CARL EDWARDS Retires From NASCAR

In a quick and sudden announcement that took everyone by surprise, Carl Edwards has "retired" from NASCAR, stepping out of the car immediately.

In his announcement, Edwards said that,

"I'm stepping away from full-time driving in the Cup Series. ... This is the most scared I've been about anything. The time is right for me to move on to new adventures in life.

This has been a very difficult decision for me but I'm confident that it is the right one. I could not have a better situation in racing than the one I currently have, so stepping away from that certainly took a lot of consideration.

I have a lot of interests in life outside of sports that deserve my attention and I feel strongly that the time to do that is now. I've been racing for more than 20 years. It's amazing the opportunities that racing, and NASCAR in particular, have provided me. The people I've met and the things I've been able to do. I'm very grateful for all of that.

I'm satisfied with my career and my accomplishments. Racing for me has never really been about trophies. Of course I love winning, but there is a thrill to going into a corner at nearly 200 mph competing against the best in the world. I absolutely love that. Obviously there are risks involved in racing that I never take for granted, either, and I'm happy to be able to walk away from the sport fully healthy. I just believe that it's hard to start the next chapter in your life until I close this one. It is an awesome sport, but very demanding with year-round commitments and a lot of time on the road."

There's a lot of speculation about what is really happening behind the scenes in his home, as to why he may really be leaving. And maybe it's just that. It's time to move on.

Or maybe his wife had a good example for his stepping down, when you look at things like Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s concussion scenario and how it's impacted his life outside of racing while it sidelined him for months while he recovers from his brain injuries.

Considering his sentence about "I'm happy to be able to walk away from the sport fully healthy." could be the clue.

Who knows, though some folks did point out in his statement about how he loves going into corners at 200 mph and it's never really been about trophies.  (Um, then why was he wrecking everyone in those first few years of his time on the Cup scene?)

Here's NASCAR's statement in Carl Edwards retiring...

“Carl Edwards has made an indelible mark on NASCAR. His hard-charging driving style has led to memorable moments that will live forever in the history of our sport. Carl’s passion and personality will greatly be missed – as will the signature backflips that NASCAR fans have come to expect following his victories. We wish Carl nothing but the best as he enters this next phase in life.”

Now that's a succinct goodbye!

I've never been a fan of his, considering what a raging, angry asshole he seemed to be with his many on-track tiffs with multiple drivers, both on the track and garage and pit road. It's like he had an angry side of him just waiting to get out. And when he toned it down, it seemed like there was still something inside, wanting out, that he had to temper constantly, as he spun his image into something friendlier with the fans.

But I never recovered from his angry days.

OK, so we're taking bets...  when do you think he'll end up in the broadcast booth? (And threatening co-anchors for the camera spot? LOL)

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Official Race Results from Sonoma

This is a quick recap of the Sprint Cup Series Official Race Results from Sonoma for the 26TH ANNUAL TOYOTA/SAVE MART "350."

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES OFFICIAL RACE REPORT No. 16
26TH ANNUAL TOYOTA/SAVE MART "350"
SONOMA RACEWAY

Sonoma, CA - June 22, 2014
1.99-Mile Oval
110 Laps - 352.285 Miles Purse: $5,743,595

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Carl Edwards won the Toyota - Save Mart 350, achieving his 23rd NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory and first at Sonoma.  But if they had more laps, Jeff Gordon might have overtaken Carl and won the race himself.  It was a very popular win ans the crowd went crazy. 

Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: #40, #44 (driver change).

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TIME OF RACE:2 hours, 51 minutes, 30 seconds       AVERAGE SPEED:76.583 mph      MARGIN OF VICTORY:0.591 second(s)
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD:  Jamie McMurray (96.35 mph. 74.354 secs.)
3M LAP LEADER:  AJ Allmendinger (35 Laps)

Caution Flags: 6 cautions for 19 laps. [Beneficiary in Brackets]
32-34 (Fluid On The Track From #40 [7]);
62-64 (Car #83 Stalled On The Track [95]);
72-74 (Debris Turn 10 [18]);
76-79 (Car #20, 88 Accident Turn 7 [10]);
83-85 (Car #15, 4, 1 Accident Turn 11 [2]);
92-94 (Car #55, 17 Accident Frontstretch [23]).

Lap Leaders:  11 lead changes among 9 drivers.
McMurray 1-8, Allmendinger 9-21, Harvick 22-31, Allmendinger 32-53,
McMurray 54, J. Gordon 55-57, Harvick 58-70, Johnson 71,
Logano 72-74, Bowyer 75-79, Ambrose 80-84, Edwards 85-110.

Food City 500 Official Results

Was the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway a crazy kind of race, or what?  We had weather, a "trophy dash," more weather, almost a race, more weather, then racing, with a side of human error on that last lap.

But apparently the human error in triggering the caution lights didn't upset the apple cart too much, with only three drivers getting a position changed.

To be honest, I'd rather have a caution light "oops" rather than a process that takes too long to engage.  And aside from that, how many times have we ever seen errant caution flags?

With that said, Carl Edwards is now, more than likely, in The Chase.  Well, I'd rather see him get in early, than get desperate and start plowing through folks to get a berth in the race-offs.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES OFFICIAL RACE REPORT No. 4
54TH ANNUAL FOOD CITY "500"
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Bristol, TN - March 16, 2014
.533-Mile Oval
500 Laps - 266.50 Miles Purse: $5,630,559

Race Comments: Carl Edwards won the Food City 500, his 22nd NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Prior to the green flag to start the event, the following car(s) will drop to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: #27, 30 (Engine Change); #40 (backup car); #98 (pitting before green).

TIME OF RACE:3 hours, 11 minutes, 23 seconds       AVERAGE SPEED:84.051 mph      MARGIN OF VICTORY:Under Caution

COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD:  Denny Hamlin (129.991 mph. 14.761 secs.)

3M LAP LEADER:  Matt Kenseth (165 Laps)

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				Fin	Bon.
Pos	No	Driver	Laps	Pts	Pts	Status	Laps Led
1	99	Carl Edwards	503	47	4	Running	78
2	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	503	42	0	Running
3	43	Aric Almirola	503	41	0	Running
4	14	Tony Stewart	503	40	0	Running
5	9	Marcos Ambrose	503	39	0	Running
6	11	Denny Hamlin	503	39	1	Running	4
7	24	Jeff Gordon	503	37	0	Running
8	5	Kasey Kahne	503	37	1	Running	16
9	55	Brian Vickers	503	35	0	Running
10	42	Kyle Larson #	503	34	0	Running
11	3	Austin Dillon #	503	33	0	Running
12	16	Greg Biffle	503	32	0	Running
13	20	Matt Kenseth	503	33	2	Running	165
14	2	Brad Keselowski	503	31	1	Running	40
15	15	Clint Bowyer	503	30	1	Running	5
16	31	Ryan Newman	503	28	0	Running
17	51	Justin Allgaier #	502	27	0	Running
18	10	Danica Patrick	502	26	0	Running
19	48	Jimmie Johnson	501	26	1	Running	44
20	22	Joey Logano	500	25	1	Running	12
21	27	Paul Menard	500	23	0	Running
22	38	David Gilliland	500	22	0	Running
23	98	Josh Wise	499	21	0	Running
24	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	499	20	0	Running
25	47	AJ Allmendinger	498	19	0	Running
26	7	Michael Annett #	497	18	0	Running
27	13	Casey Mears	497	17	0	Running
28	36	Reed Sorenson	497	16	0	Running
29	18	Kyle Busch	496	16	1	Running	73
30	40	Landon Cassill	496	0	0	Running
31	34	David Ragan	495	13	0	Running
32	23	Alex Bowman #	493	12	0	Running
33	32	Travis Kvapil	491	11	0	Running
34	30	Parker Kligerman #	487	10	0	Running
35	41	Kurt Busch	473	10	1	Running	28
36	78	Martin Truex Jr	471	8	0	Running
37	95	Michael McDowell	469	7	0	Running
38	1	Jamie McMurray	453	7	1	Accident	10
39	4	Kevin Harvick	450	6	1	Accident	28
40	26	Cole Whitt #	430	4	0	Running
41	66	Joe Nemechek	322	0	0	Rear Gear
42	83	Ryan Truex #	271	2	0	Accident
43	33	Timmy Hill	160	1	0	Accident

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Caution Flags: 12 cautions for 95 laps. [Beneficiary in Brackets]
52-57 (Competition [36]);
61-64 (Debris Turn 2 [7]);
67-75 (Debris Backstretch [98]);
119-136 (Precipitation [Red Flag: Lap 125, 3:18:58] [22]);
157-166 (Car #10, 26 Accident Turn 1 [16]);
188-192 (Competition [98]);
277-284 (Car #83 Accident Backstretch [16]);
333-338 (Car #34, 95 Accident Frontstretch [41]);
395-403 (Car #18 Accident Turn 4 [9]);
424-429 (Car #78 Accident Turn 2 [3]);
452-461 (Car #4 Accident Turn 1 [15]);
500-503 (Track Caution Lights Triggered [31]).

Lap Leaders:  20 lead changes among 12 drivers.
Hamlin 1,
Keselowski 2-41,
Logano 42-53,
Johnson 54-97,
Kenseth 98-119,
Ku. Busch 120,
Kenseth 121-152,
Ku. Busch 153-178,
McMurray 179-188,
Ku. Busch 189,
Bowyer 190-194,
Ky. Busch 195-267,
Kahne 268-277,
Hamlin 278,
Kahne 279-284,
Kenseth 285-333,
Hamlin 334,
Kenseth 335-396,
Hamlin 397,
Harvick 398-425,
Edwards 426-503.

Failed to qualify: (2) #35 David Reutimann; #77 Dave Blaney

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NEXT EVENT: March 23, 2014 - 18th Annual Auto Club 400, Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, CA (400 Miles) (200 Laps)

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Bristol's Goofed Caution Hilights The Hazard of the Chase

Last Sunday's race at Bristol was a whacky one indeed.  From the rain and quickie first round, to the second bout of rain, to that crazy 'caution flag' ending, I think something rather telling took place after the fact.

First off, now Carl Edwards is now in the Chase with his Bristol win, and there's no question that he would have taken the win at Bristol.  But in an MRN article, something came to light that I have been concerned about with the new process for qualifying for The Chase.

Since wins are now what gets a driver in the Chase, I was wondering when it will come down to a bumper being used to get one of those coveted Chase slots?  And to be honest, Carl Edwards was my prime suspect, considering how he used his front bumper liberally a few seasons back.  But I felt a bumper was an inevitable event.

But in a word bite from Ricky Stenhouse Jr., here's that telling quote from the MRN article:

"Stenhouse was ready to make his move on the restart.

“I was thinking that I would use the bumper if the opportunity was there,’’ Stenhouse said, laughing. “If you get the win, you’re in the Chase and you can let the rest take care of itself later. That’s what I was really thinking if we went back to green."

And that's what I am concerned about throughout the rest of this season.  Who will use an opportunity to get themselves into the Chase, and eliminate others from their moment?

Heck, even Edwards felt that neither he or Stenhouse were going to make it to the checkered flag if they had to race back to it.

As it stands, NASCAR is looking at how this simple human mistake that caused the premature caution to fly, can be prevented in the future.  Obviously this wasn't something that happens often (that we know of) but I'm sure it will be heavily addressed this week in the various online and TV and radio telecast shows throughout the upcoming week.

Here's the great article over on MRN.

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Is Edwards in Deep? Did Bowyer Really Do That?

NASCAR Released the following statement today (9-8-13):

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 8, 2013) – “NASCAR is reviewing Saturday night’s race at Richmond International Raceway per protocol and has no plans for further statement until that process is complete.”

I'm wondering who they're talking about?  LOL.

OK, more than likely, it's that questionable last restart where Carl Edwards blew off the race leader, Paul Menard and got to the restart line before Menard.  It was so blatant a blind man could see it!

And Edwards was not black flagged for the deed.

That is where I think NASCAR is focused.

But then there's Michael Waltrip Racing.

That restart that allowed Carl Edwards to jump the start with three laps to go was brought about by a single-car spin by Clint Bowyer.

It was called a suspect spin by many last night and today.

If Bowyer had not spun, it looked like Ryan Newman, with a surmountable lead, would have won.  And that win would have eliminated Martin Truex Jr. from the season closing Chase for the Championship.

But instead, after a snag of a pit stop, Newman did not win the race and Martin Truex Jr. got into the Chase.

It's here that things start to look interesting, from the outside, looking in.

First up:

Statements from Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was behind Boyer when he spun, who said,

"

He just spun right out.  That’s the craziest thing I ever saw. He just came right around.

He was hemming around on the brakes and jerking the car around, and then the thing just spun out. It was crazy. I don’t know what was going on.

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Then there were statements made by Bowyer himself about the spin:

NASCAR Hits TV Ratings High Hopes While Ryan Newman Gets Trounced

 Last night's Richmond race was the race to watch on TV, as drivers were getting seeded into the 2013 Chase for the Championship.

And the race delivered a pretty suspenseful evening as the laps started to wind down and some were in, some were not, depending on where in the field they were at what point in the closing laps we were in.

Poor Newman.
Ryan Newman got himself into the lead with ten laps to go.  This effectively had him eliminate MWR driver Martin Truex Jr. from the Chase.

But suddenly another MWR driver spun down the front stretch bringing out a caution.  Everyone up front pitted and Newman lost the lead in the pits.

If the race had stayed green, many think Newman would have won it and found himself in the Chase.  But via a fortuitous (or questionable) spin by his teammate, Truex found himself in the hunt to get into the Chase.  And he did, via a points tie-breaker over Newman.

Then there was the restart where Carl Edwards beat the race leader to the line on the restart.  You know that rule where back in June, Jimmie Johnson was black-flagged for "jumping the start" while Montoya bobbled, hung back (I mean never got going) and never let Johnson get back behind him?  Yea, that rule was in neutral last night it seems.

Yea, well, any way, if Edwards was dinged for that move, one wonders if Newman would have still lost to Truex?

Be it as it may, after the race, Newman said that his chances to win the race were eliminated because he did not have a championship contending pit crew.

Sure, Newman was upset at the time.  But one has to wonder if that also wasn't a shot at the team that let him go for lack of funding, then replaced him and added another team to the garage.

Be it as it may, (rumors suggest Newman is headed to RCR, if I heard right the other day), it is what it is.

But what's of interest to me this morning is that the estimation for last night's live programming TV ratings for NASCAR have it prety much tied with FOX's college football broadcast.

So Who Are The NASCAR Wild Card Contenders Going Into Richmond??

Headed to Richmond, we have a few drivers poised to snag a wild card spot in the Chase for the Cup.  As it stands, if nothing changes, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch are those wild cards.  But it's Richmond!  Anything can change there.

And though they're all desperate to get into the Chase, of this bunch, I think Carl Edwards is the most dangerous.  His rep precedes him and if he's looking at the checkered flag over the roof on only one car in his way, my bet is that car is going to get man-handled coming out of turn 4 if Edwards has the car for it.

It should be a pretty fun night this Saturday night... well, at least for the fans of the sport.

I wonder if everyone will warm up their "helmet tossing" arms before getting into their cars?

All NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers eligible to capture a Wild Card spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup includes:

·         Kasey Kahne, driver of No. 5 Quaker State Chevrolet
·         Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota
·         Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet
·         Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 MAC Tools Ford
·         Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet
·         Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota
·         Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Kellogg's Ford
·         Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 Menards-Moen Chevrolet

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Carl Edwards Gets New Crew Chief

Jack Roush made an early announcement noting that Chad Norris will be taking over as crew chief for Carl Edwards.

Bob Osborne steps down but is staying with the team in a management & steering committee position.

Do you think this will help, hurt or hinder Carl's performance on the track?

NASCAR
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Carl Edwards Restart Gate, The Newest Drama in NASCAR

During the Richmond race last Saturday night, those last 50 laps or so saw fortunes come and go, but none so much as the Carl Edwards snafu that took place when he took off too early on the green flag.

But did he goof or get overtly over aggressive?  Depending on who you read, different names/numbers were on the leader board in the infield.

It seems at one point, the infield leader board showed Carl Edwards as the leader, and when the race restarted on lap 319, Edwards took that to heart.

But then later Tony Stewart said that after the caution, they were the first to line up after the pit stops that were under caution and when he looked, saw that he was the leader on the board.

Oh, that pesky board.

Looking around the web (Twitter, Facebook and the myriad of hundreds of other social platforms), here's what bits I caught:

At one point, the leader board did seem to show Edwards leading.  A few folk relayed that message around to the team members.  (Yet I'm thinking, if you know you pulled out of the pits 2nd, why aren't you thinking this one through?)

But then what I heard was that while the cars were scuffing/warming up the tires under caution, Edwards car pulled a bit in front of Stewart's car and the leader board, being live apparently, registered this change, and some folks had bad timing when they looked up to see who was supposed to be where.

We've seen that a million times, the pair of lines of cars coming down the track, the cars swerving madly (so it looks) left and right to get the rubber schmootz off the tires, getting ready for the restart.  Right?

And when they do that, either line can incidentally scoot out in front of the other one for just a second or two.  No one is worried about places during this phase of the lap, because it's under caution.  The critical time of the race is when the flag flies.  Then you need to be in the right spot on the track.

So it was bad timing when then Edwards team members and Carl, looked up to see where they were at.

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The other issue was that Carl "started" the race way too early, before the approved acceleration or start line zone on the track where the competitors in the front row can put the pedal to the metal.  Yea, he left a wee bit too early.

With that said, another mistake that could be a costly one, come this November, if Carl Edwards is contending once again.  This could be the one moment he looks back and kicks himself.  Or, like last season, pick one!  Any one moment last season, had he inched out one more position in any of the races last year would have captured him the championship.

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Keselowski's Enemy: EFI; Edwards Aplogizes; Jr Ticked at Mark?

Keselowski's EFI Troubles Persist
As the closing laps of the Kobalt Tools 400 were winding down, for but a moment the No. 2 car of Brad Keselowski looked like he had the race won... or at least in strong contention for the win.

But then on a restart, not only did Brad drop like a rock from the front row to pit road, but ended up several laps down.  And despite the EFI not picking up any fuel, they had ended the day with fuel in the car.  Which means something was afoul with the EFI system.

Brad's team is struggling to figure things out because the last thing they really need are more potentially good runs getting ruined by the new EFI system.  And they took this on the chin, saying it's on them to figure it out.

Oh, and by the way, this was the same issue they had the previous week at Phoenix, but they didn't get stung so bad there.


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Edwards Apologizes to Kenseth

Where have we heard this before?:  "It's too bad he got wrecked."

Last weekend during one of the many restarts to the Las Vegas race, Carl Edwards had come down on the apron of the track while getting a jump on his teammate.  By going below the line, by the time turn one came up, Edwards had to get up onto the actual racing surface.  This forced Kenseth up the track and into Kasey Kahne and the wall.

The results?

Edwards 5th, Kahne 19th, Kenseth 22nd.

News reports said that Matt Kenseth left the track pretty quickly while Edwards might have been looking for him...  but the apology sounds like something we'll probably be seeing more of.

To be honest, I think we're going to be seeing more of the old Carl Edwards when it comes to doing what he has to, to secure every extra point this year.  Last year he lost the championship to a tie breaker with Tony Stewart.  And I thought back then that this bodes ill for the 2012 season, because all he had to do was finish one spot higher at any one race to be the NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion.

I think this year he's going to make sure he has that extra point.  And we all know what that means to anyone in his way.  Carl is an aggressive driver who does not apologize for his actions, even when it involves entire fields of cars caught up in his winning ways, so gang, look out!

But regarding last weekend, it really didn't look like Carl forced Kenseth up the track.. but that it's possible that Matt just had the air pulled off his car and he got sucked up into the wall.  But then again, that might not have taken place if they weren't three-wide coming past the green flag on the restart!

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Dale Earnhardt Jr Apologizes to Mark Martin

Man, what is it with all the apologies coming out of Vegas?

With around 25 laps to go, Dale Earnhardt Jr. plowed the back of Mart Martin's car, sending him into the wall and relegating him to an 18th place finish while Dale Jr. finished 10th.

The reason for the plow?

It seems that Earnhardt was passing Martin on the outside at one point and Martin drove defensively, slowing Earnhardt down.  Junior says there's some unwritten etiquette about this situation.

He also pointed out that he didn't mean to cause the kind of damage to Mark's car that ensued after shoving him up the track.  But that always seems to be the case, isn't it?

Me, I see it as racing as it is.

But Dale Jr. did have a good looking day yesterday until he got mired in traffic and then it was a struggle to get back to that winning speed once he was out of clean air.  Well, at least Junior Nation had some fun watching those first 70 laps!

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[nascar.com: Keselowski EFI Issues]

[scenedaily.com: Carl Edwards sorry]

[scenedaily.com: Earnhardt Jr frustrated]
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'Daytona 500' Telecast Top-10 Bonehead or Funny Observations

The Daytona 500 was a true test of the NASCAR fan, with the telecast having lasted six hours. 

And maybe the first caution that started on lap 2, that took out Jimmie Johnson and Danica Patrick might have been a warning. 

Though rain forced the postponement of the race until Monday, the huge stoppage this night wasn't for rain this time around, but for another incident involving the track.  Last year we watched the track get repaired with bondo after it came apart... all so the boys could get back to racing.  This year, Juan Pablo Montoya (by no fault of his) provided the two hour and five minute stoppage as something in his car broke and that sent his red No. 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevy up into the jet dryer trucks that were out blowing debris off the track surface.  This ignited a huge fire and set our next couple of hours on a course of action no one could evade.

But the red flag period, for what it was, actually provided some interesting NASCAR news fodder, after and during the fact.

First up was how the ratings did not suffer from the stoppage... Fox stayed at No. 2 in the ratings race for the night, and that's impressive!  I thought for sure viewers would tune out. 
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TV Ratings for the Daytona 500

Daytona 500 (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 8.4/13 (#2)
8:30 p.m.: 8.4/12 (#2)
9:00 p.m.: 7.8/11 (#2)
9:30 p.m.: 8.4/12 (#2)
10:00 p.m.: 9.9/15 (#1)
10:30 p.m.: 9.2/15 (#1)

(Ratings via TV Media Insights)

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But what did ensue during the stoppage was interesting.  And if you keep score, I think Daryl Waltrip might have won this round of observations.

1. :  In the lap 2 crash, the in-car footage shows Jimmie Johnson letting go of the steering wheel and crossing his arms while getting hit.  Daryl Waltrip seems to credit Danica Patrick for the drivers adopting this practice.  (Never mind the previous years of experience and that this has been Johnson's practice for quite some time.)
2. : Daryl Waltrip credited Danica Patrick's driving skills for getting through the mess...  except that the car was hit, spun, thumped and slid out of control through a few cars, threading the needle, so to speak.  All, without any intervention from the driver who was along for the ride.
3. :  It's a sad statement of sorts as to your name-driver status, Juan Montoya's impact with the jet dryer truck was not captured on tape.
4. :  During the huge fire of the track dryer truck, while it's still burning brightly, Daryl Waltrip suggests on live TV that someone should get in the truck and drive it off the track to save the track surface.  (Oh look, Daytona has a mid-race entertainment show with a flaming truck screaming past the stands.)
5. :  During the red flag, Fox started showing the ads, side-by-side, with the "action" on the track... of parked cars and drivers walking around.  Then when the race gets going, we're back to regular ads.  Somebody needs to make better judgement calls in the booth.
   
6. :  During the red flag, I stupidly Tweeted that no one was doing the Sterling Marlin.  That means getting out of your car to work on it during a red flag.  Rules state you can't do that.  But then we find out that Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch both were sent to the back of the pack for pulling off their window tear-offs aka dust protectors.  Harsh!
7. : NASCAR Reporter Dustin Long tweeted something I RT'd:  "In the remastered Days of Thunder version, Harry will tell Cole to go out and hit the jet dryer instead of the pace car."
8. :  During the red flag, the cameras closely follow Danica Patrick walk off track and taking the top of her fire suit off...  So the race was turning into a GoDaddy ad or breaking NASCAR news was Danica runs for the potty!
9. :  During the red flag (Man, that red flag created some great events) Brad Keselowksi started tweeting from his inside his car and sent a pciture to Twitter... and gained more than 100,000 new followers.   Brad started the race with just over 80k followers.  Today, as I'm writing this, he now has 207K followers!  Brad even got himself on Mashable for it.
10. : For the Dave Blaney fan:  For 2 hours, Dave Blaney led the Daytona 500 field...  during the red flag.

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Car Photos from Daytona International Speedway

Hey all, I had a "man" on the inside...  OK, at the track and he snagged some images for me to use here on NASCAR Bits & Pieces!  My "man" is Leon Hammack, the power behind Working On My Redneck and he embodies the cooperative nature of cool, co-peers in the world of blogging.

With that said, check out the cool pics he sent me from Daytona, from the '72 hours of Daytona!' (click to enlarge) -Bruce

 Carl Edwards no. 99 Ford

 Daytona 500 race winner, Matt Kenseth!

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Denny Hamlin's No 11 Joe Gibbs machine

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 Jimmie Johnson, 

the man who didn't make it past lap 2 and will probably not have crew chief for a few races!

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Who's Not In The Daytona 500 Yet And How Are They Going to Get There?

As you all know, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle are in the Daytona 500 this upcoming weekend, having secured front row starting spots for the race.  But that's all last Sunday's qualifying did, lock those two in.  Roush-Fenway Racing is represented!

But with the qualifying session over, we still have several spots to fill and more drivers than spots willing to fill them.

The first 35 spots are already filled because of the Owner's Points from last year.  How you get those points, with either racing and earning them last year, of buying them from another team in some fashion, well, doesn't matter.  Those in possession of the much coveted Owner's Points are in the race.

But that leaves several drivers on the outside looking in.  Or maybe, leering at each other, wondering who is going to get what.

There are a few drivers who have to figure out how to get into the Daytona 500 and it's mildly complicated.  You can either wait until after the Gatorade Duels on Thursday and the media will tell everyone who is in or going home.  Or, if you like trying to understand the process, well, here we go...

(I have a simplified explanation, without names of The Qualifying Process for the Daytona 500 here.)

Those drivers that need to nab just a few spots left in the starting grid are:

1. Defending Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne,
2. Dave Blaney,
3. Bill Elliott,
4. Robby Gordon,
5. Terry Labonte,
6. Michael McDowell,
7. Joe Nemechek,
8. Tony Raines,
9. Robert Richardson,
10. David Stremme,
11. Kenny Wallace and
12. JJ Yeley.

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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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Does Nashville Have Busch’s Number?

Kyle Busch comes to Nashville off his win last week at Texas – his 23rd in 143 career races.

His last win moves him up to seventh all-time – and he’s back to within striking distance of standings leader Carl Edwards at 38 points out. But does he have any real momentum on his side? Maybe not if he lets it haunt him that he’s never won at Nashville.

Nashville looks like his thorn in Kyle Busch’s side.

He has only one top-10 finish in six tries, which was a sixth-place in his first race there in 2004. Last year he captured the pole and led a race-high 125 laps but a self-inflicted wound, a spin on Lap 62, took him out of contention and he finished 16th.

Then he also has to keep an eye towards Carl Edwards. Edwards has been given the nickname of “Concrete Carl” thanks in large part to basically owning the track.

He’s the all-time leader in wins with three and has finished out of the top five only once – last June when he was 13th.

CARL EDWARDS Preseason Thunder Interview

CARL EDWARDS
Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images

He was last year's NASCAR Sprint Cup series runner up who will be driving the No. 99 Aflac Ford. He feels that coming into the Daytona 500, they'll pick up right where they left off. Realistically though, no one really knows where they stack up with out any in-depth testing.

LADIES, you may want to sit down for this, but Carl got married over the break. Sorry. On the bright side, he thinks that being married will help ground him and having Kate in his life with that grounding affect will make him a "better race car driver or able to do my job better, focus more."

He was asked to toss out some odds on how everyone stacks up, but like myself, he echoed that it takes up to ten races to see how everyone stacks up over the different tracks.

To be more competitive, some things have to improve, or get changed up. With that in mind, Carl says that one of the ingredients for getting a stronger teams was adding Pierre Kuettel as the car chief on the 99, replacing Jason Myers. Myers hasn't left the team and is applying his own skill sets elsewhere within the No 99 team. Carl thinks it's going to as head mechanic. (Don't quote him though) Carl feels that they are back in the same form the team was in during the 2005 season but with the added talent of Keuttel.

One person he seems worried about this year is Mark Martin. Carl feels that if Martin makes it to the chase, in the equipment he'll be in, "... it's going to be tough. You're going to have to beat Mark Martin to win the championship."

Having come so close to winning the Cup last year, his team is hungry for another shot at it. As he put it, "It's no fun to watch somebody celebrate the championship when you're second, but it was a little easier from victory lane."

Regardless of how well anyone can plan, unknowns still come at that team. As a driver, Carl can plan out how to approach the season, but team wide planning also has to be responsive to so many things throughout the year. It's great to have a plan, but from what he said, it comes down to having a great "plan B", as I put it.

When asked about contending for another Nationwide Series championship and if his rivalry with Kyle Busch will spill over into the Cup side, Carl said, "Yeah, I think it's going to be fun."

He clarified it by defining rivalry as akin to the points battle like Clint and he did at the end of the year. Me, I was thinking more of a fender, paint exchange kind of rivalry!

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For me, I think one of the biggest things Carl has to work on is his patience in restrictor plate racing. It was his level of patience that took him out of the contention for the Cup at Talladega. If he truly is more grounded, it might just add one more complex layer of patience to his entire set of driving tactics. If that's true, then Johnson will definitely have his hands full this year trying to take back the Cup.

source: nascar media

Cursed to Win??

Observations by Bruce:

Carl Edwards just swept Homestead with wins in the Nationwide and Cup races and in both series and he came in 2nd in the points standings in both series.

Great accomplishment Carl.... let's look to next year!

The Nationwide Series Heads To Homestead

This Nationwide race going to Homestead will be the 14th time in the 27-year history of the 2nd tier series that the season title will be decided in the last race of a season.

Driver's Championship Clint Bowyer is looking for his first NASCAR national series title as he has a 56 point cushion over Carl Edwards. But I don't think cushion would be the word that Bowyer would use. I say that because 7 races ago, Edwards was 207 points behind him, but through the virtue of herculean efforts by driver and team, Edwards has won three times, had two runner-up finishes and has stayed in the top 5 for every race.

All Clint Bowyer has to do is finish 8th or better and the title is his, no matter what Edwards does. Yet nothing is set in stone as you might remember that Bowyer finished last weekends race all duct taped up!

Though a lot of focus is on the Cup series, I think that will pan out and this points race will have some serious merit throughout the event. Of course, we'll have to just wait, watch and see what happens.

Remember, 8th or better.


Owner's Championship The No. 20 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has a 28-point lead over the No. 2 Chevrolet from Richard Childress Racing. Joey Logano will drive the No. 20 at Homestead, trying to shore up that contest while Clint will be trying to do his own Owners points dance trying to win it for RCR.

Did you know that RCR s tied with DEI for the all-time lead with four series owner titles?

All the No. 20 has to do is finish 2nd to clinch the title, and I just won't be surprised if Logano does that.


Rookies After Phoenix, Landon Cassill wrestled the lead away from Bryan Clauson in the rookie race by six points. Strangely, Cassill will have to just watch the race and see what develops as Dale Earnhardt Jr. is entererd in the No. 5 Chevy. Not sure what's up there. Being Hendrick, I'd think they give Cassill the wheel to try and take the Trophy. Does this imply a lack of faith, or lack of focus on his rookie driver? We just get to watch to see if Clauson can do this without much competition on the track.


Kenny Wallace Makes a Milestone
Did you know that Kenny Wallace will be making his 418th series start this Saturday? Second only to Jason Keller with 456 starts. Kenny has 772 combined starts in NASCAR's three national series.


Speaking of Records: Kyle Busch has one more shot to bust the record for wins in a season. Winning on Saturday will give him his 11th win of the season and push past his present stance of sharing the 10 win mark with two-time champion Sam Ard.

source: nascar press release

Observation of Haves and Have Nots

A Humorous observation by Bruce Simmons:

During the rain delay in Phoenix did you notice:

Contending for the Championship, 2nd in points: The No. 99 car gets a cool looking car cover, even with zip open windows and all that. Carl Edwards was livin' phat!

3rd in points: The No. 16 car of Greg Biffle gets a large clear glad bag for a rain cover!!!

Oh, the love! Not!!

When's The Last Time Ford Had 8 Wins?

With Carl Edwards' win in the Dickies 500 at Texas last weekend, this gave Carl his 15th career win and 8th win of the 2008 season in his Ford. This is the 10th win for Ford overall this year.

The last time a Ford driver won 8 times in a season was back in 1994 when Rusty Wallace powered his black Miller Genuine Draft No. 2 Ford to 8 wins.

Of course, Carl has a long way to go to tie or break the record set in 1964 by Ned Jarrett in his Bondy Long Ford with 15 wins. Sigh... I'm not sure with Chevy's dominance that Ford will ever see that record anytime soon.

If Carl Edwards gets one more win, he will tie Richard Petty for his 9 wins in his Ford in 1969.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. First, we have to have good runs, and catch Jimmie Johnson. A deed most believe is not likely this year.

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