

“I just shut the car off like we did at Daytona and turned it back on, and it never re-fired,” Stewart said. “That’s all I can tell you. I don’t know why it didn’t re-fire. I honestly don’t know. It’s not really my department. I just turned the switch back on, and it never re-fired. I don’t know why that was, but it definitely cost us a good day.” Judging by his demeanour in that post race interview with Tony, I would hate to be the electronics guy on his team once Tony gets back to the hauler. Crew chief Steve Addington said a faulty circuit breaker apparently was the problem.

Could a new rivalry be brewing??? Keep and eye on Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards in future races.  While Ryan Newman conceded Carl Edwards likely didn't wreck him intentionally on lap 256 of Sunday's NASCAR race at Phoenix International Raceway he wasn’t happy about it. Newman, who was on the outside of Edwards heading into Turn 3, ended up being hit broadside by the 99 car, sending him hard into the wall. "I don't consider that a deliberate move by any means. (But) we know plenty of times in this sport, what comes around goes around." Have at it boys!

Once again my team, the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet in caught up in a so-called “cheating controversy” *cough*.  On Feb. 17, NASCAR ruled the car had illegally modified sheet metal between the roof and the side windows, an area known as the C-posts. Chad Knaus was fined $100,000 and suspended six races. His car chief Ron Malec was also levied a six week suspension. Jimmie Johnson was docked 25 points as a driver and Jeff Gordon lost 25 points as an owner.  An appeal date has not yet been set, and Knaus can work until the appeal hearing. Knaus said he looked forward to the appeals process, insisting the car that failed the visual inspection in Daytona was the same one that passed repeated inspections in four previous restrictor-plate races at Daytona and Talladega last season. This is nothing new for this team as Knaus has been suspended four previous times, one coming when Johnson won the 2006 Daytona 500 and Darian Grubb filled in. Knaus also had a two-race ban in 2005 overturned on appeal. Chad Knaus and Jimmie live by the motto "if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying”. But people are completely naive if they think that the Lowe’s team is the only team bending the rules, or the metal per se. I understand the accusations and what is at stake. I mean if Chad is going to “cheat” at any given race and is consistently and frequently penalized for technical violations and found guilty of trying to gain an illegal advantage wouldn’t he cheat with a championship on the line (or five)? Did he and maybe he just never was caught?  Could that explain why Jimmie has such an incredible record in previous Chases?

Crew Chief Chad Knaus & Car Chief Ron Malec for the #48
Photo courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports

I am sure that what a lot of fans think-a lot of non-Jimmie Johnson fans for sure. I personally find it hard to believe Johnson and Knaus won those champions and 55 Cup races all while cheating.  Jimmie is far too talented of a driver and Chad is an extremely brilliant crew chief. They do not have to cheat to win. Chad is only doing what a good crew chief should do – look for loopholes in the rules and try to find an edge in a sport that has long applauded and encouraged mechanical resourcefulness. However when you’re the sport’s most successful crew chief, and it’s most penalized, that only raises the cloud of suspicion and tarnishes your reputation even more. Chad doesn’t seem too fazed by any of it. He was quoted this weekend as saying “As far as my reputation goes, I’m not too concerned about that. What we want to do is go out there and do the best thing we can for Hendrick Motorsports and the best things for Lowe’s and try to win races and championships.”

We will await the appeal and see what the outcome is. Like most other professional sports teams, the Lowe's Chevy is a well oiled machine. They have over 500 people working at the Hendrick garages in Charlotte, NC. If they do end up losing Chad for some races, I do not foresee it being detrimental to the team as a whole. After all, Jimmie IS in the driver's seat.....

Next week...It's Vegas baby!!!! 

Denny Hamelin doing his victory burnout
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

Incidentally, did anyone catch the commercial for Tide? Boy did I call that one right last week hahaha ... in case you missed it...
http://www.sbnation.com/nascar/2012/3/4/2843959/tide-nascar-commercial-daytona-500-jet-dryer-explosion-2012


By Sherri Breaton

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