Harvick Continues to Dominate with Brickyard Victory

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Harvick battled with Denny Hamlin throughout the day as the two fastest cars.  After Hamlin’s tire went down with seven laps to go, Harvick was able to hold off Matt Kenseth during an overtime finish to win his third Brickyard 400.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Harvick said winning at Indianapolis was a childhood dream when he was growing up.

“It’s the Brickyard man, this is what I grew up wanting to do as a kid,” Harvick said.  “To be able to come here, and have won for the third time, is something I could have never dreamed of.”

Throughout the race, Hamlin’s tire wear was worse than Harvick, and his crew chief told him to keep pressure on Hamlin over the final run. 

Harvick said he tried all he could to get Hamlin to overdrive his car.

“[Crew chief Rodney Childers] told me on the radio, ‘just make sure you keep the pressure on him,’ and that was all the pressure I could give,” Harvick said.  “We knew he was going to be really close on tires.”

Hamlin said he was disappointed his race ended early after having such a good car.

“It’s tough, I hate it for the FedEx team,” Hamlin said.  “We did what we needed to do; just didn’t work out.  Had a fast car, obviously.”

Kenseth finished second, and said he tried what he could to hang with Harvick on the final restart.

“The 4 [of Harvick], they were just really, really fast,” Kenseth said.  “I could run a little faster, but I could never get enough of a run to make the pass.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Matt Kenseth

3. Aric Almirola

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Cole Custer

6. Kyle Busch

7. Michael McDowell

8. Tyler Reddick

9. Bubba Wallace

10. Joey Logano

11. Chase Elliott

12. Christopher Bell

13. Kurt Busch

14. Ty Dillon

15. John Hunter Nemechek

16. Clint Bowyer

17. Ross Chastain

18. Austin Dillon

19. Matt DiBenedetto

20. Daniel Suarez

21. JJ Yeley

22. BJ McLeod

23. Quin Houff

24. Garrett Smithley

25. Josh Bilicki

26. Joey Gase

27. William Byron

28. Denny Hamlin

29. Timmy Hill

30. Alex Bowman

31. Chris Buescher

32. Ryan Blaney

33. Erik Jones

34. Ryan Newman

35. Brennan Poole

36. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

37. Justin Allgaier

38. Martin Truex Jr.

39. Corey LaJoie

40. Ryan Preece

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Harvick Wins Regular Season Finale at the Brickyard

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick dominated the Big Machine Vodka 400 from the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon to win the regular season finale.

Harvick led 118 of 160 laps after starting on the pole on Sunday, and the victory gives his team momentum going into the Playoffs.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Harvick said the dominant victory was a testament to his team’s ability to put together a strong car that was fast over an entire run.

“Just can’t say enough about everybody on this Mobil 1 Ford Mustang,” Harvick said.  “These guys on this race team have built a heck of a racecar.  This is the same stuff we took to Michigan, and had a real good weekend there and went to victory lane.”

The win was Harvick’s second at Indianapolis, and it came 16 years after his first Brickyard win in 2003. 

Harvick said he was always in love with the history of one of the most famous tracks in the world.

“Winning here is awesome,” Harvick said.  “As a kid I watched Rick Mears win the Indy 500s and got to be around him; he was my hero.”

“We were able to keep control of the race and not make mistakes, and here we are in victory lane at one of the greatest places to race.”

The race concluded NASCAR’s 26-race regular season, and the final two spots in the playoff field were decided in the closing laps on Sunday. Following an eighth-place finish, Ryan Newman joined Clint Bowyer as the final two drivers to make it in on points, while Daniel Suarez came up four points short of a playoff bid.

Jimmie Johnson, the only other driver with a realistic chance of making the playoffs on points, crashed while running up front.  The wreck ended his playoff hopes, and it also ended the 7-time Champion’s streak of 15-straight playoff appearances.

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Joey Logano

3. Bubba Wallace

4. William Byron

5. Clint Bowyer

6. Denny Hamlin

7. Ryan Blaney

8. Ryan Newman

9. Chase Elliott

10. Paul Menard

11. Daniel Suarez

12. Austin Dillon

13. Ty Dillon

14. Aric Almirola

15. Chris Buescher

16. Ryan Preece

17. Michael McDowell

18. Matt DiBenedetto

19. Corey LaJoie

20. David Ragan

21. Alex Bowman

22. Ross Chastain

23. Reed Sorenson

24. Ryan Sieg

25. BJ McLeod

26. JJ Yeley

27. Martin Truex Jr.

28. Garrett Smithley

29. Josh Bilicki

30. Kurt Busch

31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

32. Matt Tifft

33. Kyle Larson

34. Daniel Hemric

35. Jimmie Johnson

36. Parker Kligerman

37. Kyle Busch

38. Brad Keselowski

39. Erik Jones

40. Landon Cassill

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Keselowski Wins Regular-Season Finale at the Brickyard

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Brad Keselowski picked up his second-straight victory on Monday afternoon after winning the rain-delayed Big Machine Vodka 400 from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

After winning last weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington, Keselowski used a late-race pass of Denny Hamlin to pick up his second victory in a NASCAR major event.

Keselowski said his crew chief made the call to get him into victory lane.

“I’ve got to give credit where credit is due; Paul Wolfe made a heck of a call to pit,” Keselowski said.  “He gave me the ball and I had to make a play.”

The victory was the first for team owner Roger Penske in the Monster Energy Cup Series at Indianapolis.  Penske has 17 Indianapolis victories in IndyCar, but was winless in NASCAR’s top series until Monday.

Keselowski said it was special to get “the Captain” his first Brickyard NASCAR Cup Series victory.

“To get Roger Penske his first Cup car win here at the Brickyard is an incredible feeling,” Keselowski said.

Monday’s race was the final of the regular season, with NASCAR’s 10-race playoff beginning next Sunday in Las Vegas.

Kyle Busch won the regular season championship, and said he was looking forward to using his playoff points to get to the season finale in Homestead.

“The bonus points mean a lot; the hardware means a lot,” Busch said.  “They give away a trophy for a regular season championship…but more importantly we want to go after the end of the season championship and take home that bigger trophy.”

Unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Erik Jones

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Clint Bowyer

6. Kurt Busch

7. Jamie McMurray

8. Kyle Busch

9. Paul Menard

10. Ryan Newman

11. Ryan Blaney

12. Matt Kenseth

13. Joey Logano

14. Kyle Larson

15. Chase Elliott

16. Jimmie Johnson

17. Michael McDowell

18. Daniel Suarez

19. William Byron

20. Regan Smith

21. Ty Dillon

22. Austin Dillon

23. Aric Almirola

24. David Ragan

25. Chris Buescher

26. Ross Chastain

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Reed Sorenson

29. JJ Yeley

30. BJ McLeod

31. Landon Cassill

32. Jeffrey Earnhardt

33. Alex Bowman

34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

35. Timmy Hill

36. Matt DiBenedetto

37. AJ Allmendinger

38. Darrell Wallace Jr.

39. David Starr

40. Martin Truex Jr.

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

OPINION: NASCAR Must Make Changes to Avoid Further Controversy

NASCAR continues to shoot itself in the foot with controversial calls that end up costing race fans good racing moments and memorable finishes.

Sunday's race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was not the best Monster Energy Cup Series Race by any means, but it also wasn't the worst.  While Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. were the class of the field throughout the first two segments, the race was blown wide open when the two leaders wrecked themselves with 50 laps to go.

Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

But that wreck set up a wild chain of events that led to numerous front-runners wrecking, two red flags that threatened to end the race due to the impending sunset (more on that later) and the return of everyone's favorite overtime line.  

When a wreck with two laps to go broke out off of Turn 2, NASCAR seemed to hold the caution flag until the leader passed the overtime line, thus ending the race.  Unfortunately, it didn't seem like NASCAR followed its own rule, as the wreck happened with more than enough time to throw the caution before the leaders passed the line.  To most people, it seemed like NASCAR just wanted to end the race with the overtime line rather than see it end due to darkness at the track.

This is at least the third time this season that a race has been decided by the overtime line, with the June Dover Cup race and the Xfinity Series Daytona race earlier this month being those other two instances.

I understand that the overtime line made sense at the time of it's creation.  It was created in the wake of Kevin Harvick basically causing a wreck during the single overtime at Talladega in 2015 to save himself and move on in the Chase.  Many drivers campaigned for some kind of overtime line to avoid a finish like that, and it made sense at the time.

And it does make sense, but maybe only at Daytona and Talladega.  This would be used to avoid something like Austin Dillon's terrifying accident at Daytona two years ago.  But at any other track, maybe we should go back to three attempts at a green-white-checkered finish before calling the race.

Although, maybe NASCAR wouldn't have even gotten into this situation had they not gone for higher TV ratings (which have still been declining) instead of doing what's best for the fans that attend races.  Like I said, we'd get back to the start times.

The Brickyard 400 on Sunday started at 3 p.m., instead of the former traditional start time of 1 p.m.  At 1 p.m., there wasn't any rain, and the race could have probably made it to the end of Stage 2, making it an official race.  But instead, the race started at 3, and went 12 laps before rain caused a 2.5 hour delay.  

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Had NASCAR started earlier, it would have never been in a situation where it needed to beat the sunset at a track without lights.  If the race had been postponed because of rain that could have been avoided if the race had started at a more normal time, the stands at Indy would have been much emptier than they had been on Sunday.  And those stands were pretty empty on Sunday.

And I'm not the only person who doesn't like the later starting times.  During the rain delay on Sunday, both Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted about their dislike for 3 p.m. starts.  Those are two pretty high-profile stars speaking out about the way NASCAR is doing things.

NASCAR lucked out on Sunday when they traded one controversy for another.  But eventually, its luck will run out. Next week NASCAR heads to Pocono, a track that is notorious for rain.  In fact, last year all three major races at the track (two Cup Series races and an IndyCar race) were postponed due to rain, causing the track to enact a weather guarantee for all of its tickets.

NASCAR needs to take a hard look at its policies, and possibly make a change that will prevent further controversy down the line.  If it doesn't make a change, it should at least read its own rule book and call races in black and white for the rest of the season, instead of giving itself a ton of leeway and living in the gray area.

Kahne Snaps Winless Streak with Wild Brickyard Win

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kasey Kahne won his first race of the season in the Brickyard 400 on Sunday afternoon from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Daniel Shirey/Getty Images

The race was red-flagged for over two hours early in the race due to rain, and then again on two separate occasions over the final 10 laps for accidents.  Kahne had to hold off Brad Keselowski over the final two restarts, with Kahne taking the lead on the final restart.

Kahne said he knew he came close to handing the victory to Keselowski.

“The [restart] before just didn’t work, everything went wrong,” Kahne said.  “On the final one, everything went right.”

“Once I got to Turn 1, I got good power and was able to clear [Keselowski] off 1.”

After being dropped by numerous sponsors, Kahne has been rumored to be on his way out at Hendrick Motorsports at the end of this season.  Kahne snapped a 102-race winless streak on Sunday, and said he was glad his team’s hard work finally paid off.

“It just feels good to win,” Kahne said.  “For all these people that work so hard, it feels good to get them to victory lane.  Shows what we can do when things go our way.”

“With the history here…to win at Indy is unbelievable.”

Keselowski finished second after restarting first on the final restart.  He said he was surprised Kahne was able to hold the lead on the bottom of the track on the final restart.

“I thought we were in the right spot, I’d seen it all day,” Keselowski said.  “You’d get someone on your outside in the corner and they’d get real loose, but he drove in there and he just stuck.”

“Felt we had the car today; everyone was just on edge there and then some.  I guess I just guessed wrong on that last one.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kasey Kahne

2. Brad Keselowski

3. Ryan Newman

4. Joey Logano

5. Matt Kenseth

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Daniel Suarez

8. Matt DiBenedetto

9. Chris Buescher

10. AJ Allmendinger

11. Danica Patrick

12. Cole Whitt

13. Aric Almirola

14. Timmy Hill

15. Jamie McMurray

16. Paul Menard

17. Denny Hamlin

18. Michael McDowell

19. Ty Dillon

20. Trevor Bayne

21. Austin Dillon

22. Landon Cassill

23. Ryan Blaney

24. Gray Gaulding

25. Joey Gase

26. Jeffrey Earnhardt

27. Jimmie Johnson

28. Kyle Larson

29. Kurt Busch

30. Clint Bowyer

31. Erik Jones

32. BJ McLeod

33. Martin Truex Jr.

34. Kyle Busch

35. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

36. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

37. JJ Yeley

38. David Ragan

39. Chase Elliott

40. Corey LaJoie

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Kyle Busch Dominates at the Brickyard

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Kyle Busch dominated the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 to win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Photo courtesy Adam Niemeyer

Busch led a record 149 laps on Sunday, and showed his dominance throughout the weekend.

“This Toyota was awesome today, it was just so fast,” Busch said.  “We just had it hooked up, this thing was on rails.”

Busch swept the NASCAR weekend for the second-straight year following a win in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race.  He also became the first driver to sweep the weekend by winning both races from the pole.

“I’ve been successful at a lot of things people haven’t been able to do before,” Busch said.  “When it’s helping you win on Sundays, it’s what makes it all worthwhile running those Saturday races.”

Tony Stewart finished 11th in his final race at Indianapolis, and said this was the most relaxing race weekend at Indy he’s ever had.

“For some reason, this weekend…everybody made my schedule as open as they could so I could enjoy it, and we did,” Stewart said.  “We had a lot of fun this weekend from start to finish.”

One of the biggest stories of the weekend centered around Jeff Gordon coming out of retirement to drive for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the 88 car.  Gordon said the car was good all day, but that he was a little rusty on restarts.

Photo courtesy Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

“I got my butt kicked on restarts today,” Gordon said.  “I needed a fill-in on restarts.  Other than that, it went pretty well.”

After the race, Stewart and Gordon ran a final lap together and saluted the fans after what is most likely their final race at their home track.

“I knew when we got the checkered, I didn’t want to come in just yet, and I wanted to run one more lap,” Stewart said.  “Before that last green run, I told my spotter to go tell his spotter that after this thing’s over, we need to go a lap around here together.”

 “What a class act he is,” Gordon said.  “It meant a lot to me that he asked me to make that last lap with him.”

“It is most likely the last time we’ll get to do that, and I couldn’t think of a better guy to spend a moment like that with,” Stewart said.

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Matt Kenseth

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Kyle Larson

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Joey Logano

8. Martin Truex Jr.

9. Austin Dillon

10. Paul Menard

11. Tony Stewart

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

13. Jeff Gordon

14. Chris Buescher

15. Chase Elliott

16. Kurt Busch

17. Brad Keselowski

18. Kasey Kahne

19. Jamie McMurray

20. Landon Cassill

21. Clint Bowyer

22. Danica Patrick

23. Michael McDowell

24. Casey Mears

25. Aric Almirola

26. Regan Smith

27. Brian Scott

28. Michael Annett

29. Cole Whitt

30. Trevor Bayne

31. Ryan Newman

32. Ryan Ellis

33. Reed Sorenson

34. Patrick Carpentier

35. Carl Edwards

36. Ryan Blaney

37. David Ragan

38. AJ Allmendinger

39. Greg Biffle

40. Matt DiBenedetto

Photo courtesy Robert Laberge/Getty Images

 Special thanks to Adam Niemeyer for a photo of Kyle Busch.  For more from Adam, check out his blog here.

Kyle Busch Continues to Dominate, Wins at Indianapolis

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Kyle Busch won the Brickyard 400 from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Busch continued his domination of the Sprint Cup Series, picking up his fourth victory in five races on Sunday.  Busch said the win was one of the biggest of his career.

“Nothing better than being in victory lane for one of my biggest wins of my career here,” Busch said.  “And sweeping the weekend, even bigger yet.”

Photo courtesy Adam Niemeyer

Busch, who missed the first 11 races of the season after being injured at Daytona, now finds himself just 23 points out of the top 30 in points.  Busch said his team can definitely contend for the championship if he can meet the top 30 requirement.

“We’re definitely a championship-contending team, and we just got to be championship-eligible.”

Not everyone left Indianapolis happy, however.  Hometown favorite Jeff Gordon, who was making his final start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, crashed early in the event.  He was able to continue on in the race, but he finished 42nd after his car failed to maintain the minimum speed and he was forced to the garage.

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Joey Logano

3. Kevin Harvick

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Matt Kenseth

8. Kurt Busch

9. Kyle Larson

10. Brad Keselowski

11. Ryan Newman

12. Ryan Blaney

13. Carl Edwards

14. Paul Menard

15. Jimmie Johnson

16. Jamie McMurray

17. Sam Hornish Jr.

18. Chase Elliott

19. Greg Biffle

20. Casey Mears

21. David Ragan

22. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

23. AJ Allmendinger

24. Kasey Kahne

25. Austin Dillon

26. Landon Cassill

27. Danica Patrick

28. Tony Stewart

29. David Gilliland

30. Michael Annett

31. Michael McDowell

32. Matt DiBenedetto

33. Cole Whitt

34. Brett Moffitt

35. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

36. Brian Scott

37. Justin Allgaier

38. Aric Almirola

39. J.J. Yeley

40. Trevor Bayne

41. Timmy Hill

42. Jeff Gordon

43. Alex Bowman

Photo courtesy Sean Gardner

Thanks to Adam Niemeyer for the picture of Kyle Busch used in this story.  To see more of Adam's work, check out his blog.

Jeff Gordon Wins Record 5th Brickyard 400

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Jeff Gordon won the Brickyard 400 on Sunday on the 20th anniversary of his win in the inaugural event.

The win was also Gordon’s record-setting fifth victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, breaking a tie with teammate Jimmie Johnson.

Photo courtesy Adam Niemeyer

“I don’t think there’s a greater feeling as a racecar driver,” Gordon said in victory lane.  “Total team effort to get to victory lane at Indianapolis.”

Gordon had to outrun his teammate Kasey Kahne on the final restart.  Kahne led a race-high 70 laps, and Gordon had to have a strong restart to win.

“I’m not very good on restarts, and wasn’t very good today.  I finally made the restart of my life today when it counted most.  I knew we had a great racecar and I just needed to get out front.”

Gordon said he knows how important this victory was for the season, and that to win at Indianapolis is special.

“I was trying so hard, with 10 to go, not to focus on the crowd.  I tried not to let it get to me, and you can’t help it.  Such a big race; such an important victory.”

Kevin Harvick won the pole for the Brickyard 400, and he cleared Gordon going into Turn 1 when the race began.  Gordon, however, was able to work his way around Harvick on the frontstretch to take the lead on lap 2.

On lap 21, the competition caution came out due to rain early Sunday morning.  Gordon won the race off pit road, but Joey Logano committed to a different pit strategy and took the lead.

Logano led the field back to the green flag on lap 26.  He held the lead until Kahne took the lead for the first time on lap 32.  After losing the lead, Logano pitted for fuel, which kicked off a long round of green-flag pit stops.

Kahne pitted for fuel on lap 38, which allowed rookie Kyle Larson to take the lead.

 After Larson and fellow rookie Austin Dillon pitted, Denny Hamlin took the lead.  Hamlin was the only driver on a different pit strategy than everyone else, and he didn’t pit until lap 55.  That allowed Harvick to take the lead once again.

On lap 66, Gordon passed Harvick for the lead going through Turn 3, and they both pulled off to make another round of green-flag pit stops.

The caution came out during pit stops when Danica Patrick broke a right-rear axle coming off pit road.  Patrick’s car erupted in smoke and she stalled at the end of pit road.

Hamlin stayed out when the leaders pitted, and he led the field back to the green flag on lap 73.  Heading into Turn 1, Kahne got around Hamlin, which dropped him all the way to fourth.

Trevor Bayne cut down a tire and spun into the inside wall on lap 97 to bring out the caution.  Under the caution, Clint Bowyer stayed out to take the lead.

When the race restarted on lap 102, Kahne was able to get around Bowyer to take the lead heading into Turn 1.

Kahne pitted for the final time on lap 127, and that allowed Gordon to take the lead.  When the stops had cycled around, Kahne was the leader, but Gordon was right on his back bumper.

The final caution came out on lap 139 when Ryan Truex slowed in Turn 2 and stalled his car out on the backstretch.

Kahne led the field back to the green flag on lap 144, but Gordon was able to make the pass on the high side.  Kahne fell back to fourth, and Gordon was able to pull away from Kyle Busch to take the victory.

Unofficial results:

1. Jeff Gordon

2. Kyle Busch

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Matt Kenseth

5. Joey Logano

6. Kasey Kahne

7. Kyle Larson

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

10. Austin Dillon

11. Ryan Newman

12. Brad Keselowski

13. Greg Biffle

14. Jimmie Johnson

15. Carl Edwards

16. Clint Bowyer

17. Tony Stewart

18. AJ Allmendinger

19. Brian Vickers

20. Jamie McMurray

21. Aric Almirola

22. Marcos Ambrose

23. Juan Pablo Montoya

24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

25. Martin Truex Jr.

27. Justin Allgaier

28. Kurt Busch

29. Josh Wise

30. Landon Cassill

31. Michael Annett

32. Cole Whitt

33. Casey Mears

34. Paul Menard

35. David Ragan

36. David Gilliland

37. Bobby Labonte

38. Reed Sorenson

39. Travis Kvapil

40. Alex Bowman

41. Ryan Truex

42. Danica Patrick

43. Trevor Bayne

Next weekend, the Sprint Cup Series heads to the “Tricky Triangle” of Pocono Raceway.  The GoBowling.com 400 can be seen next Sunday at 12:00 p.m. EST on ESPN.

Photo courtesy Rainier Ehrhardt/NASCAR via Getty Images