He may only be 11 races into his career with Joe Gibbs Racing, but Matt Kenseth seems to be hotter than ever. With three wins already this season and seven top-10 finishes, can anyone stop him?
Matt Kenseth spent his entire Sprint Cup Career with Roush Fenway Racing behind the wheel of the No. 17 Ford. He had 24 wins, 126 top-5 and 232 top-10 finishes with RFR yet he felt the need to change teams. Now he finds himself behind the wheel of a Toyota, driving the No. 20 for Joe Gibbs Racing and he is off to the hottest start of his career. Kenseth started off the season with a strong showing at the Daytona 500 until his engine decided it just wasn’t his time to win the Great American Race. Two races later, he was standing in Victory Lane in Las Vegas, just three races into his career with JGR. He followed up his Vegas win with a wrecked car at Bristol, but came back to win a few races later at Kansas from the Pole. The next weekend at Richmond, he won the Pole again and finished seventh. Moving ahead to last weekend’s race at Darlington, Kenseth brought home his first victory at the Lady in Black, without his Crew Chief. Despite his team’s troubles with their illegal engine part which cost them 12 points and one race without Crew Chief Jason Ratcliff, this team has been flawless. Take away Kenseth’s two worst finishes this season, one due to an engine and the other due to a wreck, he has finished outside the top-10 twice; the lowest being 14th. Could he be a contender for the Sprint Cup Series Championship? Jimmie Johnson may be leading the current points standing by a full race, but don’t think that lead will be there for long. Kenseth is sitting third in standings, 59 points behind Jimmie Johnson and just 15 behind second place Carl Edwards. If Kenseth continues on the path that he is on, he could very well be on top of the point’s standings before you know it. Kenseth’s biggest competition this season will be Johnson. Johnson, after barely missing out on the Championship last season, is out to prove he still has it and has been stronger than ever this season. If Kenseth and his team keep doing what they have been doing and continue to build on their chemistry, they will be well on their way to keeping Johnson from his sixth Championship.
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The VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 from Darlington Raceway lap by lap breakdown.
Pre-Race Facts: 12 drivers who have never raced at Darlington Joe Gibbs Racing is starting 1-2-3-4 Kyle Busch is starting on Pole Lap-By-Lap: Lap 1: Green flag. Kyle Busch on Pole Lap 23: Caution. Contact between No6 of Bayne and No24 of Silas (Leader Busch) Lap 28 restart: Busch Sadler but Sadler quickly taken over by Kenseth Lap 33: McClure in the wall Lap 38: restart Busch and Kenseth. Kenseth quickly taken over by Sadler Lap 50: Sadler spins from 2nd place, keeps it from hitting the wall. Lap 55: Kahne is the leader after a round of pit stops under caution after Busch’s jackman loses footing, costing him the lead. Kahne loses the lead to Kenseth. Lap 70: After being bumped to 6th after a bad pit stop, Busch fights his way back up to 2nd, catching up with race leader Kenseth Lap 73: Pastrana gets his Darlington Stripe dropping him one place to 16th Lap 75: After a spin on lap 50, Sadler fights his way back into the top-10, running P10 Lap 78: Kahne and Vickers fight hard for 3rd, Pastrana hits pit road after hitting the wall on Lap 73 Lap 82: Busch takes over the lead after Kenseth gets caught behind lapped car No70 of Raines Lap 90: Busch has contact with Wallace while trying to get around him: Kenseth to get to his bumper. Lap 91: Vickers pits from 3rd under green for a vibration Lap 93: Busch and Kenseth complain about loose racecars. Running 1-2 Lap 108: Green flag pit stops start. Rookie Alex Bowman running in the top-10 Lap 112: Green Flag stops complete. Busch still leads over Kenseth Lap 119: JGR is running 1-2-3-4 again; No 79 of Kyle Fowler spins, hitting the wall. Caution flies Lap 121: Leaders pit under caution. Busch and Kenseth both change 4 tires. Lap 121: Sadler emerges as the leader off of pit road after only taking 2 tires. Lap 124: A. Dillon and Logano lead take the green after foregoing pit stops. Logano passes Dillon to lead. 18 to go: After a slight error by Logano, Busch retakes the lead. 14 to go: Bayne hits the wall again, running outside the top-20. 13 to go: battle for 7th: Dillon, Smith, Hornish heats up leading to contact between Dillon and Hornish. 10 to go: After taking 2nd from Logano, Sadler is gaining on race leader Busch. 9 to go: Vickers takes 3rd from Logano. Logano on old tires. 5 to go: Sadler is slowly losing ground on race leader Busch. 4 to go: Kenseth and Larson battle hard for 5th. Larson gets his Darlington Stripe. Checkered Flag: Kyle Busch gets his 5th win this season in the Nationwide Series making JGR the winner of 6 of the last 7 races at Darlington Raceway. Busch led 107 of the 147 laps. Points leader Regan Smith increased his lead to 28 points over second place Sam Hornish Jr. With his win, Busch scored a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0, his 16th perfect rating since NASCAR started keeping the statistic in 2005. Final Running Order: 1: Kyle Busch (54) 2: Elliott Sadler (11) 3: Brian Vickers (20) 4: Joey Logano (22) 5: Matt Kenseth (18) 6: Kyle Larson (32) 7: Regan Smith (7) 8: Sam Hornish Jr (12) 9: Kasey Kahne (5) 10: Justin Allgaier (31) 11: Austin Dillon (3) 12: Chris Buescher (16) 13: Ty Dillon (33) 14: Brian Scott (2) 15: Parker Kligerman (77) 16: Nelson Piquet Jr (30) 17: Alex Bowman (99) 18: Reed Sorenson (43) 19: Mike Bliss (19) 20: Jeremy Clements (51) 21: Josh Wise (40) 22: Blake Koch (00) 23: Landon Cassill (4) 24: Joe Nemechek (87) 25: Mike Wallace (01) 26: Eric McClure (14) 27: Danny Efland (74) 28: Travis Pastrana (60) 29: Hal Martin (44) 30: Dexter Stacey (92) 31: Harrison Rhodes (23) 32: Trevor Bayne (6) 33: Tony Raines (70) 34: Kyle Fowler (79) 35: Kevin Lepage (52) 36: Bryan Silas (24) 37: Jeff Green (10) 38: J.J. Yeley (42) 39: Chase Miller (46) 40: Tanner Berryhill (17) The Nationwide Series heads to Darlington this weekend to take on the Lady in Black. The VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 will run Friday night under the lights at 7:30 PM ET and it will be one of the races this season that you do not want to miss.
In the last 10 Nationwide Series races that have been held at the track, the win has gone to a Sprint Cup Series regular. Brian Vickers, back in 2003, was the last Nationwide Series regular to come home victorious from Darlington. Last season, the highest finishing Series contender was Sam Hornish Jr who finished fourth behind race winner Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski. Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Brian Scott rounded out the top-7. This season, there are four Sprint Cup Series regulars scheduled to hit the track for Friday’s race. Defending winner Joey Logano returns to the No22. Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth will all be fighting for the win Friday night as well. The question is, with Kyle Busch getting behind the wheel of the No54 after taking a break last weekend, will he be once again get back to his winning ways? Busch has three Poles at Darlington as well as a win in 2011. With four wins already this season, Darlington isn’t out of the question for Busch. There are a few Nationwide Series regulars who are looking for that Darlington win as well. Hornish raced well here last season and recorded his best finish of 4th at the track. After a rough weekend at Talladega that cost him the points lead, Hornish will be fighting hard for the win, and the return to the top of the standings. Regan Smith will be looking to increase the point’s lead that he took from Hornish last weekend when he came out victorious at Talladega. His last start at the track in the Nationwide Series was back in 2007 where he finished 12th. That was also his highest finish at the track to date. Smith is going to have to improve that finish by quite a bit to take the win but he JR Motorsports team has been strong this season. Austin Dillon is also another to watch this weekend. With a top-10 finish last season, this guy knows how to get around this track. He needs a few good finishes and even a win or two to have a chance at the Nationwide Series Championship at the end of the year. Darlington is known as being “Too Tough to Tame” for many reasons which is why the Sprint Cup Series regulars are so good here. At Darlington, it’s not your competitiors that you race, it’s the track itself. Can a Nationwide Series contender come out on top this Friday? It is very possible. The one who can tame the Lady in Black is the driver who walks home with the shiny trophy at the end of the day. Talladega Super Speedway; it’s the sister track to Daytona and the home to some of the biggest wrecks in NASCAR. This weekend, the Nationwide Series hits the pavement and knowing who will come out victorious is anybody’s guess.
With speeds over 192 miles per hour, Truck Series regular Ty Dillon, with a push from Nationwide Series regular Trevor Bayne, topped the speed charts during yesterdays practice sessions. Travis Pastrana, Reed Sorenson and Regan Smith rounded out the top-5 in practice, all with speeds around 190mph. Kasey Kahne, the highest ranked Sprint Cup Series regular, was sixth in practice. There are four Cup Series regulars scheduled to appear in Saturday’s Nationwide Series Race. Joey Logano and Kurt Bush both showed speed during the two practice sessions and so did Danica Patrick. Patrick will be making her second start with Turner-Scott Motorsports this weekend and was one of the fastest cars doing single car runs. Talladega is any drivers race to win. Riding in a pack and drafting allows for large groups of cars running very close together, which also causes the “big one.” It’s who can come out on top and miss the “big one” who will come out on top with the checkers. But who has the best chance at doing that? One driver on many teams radar is Patrick. She excels at the Super Speedway races and has held the Pole for two races at Daytona. With a good team and a strong car, both of which she has this weekend, she could come out with her first stock car win on Saturday. He won the Daytona 500 in 2011 as a Rookie in the Sprint Cup Series and he was near the top of the speed charts during both practice sessions yesterday. Trevor Bayne is running for the Nationwide Series Championship and excels at plate racing as well. He could arise out of the (probable) last lap crash with the checkered flag in his grasp. Points Leader Sam Hornish Jr is in need of a good race. He has had some rotten luck these last few weeks and can’t afford to wreck out of Talladega. He was fast in practice and is a good Speedway racer. If he wants a chance at the checkers to increase his very small points lead, he needs to team up with someone like Joey Logano to get him to the front and get him his second victory of the season. Both of the Dillon brothers showed that they had speed yesterday and the younger brother even topped the speed charts in second practice. Could a Dillon brother one-two finish come at Talladega tomorrow? It is entirely possible. One brotherly duo who will be missing in action this weekend is the Busch pair. Older brother Kurt will be in the field but missing from the pack will be recent Nationwide Series dominator, Kyle Busch. Driving the No. 54 this weekend instead will be Joey Coulter, who finished second practice P10. Talladega will be as exciting as ever and sure not to disappoint. Make sure you tune in to the Aaron’s 312 this Saturday on ESPN at 3PM EST. Who will come out of the smoke with the checkers? Well, your guess is just as good as mine. The Nationwide Series took to the short track of Richmond on Friday night and with Carl Edwards up in the booth calling the race for the TV broadcast; it was pretty entertaining on all fronts.
Brad Keselowski started on the pole and three of the top five starters were full time Sprint Cup drivers. Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick all started towards the front of the field and stayed there throughout the entire night. Point’s leader Sam Hornish Jr started third and Kenny Wallace rounded out the top 5 starters. Kyle Busch was leading with just over 20 laps to go and it looked like it was going to be win number 5 for the No. 54 until Keselowski made the pass for the lead with 10 to go and took the checkers to Victory Lane. Harvick and Busch finished close behind. Brian Vickers was the highest finishing Nationwide Series regular when he came in fourth followed by Regan Smith coming home fifth. Elliott Sadler drove home with a sixth place finish with Sam Hornish Jr, Kyle Larson, Travis Pastrana, and Reed Sorenson rounding out the top 10. The first caution of the race flew on lap 27 when Dexter Stacy hit the wall. By then, there had already been four different leaders at the front of the pack. Stacy’s wreck caused a five minute red flag due to the amount of oil on the track. Hornish took the lead on the restart but was eventually taken over by Elliott Sadler on lap 89. He would lead until the lap 101 when Alex Bowman blew a right front tire and hit the outside wall. Bowman would continue and finish 27th. Harvick and Sadler started up front on the restart and Harvick got a jump and took the lead. Laps 145 and 152 saw cautions for Kenny Wallace and Juan Carlos Blum and on the lap 158 restart Keselowski fought past Kevin Harvick and got his first lead since the beginning of the night. Harvick would take the lead back on lap 169 and continued to lead the pack until a lap 190 spin by Tanner Berryhill caused yet another caution. The final laps of the race were nothing but yellow after yellow, one even involving three Championship contenders, Austin Dillon, Brian Scott and Justin Allgaier. On the lap 220 restart, Keselowski and Harvick were battling for P1 with Busch lurking in P3. Busch overtook them both on lap 225 and would continue to lead until a caution by Kenny Wallace would bunch the field up once again. Busch took the lead on the restart but Keselowski shot past him on lap 240 and went on to win the race. Hornish still leads the point’s standings by one with Regan Smith nipping at his heels. Brian Scott, Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler finish out the top 5 in points standing. The Nationwide Series will be back on track this weekend at Talladega Super Speedway. The Nationwide Series is back on track this weekend in Richmond and you can probably take a guess as to who is going to be the favorite to win the ToyotaCare 250.
Kyle Busch is back in the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota and after winning two thirds of the Nationwide Series races already this season; he is definitely a fan favorite for Richmond as well. Busch has a great history at the .75 mile track. He has won 4 out of the last 5 Nationwide races held here as well as taking the checkered flag last night in Denny Hamlin’s Short Track Showdown. Busch definitely knows how to get around this track. But Busch isn’t the only one I would watch tonight. Reigning Sprint Cup Series Champion Brad Keselowski was fastest in practice yesterday and is expected to be fast yet again today. Keselowski has had an average showing so far this season in the Nationwide Series. Rookie Alex Bowman was tailing Keselowski in practice yesterday by just a few tenths to hold onto second place. He is making his 11th start in the series and definitely knows how to wheel a car. He will definitely be one to keep an eye on for tonight’s ToyotaCare 250. JR Motorsports driver Regan Smith sat comfortably in 4th place after yesterday’s practice sessions. Smith came out of the gate hot at the end of last season by scoring a trip to Victory Lane in his first time behind the wheel of his new JRM ride at Homestead. He has been a strong force throughout most of the season thus far and looks to have a strong car here at Richmond. Point’s leader Sam Hornish Jr and the man on his tail, otherwise known as Austin Dillon, were among the top-10 in practice yesterday and will be strong throughout tonight’s race as well. Any one of these great drivers above could go to victory lane tonight, but the biggest hurdle they are going to have to get over isn’t the track, it’s a fellow driver: Kyle Busch. Tune in tonight to the ToyotaCare 250 from Richmond, you might just see a new driver in Victory Lane. It’s a family affair for JR Motorsports at Richmond International Raceway this weekend. Jeffrey Earnhardt, the 23-year old son of Kerry Earnhardt, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s nephew, will be driving the No. 5 CorvetteParts.net Chevrolet. It will be his first time behind the wheel of this car.
In a press release on JRMracing.com, the young Earnhardt expressed his gratitude towards his uncle. “This whole experience has been awesome for me. I can’t thank Kelley and Dale Jr. enough for this chance,” he said. “Hopefully I can go and represent them well and give the fans a good show. My goal this year is to get as much seat time as I can to learn and become a better driver.” He had no idea his uncle was even considering him as potential driver for the No. 5 car. “I was really surprised when Dale Jr. called me about this. I’ve never really gone and asked for a ride. I want to make sure I earn what I get,” he said. Richmond has a rich Earnhardt history dating back to Ralph Earnhardt’s first start at the facility in 1957. Since then, there has been five generation of Earnhardt’s that has taken to the Virginian track. Together, they have 12 wins; six from Dale Sr. and six from Dale Jr, and Jeffrey Earnhardt could possibly make it 13. Earnhardt has competed in multiple NASCAR sanctioned events including the NASCAR East Series. “Doing it the hard way makes me appreciate this opportunity even more. The past couple years have been tough,” he said. “All the hard work and the struggles have helped me mature as a driver and a person. We’re going to go out there, have fun and maybe open some more doors in the process.” Also a MMA competitor, Earnhardt knows how to work hard to get what he wants and driving his uncle’s car at Richmond is no different. He has already made 15 starts in the Nationwide Series over the last few years including 5 already this season, but this will be the first with JR Motorsports. With a big fan base and great talent, this 23 year old is destined to do great things. The youngest Busch brother has won four of the six Nationwide Series races this season, a second place finish and one finish outside of the top 30. Every race he runs he seems to dominate the competition, pretty much excluding all other drivers from a possible win. He isn’t running for the Championship, he is just doing it for fun, but has he overstayed his welcome?
Kyle Busch is no stranger to Victory Lane. He has well over 100 victories in all three of NASCAR’s top series combined. After missing the Chase last year in the Sprint Cup Series, it seems like Busch is out to prove to everyone, including himself that he can still win. Well, he has definitely proved that, but has he gone too far? The Nationwide Series is supposed to be a place for drivers to learn and grow. It’s a series that is not quite as tough as the Sprint Cup Series yet still very competitive. It’s supposed to be a series for drivers to race it out and improve their skills eventually working their way into the big leagues of Sprint Cup. Lately though, it has become the Kyle Busch Show. He has been in every race this season in the Nationwide Series and besides the Daytona opener where he experienced engine troubles; he has won, or at least finished second, every time. If you take to Twitter any given Saturday, or the occasional Friday, during a Nationwide Series race, you can find the majority of tweets to be about Busch. They aren’t usually positive and happy tweets either. Many people are tuning out of the Nationwide races because they know it’s just going to be another “Kyle Busch Show.” It’s clear to see that Busch is destroying the Nationwide Series this season, in more ways than one. He is destroying it in terms of coming in and winning every weekend and he is destroying it in terms of fans and followers. I honestly don’t mind seeing full time Cup driver’s race in the Nationwide Series, but don’t do it every weekend. Let the Nationwide Series full-timers battle it out for the win instead of second place. Busch will be behind the wheel of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota this weekend at Richmond and putting money on his win would be a pretty safe bet. Besides already having four wins this season, Busch has won four out of the last five Nationwide races at this track. Kyle Busch can wheel a race car; there is no doubt about that, but I think it is time he hangs up his Monster Energy helmet for a while and focus solely on his Race for the Chase. The NASCAR Nationwide Series is back in action this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway! There are a variety of Sprint Cup drivers scheduled to be in the field including Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Dale Earnhardt Jr which means this could just be another race dominated by these Cup drivers.
Looking back at the season thus far, only one Nationwide Series regular has won a race. Tony Stewart took top honors at the Daytona season opener and Kyle Busch has won at Phoenix, Bristol and Fontana. In Las Vegas though, Championship contender Sam Hornish Jr. found Victory Lane followed closely by second place Kyle Busch. Busch is in the field again this weekend and if his streak continues, he could quite possibly find Victory Lane once again. During Thursday’s practice session at the track known as the Wild Asphalt Circus, Busch was third on the board falling behind Nationwide Series regulars Regan Smith and Austin Dillon. Smith turned his best lap in 29.825 seconds at a speed of 181.056 mph, while Dillon topped out at 180.977, just behind Smith’s time. Kenseth and Kahne were also among the top-10 during the first practice session and look to be strong contenders in Friday’s race. Other notables in the top 10 in practice were Hornish Jr. and Trevor Bayne, both Nationwide Series Championship contenders. The O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 is scheduled to start at 8:30pm EST on ESPN2 so don’t forget to tune in and see if Kyle Busch can continue his winning streak. Well, Saturday can officially be claimed at Kyle Busch’s day to shine. The Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway was not quite as exciting as Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race but it definitely was worth watching.
The story of the day was actually a question. Could Joe Gibbs Racing win its ninth straight race at Auto Club in the Nationwide Series? With Kyle Busch starting on the pole, coming off of a win at Bristol and at Phoenix, the chances were looking pretty good. Busch was sitting third on the final restart behind fellow Cup driver Brad Keselowski and Nationwide Championship contender Sam Hornish Jr with 35 laps to go and all three drivers had really strong cars. With just a few laps to go, Keselowski began to fall back, running out of fuel. Busch took the lead back with 25 laps to go with only Hornish in his rearview mirror. Hornish put up a good battle with Busch for the win and ended up slapping the wall with 2 to go, but stayed in contention and finished second. Hornish, with a win in Las Vegas already this season, is currently leading the Nationwide Series Points Standings. In five races this season, Hornish is the only full time Nationwide driver to visit Victory Lane. Busch has three victories and Tony Stewart won at Daytona. There were quite a few other notable drivers from Saturday’s Royal Purple 300. JR Motorsports driver Regan Smith is sitting second in points after finishing third on Saturday, trailing Hornish by just 28 points. Smith was a lap down early in the race thanks to a flat tire but pit strategy and hard racing got him back up front. Parker Kligerman and Austin Dillon round out the top 5 from Saturday and Rookie Kyle Larson, who finished second last weekend can add a sixth place finish at Fontana to his resume. Elliott Sadler finished seventh despite having some ignition problems early in the race. Brian Scott, Trevor Bayne and Kevin Swindell finish out the top 10. Brad Keselowski, who was running up front most of the day finished 19th after skipping the last pit stop then running out of fuel on the closing laps. Needless to say, Kyle Busch went on to win the Auto Club 400 on Sunday and ended up sweeping the weekend. The question is, how many more races will Busch win this season in the Nationwide Series? I guess we will have to see. The Nationwide Series won’t be back on track until April 12th when the series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300. |
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October 2013
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