Keselowski Wins Las Vegas 400 as Jr. Runs Out Of Gas

LAS VAGAS, NV – The stars were aligned for Brad Keselowski Sunday who won the Las Vegas Kobalt 400 with a last-lap pass of Dale Earhardt Jr who ran out of gas.  "I think 10, 15 laps, whatever that was, and forced him to kind of get up into his speed line, and that was just taking fuel from his car," Keselowski said. "Once that happened, I knew we were in really good shape. It was going to play out one of two ways: He was going to have to get in fuel conservation mode and I think I could have passed him and drove away, or he was going to have to burn fuel to keep me behind him. At that point it was just a matter of whether a yellow came out or not because it was just a ticking time bomb, and it worked in our favor today."

Despite running out of gas, Jr. was able to hold on to a second place finish, followed by Paul Menard, Joey Logano and Carl Edwards.  "We weren't going to run first or second had we not stayed out on that strategy," said Earnhardt.  "We knew we were a lap short.  We tried to save as much (fuel) as we could.  We got it to about half a lap and it ran out off of (turn) two there.  We took a gamble and didn't win the race, but it still worked in our favor to run second.  It gave us a chance to win.”

The race-deciding move for Keselowski came on lap 156 when during a caution for track debris, stayed out while most drivers pitted.  The move put Brad in the top spot and on a different race-strategy.  Kevin Harvick, who had been running a strong race and appeared to be the best contender for the win, pitted after his front left-front hub locked up, dashing any chance to win. Harvick commented, “the car just kind of lost the handling in the last 15 or 20 laps before we went behind the wall. It started to get really loose, which makes sense with that left-front brake dragging like that.

Dale Jr. Wins His Second Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – Well at least it wasn’t snowing!  After the longest rain delay in Daytona 500 history, Dale Earnhardt Jr won his second season opener ever.  Dale led 6 times for 54 laps, but dominated the end of the race, when it counts most.  “Winning this race is the greatest feeling you can feel in the sport, aside from … accepting the trophy for the championship,” Earnhardt Jr. said in the winner’s circle.  “I didn’t know if I’d ever get a chance to feel that again and it feels just as good if not better than the first because of how hard we tried year after year, running second all those years and wondering why and what we needed to do.  “We got a little help from Jeff (Gordon) to get away on that restart and tried to take care of if from there. This is amazing. I can’t believe this is happening. I’ll never take it for granted because this just doesn’t happen twice.”  The intimidator must have a smile on his face.

Denny Hamlin had an impressive week winning the Sprint Unlimited last week and one of the Duel races and taking second place in the 500 with his Gibbs Racing Toyota.  Hamlin’s team suffered radio issues during  the race forcing Denny to act as his own spotter.  “I’m so 50/50 on whether I’m pissed off or I’m happy,” Hamlin said after his career-best finish in the 500. “I just don’t know.  Any other year I probably would have been like jumping up and down. We can hardly finish these races, much less have a shot at a victory.”  Hamlin continued, “I felt like our car wasn’t as strong as the week progressed.  The competition definitely caught up for sure.  Then … me not being able to drive to my ability because I was being conservative, trying to spot for myself, that’s not a way to race.”

Brad Keslowski finished 3^rd with Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson rounding out the top five finishers.  With Gordon and Johnson, it makes three Hendricks cars in the top five.  Looks like Hendricks will be the team to watch in 2014.  “The world is right, right now,” said Gordon, a teammate at Hendrick Motorsports. “Dale Jr. just won the Daytona 500 to kick off 2014. That is a sign that the NASCAR season is going to be a good one.”

Danica Patrick just catch a break.  After being thrown under the bus earlier in the week by Richard Petty, she was taken out of the race on lap 145 when Kevin Harvick drifted up on Brian Scott triggering a 12-car crash taking out Patrick, Menard, Dillon, Waltrip, Gilliland and more (Check out this great Fox Sports video - CUP: Danica Patrick and Austin Dillon in Huge Wreck - 2014 Daytona 500).  "Man, what the hell happened?" Patrick asked her crew after hitting the front stretch wall head on. She was not injured.  Can’t imagine that this was her fault!

  

DP Corvettes 1,2, 3 and 4 at the Rolex 24!

DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – The Rolex 24 started Saturday in much cooler weather than normal with 67 cars on the grid.  Following a chilly night that dropped into the 40s, the DP Corvettes dominated the with the top 4 positions at the end of the race.  The Action Express DP Corvette piloted by Joao Barbosa finished first with the Wayne Taylor DP Corvette with Max Angelelli coming in second by a mere 1-1/2 seconds!  The third place podium finish went to the second Action Express team at the hands of Brian Frisselle, only 20 seconds behind Barbosa.  The Spirit of Daytona DP Corvette claimed 4^th place.

“This is one of the big races you want on your resume,” Action Express co-driver Bourdais said. “I chased the win at Le Mans for a Rolex but that didn't work out, so I came here. I've finished second so many times that I thought they would pity me and give me a watch anyway, but now I have one.” (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140126/unitedsportscar/140129835#ixzz2rd0NzJ5L ).  Team owner Wayne Taylor driving with his two sons said “it was a heck of a race!... But those guys (Action Express) did a great job… They beat us fair and square.”

In GTLM, The factory #911 Porsche RSR of Tandy/Lietz/Pilet narrowly finished ahead of the BMW Z4 of Auberlein/Priaulx/Hand/Martin.  Surprisingly, the GTLM duo finished ahead of the “quicker” PC-class cars.  Though the SRT Vipers led much of the race, they could only manage third place with the SRT Viper at the hands of Rob Bell.  The debut of the Corvette Racing C7.R cars went less than anticipated though they were fast and competitive.  One car dropped out due to an overheating problem while the second car earned a respectable 16^th place finish after suffered a transmission failure requiring a transmission swap.

The Mazda Skyctiv-D powered prototype debut was a disappointment for Mazda with one care making it to within an hour of the finish before suffering an oil-pump belt failure.  The second car retired due to over-heating caused by a clogged radiator.  The innovative Deltawing car also suffered a series of setbacks including gearbox issues, wrecks and finally a turbo failure.

The most horrifying accident of the race occurred in turn 3 when the pole-sitting Gainsco DP Corvette in the hands of Memo Gidley slammed into the rear of the stalled Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 driven by Matteo Malucelli.  Gidley tried passing another car not realizing that the Ferrari was moving slowly.  Gidley’s car remained on the track and burst into flames briefly while the Ferrari was strewn in pieces along the grass.  Gidley was airlifted to the hospital with a broken back and underwent emergency surgery.  Malucelli suffered a concussion.

Michael Schumacher in Coma, Andy Granatelli Dies

GRENOBLE, FRANCE - There is some sad news at the end of 2013 in the world of motorsports. Over the weekend, Formula 1 great Michael Schumacher was involved in a serious skiing accident in France and is in a coma following brain surgery. The doctors report that he is in critical condition. Let’s keep Michael and his family in our prayers. 

Also, legend Andy Granatelli died Sunday in Santa Barbara CA. Mr. Indy (Mr. STP, as I remember him) was best known for his involvement in the Indianapolis 500 running innovative cars like the Novi-turbine cars in the late 60’s. He was also a midget car promoter in the 40s and sponsored Richard Petty’s cars for many years. In fact, at the PRI show this year, Richard Petty recounted the story of how his NASCAR paint scheme came into being. They argued over the color of the car, with the compromise being half Petty blue, half STP red, and the sponsorship became the longest in NASCAR history.

Read More on Michael Schumacher

at http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/30/us-motor-racing-schumacher-idUSBRE9BT01520131230

Read more on Andy Granatelli at: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20131229/indycar/131229909#ixzz2ozCY92vJ 

Other Motorsports icons who passed in 2013

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20131227/NASCAR01/131229924?utm_source=Racing20131229&utm_medium=enewsletter&utm_term=article5&utm_content=20131227-Autoweek-remembers-the-motorsports-icons-who-died-in-2013&utm_campaign=awRacing

NHRA Comp Eliminator Champions - Congratulations Alan Ellis and Jeff Lane!

POMONA, CA – Congratulations to Alan Ellis for clinching his first Lucas Oil Comp Eliminator Championship last weekend at the Pomona World Finals.  Ellis, who lives in Mapleton UT, runs a 23 roadster with motor built by the Professor, Warren Johnson.  After a steady set of wins in elimination, Ellis faced Donald Thomas in the final round.  Ellis clocked a respectable 6.887 sec at 160.90 mph run, but Thomas had some problems at the start and had to get out of the throttle.  This is Ellis’ 4^th win this year.  Check out the Burns merge collectors with signature reverse cone megaphones!

We also want to congratulate Jeff Lane for winning the Division 6 Championship in Comp Eliminator.  Jeff, together with his partner Jerry Hancock, have won a combined 8 divisional championships in a racing career of over 30 years.  Jeff and Jerry built a new set of headers this year for their Comp Eliminator car utilizing Burns components and design.  It has apparently worked well for the duo!

Gordon Wins Martinsville - 3rd In Chase!

MARTINSVILLE, VA – Will we see another amazing comeback in 2013?  Team Oracle USA had a fairytale comeback story successfully defending the America’s Cup from Team Emirates New Zealand from a 0-6 deficit.  With his win at Martinsville Sunday, Jeff Gordon may very well be the next fairy tale in this NASCAR season.  Barely making the cut in the Chase in 13th place, Gordon, crew chief Alan Gustafson and his team, put their heads down and showed that they still have it.  Gordon now sits in 3rd place behind Matt Kenseth and teammate Jimmie Johnson.  "I'm just so proud of my team for never giving up. We've shown it all year long and we've been through a lot. But this is making it all worth it, to get this huge win at Martinsville," Gordon said in Victory Lane. "Man, what a great race car." 

Gordon led 78 laps, including the final 21 laps following a crucial pass in turn one clenching the lead from Kenseth.  Martinsville has proved to be a tough one for Kenseth, who has yet to win one here after 28 starts.  "Jeff's experience got me. I just don't have that much experience running up front here," Kenseth said. "I had something that was working, but I was hurting the rear tires and ended up hurting the front tires, too."  His tire issue was also evident at the end when he could barely hold off Clint Boyer for the 2nd spot.

The race proved to be a wild ride with some aggressive driving.   With a total of 17 caution periods and 111 laps run under yellow there were a few tempers flying.  The most notable of the race was a duel between Chase points leader Jimmie Johnson and Roush-Fenway’s Greg Biffle.  Biffle accused Johnson that he was driving way to aggressively and that he caused the Ford’s bumper to be almost ripped off requiring an extra pit stop to fix it.  Following the race, Biffle confronted Johnson (Video).  “We finally have a good car at Martinsville, and we worked our way all the way up to sixth or seventh -- and then we just got a rear bumper tore off. It takes a lot to get a rear bumper tore off,” Biffle said. “I've got to look back and see what happened. He claims he was inside of me; it sure felt like he hit me from behind and rubbed across [the back of the car].

With only three races left, the Championship is up in the air with Kenseth and Johnson tied in first place.  Jeff Gordon is in third place, 27 points behind the leader and Kevin Harvick only one point behind in fourth.  Looks like it will be an exciting end to 2013.

Matt Kenseth Holding On!

KANSAS CITY, KANSAS –Matt Kenseth’s slim, eight point lead in the Chase just got slimmer as he was only able to manage an 11th place finish in a race marred with trouble.  Most, if not all the drivers struggled this weekend with the race-spec Goodyears.  But nobody, just nobody struggled as much as Kyle Busch.  The man has never won a race at this track.  And when he crashed his No 18 M&M Toyota during Saturday morning practice, I am sure he got that feeling again.  He made a valiant effort starting from the back of the pack, but when he contacted Carl Edwards on lap 200, it was the end of his race.  "I have no idea what happened on the last one," Busch said. "All I know is we're in Kansas, right?"  And to add insult to injury, Busch wrecked Brad Keselowski in the Nationwide race.

At the top of the heap, lame duck driver Kevin Harvick won his third race this season from the pole moving him up into third place, 25 points out.  "To sit on the pole and win the race, obviously, is a great weekend," Harvick said. "Controlling our own destiny by doing that, putting ourselves closer to where we need to be with the championship race ... so we’ll just keep having fun and doing what we’re doing." 

Second place went to Kurt Busch and the ever consistent Jeff Gordon placed third, placing them 5th and 4th in the Chase respectively.

Lucky for Kenseth that second place Jimmie Johnson could do no better than 6^th, leaving him in the lead for now by a mere 3 points.  "All in all, it was just a crazy day," said Johnson, "there were weird restarts, wacky restarts, a lot of chaos there. Then caution after caution for who knows what ...”

The problems with the Goodyear tires that many teams struggled with has been blamed on the newly resurfaced track.  Four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon called the racing surfaces on newly paved tracks "too smooth.”  “We don't want bumps," Gordon said. "I'm not talking about bumps. I'm talking about the abrasiveness of the race track. It doesn't dissipate heat, doesn't wear the tires … all it does is cause friction and heat and failures and then Goodyear has to build a very hard, durable tire."  The Kansas surface was repaved last year, between the facility's two Cup dates.  Gordon said he "applauded" Goodyear's efforts, saying the supplier is "doing the best they can."