|| *Comments on the 2011 Kansas Lottery 300:* View the most recent comment <#63> | Post a comment <#post> 1. LordLowe posted: 10.08.2011 - 7:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It is time for this nonsense to end 2. beau posted: 10.08.2011 - 7:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) honestly, how do those espn annnouncers sit through this crap? 3. -Draco- (Candraco) posted: 10.08.2011 - 7:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) wow... shocker, a cup driver wins yet another div. 2 race. I agree with LordLowe above. this needs to stop. 4. AlmirolaFan88 posted: 10.08.2011 - 7:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Instead of crying sour grapes, maybe Brian Scott should ponder how he finished 17th when one of his teammates was a lap down, off sequence for half the race and still finished in the Top 10. This isn't "stay 50 feet behind the ambulance" dude, Cup guys would race you the same way if you were around them more often... 5. LordLowe posted: 10.08.2011 - 7:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The first thing that needs to be changed in NASCAR is its leadership because it is just atrocious and needs to be replaced at once. 6. Matt L posted: 10.08.2011 - 7:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) *Sadler gained two points on Stenhouse *Stremme had a nice run in the #70 *MacDonald Motorsports got more tv coverage today than they have all season. *Angela Cope crashed That's about all that happened today. 7. DaleSrFanForever posted: 10.08.2011 - 7:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm a huge Brad K fan, and I am very glad I missed this. Cup driver, Cup team, domination, I don't like it. If he runs mid pack tomorrow like he ran mid pack at Chicago after his dominating win there (although he managed a good finish due to fuel), I will be very mad. 8. AlmirolaFan88 posted: 10.08.2011 - 7:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brian Vickers finishes 8th in his COT debut. "To the back: J.J. Yeley (#27) missed drivers meeting" One could argue there's no point of even going to the drivers meeting if you only plan on running 2 laps. 9. 1995z71 posted: 10.08.2011 - 7:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Im really surprised Brian Scott is still in this car. He has not done one thing this year to prove he deserves to be in a Gibbs N.Wide Ride. Why not put Reed Sorenson in the 11 for the last few races. 10. Cooper posted: 10.08.2011 - 7:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad better not screw up tomorrow. In double duty weekends Brad looks average at best in the #2 Miller Lite Dodge. I'm actually a little ticked off when he wins a Nationwide Race. How far has Joey Logano fallen? He's not even a contender in the Nationwide Series anymore. 7th seriously? I didn't watch this race, so I'm jumping to the conclusion that he wasn't a contender today...If I'm wrong then sorry. 11. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 10.08.2011 - 7:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I'm a huge Brad K fan, and I am very glad I missed this. Cup driver, Cup team, domination, I don't like it. If he runs mid pack tomorrow like he ran mid pack at Chicago after his dominating win there (although he managed a good finish due to fuel), I will be very mad." Same here. I was hoping that Brad would get the idea that he needs to pool all of his focus on Cup when he started running top 5 in Cup races like it was nothing, because he needs those types of finishes the MOST in the cha$e. I am hoping next year he rarely runs any Nationwide races. 12. Anonymous posted: 10.08.2011 - 8:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Eric McClure was also in the first caution that involved Mike Wallace and Derrike Cope. 13. Dodge posted: 10.08.2011 - 8:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Something else that needs to happen is to ban both Amber and Angela Cope. Neither one of these ladies can ever be a decent driver. Wreck more often than not. 14. Spen posted: 10.08.2011 - 8:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF: There was one part that you would have enjoyed. Before the final restart, Carl got four fresh tires, while Brad put on scuffs. He still got around Carl fairly quickly, and pulled away to a large lead. After the race, one of the reporters was asking Carl if he felt like he had it won, being on slicks while Brad was on scuffs, to which Edwards replied in horror: "he had SCUFFS!!??" The expression on his face was priceless. Would have been more enjoyable after a Cup win, but still fun. 15. 18fan posted: 10.08.2011 - 8:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think we are seeing that the performance of the 18 car is more down to Kyle Busch's driving than the JGR equipment. Joey has been so mediocre it's unbelievable. I'd rather see Ryan Truex in that car than Joey. 16. Watto posted: 10.08.2011 - 8:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It wasn't like Brad was midpack at best at Chicago... he was 10th before fuel mileage put him 5th, and 10th wasn't the best he had run all day. I really don't think Brad's hot streak was a direct result of him not running Nationwide races. Let's face it... at Atlanta he struggled in Nationwide and got 7th, and ended up 6th in the Cup race. He easily could've won Charlotte had circumstances gone in his favor. Easily could've won Kentucky in Cup after dominating the Nationwide race had they used a better strategy. Getting laps in a Nationwide car does not hurt the Cup focus, because Brad's certainly good enough to adjust to a Cup car and drive it accordingly. If you think the secret to Brad's Cup success is to not let him race Nationwide, I'll have to disagree. His fantastic hot streak is not going to be how his career will always look when he's not doing double duty. "Im really surprised Brian Scott is still in this car. He has not done one thing this year to prove he deserves to be in a Gibbs N.Wide Ride. Why not put Reed Sorenson in the 11 for the last few races." Brian Scott basically bought the ride. 17. Watto posted: 10.08.2011 - 8:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I think we are seeing that the performance of the 18 car is more down to Kyle Busch's driving than the JGR equipment. Joey has been so mediocre it's unbelievable. I'd rather see Ryan Truex in that car than Joey. " Ryan was in that car at Chicago and Dover. They just ran it as #20, but it was Jason Ratcliff. Joey and Adam Stevens just ran #18 instead of their usual #20. 18. Watto posted: 10.08.2011 - 8:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Personally, I thought that the race had a lot of good racing. If you're glad that you missed the race, well.. you missed Brad Keselowski make some awesome charges through the field, great racing throughout the pack, and Brad give Carl Edwards some competition. The race for the win wasn't anything great in the final 10 laps, but the race itself was pretty fun to watch compared to how a lot of these Nationwide races have been. 19. DaleSrFanForever posted: 10.08.2011 - 9:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Why not put Reed Sorenson in the 11 for the last few races." Because Reed's Daddy isn't paying the bills for the #11 car like Brian's is. 20. irony posted: 10.08.2011 - 9:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad went from about 14th to the lead in what? 4 laps? Cup drivers make the lower series look like a video game sometimes. 21. Matthew Sullivan posted: 10.08.2011 - 9:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Scott has tore up a lot of equipment on his own this season and it seems like he's trying to divert attention from his mistakes this year to someone else who happened to wreck him a couple races ago. 22. awesomegordonfan posted: 10.08.2011 - 9:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Keselowski cheated. No joke. He had scuffs and beat Edwards who had fresh tires. No doubt that the crew chief will be fined and suspended and Keselowski will be fined. 23. Watto posted: 10.08.2011 - 9:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I think Keselowski cheated. No joke. He had scuffs and beat Edwards who had fresh tires. No doubt that the crew chief will be fined and suspended and Keselowski will be fined." Yeah because it makes such a difference when the cars have no power and the times equalize a few laps into a run where it doesn't make a difference. Edwards has had several races this year with a car as strong as Keselowski had today, it just so happens that today the shoe was on the other foot. If the car failed inspection, we would know about it already. We just wouldn't know the fines. Wait, why would Keselowski be fined anyway? I guess you mean penalized points? lol 24. Anonymous posted: 10.08.2011 - 10:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) awesomegordonfan has no case in this matter because in his mind a team with fresh tires wins against scuff tires. what basically awesomegordonfan was saying was he thinks the 12 team of Brad soaked tires because in his mind a team with scuffs automatically loses against a car with fresh tires. A team soaking tires is very hard to prove based on Nascar history. Jack Roush accused the 24 team of soaking tires back in 1998 and Nascar found no proof of that happening. The other thing to look at this race was the 22 car way was better than anyone else in the field before Brad took Scuff tires on his last pit stop. The reason the 22 team won the car was that strong after the 60 team's tires had some laps on to balance itself out between the 22 and the 60. 25. Cooper posted: 10.08.2011 - 11:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) awesomegordonfan this is 2011. Tires mean nothing. Absolutely zero. I actually want to see this race now, seems like Brad gave an ass kicking. 26. Cooper posted: 10.08.2011 - 11:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "16. Watto posted: 10.08.11 - 8:43 pm" I crunched the numbers. These are unofficial. Here are Brad stats when he races both cars and just the Cup car this year: Double Duty 21 Races, 1 Win, 3 Top 5's, 6 Top 10's Average Finish: 17.7 Cup Only 8 Races, 2 Wins, 5 Top 5's, 6 Top 10's Average Finish: 7.6 LOL. Hook, line and sinker. 27. cjs3872 posted: 10.09.2011 - 12:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, outside of the early-race duel between Edwards and Keselowski, there wasn't much to this race, as Keselowski's car seemed to have about a 30 HP advantage on the rest of the field, one of the race's two exciting moments proved that, as he charged from 14th to the lead in just 5 laps. The other exciting moment occurred just after a restart when Trevor Bayne, who's crew elected to go with a gas-only stop on the caution leading up to the restart, alson with about three or four others, was all over the place, nearly crashing several times and making contact with Justin Allgaier's car, after which Bayne apologized via radio to Allgaier. How Bayne didn't crash in the first five laps after that restart was beyond me (Bayne finished a near-miraculous ninth in a car that was never competitve). Soon after Bayne's misadventures, Carl Edwards, who's team used the exact same strategy on the same pit stop sequence, dragged anchor and dropped back to seventh before the next caution. There was not even the fireworks between Kevin Harvick and Ricky Stenhouse when they were close together late in the race that I had predicted. On the flipside, Elliott Sadler had one of his strongest runs, and although ne never led at any time in the race, he ran second and third a lot, finally finishing third, though there was obvious consternation with how hard Paul Menard was racing him for third place, though he never actually passed him. The atta-boy performance of the race belonged to David Stremme. qualifying a strong sixth, he stayed in contention for a top ten, and eventually wound up 14th. Reed Sorenson predictably struggled in a back-marker car, even finishing behind Blake Koch, his teammate for the day, in 26th place, though he kept his third position in points, at least for one more week, as Steve Turner's boneheaded move to release him, while getting good results for his team today, may have serious ramifications for the future, as it may be hard for him to land any blue-chip drivers in the future after the escapades of the past week. Finally, the battle for the championship effectively ended in a draw in this race, which is just fine for Ricky Stenhouse, who actually showed patience for once. One or two more races that end in a draw in terms of the championship battle may wind up clinching the title for Stenhouse, as he can just keep an eye on where Sadler is running, and let the clock run out on him and his title hopes. 28. cjs3872 posted: 10.09.2011 - 12:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And by the way, Curtis Key and Rick Ware did a little better this time. They only combined to park five cars today, though the other two didn't finish either, though they fell out with legitimate engine failures. NASCAR really needs to get tougher on the teams that start-and-park multiple cars, if they can. Starting-and-parking one car is something I don't mind, but teams entering three or four cars, just to S&P them is something that has got to be stopped. And with the cutback of Turner's Nationwide program, as well as possible elimination of Roush's Nationwide program, as was reported for the first time last week (I have predicted for months that he would cut back, but not totally eliminate his Nationwide program), the multiple-team start-and-park fiascos are just going to get worse. 29. Anonymous posted: 10.09.2011 - 12:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sadly the s&p situation will only get worse.Nascar is only worried about a full field for the tv contract. They know the fans and sponsors are getting taken for money that the s&p teams don't deserve but they just don't care. As long as Nascar shows the tv people that they have a full field they get all of their tv contract money for any given race. The fans and sponsors are the ones getting the short end of the stick, but the France family doesn't care as long as they get their paychecks. 30. irony posted: 10.09.2011 - 1:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Do you really like Trevor Bayne, or really hate him? I can never quite tell. 31. 00andJoe posted: 10.09.2011 - 2:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I didn't even bother. At all. It seems I missed nothing. (No-ting!) Anyway, who else caught the Bathurst 1000? THAT was a race. 32. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 10.09.2011 - 3:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If every Australian V8 Supercar race was televised live on North American television then I wouldnt even bother watching NASCAR, especially the Nationwide and truck series. The Bathurst 1000 race left me 20 times more excited after Six Hours at 3:00 AM in the morning than Nationwide did after Two hours in the afternoon. The final 2 laps at Bathurst had more action than all 200 laps at Kansas today, what a race and what a finish. Not to mention they dont throw out a safety car for anything. Great racing and what nascar could be, they now have a fan for life. Looking forward to tomorrow though, hopefully BK doesnt screw up and is as fast in Cup as he was Nationwide today. 33. Watto posted: 10.09.2011 - 6:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hook line and sinker? Absolutely not. Cooper, you don't think those numbers are swayed by the fact that they had struggles early in the year with Paul Wolfe being a first-year Cup crew chief? Do you seriously think if Brad hadn't run the Nationwide car as much, he suddenly would've been top 5 material at all those places early on? Didn't you notice that they're a million times better when they return to the track a second time? Brad finished 23rd at the first Pocono race, without any double duty involved. He won the second Pocono race, without any double duty involved. So are you going to SERIOUSLY tell me that he ran so well at Pocono the second time because he didn't have the Nationwide car to worry about? So why in the heck did he end up 23rd the first time? It's easy for someone like yourself to say, "gee, he stopped running Nationwide when he got really hot, it must be because he isn't running the Nationwide car", but if you look at it, the team was obviously getting better and better all year. The struggles in the early part of the season had nothing to do with it being double duty. It had a lot to do with a first-year crew chief not having a handle on things. How in the world can you say that it isn't the biggest factor? Not to mention, Penske was having serious issues until Tom German was let go. The cars were overengineered, and once German was gone, they suddenly started gaining more and more speed. They were able to approach cars in a more old school fashion. Suddenly Brad Keselowski was gaining a serious amount of speed every week. Go figure. Since returning to the Nationwide car, his Cup finishes on double duty weekends have been 6th, 12th, 5th, and 20th. The 20th obviously being Dover where he lost power steering and didn't get back on the lead lap until late in the going, never catching a caution to help him get close to the cars on the same lap as him. 34. cjs3872 posted: 10.09.2011 - 9:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I like him, irony, but I also think that he lost a bit of his desire after his Daytona 500 win, as could be expected after winning the big one on his first attempt. I just don't think he's been driving as hard as he may have had before that, and I believe the results show it, both in the Nationwide Series, as well as his Cup efforts in the #21 car since then. And as no rookie had ever previously won the Daytona 500, there was no previous experience in seeing what a victory like that at that stage in a driver's career would cause in a driver. Would it make him more confident or would it cause him to lose at least some of his desire? Sure there had been other cases in which a driver or car owner had won either the Daytona 500 or Indianapolis 500 very early in his career, and in almost all of them, they didn't last in the sport very much longer, mostly because of a loss of desire. Here are some examples of that. 1. John Mecom. Mecom won the Indianapolis 500 on his first attempt in 1966 with Graham Hill (he nearly finished 1-2 with Jackie Stewart and Hill, both rookie drivers at Indy that year.) and finished second with Al Unser in 1967. But by late in 1968, he had no desire to compete in IndyCar racing, though he remained a big fan of it, and as a result of that loss of desire, he sold his team to Parnelli Jones and Vel Miletich. 2. Pete Hamilton. Hamilton, who won the 1970 Daytona 500 on his second try, also suffered through back injuries. But after winning that Daytona 500, as well as both Talladega races that year for Petty Enterprises, was forced out of the second Petty car by Chrysler, who forced Buddy Baker onto the Pettys. Hamilton ended up in Baker's seat in the #6 Cotton Owens car, and shortly after the 1973 Daytona 500, in which he put Jack Housby's car on the front row, but was the first car out of the race, he retired. Sure, some of it had to do with his back injuries, but also there was a loss of desire to compete, especially with only a handful of top cars in the sport back then. But Hamilton stayed in the sport as a car builder and built cars for, among others, Rusty Wallace. 3. Mario Andretti. Andretti, like Hamilton, won the Daytona 500 on his second try, but soon after that, lost his desire to compete in NASCAR when he wasn't driving IndyCars, having won the Daytona 500 two years before winning the Indianapolis 500. That, along with his desire to become a F1 World Champion, which he accomplished in 1978, led to him not competing very long in NASCAR after his surprise Daytona 500 win in 1967. He also drove in sports cars, winning the 12 Hours of Sebring three times, including his first just weeks after his Daytona 500 win. So the point is that I think Bayne has the ability to become a big star in the sport, in fact I think he's one of the most important drivers of NASCAR's next generation, along with brothers Austin and Ty Dillon, because of their roots in the traditional heart of NASCAR country. But if history holds true, Bayne's career in NASCAR as a driver may be short, due to a loss of desire, having already won the big one on his first shot, not to mention his constant problems finding sponsorship, which has already gotten him released twice, and may wind up getting him released a third time, if Roush deep-sixes his Nationwide operation. 35. Randy posted: 10.09.2011 - 9:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Maybe NASCAR can change the name of the series to the Nationwide Parades Series. No racing, just parading behind BK, Carl Edwards, and KB. I did catch the Bathurst 1000 and have to admit I liked it. It looked like a mix between F1 and NASCAR. The track looked amazing and the cars looked cool and durable. I am definitely catching the next Super 8 race in two weeks. Tracks like Kansas are becoming NASCAR's downfall. 36. Cooper posted: 10.09.2011 - 9:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad ran Top 10 in the Pocono first race, until he broke s shock mount at about that halfway mark. In the other non double duty race early in the year (Martinsville) the car showed flashes of brilliance until he cut a tire, had to pit early and lost 3 laps. So Yes, I firmly believe running the Nationwide Series is a distraction. IMHO. I also believe that Brad is one of the most talented drivers in the garage area so I just hate to see him struggle. He was average at Chicago, average at Loudon, and average at Dover. When just 6 weeks ago he was toying with the likes of Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson. It's frustrating. If he and the #2 team can get the quality cars they had 6 weeks ago, Brad can win the Cup title. But enough of that, this is a Nationwide page so I'll stop talking. 37. Eric posted: 10.09.2011 - 11:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, Pete Hamilton did not have back injuries. He had a neck injuries. 38. Eric posted: 10.09.2011 - 11:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Proof of Pete Hamilton having reoccurring neck injuies, not reoccurring back injuries: http://www.cottonowens.com/pete_hamilton.shtml http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/02/08/daytona.upset.5/index.html 39. 00andJoe posted: 10.09.2011 - 11:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) On a non-snoozing Nationwide note: is anybody else suspecting Ryan Truex is going to be making Joey Logano's Cup seat uncomfortably warm in short order? 40. DaleSrFanForever posted: 10.09.2011 - 11:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Watto, I get what you are saying, and I respect your view point. But for a lot of us Brad fans, his NWide success comes as more frustration than happiness. For me personally, it is hard to get excited about him blowing the field away in a lower Series against mostly less experienced drivers (Brad gets to fine tune his skills every Sunday for 400 or 500 miles against some of the best drivers in cars prepared by some of the top mechanics which is a huge advantage) in mostly lesser equipment. To me, seeing that he led 173 of the 200 laps, seeing that he apparently went from 14th to 1st in just 4 laps, is kinda embarrassing. It is like a big league slugger going to a Single A team (and taking a lot of his fellow big league teammates with him) and lighting up some 56th round draft pick pitcher. Plus, perhaps our biggest gripe, I feel it takes away more from his Cup program than it adds. With him having a real chance at a CUP CHAMPIONSHIP this year (not saying he is the favorite, but it is a real possibility), I would hate to look back at this year and think "what if?". We don't want a situation like Harvick in '06. Can we prove for certain that had he not skipped final practice at Atlanta to run the Busch race he would have finished better than 31st that year? Of course not. But we will never know, and I would hate to have that hanging over my head, especially considering Kevin finished Top 5 in the next two 1.5 mile track races. We don't want that with Brad. We already have a "what if?" at Chicago. He ran 10th to 15th all day at the type of track (low banked intermediate) that has been his strong suit since "The Richmond Incident" (a win with a Top 7 car at Kansas, a winning effort at Kentucky, and a runner up at Michigan). Fuel mileage got him up to 5th for the finish. What if he had been running 5th all day like he had done at similar tracks? Plus, this is already a sore subject for us after Brad's abomination of a 2010 Cup season. We feel it never had a chance because he was way more focused on winning that NWide title. Obviously last year was the result of a confluence of factors beyond that (never got chemistry with Jay Guy, Penske engineering was still holding them back, rookies in the COT with a testing ban have never done well). But we feel putting his Cup program on the back burner was the biggest factor. Now we have been willing to give Brad somewhat of a pass this year at first due to a few reasons, most notably he made a two year committment to Discount Tire and Ruby Tuesday and wants to live up to that, especially since Ruby Tuesday is a major associate on his Cup car. Making sponsors mad is never a good idea. But after his ankle injury, we feel he could have weaseled his way out of a few more races. The Pocono race you mentioned can be attributed to a few things. First off, as Cooper mentioned, he broke a shock mount. But also, him and Paul always run much better their second time to a track. Plus, Paul played the strategy perfectly that day, and Brad played the final restart perfectly. The result was win #2 and the lighting of one hell of a fire (which is a big reason I will be mad if he doesn't run Top 5 today, they had the 7th best car their first time there). Here is a good article about Brad and Cup drivers in NWide. Kudos to Brad for admitting that he loves winning. He makes some really good points about his involvement in the NWide Series, and I think this article hits the real issue with NWide, and that is something that only NASCAR can fix. Yes, at this time, Cup drivers are a necessity. That needs to be fixed. Although it isn't Brad's fault the Seris is in the condition it is in, that doesn't mean he has to keep compromising his Cup effort. One thing though, it only touches on what I feel is the biggest problem with NWide being Cup Lite: the drying up of the talent pipeline. Since 2006, Brad is the only guy to come from the NWide Series as a no name and become a consistent threat in Cup. One reason I feel interest in NASCAR is drying up a bit is because it has become very stale. And not just because the same guy keeps winning the championship over and over again. It is the same few guys contedning over and over. Look at the current cha$e field this year: Harvick (Top 5 in '06, '08, and '10), Edwards (runner up in '05 and '08, top 5 in '10), Stewart ('05 champ, Top 10 last 4 years), KuBu ('04 champ, Top 5 in '09), JJ (top 5 in '04 and '05, won the last 5 titles), Kenseth (runner up in '06, Top 5 in '07 and '10), Brad (the one bit of new blood), KyBu (in cha$e 5 of last 6 years, always a dominating presence in the first 26 races, but always folds in the last 10), Gordon (runner up in '04 and '07, Top 5 in '09), June (Top 5 in '04 and '06), Newman (made many cha$es but no real success) and Denny (runner up '10, Top 5 in '06 and '09). It is pretty much the same people over and over again. That is not good. We need new people popping up to get people's attention and to upset the current front runners. We haven't had that in the last 5 years with the exception of Brad. By contrast, compare the Top 10 points finishers behind Earnhardt in '86, in '90, and in '94 (and remember Ernie was a points contender for the first time that year before getting hurt). Then look at the Top 10 behind Jeff Gordon in '95 and compare that to '01 (and remember, although Sterling finished 3rd both times, he took one hell of a journey over those 7 years). We just don't have that constant shuffling of contenders, and it can be traced to the Cup takeover of the NWide Series. http://www.nnsracing.com/2011/10/8/2478140/the-full-monty-yes-brad-keselowski-lets-look-at-the-bigger-picture-in 41. 18fan posted: 10.09.2011 - 1:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I used to like Brian Scott when he was in the Trucks, now it seems that he's just a whiner. Maybe his lack of performance in that Gibbs car has him frustrated and he's whining because he's frustrated. 42. cjs3872 posted: 10.09.2011 - 2:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Eric, sorry about those innacuracies about Hamilton's injuries. As Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts can attest, neck injuries are nothing to risk anything over. I had thoght it was back injuries. Thanks for correcting me. But even if hadn't had those neck injuries, Hamilton's career in NASCAR would have been short anyway, because he couldn't find a good ride after being dismissed from the Pettys by Chrysler. But thanks for correcting me. 43. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 10.09.2011 - 3:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Watto, it's true that the numbers are swayed by Brad's first 9 races before Penske released Tom German and fixed the team issues but if you look at his results afterwards, they've been mostly good finishes. I could be wrong, maybe Brad can handle running both races on a weekend and run well in both, but I think he does better in Cup when he doesn't have a Nationwide race to focus on. At Sears Point (the same track he got into everybody and eventually took himself out of the race last year), he was a top 15 car all day and finished in the top 10. The week he injured his foot, he decided to skip Iowa and only run the Cup race at Pocono and he won it. At Watkins Glen (when Kurt subbed for him and won the NW race), he ran the #2 car just like Rusty used to on the road courses and finished runner-up to Ambrose. He then finished 3rd at Michigan and won Bristol. It's also true that his results won't always look like this when he is only focusing on Cup, but I do think those types of results could come more often if he stops running so many NW races. 44. Watto posted: 10.09.2011 - 5:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "If he and the #2 team can get the quality cars they had 6 weeks ago, Brad can win the Cup title." That's exactly my point man. Nationwide or not, he can get on those hot streaks if the cars and strategy are where they need to be. You gave reasons why Pocono and Martinsville didn't work out, and I could give you reasons why a number of other races didn't work out when he was pulling double duty. Remember how many laps he led at Kentucky? Rough strategy, got stuck at the end of the race and ended up 7th when he deserved easily a win or 2nd. Remember Charlotte where he could've won had Kasey Kahne not run out of gas directly in front of him? Remember Dover in June when he easily could've done much better than 13th? These are all double duty weekends. His rough finishes with good cars have happened with or without Nationwide on the same weekend. And look at today, ends up 3rd. Would he have done better had he not run yesterday? You're entitled to your opinion, but the stats you posted are absolutely not proof that Nationwide hurts his Sunday effort. There were a LOT of things hurting his Sunday effort. Obviously the beginning of the year was a learning experience for Penske & Paul Wolfe. They started clicking before his injury and have maintained. You're not going to finish top 3 every week no matter what. Saying what you posted was "hook, line, and sinker" was inherently inaccurate. Cup should absolutely be his priority in the big scheme of things... but I don't think Nationwide truly affects him on Sunday. 45. Watto posted: 10.09.2011 - 5:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "At Sears Point (the same track he got into everybody and eventually took himself out of the race last year), he was a top 15 car all day and finished in the top 10." I felt like it was a matter of time til he could run top 10 on road courses in Cup. His first Sonoma race was really rough, but Brad's Nationwide stats on road courses are pretty solid. He didn't have any road course experience growing up, and he got 8th at Mexico his first full season in Jr's car, 2 top 5s at Montreal, 6th 9th & 4th career at Watkins Glen, 4th in only Road America race. I think it's fair to make a point that maybe he'd be better off in general if he took the Jimmie Johnson approached and focused 110% on his Cup efforts with nothing else, but the reason I went off on that tangent was because of my disagreement with thoughts like, "In double duty weekends Brad looks average at best in the #2 Miller Lite Dodge." That, I disagree with :). Hopefully I wasn't too abrasive on any of you guys. I'm a BIG Brad Keselowski fan since 2006 before he got the Keith Coleman ride. 46. dUDE gUY posted: 10.09.2011 - 6:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I can't stand this crap. I like Keselowski the Cup racer (maybe a little less now after yesterday), but I detest Keselowski the Nationwide driver. I detest all Cup-level talent mindlessly and aimlessly toying around in Cup-funded equipment dominating races in a series that they have already surpassed, and somehow thinking that they are impressive for winning with such a massive gap between their talent/equipment and the Nationwide-only talent/equipment. It's like bringing a gatling gun to a musket fight. Sure, the guys with musket's will win here and there, but only by lack of mistakes and luck. The guys with gatling guns don't even really need to pay much attention to win, because their equipment far outmatches who they are battling. Now, all's fair in love and war, but NASCAR is neither. It is merely a challenge (read: C-H-A-L-L-E-N-G-E) of which team bring the best driver and equipment they can to the track, and trying to be the first to reach the checkered flag. This is true for all series, but especially Cup. And I really, really thought being a Cup driver was about the CHALLENGE of beating the best, not about the banality of beating the rest. And that is exactly why F1 doesn't allow tomfoolery in lower series - because it goes against the CHALLENGE of trying to be the best. 47. awesomegordonfan posted: 10.09.2011 - 7:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I never thought about soaking tires but I guess that was a great possibility 48. DaleSrFanForever posted: 10.09.2011 - 8:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I will be mad if he doesn't run Top 5 today" Not mad. 49. Special K posted: 10.10.2011 - 8:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Brad needs to get outta the Nationwide series. I know he thinks that his presence in the series will help attract sponsors to drivers in the series, but I think it is doing the opposite. I believe that the bigger sponsors just look for a Cup driver to sponsor instead of a Nationwide-only driver, and the smaller/newer sponsors will be intimidated out of sponsoring a Nationwide-only driver. 50. TaterRacing posted: 10.10.2011 - 9:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Scott Wimmer was originally slated to run the No. 82 car, but Reed Sorenson asked if he could run the car so he could stay in the top 3 in points after getting canned by Turner. Wimmer obliged, and Sorenson finished 26th, two laps down. 51. 00andJoe posted: 10.10.2011 - 11:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I think Brad needs to get outta the Nationwide series. I know he thinks that his presence in the series will help attract sponsors to drivers in the series, but I think it is doing the opposite." Brad is running Nationwide not to "attract sponsors to drivers in the series", but because he signed a two-year contract to run the 22 when his Cup ride looked uncertain, and he's actually honoring his contract. "I believe that the bigger sponsors just look for a Cup driver to sponsor instead of a Nationwide-only driver, and the smaller/newer sponsors will be intimidated out of sponsoring a Nationwide-only driver. " Not sure about the second part of that, but the first part is absolutely true. It doesn't neccessarily follow, though, that removing Cup drivers from the equasion will lead to a mass exodus of sponsors as so many claim; instead, sponsorship might well become cheaper and more accessable (not a big a "name"? Not as big a bill). Not that I blame the sponsors too much, though, for preferring to sponsor Cup guys. If you were signing a contract to sponsor the 18 car, which deal would you, as a businessman, prefer: Michael McDowell for 34 races, or - for the same $ amount of sponsorship - Kyle Busch for 5? Thought so. 52. Talon64 posted: 10.11.2011 - 6:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad Keselowski picked up his 16th career Nationwide win, tying him with Jeff Green and Joe Nemechek for 15th all time. He (4 wins) Kyle Busch (8) and Carl Edwards (7) have combined to win 19 of 30 races in 2011. Carl Edwards earned his series-leading 6th pole of 2011, and finished in the top 2 for a 5th consecutive race. In fact it's the 3rd straight time that Carl and Brad have swept the top 2, with Brad winning twice and Carl winning once. Elliott Sadler ties his best finish of 2011 with his third finish of 3rd. It's his first top 5 in 8 races. Paul Menard has finished in the top 10 in all 6 of his Nationwide starts this year, including 4 top 5's and a 4.7 avg fin. But he's only led 1 lap. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished in the top 10 for a 5th straight race, which includes 4 top 5 finishes (4.8 avg fin, 15 more points scored than Sadler). Kevin Harvick drove a 3rd KHI car in the race and finished 6th for his 7th top 10 in 13 Nationwide starts this year (only 5 top 5's). Joey Logano gets just his 3rd top 10 in his last 6 Nationwide starts, and first in 3 starts with the #18. The #18 JGR team is now just 7 points ahead of the #60 in the owners standings with 4 races to go. Brian Vickers finishes 8th in his first Nationwide start of 2011, his 57th top 10 in 115 career starts. Trevor Bayne has back-to-back top 10's in Nationwide for the first time since his first two races back from his illness at Chicagoland and Michigan back in June. Ryan Truex was the highest finishing rookie in 10th, his 4th top 10 of the year and his 3rd in 5 starts with JGR (9.2 avg fin). He's now just 9 points behind Timmy Hill for the ROTY point lead, with Blake Koch 2nd and 2 points back. Danica Patrick finished in the top 15 for the 5th time in 9 Nationwide starts this season. 53. Watto posted: 10.11.2011 - 6:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I know he thinks that his presence in the series will help attract sponsors to drivers in the series, but I think it is doing the opposite." His point about sponsorship wasn't that his presence will attract sponsors to drivers in the series, but rather that the 22 isn't sponsored unless he's the primary driver of it. Discount Tire wants him and that's why he's in the car. 54. irony posted: 10.12.2011 - 2:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "If you were signing a contract to sponsor the 18 car, which deal would you, as a businessman, prefer: Michael McDowell for 34 races, or - for the same $ amount of sponsorship - Kyle Busch for 5? Thought so." I'll take Matt DiBenedetto for 34. Thank you. 55. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 10.12.2011 - 3:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I think it's fair to make a point that maybe he'd be better off in general if he took the Jimmie Johnson approached and focused 110% on his Cup efforts with nothing else, but the reason I went off on that tangent was because of my disagreement with thoughts like, "In double duty weekends Brad looks average at best in the #2 Miller Lite Dodge." That, I disagree with :). Hopefully I wasn't too abrasive on any of you guys. I'm a BIG Brad Keselowski fan since 2006 before he got the Keith Coleman ride." Yeah, I wasn't really trying to make it sound that simple, such as "when Brad doesn't run Nationwide races, he's suddenly better in Cup races" because he has had good double duty weeks (including this past week). I was just saying that it might help him have results on par with that more often if he stopped double duty. But the way I presented my original post on the subject would probably lead people to believe I was trying to make it sound that simple. Anyway, no worries. I haven't been a Brad fan quite as long as you, but he was a guy I started keeping my eye on after his big break in the #9 truck at Memphis in '07, then I officially became a fan of his when he became a contender for wins in Nationwide with JR Motorsports. 56. DaleSrFanForever posted: 10.13.2011 - 3:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kenny Wallace says he's done with NASCAR after next year because he's tired of having to bust his ass to find sponsorship. He kinda threw his team under the bus saying he is the one solely responsible for finding money for his team (which I'm sure is true, but I wouldn't advertise that). He says he spent $35,000 on producing a DVD of himself to sell to sponsors. I like Kenny personally, but if he has to work that hard to get sponsors, he should probably take that as a sign. Even at his peak as a driver, he was margainal at best. 9 Busch wins over 11 years, and a few scattered good Cup runs. He should have bowed out of NASCAR a while back and gone ahead with his dirt racing. At the end of his disasterous '03 Winston Cup season with Bill Davis when his sponsor said they wanted to go to the Busch Series so they could actually get some exposure, he should have taken the hint. And just out of curiosity, what goes into that DVD and how does it take $35,000? It's not like he has very many highlights. A few Busch wins and him latched onto Earnhardt's bumper in his last win as he sliced through the field in those last 5 laps. Couldn't he have got some high school computer nerd to put something similar together for $350? I don't mean for this to be a personal attack on Kenny, but the fact is the sport has long since passed him by. 57. hyperacti posted: 10.13.2011 - 6:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race eliminated Kenny Wallace from championship contention. The top 6 in points still have a chance at winning, following this race. 1. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 2. Elliott Sadler 3. Reed Sorenson 4. Aric Almirola 5. Justin Allgaier 6. Jason Leffler Of course, everyone aside from Elliott Sadler is an outside shot. 58. Daniel posted: 05.21.2012 - 12:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In using fastest 43: #42 Tim Andrews & #48 Dennis Setzer Out using fastest 43: #23 Angela Cope & #39 Joey Gase 59. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 04.24.2014 - 8:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew 74 Mike Harmon TBA Chevrolet Mike Harmon 60. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 06.30.2014 - 6:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Owner of the #23 was Mark Smith http://www.americansalon.com/files/americansalonmag/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Front-Hero-Card-REV377EC4A-Copy.jpg 61. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 08.07.2015 - 10:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Owner Update #27 Wayne Day (Same at Texas II) 62. BurningThunder posted: 10.28.2015 - 6:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew: 68 Jeremy Petty Fleur DeLis Farms Chevy Craig Partee He wrecked the car badly in final practice and they were forced to withdraw. 63. BurningThunder posted: 10.28.2015 - 6:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) For previous post, change sponsor to Burwell Construction. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: