Westcott Wins SS/AH at Indy Again

Though not the fastest or quickest this weekend, Charlie Westcott again shows his prowess for drag racing by claiming the top prize at the 14^th Mopar Hemi Shootout at the NHRA Indy US Nationals.  This was the 60^th year of the US Nationals at Indy, and it was a well-attended event.  Charlie’s Burns-equipped Dodge ’68 ‘cuda defeated Wendall Howe by a  8.55 to 8.66 margin in the final round.  Burns customer Rick Houser was the fastest and quickest Hemi at Indy with a 8.501 sec elapsed time and a terminal speed of 158.95 mph.  Rick made progressively faster runs all weekend until his Liberty transmission dead-headed in 3^rd gear in the 2^nd round of eliminations.

“This win in a way was bigger than the others because we didn’t come in with the performance advantage we typically have,” said Westcott Jr., whose father Charlie Westcott Sr.(shown) also won the Mopar HEMI Challenge event at Indy in 2009. “I had been fighting some kind of gremlin all weekend in my car. I never could get it right, but the final round was a little better. We got the job done, and that’s all that matters. We’ve won this thing six times, and seven if you count my dad. It’s always a good event for us.”

Charlie might be a bit hard on himself because the fast cars of the meet were Westcott-powered cars for crying out loud!

For more on the  Hemi Shootout, go to Bangshift.com

Gordon On Top At Michigan and The Chase

BROOKLYN, MICHIGAN – It has been a few years since Jeff Gordon has seen a SPRINT Car championship, but if he can keep the wins coming, 2014 may just be the year that the 43-year old reclaims the coveted award. With Sunday’s win at Michigan International Speedway, Gordon moves up to the top spot in The Chase, and is one of four drivers with three wins this season and his 91st career win. The Michigan race turned out to be a rather chaotic race with a series or restarts. The fact that Gordon did well was rather surprising as restarts appeared to be his Achilles heel this season. The crucial restart came on lap 183 following Kurt Busch hitting the Turn 2 wall shortly after another restart on lap 178.

 
Starting behind Joey Logano on the final restart, Gordon passed him on lap 183 and was able to keep Logano at bay accelerating away until he was out of the draft. Gordon had the power and handling he needed to keep the lead from that point on. "I thought he had a good start, but I had one, too," Gordon said. "It's pretty nice to have the last two wins come down to restarts. "Those restarts are so crucial but also intense because of the speed we're carrying here."

After the race Logano commented, "I won every single restart I was on the front row except the last one." But we all know that only one restart is important to win – that is the last one Joey!

Kevin Harvick placed 2nd, his fourth straight at Michigan. Paul Menard made a fine showing with a 3rd place podium finish. Joey Logan only managed a fourth place finish after his drag race with Gordon and Dale Jr. rounded off the top five and dropped to second place in The Chase.

Gordon definitely had the speed this weekend, setting the new track record of 206.558 mph during qualifying. He also had the only 200+ mph car during the final practice session and led 68 laps. Rick Hendrick commented on Jeff’s performance “There's got to be some advantages to being 43 out there," said Gordon, who is seeking his first series title since 2001. "I'd like to think patience and using your head is one of them."

In other news at Michigan, as a select group of teams tested some potential options for the 2015 NASCAR SPRINT Car rules package including ear differential gear changes, aerodynamic enhancements, horsepower optimization and a driver-adjustable track bar. The teams were also scheduled to make runs in a low-downforce package with Goodyear tires featuring a compound with more grip. "We're testing quite a wide gamut here," Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR Vice President of Innovation and Racing Development, said. "We're looking for basically a fan-centric type of direction. Fans have said they like a lot of passing, they like a lot of side-by-side, they like a lot of lead changes, and so that's what we're endeavoring to do." Among the early changes that would be most noticeable to fans were the use of dive planes, fin-like blades in front of the cars' front fenders. The aerodynamic device is often seen in other forms of motor sports -- such as touring cars and sports cars, including in IMSA's TUDOR United SportsCar Championship -- and could potentially help trailing cars in disturbed (or "dirty") air remain more competitive. 

13 Wins in 15 Years - Audi

It was quite a memorable 24 Hours at Le Mans.  All three podium finishers had major mechanical failures or accidents during the grueling race.  From the start, the race was full of surprises.  With only a 20% chance of rain, a downpour hit only 90 minutes into the race causing a melee on the track. The #3 Audi was lost in an accident and the very fast #8 Toyota of Davidson/Lapierre/Buemi had a serious wreck, but the pit crew was able to get it back out on the track and racing.

Midway through the race, the #7 Toyota was running extremely fast and had a nearly a one lap lead, but it just would not be for the Japanese entrant.   Shortly after the 12 hour point, a wiring loom problem retired the Toyota.   "It tears my heart out...I don't know what to say," was all that driver Kazuki Nakajima could muster. 

It then appeared again to be the year of Audi – possibly it’s 13^th victory in the last 15 races.  The mighty R-18 e-trons were clicking off the laps in stoic Germanic style.  But at around 6:00 am, the No. 2 Audi was in first place and experienced turbo problems, conceding the lead to the #1 Audi.  Then, at around 11:00 am, the #1 came to a complete stop on the Mulsanne.  It moved again again, then slowed again.  The Audi went into the pits.  It was turbo problems again.

Could it be the the Porsche 919s on their debut race could take the overall win?  They certainly looked strong in qualifying, but we all know what the grueling sieve of the 24Heures du Mans can do to a nw car.  The #20 LMP1 car was three laps down when the Audi went to the pits and now it held the overall lead.  

With only two hours remaining could Timo Bernhard hold on?  On lap 339, the Porsche headed for the pits with what was reported a slow puncture.  The #2 Audi then claimed the lead with Lotterer at the helm.  He pitted for fuel only on lap 343 in order to widen the lead before handing off to Webber who brought it home for the win.  The #1 Audi finished 2^nd and the #7 Toyota a distant 3^rd.

The Monster Throwing Stones?

DOVER, DELAWARE – Jimmie Johnson sure does like the Monster Mile, or maybe the Monster  likes Jimmie.  Either way, Jimmie earned his 9^th victory at Dover this past Sunday.  You couldn’t tell that just a few weeks ago when Jimmie couldn’t win a race.  This week, he led 272 out of 400 laps in his Chevy.  Coming off a victory at the Charlotte 600, the fortunes of this Hendrick driver have certainly turned.  Brad Keslowski placed his Team Penske Ford in second place followed by Matt Kenseth in his Gibbs Toyota.  "It was an awesome race car," Johnson said. "The first run I wasn't sure we were really going to have the normal Dover magic here. Once the track rubbered in our car came to life and it was so good. It's amazing that we can stay on top of things here with the different generation car, different rules, different tires. This place just fits my style.”

The slow start for Johnson stemmed from the inability of the team to get their new, sixth-gen car ready due to Johnson’s off-season surgery and cancelled test sessions due to weather.  But based on the car’s debut at Dover, the team sure didn’t cut any corners in its development.  "We're getting closer," Johnson said. "We brought out a new-generation car that Chad just had a lot of faith in, put a lot of time and effort into. He told me I'd love the car, and sure enough, we unloaded and got on the track and it was right."

Kyle Busch set the pace from the front row leading 81 laps, but a mishap with Clint Bowyer on lap 124 put his Toyota into the wall dashing any chances for a victory.  Then only 10 laps later, AJ Allmendinger caused a multi-car wreck bringing out the red flag.  He also ended the day for teammates Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse.

Then, the most bizarre incident of the day occurred on lap 158 when part of turn 2 flew up and smacked Jamie McMurray’s car sending him into the wall.  Two laps later, the officials brought out the red flag again in order to allow workers time to patch the hole in the track.  "When I came off of the corner, it just felt like I hit something obviously heavy," McMurray said after the race. "Initially I thought I had blown a tire out, because when I hit (the concrete) it pushed the car out to the right. I got into the fence a little bit, and as I slowed down I couldn't figure out, first off, why I didn't hit the wall harder, and then what happened."I didn't see anything," he added. "It just hit the front end, ripped the splitter off and pushed the car to the right."

Rosberg and Hamilton At Odds After 1-2 Win at Monaco

MONTE CARLO, MONACO – For the second Monaco GP in a row, Nico Rosberg claimed the top spot on the podium a full 9.2 seconds ahead of teammate and rival Lewis Hamilton.  The German driver drove his Mercedes to the win from the pole position, won in a rather controversial manner.  In the final laps, Daniel Ricciardo made a very heated attempt to claim the number two position from Hamilton but could only manage third for Red Bull by a 0.4 second margin.  "It was a tough race out there today,” said Rosberg, “but I am absolutely delighted to have won my second Monaco Grand Prix in succession. It's an amazing feeling and I'm proud to have done it at home, in front of my family and friends who were all here this afternoon. “

Mercedes has definitely been the ones to beat in 2014 winning every pole position.  But the competition does not stop at the doorstep of the silver arrows team.  The rivalry between Rosberg and Hamilton has been compared with that of Aryton Senna and Alain Prost when each drove for McLaren in the late 1980s.  Rosberg said after the race, “It was important for me to break Lewis' momentum of winning the last four races this weekend.” 

Though cleared by FIA of any wrongdoing, some are claiming that a “mistake” caused by Rosberg during qualifying causing a yellow to come out and dashing Hamilton’s chance for a pole was intentional.  Hamilton was so put-off by the incident, that he refused to congratulate Rosberg for his win.  Mercedes Chief, Niki Lauda, no stranger to inter-team rivalry, is said to not be happy with the situation. “The tension is building up, no question,” Lauda commented, “but we have to make sure that the team doesn’t get out of hand. So if they don’t say hello in the morning, it’s out of hand.”

But, lucky for the fans, Dieter Zetsche, the chairman of Mercedes parent Daimler, agreed that Hamilton and Rosberg should be free to wage their battles, even though imposing ‘team orders’ would mean less ‘grey hairs’ for the management.  “This is exactly what the viewers want to see,” he said. “The worst thing would be nice team orders with one behind the other.

Sir Jack Brabham 1926 - 2014

QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Another racing legend passed Monday – Sir Jack Brabham – three time Formula One Champion and the first, and only, to win a championship in a car built himself.  Black Jack as he was called, had 14 F1 race wins with Drivers championships in 1959, 1960 (Cooper) and Drivers and Constructors 1966 (Brabham).  Brabham again won the Constructors Championship in 1967.  The Australian died peacefully in his home on the Gold Coast Monday morning. READ MORE

Mayhem at 'Dega

TALLADEGA, AL – If you thought the short-track race last week was mayhem, ‘dega lived up to her reputation of being super-mayhem!  The race was won by Denny Hamlin who happened to be at the right place at the right time.  On the last lap of the race, Hamlin’s Gibbs-Toyota car was out in front when a back-marker crash brought out the caution which fixed the field.  Greg Biffle was able to claim second for Roush-Fenway and Clint Bowyer third.  "It feels good to be back in Victory Lane in a points-paying event," said Bowyer, "but I'm still a short-track guy.  Those are my roots, that's where I love racing the most, but we've come a long way. We couldn't finish 22nd at superspeedway races for the longest time and now it seems like when we go we've got the knowledge and car that can win."

Mayhem started early when on lap 6, Danica Patrick took her first lead, but on lap 14, Brad Keselowski attempted to pass Patrick but spun, putting him I the midfield.  Patrick was able to salvage a 22^nd place finish on the lead lap.  Keselowski wasn’t done causing trouble though.  On lap 137, Brad was trying to make up a 7-lap deficit when running with the front runners when he broke loose taking 15-cars including Gordon, Bayne, Kenseth, Menard, Stewart Busch and Johnson with him.  Darrell Waltrip had this to say about Brad’s move “I know the Monday Morning Quarterbacks are saying Brad had no business up front racing being six laps down. The guy is paid to race. He was simply trying to get his laps back.”

And the mayhem continued on lap 174 when Jimmie Johnson’s car broke loose in turn 4 taking out 7 including Kurt Busch, Joey Logano and David Ragan.  On lap 183, Carl Edwards lost a rear tire ending the day for Newman and Cole Whitt.  DW summarized it best “I had a great time. I always have fun at Talladega. As I said on the broadcast, the whole day was just as clear as mud to me. I could see right through it all day long. I'm just kidding. I just threw that out there during the broadcast. It's a saying from way back in the day when you couldn’t  understand something because the explanation was so convoluted they used to say, ‘Clear? Or clear as mud?’"