One month after a horrific accident left him with a broken back, broken right ankle and a severe concussion, IndyCar Driver Dario Franchitti has announced that he will no longer be behind the wheel of his No.10 Target machine.
Franchitti released a statement this afternoon regarding his decision: “Since my racing accident in Houston, I have been in the expert care of some of the leading doctors and nurses, all of whom have made my health, my safety and my recovery their top priority. I am eternally grateful for the medical care I have received over the last several weeks. I’d also like to thank my family and friends for their unbelievable support. “One month removed from the crash and based upon the expert advice of the doctors who have treated and assessed my head and spinal injuries post accident, it is their best medical opinion that I must stop racing. They have made it very clear that the risks involved in further racing are too great and could be detrimental to my long term well-being. Based on this medical advice, I have no choice but to stop. “Racing has been my life for over 30 years and it’s really tough to think that the driving side is now over. I was really looking forward to the 2014 season with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, with a goal of winning a fourth Indianapolis 500 and a fifth IndyCar Series championship. “I’d like to thank all my fellow competitors, teammates, crew and sponsors for their incredible support over the course of this amazing ride. I’d also like to thank Hogan Racing, Team KOOL Green and Andretti Green Racing for the opportunities to compete on the racetrack, and especially Target Chip Ganassi Racing, who have become like a family to me since I joined their team back in 2008. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank all my fans around the world. I can’t thank you enough for standing by my side for all these years. I’ll forever look back on my time racing in CART and the IndyCar Series with fond memories and the relationships I’ve forged in the sport will last a lifetime. Hopefully in time, I’ll be able to continue in some off-track capacity with the IndyCar Series. I love open-wheel racing and I want to see it succeed. I’ll be working with Chip to see how I can stay involved with the team, and with all the amazing friends I’ve made over the years at Target.” Franchitti ends his career tied in eighth for all-time wins in the IndyCar Series with 31 career wins and 33 career poles. The three-time Indy 500 winner had an immediate outpouring of support from fellow drivers after his announcement. “Sad, indeed,” Kanaan said via text message to USA Today. “Dario was the key person on the process of getting me to the Ganassi team and I was counting the days to be his teammate again. “Dario is a great person, a superb driver and a motorsports legend. But most importantly, he is my friend, and as much as it hurts not seeing him compete with me in IndyCar, I’m very happy that he got out of that accident and is still with us.” Teammate Scott Dixon also made a comment regarding Franchitti’s unexpected retirement saying: “Dario is a true legend in the sport. More importantly, I can call him a best friend. There are very few people that have achieved as much in auto racing and knowing Dario, he won’t go far as IndyCar racing is in his blood and I am sure he will stay involved somehow.” IndyCar will feel the loss of Franchitti’s presence at the track in 2014 but the legacy he has left behind will be present for years to come. “As a four-time IndyCar Series champion and a three-time Indianapolis 500 winner, Dario Franchitti has etched his name among the greats of this sport, and his legacy will continue to influence future generations of competitors,” a spokesperson for IndyCar said Thursday. “His passion was born, in part, from a deep love for the sport and a reverence to its history, and Dario carries that heritage everywhere he travels and shares it with everyone he meets. Dario’s leadership on and off the track has helped shape IndyCar, and we look forward to him remaining involved in the sport he loves.” Franchitti has already underwent two surgeries to repair his ankle and is at home in Scotland recovering. Original Post: Click Here
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For thirteen years, Matt Crafton has been competing in what is now called the Camping World Truck Series. Thirteen years and a long road to his first Championship in one of NASCAR’s premiere leagues.
A road that has not been easy to travel, Crafton is one of those racers that has had to earn everything he has gotten. As a young driver, his family didn’t have the money to spend on top-notch and new equipment. Instead, they settled for hand-me-down cars and homemade chassis. The 2000 Southwest Tour Champion had to practice many times on old race tires and his father would bargain for a new set. “I remember one thing my dad always said: ‘You run good enough this week, you’ll get a practice set of tires next week,’ ” Crafton told NASCAR.com Nowadays, that isn’t the case. Crafton currently sits 46-points ahead of Ty Dillon and is well on his way to hoisting up the Champions trophy on Friday. Crafton is coming to be called “Mr. Consistency” in the garage after finishing outside of the top-10 only twice this season. How close is Crafton to clinching the title? He only needs to start the race at Homestead-Miami. Driving the No.88 for ThorSport Racing, Crafton’s only teammate Johnny Sauter has three wins this season yet sits 77-points behind him. Crafton has one win this season coming at Kansas bringing his total wins in his Truck Series career to just three. Crafton told NASCAR.com that the reason he is so consistent is because he always had to work for what he had. “I’ve never had everything given to me. I’ve always had to take care of what I had, from when I was a kid racing go-karts to micro-midgets to late models. You go out there and tear it up, you don’t get to race next week. I guess it teaches you to take care of your stuff a little bit more. Yes, maybe if I were more aggressive and a little more wild, maybe I could have won a few more races. But at the same time, I might have been out of a job if the owner says, ‘This guy tears up too much stuff.’ That’s just the way I was raised, to take care of your stuff.” All of his hard work and patience is about to pay off in a big way. For Matt Crafton, this championship isn’t just for him, but for his father Danny who has stood by his side since his first race as a child. “I think about it every day,” Danny Crafton said. “Coming from that little town in (Bakersfield) California, we got here.” Original Post: Click Here This season, the NASCAR Nationwide Series could have a winless champion. A season where only four races were won by Nationwide Series drivers actually running for the Championship has made this season hard to watch for some NASCAR’s most diehard fans. So what will the championship come down to?
Consistency. Austin Dillon and Sam Hornish Jr. are at the top of the standings with only one win between the two. Dillon currently sits eight points ahead of Hornish with one race left on the schedule and that race will determine who sits at the head of the table at the awards banquet next week. Driving for grandfather Richard Childress, Dillon has been rumored to move up to the Sprint Cup Series in 2014. The 2011 Camping World Truck Series Champion is currently winless this season with 13 top-5′s and 22 top-10 finishes. His strength this season has been consistency and finishing races. With one DNF coming at Richmond in the spring, Dillon has completed 99.2% of the laps this season.According to statistics from Racing Reference, Dillon’s average start is 4.8 and in a seven week stretch through the summer, Dillon sat on the pole six of those weeks. In his second full season in the Nationwide Series, the 3-time IndyCar Series Champion has a NASCAR Championship within reach. Sam Hornish Jr. has had a wild ride in NASCAR since joining the series full-time in 2008. With one win this season at Las Vegas, Hornish has been fairly consistent this season. According to Racing Reference, Hornish has 16 top-5 and 24 top-10 finishes. His downfall this season has been the two DNF’s he has acquired. With an average finish of 9.0 and 97.6% of the laps completed this season, it shows just where he has fallen short compared to Austin Dillon. Barring a wreck or mechanical failure for either of our two championship contenders, the winner will be decided in the closing laps at Homestead-Miami Saturday night. Both drivers are equally deserving of being at the top and with just eight points separating the two, the slightest mistake could cost someone the big trophy. Original Post: Click Here The X Games superstar announced to his fans and followers yesterday that his foray into NASCAR has come to a close. Currently finishing up his second full season in the sport, Travis Pastrana is calling it quits. He took to Facebook yesterday to make the announcement.
This past season of NASCAR has been an awesome experience. I have made a lot of great friends, had a lot of fun and gained a new appreciation for all aspects of this sport. Jack Roush and everyone at Roush Fenway Racing have gone above and beyond to try and help me succeed and I am truly grateful for their support. I would like to thank them and all of the other people who stuck behind me during the last two years as I tried to learn how to make a successful career in NASCAR. Its tough to step back now and prove the critics were right, but unfortunately my results were not good enough to get the sponsors I needed to appropriately fund next season. My wife Lyn-z has been more then supportive of my foray into NASCAR, often times being my biggest source of encouragement and support. But as my wife had to take a step back from being a professional skater to let me chase my goals in racing, I too need to take a step back and look at my situation as a father and husband. The NASCAR schedule is grueling and takes enormous sacrifices from those you love to make work. With a lack of funding next year, now is my opportunity to sit back and offer support as she chases her goals. I hate to quit and I hate to fail, but sometimes things work out as they should. I’ve never been able to figure out the finesse required in pavement racing and that is disappointing, but I’m looking forward to driving more rally and racing more off-road trucks and there will be some announcements on those fronts shortly! My wife is excited to get back to skating on the Nitro Circus Live Tour and I’m excited to spend some quality time with my girls. Thank you to all my fans for the support and I hope to see each of you at an event in the near future. TP Fans and critics alike have shown their support for this talented driver over the past two seasons but unfortunately, NASCAR just wasn’t the right fit for Pastrana. He brought a new light and a new fan base into this sport and broke away from the crisp white shirts that represent Roush Fenway Racing. Homestead-Miami will mark the last race that we will see the multicolored car out on the track. Before I get into the logistics of this piece, I just want to make something clear. This article is based on research and fact, not strictly opinion. Am I a fan of Danica Patrick? Yes, I have been for many years and will continue to be for many more to come.
My point for this article isn’t to point out her accomplishments or failures, but to prove that she isn’t to blame for everything, even though many people seem to think of her as the easy scapegoat. So, on to the article. Many times this season, the driver of the No.10 GoDaddy Chevrolet has been involved in an accident of some sort. Have they all been caused by said driver? No. Not even close. Has said driver caused wrecks this season that took out others? Yes, but which driver hasn’t? Let us start from the beginning of 2013. March 2013: Phoenix Just the second race of the season and Patrick earns her first DNF after a hard wreck at Phoenix International Raceway. Take a look at the video from NASCAR of the wreck: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN50p45hPDM Listening to the broadcasters and the in-car camera, Patrick blew a right-front tire coming out of turn 4 which sent her straight into the wall, bouncing her off and into the oncoming car of David Ragan. A similar incident happened to Patrick’s teammate, Ryan Newman. He also blew a tire during the race, but hit at a different angle (Click here for the video). Was this wreck Patrick’s fault? Not entirely. Blowing a tire while traveling at high speeds is going to lead to a wreck and Ragan just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Could Patrick have stopped her car from rolling down the track? Possibly, but the way her car hit would have made it extremely difficult for even the most experienced driver. April 2013: Martinsville This one isn’t necessarily a wreck, but it did bring out a caution. Patrick, after starting in the back after an engine change, is fighting her way up through the field only to be turned by Ken Schrader (watch it here ). This is more than likely due to the fact that this was her first start at Martinsville and she was still learning how to race the track. In the end, she gets back on the lead lap and surprises everyone with a top-12 finish. Will I call the spin her fault? No, it’s Martinsville. Everyone has isues at some point or another at Martinsville. May 2013: Talladega Like most of the drivers in the field, Danica Patrick was caught up in the “big one” with just a handful of laps to go. With her pole-winning Daytona car, Patrick was on her way to another respectable plate track finish when a wreck, triggered by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and JJ Yeley, caused the field to crash and scatter. Looking at the video caught by the Goodyear blimp (which you can watch here ), Patrick is riding around in the middle of the track when the wreck starts in front of her. She slides up the track to avoid being caught up in it, only to run right into Terry Labonte, causing them to both hit the wall. A Rookie mistake or just a split-second reaction? It’s both but the fact of the matter is, she may have made it through this one with little to no damage if she wouldn’t have slid so far up the track. I will put this one as a draw. May 2013: Charlotte So this one is a little harder to determine who is at fault. Seven cars were racing for the Lucky Dog position and were all racing hard. Two of those cars, the No.2 of Brad Keselowski and the No.10 of Patrick plus the No.17 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. decide to take it three-wide going into turn-3. Looking at NASCAR’s video of the wreck (here ), it looks like Stenhouse slid up the track just a bit, but enough to make Patrick slide up as well, right into Keselowski’s left rear quarter panel. We will hand the start of this wreck to Stenhouse. July 2013: Loudon The one that landed her on the couch that night. Patrick, racing hard with boyfriend Stenhouse and Travis Kvapil, misses her braking point going into the turn and runs right in to the side of Stenhouse. Stenhouse loses control from the contact with Patrick and takes out Kvapil (watch the video here ). This one falls solely on the shoulders of Patrick. August 2013: Pocono Patrick drives it hard going into the turn and her car loses grip. She chased it up the track but went right into the No.93 of Kvapil. Patrick spins, collecting Jeff Burton and Paul Menard. This one, once again, falls on Patrick. Would this have happened if she had more experience driving these cars? Probably not. This one is definitely a Rookie mistake, but a mistake at that. October 2013: Kansas I was actually here for this one…and it wasn’t pretty. Patrick had been having a reasonable weekend with practice and qualifying but a very cold day led to very interesting track temperatures and conditions. At the green flag, Patrick makes a big mistake; she slides up to the middle of the track. With cold temperatures and cold tires, the car had little to no grip at the start of the race. She slid to the middle of the track before going in to turn-1 and lost control. Her car slides around and slides up the track, ending her day. (Watch the video here ). November 2013: Phoenix The most recent incident Patrick was involved in was one not of her own making. Lap 146 at Phoenix saw Patrick colliding with former JR Motorsports teammate Cole Whitt along with David Reutimann and Justin Allgaier after Reutimann was spun out by the No.43 of Aric Almirola. Patrick and Allgaier both slowed to avoid the wreck ahead of them only to be run into by the No.30 of Whitt. This was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. So my point for all of these is this; each and every one of the incidents, whether started by Patrick or not, led to a stream of hate and blame on social networks and fan sites. My question to you is; why always blame Patrick? Yes, she has caused a few wrecks this season but can name a driver who hasn’t? Patrick seems to be the scapegoat for NASCAR fans and drivers to blame when she is involved in an issue out on the track when she isn’t necessarily the one at fault. There have even been times where she hasn’t been involved, yet someone throws the blame her way. Whether you are a fan of Danica Patrick or not, you have to remember that she is a Rookie, or at least will be for one more race, and is going to make mistakes. Even seasoned drivers make mistakes that cause carnage and big wrecks. Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch and even the 5-time (probably soon to be 6-time) champion Jimmie Johnson have caused a wreck recently. Love her or hate her, Danica Patrick is here to stay. NOTE: Racing-Reference.info was used to collect a majority of the race data as well as DanicaRacing.com and NASCAR.com Original Post: Choose Here After Sunday’s race at Phoenix, Jimmie Johnson heads to the final race of the season with a 28-point lead over second place Matt Kenseth.
Since Chicago, Johnson has been on a steady climb to the top of the standings and after taking the points lead at Talladega, he has been virtually unstoppable. Yes, Matt Kenseth has been right there on his heals but Johnson has been just as competitive and more importantly, consistent. Today’s race all but sealed the Championship for Jimmie Johnson. After Kenseth’s disappointing finish, it’s Johnson’s title to lose. Here is how close Johnson is to clinching the title, regardless of any other driver’s finish, Johnson will clinch his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup championship with:
Original Post: Click Here For the sixth time this season, and his second in the Chase, Jimmie Johnson took his No.48 Lowe’s Chevrolet to Victory Lane.
Leading 255 of the scheduled 335 laps, Johnson was clearly the dominate car at Texas Motor Speedway. Despite some slow pit stops, Johnson was able to stay ahead of the pack and hold of teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the win. “We came here and tested and did an awesome job of understanding what I needed in the car and what was going to create speed,” Johnson said after the race. “We came back and had a very smooth qualifying session and practice sessions, and just kept putting more and more speed in the car. “It paid off today. Obviously, we need a lot of speed in the car and a win to get any points because Matt is there in the top five. Nice to gain just a few points on him. But just a dominant day for this Lowe’s team.” Last season, Johnson was competing for the Championship with Brad Keselowski. After winning at Texas in 2012, Johnson held a seven point lead over Keselowski heading into the final two races. Brad Keselowski went on to win the Championship. Jimmie Johnson currently holds a seven point lead over Matt Kenseth. Will history repeat itself? Johnson is confident that he can win his sixth title, but he knows it won’t come easy. “I’ve been watching a lot of MMA fighting lately, and you’ll fall into a rhythm and think that somebody has got the fight won, and it doesn’t end that way,” he said. “That’s how this is going to be. Matt didn’t have maybe the best day and still finished fourth. This thing is going to go to the last lap at Homestead, and it is going to come down to mistakes. Matt Kenseth rallied back to finish forth after a pit road speeding penalty left him mid-pack and close to going a lap down. A series of well-timed cautions and a fast car allowed him to work his way up through the field, but he couldn’t quite catch Johnson. Jeff Gordon went from a win and possible Championship contender to sixth in the standings and 69 points back. After slapping the wall hard on lap 74, Gordon had to take his Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet to the garage for lengthy repairs. He went on to finish 38th. “Just had a left front tire go down, not really sure why yet, trying to figure that out, but that’s a shame,” Gordon said from his garage. “I don’t know if I ran over something or we just had a failure. I felt it go down and even had time to go on the radio and say, ‘Oh you-know-what’ because I knew I was getting ready to hit the wall hard. It’s a shame. This team has worked so hard to get ourselves in this position and we can’t have things like this happen. This is going to hurt.” Is the Championship down to two drivers? Yes. Kevin Harvick sits just 40 points back from the top spot but with just two races to go, it will take a miracle for him to take the top spot. Is it possible? Of course, but for that to happen, both Johnson and Kenseth will have to have two very bad races. The Championship is going to some down to the final laps at Homestead and who will be holding the Cup high? That is really anybody’s guess. Original Post: Click Here For the sixth time this season, Brad Keselowski went to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. His first at Texas, Keselowski was determined to get that cowboy hat at the end of the race.
Leading 105 out of the scheduled 200 laps, Keselowski battled hard with Denny Hamlin for the last 30 laps before he reclaimed the lead for the final time and took the checkered flag. Sam Hornish Jr fought back to finish third after a pit road penalty left him a lap down to the leaders early in the race. He hit the cone on his first pit stop, which is a commitment line violation. He served a pass-through penalty and came out 17th and one lap down, although he gained that lap back on the first caution of the day (Lap 70) by not pitting. His third place finish gained him two points on series leader and now sits six points behind Austin Dillon. Kyle Busch wrecked on lap 110 after he blew a right rear tire and smacked the outside wall. He ran in the top 5 before the incident but finished 26th. Top 10 Finishers: No.22 Brad Keselowski No.20 Denny Hamlin No.12 Sam Hornish Jr No.18 Matt Kenseth No.3 Austin Dillon No.7 Regan Smith No.11 Elliott Sadler No.2 Brian Scott No.32 Kyle Larson No.5 Brad Sweet Original Post: Click Here Once again, this was one of the worst kept secrets in NASCAR but it was officially announced this morning at Texas Motor Speedway that Martin Truex Jr will be piloting the NO.78 Chevrolet for Furniture Row Racing starting in 2014.
The dominoes fell at a high rate after the incident in Richmond with Michael Waltrip Racing and it seemed like no driver was hurt worse then Truex. Losing his sponsor and then his ride, he was left searching late in the season for a place to go in 2014. With Kurt Busch moving to Stewart-Haas Racing, Furniture Row Racing had a vacant seat and found the perfect driver in Truex. “I’m definitely excited to be here today,” Truex Jr. said during the press conference. “This is a big deal for me, and I’m very, very excited about the opportunity to drive for Furniture Row. I’ve really been impressed with this organization and what they’ve accomplished this year being a single-car team.” In his eighth full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Truex has one win this season and six top-5 finishes. Furniture Row Racing debuted in 2005 and has seen victory lane once with Regan Smith in 2011 at Darlington. Original Post: Click Here After the incident that unfolded between Kevin Harvick and Ty Dillon during Saturday’s Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway, the No.3 team from Richard Childress Racing has been penalized by NASCAR.
According to NASCAR, the team has been penalized for violating Sections 12-1 (Actions detrimental to stock car racing; throwing an object at a competitor’s race truck) and 9-4A: (The Crew Chief assumes responsibility for the actions of his/her Driver, Truck Owner and team members). Crew Chief Paul (Marcus) Richmond has been fined $10,000. Crew member Adam Brown, who threw a hammer at the race truck being driven by Kevin Harvick, has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR. Harvick made some comments about the Dillon brothers following the incident on Saturday that Austin Dillon said “stung.” “The 3 (of Dillon) just dumped me,” Harvick said after exiting his truck. “Exactly the reason I’m leaving RCR because you’ve got those kids coming up and they’ve got no respect for what they do in this sport and they’ve had everything fed to them with a spoon. … It’s a shame you’ve got to get taken out by some rich kid like that.” The eldest Dillon brother didn’t think too highly of Harvick’s comments. “Growing up in the family with RCR and knowing what goes on here on a daily basis, it hurt my feelings,” Dillon said. “But I forgive Kevin. Kevin’s taught me a lot; he’s done a lot for our company and stepped in at a tough time for RCR. He’s kept us at the forefront of NASCAR. On Fox Sports 1 on Sunday, Harvick apologized for his comments but at the end of it all, those remarks were still felt throughout the organization. Tune in this weekend to watch the triple-header at Texas Motor Speedway. Original Post: Click Here |
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