Danica Patrick Sets A New Record Grabbing the Daytona 500 Pole

Again, NASCAR fans are once again sitting in the seat of history.  Regardless of what we like, we watched Jimmie Johnson win 5 Sprint Cup titles in a row, and even across different car models.  And today during the front row qualifying for the 2013 Daytona 500, fans got another bit of history when Danica Patrick, in her second time in the race ever, grabbed the pole position for the Great American Race.  This pole also meant she was the first woman to win a pole position in any of the top NASCAR series.

This is perfect press for the media frenzy that is Danica Patrick.  It's the perfect storm of attention on the sport.  If you think about it, aside from what criticism one might have, these are exciting times for everyone.  NASCAR fans, Danica fans, Stewart-Haas Racing, Daytona International Speedway...  well, and even "stenica" is probably celebrating tonight!  LOL.
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Check out the NASCAR press release on the issue

 Danica Patrick Becomes First Female Pole Winner In NASCAR Sprint Cup History
Rookie Wins The Coors Light Pole For The Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 17, 2013) – Danica Patrick made NASCAR history today during Coors Light Pole qualifying for the Daytona 500, becoming the first female driver to win a pole at NASCAR's top level – the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

During qualifying for the sport's marquee event, Patrick turned a lap of 196.434 mph (45.817 seconds), giving her the first starting position for next Sunday's Daytona 500 (1 p.m. on FOX, FOX Deportes, Motor Racing Network Radio and SiriusXM Satellite Radio). It was the fastest Daytona 500 pole-winning speed since 1990.

Patrick shattered the previous record for top starting spot by a female NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. Janet Guthrie previously held the mark, twice starting ninth in 1977. She started ninth at Talladega Superspeedway on Aug. 7, 1977 and at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 28, 1977.

The previous best starting position for a female in the Daytona 500 was 18th by Janet Guthrie in 1980.

This is Patrick's second NASCAR pole, also winning the Coors Light Pole for the season-opening NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona last season. The only other female to win a NASCAR national series pole was Shawna Robinson in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1994.

Already a NASCAR record holder, Patrick set the mark of best finish by a female driver in NASCAR national series history when she finished fourth in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011. She finished 10th in the final 2012 NASCAR Nationwide points standings, the top finish by a female in NASCAR national series history.

Patrick, who is running for the 2013 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award, is the first rookie to win the Daytona 500 pole since Jimmie Johnson in 2002.

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NASCAR's New Sprint Cup Qualifying Format for 2013

The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup series will introduce the 36-6-1 qualifying format and reintroduce random order qualifying.

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Though I've come to enjoy this year's process of qualifying for NASCAR Sprint Cup races, change is inevitable.  What's the saying?  "Life is change.  Growth is optional."  And NASCAR recognizes that a lack of growth is stagnation and that's never good.  Unless you're a mold spore or a fungus.

Next year, NASCAR is going to what they dubbed the "36-6-1 format" for qualifying.  This new process is effectively eliminating the top-35 owners points process that has been in effect for quite some time. 

The 36-6-1 process Explained:
The 36
In the "36-6-1 format" the fastest 36 cars on the track will be making the race. 

The 6:
After that, whoever is left of the qualifying group, the next 6 will be seeded by owners points.

The 1:
This final, lone position will be awarded to the most recent eligible past champion.  If there is no past champ, this will then be the 7th car in the owners points.

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In case of rain during qualifying and it's cancelled, (Like when does THAT happen?) the Sprint Cup Series field will be set by practice speeds.

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Also, qualifying order will now (again) be sorted by random draw.

BUT if you're wondering about the beginning of a new season...

"provisional positions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will be based upon the previous year's owner points for the first three races, as opposed to the first five races in previous years for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and four races for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. "

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As far as the 36-6-1 process goes, I'm fine with that.  Fans have been grumbling about the top-35 in owners points for quite some time, but what they didn't realize that is sometimes, that rule got "name drivers" in the field, just in case of a bad qual.

As far as the random draw for qualifying order goes, I'm not so much a fan of returning to the random draw.

I enjoyed the process of qualifying order based on practice speeds.  What this did was make the televised process fairly more exciting.  As the slower guys qualified, the viewer was kept in suspense, wondering if the next fastest driver would out-pace the last driver to qualify.  And you WANTED to stick around to the end to see what would happen.

With the random draw, I don't have any incentive to stick around for the last few guys if they're not the "name drivers" in the field.

I wonder if they've pondered this and if televised qualifying wasn't a big factor for them?  My guess is not.  But hey, it is what it is.

   NASCAR-Bits-and-Pieces.com on Twitter & Facebook .

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Daytona 500 Qualifying, Visually Explained!

OK, I've put the words out there that technically explains how the qualifying process for NASCAR's Daytona 500 works.  And the outline makes perfect sense.  That is until cars got out on the track and suddenly we have scenarios about who if and what if!

You can check on my list of D500 qualifying speeds from Sunday.

So I drummed up this chart that lays it out a bit visually and maybe it will help you too, like it did me:

(click for larger version)

In this chart, I point out

A:  The top-35 guaranteed starters

B:  The top-3 cars outside the top-35 (On Speed)

C:  The positions that are outside the first 38 spots and cars looking to fill spots (Outside, Looking In)

D:  Past Champion Provisional.

Here's the kicker:

During Thursday's Gatorade Duels, starting positions will be set for spots 3 through 42.

BUT

If cars that are in category B (On Speed) actually find themselves posting finishing positions that don't require their qualifying speeds from last Sunday, then the next few cars with the next fastest speeds from last Sunday will start filling spots in the starting field.

PLUS,

If Terry Labonte finishes in his Duel in such a position that does not require using his past provisional, then Bill Elliott can step up and take that Past Champion's Provisional Spot!

Of course as these spots shuffle around, that puts the thumbscrews to the few teams on the outside, looking in.

Now, does it make better sense?  Once I drew this on my white board in my office, it looked to make a bit more sense... I think!  LOL.

Of course, there's always Plan B, the plan I used to deploy heavily in my early years of being a fan of NASCAR:  On Thursday afternoon, tune in and find out who's racing on Sunday!!!

But then, where's the fun in that?

Daytona 500 Qualifying: Edwards On the Pole, Patrick 30th Fastest

Today's single-car qualifying efforts for the 2012 Daytona 500 found Carl Edwards sitting on the pole for the Great American Race, and he's joined by teammate Greg Biffle.

The Roush-Fenway Racing duo found themselves on the front row with speeds of 194.738 mpg (Edwards) and 194.087 (Biffle).  Behind them sat Dale Earnhardt Jr., Marcos Ambrose and Casey Mears.  But only Edwards and Biffle know where they'll be starting as the Gatorade Duels this upcoming Thursday will be what determines everyone else's starting spots and determine the few remaining spots for the field.

Last years Sprint Cup Champion, Tony Stewart found himself the 10th fastest of the day with 193.607 mph, "6-time" Jimmie Johnson was 12th fastest with 193.449.

The newest media sensation of the sport, Danica Patrick, pulled what would seemingly be a disappointing 30th fastest speed, with a 191.738.  But she's been secured a starting spot in the 2012 Daytona 500, making her the third-ever woman to start the race.

The old Red Bull equipment, now running under the Burger King banner, didn't do as well as some fans had hoped, but they have a very short time to ramp up for this week of events.  Landon Cassill's Toyota was 41st fastest of the day with 190.605 and David Reutimann was 46th fastest, with 189.235.

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Here's how everyone panned out in speeds today:

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POS	CAR	DRIVER	MAKE	SPEED
1	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	194.738
2	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	194.087
3	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	194.028
4	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	193.999
5	13	Casey Mears	Ford	193.844
6	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	193.803
7	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	193.665
8	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	193.665
9	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	193.615
10	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	193.607
11	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	193.503
12	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	193.449
13	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	193.382
14	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	193.374
15	34	David Ragan	Ford	193.249
16	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	193.245
17	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	193.224
18	22	A.J. Allmendinger	Dodge	193.121
19	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	192.992
20	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	192.914
21	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	192.868
22	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	192.843
23	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	192.777
24	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	192.6
25	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	192.583
26	26	Tony Raines	Ford	192.534
27	30	David Stremme	Toyota	191.963
28	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	191.873
29	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	191.84
30	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	191.738
31	109	Kenny Wallace	Toyota	191.567
32	32	Terry Labonte	Ford	191.522
33	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	191.506
34	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	191.363
35	33	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	191.27
36	140	Michael Waltrip	Toyota	191.18
37	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	191.16
38	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	191.127
39	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	191.062
40	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	190.99
41	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	190.605
42	38	David Gilliland	Ford	190.046
43	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	190.022
44	97	Bill Elliott	Toyota	189.95
45	37	Mike Wallace	Ford	189.853
46	93	David Reutimann	Toyota	189.235
47	23	Robert Richardson Jr.	Toyota	188.438
48	7	Robby Gordon	Dodge	188.229
49	249	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	187.954

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500 Front Row Set

Martin Truex Jr. and Mark Martin are on the front row of the Daytona 500.

In both of these x-DEI drivers cases, the change would appear to have done them well.

Truex didn't leave DEI. DEI merged with Ganassi, now EGR, I can't help but think this helped boost Truex to the pole position. (His 2nd in this race) Yet, DEI always had a grip on restrictor racing and maybe this was a boost for Ganassi.

With Mark Martin having left DEI for the Hendrick stable, this too looks like Martin is benefiting from the change as this is his first career front row start.

All good moves for both it would seem. BTW: Ryan Newman made an impressive appearance, being third in the qualifying sprints. It looks like Bill Elliott may be locked into the race also, per the FOX telecast.

Image cr: Getty Images for NASCAR

NASCAR SprintCup Qualifying Numbers from 2008

Here's a curious tidbit about qualifying efforts from the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

• 84 drivers attempted to qualify for at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this season.

• There were 15 different pole winners in 2008:

• Jimmie Johnson (six)
• Jeff Gordon (four)
• Kyle Busch (two)
• Greg Biffle (two)
• Kasey Kahne (two)
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. (one)
• Ryan Newman (one)
• Joe Nemechek (one)
• Denny Hamlin (one)
• Patrick Carpentier (one)
• Paul Menard (one)
• Brian Vickers (one)
• Carl Edwards (one)
• Travis Kvapil (one)
• David Reutimann (one)

• There were four first-time pole winners in 2008.
This continued a 22-year streak of at least one first-time pole winner (1987-2008).

• Patrick Carpentier (New Hampshire)
• Paul Menard (Daytona-2)
• Travis Kvapil (Talladega-2)
• David Reutimann (Homestead)

• Patrick Carpentier and Paul Menard won consecutive career-first poles – the first time that career first poles had been posted in back-to-back races since David Green (Homestead) and Kevin Lepage (Atlanta) in 1999.

Disheartening Rain
• Qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather at the Auto Club Speedway, Bristol, Michigan, Chicago, Watkins Glen, Richmond-2, New Hampshire-2, Lowe’s-2, Martinsville-2 and Atlanta-2.

• 49 different drivers have posted at least one top-10 start, led by Jimmie Johnson with 27.

• The pole winner (or driver who started first) won nine times and finished in the top 10 in 20 races this season.

• Two pole winners went on to finish last in that race: Ryan Newman (Phoenix) and Greg Biffle (Darlington).

• The average finish of the pole winner in 2008 is 12.28.

• Landon Cassill won the pole for the NASCAR Nationwide Series at New Hampshire and Patrick Carpentier followed up with the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race. It was the first time ever that two Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidates swept the poles at the same track in a weekend.


source: nascar press release

Toyota / Save Mart 350 Lineup

The smoother drivers prevailed on Friday in qualifying:

Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson own the front row of the Infineon Raceway race on Sunday, with Kahne on the pole.
Row two has Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte,
Row Three - Jeff Gordon and Elliot Sadler.
(Sadler looked like he had the pole but he hit turn 11 way too hard and slid up to the outside in the turn, losing his lead slot in the process.)
Row Four sees Marcos Ambrose and Robby Gordon.
(Marcos topped the speed charts, surprising everyone, including I think, himself.)
Finally, Row Five residents are Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle.

Oddly, Greg Biffle and Terry Labonte tied in time, but ties are figured out by standings position, and so Terry is relegated to 11th, but good job Terry.

7 Dodge's in the top 11 spots. Maybe I'm making a snap judgment, but it seems that the Dodge camps have the handling aspect of the car down pat. But could there be something with the aero of the make that holds them back on ovals? Just wondering out loud. Anyone have an opinion on this?

See the rest of the line up at NASCAR.

NASCAR Looking at Different Qual Ideas

Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby said Nov. 9 that the sanctioning body is still studying the possibility of having teams outside the top 35 in owner points qualify as a group, but that a final decision has not been made.

And if they would listen to the all knowing fans, and drivers, they'd make it a reality.

It's a great idea to get the teams outside the top 35 to qualify in the same group so they have similar track conditions to compete against each other in.

See the article over at NASCAR

Newman gets the Pole for the Bank of America 500

Ryan Newman captured the pole for the Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motorspeedway with a speed of 189.394. He was almost 1/2 a mile an hour faster than the outside front row winner, Jimmie Johnson at 188.9.

The second row has Bobby Labonte & Jeff Gordon
Third row: Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray
Fourth row: Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch
Fifth row: Casey Mear, Greg Biffle.
Denny Hamlin 11th, Kyle Busch 13th,
Carl Edwards 18th, Kevin Harvick 24th,
Clint Bowyer 25th, Jeff Burton 27th,
Tony Stewart 29th, Martin Truex Jr 32nd.

See the whole line up at FoxSports.

Those who did not make the race are: Dale Jarrett, Joe Nemechek, Brian Vickers, Sam Hornish Jr., Carl Long, Kirk Shelmerdine

Ryan Newman's Qualifying Run Disallowed

When you tune in on Sunday to the LifeLock 400 at Kansas Speedway looking for Ryan Newman to be starting up in the front row, you won't be seeing him there. Rather, he will be starting in the back of the pack.

After qualifying 2nd, Ryan Newman's Dodge failed inspection because the roof was too low.

This will move Kenseth up to the front row. This is a small tidbit in this article at nascar.com, titled Johnson wins another pole with quick lap at Kansas.

Jeff Gordon Gets Pole at Michigan

Jeff Gordon captured his 62nd pole today at Michigan!! He's on a tear!

Capturing the pole put Greg Biffle back to 2nd followed by
Kasey Kahne,
Bobby Labonte,
Elliott Sadler round out the top 5 qualifiers.
Go Bobby!!

Jeremy Mayfield, Dale Jarrett, Scott Wimmer (Furniture Row), Kevin LePage, and AJ Allmendinger DID NOT make the show for Sunday.

See the starting grid at foxsports.com

NASCAR mulls over Qualifying Tweaks

It would seem that the voices have been heard. (It took how long?)

Though NASCAR is probably not going to change the number of guaranteed show makers, they may be considering grouping the "stay or go home" teams into the same general time frames when they attempt their qual runs.

Of course, Helton says this idea has more merit than changing the top 35 guaranteed spots, but that's Helton for ya. The decision will be made, probably before the end of the month.

http://www.indystar.com/

Rain Rain go Away

Cup Qualifying was canceled, the field was set by points.
The Busch race was postponed until Saturday.
(My usual, optimistc self is expecting rain tomorrow too)
Arg.

Race Lineup For Michigan

JJ Yeley gets his first Cup pole! Congrats to JJ...

Here's the top 10 qualifiers:
1 J.J. Yeley
2 Jimmie Johnson
3 Kyle Busch
4 Ryan Newman
5 Joe Nemechek
6 Jeff Gordon
7 Denny Hamlin
8 Martin Truex Jr.
9 Jeff Burton
10 Kurt Busch
See the rest of the lineup at nascar.com

Waltrip now has Points

After the devastating penalties levied out after Daytona, and after missing consecutive races with qualifying woes, Michael Waltrip, after the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover, Michael finally has points that do not have a negative sign!!

Way to go Mikey, getting the Napa, Coca Cola, Dominoes and all his other sponsors labeled car on the track.

Scenedaily.com

Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix Int Raceway

Whatch'ya doin' Saturday night? Watching a race maybe? If so, here's the top 10 from qualifying for Saturday evenings race:

1. Jeff Gordon 133.136
2. Jamie McMurray 132.577
3. Denny Hamlin 132.567
4. Scott Riggs 132.338
5. Jimmie Johnson 132.275
6. Kurt Busch 131.936
7. Martin Truex Jr. 131.670
8. Kevin Harvick 131.661
9. Tony Stewart 131.637
10. Kasey Kahne 131.564

(This is a COT race.)

MARTINSVILLE QUALIFYING Top 10

Here's the pole sitter and the following 9 drivers to round out the top 10 for Sunday's start.
Denny Hamlin
Jamie McMurray
Jeff Gordon
Ken Schrader
J.J. Yeley
Kevin Harvick
Tony Stewart
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Carl Edwards
Johnny Sauter

COT BRISTOL QUALIFYING

Well, yet again Michael Waltrip does not make the show. Neither did Ruetimann, but Dale Jarrett actually got in on time!! Can you believe that!

Jeff Gordon got the pole, followed by Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, Tony Stewart & Jamie McMurray.

For the complete results, go HERE

IF QUALIFYING is RAINED OUT

If ATLANTA Qualifying is rained out,
they go by top 35 in points (During the first 5 races of the year, that would be the top 35 from last year),
then last years' winners,
then past champions (Hey, Jarrett doesn't have to use another provisional this week!),
then points order for who ever is left.

RACE LINEUPS

In the BUSCH Series, the top 5 qualifiers are:
Harvick,
Stremme,
Sorenson,
Kurt Busch,
Bowyer.

CUP Series: The qualifying results for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400,
1 Kasey Kahne 9 Dodge 184.856 mph
2 David Stremme 40 Dodge 184.193 mph
3 Elliott Sadler 19 Dodge 183.874 mph
4 Juan Pablo Montoya 42 Dodge 183.188 mph
5 Jeff Burton 31 Chevrolet 182.976 mph
6 Scott Riggs 10 Dodge 182.865 mph
7 Reed Sorenson 41 Dodge 182.822 mph
8 Sterling Marlin 14 Chevrolet 182.525 mph
9 Joe Nemechek 13 Chevrolet 182.266 mph
10 Kurt Busch 2 Dodge 182.020 mph
11 Dave Blaney 22 Toyota 181.775 mph
12 Kyle Busch 5 Chevrolet 181.763 mph
13 Carl Edwards 99 Ford 181.568 mph
14 Mark Martin 01 Chevrolet 181.494 mph
15 Kenny Wallace 78 Chevrolet 181.379 mph
16 Clint Bowyer 07 Chevrolet 181.293 mph
17 Denny Hamlin 11 Chevrolet 181.074 mph
18 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 181.032 mph
19 Paul Menard 15 Chevrolet 180.953 mph
20 Kevin Harvick 29 Chevrolet 180.905 mph
21 David Gilliland 38 Ford 180.892 mph
22 Kyle Petty 45 Dodge 180.886 mph
23 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 180.820 mph
24 J.J. Yeley 18 Chevrolet 180.802 mph
25 Tony Stewart 20 Chevrolet 180.596 mph
26 Martin Truex Jr. 1 Chevrolet 180.542 mph
27 Tony Raines 96 Chevrolet 180.487 mph
28 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 8 Chevrolet 180.410 mph
29 Jeff Green 66 Chevrolet 180.307 mph
30 Ward Burton 4 Chevrolet 180.258 mph
31 Aric Almirola 80 Chevrolet 180.174 mph
32 Johnny Sauter 70 Chevrolet 180.156 mph
33 Jamie McMurray 26 Ford 180.090 mph
34 Casey Mears 25 Chevrolet 180.060 mph
35 David Ragan 6 Ford 179.826 mph
35 A.J. Allmendinger 84 Toyota 179.964 mph (DNQ)
36 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 179.635 mph
37 Matt Kenseth 17 Ford 179.462 mph
37 Mike Bliss 49 Dodge 179.778 mph (DNQ)
38 Robby Gordon 7 Ford 179.342 mph
39 Ryan Newman 12 Dodge 179.217 mph
40 Ricky Rudd 88 Ford 179.051 mph
41 Dale Jarrett 44 Toyota 176.869 mph
41 John Andretti 37 Dodge 179.223 mph (DNQ)
42 Jon Wood 21 Ford 175.873 mph
43 Bobby Labonte 43 Dodge N/A
44 Brian Vickers 83 Toyota 179.004 mph (DNQ)
45 David Reutimann 00 Toyota 178.571 mph (DNQ)
46 Jeremy Mayfield 36 Toyota 177.258 mph (DNQ)
48 Brandon Whitt 72 Chevrolet 176.523 mph (DNQ)
50 Kevin Lepage 34 Dodge 175.393 mph (DNQ)
51 Michael Waltrip 55 Toyota 173.422 mph (DNQ)
53 Ken Schrader 47 Ford N/A (DNQ)

(DNQ) - bumped from starting grid by other teams owner points, provisional, etc.
Ken Schrader was bumped in his Woods brothers ride for Jon Wood, their son so he can get in on points. Kenny crashed while qualifying.
Bobby Labonte blew a tire in his qualifying run.
Dale Jarret, once again, in on Champions Provisional.