Season Finale at Richmond

Season Finale at Richmond

Matt Kenseth searches for a 2017 playoff berth, along with a ride for 2018. 

Chase Elliott, the soon-to-be driver of the #9 in 2018

Jamie McMurray has had one of his best season in recent memory, can he make it into the playoffs?

There comes a point in every season where tension hits a boiling point. For NASCAR, we've been in the midst of this for the last three weeks. This weekend marks the season finale with only three spots up for grabs. These spots come at a price though. A win gets you into the playoffs, but with only one race left, it could be a chess game Saturday night for Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth, and Chase Elliott. Each driver has a 90+ points margin over 17th place and are within 5 points of each other in points. Virtually the only way these guys don't make it is if someone outside the top 16 wins. Why do I say chess match? Well, Jamie McMurray has the most pressure on him, being at the cutoff line. Kenseth and Elliott need solid runs no matter what. If those two beat McMurray at the end of the night, It could be interesting. But, if McMurray outruns the other two, then either Kenseth or Elliott could be susceptible to not making it in. 

Erik Jones could play spoiler for one of the drivers listed above

As far as those who are on the outside looking in, I have to go with Erik Jones as the potential wild card to get a win. He has been extremely focused for the second half of the season, and has shown maturity as well (even while rocking his majestic mullet). Jones had a solid race weekend, albeit his DNF after 8 laps. He showed consistent speed and lap times throughout practice and qualified in the top dozen. Also, it doesn't hurt that he has had success in the Xfinity series at Richmond, finishing in the top 5 three out of the four times he has started. Could "that Jones kid" play spoil?

The spring edition of Richmond Raceway

It also is a bit of a sad moment in NASCAR, as this marks the final Richmond race serving as the season cutoff (the race will be moved into the playoffs for next season). It will be a bittersweet moment for the Cup series which has held this finale race since the inception of a playoff system. Moving the season finale to Indianapolis for next season is a major gamble. As I have stated numerous times throughout my blog posts, something needs to be done about the quality of racing at the Brickyard. We can not have another showing like we did this past season. The only exciting part was the final 25 laps. What was a bright spot to that weekend was the success of the aero and engine package run by the Xfinity series. From what I have heard, this package could be used for Indianapolis, along with Michigan and Pocono for 2018. The good news about Richmond moving is that it will now be inside of the playoffs. That should make for an interesting day for crew chiefs pondering. Also, just sort of realizing this, but Richmond will be the new night race in the playoffs, as Charlotte will become a permanent afternoon affair (now on the roval!). I hope to make more smaller posts from here on out, I promise!

A Field of Dreams and Opportunity , A Sign of Things to Come from Baku?

A Field of Dreams and Opportunity 

The start of the American Ethanol e15 250 presented by Enogen

By far the best Xfinity race this season, and we get to see it again in just one month! Iowa Speedway has always been a standalone event for the Xfinity and Truck series. This year was an exception though, no Cup drivers were entered for either event. This is how it should be all the time though. Cup drivers do not need extra seat time at tracks. If you can't figure it out by race day, you probably are not very good at certain tracks. The Xfinity and Truck series need to be treated as true feeder series that do not need big name drivers to sell tickets. There is a lot talent that is wasted because of money. Pay-to-driver racers are the death of naturally talented drivers. In a day and age where money means everything, are we truly seeing "the best drivers in the world", or are we really witnessing "the greatest marketing spokespeople in the world"? It's a slippery slope if you really dig deep into a drivers racing roots. I'm not going to name names, but their are quite a few current drivers across the series that do not deserve the rides they're currently in.

A Sign of Things to Come from Baku?

An excited & thrilled Daniel Ricciardo celebrates his 5th career win

One of the most dramatic grand prix in recent memory, the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be remembered as a dirty, gritty, gutsy performance by all drivers. It was dirty because of multiple incidents throughout the race, causing three safety cars (I think Singapore 2014 was the last time that happened) and a red flag. These delays almost caused the race to be shortened due to an FIA rule that stipulates an F1 race be run at two hours max. The race went full distance, and just slightly over the two hour limit (2 hours, 6 minutes). This grand prix also took grit and guts, cases in point, Daniel Ricciardo and Valterri Bottas.

Max Verstappen (R) leads Kimi Raikkonen (L)

Both drivers struggles at the beginning of the race, Bottas making contact and losing a tire with Kimi Raikkneon, and a poor start by Ricciardo relegated him to an alternate pit strategy. Bottas was resilient and methodical in his passes through the field, eventually getting him back to the top 10. Then the safety cars fell back to back to back. It literally was the perfect storm for him. Ricciardo was helped by everyone ahead of him having to pit, then also a major miscue by Sahara Force India, ending their fight for a podium finish. The major turning point for Bottas and Ricciardo was an error by Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. Vettel ran into the back of Hamilton under the safety car, causing Vettel to furiously weave next to Hamilton and make contact with his side barge. Both drivers were able to continue, albeit for a 10 second penalty assesed to Vettel, and a safety stop for Hamilton (his driver safety foams that surrounds his head was not properly reconeccted after the red flag). The stops put both drivers back in the field, nose to tail again. Ricciardo assumed the lead from this, while Bottas was in the top 10. Bottas made his way up to third behind rookie Lance Stroll (brilliant driver for the Great White North's true son), and eventually passed him for second on the final straight at the finish line. Brilliant drives for all the podium finishers.

Sebastian Vettel (L) and Lewis Hamilton (R)

Are we seeing that Mercedes have finally caught Ferrari? Or has Ferrari lost it's edge again? One thing is for certain though, the championship battle will be intense heading through the Hungarian Grand Prix (the final grand prix before F1's month long summer break). I think that Ferrari has some work to do between now and then. They have lost their edge from earlier this season when it appeared that Mercedes was behind on it's development of the 2017 car. Mercedes caught them, but who will continue to develop through the summer and into the second leg of the season? After Hungary, many teams either discontinue develop of their current car, or do limited upgrades for the remainder of the season. The bigger teams will already be in full research and development (R&D) mode for next season by this point. Heading into the Belgian Grand Prix (the first grand prix following summer break), will usually show which teams have consistently developed throughout the season. That is a lot of info to take in for this blog, but it is all true. As for now, the next round in F1 is the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg, home of Red Bull Racing (yes, even though the team is technically based in Milton Keynes, Austria is the official home of Red Bull). A podium finish would be significant for the team heading into summer.

Race Previews for this weekend

F1 goes Blazing Fast through Baku

Turns 8 through 11 run  within the Old City district in Baku, Azerbaijan

The Formula One silly season is in full swing, and there are plenty of outlandish stories swirling around the paddock. Silly season is a term that has been described as "foolish, but possibly true" in the different forms of motorsport. I heard a rumor that almost every number two driver at each team will have a new home in 2018 (very outlandish), or that Fernando Alonso will return to Ferrari, and that if Lewis Hamilton wins the drivers championship, he'll retire from the sport. That last one could be true. What else does Lewis need to accomplish? He most likely will be the all time pole winner in the sport by the Italian Grand Prix, He's won three drivers championships, and also is second in grand prix wins with 56 (Schumacher has 93) currently. Has Lewis become too complacent in F1? Or is he ready for a new challenge? I kind of hope he is ready for a change of scenery, especially if he decides to go racing elsewhere. Does anybody remember the seat swap that he did with Tony Stewart?

2011 Seat Swap with Tony Stewart at Watkins Glen, NY

Also, Tony's NASCAR team, Stewart-Haas Racing (yes, the same Haas as in Gene Haas), has a potential vacancy with their #10 car. Danica Patrick is currently the driver of that car, but rumors among many in NASCAR expect to see her race somewhere else in 2018. That could open the door for Hamilton to make the switch to stock cars. It won't be easy for Hamilton, but I do believe that he would bring a world audience with him and boost attention and awareness in NASCAR. Plus, the team could easily renumber the #10 into the #44 (Hamilton's racing number in F1). One more thing, Monster energy drink is the title sponsor for NASCAR's premier series, and also a sponsor of Hamilton and Stewart-Haas Racing. I think the stars could align positively for both parties in the near future.

Indycar gets "Kohler" at Road America

The long uphill front stretch at Road America

Set at America's greatest road course, Indycar was back at Road America this past Sunday for the Kohler Grand Prix. Road America has a picuresque setting as the course winds up, down, and around the rolling land of East Central Wisconsin (Elkhart Lake, WI to be exact). I have always ranked the track high up on my list of favorite road courses, most likely in the top three. But the track is no easy Sunday drive. For starters, a lap around the full course is 4.048 miles. That's a long lap! There is though a way to break the track into two circuits (not run concurrently). One circuit runs the front portion of the circuit (the frontstretch and down the Moraine Sweep, short cutting the track after Bill Mitchell Bend), while the other runs the backside (it starts after Bend, going down through Kettle Bottoms, into Canada Corner, through Thunder Valley, and turning after Bill Mitchell toward the Hurry Downs and Carousel). That's a lot of knowledge I just dropped on you, let me reel you back in.

Ringers in Wine Country

NASCAR headed west for the second time this season, specifically to Northern California's beautiful wine country of Sonoma. This weekend is notable for the amount of "ringers" racing. Ringers are drivers that are road course specialist who have achieved relative success and respect within non-oval racing series. There talent is what lured these drivers to run on the road courses of NASCAR. However, a transition away from these drivers has been constant in the past 10 years. Last season, only Boris Said ran at road courses for a full time Cup team. This weekend, there are six ringers entered for full time teams (#15 Kevin O'Connell, #23 Alon Day [the first Jewish driver to enter a Cup race], #33 Boris Said, #43 Billy Johnson, #51 Josh Bilicki, #55 Tommy Regan). It seems that Billy Johnson is getting the most publicity out of this group, most likely because he's driving the legendary Petty #43. But personally, I'm looking at another historic start this week for another minority group.

Alon Day sits next to his NASCAR Wheelen Euro Series car

This season we saw the first African-American driver in 11 years make a start in the Cup. Now, as we head to Sonoma, we will have the first ever Jewish driver start a Cup race. Alon Day is originally from Israel, and is a current member of the NASCAR Next program. I like this kid, he's got a lot of potential to do good in the sport. I truly hope that this isn't a one off deal for him. I don't have much information about him, but here's a link below to get to know him.

Getting to know Alon Day

The New Normal (For Now)

Hi everyone! Here's another update on my life with racing. As I stated in my previous post, I have taken a little bit of a break from writing on my blog. Personally, it's been rough on me. I really have missed sharing my analysis and opinions of the differing forms of motorsport throughout the world. Goodness gracious, there's a lot that has transpired! 

The biggest thing that has changed in my life is that I have now become a contributor for The Podium Finish. You can still get my perspective on NASCAR's hot button topics through the weekly series "Track Talk". I absolutely love being able to share my opinions with others close to my age, and (close to) knowledge of the sport. Not to toot my own horn, but I do know a lot! It's nice knowing that there are others out in the world that think like me, which is great. I don't feel so alone in my bubble of personality.

I want to get back into the groove of things with my blog, meaning that I want to be active on here! Hope to have some good insight for after the Sonoma & Iowa race weekend. For those of you who are hardcore NASCAR fans like, you'll like next week’s edition. I'm going to try and cover all three of the series. Tune in next week for it, and don't forget to check "Track Talk" on The Podium Finish website.

A Quick Update

Hi guys! I know it has been almost a month since my last post. I am sorry for the delay in my work! I have been busy in my personal life trying to get things either started, finished, or otherwise left alone. I will let you all know that I have been staying up to date in the racing world, and am extremely excited to see how Formula One is progressing this season, and how NASCAR has been fairly entertaining this season as well. Oh, and did anyone hear about Fernando Alonso running the Indy 500 and Dale Earnhardt Jr. retiring after this season? Yes, it's been a crazy first quarter of the racing for sure! I appreciate your understanding.

Johnson stands firm in Texas, Hamilton back to his winning ways, Hinchcliffe's foxtrot a lucky one

Jimmie Johnson wins 7th race at Texas Motor Speedway

Kevin Harvick (inside lane) leads from pole position for the O'Reilly Auto Parts 500

I took last week off from writing because, well, um, I guess I don't really need to explain why, but I did, and you can't change the fact that I did! Moving on with better things, did you see the Cup race from Texas? Hot-diggity-dog was it strange! From "monsters and dragons laying rubber down," to "hug the bottom," the Texas weekend had a little bit of everything, including a Massive Gut Busting Burrito .

Texas Motor Speedway being repaved

From my first article, I had mentioned that the track had a repave recently, as in 2 months ago. It was made clear that the track would be bland and single file for most of it's first few races. Thank God for that tire monster and dragon! The racing was exciting on Sunday. All track activity before the race was sketchy at best. Many top level drivers either were tip toeing around the track, or spinning and crashing. The major concern was that if you got out of the groove, you were essentially doomed. That was not the case Sunday.

Kyle Busch taps the wall off of turn 2

Erik Jones slams the wall off of turn 4

Chase Elliott spins off of turn 2 and hits the inside wall

Kevin Harvick led the way for a little bit, but it was the single car team from Stuart, VA, aka The Wood Brothers, who dominated the day. Ryan Blaney is a heck of a young driver. He comes from a long line of racers, but none of them have much success in the Cup series. Ryan's father, Dave, had a best finish of 2nd at the fall Talladega race in 2007, and won one Xfinity race, coming at the fall Charlotte race in 2006 (I was there for it!). Ryan has a rare fire and desire to prove he's the best underdog in the sport. His biggest problem is that he's been kicking Jr Nation a little too much this season. Also, he rents a house on Jr's property, so like yeah, that could be a problem. Anyway, he dominated most of the race, winning segments 1 & 2, but a late race pit stop mistake by him cost the team a shot at winning.

Ryan Blaney leads the field after a restart

So if Blaney didn't win, and Harvick fizzled out, then who won? Well, the Texas repave did not keep a certain "7x Champion" from continuing his track dominance (not dominance during the race, but over his career at Texas Motor Speedway). 'Old 7x"captured his 7th career victory at the track but making a late race move around Joey Logano, who had been on an alternate pit strategy, to accomplish the feat. Mr. 7x is none other than Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson (#48) passes Logano (#22) for the lead and eventual win

Johnson and team in victory lane

Jimmie has been the best driver of the 2000's and 2010's (check his stats, they prove it) by far, and pretty much kicked Jeff Gordon off of the pedestal at Hendrick Motorsports. It's extremely ironic that Gordon brought Johnson to Hendrick. Why would you bring kryptonite into your layer? I have grown to like Johnson more and more over the years, especially since Gordon retired. So for all you Jimmie haters, hush hush. Why deny greatness before your eyes? The next race is in two weeks' time at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Lewis Hamilton drives away to victory in China

Hamilton celebrates his first win of 2017

There wasn't much to talk about in China for Formula One. Hamilton lead from the start of the weekend, Ferrari fibbed that they were "holding back until Sunday," and Red Bull were brutally honest in mentioning that they would be "at least a second off of Mercedes & Ferrari's pace." Hamilton dominated a somewhat boring race, but there was a brief glimpse of what's to come. Passing! The race featured a significant amount of Non-DRS Passing, meaning that drivers were pushing their cars to the limit in order to make one, instead of relying on mechanical manipulation.

Start of the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix

The big story this week in F1 is the quick turnaround from racing in the Far East to nigh time in the desert of Bahrain. Literally, each team began its preparation for Bahrain before the end of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend. In F1, logistics is your best friend and mortal enemy. Most grand prix's are homologated together, but sometimes feature quick movement. This week will prove crucial to team performance off the track. I believe that Red Bull can challenge for 2nd place this weekend against the Ferrari's, given that Bahrain has more turns than China did. Mercedes will have a challenge from Ferrari this weekend because of this as well. Mercedes have the best straight line speed, but lack the cornering acceleration that Ferrari and Red Bull have. It's a thin line though between the three teams. You could throw a blanket over them for much of the time! Catch the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend on the good old peacock network.

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James Hinchcliffe foxtrot's down the boulevard in Long Beach

Hinchcliffe celebrates his first win since a life-threatening injury in 2015

"It's a ten from Len" for Mr. Hinchcliffe this past weekend in Long Beach. After competing last spring on "Dancing with the Stars," James Hinchcliffe returned to the land of movie stars in a cheerful and triumphant way. With a little luck during a pit stop, his team was able to foil the bigger teams of Penske and Ganassi. Ok, well, and a little controversy from Indycar officials too. Yes, Hinchcliffe was victorious, Penske seemed vulnerable this weekend, and Ganassi struggled (for what they're use to).

Scott Dixon (lead blue car) goes inside of Hinchcliffe into turn 2 at Long Beach

Back to that controversy though. Indycar is notoriously known for its questionable ethics when it comes to racing. There was an extended period of caution for a stalled car on track. This type of caution should have been a "quickie" yellow (a quick clean up and restart). Instead, the caution was prolonged for six laps. Those extra three laps helped Hinchcliffe's team save enough fuel to go the distance and win the race. The big teams cried foul, but for Hinch's team,they laugh in the spoils of victory. Ah Indycar, art thou a tricky one? Indeed thou are. The next Indycar race is in two weeks on April 23 at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

Vettel & Ferrari victorious over Mercedes in Melbourne, Larson a Bridesmaid No More at Fontana

Vettel & Ferrari victorious in season debut

Traditional drivers photo taken before the start of each season

The 2017 Formula One season kicked into high gear in the wee early hours (if you live on the East coast) of this past Sunday morning. I was extremely excited and happy to kick off a new and adventurous year as a fan. Staying up late just comes with the territory for Far East & Oceania races. As expected, Lewis Hamilton captured pole position, followed by the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, and Hamilton's new teammate Valtteri Bottas in third. Prior to the start of any grand prix, all teams may go around the circuit from pit exit to pit entry in what are called install laps. These are done to check all electronics, tires, engines, wings, etc. on a car before presenting it on the grid. Once on the grid, you can not return to your garage box for any reason, unless your car is deemed unsafe by the FIA stewards. Case in point, and one of my favorite drivers, Daniel Ricciardo, had quite an eventful warm up lap in Melbourne. Nearing the end of his first install lap, his car would not downshift from 6th gear, prompting him to pull aside from the circuit and request help from his race engineers. The engineers relayed between Daniel and the pit box about what to do. Ultimately, they told him to shut the car off and to abandon the car. Ouch, what a gut blow for the native son! 

Ricciardo walks away from his powerless car

Now it was my thinking that if you had to do such a thing before the start of a grand prix, that you forfeited your race completely. I guess I was wrong. After the car returned to the box, the Red Bull team feverishly worked on the car. The crew was able to pinpoint the problem, got Daniel back into the car, and into the race -2 laps down. A delayed start to the race (an unknown reason caused the grid to reform after the parade lap) aided them from starting -4 laps down, compared to their 2.

The start of the 2017 Australian Grand Prix

Hamilton lead the first quarter of the race, closely followed by Vettel in second. Hamilton had complained that he was racing the tires to the max during his first stint, while Vettel, on the contrary, said he could keep up the pace and had no ill feel of his. After Hamilton pitted, Vettel assumed the lead, deciding to pit several laps later. The race was essentially won by a brilliant strategy by Ferrari. They had built up a large enough pit stop delta (a math formula to determine track position before and after a pit stop) to maintain a lead after Vettel's stop. Along with getting the formula correct, Red Bull's other driver Max Verstappen, was in front of Hamilton, preventing him from charging hard to beat Vettel out of the pits. Some would say that Verstappen should have yielded to Hamilton, but it made very little difference. As a matter of fact, Hamilton said after the race that it wuld not have made any difference, that Vettel had a faster car for the race. This was Ferrari's first race win since the Singapore Grand Prix in 2015.

Sebastian Vettel celebrates with his team after winning

Could we have a battle for the driver and constructors championship on our hands between to different teams? I hope so, and it looked so in Melbourne! The next F1 race is the Chinese Grand Prix on April 9th. Once again, it will be a late night/early morning race on the East Coast, oye vey!

Vettel (center), Hamilton (left), and Valtteri Bottas (right) celebrate on the podium

Larson finally breaks through this season

Kyle Larson leads at the start of the Auto Club 400

I am going to sound completely biased in this weeks edition of my NASCAR section, and I have a great reason why. One of my favorite drivers pulled off one of the harder things driver can do at a race weekend. Kyle Larson pulled the double at Auto Club Speedway! He won the Xfinity series race on Saturday and the Cup race on Sunday, which is hard to do, unless your Kyle Busch. To understand why I'm excited about this feat has a much deeper reasoning. My fandom for Larson began last year because of several factors. 

Larson driving in his Xfinity series car at Auto Club Speedway

My favorite driver has been Jeff Gordon since the beginning of my love affair with NASCAR back in 1998. His final year of full time competition was in 2015, with him only winning sporadically the last few seasons. I had accepted the fact that I would be forced to find a new driver to pull for, but was not sure who that would be. I established that it would be Clint Bowyer because after all, he was going to replace Tony Stewart in 2017 (I know, that whole deal was interesting, they hired a guy a complete year before he would race), and I have always liked him, even though he and Jeff had some run-ins. 

Larson and his Xfinity team in victory lane

Where does Kyle Larson fit this story? He fits in right here, the 2016 season. Bowyer was set to have a lame duck season with the now defunct HScott Motorsports in sub par equipment. I thought that Bowyer would be able to use his skills to prove me and everyone else wrong. But by the end of the Daytona 500 that year, I knew it was going to be a struggle. Brutal would be an understatement to how his season went. So by the Martinsville weekend of 2016, I had a backup plan to keep myself from going nuts that season. I liked Chip Ganassi and his co owner, Felix Sabates (actually, I use to go to the same church as Sabates), and what they were doing with their program. It had been a hard couple of seasons for them, but they seemed to catch up to everyone else in 2016 (and now it's really showing in 2017). Larson is a young kid, about the same age as I am, and I think he is going to be in the sport for a long time to come. Plus, I don't want to conform to being a Chase Elliott fan. It left a sour taste in my mouth that he didn't take a different number instead of the 24. I know that someone else drove the 43 after Richard Petty, and now someone else is driving the 3 car after Earnhardt. It just comes with the territory I guess. Anyway, Larson was my sub favorite last season, now achieving my favorite driver for Chevy (Bowyer drives a Ford) this season. It's pretty funny though that both of these guys had their best finishes this weekend, with Bowyer scoring his first top 5 since June of 2015 (holy cow it's been a while!). I guess when your good, your really good!

The massive wide turns at Auto Club Speedway lead to multiple grooves for racing (sometimes up to 6 wide!)

The race was wide, fast, and pretty uneventful until 20 laps to go (about par for course this season). I enjoy this track, and do not understand why the fan base has bashed it so far this week. I'm an old school fan and know what to expect I guess. The segments are a great addition, I will give NASCAR big kudos for the addition of them this season. My father texted me during the second segment and said that Martin Truex Jr (who was dominating this segment) was "showing himself". I replied to him...

The text messages between my father and I

"Showing himself" must've meant showing off I think. Anyway, I pretty much told him flat out who was going to take the checkered flag.

Larson celebrates with his team in victory lane

I called it a week before it happened!

Yes, some may call me the oracle of racing, but I like to think that you just get lucky sometimes. I got lucky on this prediction, Larson dominated the entire weekend, Bowyer got a top 5. All in all, it was a "gnarly" weekend. The next race is April 2nd at the paperclip shaped track of Martinsville Speedway.