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It was announced this week that Cole Whitt will attempt to make his Cup Series debut at Phoenix for Red Bull Racing. The team will enter a third car for Whitt, who will have to qualify on time. If it goes well, expect Red Bull to enter Whitt at Homestead as well. The move would seem to make sense, as Red Bull has backed Whitt’s Truck Series effort for much of the season, except for the fact that Red Bull is shutting down it’s NASCAR program after Homestead. Why spend money continuing to develop a driver for a team that won’t exist in a few weeks?
Whitt is currently competing in his first full season in the Truck Series, and has had a very solid year. Running for Stacy Compton’s under-funded Turn One Racing, he actually led the points earlier in the year, and is still solidly in the top ten. He’s also locked in a battle with Joey Coulter and Nelson Piquet, Jr. for the Rookie of the Year title. His performance this season certainly warrants opportunities to advance his career.
If Red Bull were continuing it’s NASCAR operation, getting Whitt more experience would be important. They would need to replace Kasey Kahne in the #4, and Whitt would certainly be a candidate to do so in the next year or two. We’ve heard that Jay Frye may be close to securing an investor to keep the team afloat, and getting Whitt up to speed might be a major selling point. Take that at face value though, because this rumor has surfaced several times over the last few months and a deal has yet to be made.
There is another rumor floating around about where Whitt could end up, and this one might have some teeth.
In a recent interview with NASCAR.com’s Dave Rodman, Whitt said “Red Bull has already committed to him a similar program as he had in 2011, for next season.” So even if Red Bull Racing shuts down, Red Bull will maintain some level of sponsorship involvement with Whitt next season. And the NASCAR.com article seemed to imply that Whitt may be shopping that deal.
With that in mind, the other rumor we’ve heard is that Whitt might be the third driver to fill out the lineup for Michael Waltrip Racing’s #00 next year. We know Mark Martin will run 25 races, and that Michael Waltrip will drive another five, so MWR is looking to fill the seat for the remaining six races. Whitt’s backing from Red Bull might be the key to getting him into those races.
These are nothing more than rumors at this point, but expect Whitt to end up in a decent ride for next season. As for these two possible Cup races, it’s certainly an interesting move for a lame duck team to bring out a third car for a developmental driver. Somebody clearly has a plan for young Mr. Whitt.
Since the track’s reconfiguration a few years ago, it seems that every time we get close to Bristol, the comments about how the track and the racing just aren’t the same come back. When the track’s concrete was redone in 2007, the banking in the corners went from a straight 26 degrees to 24-30 degrees. And in making the change, the racing at Bristol was forever altered. The question is, when tracks are getting resurfaced or reconfigured, is variable banking the answer to all that ails them?
The biggest complaint about the new Bristol is that the action just isn’t the same as it was. Before the new concrete, Bristol was known for it’s close racing and the need for “bump-and-run” passes. There was one fast way around the half mile track, and that was right on the bottom. And often, the only way to pass a guy was to move him. That always led to a lot of wrecks and a lot of angry drivers. The variable banking all but eliminated this type of racing, and to some, killed Bristol.
The most recent example of a track getting variably banked corners is Phoenix International Raceway. As part of the track’s reconfiguration that includes new pavement, and a change in the backstretch dogleg, variable (or progressive) banking will be added in turns 1-2 and turn 4. We wrote back in November about our thoughts on the changes, but I will reiterate that we aren’t fans of them. I’m all for new pavement, but as to the other changes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Besides Phoenix and Bristol, the other two tracks on the NASCAR schedule that employ this style of banking are Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. While you can probably make the argument that both of these tracks were helped by the reconfigurations, neither are known for particularly close racing.
As the Cup and Nationwide cars get ready to take to the “World’s Fastest Half Mile” this weekend, I’m curious what your thoughts are on variable banking. Personally, I think in certain situations it can be good, but it should not be something every track adopts. It can create more side by side racing, but not every track needs 43 cars running two by two every lap. Bristol is a perfect example.
Filed under: Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR Live Blogging, Sprint Cup, NASCAR
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7, 6, 5, 4, 3.
No, that isn’t a countdown of some type. Those are Joey Logano’s finishes over the last five races. At this rate, he’ll finish second at Homestead and win the 2011 Daytona 500. How cool would that be?
With all that has been going on over the last few weeks with the championship contenders, Logano’s great finishes have gone almost unnoticed. I say almost because we noticed, as did TNI reader Tim (thanks for the email). If he is able to bring home another top five or top ten finish at Homestead, it will cap off a very solid sophomore season for the young driver from Connecticut.
There seems to be a bit of stigma for young drivers and their sophomore season. Often times, after a good rookie year, the expectations can weigh on a driver and bring down the performances of the second season. But for the driver known as “Sliced Bread,” the second season has been anything but disappointing.
Outside of not having won a race this season like he did in 2009, Logano has improved in every statistical category in 2010. He has more top five and top ten finishes, and his average finish has improved by almost four positions to 16.1 over last year. Logano’s points position (at least as of Phoenix) has also improved by four positions.
I want to point out though that while Logano hasn’t been able to win heading into the 2010 finale, he was certainly more of a contender this season. Don’t forget that his lone win last season came in a rain shortened race at New Hampshire. I certainly don’t want to take anything away from that win, because a W is a W, but he’s shown this season that he has the ability to run up front and win.
Logano’s development from East Series champion to Cup Series contender has been fun to watch. And Joe Gibbs Racing’s decision to match him with a veteran crew chief in Greg Zipadelli and an experienced #20 crew may just lead him to the Chase and a shot at the Cup Series title very soon.
Until then however, we’ll be rooting for Logano at Homestead… To finish second.
And then there was one.
Heading into Homestead this weekend for the final race of the 2010 season, the championship race is still wide open. After Phoenix, Denny Hamlin now leads Jimmie Johnson by a scant 15 points, and Kevin Harvick by 46. The race to determine the champion could literally come down to the last lap.
At Phoenix, where it appeared that both the 11 and 29 teams had missteps that could have cost them big, both came out pretty well. Even with having to pit late for two tires and fuel Hamlin fought back to 12th, and Harvick was able to overcome a pit stop issue to finish sixth.
With Homestead looming, I wanted to take a second to point out each driver’s stats at the track. In his career, Harvick has an average finish of 8.4, with four top five and seven top 10 finishes. Johnson has an average finish of 12.7 with three top five and six top ten finishes. While Hamlin has an average finish of 10.6, with one win, three top five, and three top ten finishes. No driver appears to be dramatically better then the others, but it is interesting to point out that Hamlin has won their previously, and Johnson has the worst average finish.
As you digest the finish at Phoenix and look forward to the finale, we wanted to give you this opportunity to sound off about the championship. Which driver and team will rise to the top and win the title, and why do you think so? Talk amongst yourselves!
After all the talk leading up to this weekend about Talladega being a wild card race (yes, I’m guilty too), it turned out to be quite the opposite. Instead of being a track where championship hopefuls have their chances dashed away with one wrong move and “the big one,” all we’ve come out the other side with is a Chase that is even tighter.
Following the race on Sunday, our top three Chasers are now only separated by 38 points. Jimmie Johnson leads Denny Hamlin by 14 points, and Kevin Harvick is another 24 back. Heading into the final three races of 2010, the championship is still completely up for grabs.
During the race, Johnson and Hamlin dropped to the back and were hoping to ride out the madness until the very end. The “riding around in the back all race” strategy worked for Johnson, but it nearly bit Hamlin. While attempting to avoid the front of the pack, Hamlin lost the lead draft and went a lap down. He was able to get a lucky dog late in the race, and came back to finish ninth.
Instead of running in the back like his fellow Chasers, Harvick chose to run in the pack all race long. His wreck with Marcos Ambrose late in the race though showed that no strategy is safe at Talladega. Good work by his crew, and a crazy finish saw Harvick finish a close second to teammate Clint Bowyer.
Looking at each driver’s career statistics at the three remaining tracks, it would appear that with the exception of Johnson at Phoenix, none of the three have a real discernible advantage. The #48 has been awesome at Phoenix, with no finishes outside the top four in their last eight starts (including four wins), but they have had their struggles at Texas and Homestead. And Harvick and Hamlin have both proven they are capable of winning at any of these three tracks.
Minimizing any mistakes is obviously going to be the key over the final three races. Two of our three contenders had some troubles on Sunday, but they were both able to overcome them. As the pressure mounts, who will blink first?
Following another run-in with Brad Keselowski during Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Phoenix, Dave Burns of ESPN asked Denny Hamlin if NASCAR needed to get involved. Hamlin responded: “No, no, I’ll take care of him. It’s no biggy. I got him.”
Anybody else looking forward to this situation heading to Homestead?
In his ascension to the Cup Series this year, Keselowski has often used his bumper and some aggressive driving to get the job done. And it seems as though he’s done it more often lately. He has been called out by a few drivers including Hamlin and the brothers Busch. But strong words and threats from competitors haven’t slowed him down. Maybe a little retaliation will.
Hamlin and Keselowski have had on track incidents before, but fuel was added to the fire on Saturday. Following a restart, Hamlin’s Toyota got into Keselowski’s Chevy into turn one, sending the #88 car up the track. On the same lap, Keselowski attempted payback into turn three, but missed. Then in the center of three and four, Brad K. caught Hamlin and laid the bumper to him, sending Hamlin’s GameStop Camry around in front of the field.
After the warning from Hamlin during a post race interview, and the comments from other drivers, Keselowski was called into a meeting this morning with Cup Series directory John Darby and NASCAR’s CEO, Brian France. Keselowski told reporters the meeting “went real well.”
I certainly can’t fault Brad for being aggressive, as he is out there to win. And a little bumping and banging, along with some flared tempers always makes for some good racing action. But Keselowski needs to be a little more careful about who he roughs up. If he continues to cause problems with some of the sport’s top drivers, they can make life very difficult for him. He will be entering his first full season of Cup competition in 2010, and in order to be successful, he’s going to need at least a few friends. A driver that doesn’t respect him won’t give him room on the race track and they won’t help him out when he needs it.
Hopefully though, he is able to find a balance between being aggressive and also respectful. Mending a few fences along the way probably wouldn’t hurt either.
But no matter what happens, it sounds like things could get interesting this weekend at Homestead.
And then there were two.
Phoenix and Homestead are the only two remaining races before we put the 2009 season in the books. And I’ve got to say, I’m a little bummed.
This time of year is always a little bitter sweet for me. I know there are a ton of guys that look forward to off weekends during our short offseason, but I’m not really one of them. Yeah, it will be nice to spend some time with friends and family this winter, and maybe get in a nice vacation (or two), but as soon as we leave Homestead I’m going to be counting the days until Daytona. As I’ve said here before, I’m very fortunate to be doing what I love, and it’s a pleasure to head to the track each weekend. There is nothing else I would rather be doing.
It has definitely been an interesting year, not only for my own team, but for our sport as a whole. From brutal layoffs, to Jeremy Mayfield, the emergence of some young drivers, and Jimmie Johnson’s continued dominance have all made for intriguing story lines. Who knows what 2010 will bring the world of NASCAR.
For those teams out there right now without sponsorship or who are unsure about the future, it can be a very uneasy time. Many crew guys don’t know if they will have a job following Homestead and the Thanksgiving break. There will certainly be more layoffs in the coming weeks. Teams like the new RPM/Yates group, RCR, Roush, and many smaller teams including those in the Truck and Nationwide Series may have a tough couple of months ahead. The last few races always bring the inevitable “so do you know what you are doing next year” conversations. Some years that question is okay to answer, other years you’d rather not hear it.
I’ve still got two races left, but looking back over the year, I’ve got to say that I’m pretty happy with how things went. I’m a better tire changer then I was when I started the season and my career continues to progress. And a year always has to be looked upon as a success if you make it to every race! I was able to work with a great group of people all year, and that always makes the race weekends even more fun.
When we head down to South Florida next weekend for the finale, you can be sure I will be both excited and disappointed. I really enjoy going to the track at Homestead, as it is a great venue. But knowing it’s our last hurrah for 2009 will be tough. Hopefully the offseason goes by quickly though.
Before I end this post, I’m curious what your thoughts are as we close out 2009. Are you bummed it’s over? Or are you ready to forget ‘09 and hope 2010 gets here quick? What will you now spend your weekends doing? Will you have a countdown timer set for that first weekend in February?