Martin Truex Jr. Wins Championship with Homestead Victory

Martin Truex Jr. won the Ford 400 on Sunday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Truex led 78 laps on Sunday, but was not the dominant car throughout the race.  A late caution ruined Kyle Busch’s pit strategy, and that allowed Truex to take the lead for good.  He was able to hold Busch off in the closing laps to win his eighth race of the season.

Truex said he was sure Busch would pass him in the closing laps.

“At 20 to go, I thought I was done,” Truex said.  “I found a line that I could use.  I found a lane that was blocking enough of the air that they couldn’t really use it.”

Truex, the regular season champion, dominated on the track all season, but had to persevere through struggles off the track; Truex’s longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex has been battling cancer, a crew member passed away before the Kansas race, and team owner Barney Vissar suffered a heart attack two weeks ago.

Throughout all the struggles, Truex and his team never gave up.

“A lot of it was for her, a lot of it was for me, a lot of it was for this team,” Truex said.  “I was a wreck just thinking about all the rough days, the bad days, the times where I thought my career was over with.  The times when I didn’t think anyone believed in me…but the people who mattered did.”

“I’ve been wanting this since I was a kid racing go-karts.  I never thought this day would come.”

Busch had the fastest car all day, but he was caught off-sequence from the other leaders when a caution affected their pit strategy.

Busch said he believed he could have beaten Truex if he had more time.

“Just unfortunate for us that that caution came out and kind of ruined our race strategy,” Busch said.  “We weren’t able to get back to where we needed to be.”

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

“They deserved it on probably every other race but today; I thought we were better…but they were out front when it mattered most.  Congratulations to the 78.”

The race was also the final Cup Series race in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s career.  Earnhardt finished 25th on Sunday, but he said he hoped his fans enjoyed his final season.

“I hope all the fans enjoyed this season,” Earnhardt said.  “I know it’s not everything we wanted on the racetrack, but we sure had fun off of it.”

“Sure going to miss everybody, but we’ll be back.  We’ll be back at the racetrack a little bit with our Xfinity stuff next year…we’ll be around.  We definitely want to be a part of this sport no matter what.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Kyle Busch

3. Kyle Larson

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Chase Elliott

6. Joey Logano

7. Brad Keselowski

8. Matt Kenseth

9. Denny Hamlin

10. Ryan Newman

11. Austin Dillon

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Jamie McMurray

14. AJ Allmendinger

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

16. Paul Menard

17. David Ragan

18. Aric Almirola

19. Trevor Bayne

20. Chris Buescher

21. Erik Jones

22. Kurt Busch

23. Landon Cassill

24. Michael McDowell

25. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

26. Ty Dillon

27. Jimmie Johnson

28. Cole Whitt

29. Ryan Blaney

30. Matt DiBenedetto

31. Corey LaJoie

32. Jeffrey Earnhardt

33. Kasey Kahne

34. Daniel Suarez

35. Reed Sorenson

36. David Starr

37. Danica Patrick

38. Ray Black Jr.

39. Joey Gase

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Carl Edwards Dominates the Food City 500

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Carl Edwards dominated the Food City 500 to pick up the victory on Sunday afternoon from Bristol Motor Speedway.

Edwards started on the pole and led a race-high 276 laps.  Edwards said this victory was because of his team’s continued hard work.

 

Photo courtesy Adam Niemeyer

“There were so many different things happening out there,” Edwards said.  “Different guys were fast at different times.  These guys have been working really hard.”

Edwards was the only Joe Gibbs Racing car to run a clean race.  Denny Hamlin made contact on pit road, and Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch had multiple tire problems.  Edwards said his team was concerned about his teammates’ tire problems.

“There was some concern, but for some reason…we didn’t have any of those issues.”

“Now we’re in the Chase and we can go have some fun.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. came back to finish second after a dead battery at the start of the race put him two laps down.  Earnhardt said his team got him back into the race and that he used luck to get up front.

“We had a dead battery at the start of the race,” Earnhardt said.  “That cost us two laps early in the race, but we worked really hard, [crew chief] Greg Ives did a great job helping us get our laps back.”

“We got a lot of luck on those last several restarts; we restarted on the outside.  The car was about a 10th- to 15th-place car, just got lucky on those last restarts where we lined up.”

Unofficial results:

1. Carl Edwards

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

3. Kurt Busch

4. Chase Elliott

5. Trevor Bayne

6. Matt DiBenedetto

7. Kevin Harvick

8. Clint Bowyer

9. Ryan Newman

10. Joey Logano

11. Ryan Blaney

12. Greg Biffle

13. Jamie McMurray

14. Martin Truex Jr.

15. Paul Menard

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

17. Kasey Kahne

18. Brad Keselowski

19. AJ Allmendinger

20. Denny Hamlin

21. Chris Buescher

22. Landon Cassill

23. Jimmie Johnson

24. Casey Mears

25. Ty Dillon

26. Austin Dillon

27. Danica Patrick

28. Cole Whitt

29. Michael McDowell

30. Brian Scott

31. Michael Annett

32. Jeffrey Earnhardt

33. Josh Wise

34. Aric Almirola

35. Kyle Larson

36. Matt Kenseth

37. Regan Smith

38. Kyle Busch

39. David Ragan

40. Reed Sorenson

Photo courtesy Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Thanks to Adam Neimeyer for the picture of Carl Edwards from the race on Sunday.  For more stuff by Adam, check out his blog.

Earnhardt, Busch Win Can-Am Duels at Daytona

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

 Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch won their CanAm Duels from Daytona International Speedway on Thursday night.

Photo courtesy Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

The twin 60-lap races set the field for Sunday’s Daytona 500, while the front row was set last Sunday with Daytona 500 qualifying.

Earnhardt won the first Duel on Thursday, and said it was a fun race.

“We did a lot of blocking tonight,” Earnhardt said.  “Nothing too crazy, but glad it didn’t have to get that way.”

The victory came on the 15th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s death on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.  Earnhardt Jr. said it was nice to keep adding to his family’s legacy with another Daytona victory.

“Another win at Daytona for the Earnhardts, keep adding to the legacy.  We’re up there in the 50s now with all the wins we have here.  I’m real glad to be able to do that.”

Busch won the second Duel under caution, after a wreck on the final lap took out contenders Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr. and Matt Kenseth.  Busch said he just wanted to have a strong run so he could start up front on Sunday.

“It was pretty quiet and calm there for a long time until the last lap,” Busch said.  “Looking forward to starting the Daytona 500 in the fourth spot, but I’ll probably get the outside front row now that Kenseth got caught up in that mess.”

Dave Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto locked themselves into the 500 with fast qualifying laps on Sunday, while Michael McDowell and Robert Richardson Jr. locked themselves in on Thursday.

Daytona 500 Starting Lineup 

1. Chase Elliott

2. Matt Kenseth

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

4. Kyle Busch

5. Joey Logano

6. Jamie McMurray

7. Ryan Blaney

8. Kurt Busch

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Carl Edwards

11. Denny Hamlin

12. Ty Dillon

13. Kasey Kahne

14. Kyle Larson

15. Greg Biffle

16. Danica Patrick

17. Chris Buescher

18. Brian Vickers

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Matt DiBenedetto

21. Austin Dillon

22. Michael Annett

23. Trevor Bayne

24. Landon Cassill

25. Brad Keselowski

26. Jimmie Johnson

27. Regan Smith

28. Martin Truex Jr.

29. David Ragan

30. AJ Allmendinger

31. Clint Bowyer

32. Casey Mears

33. Bobby Labonte

34. Aric Almirola

35. Brian Scott

36. Michael Waltrip

37. Paul Menard

38. Ryan Newman

39. Michael McDowell

40. Robert Richardson Jr.

Photo courtesy Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Opinion: NASCAR Obligated to Finish Race for Fans, Drivers

NASCAR's penultimate race of the 2015 season ended after just 219 of 312 scheduled laps due to rain, but the sanctioning body had an obligation to race to the scheduled distance with so much on the line.

Following Sunday's Quicken Loans 500 from Phoenix International Raceway, four drivers were eliminated from the Chase for the Sprint Cup in the final cut of this year's Chase.  Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Joey Logano went to Phoenix needing a victory, but NASCAR took that away from those four drivers.

Photo courtesy Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Rain delayed the start of the race by 6.5 hours.  The race started around 9:00 PM EST, instead of the scheduled green flag time of 2:45 PM EST.  After racing for close to 2.5 hours, the rain came again and the drivers were brought down pit road under the red flag.  The red flag lasted less than 15 minutes before Dale Earnhardt Jr. was declared the winner and the field for the Chase finale was set.

NASCAR owed it to the fans and drivers to finish the race at its scheduled distance.  NASCAR has already finished races later than 11:30 this season.  The July Daytona race finished well after 3:00 AM EST following numerous red flags that stretched the normal four hour race window into an over 12-hour affair.

This year's Chase has already been mired by controversy.  At Talladega, Kevin Harvick made contact with Trevor Bayne, causing the Big One to strike on the one and only green-white-checkered finish.  Harvick's engine had been blowing up, and the accident allowed him to move on to the next round of the Chase, while Earnhardt was elminated by a few feet when the caution came out.  Earnhardt's win on Sunday did nothing to help him win a championship, while Harvick's second-place finish allowed him to move on to the finale at Homestead.

Then at Martinsville, Logano was leading the race when Matt Kenseth, whom Logano had spun while racing for the lead at Kansas two weeks prior, took out the leader, ruining Logano's Chase chances.  Kenseth was suspended for the Texas and Phoenix races, but Logano was eliminated following the Phoenix race.

Logano finished third at Phoenix, and was poised to make a run for the victory when the race went back green.  But NASCAR called the race after losing the track at a racetrack with no curfew or noise ordinance, dashing his hopes of a comeback.

NASCAR also owed it to the fans who had stuck with the race all day in person and at home.  The fight for the final Chase spot was just heating up when the rain came.  Edwards was battling with Martin Truex Jr. for the final Chase spot, but a Logano victory would have knocked them both out of the Chase.  Exciting stuff, if it had happened.

I think it's time NASCAR takes a good look at the way the sport is headed.  With falling TV ratings  in every race of the Chase, many fans are tuning out (even though the fat paycheck NASCAR gets from FOX and NBC gives them millions of reasons to look the other way).  And with NASCAR's inconsistent calls on the track, it's no wonder.

NASCAR let the drivers and fans down when they called the race on Sunday, cutting off an exciting finish that was shaping up, a product of the championship format they had created.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins Wet, Weird Phoenix Race

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the rain-shortened Quicken-Loans 500 from Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday night.

 

Photo courtesy Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Earnhardt won after the race was stopped following rain at lap 219.  The start of the race was delayed by 6.5 hours earlier in the day due to rainstorms throughout the day.  Earnhardt took the lead by pitting before the final caution came out, and he said his team’s strategy got him to victory lane.

“My team guys are very proud of this because they gave me a great car,” Earnhardt said.  “It is a rain-shortened race…a win’s a win.  You’ll take it and put it in the record book.”

Following the race, four drivers were eliminated from the Chase for the Sprint Cup.  The four drivers eliminated were Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano.  

Next weekend at Homestead, the Sprint Cup Series championship will be decided among four drivers.  Whoever finishes first among Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. will be crowned the 2015 Sprint Cup Series champion. 

Unofficial results:

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Joey Logano

4. Kyle Busch

5. Jimmie Johnson

6. Jeff Gordon

7. Kurt Busch

8. Denny Hamlin

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Aric Almirola

11. Ryan Newman

12. Carl Edwards

13. Paul Menard

14. Martin Truex Jr.

15. Jamie McMurray

16. Danica Patrick

17. Justin Allgaier

18. David Ragan

19. Erik Jones

20. Austin Dillon

21. Kyle Larson

22. Casey Mears

23. Clint Bowyer

24. AJ Allmendinger

25. Greg Biffle

26. Kasey Kahne

27. Tony Stewart

28. Matt DiBenedetto

29. J.J. Yeley

30. David Gilliland

31. Sam Hornish Jr.

32. Michael Annett

33. Cole Whitt

34. Trevor Bayne

35. Landon Cassill

36. Brett Moffitt

37. Ryan Preece

38. Alex Bowman

39. Jeb Burton

40. Ryan Ellis

41. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

42. Joey Gase

43. Timmy Hill

Photo courtesy Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images