Welcome to the fourth edition of Katie’s Komment’s, a place to find the latest NASCAR news and my opinion on it! All comments are my views only but feel free to leave your own!
Patrick VS Gilliland: It was abundantly clear when listening to Danica Patrick’s radio that she was frustrated with David Gilliland last weekend at Kansas Speedway. The two of them have had their issues since Darlington last season and it has carried over to other tracks since. Gilliland responded to Patrick’s radio comments by saying that she needs to “shut up and race.” This little “altercation” has been blown WAY out of proportion. These two aren’t the only pair of drivers with issues on the track, but because of Patrick’s celebrity, it has been brought to the fore front. Don’t get me wrong, I am a big supporter of Danica and have been for many years, but the media tend to make things Danica related into a story that really shouldn’t be. This would be one example of that. Matt Kenseth’s Illegal Engine: When news broke that Kenseth’s Pole and race winning engine was found to have an illegal part, my heart sank. Kenseth is probably one of the most honest drivers in the garage and the same can be applied to his Crew Chief. I truly believe that they had no idea the connector was light and neither did Joe Gibbs. I really hope they can all overcome this penalty and come out stronger on the other side. Ricky Stenhouse Jr: This two-time Nationwide Series Champion sure knows how to wheel a race car. Stenhouse had his best start of his Sprint Cup career at Kansas Speedway when he sat on the provisional pole throughout most of qualifying and ended up taking the green flag starting P3. He ran up front for a majority of the race and even led multiple laps but a late race caution after his green flag pit stop put him a lap down. He ended up finishing 11th and on the lead lap and although it wasn’t the finish he deserved, it was still an impressive run. I think Stenhouse is Sprint Cup Champion material. He definitely knows what he is doing out on the track and improves each and every weekend. I can see him holding that Cup trophy high in just a few short seasons. That will be it for the fourth edition of Katie’s Komments and remember, if you don’t like mine, feel free to leave your own!
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Welcome to the third edition of Katie’s Komment’s, a place to find the latest NASCAR news and my opinion on it! All comments are my views only but feel free to leave your own!
PENALTIES: NASCAR definitely showed their power this week when they handed down the penalties and fines to Penske Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing and Ron Hornaday. The Twitterverse exploded with tweets of outrage and disgust when the news broke saying the NASCAR was being unfair and the penalties, especially towards Penske Racing, were too harsh. I tend to disagree. The penalty given to MWR and the No. 56 team of Martin Truex Jr. was standard to what NASCAR has done in the past and MWR seems to agree; they are not appealing. The penalties given to the two Penske Racing teams seem harsh, but if you look at the penalties given to the No. 48 team of Jimmie Johnson last season, they are fairly similar. The No. 48 team appealed the penalties which later were reduced and I see the same thing happening to the Penske Racing teams as well. Ron Hornaday’s penalty though, seemed a little lenient. Kyle Busch did the same thing to Hornaday in 2011 that Hornaday did to Darrell Wallace Jr. and was parked immediately and suspended. Hornaday was fined and put on probation until June. All in all, NASCAR was pretty consistent with their penalties and fines this week. Good job NASCAR. KANSAS: The Truck and Sprint Cup Series hits the tracks this weekend at Kansas Speedway. This track has always been one of the hardest to predict and with the new repave, it has become even more unpredictable. Since its first race, no driver has won more than two races at the track. I had the privilege of attending the fall race there last season after it was repaved and the Sprint Cup race was complete chaos. There were cars spinning at every turn and there was really no point in the race where you could determine a possible race winner. You can definitely look at drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch for this weekend but when the checkered flag flies, you never know who might just cross that finish line. KYLE BUSCH AND JIMMIE JOHNSON: We may only be seven races into the season but it is already clear that there are two drivers who are definite Championship contenders. Jimmie Johnson is no surprise. He is, more often than not, right up there in the final two or three when Homestead rolls around. He already has two wins this season and is a favorite to win this weekend. Kyle Busch is a different story. This Busch brother missed the Chase last season and is determined to NOT let that happen again. He, too, already has two wins this season in the Cup Series and four in the Nationwide Series. Busch is well on his way to making the Chase and if he continues down the path he is currently on, he might just win the entire thing. That will be it for the third edition of Katie’s Komments and remember, if you don’t like mine, feel free to leave your own! Welcome to the second edition of Katie’s Komment’s, a place to find the latest NASCAR news and my opinion on it! All comments are my views only but feel free to leave your own!
Jimmie Johnson: Let’s face it, Jimmie Johnson and the Lowe’s 48 team dominated last weekend at Martinsville. Johnson took top honors of the weekend when he not only took the pole position but he broke the track record. Let’s not forget that he also led the most laps and won his 8th Grandfather clock. Johnson’s win at Martinsville makes this his second this season following his win in the Daytona 500, making him the first driver this season to reach Victory Lane for the second time. Although it seems like Johnson’s race was nothing but good, there was one instance on the track that left Johnson’s with a lot of hate mail, or hate tweets for that matter, following the race. After contact with Danica Patrick, fellow Hendrick teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr spun out and was blocking the track. Johnson, leading the race, had to slow up in order for Dale Jr. to back up and get turned around. As Dale Jr. backed up, Johnson went forward and around, putting Dale Jr. a lap down. The rest of the field waited for him to turn around before they continued on. Now, the great debate is, was Johnson wrong for going around Dale Jr.? Dale Jr. says no, that he didn’t blame him for going around him at all. JRNation has other ideas. Johnson did what any other driver leading the race would have done. Just because Dale Jr. is a teammate, Johnson had only one thing on his mind and that was winning that race. Danica Patrick: If you follow me on Twitter, you can probably tell that I am a big Danica Patrick supporter. I do agree that she is over-exposed but that over-exposure is benefiting NASCAR in the long run. I am not here to discuss that, yet. Instead, I am here to talk about her 12th place finish at Martinsville. 12th place may not seem like a great finish but for a Rookie at Martinsville, that is spectacular. Patrick was the highest finishing car for Stewart-Haas Racing which means she beat her boss, Tony Stewart, a veteran at Martinsville. Patrick spun out early in the race and went two laps down but pit strategy put her back on the lead lap halfway through the race. Patrick passed cars all day long and battled Brian Vickers for many laps. Running 11th at the white flag, she, along with Vickers and Kevin Harvick, raced three-wide, leaving her 12th in the end. Many veteran drivers were impressed with her finish and frankly, I was too. Patrick and her team needed that great finish after the rocky road she’s been running on since Daytona. Expect her to carry that momentum into Texas this weekend and considering this is the track she is most familiar with (she has 13 starts here between IndyCar and NASCAR), this could be another great week for the GoDaddy team. KURT BUSCH: This poor guy can’t seem to catch a break. Kurt Busch started 19th and patiently drove his No. 78 Furniture Row/Serta Chevrolet SS to the front of the field. By Lap 195, he had entered the top-10. Lap 270 saw Busch headed to pit road with a flat left-front tire after a tangle with Joey Logano which put him 2 laps down. By lap 292, he had gained one lap back and was on the verge of getting the “Lucky Dog” position when a nudge from David Gilliland sent Busch spinning on the track. Lap 351 saw Busch heading to the garage with a fuel pump issue. Shortly thereafter, he returned to the track and all seemed to be working properly. Busch was running 38th and more than 20 laps down with 14 laps to go when his Furniture Row Chevrolet suddenly shot up into the outside wall and burst into flames. Coming into turn 1, his car lost its brakes and instead of careening into the corner and taking out his fellow competitors, Busch instead turned the wheel the other way and slid up into the wall. Flames bellowed out from under the hood of his car as it came to its final resting place at the top of the track. His entire season seems to be full of as many ups and down as his Martinsville race but one thing is for sure, the older Busch brother isn’t giving up quite yet. He was fastest for most of the first test session at Texas on Thursday and I think Saturday’s race might just be the best race of his season thus far. That will be it for the second edition of Katie’s Komment’s and remember, if you don’t like mine, feel free to leave your own! Welcome to Katie’s Komment’s, a place to find the latest NASCAR news and my opinion on it! All comments are my views only but feel free to leave your own!
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale Jr. has been on a hot streak since the season opener. He started off by finishing in the runner-up position for the Great American Race and hasn’t finished outside of the top-10 yet this season! Heading into Martinsville, Jr. is coming off of another second place run AND Martinsville is arguably his best track on the circuit. Although he has never won at the paperclip, he hasn’t finished lower than 15th in the spring race since his inaugural start in 2000. If Earnhardt Jr. can keep his streak up, he is in a good position to not only win races this season, but be a serious contender for the Championship. He had a very strong run going last season until a concussion midway through the Chase ended his Championship hopes. The No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team is more than ready to win races and I don’t see them slowing down any time soon. I can see Jr. finally making it to victory lane this Sunday at Martinsville. It will be his 600th NASCAR start (NNS and Cup combined) and with the momentum he has, this might just be Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s week to capture the checkers. Denny Hamlin: When I saw his No. 11 FedEx Toyota hit the concrete wall at Auto Club Speedway, I could tell it was not going to have a happy ending. The angle and sheer size of the impact was enough to send shivers down my spine. It was pretty clear after Hamlin climbed out of his car that he was injured and a back injury was exactly what many expected. A compression fracture of the L1 vertebrae would ultimately keep Hamlin out of the car for the foreseeable future. With a Doctor’s note saying 4 to 6 weeks out of the car, Hamlin now finds himself on top of the pit box and Mark Martin behind the wheel of his car at Martinsville. Hamlin’s return is slated to be Darlington, but in an interview this week he thinks otherwise. Hamlin hopes to return to the car as early as Richmond, his hometown track. It’s easy to see his urge to get back behind the wheel and wanting to race at your home track is completely understandable, but I think Richmond would be a little too early. Hamlin’s early return all depends on how his back heals, which will be determined in a few weeks. Until then, he will be sitting next to his Crew Chief, Darian Grubb, while watching another driver behind the wheel of his car. Generation 6: The first few races with this new car could easily be called boring. There was little excitement on the track and many drivers found it hard to pass. The Daytona 500 was 500 miles of “follow the leader” and not much else. As the races added up, the excitement on the track got a little better…and then we hit Fontana. Auto Club Speedway isn’t usually known for its exciting races and I went into the weekend thinking we were going to be seeing more of the same thing but boy was I wrong. The Auto Club 400 was by far the best race of the season and it wasn’t all because of the driver feuds out on the track. The new Gen-6 car really seemed to shine in Fontana. It seems like more and more race teams are finding new ways to make these cars better. If the excitement at Martinsville is anything like Fontana, then race fans are in for one heck of a ride this weekend. Joey Logano vs Everyone? : The on-track feud between Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano will have to wait a few weeks until Hamlin is back in the car but there is a new battle brewing for Logano. Logano blocked Tony Stewart on the last restart in Fontana and his block caused Stewart to lose momentum. He went from a possible top-5 finish to finishing outside of the top-20. Stewart was noticeably upset after the race and confronted Logano. Punches were thrown, foul language was used, crew members got involved but in the end, nothing was solved. Stewart will definitely bring his anger and frustration towards Logano to the track at Martinsville so Logano might want to watch his back. Could there be other drivers out to get Logano? I really have no idea, but Logano might just have a few tough races in his future. That will be it for the first edition of Katie’s Komments and remember, if you don’t like mine, feel free to leave your own! |