Buba Wallace wants to opt out of JGR contract

By @GucciardoJoey | December 9th, 2014

http://draftingthecircuits.whoobazoo.com/2014/09/30/las-vegas-nose-trucks/

Well, Joe Gibbs Racing is having a HUGE change if this happens.

If it does, call it an interception for the former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs.

But how could a driver like Wallace want to opt out after having such an amazing 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season?

• “In this day and age, it's so hard to get the right sponsorship and to get full‑time stuff. Racers, we just want to race, no matter what it is, if it's boxcars or in the Sprint Cup Series. We want to race, and I'll take what I can get.’’ -FIND THIS QUOTE HERE

Wallace had some amazing highlights in the 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. He won the CarCash MudSummer Clasic at Eldora Speedway, and he even won the NCTWS season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Elliott Becomes a Nationwide (Now XFINITY) Superst...

UNB Nationwide Series Homepage: Elliott Becomes a Nationwide (Now XFINITY) Superst...: By @GucciardoJoey  | November 23rd, 2014 (Photo: Motorsport.com ) Well, in 2013, we had a no-name NASCAR Camping World Truck Series dr...

Newman, the champion?

By @GucciardoJoey | November 30th, 2014

Ryan Newman in 2014 (Photo: Jayski.com)

Try to think back to 2002. You had two NASCAR Winston Cup Series rookies fighting for Rookie of the Year. They were Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman.

Newman won the award that season.

But, since 2002, the Winston Cup Series went through huge changes. New champions emerged, and the name changed from NEXTEL Cup (2004-2007), to Sprint Cup (2008-Pres.). Jimmie Johnson won six championships, Tony Stewart won his third, Brad Keselowski won his first, and now, Kevin Harvick has won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

But, Newman still had a good run in the race when Harvick won the championship. He finished second, Harvick finished first.

Newman has never won a championship in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Newman was a free agent at the end of the 2013 season after completing five seasons at Stewart-HAAS Racing in the No. 39 Chevrolet.

He needed something new on his resume if he wanted to get on another team, someone would think at least.

He had a DAYTONA 500 victory in 2008, but that really wasn't enough to get Newman on a new team, neither was that Rookie of the Year award in 2002.

But, Newman went out and beat his 2002 rival Johnson in the 2013 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, winning the famed race for the first time in his career.

Now, Newman started at Richard Childress Racing in 2014 driving the No. 31 Chevrolet.

2014 was a  good season for Newman, because he was in the championship hunt all the way until the end, and managed to do this even though he went winless in 2014.

Could this be a new Ryan Newman?

Harvick starting a new dynasty?

By @GucciardoJoey

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Well, you had one in 2011 and 2014, a break from the Jimmie Johnson championship reign.

But, Johnson had that sixth championship in 2013.

But, 2014 was the year that Team 48 was proven beatable, thanks to the new Chase format, if you think of it that way.

 But, Kevin Harvick won that first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in 2014, but could this be the new dominator of the new chase format?

Remember, the old chase format basically was owned by Johnson. He won the championship in 2006-10, and again in 2013. Now, they didn't even make the third round of the chase this year.

Harvick, dominant all season long, won the championship with only four wins. He hit a walk at Phoenix to put himself in the final round of the chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup final four at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He was the highest finisher of the four drivers (1st), and Ryan Newman was second. Newman had a great run in the final laps but just couldn't get past Harvick.

But, we always wonder, when someone other than Johnson wins the championship, that the driver who wins that year will start a new dynasty.

I thought the same when Brad Keselowski beat Johnson in 2012 for the championship. But Johnson bounced back the next year. Tony Stewart's championship in 2011 didn't really strike my mind in the same way, not because Stewart already had two championships, but I thought at that time his career was winding down. 2014 proved me wrong.

Stewart was always in contention in 2014, and he didn't make the chase, and he may not have won, but he proved that he can stay in contention.

But Harvick is at the point where he can take the pressure.

He came in to what was then the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 2001 to replace the legendary Dale Earnhardt Sr., who died in the 2001 DAYTONA 500. Harvick ran the No. 29 Goodwrench Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.

But Harvick started out at Stewart-HAAS Racing this season, along with Kurt Busch, Danica Patrick, and Tony Stewart.

The main question here is, can Kevin Harvick start a new dynasty?

Is Crafton the Jimmie Johnson of the Truck Series?

By @GucciardoJoey | November 24th, 2014

PHOTO: Motorsport.com

Read the title again. Jimmie Johnson did not have that many impressive statistics the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

In fact, he has only one statistic, for running only one race in the series in 2008. He led 29 laps in the race, but finished 34th. He started 9th in the race.

But, look at his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series statistics. Six championships, two DAYTONA 500's, and as of the 2014 season, has 70 wins in the series.

MORE: Johnson's stats on Racing Reference

Any NASCAR fan knows that Johnson's first five championships came in a row (2006-10), but no one has ever had consecutive championships in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Except, Matt Crafton.

Crafton won his second consecutive championship in the series in November of 2014.

Since the Tulare, CA driver started racing in the series in 2000, it took him thirteen seasons to win his first championship, the first of the two consecutive being in 2013.

In 2014, he had two wins, something he had never done before in the series. He always went with at least one win in a season, or even went winless. That's a fifteen year career in the famed NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

MORE: Crafton's stats on Racing Reference

Everyone seems to look up to famous drivers these days. Cole Whitt was involved in a wreck at Watkins Glen in the Sprint Cup race the track held in 2014. It was similar to Jimmie Johnson's 2000 crash in the same spot at the track.

"The last person to do that won six championships" Whitt  said, referencing the El Cajon, CA driver (Johnson).

Crafton is a driver who seems to have the guts to move on to the NASCAR XFINITY Series with a permanent ride for at least one season, right?

Look at these stats.

Crafton has only ran four NXS races, one in 2014, and 3 in 2013. Only two of the races resulted in top 5's, and both those races were in 2013.

But, the main question is can the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series have a new face of the series in their hands, and can Crafton move on through the ranks of the NASCAR circuit?

Kyle Busch wins O'Reilly Auto Parts Showdown, one win away from Weekend SWEEP!

By Joey Gucciardo @GucciardoJoey

(Photo: http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/
articles/2014/11/1/nationwide-series-o-reilly-auto-parts-
challenge-race-recap-results-texas-motor-speedway.html)

Fort Worth, TX--- Bring out the broom Texas!

Kyle Busch is on the hunt for another Trucks-Nationwide-Sprint Cup weekend sweep.

This time, it is after he was eliminated from Chase contention just two weeks ago in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega.

He won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race yesterday.

MORE: Mini Recap of Yesterday's Truck Series race

Joey Logano came in second, followed by Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, and Matt Kenseth.

Brian Scott, Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick, Elliott Sadler, and Dakoda Armstrong rounded out the Top-10.

Full Series Standings from Google.com

NASCAR Standings

Sprint Cup Series -  Nationwide Series -  Camping World Truck Series

As of: O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge		+/-	Points	Behind	Wins
1	Chase Elliott #9 - Chevrolet	–	1,146	‒	3
2	Regan Smith #7 - Chevrolet	–	1,098	48	1
3	Brian Scott #2 - Chevrolet	–	1,083	63	0
4	Elliott Sadler #11 - Toyota	–	1,078	68	1
5	Ty Dillon #3 - Chevrolet	–	1,071	75	1
6	Trevor Bayne #6 - Ford	–	1,017	129	0
7	Chris Buescher #60 - Ford	–	943	203	1
8	Brendan Gaughan #62 - Chevrolet	–	903	243	2
9	Ryan Reed #16 - Ford	–	847	299	0
10	Dylan Kwasniewski #31 - Chevrolet	+1	813	333	0
11	James Buescher #99 - Toyota	-1	812	334	0
12	Landon Cassill #01 - Chevrolet	–	779	367	0
13	Dakoda Armstrong #43 - Ford	–	741	405	0
14	Mike Bliss #19 - Toyota	–	730	416	0
15	Jeremy Clements #51 - Chevrolet	–	691	455	0
16	Ryan Sieg #39 - Chevrolet	–	650	496	0
17	J.J. Yeley #28 - Dodge	–	609	537	0
18	Jeffrey Earnhardt #4 - Chevrolet	–	559	587	0
19	Eric McClure #14 - Toyota	–	485	661	0
20	Joey Gase #52 - Chevrolet	–	461	685	0

Kyle Busch wins trucks at Texas

By Joey Gucciardo

(Chris Graythen, Getty Images)

FORT WORTH, TX--- Not only did he walk away with the win, but the 2014 Manufacturer's Championship for Toyota.

He won it on a Green-White-Checkered finish, and won his 7th win in the 9 starts he has in the series this season. On that final restart, he passed German Quiroga for the win.

According to USA Today Sports (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nascar/2014/10/31/kyle-busch-wins-truck-race-at-texas/18296105/), Burton was second, followed by Peters, Tyler Reddick, points leader Matt Crafton, Joey Coulter, Max Gresham, Joe Nemechek, Ryan Blaney and Cameron Hayley.

Eliminated Drivers Showing Dominance?

By Joey Gucciardo @GucciardoJoey

(Photo: David Scearce/OnPitRoad.com)

Is your driver eliminated from Chase contention? Maybe they'll start winning now.

The Chase was dominated by Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Jeff Gordon, and Kevin Harvick, basically, so far.

Now, you have Dale Earnhardt JR. earning his first ever Martinsville win.

But, the dominance from others doesn't stop there.

MORE: OnPitRoad.com's Race Recap

In fact, some eliminated drivers even STRUGGLED.

Look at this: Jimmie Johnson finishing 32nd.

MORE: Johnson Can See Writing On Wall (Nate Ryan, USA Today Sports)

But, Johnson was racing his white car "White Lightning" since the beginning of the 2014 season, with breif appearances with the car in 2012 and 2013. The No. 48 team decided that the car was bad luck, so they switched back to the car that they ran in 2012 and 2013, the blue car. Now, there is a red car.

If a new paint scheme is what Johnson needs, and this is his permanent 2015 car, then expect him to be in the 2015 chase (as long as this car is good luck).

He will be racing the car for the first time this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

I guess the moral point of the story here is that even though Hendrick Motorsports only has one driver still standing in the chase (Jeff Gordon), the drivers on the team that are eliminated are STILL surprising us with wins, good finishes, changes, announcements, quotes, and so on.

These Hendrick boys are the guys to watch right now, for sure.

Dale JR. wins Martinsville. P.S., more blog issues. No time to write. Tons of personal issues too.

Bubba Wallace wins Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway.

By Joey Gucciardo @GucciardoJoey

(Photo: NASCAR.COM)

MARTINSVILLE, Va--- He won this same race last year, and he did it again this year.

Darrell "Bubba" Wallace JR. has own today's Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway.

He drove a tribute No. 34 Toyota Tundra to Wendell Scott, the first NASCAR African American driver, and is a member of the 2014 NASCAR Hall Of Fame class.

Wallace led 97 laps today to snatch the win.

Last week's winner at Talladega, Timothy Peters, finished 2nd. Matt Crafton, your current points leader, finished 3rd.

This is Wallace's third win if the season. He started this race on the pole (1st place).

Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney rounded out the Top-5.

There was a huge turn of events when John Wes Townley and Brandon Jones got into each other on a restart with 50 laps to go.

German Quiroga took the lead with 13 laps to go, but wound up spinning in a corner. He finished 10th.

Keselowski moves on to Eliminator Round, yet still a terrible day for those who don't.

By Joey Gucciardo @GucciardoJoey

Let's start off with the craziest part of yesterday's race...

With about 30 laps to go, Jimmie Johnson is trying to hold off the entire field. All of a sudden, in Turn 3, who else but DANICA PATRICK to slingshot past Johnson at incredible speed, and lead six laps!

But, Brian Vickers started on the pole, but Johnson took it from him early on the first lap.

MORE: Crazy Day For Dega Qualifying

Then, the lead was on and off between Johnson and Keselowski for the early part of the race.

Kyle Busch is now out of contention after being involved in the day's first big one.

Dale Earnhardt JR. was also out because of a wreck he was involved in, which brought out our first of two attempts at a Green-White-Checkered.

Jeff Gordon is the ONLY Hendrick Motorsport driver still in the Chase, as Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne finished near the rear of the pack. Johnson was 24th, Kahne finished 12th.

It wasn't much of a season for Kahne, as he only had that one win at Atlanta before the season, but just never really held steady for the rest of the season to now.

But Brad Keselowski now has six wins this season, putting him into the Eliminator Round (Eight Drivers).

On the second Gren-White-Checkered attempt, Jimmie Johnson took out Trevor Bayne (By accident, I'm guessing). No caution was called.

But, now. some sadder news. This was Terry Labonte's last race. He is now retired from NASCAR. He raced a tribute paint scheme that looked just like the car that he raced at the peak of his career (The Corn Flakes car). But instead of using the traditional No. 5 )Now used by Kasey Kahne), he went with his current number (or was his current number), No. 32.

Crazy Day For Dega Qualifying

By Joey Gucciardo @GucciardoJoey

(Photo: Talladega Superspeedway FACEBOOK PAGE)

Geez, that was the craziest qualifying session ever.

The BIGGEST surprise was Ricky Stenhouse JR. not even making the RACE! He, Justin Allgaier, and Reed Sorenson missed out on tomorrow's race.

--------

But, what about this...

Take a look at what I'm about to write.

Jimmie Johnson BARELY made the cut for the 2nd Qualifying round. He was 22/24 in the speed charts.

MORE ON JOHNSON: 48 Team Struggling?

He wound up on the outside pole (2nd Place, where he will be starting in tomorrow's race).

Brian Vickers is the pole sitter by almost a whole Mile Per Hour (MPH).

--------

This is a do-or-die race for four drivers, Johnson, Dale Earnhardt JR., Brad Keselowski, and Matt Kenseth.

Remember the altercation between Keselowski and Kenneth last night?

Kenseth and Keselowski: CatchCan Vol. III (Fight Night)

--------

Just before qualifying, a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race was held.

MORE: Timothy Peters wins Fred's 250

Peters holds on to win Freds 250 at Dega.

(Photo: @NASCAR On Twitter)

By Joey Gucciardo @GucciardoJoey

He led 31 laps, but Timothy Peters led the lap that counts, the last lap.

Not even a Green-White-Checkered finish could stop Peters. Not even a charging Spencer Gallagher and Tayler Malsam.

Gallagher and Malsam's 2nd and 3rd place finished rounded out the Top-3.

Those were the best finishes of their career.

The truck series had a few weeks break before returning to action at Talladega Speedway.

Tyler Reddick, the pole-sitter, finished 4th.

The first caution was on lap 12. Ryan Sieg, Ron Hornaday JR., German Quiroga, Chris Fontaine, and Mason Mingus were all involved in a wreck.

Ryan Blaney led 30 of the first 44 laps.

Matt Crafton had a rough day, suffering damage from the same wreck, along with Brian Silas.

Crafton and Joe Nemecheck were later penalized on lap 55 for push-drafting.

In NASCAR, you are no longer allowed to push the car in front of you for the drivers to draft with each other.

Congrats to Timothy Peters at Talladega Superspeedway!

The CatchCan Vol III FIGHT NIGHT IS THE TIME TO FIGHT!

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!

WATCH 43 DRIVERS AND THEIR CARS ATTEMPT TO BE HOMICIDAL, SUICIDAL, AND GENOCIDAL!

DESPERATION TIME IS SETTING IN FOR SOME UNRULY DRIVERS!

CAN THE PACK STAY ON TRACK?

WILL THE ROYAL RUMBLE COME IN OCTOBER?

SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!

Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the Brawl for All that’s been Charlotte shall we?

If my memory serves me correctly, Matt Kenseth got knocked into the wall first, courtesy of Bad Brad and the Blue Deuce. Too aggressive on the restart? Perhaps.

But then you had Denny Hamlin who forced Brad to lose momentum multiple times on the last restart. In those instances, Brad lost 10 spots, which in turn is the same as 10 points in the standings. With elimination looming large this could not be afforded.

After the checkers fell, it wasn’t time for the wreckers to end yet. Oh yippee, I love it when that happens!

Brad took a hilariously bad shot at Denny on-track, and nearly hit the wall in doing so. Not as disastrous as Danica, but still a laughable effort.

Kenseth and Keselowski then had some words going into the pits. All and all is good until Brad hits Tony Stewart.

You NEVER piss that dude off!

So Tony backed his Bass (Pro Shops car) up and crunched Brad’s nose.

Pretty soon enough, Brad’s nose on his own hide would be on the line!

Keselowski burned some rubber in Hamlin’s garage stall, WITH PEOPLE CASUALLY WALKING ABOUT. Hamlin was then held back by Jason Ratcliff from trying to punch Brad’s mare-like facial features.

But this doesn’t stop Matt Kenseth!

Kenseth, a man whose emotional features range from boring to inoffensively bland, jumped Brad in-between haulers!

That’s right, mild-mannered Matty had enough of this shit. Like Ralphie Parker from A Christmas Story, it was time to whoop some candy ass!

In the meantime, random pit guys punched each other resembling more of an asphalt version of 300!

With any fisticuffs in NASCAR, there are penalties to be brought down. I mean forced donations to the Victory Gang Junction Camp.

Only these penalties smell of pure crap.

Brad and Tony were fined. I understand both men violated some protocol that was bred from the anus of the Senior Brian France. NASCAR had been saying stuff in the pits post-race is a no-no. Apparently burnt rubber on the track is fine but not in the safe confines of the garage area.

But WWASCAR is totally setting a bad precedent here.

(Yes, WWASCAR is the World Wrestling Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. Racing and fights, book it Triple H!)

Denny Hamlin tried to instigate a fight with anyone and everyone he could lay his hands on.

Meanwhile, KENSETH JUMPED A DUDE! That my friends is what the late, great Gorilla Monsoon would coin “a Pearl Harbor”.

This same incident in real life would bring felony charges and years in jail. Even if slightly exaggerated, the notion that physical violence is now A-OK in NASCAR’s rulebook is unjustifiable.

And I am calling out the troll fans who did an about face over this past weekend. 5 years ago, those dickhats were clamoring for fights and tension in the garage. Now this same stuff comes to fruition and instead want these drivers suspended. Hey, hello, GROW THE HELL UP!

So now we get back to Talladega.

Despite all the hype surrounding this, I am holding station of my expectations. There have been some really crappy races the last few years with some shining examples floating somewhere on the abandoned air force base.

For right now though, just let this theme slam right through your head, and keep on pack racing everybody!

 

Regan Smith: Surpassing Elliott?

By Joey Gucciardo @GucciardoJoey

(AP Photo/Tim Sharp)

If you are a Regan Smith OR Chase Elliott fan, then this article is for you.

Many people on our Facebook page say that Chase Elliott is going to be the 2014 +NASCAR Nationwide Series champion.

He had one win in his rookie Truck Series career last year, and that was when he took out Ty Dillon to win at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

Dale Earnhardt JR. must have seen something in the kid and hired him to join Cup Series star Kevin Harvick and Nationwide Series regular Regan Smith.

For the Chase Elliott fans, Chase has three wins this season, and 14 Top-5's to go along with that.

MORE: Elliot's stats on Racing Reference

But what about Smith?

Well, he's got nine years under his belt in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (XFINITY Series in 2015). He's four career wins in the series. Two of them in 2013, one this year, and the other in 2012.

MORE: Smith's stats on Racing Reference

Not to mention, he has a Sprint Cup win, something that Elliott doesn't have.

But how is that fair if Elliott never competed in the Premier Sprint Cup Series?

Well, you'd think that three wins in a rookie season would mean that your team owner lets you do at least ONE or TWO cup races, right?

But I'm not saying that Elliott would get his first Cup Series win the first race he ever ran in.

Chase is sort of like a 2002 Jimmie Johnson, who was able to beat the big boys that ruled their respective NASCAR series. For Johnson, at the time, it was the Winston Cup (Then NEXTEL Cup, now Sprint Cup), and for Elliott, the now Nationwide Series, which will be called the XFINITY Series in 2015.

But can Regan Smith surpass the successful Chase Elliott?

Talladega: Does the "Big One" Strike the one needing to win?

By Joey Gucciardo @GucciardoJoey

This is Talladega, where the "Big One," the biggest wreck(s) that
every driver fears, happen.

All stats were compiled by Racing Reference | Check them out for more stats.

------------------------------

This is the problem here...

The four drivers on the brink of elimination (Johnson, Earnhardt JR., Keselowski, and Kenseth) all have an Avg. Finish at Dega lower than 16th place in the last ten races at the track.

Johnson:-------------16.4

Earnhardt JR.:------16.6

Keselowski:---------17.9

Kenseth:--------------19.1

The highest is 16.4 (Johnson), and the lowest is 19.1 (Kenseth).

Out of these four drivers, three wins in total have been scored by the three at Talladega. Johnson, Keselowski, and Kenseth each have one in the last ten races at the track.

MORE: Johnson's Bad Luck?

Let's see if one of these four drivers can get the win at Talladega, and move on to the Eliminator round of the 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.