Jeff Gordon wins two days ago at the Monster Mile

Contenders Round starts on Sunday and my opinion about the Format

On Sunday, the Contenders Round in the Chase for the Sprint Cup starts. It looks like the Penske Fords are the best, so Logano and Keselowski are my picks for a win in the next 3 Races.

But after the 1st Round, the Challenger Round, it's time for me to say my opinion about the Format.
At the beginning, I thought "Nascar, why do you do this? This system is bullshit."
But now, I like it. It's nice to see how the drivers fight in every race for the wins. There are more battles now on the track. So this new Format makes me more nervous because I pray for my driver every race, that he will go to the next Round.

What do you think about it? Do you like it or do you hate it? Write it into the comments and good luck to your faveourite driver.

Erik Jones wins at Las Vegas

Kyle Busch wins at Dover

Logano finishes 2nd, Chase Elliott is in 3rd. What can I say? Just the usual Kyle Busch show.

Dover Preview: Can Johnson Be Stopped?

By Joey Gucciardo | 8:22 PM E.T.

Aahhh, the Chase, the most exciting part of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

The new format brings us to Dover, the third and final race of the first round of the Chase.

12/16 drivers will make Round 2.

Only two are locked in, Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano.

But, now, we head to the Monster Mile. When you think of Dover, what driver comes to mind?

Jimmie Johnson.

In June, he won at Dover, but Kevin Harvick was knocking on the door, but no one answered, as he finished second, running in that position most of the race.

 But Penske Racing is on a hot streak. Keselowski and Logano want that championship just as bad as 6-Time (Johnson) wants his 7th, so he can tie Dale Earnhardt SR. and Richard Petty for most career NASCAR championships.

Keselowski already has a championship, and that was two years ago, in 2012.

Johnson has the most wins at Dover. But now, winning needs everything. If Johnson doesn't win Dover, he could still make the next round based on points.

Who wins at Dover, is the question on everyone's mind.

Stewart is innocent, but Ward on Marijuana?

The only news that is bigger than Stewart's innocence... is that Ward was on Marijuana at the time of his death.

By Joey Gucciardo | 4:53 PM E.T.

Follow me on Twitter as @GucciardoJoey.

So, you've heard...

Tony Stewart is innocent.

A New York State Grand Jury ruled Stewart innocent, but there was a bigger surprise...

Kevin Ward JR. supposedly had Marijuana in his systems at the time of his tragic death.

Dist. Atty. Michael Tantillo said that the Marijuana in his system was enough to "impair judgement."

Post by The Ultimate Nascar Blog.

But, what about the charges that Stewart COULD HAVE faced?
-----Second Degree Manslaughter
-----Criminally Negligent Homicide

Is Stewart innocent, or guilty in your mind?

Logano gets 4th win at NHMS, moves on to next round.

By Joey Gucciardo | 5:02 PM E.T.

MATTHEW J. LEE/GLOBE STAFF

"I didn't know where Victory Lane was here, actually."

That quote says it all!

Joey Logano has won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (just yesterday), and has won the epic Monster lobster trophy.

But the real prize wasn't the lobster, it was a locked position into the next round of the Chase.

Logano and Brad Keselowski are the two Penske Racing drivers, and both of them are locked into the Contender Round (12/16 drivers left) of the 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

"Our goal is the championship, so we have to go from round to round," Logano said.

Brendan Gaughan beats Elliott and Dillon for Nationwide Series win.

By Joey Gucciarfo | 10:23 AM E.T.

On lap 193, we had a restart. Chase Elliott and Ty Dillon were fighting for the lead, until Brendan Gaughan made a three wide pass for the lead on the outside line.

Gaughan won the race, and after his burnout, his crew ran out onto the track to have a wild celebration before going into victory lane!

Cole Custer wins Truck Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

By Joey Gucciardo | 10:14 AM E.T.

He's so young, yet he can compete, and win in NASCAR.

Cole Custer got his first ever Camping World Truck Series win yesterday.

He started on the pole.

Custer, congrats on your win!

Brad Keselowski goes to Round 2, who will follow him?

With his win at Chicagoland, Brad Keselowski went to Round 2 for the Chase for the Nascar Sprint Cup. Brad had is very good this season and it looks like he can win his 2nd Championship. The win at Chicagoland was his 5th win of the season.

But now, we want to know, who will be the next driver in Round 2: DaleJr, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano are my picks for the next Round and I think that Harvick (who finished 5th at Chicagoland) will win at Loudon, because he had a great season but also bad luck. But you should also have an eye on Matt Kenseth. He won this race last year and he had a good Top 10 finish (he finished 10th)

At Dover, I think you can say that Jimmie (he finished 12th at Chicagoland) will win this race. This is his Track and I think Jimmie will get another win at Dover.

In my final Round, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, DaleJr and Kevin Harvick will fight for the Championship.

Who are your picks for the next Round and for the Championship?

Keselowski wins second race in a row, (locked into 2nd round of Chase) at Chicagoland Speedway

By Joey Gucciardo | 5:16 PM E.T.

First off, a little humor.

Ricky Stenhouse JR. is gonna sleep on the couch tonight. Him and his girlfriend were involved in a wreck at the end of the race. Danica was wrecked, and was done, both of them.

But, Brad Keselowski's Twitter is gonna blow up tonight with his second win in a row in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. This is his 5th win of the season, this was the first race of the Chase, and he is now locked in the Contender round of the 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Kyle Larson and Jeff Gordon were having a fight for the lead at the end if the race, when Keselowski made a three-wide pass, right through the middle of them.

Kyle Busch wins at Chicagoland.

The Kyle Busch Show once again.

Kevin Harvick wins at Chicagoland Speedway.

By Joey Gucciardo | 6:23 PM E.T.

With two wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and in contention for the Chase in 2014, Kevin Harvick now has some motivation for tomorrow's race at this same track to lock him in the Contender round in the 2014 NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Harvick drove the No. 5 Chevrolet for JR. Motorsports, owned by Dale Earnhardt JR., driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. JR. has three wins.

Harvick recently switched pit crews in the Sprint Cup Series with Tony Stewart, saying that he felt confident about the change.

This was Harvick's fourth Nationwide Series victory this season.

The CatchCan Vol. 2

 

More on our beloved man with three first names in a minute.

But…but…

What did you think of the Busch Series race on Friday from Richmond?

“Um sir, isn’t it the Nationwide Series?”

I don’t care if it’s the Busch Grand National Series, Nationwide Series, or the XFINITY Series like it will be in 2015, Kyle Busch has practically been the all-dominant figure in that division.

It also hides a bigger problem underneath: the dominance of Sprint Cup drivers in the lower-tier series.

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t mind a couple of Cup drivers making the lower-rung drivers earn their keep. I do have a problem though with these guys not only saturating the field, but then taking away valuable championship points and money at the same time. Austin Dillon I’m convinced should have had a few wins last year had it not been for the continuing Cup duel in the 22 and 54.

Oh wait, it’s still happening. C’mon Chase Elliott!

Speaking of Chase, did you know he is the only non-Cup driver to lead in the last two Nationwide events? Yep, those 36 laps at Atlanta are the only ones out of 445 combined (195 at Atlanta/250 at Richmond) that were not totally commanded by the invaders.

The logistics are concerning, and there needs to be a way to take back that figurative Alamo.

My solution: put all the Cup drivers (i.e: Busch, Keselowski, Logano, Harvick, etc.) in machines that are only good enough for start and parks. Let them feel the true misery losing horribly.

Actually, something like that happened three years ago with Reed Sorenson. He got ousted from Turner Motorsports, third in the points and with just a little work to do to get at the lead. He then proceeded to run in a car the rest of the year that could do no better than 30^th with a stiff tail wind. It was unfair to Reed big time, however I think it can pay dividends to the drivers of the Nationwide series who actually race for a bigger picture instead of momentary glory.

Speaking of the 22 and 54 duel, let’s talk about the 22 side of the equation.

Namely Brad Keselowski.

Like Kyle the night before, he sat on the pole. He led 383 of 400 laps to win the race in a manner so dominating Jimmie Johnson got severely dehydrated.

Don’t worry, Jimmie got some fluids and now it’s back to crack Se7en. Hopefully it’s the creepy ass movie with Morgan Freeman and Keanu Reeves.

The only thing Brad didn’t do Saturday night was lead the greatest amount of laps in a row at the track. That record stands with Denny Hamlin who led 381 straight in May of 2008.

In addition to the hoopla, Brad also cinches seed #1. With 4 wins, Brad is on top of the mountain, and for him it’s always Miller Time.

Speaking of bad beer puns, I think Kevin Harvick needed some Kevweisers to offset the disappointment he had. The only other driver to lead laps at Richmond, but it just wasn’t his night.

I thought short tracks were made for torn fenders and tempers right?

In this instance, sadly not really. The only real wall damage caused was when Matt Kenseth got out of the groove and slapped the wall. His right-front was a mess so he had to get serviced by Huskies. Yes, I am referring to the tools you sickos.

Clint Bowyer and Michael Waltrip Racing got shut out of the playoffs this year. Too bad, I guess the magical itch didn’t show up.

Now back to the portion of our show where it sounds like a Budweiser radio commercial.

“We salute you… mister drunken fence sitter…”

James Richard Dennis is your hero and mine for doing the one thing most fans would never even conceive of accomplishing: being the human debris caution.

Who knew a guy so relaxed on the fence would cause so much chaos huh?

So in the race control, a guy named David, who normally wouldn’t give two Hoots, had to give the command to throw out the yellow for Joe Dirt’s dad. I think.

The police then came in and promptly arrested the dude.

For what you ask? Let famous comedian Ron White fill you in…

Go to 3:11 for the answer.

I hope one day someone will allow him to climb the fence with Tony Stewart overseeing the festivities. Make it part of his community service for a good cause, and not a peep will be made in complaint.

Or better yet, just make him the honorary 17^th participant in the Chase…

This is an actual NASCAR account video!!

Keselowski wins an insane Federated Auto Parts 400.

By Joey Gucciardo | 5:41 AM E.T.

Well, that was crazy.

This race had everything to a guy climbing the catch-fence, to millions of other insane momenrts to remember.

It was last year in this race that MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) recieved a huge penalization after a cheating scandal. Some say that the team has STILL not recovered from it.

Last night, the big headline was not Keselowski making the Chase and will be leading it when it starts, it was Jimmie Johnson passing out after the race. He was taken to the infield care center on a gurney. Chad Knaus came out and said he was suffering from dehydration.

Jarit Johnson wrote on Twitter: "Just spoke to @JimmieJohnson. It's all good."

What about the crazy fan without a shirt who brought out the caution?

He climbed the catch fence, all the way to the top.

Clint Bowyer, who was involved in last year's MWR cheating scandal who still made the Chase then, didn't make it this year.

Instead of Bowyer and anyone else, Greg Biffle was "Chase Bound," making the Chase based on points, and not wins.

There's your rundown.

The Chase for the Nascar Sprint Cup 2014 by NickS79

The Chase for the Nascar Sprint Cup Season 2014 starts next week with the Race at Chicagoland. Here is the Grid with all drivers. Who is your pick for the Sprint Cup Championship?

Introducing The CatchCan

Firstly, I’d like to give a warm welcome to everyone who follows and reads this blog.

My name is Anthony Nagle. I am 25 and have been a fan since of NASCAR since 1997. 
The reason why I’ve come to this blog is to contribute my creative resources towards the sport at hand.

Which now is why I am introducing what will be my signature weekly article series: The CatchCan.

It’s not your normal editorial. It’s a combination of a week in review mixed with cynicism that NASCAR fans have come to expect. Don’t be too surprised to see mentions of other series’ in here as well.

At the same time there will be other articles written on other subjects covering all three of NASCAR’s top divisions.

Here is a small sampling of what is in store:
____

Ron Hornaday saw his ride shuttered this past week. This is probably the rudest way of telling someone to retire I’ve ever seen.

The ten people who saw the Truck race (this past)Sunday saw perhaps the best finish of all 2014. Not just in NASCAR, but probably in all motorsports.

Ryan Blaney won the duel with German Quiroga. Like a slithering snake, German was on Ryan’s tailgate for more or less the last third of the race. Going into turn 9 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, Quiroga took Blaney’s line away. With the poise of a polished road course veteran, the very young Blaney owned his ass did a crossover move off of turn 10 and won the sucker by a fender.

Denny Hamlin reportedly has no beef with Kevin Harvick after their tangle at Bristol. Guess so, because the only thing that was flung freaky fast at Harvick’s #4 was a HANS device. Smoke’s double-handed helmet toss is still the gold standard of the last five years.

Oh wait a second, we’re not supposed to be throwing stuff are we? That’s not how “other race series’” does it isn’t it?

No, Formula 1 saw Nico Rosberg get disciplined by Mercedes for doing something that happens every weekend in NASCAR. Well, maybe not that severe, but in the case of Hunt vs. Lauda 2014, the championship implications for Lewis Hamilton were huge!

Also what about that Indycar season?

It’s already over!

Will Power finally got the big one as finally bad luck happened to someone else other than him in the finale.

Helio Castroneves got a speeding penalty during his last pitstop at the California (erm, Auto Club) Speedway, because apparently he doesn’t have a beer belly.

I’d rather see my driver well-fed and be happy rather than someone intentionally starve themselves fitting into a car that quite frankly is the size of a lawn dart.

Speaking of freaky fast, what about ‘Happy’ Harvick at Atlanta? He led 159 out of 195 laps in the Nationwide race (the other 36 led by JR Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott), and then proceeded to whip the Cup boys into seemingly pulverizing submission.

Harvick’s Achilles’ heel came back to bite him in the butt though. Pit stops!

Not because his pit crew sucked but because circumstances couldn’t dictate his outcome.

Joe Gibbs Racing had experimental equipment that led to ROARING FAST stops all night. In addition, a couple of daring calls put the drivers out front back a row or two.

For Harvick, this was disaster.

My beloved Paul Menard (by the way, this is sarcasm) spun his two fresh tires right the hell off in the outside lane. Harvick tried to make a run, but was forced into the wall.

That allowed hard-luck Kasey Kahne to roar into not only victory lane, but the playoffs as well.

The runner-up? Matt Kenseth. He has no wins yet this year. Don’t worry; he’s in the playoffs based on points no matter what happens at Richmond.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a mediocre night at Atlanta by his season standards, but still came home 11^th.

Brad Keselowski’s night ended in hilariously awfully spectacular fashion. Hamlin made a fake into the pits, and Brad hit a lapped car. Not a (Josh) Wise move!

Tony Stewart’s return was an emotional roller-coaster. He got a rousing ovation akin to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in Attitude-Era WWE events. The first few laps saw him ride the high line into the top five from a 12th starting spot.

Then Kyle Busch got loose on a later restart and put Stewart into the wall.

Tack on another 100 laps and Smoke’s night was done for good because of a tire gone soft. Stewart may not make the playoffs, but any doubt about his driving ability should be thrown in the trash.

Then you have Jeff Gordon. Runs second, blows a tire, and hits the wall. He goes two laps down for repairs. He stays that way for just about 250 laps. That last caution saw him get back on the lead lap, but only to gain one spot. However, when you consider he went from 39^th to 17^th with a car destined for the junker, it’s no wonder Gordon is still the hottest ticket in the Sprint Cup series.

So in essence, Gordon’s 750^th start was a lot like his first: in the wall, but with a lot of potential.
___

In the meantime, I leave you with a video of perhaps this writer’s favorite race that is not on restrictor plates: the 2001 Cracker Barrel 500. The Kleenex will need to be handy:

If you can read this: at least with an official NASCAR video, it won’t be taken down next week. The full race (as opposed to a 50 minute rough edit) is available on other channels.

Google Tags: nascar, sprint cup series, nationwide series, camping world truck series, catchcan, blog, ron hornaday, kevin harvick, chase elliott, denny hamlin, jeff gordon, dale earnhardt jr, ryan blaney, german quiroga, atlanta, texas, helio castroneves, will power, indycar, f1, lewis hamilton, nico rosberg

Kyle Busch leads every lap, wins at Richmond, Two JR. Motorsports drivers in the top-5.

By Joey Gucciardo | 6:57 AM E.T.

Winning was not a problem for Kyle Busch last night.

Rowdy led almost all of the race last night, snapping an 8 race winless streak.

Chase Elliott finished second, earning 42 points. His JR. Motorsports teammate, Kevin Harvick, finished 4th. He can't earn points in the NASCAR Nationwide Series since he is a Sprint Cup Series driver. Same thing with Kyle Busch.

Final results from Google.com

2014   Virginia 529 College Savings 250    -  Nationwide Series

Sep 5  -  Richmond International Raceway  -  250 laps  -  188 miles

Leaderboard - Final		Points	Avg. mph
1	Kyle Busch #54 - Toyota	0	92.835
2	Chase Elliott #9 - Chevrolet	42	-
3	Kevin Harvick #5 - Chevrolet	0	-
4	Ryan Blaney #22 - Ford	0	-
5	Brian Scott #2 - Chevrolet	39	-
6	Regan Smith #7 - Chevrolet	38	-
7	Dakoda Armstrong #43 - Ford	37	-
8	Elliott Sadler #11 - Toyota	36	-
9	Ty Dillon #3 - Chevrolet	35	-
10	Chris Buescher #60 - Ford	34	-
11	Dylan Kwasniewski #31 - Chevrolet	33	-
12	Matt Kenseth #20 - Toyota	0	-
13	Kyle Larson #42 - Chevrolet	0	-
14	Landon Cassill #01 - Chevrolet	30	-
15	Trevor Bayne #6 - Ford	29	-
16	Ryan Reed #16 - Ford	28	-
17	Cale Conley #33 - Chevrolet	0	-
18	Brendan Gaughan #62 - Chevrolet	26	-
19	James Buescher #99 - Toyota	25	-
20	Mike Bliss #10 - Toyota	24	-
21	Jeremy Clements #51 - Chevrolet	23	-
22	Kelly Admiraal #29 - Toyota	22	-
23	Ryan Sieg #39 - Chevrolet	21	-
24	Ryan Ellis #93 - Dodge	20	-
25	Will Kimmel #44 - Toyota	19	-
26	Matt DiBenedetto #40 - Chevrolet	18	-
27	Hermie Sadler #19 - Toyota	17	-
28	Joey Gase #52 - Chevrolet	16	-
29	Cody Ware #23 - Chevrolet	15	-
30	Jeff Green #14 - Toyota	14	-
31	J.J. Yeley #28 - Dodge	13	-
32	Jeffrey Earnhardt #4 - Chevrolet	12	-
33	Josh Reaume #87 - Ford	11	-
34	Chad Boat #184 - Chevrolet	10	-
35	John Jackson #172 - Chevrolet	9	-
36	Morgan Shepherd #89 - Chevrolet	8	-
37	Jamie Dick #55 - Chevrolet	7	-
38	Blake Koch #91 - Toyota	6	-
39	Matt Frahm #46 - Chevrolet	5	-
40	Kevin Lepage #74 - Dodge	4	-

XFINITY To be new Nationwide Series sponsor starting in 2015.

Who can stop the Hendrick teams in 2014?

I EVALUATE THE CURRENT SPRINT CUP TEAMS AND SEE WHO CAN STOP THE DOMINATION OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS.

By Joey Gucciardo |12:56 PM E.T.

Look at the wins stats for Hendrick Motorsports. You will see that they have 10 total wins in 2014 this season, and the Chase hasn't even started yet!

Jimmie Johnson: x3

Dale Earnhardt JR.: x3

Jeff Gordon: x3

Kasey Kahne: x1

Who can stop the domination of this team?

Now, look at the stats for Penske Racing. They have six wins.

Joey Logano: x3

Brad Keselowski: x3

This is the team that can stop Hendrick.

Penske is one of the fastest and best teams out on the NASCAR Circuit. They often hire Indy Car drivers like Juan Pablo Montoya because Penske is more popular in the IndyCar world. Sometimes, Roger Penske's IndyCar drivers are put in Nationwide, Trucks, or even Sprint Cup Series rides.

But now, there are no IndyCar drivers on Penske right now.

Just Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, who each share 6 wins, three each.

None of the Hendrick drivers have more than three.

Just one more thing: Can Penske pull it off. By that, I mean take down NASCAR's most prestigious team?

Kasey Kahne wins at Atlanta.

KAHNE IS LOCKED INTO THE CHASE, BUT IT COMES WITH A PRICE FOR TONY STEWART.

By Joey Gucciardo | 7:53 AM E.T.

Well, Atlanta has come and gone, but a new winner has come about.

If you read the title of the post, then you'll see that it was Kasey Kahne.

If you read the subtitle, you'll see that Tony Stewart had issues.

He had a run-in with Kyle Busch on the 122nd lap, then scraped the wall 50 laps later. He was done done for the night after that.

Stewart had such a good car right on the 1st lap, going from 12th to 7th in only the first two laps of the race.

It was a good night (for Stewart), besides being involved in two accidents.

Did you hear about the cats and squirrels?

A cat ran right by Kevin Harvick's car in the early running. The cat was fine, he wasn't hit.

Brad Keselowski saw squirrels, "REAL SQUIRRELS," according to him in turns 3 and 4 soon after the cat ran past Kevin Hatvick's car.