|| *Comments on the 2014 The Profit on CNBC 500:* View the most recent comment <#351> | Post a comment <#post> 1. StenhouseFan17 posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:06 pm Rate this comment: (4) (5) NASCAR proves its qualifying system is still flawed as a driver 11mph slower the leader (Shepherd) makes the field over a car that is 7mph faster. Also, Fox's coverage was a complete disaster, but that's another story. 2. We need more Onion posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Penske looks strong and so does McMurray, Almirola and Mears. Also, how about that nice, 26th place effort by McDowell at his home track! 3. 18fan posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The drivers asked NASCAR to let the teams cool their engines on pit road during qualifying immediately after the session was over. I would like to see that change because watching a bunch of cars rolling around slow to cool their engines is not exciting and those cars are potentially in the way. Other than that the format has some potential. Of course FOX's awful coverage is a whole different topic. The session had ended before they even showed the final round beginning. 4. 1995z71 posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:15 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) Tough break for Landon Cassill... 5. 1995z71 posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This is his first DNF since 2010 6. Daniel posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Go Gordon! 7. jabber1990 posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) this may have been covered before but what is "The profit" is that a show where a billionaire bails out a small business and helps them become more profitable? that's what I'm guessing from the commercials, although I have no idea where I've seen them 8. 23andJoe posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) >NASCAR proves its qualifying system is still flawed as a driver 11mph slower the leader (Shepherd) makes the field over a car that is 7mph faster. Which is provisionals, and will always be provisionals. That's just the way the cookie crumbles. >This is his first DNF since 2010 DNQ, but yes. Alas! 9. jabber1990 posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 2 DNQ's in a row for Blaney 10. Daniel posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In using fastest 43: #40 Landon Cassill, #77 Dave Blaney, #98 Josh Wise Out using fastest 43: #7 Michael Annett, #51 Justin Allgaier, #87 Morgan Shepherd 11. VoteGillilandNotDanica2014 posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:30 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) That was stupid. Go back to single car runs, please. Even if they did let them cool the engines, I don't see it improving much. Very pointless. 12. numbah10hatah posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:32 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) Why oh why did Morgan Shepherd make the race... 13. DB1995 posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) I don't see how you think this is stupid?. Is it because watching a car go around the track by itself for 2 laps is so fun? 14. The Long Shot posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:43 pm Rate this comment: (6) (5) Did Morgan deserve to be in the field? Probably not. Am I happy that he's in? Hell yes! 15. Dave #38 Fan-Go Gilliland! posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:46 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I believe that Morgan will break his own record from last year as the oldest driver to start a cup race. 16. murb posted: 02.28.2014 - 8:49 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) It's only the first time they've done it, so there's obviously gonna be some kinks they need to work out (most notably the cooling situation). But overall, I see a ton of potential with this new qualifying format. I like it. 17. BluesTravelerFan posted: 02.28.2014 - 9:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The big question for me this weekend is how will the aero changes(chiefly the new no ride height rule) will affect the racing in the first go round(although next week will be an even bigger barometer). 18. Anonymous posted: 02.28.2014 - 11:15 pm Rate this comment: (5) (11) Morgan Shepherd deserves to be sent home. And not his house, the retirement house XD Sucks Landon had an actual sponosr in CRC FiberLock and this old hack misses it. 19. The Long Shot posted: 02.28.2014 - 11:24 pm Rate this comment: (2) (3) "Morgan Shepherd deserves to be sent home. And not his house, the retirement house XD" Save your retirement jokes. Shepherd's more fit than many of the 20 year-olds out there, and he'd still be competitive if given a decent ride. 20. VoteGillilandNotDanica2014 posted: 02.28.2014 - 11:55 pm Rate this comment: (2) (4) "I don't see how you think this is stupid?. Is it because watching a car go around the track by itself for 2 laps is so fun?" Not supposed to be fun. It's qualifying. Watching this crap was just embarrassing. Not to mention, what exactly was fun about THIS? It was like watching a practice session. Ooh fun! If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just another example of NASCAR employing yet another in a long line of stupid gimmicks instead of fixing the glaring problems that are still unaddressed in the sport. I am ashamed to be a NASCAR fan. Shit like this is why fans are leaving. 21. jabber1990 posted: 03.01.2014 - 12:07 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) we've seen it ONCE, can we please give it a fair chance before we criticize it? 22. jabber1990 posted: 03.01.2014 - 12:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) can we wait until Texas to declare this the worlds worst idea? in March we have Vegas, Bristol, California and Martinsville. that way we can get a good look at it a few times before we declare this boom or bust 23. VoteGillilandNotDanica2014 posted: 03.01.2014 - 12:32 am Rate this comment: (4) (4) Hell no. Why should we? We gave the Chase a chance, fans left. We gave the COT a chance, fans left. STOP GIVING BRIAN FRANCE AND HIS BAND OF MERRY MORONS THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT, THEY DON'T DESERVE IT. 24. cjs3872 posted: 03.01.2014 - 1:39 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I agree that this new qualifying format is a terrible idea, and I've made those thoughts clear numerous times. However, I also think that since NASCAR thought hard and long about this, that it should be given a chance, like that quacked-out Chase format they're using this year, which should be thrown into the garbage at season's end. However, the qualifying format might not be as bad as everyone thinks it's going to be, or it could be as bad or worse than everyone fears it's going to be. I think it has the best chance of working on the bigger tracks where the cars have more room to operate, but I think it's likely to be a disaster on the shorter tracks. As Wally Dallenbach, Jr. said on NASCAR Nation, and as I noted before this season even started, there are going to be games played, particularly on the shorter tracks, where the new format will have the biggest impact. However, the one good thing about this format is that it guarantees that everyone will be qualifying under the same air and track conditions, or as close to the same air and track conditions as possible, so that does takes out one potential variable that was always there before. Now, although we all knew Danica Patrick would be slow as a turtle compared to her teammates, the performance of Marcos Ambrose was appalling. He just barely made the top 30, while teammate Aric Almirola was actually in that final session with a chance at the pole position, and ended up ninth. But there's no reason for Ambrose to be back there with the Front Row cars and Michael McDowell in the Leavine Family Racing car #95. He should at least be closer to the top 15, instead of back there with the much lesser funded teams. Now I called for Ambrose to be replaced in that #9 car last year because of how poorly he performed, and if his performance doesn't improve, I think Richard Petty may have to look at possibly replacing Ambrose in that car, either later on this season or for 2015. Aric Almirola is proving the RPM cars can be factors up front, and now I think Richard Petty has to find a way to get his other car better, because it's proving to be no more competitive than it was last year, when Ambrose couldn't even finish in the top 20 in points and led a grand total of two laps on ovals. I know the #43 will always be special to Petty and can understand wanting that team to be the primary focus, but having the #9 team be uncompetitive is something I can't imagine Petty tolerating for much longer. The pure shame of that is that Ambrose may win one of the two road course races, which will put the #9 in the Chase undeservingly if he does nothing else, while Almirola will run better more consistently, but not make it since he likely will not be able to win. And by the way, the RCR cars are back to where they'll probably be running most of the year, in the middle of the pack, at best, since Ryan Newman is the only driver at RCR capable of winning at this time, barring a fluke gas mileage or plate race win. In fact, if the total number of top fives for Childress' other two cars (3 and 27) exceeded five, I'd be very surprised. 25. joey2448 posted: 03.01.2014 - 2:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, I think Ambrose (as much as I love the guy) should either return to V8 Supercars, or should join a team running the new Tudor Sports Car series. I imagine he continues to race in NASCAR these days for a chance at winning a road course race, and for the money. Let's face it, NASCAR pays big, even for ~40th place finishes. I really didn't think the qualifying format was that bad. Anything would be more exciting than single-car runs. The only thing they need to change is letting the cars cool on pit road, rather than running super slow on the apron. Notable good qualifying runs include rookie Kyle Larson in eighth, Aric Almirola in ninth, Casey Mears in 18th and Michael McDowell in 26th. And Cowboy Hat the Elder (or just Woody) disappoints Pop Pop in 24th. Interesting tidbit, Denny Hamlin's 12th place qualifying run would place him 23rd if the old format was used. 26. MarkMartinFan posted: 03.01.2014 - 2:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) I think the qualifying format should have been more like the group qualifying style they use at the road courses. 27. b4il3y posted: 03.01.2014 - 2:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Honestly.. do you guys think the Petty cars are competitive? Marcos can drive, and so can Eric.. 28. Anonymous posted: 03.01.2014 - 3:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) It was funny watching them try to create false drama about who was in the top 12, as if it matters at all where you start in a NASCAR race. The reason knockout qualifying is actually dramatic in Formula 1 is because starting position matters a lot in that series. Not so much in this one. 29. DRF posted: 03.01.2014 - 7:37 am Rate this comment: (2) (1) Messy, confusing, crap qualifying procedure. But what do you expect from Brian & Co? 30. Kubica Fan Ireland posted: 03.01.2014 - 8:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Couple of things I observed from the 500. It was a really enjoyable race with the return of the pack and competitve racing in both lanes which could work, unlike the trucks and nationwide for the majority. Being the leader was also not pointless as the leader could defend both lanes and stay in front, unlike the 2 car tandem era.. This style of racing rewarded the fastest cars whop could stay in the top 5 and lessen the chances of the good cars getting caught up in the big wrecks. I will wait until after Darlington to get a proper view of which teams should compete for the championship and which teams will struggle. 31. cjs3872 posted: 03.01.2014 - 10:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Aric Almirola has proven over the last year that the Petty cars can be competitive, b4il3y. Now they're certainly lacking in other areas, particularly the pit crews, but that's been a problem there for many years. Are they competitive week in and week out? No, but they've shown the ability to be competitive, and being able to do it more consistently is the next step in becoming a winner. But they also have to do something about the #9 car, because while Aric Almirola has improved, the #9 car with Marcos Ambrose has been going the other direction, and yesterday's qualifying run seems to be continuing that trend. And joey2448, I don't think Austin Dillon's run was that disappointing, because that's where I suspect the entre RCR operation will be most of the year, in the middle of the pack, at best. Ryan Newman will run up front at times and possibly win a race, but I don't expect very much at all from the other two full-time cars (the 3 and 27), and where those two qualified is where I expect them to run much of the year, though I think Austin Dillon might race closer to the top ten. And also, I'm not sure I agree with cleaning the board as it relates to the final 12 in the new qualifying format. I think that if a driver fails to improve on his first round qualifying time, that he should still be able to use that time for his starting position, but what happened regarding Denny Hamlin is somewhat reminiscent of the old first and second round qualifying, but in reverse. Hamlin actually ran faster than is official qualifying time, and in such a case, a driver should be able to use his first round time as his official qualifying speed. 32. numbah10hatah posted: 03.01.2014 - 10:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I certainly agree with cjs3872 on Aric Almirola. I think he's a very underrated driver in some mid-pack equipment. Last year at times, he was running in the top 5 in that car. I think if somebody could give him a good ride, he could seriously be a contender. 33. Eric posted: 03.01.2014 - 12:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, You are incorrect by saying Austin Dillon's qualifying run wasn't disappointing based on Austin Dillon was 5th in the first practice on Friday unless other teams made their car better and the 3 car made their car worse. Austin ran a 137.799 MPH in practice and that was 5th on the practice chart tied with Kyle Larson. Austin Dillon's car slowed down by .599 MPH in Qualifying compare to his practice time. That means it could have been a combination of things of why Austin Dillon didn't back up his practice time. It you don't believe about Austin Dillon's practice time for Friday, it is on Jayski under first practice. 34. Eric posted: 03.01.2014 - 12:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Before CJS3872 points out on Austin Dillon's practice speeds today, they were in race trim today, not qualifying trim for practice. The fact is some drivers and teams are known to be better in race trim than qualifying trim. Austin Dillon last year in the Nationwide series was known to qualify better than he finishes. 35. DB1995 posted: 03.01.2014 - 1:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Brad sweeps the poles for the weekend 36. cjs3872 posted: 03.01.2014 - 1:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Eric, the reason I said that Austin Dillon's run was, to me, not disappointing was that I expect the RCR cars to be back where they qualified for most of the year. So their qualifying runs, as a group, were not disappointing to me, because I expected them to be back there. If they were expected to qualify up front and then ended up qualifying back there, then it would be a disappointment. And let's also not forget that Richard Childress Racing has never put very much emphasis on qualifying, going back to the days of Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt was never much of a qualifier, and neither was Kevin Harvick. So they've never really cared about where they've qualified, even when they were at their best, because it's always been about the race to them. 37. VoteGillilandNotDanica2014 posted: 03.01.2014 - 2:53 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) If they really want to do away with single-car qualifying, have heat races. Use practice speeds to determine who is in what heat race, and have those determine the field. This was just a bad gimmick. 38. VoteGillilandNotDanica2014 posted: 03.01.2014 - 2:57 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Though frankly, I think the way to "fix" the sport is to just go back to what we did when the sport was popular. No Chase, no gimmicks, less rules & regulations. I'd also have more races on short tracks, road courses, and yes even a couple dirt tracks. Also need to work on safety. Kevin Harvick was absolutely right in his criticism of DIS. There is no excuse for not having SAFER barriers everywhere on every racetrack. Was Denny Hamlin's injury not proof enough? How many drivers must be hurt or killed before NASCAR & the track promoters finally give a crap? 39. joey2448 posted: 03.01.2014 - 3:09 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Messy, confusing, crap qualifying procedure. But what do you expect from Brian & Co?" Confusing? What's confusing about it? As much as I enjoy shitting on Brian France's parade, it's pretty simple to me. Everyone goes out and turns some laps during a 30-minute window, and if you're in the top 12 you advance to the 10-minute shootout, where the fastest driver in that session wins the pole. Also, in case anybody was wondering why Justin Allgaier did not post a time, it was because he backed his car into the turns 3 and 4 wall before he ever got to post a timed lap. 40. Schroeder51 posted: 03.01.2014 - 3:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Also need to work on safety. Kevin Harvick was absolutely right in his criticism of DIS. There is no excuse for not having SAFER barriers everywhere on every racetrack. Was Denny Hamlin's injury not proof enough? How many drivers must be hurt or killed before NASCAR & the track promoters finally give a crap?" Fully agree with this. I can only imagine the media's reaction if Danica had been hurt or killed in that accident in the 500. They SHOULD do this...but they're most likely not going to until somebody REALLY gets hurt. Unfortunately, it's not just a problem with NASCAR; it's a problem that's been around with businesses and companies for ages. More often than not, they tend not to fix problems or flaws in something until those flaws end up getting people killed. 41. The Long Shot posted: 03.01.2014 - 3:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "If they really want to do away with single-car qualifying, have heat races. Use practice speeds to determine who is in what heat race, and have those determine the field." Two words for you: clean air. Bring the heat races to a track like Indy or Pocono, and the person who's leading after 1 lap has the win in the bag. Tracks like Daytona and Talladega that prevent a driver from running away with the lead would work well for heat races, as would short tracks like Bristol, but it doesn't make sense to bring them to cookie-cutters or tracks where having clean air gives you a huge advantage on the field. 42. murb posted: 03.01.2014 - 3:34 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Larson looks really good this weekend. I'm definitely impressed. If he can minimize his bad days, he can beat Cowboy Hat for ROTY. 43. cjs3872 posted: 03.01.2014 - 3:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think if you're going to use qualifying races, The Long Shot, which is an idea I actually like, make it so that the fastest qualifiers are locked into those spots. For instance, if you're going to do it like they do it at Daytona, which is two qualifying races, then make it so that the front row for both races are locked into those spots. After that, make the rest of the positions through 36th based of finishing positions in the qualifying races, and then you can do the provisional starting spots as always. You would have qualifying, as always, in the event rain intervenes, but you would only have the top four spots locked in by qualifying speeds, and then the next 32 positions (5-36) would be determined by how you finish in those races, with the last seven spots getting the provisionals. That way, the pole would still be determined by qualifying, but the drivers that make up the balance of the field would have to earn their spots. However, if this is ever done, I'm not sure about awarding any championship points in these races. Another thing qualifying races would likely eliminate is the need for the Saturday practice session, since such an event is a better barometer for how a car might perform than any practice session could ever be. This might also eliminate any advantage a driver would get by running a support race, since everyone would have the same track time in a racing environment. Right now, those running the support races have a big advantage because they know before those that don't run these races the handling characteristics of a track, what the tires are going to do, and other things of that nature. Running Cup qualifying races on the day before the race to set the lineup past the first two rows would give everyone the same track time that only those running the support races currently get. However, the costs of doing that could be an enormous problem for the teams, because of the possibility of crashes, blown engines, etc., so I could understand why car owners would likely balk at such an idea. But I think it's worth looking into. 44. joey2448 posted: 03.01.2014 - 3:59 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Sounds like Paul Wolfe will be missing Sunday's race as Keselowski's crew chief, since his wife is expecting their first child. Here's an excerpt from Jayski -- "It's expected that Brian Wilson, team engineer for Keselowski's #2 Ford Fusion, will split crew chief duties with Greg Erwin in Sunday's race." Good to see one of the former Beach Boys make their foray into the sport, eh? 45. 23andJoe posted: 03.01.2014 - 5:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) For some reason every driver on the qualifying results here is listed twice... 46. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.01.2014 - 6:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Good to see one of the former Beach Boys make their foray into the sport, eh?" Are you sure its him or that reliever with the goofy beard? The Dodgers' training camp is a short drive from PIR. 47. TS1420 posted: 03.01.2014 - 11:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I guess you could say Brad will be driving a "Little Deuce Coupe" this Sunday ;) I don't see what the big fuss about knock-out qualifying is about. I guess people just naturally want to dislike whatever idea Brainless Z. Farce comes up with. 48. The Long Shot posted: 03.01.2014 - 11:41 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "Good to see one of the former Beach Boys make their foray into the sport, eh?" Lol, I wish. Wilson is kind of my music idol, especially when it comes to songwriting. His ability to construct harmonies can never be equalled (add to the fact that he self-produced the entirety of their albums despite being permanently deaf in one ear). It's not without merit to think that Wilson was the most genius songwriter of the 20th century not named Gershwin. 49. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:50 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Two words: Roger Waters 50. joey2448 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:49 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I know the Beatles are ridiculously hyped as the best composers of the 20th century, and the cliches to describe their musical prowess are endless, but I truly believe the Lennon-McCartney duo is unequaled when it comes to composing music (and this is coming from the bottom of my heart) particularly when speaking of harmonizing and lyrics. Even many of their most obscure tunes are very good songs; songs that I find myself singing along with like it's a number one hit. If I had to describe the Beatles using sports terms, they would have a lot of depth. I don't mean to take anything away from guys like Brian Wilson and Gershwin, they too are incredibly talented songwriters. 51. SpeedWorld97 posted: 03.02.2014 - 11:16 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Just a question, but has anyone else seen NBCSN's new NASCAR show "NASCAR America" yet? So far it's showing me that NBC will be great when they take over NASCAR's coverage next year. They don't hype the media's favorites (Danica, Dillon), and Rick Allen and Jeff Burton seem to already work well as broadcast partners. They already have a commercial promoting "NASCAR on NBC beginning in Summer 2015." To me, that just shows that they care. Can't say that about other networks... 52. WinstonCup4Ever posted: 03.02.2014 - 11:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I've seen the show and I've got the first episode on tape. So far, it's a great show. 53. The Long Shot posted: 03.02.2014 - 11:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lennon and McCartney melded better as a songwriting tandem than anyone else. Once the two split apart, their solo compositions were for the most part less than spectacular, the main exception being Lennon's "Imagine". As for the harmonies, I don't think anyone could write 2-part harmony quite like they did, and their 3-part material was pretty solid as well. Wilson was an absolute master at writing 3-part/4-part harmonies. I think the main knock on Wilson and the Beach Boys is that he didn't write all the music for the group; Mike Love was responsible for almost all of their surf songs (seeing as that's the only type of music he can write), and of course, since that was when surf music was big in America, those songs would become the group's big hits, and later on, their most famous compositions. Even in the group's earliest albums, Wilson was writing gems that featured soothing melodies complete with multiple-part harmonies ("The Lonely Sea", "Surfer Girl", "In My Room"), and he took that even further on albums such as "Pet Sounds". Listen to the last 3 songs on the album "Surf's Up", and you will experience Wilson's songwriting at its absolute greatest. Even on the group's latest album, "That's Why God Made The Radio", Wilson is penning 4/5-part harmonies left and right (again, if you want to hear Wilson at his songwriting best, listen to the last 4 songs on the album). This is not to take away from Lennon/McCartney, since I believe they were fantastic songwriters during their tenure together with the Beatles, but I truly believe that there has never been a single person in the history of popular music that could write harmonies like Brian Wilson. (@NRF: I don't compare Wilson with Waters because they're not really in the same genre of song-writing; Wilson wrote mostly ballads, while Waters was one of the pioneering progressive-rock writers. Nothing against Pink Floyd at all, as I consider them the greatest rock band that didn't feature a guy named Ringo on the drums.) 54. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 1:10 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) RIP Emilio di Guida 55. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 1:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Just watched the NASCAR America show, it was pretty nice. I'm looking forward to hear Jeff Burton in the booth and have a network which cares about motorsports and its fans. 56. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 1:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was unaware that FOX had changed NASCAR RaceDay. Instead of the old Speed team (John Roberts, Kenny Wallace, Kyle Petty, Rutledge Wood, Wendy, Venturini) with the FOX race broadcast team (Chris Myers, The Waltrips, Jeff Hammond, Krista Voda, etc.) 57. jabber1990 posted: 03.02.2014 - 2:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I've always wondered what happened to a lot of the Speed crew, except for Rutledge, we all know what he's doing 58. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 2:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes, you can already tell NBC is going to be light years ahead of ESPN and Fox. 59. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 2:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is this race actually 300 laps instead of 312 as it has traditionally been? 60. Anonymous posted: 03.02.2014 - 2:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There's no rain in the forecast today. I guess we won't need to talk about PBS like we did last week. I unfortunately don't have NBCSN right now, is there any other way I can see NASCAR America? From what I've heard it's pretty good. 61. webmaster posted: 03.02.2014 - 2:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) @59: It is 312 -- that typo has been corrected. Thanks! 62. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.02.2014 - 2:54 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Camping World just announced they've extended their sponsorship of the Truck series for 8 more years. 63. jabber1990 posted: 03.02.2014 - 2:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) John Menard, aren't you a multi-Billionaire? why do you have cheesy commercials? 64. Rusty posted: 03.02.2014 - 2:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another lame and awkward Michael Waltrip gridwalk. 65. jabber1990 posted: 03.02.2014 - 2:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) its time for the Michael Waltrip Grid Walk, presented by Nike I'd give Jeff Gordon a lifetime achievement award! 66. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Seriously, who at FOX thought it was a brilliant idea for Michael Waltrip to walk up and down the grid before each race to interview the drivers while being his usual annoying self? 67. SpeedWorld97 posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Robin Miller's IndyCar grid walks are 1,000,000x better than Michael Waltrip's, and Miley stole the idea from Robin. 68. jabber1990 posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Seriously, who at FOX thought it was a brilliant idea for Michael Waltrip to walk up and down the grid before each race to interview the drivers while being his usual annoying self?" I wonder if he's really strapped for cash so he's willing to do anything for a buck 69. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:06 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Robin Miller's IndyCar grid walks are 1,000,000x better than Michael Waltrip's, and Miley stole the idea from Robin. ...who stole it from Peter Windsor when he did F1 with Speed. 70. TS1420 posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:11 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "Another lame and awkward Michael Waltrip gridwalk." I saw Brock Lesnar in a background shot earlier. I wonder if Michael tried to get a kiss from him this week. 71. DB1995 posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good anthem and epic flyover! 50 planes in that thing!! 72. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:19 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) "Gentlemen, start your engines!" "Boogity! Boogity! Boogity! Let's go racing boys!" Danica is getting left out today, not that anyone here is complaining. 73. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:20 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Harvick 13th to 6th in 3 laps. 74. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick is moving up, he's already knocking on the door of the top-5. 75. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick is going to be leading this thing before too much longer... 76. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:22 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Danica is outrunning Cowboy Hat right now. 77. Rusty posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:23 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Harvick definitely looks like he may have the car to beat today. 78. TS1420 posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Has anybody noticed that FOX uses side-by-side for the first commercial break of the race then rarely use it after that? 79. The Long Shot posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cowboy Hat with handling issues. Competition caution to come on lap 35. 80. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hm, Koch seems like a step back from Wise, but of course it is only 20 laps into his 1st race in the #35. 81. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Has anybody noticed that FOX uses side-by-side for the first commercial break of the race then rarely use it after that?" Yep. The first break and usually the last 2 or 3. Mike Joy says advertisers won't let them use it more than that and there are some advertisers who won't let them use it at all so I don't put the blame solely on FOX for that. 82. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't hate Austin Dillon, but he better pick it up or he will go a lap down before the caution. 83. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:31 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) "Miley" Mikey and Miley. Both annoying attention seekers, so there really is no difference. 84. 1995z71 posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They just called Cole Whitt "Cole Whitten" & earlier they said Michael Waltrip instead of Darrell Waltrip. These guys really collect a paycheck for this? 85. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (3) (1) "Mikey and Miley. Both annoying attention seekers, so there really is no difference." One at least USED to be attractive...Not saying which one though. 86. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:34 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) ""Mikey and Miley. Both annoying attention seekers, so there really is no difference." One at least USED to be attractive...Not saying which one though." And one's father sponsored a BAM car in 2002. 87. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cowboy Hat gets saved from going a lap down. 88. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Competition/Cowboy Hat benefit caution. 89. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:35 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I know people will say they threw it to save Austin, but--in fairness--it was lap 35. 90. jabber1990 posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I know I'm making something more confusing, I kind of wish competition cautions would go back to the "race to the line" rule, same as many Debris Cautions as for the rest I'm fine with freezing the field if nobody gets a lap back when they race back to the field then they enact the lucky-dog rule 91. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:38 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) ""Mikey and Miley. Both annoying attention seekers, so there really is no difference." One at least USED to be attractive...Not saying which one though." I'm putting my money on Mikey. 92. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think it's safe to say that the top 4 plus Jimmie are the 5 to watch out for today, with the favorite being Harvick. 93. Rusty posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I do like seeing a Skittles car on the track again. 94. DB1995 posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:41 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I will say that Miley used to be pretty hot 95. BluesTravelerFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That was a great battle between Kyle and Jeff. 96. David posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That 24 car is on a mission. 97. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Aric is having a great run in 9th. I hope he hangs on for a top ten today. 98. BluesTravelerFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:45 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) What I like most that I am seeing is that when two cars are side by side the car on the outside doesn't automatically get the better run off the corner. I know it's super early, but that's an encouraging sign to me for the racing. 99. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:51 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) I literally can't think of a worse idea for a song than "Trash On The Grille". 100. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "Aric is having a great run in 9th. I hope he hangs on for a top ten today. " Shhhhhh! They might hear you! 101. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.02.2014 - 3:55 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Harvick to the lead, he's in a league of his own right now. 102. Kenny posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good race so far I'm happy with this :D 103. David posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "I literally can't think of a worse idea for a song than "Trash On The Grille"." Just give me a few minutes... ;) 104. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Trash On The Grille"...all I can think of when I hear that title is that stupid "Pants On The Ground" song from the American Idol auditions a few years back... 105. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) These Gen 6 cars are really awesome on the short ovals. This is a good race so far. Cowboy Hat is about to go one lap down. 106. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Just realized that the graphic at the top actually has intervals. 107. Kenny posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Austin :( But JR :D 108. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Austin Dillon goes a lap down with the car/team that won the last race at Phoenix International Raceway. I actually want him to be successful, but that is embarrassing. 109. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) One thing I do hope for though is some type of track condition change that will shake things up a bit. 110. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Austin Dillon goes a lap down with the car/team that won the last race at Phoenix International Raceway. I actually want him to be successful, but that is embarrassing." Meanwhile, Larson has been hovering around the top 15 all day so far. I can't believe I actually picked Dillon for ROTY just because of the equipment advantage. I'm definitely picking and rooting for Larson now. 111. JG24FanForever posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is Larson really this good? And does Dillon really suck this bad? 112. jabber1990 posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I wonder of Brad and Logano are running the same car setup, they seem to be really close to each other 113. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:15 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) At this point, it looks like Jr. maybe the only guy capable of hanging with Harvick. 114. David posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I can't believe I actually picked Dillon for ROTY just because of the equipment advantage. I'm definitely picking and rooting for Larson now." Besides, I really don't think that CGR is that bad now, especially since they have Hendrick engines. 115. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The thing about Dillon is that he ran 11 Cup races last year, so the "he's still learning the Cup cars" excuse doesn't apply to him. He should be used to them by now. He's at one of RCR's best tracks driving for the team that finished 3rd in points last year, so it's absolutely embarrassing that he's running this bad. 116. cjs3872 posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't know about this, but Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. has had a pretty embarrassing day, thus far, as he's already gone one lap down, and has been trailing Danica all day. But as bad as Stenhouse has been, Ryan Truex has been far worse, as he's been lapped on the track three times before the 100th lap was completed, compared to his teammate Alex Bowman, who was only lapped once by that time. Stenhouse's performance must improve, or his ride in the #17 car could be in danger at year's end, because his performance must get better. I know Roush is behind, but Stenhouse's performance thus far today has been awful. 117. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Besides, I really don't think that CGR is that bad now, especially since they have Hendrick engines." They look good this year. This could be the year that McMurray finally makes the Chase. 118. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) If the BK cars are as bad as they were in 2013 (and I have no reason to think otherwise), then Bowman is doing exceptionally well. 119. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Besides, I really don't think that CGR is that bad now, especially since they have Hendrick engines." Interesting fact I just realized...if Larson wins ROTY it will be the THIRD driver to win that award in the #42 Chip Ganassi Racing car. 120. JG24FanForever posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Besides, I really don't think that CGR is that bad now, especially since they have Hendrick engines." Suspension and chassis are WAY more important than the engine. RCR should have a favorable advantage in both departments, and they have better funding and engineering too. Kyle Larson is a Natural talent. Dillon is over-hyped, and lacking in raw driving skills. 121. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:24 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "Stenhouse's performance must improve, or his ride in the #17 car could be in danger at year's end" I highly doubt that, just because Stenhouse is Roush's pet project right now. I would LOVE to see Alex Bowman get a shot in that car though. And yeah, Bowman is doing a great job in the BK car, which I doubt has improved its performance since last year. 122. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Kyle Larson is a Natural talent. Dillon is over-hyped, and lacking in raw driving skills." True, but it's not like Larson is not hyped well enough. 123. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And *sigh*, gotta say BoB is doing well for herself, at around the same level where Kahne is. If she keeps it up (unlikely), we might see the birth of Mistress of Midpackers. 124. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another guy running horrid: Clint Bowyer. Vickers is even outrunning him by a few spots. 125. JG24FanForever posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "True, but it's not like Larson is not hyped well enough." Doesn't he deserve some hype? Larson is the kind of driver I want to see racing: bull stubborn and ultra competitive. BTW, Dan Pat is beating "The Next Dale Earnhardt". Dat Pat is short for Danica Patrick.... 126. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And also, Kliegerman... sad to see my preferred driver being the worst on track. 127. DB1995 posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Onion, Swan Racing tweeted that he might be blowing up 128. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) According to MRN's Dustin Long, NASCAR checked the track for debris and decided there wasn't any. I feel like that's the first time in recent history that NASCAR hasn't found something worthy of a caution. 129. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution flag is out. Maybe NASCAR finally found their "debris"... 130. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well there's the debris caution... 131. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Apparently Vickers has wrecked under yellow. 132. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "Apparently Vickers has wrecked under yellow." If I were asked to guess a driver that will wreck under caution, he would be in my top three. 133. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Onion, Swan Racing tweeted that he might be blowing up" Not sure whether that is better, or worse. Thanks for letting me know anyway, at least now I know it's not his bad. 134. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nevermind, he cut a tire. 135. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Vickers hit the wall pretty hard under the caution flag. 136. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) murb, who are the other two drivers who would be in your top three? Just curious... 137. joey2448 posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Vickers' crew should've left the back end of his car the way it was after he hit the wall. The rear deck lid got pushed up into the air, just like a bigger spoiler, lol. Maybe it'll give him more downforce... 138. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So NASCAR throws a fake caution (it was for a water bottle according to Jeff Gluck), but then it turns into a real caution... 139. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) "murb, who are the other two drivers who would be in your top three? Just curious..." S**** Wallace (who once crashed unassisted in the garage area), and John Wes Townley (though he has improved over the last year or so). 140. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica and Allgaier crash. 141. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Crash in turn 2. Allgaier and Danica are involved. 142. The Long Shot posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Big pileup. Danica, Allgaier, Kvapil wreck. 143. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh no, Allgaier was having a really solid run... 144. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "S**** Wallace (who once crashed unassisted in the garage area), and John Wes Townley (though he has improved over the last year or so). " No Brad Sweet? 145. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Alligaier goes around in turn two taking Danica with him. 146. The Long Shot posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:46 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Heck of a job by Bowman to avoid that. 147. jabber1990 posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) the Danica Spin of the week: Sponsored by Pepsi 148. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What?! No Ken Alexander? 149. joey2448 posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dammit, Allgaier's involved....I'd really like to see him do well this year, but it's been a struggle so far. 150. The Long Shot posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Wow. Fox showed a stat that didn't portray Danica as a saint. 151. Wallmendinger posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Good to see Danicas improving 152. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "No Brad Sweet?" I guess he would be up on the list too, but Vickers and his legendary 2011 Martinsville performance puts him high on the list. 153. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:49 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Danica's mad at Allgaier. What a surprise. 154. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Danica's mad at Allgaier. What a surprise." What did she say? 155. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica brings out ANOTHER caution flag. 156. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Great job by Danica's team to not change that rubbing left rear tire. About Allgaier, she just said "that damn 51". 157. DB1995 posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Of course when you cut down a rear tire not much a driver can do besides not hit the wall which she did 158. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) At least this year he took no Front Row cars out. Pretty decent save though. 159. jabber1990 posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) At least she didn't wreck it during the spin/recover the Danica Caution of the week: Sponsored by Dollar General 160. The Long Shot posted: 03.02.2014 - 4:59 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) TERRIBLE decision by Danica's crew chief to keep her out on the track. She obviously had a tire rub. 161. jabber1990 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:00 pm Rate this comment: (2) (2) "TERRIBLE decision by Danica's crew chief to keep her out on the track. She obviously had a tire rub." in his defence, would you listen to Danica if she complained about the car? 162. JG24FanForever posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:02 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "in his defence, would you listen to Danica if she complained about the car?" It's the CC's job. 163. The Long Shot posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:05 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "in his defence, would you listen to Danica if she complained about the car?" That's not the point. Fox showed her car as they were preparing for the restart, and the tire rub was plain as day. How they missed that during her pit stop is beyond me. 164. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Kenseth's scheme is tasty. Would prefer this to that boring Dollar General one. 165. The Long Shot posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt Busch might be down a cylinder. Alex Bowman to the garage. 166. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bowman to the garage. Tough break. And Kurt Busch has engine problems. 167. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Possible engine troubles for Kurt Busch, he's been dropping back for a bit. 168. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bowman to the garage. Meanwhile, Kurt Busch is having engine problems. 169. DB1995 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I have the WORST feeling Johnson will steal this win...., meanwhile Brad is running the lowest he has all day 170. jabber1990 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) TuRD engine failures: 2 (this year) 171. The Long Shot posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looks like this is going to be a fuel mileage race. Most of these stops seem to have been made too early. 172. DB1995 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:24 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Why stop to early and risk it when you can ryn 6 or 7 more? 173. David posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The #41's engine is finally laying down. 174. The Long Shot posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Busch blows up. 175. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looks like Kurt Busch blew up. 176. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt Busch finally blows up, probably no caution though. 177. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looks like Kurt's engine finally gave up the ghost. 178. The Long Shot posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sounds like Kligerman's engine is down as well. Tough break for that kid. 179. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually, yeah, caution. 180. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Caution flag comes out, trapping Jeff Gordon a lap down. 181. DB1995 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) deBriS caution 182. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Debris caution 183. The Long Shot posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Debris caution, possibly from the 41. 184. JG24FanForever posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:28 pm Rate this comment: (3) (1) "Caution flag comes out, trapping Jeff Gordon a lap down." I love Nascar. 185. BON GORDON posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Can't Gordon get the wave around and Back on the lead lap? 186. Jarrett88fan posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The only time I support the wave around is in situations like these, teams finish green flag pitstops band a caution comes out trapping teams' a lap down. 187. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "Debris" 188. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) Caution out for "debris". 189. Dave #38 Fan-Go Gilliland! posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:44 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Actual debris, Harvick radioed that he almost hit a brake duct on the track. 190. David posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:44 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) According to Geoffrey Miller, Harvick said it was a whole brake duct. 191. DB1995 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:45 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Oddly this caution benefitted Jimmie Johnson, never seen that happen before 192. Jarrett88fan posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If there is another quick caution, the some of the front runners will be in danger of running out of fuel. 193. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There's the caution. Gilliland spins. 194. David posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gilliland spins. Caution. 195. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Gilliland spins out and another caution flag. 196. TS1420 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gilligan spins. 197. The Long Shot posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:50 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Gilliland cuts a tire, spins. 198. Anonymous posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "Oddly this caution benefitted Jimmie Johnson, never seen that happen before " Is this a joke or serious? 199. Jarrett88fan posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sometimes wins fall right into your lap. 200. JG24FanForever posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Is this a joke or serious" If you have to ask, you'll never know. 201. TS1420 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:54 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) "Is this a joke or serious?" I think serious. Jimmie is the luckiest s.o.b. in NASCAR, and always seems to get a caution when he needs one (real or "debris") 202. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) Seriously, why does NASCAR run 500K here? It's just too damned long. 203. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) Logano and Earnhardt Jr hand Harvick the win. 204. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Intense racing for second place right now. However, that's pretty much given Harvick the win barring something disastrous happening. 205. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Logano and Earnhardt Jr hand Harvick the win. " Don't get your panties bunched yet. These guys could all still run out of fuel. Plus we have another 15+ laps. 206. TS1420 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Logano better not try to pick a fight with Dale Jr this season. Jr Nation will tear that boy apart. 207. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Has FOX actually acknowledged the race title, since the race is the CNBC 500? 208. DB1995 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt blew up for good, 209. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt Busch just blew up. 210. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt Busch blows up for good, another caution. NOW this gets interesting. 211. The Long Shot posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Busch officially has his engine go toast. 212. David posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not yet, murb. Kurt Busch's engine blew up, finally. 213. JG24FanForever posted: 03.02.2014 - 5:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Larson is back on the lead lap. 214. TS1420 posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Is SHR trying to take this win away from Harvick by continuing to send Kurt & his garbage motor back out on the track? 215. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So what happened to Kurt earlier-did he run out of gas? 216. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Don't get your panties bunched yet. These guys could all still run out of fuel. Plus we have another 15+ laps." If it would have gone green, Harvick would have been good on fuel and would have won barring a freak accident. But now with this caution, it gets interesting. 217. WinstonCup4Ever posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @207. Yes they did on the graphic during the "3 Things You Need To Know Break" 218. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) well, I'd like to see another caution and then Harvick get Harvick'd with 2 or 3 to go. But I'd be content with him winning too, as he was fast all day. 219. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And also, the Leavine Ford is going the distance today! Nice to see. 220. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:05 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) And as Jeff Gordon charges, how much money says he will magically be slow once he gets behind Dos Jotas? 221. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) "And also, the Leavine Ford is going the distance today! Nice to see. " With Captain Jesus at the helm, this is the team's first full-distance, non-restrictor-plate race. 222. David posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:07 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Jeff just made a three-wide pass on Johnson and Newman. Want to reconsider, NRF? 223. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon sneaks into the top 5. 224. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "With Captain Jesus at the helm, this is the team's first full-distance, non-restrictor-plate race. " I'm sure that they have a road course top 20. But yeh, let Captain Jesus return to everyday use :) 225. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Jeff just made a three-wide pass on Johnson and Newman. Want to reconsider, NRF? " Shoe in mouth 226. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Harvick 227. We need more Onion posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:10 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The fastest combination won today. Well done. 228. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:10 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) It's over. Congrats to Harvick. Pretty good race for it being totally dominated by one guy. 229. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Harvick by and far had the best car today. Sometimes, you just have a car that is that much better than everybody else's. Very much a well-earned win. Pretty good race overall, I think. 230. Sarf52 posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:12 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Another top 15 for Casey Mears. Germain team looks strong this year. 231. Jarrett88fan posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Relieved no one ran out of gas...the Rodney Childers-Harvick combination could be a potent one come Chase time. 232. JG24FanForever posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Awesome! Top 5!! (Dirt to Daytona quote.) Epic ass whoopin by Harvick. Excellent run for Larson to beat "The Next Dale Earnhardt".! 233. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, passing is much easier but the real test for this package is next weekend at LVMS. 234. TS1420 posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) WTG Harvick!!! SHR in Victory Lane! Thought it was funny Newman roughed JJ up a little bit and allowed Gordon to get by both of them. 235. BluesTravelerFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Junior just didn't have quite enough car to challenge Kevin, but still a great run for him. Congrats to Kevin, although I may not be that partial to him, his talent is undeniable, and he could have a great season in that 4 car this year. Okay to decent race overall, I did see some slight improvement, but as I said earlier Vegas will be the first big test for how the racing will be. 236. The Long Shot posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Extremely strong race by Harvick today. And while he dominated virtually the entire event, the race itself was pretty entertaining. Quite a solid start to the season by NASCAR, in my opinion. 237. startandparkfan posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:16 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Casey Mears gets another good run. 238. BON GORDON posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:17 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Didn't really care for the race today cause Harvick just flat dominated! Great run by Jeff Gordon. Another solid top five finish and he passed Johnson at the end too. The Hendrick cars of Gordon, Earnhardt, and Johnson all look strong so far. 239. DB1995 posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This finish is exactly the way it should be through 4th, they were without a doubt the best cars in the field, although Joey should had probably been 3rd 240. epzik8 posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kevin Harvick has won both his second-to-last race with RCR and his second race with SHR. 241. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So why the flying f were Martin Truex, Austin Dillon, and Brian Vickers all given better odds to win than Jamie McMurray? 242. David posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I have to wonder how the heck Kasey Kahne came back to finish eleventh, for all his struggles earlier today. 243. Eric posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:27 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Kevin now has as many career cup wins as Kurt Busch with 24. Kevin is now 1 career cup win away from tying Joe Weatherly and Jim Paschal. 244. DB1995 posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NRF, everyone underrates Jamie Mac, no one realizes he is a great driver 245. Jim Davis posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "So why the flying f were Martin Truex, Austin Dillon, and Brian Vickers all given better odds to win than Jamie McMurray?" Because there was more action on Martin Truex, Austin Dillon, and Brian Vickers. Betting action is what sets the odds, nothing else. 246. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (3) "Kevin now has as many career cup wins as Kurt Busch with 24. Kevin is now 1 career cup win away from tying Joe Weatherly and Jim Paschal." Don't even make such comparisons! Where's the Donny Lia bucket? 247. JG24FanForever posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon numbers achieved in this race: 308th career Top 5 finish. 343rd career Top 6 finish. 191st head to head win against Jimmie Johnson, and the 23rd time he's finished directly ahead of Johnson in the finishing order. This was his record 98th Top 5 finish from a starting spot of 11th or worse. 248. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Because there was more action on Martin Truex, Austin Dillon, and Brian Vickers. Betting action is what sets the odds, nothing else. " Then the people betting were foolish. 249. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:32 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) It's kind of funny that after DSFF leaves the site (or at least tones down the regularity with which he posts comments), that two of the drivers he nagged on the most have won the first two races of the year. "Don't even make such comparisons!" Dude, no one was comparing anyone. It is literally a cold, hard, indisputable fact that Harvick is only one win away from tying Joe Weatherly and Jim Paschal. 250. Cornys posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good race, but hate to see the debris cautions. Since FOX doesn't even try to show the debris I don't know what's real and what's fake. The new chase structure made this race a lot more exciting.... lol.. not really. Not a bad race overal, but I can see that NASCAR's added downforce still creates the bubble between drivers towards the front of the field and out of traffic. Unless one car is definitely supperior to the one in front of it the closest that driver can get is .6 seconds. Looked like a freight train following each other at .6 second gaps towards the front of the field the entire race. This being said, it was not a bad race. Fair, and dominated by Harvick. There's nothing wrong with that. :) 251. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Dude, no one was comparing anyone. It is literally a cold, hard, indisputable fact that Harvick is only one win away from tying Joe Weatherly and Jim Paschal." I was aware of that. I just choked on choosing the right word :P Ironically, Harvick has WAY more starts than either Weatherly or Paschal, but he has fewer top-5s than either of them, and fewer top-5s than Paschal. Now I am the one making comparisons! *dodges tomatoes* 252. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:37 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Has to be a relief for a driver to change teams and win with the new fairly quickly. 253. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:39 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) ^Immense relief. Means they already have chemistry. 254. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:45 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Dale Jr.'s average finish the last 10 races...4.7 255. cjs3872 posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:46 pm Rate this comment: (5) (0) And Harvick's win total might be close to 30 by the time this season ends. Remember what happened with Matt Kenseth last year when he finally got some horsepower? He had, statistically the best season of his career, winning seven times. Well, it looks like the same thing has happened with Kevin Harvick. It looks like he's found the horsepower this year that Kenseth found last year, and if he wins enough races to push his career wins total to 30 (and he would need seven, the same number Kenseth got last year), it would be no surprise at all. And if he does, he'll not only pass Kurt Busch, Joe Weatherly, and Jim Paschal, but also Fred Lorenzen and Rex White (Mr. Car #4 in NASCAR's top series, as all 28 of his wins came in car #4) on the all-time wins list. I've thought that Kevin Harvick, like him or hate him, has been one of the most underrated and most underappreciated drivers on the circuit for years. But now that he seems to have finally gotten some horsepower, it looks like his career may find heights that it's never found before, which is saying a lot for someone that's won every crown jewel race except the Southern 500 at least once (and he's won the Coca-Cola 600 twice). It makes me think that Carl Edwards might not to stay at Roush for much longer, realizing what's happened with Kenseth and what may now be about to happen for Harvick, because their cars now appear to match their talent, and Edwards might be the next one to want to see what would happen if he got some horsepower. 256. joey2448 posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:47 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) The last time Jeff Gordon started a season with two top-fives, he won the championship (1997).... 257. StenhouseFan17 posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick is really becoming king of the "'tweener" tracks. Phoenix and Richmond are particularly strong for him recently. 258. Thomas posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:48 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Raise your hand if before Daytona you thought Casey Mears would be in the top 10 in points after 2 races. Put your hand down, Rick. 259. RaceFanX posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:54 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Alliance Truck Parts makes its debut as a Cup sponsor on Brad Keselowski's "Yellow Deuce." 260. jabber1990 posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I know I'm comparing 1 race to 180 so this probably isn't a fair comparison in 2 races Harvick has done a lot in the same car that Newman didn't do too bad with, yes Harvick is the better driver but is it all Harvick? 261. Anonymous posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Seventh consecutive top 10 for Dale Jr, going back to Talladega last year, and his fifth consecutive top 5 overall, both new records for him. Going back to Chicago last year he has scored ten top 10s and seven top 5s. Harvick's last three top 5s have all been wins. 262. 1995z71 posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The offical entry list has the owner of the #87 as Jay Robinson. Regardless both the #66 & #87 are fielded by Identity Ventures Racing. 263. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "It makes me think that Carl Edwards might not to stay at Roush for much longer, realizing what's happened with Kenseth and what may now be about to happen for Harvick, because their cars now appear to match their talent, and Edwards might be the next one to want to see what would happen if he got some horsepower." I think it would be great for Carl to leave Roush, but I don't think HE thinks that. It seems like he really loves driving for Roush and Ford. And he talks endlessly about how much he loves working with Jimmy Fenning. Even if he were to leave after this year (he's a free agent), I have no idea where he would go. The only real option for him to "get some horsepower" would be if JGR started a fourth team. So I don't know. As much as I think it would benefit him to join up with a better team, I'm pretty sure he'll stay at Roush. But crazier situations have definitely happened, especially recently (the MWR/Truex situation, most notably). 264. 23andJoe posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #30 sponsor: Swan Energy #36 sponsor: Tommy Baldwin Racing #77 sponsor: Randy Humphrey Racing 265. VoteGillilandNotDanica2014 posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The offical entry list has the owner of the #87 as Jay Robinson. Regardless both the #66 & #87 are fielded by Identity Ventures Racing." Yep. Like I said, both the 66 & 87 should be listed as owned by Joe Nemechek, or the 66 should be listed as owned by Michael Waltrip. It's the same team as last year, just under a new name. Last year it was NEMCO-JRR racing, this year Identity Ventures Racing, both co-owned by Joe Nemechek & Jay Robinson, but Nemechek was the original soul owner & should get the credit on here. Shepherd's sponsors were SmartBen/Morris Hardwick Schneider (no slashes, there are lines separating them in the logo) 266. Woodbridge posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:18 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) *Darrell Waltrip singing* No one knows what goes on behind closed doors. (Anyone else get kinda weirded out by that?) 267. Eric posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) jabber1990, It is mostly Kevin Harvick because of the amount of wins he has starting the 2010 season based on him the two teams Kevin is with. Kevin got 13 out of his 24 career cup wins since the start of 2010 season despite RCR having weaker horsepower than Stewart-Haas for 12 of them. There is 2 things with Kevin Harvick. Kevin Harvick since the start of the 2010 season has won 13 times. I think the only drivers that won more is Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin. Kevin has as many career cup wins in that span as Matt Kenseth. The 2nd thing is Rodney Childers. Ryan Newman didn't have him. Rodney as a crew chief did as great job at MWR with the 55 car considering who he had as drivers. The fact is Mark Martin at MWR wasn't at his peak, but he did well under Rodney in 2012 and the fact Vickers won at New Hampshire speaks volumes about Childers since Vickers is a 3rd tier driver to me. If you give Rodney a great driver in his prime, it would be a great pairing depending on chemistry. 268. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good for Happy and company, they had the best car all weekend and really sealed the deal today. Dale Jr. is off to his best start of the season by far, I definitely believe they'll be championship contenders. Team Penske appears to have shaken off the demons from last year's "rearendgate", both Brad and Joey are in the top ten in points and should be good at Vegas. 269. 23andJoe posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #2 crew chief: Greg Erwin. Paul Wolfe missed this race due to the birth of his first child. 270. Eric posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) There might be another team that Carl could go to. I am talking about Stewart-Haas. The fact is Gene Haas is allowed by F1 to be an owner, he'll bring Danica to that series. Danica is hurting Stewart-Haas, and I think Carl would be a great fit over at Stewart-Haas unless Stewart wants to replace her with another driver such as Reagan Smith. Danica is under achieving at Stewart-Haas big time and I don't know what Tony Gibson has done to get her as a driver to crew chief for. The other thing is Danica's contract ends in 2015 and does Stewart-Haas really think she'll improve by then. I think we all know the answer to Danica improving to 2015 is no. 271. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^I hope not. The Colin Kolles-led Romanian outfit has more money, better people, an already-existant factory to build the car in, and is ready to join the grid immediately. 272. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Raise your hand if before Daytona you thought Casey Mears would be in the top 10 in points after 2 races. Put your hand down, Rick. " He's 12th on the tie-breaker technically... 273. VoteGillilandNotDanica2014 posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:46 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Danica sells enough merch & attracts enough sponsorship & attention that I doubt they care how she performs. 274. Daniel posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:47 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Go Gordon! 275. Eric posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:49 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I meant to type if Gene Haas is allowed by F1 to be an owner, he'll bring Danica to that series. instead of "The fact is Gene Haas is allowed by F1 to be an owner, he'll bring Danica to that series". 276. GDR4 posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:49 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) awesome performance by the #4 car all weekend - unloaded fast and backed it up in the race 277. Eric posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The fact is FIA hasn't ruled on Gene Haas yet. 278. JG24FanForever posted: 03.02.2014 - 8:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon got his first Top 5 finish at the new Phoenix configuration, and his all-time record 226th Top 5 finish on a super-speedway. Top 10 drivers with the most super-speedway Top 5 finishes: Jeff Gordon 226 Mark Martin 197 Richard Petty 190 Dale Earnhardt 172 Bobby Allison 164 Cale Yarborough 156 Darrell Waltrip 153 Jimmie Johnson 146 Bill Elliott 143 David Pearson 142 279. jabber1990 posted: 03.02.2014 - 8:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) how much money does Gene Haas have if he wants to start an F1 team? 280. murb posted: 03.02.2014 - 8:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Even if Gene Haas' F1 team does happen, he'd have to be dumber than I thought to pick Danica for one of those cars. They would be a backmarker team, and she's an average road racer at best, so the combination of those two things would be terrible. He would be much better off selecting a young road racer like Conor Daly or someone (Sean probably would have a bunch of suggestions). Plus, Danica isn't gonna want to go over to F1 and have to relearn a whole new racing system and car this soon after her transition to stock car racing. And her "brand" or whatever is already exploding over here in the US, so then that would be taken away if she went to F1 (F1 obviously isn't as popular as Nascar here). As disappointing as her Nascar career has been thus far, for her sake she's much better off staying in Nascar. And she probably knows that. 281. Evan posted: 03.02.2014 - 8:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) * Kevin Harvick dominates and his car's sponsor lived up to its name, Harvick was freaky fast and freaky good in the desert today. * Earnhardt Jr. finishes 2nd, not bad effort after his big Daytona 500 win. * There was some good racing in spurts, and Logano almost got 2nd but Junior held his line and shut the door on him. * Once Kevin Harvick got out front it seemed he could stay there, the best cars in the field seemed to be Logano and Brad Keselowski and then Earnhardt Jr. * Jeff Gordon pretty much stayed in the lead group all day including a 3 wide pass on the apron, probably the first time he's attempted a pass on Phoenix's paved apron, overall a good day. * Overall, it was a good race even though Harvick had the dominant car. It had some exciting racing and some thrilling ballsy passes, races don't always have to be filled with crashes to be fun. * Danica Patrick had a crash in this race that left her with a tire rub and then the rubbing tire blew, it was a bad decision by Tony Gibson to leave her on the track with that tire rub. I would rather have the tire fixed than going out there with it damaged. But then again maybe the crew did not know it was rubbing until Danica radioed in after she got back on track. A lot of stuff we don't know. * DW singing for the first time in I don't know how long, he needs to do more of that, be more funny than quiet. 282. NickDeez posted: 03.02.2014 - 8:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @280. How often would they be running up against the 107% rule (it's still 107, right?) for actually making the race if it was Danica in one of the cars (who would be the other driver, anyway)? 283. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.02.2014 - 8:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "Kenseth's scheme is tasty. Would prefer this to that boring Dollar General one." Its pretty nice except the back bumper is bright yellow with Dollar General in black. Ruins the look for the rest of the car. "Seriously, why does NASCAR run 500K here? It's just too damned long." I guess you don't remember a few years ago when the spring Phoenix race was 600K/375 miles long. It was back when the race was held at night in April. If I remember right, the race didn't end until after midnight on the east coast. 284. Evan posted: 03.02.2014 - 8:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) One at least USED to be attractive...Not saying which one though." And one's father sponsored a BAM car in 2002 We Need More Onion, Yes...Billy Ray Cyrus sponsored the BAM Racing Dodge at the 2002 Sharpie 500, the race where Jeff Gordon bump n' ran Rusty Wallace out of the way for the win. 285. DB1995 posted: 03.02.2014 - 8:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Honestly I hope Danica moves back down to nationwide after her contract is up, she was just starting to be consistent at the end of 2012 then she left 286. cjs3872 posted: 03.02.2014 - 9:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, the races at Phoenix have always been 500 KM, so as to have the "500" name in the title of the race, but since it's a 1-mile track, running 500 miles would take far too long, so they made it 500 KM, which is 312 miles. And here's an interesting note about Phoenix and team Penske as a whole in NASCAR that I thought about because of how well the Penske cars ran today. Except for the 2 mile track at Michigan and the 2.5 mile track at Pocono, Penske has generally not enjoyed the success at tracks he enjoyed a lot of IndyCar success in NASCAR. For instance, he's never won a Phoenix race that's gone the distance. Penske's only NASCAR Cup Series win at Phoenix was also the only Cup race there to be shortened by rain, the 1998 race won by Rusty Wallace (also, his only win that year). Yet, he had a great deal of success in IndyCar racing there over the years (six wins with four different drivers). And of course, the biggest elephant of all when it comes to Penske's NASCAR history is the fact that he's never won the NASCAR race at Indy, yet he's won the Indianapolis 500 15 times, three times what the highest total was for a car owner when Penske first set that record. (The previous record for the most Indianapolis 500 wins for a car owner was five.) 287. Watto posted: 03.02.2014 - 10:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Interesting tidbit, Denny Hamlin's 12th place qualifying run would place him 23rd if the old format was used." That's a bit deceiving. His lap on record in session 1 had him 12th. He slowed down in session 2. 288. Num1hendrickfan posted: 03.02.2014 - 11:51 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) It's always good to see teams like Germain Racing up in the top 15 in points, however it's somewhat disheartening to know that will probably change in the next 5 or so races. The fact is the resources of that team can't even compare to that of an RCR or even Ganassi. Hopefully they can buck that trend, would be nice to see a single car team run competitively. 289. An Aussie Commentator posted: 03.03.2014 - 12:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "would be nice to see a single car team run competitively" So what, Furniture Row making the chase and finishing 10th in points isn't "running competitively?" Anyway, I have decided to do a 2014 ROTY Standings after Phoenix using Jayski and what I know from the ROTY article on Jayski. After 2 rounds the ROTY order is 1. Austin Dillon: 23 2T. Justin Allgaier: 17 2T. Cole Whitt: 17 4. Kyle Larson: 16 5. Alex Bowman: 15 6. Michael Annett: 13 7. Parker Kligerman: 11 8. Ryan Truex: 7 290. cjs3872 posted: 03.03.2014 - 1:19 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) @289, there are two things that are hurting Furniture Row Racing this year (aside from downright rotten luck at Daytona). One is having Martin Truex, Jr. as the driver. Nothing against Truex, who won at the always-tough road course at Sonoma last year, but he's no Kurt Busch in terms of driving talent. Busch did things with that team last year that, by all rights, should have been impossible. The second thing that is hurting that team now is the fact that RCR, which is still assisting that team, is assisting two other Chevrolet teams they didn't have to worry about helping last year, Germain Racing and JTG-Daugherty Racing, and the fact that RCR is helping two other Chevrolet teams in addition to helping out Furniture Row Racing is naturally going to spread the resources thin. Of course, another thing that can't be helping Furniture Row Racing is the fact that they're based in Denver, though that didn't seem to hurt them last year. I'll be interested in how the 13, 47, and 78 teams stack up with each other. I truly think that the #78 team will go back much closer to what they were, which was a team around 20th-25th in points, than they were last year, which was a top ten team with a championship-caliber driver. And I believe Kurt Busch made all the difference with that team last year. I may not be a fan of either one of the Busch brothers because of their attitudes, but there's no denying their talent, and I believe, even though he's won a championship, as well as 24 races in his career, that 2013 was Kurt Busch's best season, even though he went winless, because he put a rag-tag team on his shoulders and lifted them to the Chase. I believe they go back to being a mid-pack team in 2014. 291. Scott. B posted: 03.03.2014 - 2:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick wins in his second points race in the #4. He won in his third starin the #29. 292. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.03.2014 - 5:51 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) "I guess you don't remember a few years ago when the spring Phoenix race was 600K/375 miles long. It was back when the race was held at night in April. If I remember right, the race didn't end until after midnight on the east coast. " The hell I don't! I remember it clear as a day. THAT was DUMB. Nevertheless, I meant the 500K distance is still too long for this track, given that it's a flat track. At least the remodel brought the speed's up, but this track isn't able to maintain interest over 300+ miles like Loudon can. 293. Watto posted: 03.03.2014 - 8:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "With Captain Jesus at the helm, this is the team's first full-distance, non-restrictor-plate race." No, the 95 has run full races before outside of Daytona & Talladega. It just hasn't been a regular thing. "in 2 races Harvick has done a lot in the same car that Newman didn't do too bad with, yes Harvick is the better driver but is it all Harvick?" Different crew chief and a lot of different parts and pieces. I'd rate Harvick higher than I'd rate Newman at this stage in the game, but it's certainly a different team than what Newman was racing with. "Kevin got 13 out of his 24 career cup wins since the start of 2010 season despite RCR having weaker horsepower than Stewart-Haas for 12 of them." Not exactly. Those ECR engines really came to the forefront around 2010, catapulting Jamie McMurray to some memorable wins. Hendrick isn't always #1 in the horsepower department. To go way back in the comments section about Mikey's gridwalk, today's did seem especially lame compared to some I've seen previously. I was somewhat entertained by a few of them last year. The pre-race isn't always the most watchable thing in the world, but I started watching those gridwalks just because of the awkward unscripted moments that you'd get out of people interacting with Mikey and whatnot. So if they wanted to do a 20 minute pre-race consisting of the gridwalk, I'll watch (and laugh/cringe). 294. JozyMozy posted: 03.03.2014 - 9:17 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Just a reminder that the 4 car is NOT Newman's old team. That's the 41. During the post-race conference, Rodney Childers said that when Gene Haas told him Kurt was coming on board, that the 4 team would have to be built from scratch. Childers' response? "Oh, that's perfect. I can build things the way I wanna build them." He's certainly put one hell of a team together. 295. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.03.2014 - 9:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Just a reminder that the 4 car is NOT Newman's old team. That's the 41. During the post-race conference, Rodney Childers said that when Gene Haas told him Kurt was coming on board, that the 4 team would have to be built from scratch. Childers' response? "Oh, that's perfect. I can build things the way I wanna build them." He's certainly put one hell of a team together. " Maybe not, but the #4 has the #39's owner points, otherwise Harvick would have DNQ'd for Daytona. 296. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.03.2014 - 9:56 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Webmaster, I hate to say this because I know you're swamped, but I just noticed that on the Daytona Qualifiers page this year's races are labeled as "Gatorade Duel" when it should say "Budweiser Duel" 297. Scott B posted: 03.03.2014 - 11:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) How good a start is the #4 team off to? After two races, Harvick has led 224 laps. Second place... Joey Logano, with 73 laps led... about 1/3 of Harvick's total. Third, points leader Dale Jr. with 54 led. Fourth, Paul Menard, with 29 laps led and an average finish of... wait, what?... 27.5 to show for it. 298. Scott B posted: 03.03.2014 - 11:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #269/23andJoe: "#2 crew chief: Greg Erwin. Paul Wolfe missed this race due to the birth of his first child." Brad K brings home a third place with a sub crew chief. I'm impressed, the Penske organization showed a lot of depth this weekend. Both cars qualified well and finished well. 299. Anonymous posted: 03.03.2014 - 12:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "How good a start is the #4 team off to? After two races, Harvick has led 224 laps. Second place... Joey Logano, with 73 laps led... about 1/3 of Harvick's total. Third, points leader Dale Jr. with 54 led. Fourth, Paul Menard, with 29 laps led and an average finish of... wait, what?... 27.5 to show for it. " Harvick and Logano also led a bunch of laps in a race with a sh*t-ton of laps, whereas Jr. and Menard led their laps at Daytona, where up to 25 guys will lead a given race. 300. jabber1990 posted: 03.03.2014 - 1:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul Menard got a DNF at Daytona, so that outlier kills the average 301. cjs3872 posted: 03.03.2014 - 3:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anonymous (#299), that's one reason why just looking at laps led is not that great a barometer of how good a driver or team is over a given season. Two years ago, Jeff Gordon was near the top of the laps led category for much of the season, simply because he got fat in that category off of just one race, the spring race at Martinsville. But his overall performance that year actually wasn't that good, though it di get better in the last 12-14 races of the season. If a guy leads 200-300+ laps in a short track race, he'll be way up there in the laps led category, regardless of how he performs during the season. Although I don't think it's kept on his site due to the varying sizes of tracks NASCAR runs on, miles led is a better barometer for how a driver or team does over the course of a season. For instance, while Joey Logano has led 73 laps, 71 came at Phoenix, meaning he's led for 76 miles, 71 at Phoenix and five at Daytona for his two laps led there. But on the other hand, Dale, Jr.'s 54 laps led all came at Daytona, so he's actually led 135 miles this season. And even Paul Menard has led almost as many miles as has Joey Logano, since his 29 laps led at Daytona equates to 72.5 miles led. I know that two races doesn't make this an exact science. But when we get to the sixth through ninth races (the 1/6th through 1/4th points of the season), it might be a good time to estimate the number of miles a driver has officially led, and by that time, it might give a greater sample size for who's running well and leading a lot and who isn't. 302. Daniel posted: 03.03.2014 - 4:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 48 entered at Las Vegas: -Trevor Bayne in the #21 -Timmy Hill in the #33 -J.J. Yeley in the #44 -Jeff Burton in the #66 -Joe Nemechek in the #87 303. ch posted: 03.03.2014 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Changes: 17 - NOS Energy 20 - The Home Depot / Husky Tools 26 - Speed Stick Gear 40 - CRC Brakleen / K&W Fiberlock 95 - K-Love 98 - Ambient Edge HVAC 304. VoteGillilandNotDanica2014 posted: 03.03.2014 - 7:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "98 - Ambient Edge HVAC" That's next week. Didn't see a sponsor on the car at Phoenix. 305. Sean posted: 03.03.2014 - 10:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Anonymous (#299), that's one reason why just looking at laps led is not that great a barometer of how good a driver or team is over a given season." Average percent led. That is all. 306. cjs3872 posted: 03.03.2014 - 11:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Of laps or miles, Sean? The reason I think miles is a better barometer to measure dominance is because a driver can dominate a short track race and lead 250 or 300 laps, but that equates to just 150 or 200 miles, but if he leads a similar number of laps on a bigger track, he would lead about 300-400 miles. But that's also why using just two races is not a fair measuring stick, and I think a better measuring stick will be from the sixth through the ninth race because of the sheer variety of tracks that will have been run by then. Also, a driver can lead quite a number of laps on a short track based solely on pit strategy. I remember a race at Martinsville a number of years ago where Aric Almirola led over 50 laps because his team was on a different pit strategy, but when he got back in traffic, his car wasn't very good at all. That's another reason why I favor miles over laps when it comes to judging how dominant a driver and team are over the rest of the field. 307. DB1995 posted: 03.03.2014 - 11:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So leading 100 laps at daytona is as good if not better than leading 500 laps at Bristol or Martinsville?, they are both about 250 miles 308. cjs3872 posted: 03.04.2014 - 12:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not for one race, DB1995. I'm not saying that. Obviously, the 500 laps at the short track is more superior for one race than leading half the race at Daytona is. What I am saying is that over the long haul, miles led is a more indicative measure of how good a car and team is during the course of a season. That's why I say that when you get to about the one quarter mark of the season, which would be the ninth race, miles led is a more indicative statistic of a team's superiority and performance than laps led is. Again, I use in Jeff Gordon in 2012 as a case in point. Gordon was up among the leaders in laps led for much of the season due to that one race at Martinsville when he led 329 laps. But he actually did not run that well for much of the season, and had he led a comparable distance at a speedway instead of at a short track, the stats would have showed that he was not performing that well. He ended 2012 sixth in laps led, largely from the 329 he led that one day. He only led 239 laps in all the other races combined, which would not have ranked him very high for that season, and he only led more than 14 laps in two other races that season, and never led more than 14 on a track bigger than 1 mile in length that entire season. That's what I mean when I say that if a driver dominates one short track race, it will inflate his laps led total more than dominating any race, unless it's the Coca-Cola 600, can inflate a driver's miles led total for the season compared to the competition. 309. joey2448 posted: 03.04.2014 - 1:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Quote from Bob Parson, chairman of Go-Daddy -- "These guys never cut Danica any slack," said Parsons, whose company sponsors Patrick's No. 10 car. "None of 'em. They somehow feel if she wins, they'll be disenfranchised. And yet she keeps battling week after week. She's one tough woman. I'll tell you something: Richard Petty is a man and Danica is a woman, but Danica has bigger balls than Richard Petty ever did." Wow, just wow. Parsons (and Tony Stewart) can't possibly be serious! I know both of them are saying Danica is better than the King because of their loyalties, but c'mon! You really cannot compare the two because they drove in completely different eras! The tracks and the cars from Petty's days (even as recent as 1992) require a completely different driving style. Plus, most decent drivers today could beat Petty simply because he's 76 YEARS OLD!!! If this "race" does go off, it'll be as illegitimate as the 2014 Chase format. And Parsons saying Danica has bigger balls than Petty ever did is a massive insult to one of the most important men in the history of the sport. I would LOOOOOVE to see Parsons try to keep with the big boys of the sport in the 50's, 60's, 70's or 80's.... 310. joey2448 posted: 03.04.2014 - 1:15 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I do wanna add that I respect Danica and her driving ability, because she isn't a complete talentless hack, as much shit we love to give her. The only reason I'm arguing against people that support her is the massive load of praise and attention she's been given from FOX, BSPN, etc....for instance, when she finished fourth at Las Vegas a few years back, I was happy for her, and happy that she could do it, even though it was a fuel gamble that paid off. But because casual, bandwagon, and stick-and-ball sports fans don't know any better and therefore think Danica is the second coming of Christ, they think she's an incredible talent that is "sticking it to the big boys" of NASCAR, and the fact she finished 8th in last year's Daytona 500 truly demonstrates that she can compete for victories. Us real fans know that anyone could've pulled off a top-10 finish in that race if we started from pole. Anyway, I forget where I was going with that, but basically I'm saying that I'm continually frustrated with the idea that Danica is the next big thing when there are many other drivers (female drivers at that!) that deserve a shot of attention in the sports world. I mean, look at what Simona di Silvestro has done. She's compiled a few podiums. And look at Kenzie Ruston and Johanna Long. 311. Sean posted: 03.04.2014 - 2:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Of laps or miles, Sean?" When you're using percentages, it doesn't matter. Lead 100/200 laps at Daytona (250/500 miles) = 50%. Lead 250/500 laps at Bristol (133.25/266.5 miles) = 50%. Lead 45/90 laps at Watkins Glen (110.43/220.86 miles) = 50%. Take an average of the percentage led in each race. It doesn't matter whether you're using laps or miles. That is the only way to measure dominance that is unbiased, and I have been measuring dominance in this way for years. As you said, laps led is biased towards drivers who dominate on short tracks, but miles led is likewise biased towards drivers who dominate on superspeedways since superspeedway races tend to be longer in terms of miles. Average percent led reflects dominance without being biased towards any kind of track. 312. b4il3y posted: 03.04.2014 - 5:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick deserved to win, Jr was 2nd. Brad K 3rd for the second race. This is how thing stand right now. You can over analyze all you want. 313. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 03.04.2014 - 10:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is this true? KU Busch really is doing the double-header? 314. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.04.2014 - 10:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I guess my question is why track laps, miles, or average percentages led except as a mere footnote? All those things are pretty meaningless without the result to show for it. It's all about the W, it's not about domination. And that's the way it should be. 315. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.04.2014 - 10:48 am Rate this comment: (2) (1) It's true! Kurt Busch is doing the double. 316. jabber1990 posted: 03.04.2014 - 11:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) this site says that the Pole speed and the average speed were the same, is this the first time that happened? and are pole speeds going to be slower from now on? 317. joey2448 posted: 03.04.2014 - 3:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes, it looks like Kurt Busch will attempt the Indy-Charlotte double this May. If he does, he will become the fourth driver to do so, joining team owner Tony Stewart, John Andretti and Robby Gordon. It hasn't been done since 2004, when Gordon did it. This will be fun to watch. I sincerely hope he can qualify for the 500, and if he does, let's hope the race goes off when scheduled and isn't rain-delayed or something... 318. murb posted: 03.04.2014 - 3:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I really hope he's able to actually finish all 1100 miles. That would be cool. Knowing his luck though, he'll probably blow up or something in the Indy race and then crash in the Cup race. It's gonna be really fun to watch though. I wish him well. He said the reason he's doing it is to raise awareness for the Armed Forces Foundation that he's involved with, so that's cool. 319. Sean posted: 03.04.2014 - 3:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I guess my question is why track laps, miles, or average percentages led except as a mere footnote? All those things are pretty meaningless without the result to show for it. It's all about the W, it's not about domination. And that's the way it should be." Domination is the best way to determine career relevance or especially predict future results in any sport. Essentially, if you view each lap as a data point, wouldn't you want the most possible data available to evaluate talent rather than JUST the final result? Jeff Gordon led 375 laps in the 1998 spring Dover race, while Dale Jarrett won on fuel mileage, only leading 8 laps. Who's more likely to do better in the next race? For a more extreme example, look at Danica Patrick's sole win. Wins are the most important statistic, and the final lap is the most important data point, but looking at what happened on the previous laps is much more significant. In my view, it's better to dominate and DNF than to be completely uncompetitive, survive attrition, and finish 15th. This is not a view NASCAR has ever shared considering NASCAR's extreme bias towards consistency in its points systems, relative to other series that are more properly weighted. Domination means you're relevant. Winning doesn't necessarily mean that. It may just mean you have a good pit strategist or (especially in today's era of NASCAR) you got lucky with NASCAR's charity rules and debris cautions, even if you weren't all that relevant in the race... To predict how the next race will go or how a driver's career will go, dominance is the most important measurement. And average % led is the best way to measure it... Here's another example. Dale Earnhardt led Winston Cup in average percent led five consecutive years from 1986-1990, including 1988 and 1989 when he did not win the title. However, I would argue that he was much more competitive those years than in 1991, 1993, and 1994 when he actually won the title. After choking the '89 title, Earnhardt learned how to play the consistency game and started playing it safe, and RCR has continued to do this to the present day making them one of the most boring teams out there. Earnhardt certainly drove smarter in the '90s and was rewarded with many titles, but he didn't bring as much excitement IMO as Harry Gant and Davey Allison did in '91, Rusty Wallace did in '93-'94, and Ernie Irvan did in '94. They were doing a much better job of dominating by that point while Earnhardt was doing a better job of playing it safe. He was still very aggressive, and still the best driver, sure, but I don't think he was providing as much excitement as the drivers challenging and attempting to dethrone him, and I think he was beginning to coast at that point. Maybe part of that was fully understanding the limits of his Childress equipment so he wouldn't have a lot of mechanical DNFs. I'm not going to say he didn't deserve the titles. But if I'm going to talk about when Earnhardt peaked as a driver, I'd choose '86-'90, NOT '90-'94, regardless of what the championships say, because the former period is when he was dominating, while the latter period is when he was playing it safe. "I sincerely hope he can qualify for the 500" THAT's almost certain. Honda and Chevy are both losing money on every engine lease in IndyCar and want to provide as few entries as possible. Both have said they do not want to support more than 17 cars in the race. Since they are the only two manufacturers, that means at most ONE car is going to fail to qualify, which is what happened last year (Michel Jourdain, Jr.) Bear in mind that Busch will be driving for one of the three main powerhouse teams, and I HIGHLY doubt that he would be the DNQ. My guess would be Buddy Lazier, a formerly very good driver who is now very long in the tooth and driving for a family shoestring operation. 320. Sean posted: 03.04.2014 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the way, I'm not suggesting that average percent led alone should decide the title or anything like that. Of course I believe the winner should score the most points... In an era when we have gotten MANY flukish fuel mileage winners like Casey Mears, David Reutimann, Paul Menard, Joey Logano, Danica Patrick in IRL, etc..., etc..., etc..., am I supposed to be as impressed with these drivers as I am the weekly threats? No. Did they deserve to win the race? Sure. But that's the perfect argument for why dominance is the best way to measure talent. As I said before, I think many of the current problems with Chase 4.0 would be solved if every driver to lead the most laps in a race automatically made the chase instead of every driver to win, and THAT would also make the first 26 races more exciting since people would battle for the lead much more if that became an incentive. Since it's based on wins instead, we'll just see a bunch of teams with good crew chiefs and mediocre drivers attempt to steal wins on pit strategy and probably succeed to make a mockery of the chase. The more flukish winners NASCAR has, the more relevant leading laps becomes over winning. YES, there are drivers who have proven to be highly skilled at dominating and choking in the end (Kyle Busch), and for that reason, I wouldn't want to see this by itself be the points system, but if you believe that the points system frequently does not reflect who was actually the most relevant driver in the season (as I do), it's a different and in my opinion more accurate way of looking at drivers' careers. 321. Sean posted: 03.04.2014 - 3:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And yes, I'll also admit that much to my surprise Joey Logano has BECOME a weekly threat (took him long enough), but my main point stands... 322. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.04.2014 - 4:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "It's kind of funny that after DSFF leaves the site (or at least tones down the regularity with which he posts comments), that two of the drivers he nagged on the most have won the first two races of the year." I was thinking the same thing after seeing the results of these races. Looks like I got out of watching NASCAR at the right time lol. But I will be a regular for the Martinsville weekend. 323. cjs3872 posted: 03.04.2014 - 5:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I, for one, am glad to see someone among NASCAR's drivers taking the plunge and at least trying to run the Indianapolis 500. It harkens back to another era, when some of NASCAR's very best tried to conquer the Indianapolis 500, a list that includes Paul Goldsmith, Cale Yarborough, LeeRoy Yarbrough, and Bobby and Donnie Allison. Of those, Goldsmith and Donnie easily did the best, with Goldsmith finishing fifth in 1959 and third in 1960 (often lost in the Ward-Rathmann duels in both years) and Donnie taking fourth (and the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Award) in 1970 and sixth in 1971. But interestingly, Bobby and Cale were both busts at Indy, with Cale even running the full IndyCar circuit in 1971 and '72, and a crash at Indy in 1971 was what led to LeeRoy Yarbrough's deteriorating health and sanity in his later years. And Kurt Busch has the "I don't care what anyone else thinks" personality that others who have made the trek to Indy in years past have had. I hope he can be successful and at least finish in the top ten. And Kurt would be the first previous NASCAR champion ever to attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 (every appearance in the Indianapolis 500 by Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, and Tony Stewart came before they became NASCAR champions), and certainly having a NASCAR champion in the field would add some name luster to a race that has lacked that for years. And a big-name American driver on top of that. 324. cjs3872 posted: 03.04.2014 - 5:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And also, as far as the miles led vs. laps led comparison goes, the reason I believe miles led is more important and more indicative of a team's performance today is because there are so many more speedway races than there are short track and 1-mile track races. Now, before the third track-building boom in the mid-to-late 90s, which saw the building of tracks like Texas Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Kansas Speedway, etc., laps led and miles led had virtually equal meaning, and before the second track-building boom in the late 60s and early 70s and the cut down of the schedule in 1972, laps led actually meant more than miles led when it came to judging overall performance because there were so many more short track races than there were speedway races. But because there are so many more speedways and speedway races than there are short track races today, miles led is a better overall indicator than laps led is. Percentage of laps led is not that great an indicator today because of how leading a lot of laps at short tracks can skew that stat, and if any driver leads more than 10% of all the miles completed in a season, that's pretty impressive. 325. JJIG posted: 03.04.2014 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sean your system is flawed. "Dale Earnhardt led Winston Cup in average percent led five consecutive years from 1986-1990, including 1988 and 1989 when he did not win the title. However, I would argue that he was much more competitive those years than in 1991, 1993, and 1994 when he actually won the title. After choking the '89 title, Earnhardt learned how to play the consistency game and started playing it safe, and RCR has continued to do this to the present day making them one of the most boring teams out there." And that's why. If a driver knows that the only way they are going to compete for titles and good points positions is it to focus on consistency, consistency, consistency, consistency, consistency, and more consistency, then they are purposely not going to go hard for wins or laps lead and instead focus solely on consistency. The "smartest" drivers are going to use that formula over going for wins and laps led. That's why looking at laps led to prove the best (and driver's peak/most dominant years) doesn't work. Because certain drivers are "foolish" enough to use a "must win" "must lead laps" formula. While the "smart" drivers will use a "must have a consistency formula." And obviously the "foolish" drivers will beat the "smart" drivers in the wins and laps led category (unless there is a big difference in talent level) with the two different strategies. Dale Earnhardt wasn't "smart" in 89 and before and that's why his wins and laps led totals are way better then 90-later. Dale "got smarter" and choose to use the consistency formula and that's why his win and laps led totals suffer from that point on. Not because of his driving peak. 326. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 03.05.2014 - 1:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Harvick left his old team but still wins at Phoenix. I think he'll get better results with SHR since he has gotten a lot better at perservering when his cars aren't quite right. As far as Danica goes, she has one win in all forms of popular motorsports that she has competed in, and even that was due to fuel mileage. Richard Petty has 200 Cup wins and is tied for the most championships. To me it doesn't matter what era he did it in, because all great drivers adapt to whatever circumstances they have to work with. Yeah, his win total is definitely inflated but the rest of his stats are impressive as hell. He was extremely versatile. Plus he drove with injuries many times. GoDaddy is definitely protecting their "face" while Tony is making sure GoDaddy isn't upset by people's (rightful) criticism of Danica. It's actually getting laughable watching this experiment blow up. 327. murb posted: 03.05.2014 - 6:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Matt Crafton will be on standby for Paul Menard this weekend, as Paul and his wife are on baby watch. 328. JG24FanForever posted: 03.05.2014 - 9:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Yeah, his win total is definitely inflated but the rest of his stats are impressive as hell. He was extremely versatile. Plus he drove with injuries many times." Richard Petty stats list: -Wins from the pole--61 (David Pearson is second with 37) -Back-Back wins--58 (Jeff Gordon is second with 22) -Consecutive 10 win seasons--5 from 1967-71 (Gordon is second with 3 straight) -wins at Riverside--5 (Bobby Allison has a record 6) -wins at Daytona--10 -wins at Rockingham--11 -wins at Martinsville--15 -wins at North Wilksboro--15 -wins on paved short-tracks--108 (Darrell Waltrip is second with 47) -wins on Dirt--30 (Lee Petty has a record 42) -wins on 2 Mile+ Speedways--21 (Jeff Gordon has a record 27) -Runner-up points finishes--6 (Bobby Allison and Mark Martin are second with 5 each) -Wins at Pocono+Talladega+Atlanta+Bristol+Charlotte+Richmond+Michigan+Darlington--37 (Dale Earnhardt has a record 51) -The Most wins in a season with 27 out of 48 starts in 1967. -The second most wins in a season with 21 out of 48 starts in 1971. -Tied with Tim Flock for the third most wins in a season with 18 in 1970. -100 wins in 6 seasons between both 1966-71 and 1967-72. -He had the highest career winning percentage at the time of his 200th and final win. -7 Daytona 500 championships over a span of 18 seasons. -Lowest season average finish with 4.1 in 1971. -Most laps led in a season with 5537 in 1967. -10 consecutive wins and 17 wins in 22 races in 1967. -Started an impossible 1185 races. -Raced with more injuries, and maybe the worst injury a driver has ever raced with, when he continued racing after breaking his neck at Pocono in 1980. 329. DB1995 posted: 03.05.2014 - 9:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 27 wins in 1967 330. JG24FanForever posted: 03.05.2014 - 9:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "27 wins in 1967" 1 more win than Fred Lorenzen had in his entire career. 2 more wins than Ernie Irvan and Brad Keselowski have in there entire careers combined. 331. DB1995 posted: 03.05.2014 - 9:22 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) He actually equalled Brad win total in just a 10 race stretch, wow 332. Paul posted: 03.06.2014 - 2:30 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) Inspired by some of your guys' comments about dominance in NASCAR, I've created a two-part list dating back to 1949 in the Sprint Cup Series. One part shows which driver led the series in wins that season, and the other shows which driver led the series in laps led that season. Tiebreakers for wins are the same as they are today when determining the order in the points standings (Most 2nd place finishes, most 3rd place finishes, etc.). And just for fun, let's say that the championship is determined based on whom ranks the highest in either of those categories, meaning that there could be one undisputed champion or two co-champions in each season. Here's the format --> Year: Wins leader (#), laps led leader (#) (An asterisk (*) will be used to indicate that particular driver was the real-life Sprint Cup Series champion that season.) 1949: Bob Flock, Bill Blair 1950: Curtis Turner, Curtis Turner 1951: Fonty Flock, Fonty Flock 1952: Herb Thomas, Tim Flock* 1953: Herb Thomas* (2), Herb Thomas* 1954: Herb Thomas (3), Herb Thomas (2) 1955: Tim Flock*, Tim Flock* (2) 1956: Buck Baker*, Speedy Thompson 1957: Buck Baker* (2), Fireball Roberts 1958: Lee Petty*, Fireball Roberts (2) 1959: Lee Petty* (2), Lee Petty 1960: Rex White*, Glen Wood 1961: Joe Weatherly, Junior Johnson 1962: Joe Weatherly* (2), Richard Petty 1963: Richard Petty, Fred Lorenzen 1964: Ned Jarrett, Richard Petty* (2) 1965: Ned Jarrett* (2), Junior Johnson (2) 1966: David Pearson*, David Pearson* 1967: Richard Petty* (2), Richard Petty* (3) 1968: David Pearson* (2), Richard Petty* (4) 1969: Bobby Isaac, Bobby Isaac 1970: Richard Petty (3), Richard Petty (5) 1971: Richard Petty* (4), Richard Petty* (6) 1972: Bobby Allison, Bobby Allison 1973: David Pearson (3), Cale Yarborough 1974: Richard Petty* (5), Cale Yarborough (2) 1975: Richard Petty* (6), Richard Petty* (7) 1976: David Pearson (4), Cale Yarborough* (3) 1977: Cale Yarborough*, Cale Yarborough* (4) 1978: Cale Yarborough* (2), Cale Yarborough* (5) 1979: Darrell Waltrip, Darrell Waltrip 1980: Cale Yarborough (3), Cale Yarborough (6) 1981: Darrell Waltrip* (2), Darrell Waltrip* (2) 1982: Darrell Waltrip* (3), Darrell Waltrip* (3) 1983: Darrell Waltrip (4), Darrell Waltrip (4) 1984: Darrell Waltrip (5), Darrell Waltrip (5) 1985: Bill Elliott, Bill Elliott 1986: Tim Richmond, Dale Earnhardt* 1987: Dale Earnhardt*, Dale Earnhardt* (2) 1988: Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt (3) 1989: Rusty Wallace* (2), Dale Earnhardt (4) 1990: Dale Earnhardt* (2), Dale Earnhardt* (5) 1991: Davey Allison, Harry Gant 1992: Bill Elliott (2), Davey Allison 1993: Rusty Wallace (3), Rusty Wallace 1994: Rusty Wallace (4), Rusty Wallace (2) 1995: Jeff Gordon*, Jeff Gordon* 1996: Jeff Gordon (2), Jeff Gordon (2) 1997: Jeff Gordon* (3), Dale Jarrett 1998: Jeff Gordon* (4), Mark Martin 1999: Jeff Gordon (5), Jeff Gordon (3) 2000: Tony Stewart, Rusty Wallace (3) 2001: Jeff Gordon* (6), Jeff Gordon* (4) 2002: Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 2003: Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon (5) 2004: Jimmie Johnson, Jimmie Johnson 2005: Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart* 2006: Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart (2) 2007: Jimmie Johnson* (2), Jeff Gordon (6) 2008: Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson* (2) 2009: Jimmie Johnson* (3), Jimmie Johnson* (3) 2010: Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson* (4) 2011: Tony Stewart* (2), Kyle Busch 2012: Jimmie Johnson (4), Jimmie Johnson (5) 2013: Matt Kenseth (2), Jimmie Johnson* (6) Top five most "Wins Leader" and/or "Laps Led Leader" championship seasons: 1. Richard Petty (9) 2. Jeff Gordon (8) 3. Jimmie Johnson (7) 4. Cale Yarborough (6) t-5. Dale Earnhardt (5) t-5. Rusty Wallace (5) t-5. Darrell Waltrip (5) Top five most "Undisputed" championships: 1. Darrell Waltrip (5) t-2. Jeff Gordon (4) t-2. Richard Petty (4) t-4. Jimmie Johnson (3) t-4. Cale Yarborough (3) Top five most "Wins Leader" championships: t-1. Jeff Gordon (6) t-1. Richard Petty (6) 3. Darrell Waltrip (5) t-4. Jimmie Johnson (4) t-4. David Pearson (4) t-4. Rusty Wallace (4) Top five most "Laps Led Leader" championships: 1. Richard Petty (7) t-2. Jeff Gordon (6) t-2. Jimmie Johnson (6) t-2. Cale Yarborough (6) t-5. Dale Earnhardt (5) t-5. Darrell Waltrip (5) 333. JJIG posted: 03.06.2014 - 3:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow Dale Earnhardt is a lot lower then I thought he would be. And I thought Jimmie would be lower, as he is master of testing in the regular season winning in the Chase. Cool system. 334. 18fan posted: 03.06.2014 - 3:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I didn't realize that Jimmie has led the most laps in 5 of the last 6 seasons. Dominating at Martinsville and Dover certainly helps that total. Jimmie Johnson Laps Led percentage at Dover and Martinsville: 2008: 557/1959 (28.43%) 474 at Martinsville, 83 at Dover 2009: 775/2238 (34.63%) 569 at Dover, 206 at Martinsville 2010: 416/1315 (31.63%) 416 at Dover, 0 at Martinsville 2011: 490/1115 (43.95%) 364 at Dover, 126 at Martinsville 2012: 636/1744 (36.47%) 332 at Dover, 304 at Martinsville 2013: 855/1985 (43.07%) 469 at Martinsville, 386 at Dover Career: 5154/15856 (32.5%) 2704 at Dover, 2450 at Martinsville In 2013, only Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch led more laps over the whole season than Johnson did in just the Dover and Martinsville races. The next closest driver was Kasey Kahne with 677, compared to Johnson's 855 at just Dover and Martinsville 24 career starts at each track, 8 wins at each. Averaging 112.66 laps led per Dover start and 102.08 per Martinsville start. Just on his career averages, he will lead 429.5 laps just in those 4 races. Using averages since 2008: Laps led per Dover race: 179.16 Laps led per Martinsville race: 131.58 Average for the 4 races: 621.5 335. joey2448 posted: 03.06.2014 - 4:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) For those interested, the Nurburgring was sold in auction for "between 60 and 70 million euros" to the Miami-based private equity company HIG Capital. I'm assuming that is including the old Nordschleife layout that everyone so loves. And to Spen -- Holy cow, man, that is some serious info you dropped on all of us! 336. Anonymous posted: 03.06.2014 - 9:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Screw Dook! Go heels! 337. Scott B posted: 03.06.2014 - 11:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #332, As much as I dislike the Chase, that's a great reminder that right from the beginnings of NASCAR there have been seasons where the official champion was not the driver who would seem like the obvious #1. 338. cjs3872 posted: 03.06.2014 - 2:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And 18fan, the fact that Jimmie Johnson's performance at just two tracks, Dover and Martinsville, is a significant reason why he's led the most laps in five of the last six years just illustrates my point about laps led not being the best indicator, even though Jimmie's been the most dominant driver since 2004. With a total of 1800 laps being run annually at just those two tracks (1000 at Martinsville and 800 at Dover), if a driver is dominant at both, he stands a good chance at being at or near the top of the laps led category at season's end, no matter what he does at all the rest of the tracks, and there are 21 other tracks on the circuit. And those two tracks are also not indicative of the kind of tracks that dominate the circuit, which are tracks 1 mile or longer in length. and it's for that reason why miles led, and not lap led is a better indicator of overall performance today. In 1990, laps led and miles led had virtually equal meaning because of the relative equal number of races run on shorter tracks and longer tracks, and prior to the cutdown of the schedule in 1972, laps led was a more indicative statistic of overall performance than miles led, since most of the races were run on shorter tracks back then. 339. JG24FanForever posted: 03.06.2014 - 8:26 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Paul, nice numbers, but you forgot a very significant one. Dominating the Most races in a season Championships: 1949: Bill Blair 1950: Curtis Turner 1951: Fonty Flock 1952: Tim Flock 1953: Herb Thomas 1954: Herb Thomas(2) 1955: Tim Flock(2) 1956: Speedy Thompson 1957: Fireball Roberts 1958: Curtis Turner(2) 1959: Rex White 1960: Lee Petty,Jack Smith 1961: Junior Johnson 1962: Richard Petty 1963: Ned Jarrett,Junior Johnson(2) 1964: Ned Jarrett(2),Richard Petty(2) 1965: Junior Johnson(3) 1966: David Pearson 1967: Richard Petty(3) 1968: Richard Petty(4) 1969: Bobby Isaac 1970: Richard Petty(5) 1971: Richard Petty(6) 1972: Bobby Allison 1973: David Pearson(2) 1974: Cale Yarborough 1975: Richard Petty(7) 1976: Cale Yarborough(2) 1977: Cale Yarborough(3) 1978: Cale Yarborough(4) 1979: Darrell Waltrip 1980: Cale Yarborough(5) 1981: Darrell Waltrip(2) 1982: Bobby Allison(2) 1983: Bobby Allison(3) 1984: Darrell Waltrip(4) 1985: Bill Elliott 1986: Dale Earnhardt 1987: Dale Earnhardt(2) 1988: Dale Earnhardt(3) 1989: Rusty Wallace 1990: Dale Earnhardt(4) 1991: Davey Allison,Harry Gant 1992: Davey Allison(2) 1993: Rusty Wallace(2),Dale Earnhardt(5) 1994: Ernie Irvan 1995: Jeff Gordon 1996: Jeff Gordon(2) 1997: Dale Jarrett 1998: Jeff Gordon(3),Mark Martin 1999: Jeff Gordon(4),Jeff Burton 2000: Rusty Wallace(3) 2001: Jeff Gordon(5) 2002: Jeff Gordon(6) 2003: Jeff Gordon(7) 2004: Jeff Gordon(8) 2005: Tony Stewart 2006: Tony Stewart(2) 2007: Jeff Gordon(9) * 2008: Jimmie Johnson 2009: Jimmie Johnson(2) 2010: Jimmie Johnson(3) 2011: Kyle Busch 2012: Jimmie Johnson(4) 2013: Matt Kenseth You guy's say that leading the most laps isn't always indicative of being dominate. Well, what about dominating the most races? 340. JG24FanForever posted: 03.06.2014 - 8:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nascar Cup "Triple Crowns" {Winning the most races,Dominating the most races and winning the most Poles}: 1951 Fonty Flock 1953 Herb Thomas 1954 Herb Thomas 1955 Tim Flock 1967 Richard Petty 1969 Bobby Isaac 1971 Richard Petty 1972 Bobby Allison 1973 David Pearson 1978 Cale Yarborough 1980 Cale Yarborough 1981 Darrell Waltrip 1985 Bill Elliott 1990 Dale Earnhardt 1995 Jeff Gordon 1996 Jeff Gordon 1998 Jeff Gordon 1999 Jeff Gordon 2001 Jeff Gordon 2012 Jimmie Johnson Jeff Gordon doing this 5 times, and no one else doing it more than twice, is Ruthian. And it's worth noting that Fonty flock, the first to do it, is the only one to never become a points Champion. 341. JG24FanForever posted: 03.06.2014 - 8:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Top five most "Wins Leader" and/or "Most races dominated Leader" championship seasons: 1. Jeff Gordon (10) 2. Richard Petty (8) 3. Jimmie Johnson (6) t4. Cale Yarborough (5) t4. Darrell Waltrip (5) t4. Dale Earnhardt (5) t7. David Pearson (4) t7. Rusty Wallace (4) Winning a lot AND Dominating a lot of races is, to me, the mark of the best drivers. 342. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 03.06.2014 - 10:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) To me laps led is still an important stat. It shows how often you lead races for the most part, especially if you click on a driver's page here and see how many different races they led a lot of laps in year by year. Obviously there will also be years like Jeff Gordon's 2012, where he led most of his laps for that year in the Spring Martinsville race. 343. cjs3872 posted: 03.06.2014 - 11:35 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Sure, dominating the most races is more indicative of a driver and team's success, JG24FF, because if a team dominates more races than it's competition, that means they're doing so on a greater variety of tracks. To me, that was what made what Jeff Gordon did what he did at the height of his career so incredible, because there literally was no weakness for him and his team, unlike the years when Earnhardt dominated (1986-'95), or when Darrell Waltrip dominated (1981-'86), or Jimmie Johnson today. Even as strong as those combinations were, they all had weaknesses. When Waltrip dominated in the early 80s, the weakness for him and his Junior Johnson team was the superspeedways. When Earnhardt and Richard Childress dominated from the late 80s through the mid 90s, road courses were their weakest part, and with Jimmie Johnson, both road courses and short tracks (except Martinsville, which has more than made up for his problems at Richmond and especially Bristol in this regard) have been somewhat of a liability. But when he was at his best, Gordon had literally no weaknesses, except possibly finishing off a season, but that had more to do with being conservative with a big point lead than it was a weak track set for him. There have been four NASCAR dynasties since 1980, and despite the fact that it didn't garner as many championships as some of the others, I would rate Gordon's as the most thoroughly dominating because he could dominate anywhere at any time, something the other three were not, or have not been able to. 344. Anonymous posted: 03.07.2014 - 12:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First cup race since 1982 where none of the cars had a beer sponsor 345. Ivan Balakhonov posted: 03.09.2014 - 12:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Interesting stat, didn't see it posted here: Previous time #4 won in Cup Series was November, 2011 and it was in Phoenix where Kasey Kahne did it. 346. Anthony posted: 09.06.2014 - 2:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Really not sure how Scott Eggleston managed to crew chief for two cars in this race. I know the 87 was a S&P and all of the official entry lists had him listed with both the 66 and 87, but I thought there was a NASCAR rule that every team had to have their own crew chief on the pit box? 347. NASCARLover22 posted: 09.05.2015 - 9:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor updates #42 Clorox/Energizer #17 NOS Energy Drink #98 Phil Parsons Racing #9 MAC Tools/DeWalt 348. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 03.08.2016 - 9:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Owner Update #87 Jay Robinson (Same for Daytona,Las Vegas, and Talladega) Also, the #87 car formerly known as NEMCO Motorsports will be known as Identity Ventures Racing, which is a partnership of Jay Robinson, Joe Nemechek, Troy Stafford, James Hamilton and John Burns. It will use the points (40th) earned from Nemechek's #87 car last year.(MRN)(2-13-2014) 349. Rich posted: 09.25.2020 - 3:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip were the commentators. Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Krista Voda were the pit road reporters. Jeff Hammond was the roving reporter. 350. Rich posted: 12.08.2020 - 9:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joining the race coverage in the Hollywood hotel were Chris Myers and Michael Waltrip. 351. SK posted: 03.29.2021 - 2:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor update: #42 Kyle Larson - Clorox Wipes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: