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).

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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)

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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.

Why The Struggle?

JOEY GUCCIARDO LOOKS INTO THE NO. 48 TEAM'S STRUGGLE THROUGHOUT THE 2014 CHASE FOR THE NASCAR SPRINT CUP.

By Joey Gucciardo @GucciardoJoey

(Sam Sharpe/USA Today Sports)
----------------------------------------
Why such a struggle for Jimmie Johnson in the
2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

It's so weird. 

Jimmie Johnson went the first 11 races of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season leaving fans thinking, "When will this guy win?". 

Then, BOOM! Johnson wins the next three out of four races.

Now, he is in the 2014 Chase.

He made the second round by a hair. Now, he is in terrible danger of not making the next round.

Two races ago, Johnson was turned at Kansas Speedway, putting him in 12th, at the bottom of the Chase grid.

If he doesn't win this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, then he will not make the next round, and will be eliminated from Championship contention.

If you are superstitious, you could say that Johnson should race the Black Lowe's Home Improvement car for the rest of the season. Those three wins earlier this season came in that car.

But, Team 48 did something like that already.

They thought that the White Car "White Lightning" was bad luck, making Johnson have terrible starting and finishing positions.

So, they went back to driving the blue paint scheme that they won the 2013 Championship with.

But, if you ask me, it's just a bunch of miscommunication between Johnson and his crew chief Chad Knaus.

The 48 team must get into shape and win Talladega, or else the 7th title hopes for this season are finished, and the result is not a championship.

Harvick shines in mist of Brawl at Charlotte

We apologize that this article came two days late. We are experiencing trouble. Thank you to our loyal fans!

By Joey Gucciardo @GucciardoJoey

Kevin Harvick celebrates after

winning the Bank Of America 500

at Charlotte Motor Speedway

this past Saturday night.

(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Charlotte, NC---The Chase continues its saga to crown a new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, and Kevin Harvick is now one step closer to acheiving that goal.

Harvick is now the second driver to move on to the contender round of the 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Joey Logano is the second driver, winning last week at Kansas Speedway.

After the race, Harvick was no longer in the spotlight, but Brad Keselowsk and Matt Kenseth were, with their crews being involved in a three way brawl.

Kenseth was mad at Keselowski about some dirty racing on the track during the race.

Denny Hamlin was restrained by his crew because he was about to go after Brad Keselowski because he wrecked Hamlin;s car after the race.

But this night wasn't a good night for everyone (as you can clearly see).

Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, and Dale Earnhardt JR. all ned to win at Talladega if the want to make the next round.

Dale Earnhardt JR.'s night ended because his car had a huge vibration. He finished 20th.

Jimmie Johnson finished 17th. Brad Keselowski was right in front of him in 16th.

The four drivers at risk of elimination are Kenseth, Johnson, Earnhardt JR., and Keselowski.

Keselowski takes the Charlotte Win.

Kyle Busch was 2nd.

Logano snatches Kansas win, leaving Johnson in a hole.

By Joey Gucciardo (@GucciardoJoey) 10/6/2014

(Jasen Vinlove/USA Today Sports)

Kansas City, Kan.---The 2014 Chase is winding down, and it couldn't be going any better for Joey Logano.

With his win yesterday at Kansas Speedway, Logano has once again locked himself into the next round.

But the Hendrick boys could not have had a worse day.

Jimmie Johnson spins out exiting Turn 2, taking out Justin Allgaier along for the ride.

Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt JR. had wall troubles, JR., colliding with the wall while he was in the lead.

Johnson is now 12th in the point standings, the last of the remaining drivers.

But now, we leave the Chase in the fate of the drivers, as they all compete for the ultimate prize that you get for winning the ultimate quest.

And that... will be decided at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November of 2014.

Busch wins 3 out of last 4 starts in NNS.

By Joey Gucciardo | 11:34 AM E.T.

There is no doubt in anyone's mind Kyle Busch is dominating the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Yesterday, he got his third win of his last four starts in the series at Kansas Speedway.

Kevin Harvick, another Cup Series driver, like Kyle Bush, finished 2nd. Matt Kenseth was the third Cup Series driver in the Top-10. He finished 6th.

Chase Elliott finished 10th and kept the points lead.

Kyle Larson wasn't so lucky.

He spun out as he exited Turn 2 past the halfway point of the race. He hit the wall and spun out.

He slammed into Chris Buescher when Larson's car slid down the track.

Both drivers escaped unharmed.