NASCAR 2015

[wdwfan4ver]

The latest is Justin Wilson has a severe head injury. He's in a coma in critical condition.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

It is now reported that Justin Wilson died of head injuries at the age of 37.

R.I.P to Justin Wilson. Thoughts and Prayers are out to his family. He is survived by his wife and 2 daughters.

 

[MinnieM123]

It is now reported that Justin Wilson died of head injuries at the age of 37.

R.I.P to Justin Wilson. Thoughts and Prayers are out to his family. He is survived by his wife and 2 daughters.

Very sad indeed; 37 is way too young to pass away.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

Bojangles' Southern 500, Darlington

1. Carl Edwards
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Denny Hamlin

 

[MOXOMUMD]

Federated Auto Parts 400, Richmond

1. Matt Kenseth
2. Kyle Busch
3. Joey Logano

 

[MOXOMUMD]

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Matt Kenseth is my favorite the chase right now over Kevin Harvick. Matt is red hot and I wouldn't be shocked if he wins 3 to 5 races in the chase.

The problem I have with Kevin's team is the amount 2nd place finishes and that is not a good thing with the final round of the chase only having one race.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Here is my thoughts on the other 14 chase drivers:

• Jamie Mcmurray - I don't like him getting out of the first round. He hasn't had a top 10 finish since the 2nd Michigan race.
• Clint Bowyer - Team has picked it lately, but I have a hard time see him getting out of the 2nd round
• Paul Menard - Team isn't that strong and hasn't gotten a top 10 finish since the June Michigan race.
  
• Ryan Newman - I can see this team sneak into the 2nd round, but that is it.
• Jeff Gordon - I really think it is possible for him for not making it to the 2nd round. The 24 team hasn't had a lot of speed this season and if they get a bad finish, they are screwed.
• Martin Truex Jr. - I wouldn't be shocked if he doesn't make it out of the First round. The 78 team peaked early in the year and hasn't been that consistent since he won the 1st Pocono race.
  
• Brad Keselowski - he's a 2nd or 3rd round driver this season for the chase.
  
• Denny Hamlin - I would be shocked if he makes it past the 2nd and I wouldn't be shocked if he doesn't make it to the 2nd round. My problem is the fact Denny is racing with a torn right ACL and that has to be affecting his racing at some point during the chase. As a side comment, I wouldn't be shocked if Denny's next contract prevent him from playing Basketball since he now has torn both ACL's from playing Basketball on his own free time.
• Carl Edwards - I don't like him going past the 2nd round. While Carl has won 2 times, the 19 car is the weakest of the Gibbs teams despite being better lately. My problem with the 2nd is the fact Carl isn't that strong at Talladega.
  
• Dale Earnhardt Jr - I like him for 3rd or 4th round. While the 88 doesn't have pure speed outside of Daytona and Talladega, I like how the team finishes races. What his team is doing is what made Ryan Newman go to the final round of the chase last year.
• Kurt Busch - He is a 3rd round driver to me. His problem is the fact his team is weaker than Kevin's, Matt's, and Joey's.
• Joey Logano - If he doesn't make it to the final round, it would be a disappointment. The 22 is stronger than his teammate Brad this year.
• Kyle Busch - I don't like how the 2nd round races are for him. My reasoning is the fact Kyle Just plain stinks at Kansas and I don't like his record at Talladega despite his 2008 spring race win there.
• Jimmie Johnson - he's an unknown to me. While Jimmie is usually not at his best during the summer, I don't like the speed of Hendrick Motorsports at all despite the tracks that are made for him in the chase. I don't know how much of the 48 team results during the summer is caused by experimenting and how much is it something is off in the 48 camp.

 

[MinnieM123]

Matt Kenseth is my favorite the chase right now over Kevin Harvick. Matt is red hot and I wouldn't be shocked if he wins 3 to 5 races in the chase.

The problem I have with Kevin's team is the amount 2nd place finishes and that is not a good thing with the final round of the chase only having one race.

Don't count out Kevin Harvick yet.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

MyAFibRisk.com 400, Chicago

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Carl Edwards
3. Kurt Busch

 

[MinnieM123]

Hard to tell who was technically at fault at the restart (Kevin Harvick or Jimmie Johnson). But I watched the incident again on the Chicagoland replay, and I don't think that Jimmie did anything wrong. It was sad to see the damage to Kevin's #4, and lousey how it threw him to the back of the standings for the Chicago race; but I could see how Kevin appeared to attempt to force the #48 out of the lane. I don't see how Jimmie could have handled it any differently.

I also just read that NASCAR will not penalize Harvick for the off-track altercation, that he had with Johnson after the race.

How many more races are left in the Chase, until all the drama is finally over for this year?

 

[MOXOMUMD]

Hard to tell who was technically at fault at the restart (Kevin Harvick or Jimmie Johnson). But I watched the incident again on the Chicagoland replay, and I don't think that Jimmie did anything wrong. It was sad to see the damage to Kevin's #4, and lousey how it threw him to the back of the standings for the Chicago race; but I could see how Kevin appeared to attempt to force the #48 out of the lane. I don't see how Jimmie could have handled it any differently.

I also just read that NASCAR will not penalize Harvick for the off-track altercation, that he had with Johnson after the race.

How many more races are left in the Chase, until all the drama is finally over for this year?

I don't think drama will end until the season does.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

Sylvania 300, New Hampshire

1. Matt Kenseth
2. Joey Logano
3. Denny Hamlin

 

[MOXOMUMD]

Joe Gibbs racing is doing awesome this year.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

I am surprised by the 4 team of Harvick for the Chase. I felt the 4 team gave a way a lot of wins during the season, but this one was caused by communication and mistake of the crew chief. The crew chief actually wanted Kevin to pit, but didn't tell Kevin that before he went pass pit road due him thinking the Monitor was real time,not on time delay.

Right now, I like the 20 team the best since the crew chief doesn't beat himself. Matt rarely makes a mistake also and is still in his prime at the age of 43.

Marty Smith of ESPN is claiming by multiple sources that Tony Stewart is going to retire after the 2016 season with Clint Bowyer replacing him. Marty Smith also is saying Clint is going Harry Scott Racing next year. Marty Smith also mentioned that his source claims Clint Bowyer will be racing in Stewart-Haas Racing Equipment in 2016 at Harry Scott Racing. What Marty Smith mentioned isn't new except racing in Stewart Haas Racing Equipment in 2016.

The information about Clint Bowyer going to Stewart Haas Racing in 2017 after going Harry Scott in 2016 first surfaced less than a week after MWR announced it is not racing full time in 2016. I am not shocked about Stewart retiring. Tony to me was never the same driver after he broke his leg in 2013 and he got even worse after he hit Kevin Ward.

What happened to Stewart after his injury isn't quite a shock because drivers suffering major Injuries in their 40's usually have a performance decline rest of their career like Darrell Waltrip stopped racing competitively for the most part after the 1995 All Star Race wreck that he suffered an injury from at the age of 48. Darrell before that injury appeared like he was going win a win in 1995. Darrell in his 40's had 2 major injuries with the first being a broken leg and the 2nd being broken ribs.

I have to give Stewart credit for knowing when to quit unlike Darrell Waltrip or Richard Petty. Darrell Waltrip for the most part didn't race competitively a lot after his 1995 all star race wreck, but didn't retire after the 2000 season. Darrell struggled a lot in 1999 and 2000. Darrell wasn't a bad sub in the 1 car for Steve Park in 1998. Darrell matter of fact should have retired after 1998.

Richard Petty to me should retired years before I started following NASCAR in 1993 instead of retiring in 1992. Richard should have retired around 1989 or 1990. Richard's competitiveness on the track really decline after 1987 and it was totally gone after 1988 with him being over 50 years old at the time.

Tony Stewart to me is was one of the most versatile drivers in NASCAR ever with his biggest weakness to me was having problems to win cup races before June. Tony has 42 of his 48 career cup wins after June started.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

I think the next driver to retire after Tony Stewart is Greg Biffle. I believe Greg's contract is up after next season and he's going to be 46 in December. I notice a decline in Greg Biffle since 2013, but don't know how much of that is caused by Roush. Roush hasn't been the same since Matt left for Gibbs, and something was off there before the bottom fall out this year with Carl gone to Gibbs.

 

[artvandelay]

I think the next driver to retire after Tony Stewart is Greg Biffle. I believe Greg's contract is up after next season and he's going to be 46 in December. I notice a decline in Greg Biffle since 2013, but don't know how much of that is caused by Roush. Roush hasn't been the same since Matt left for Gibbs, and something was off there before the bottom fall out this year with Carl gone to Gibbs.

I think you're spot on in your analysis. It's sad watching Biffle limp around the track in inferior equipment with no teammate support at all in Bayne and Stenhouse.

Did you see Furniture Row Racing is going to Toyota in 2016, with an affiliation with JGR?

 

[wdwfan4ver]

I think you're spot on in your analysis. It's sad watching Biffle limp around the track in inferior equipment with no teammate support at all in Bayne and Stenhouse.

Did you see Furniture Row Racing is going to Toyota in 2016, with an affiliation with JGR?

Yes, I forgot to mention that. I am not a bit shocked since Toyota is offering them stuff than Chevy isn't. There had been rumors of Erik Jones might the driver for a 2nd Furniture Row Racing team in 2017. I remembered earlier this year Toyota saying they have more young talent than they have seats on the cup level. What could affect this is if Truex can get a long terms deal with Furniture Row. All Martin was signed to was a short term deal since the 78 car needs a sponsor for a long term deal.

I don't see Joe Gibbs Racing getting a rid of Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, or Carl Edwards. While Matt is going to be 44 years old next year, he sure doesn't race like his age. There are drivers in the cup series in the past that were like that like Bobby Allison, Harry Gant, and Mark Martin as examples.

Denny Hamlin is iffy depending on his contract to me due to does Gibbs want a talented driver that has problems staying healthy and his LA Gear Sponsorship isn't helping him staying healthy for that matter. Denny claims his contract is through 2016. That shoe sponsorship actually allows Denny to play sports on his free team that caused him to tear both of his Right and Left ACL with that happened in 2010 and this year. That doesn't even count his back injury in 2013. Denny also reminds me of late 1970's and 1980's cup star the late Neil Bonnett.

The late Neil Bonnett was a very good cup driver that had problems staying healthy with missing races. It seemed like his bones were made out of glass. That is why I compare to Denny to Neil Bonnett. The only difference is the cars are safer and there are safer barriers on the tracks unlike the time of Neil Bonnett. The thing is the injuries Neil got did affect him later in his cup career before his 1990 Darlington crash that gave him a life threatening crash.

 

[MinnieM123]

I am surprised by the 4 team of Harvick for the Chase. I felt the 4 team gave a way a lot of wins during the season, but this one was caused by communication and mistake of the crew chief. The crew chief actually wanted Kevin to pit, but didn't tell Kevin that before he went pass pit road due him thinking the Monitor was real time,not on time delay.

I am still reeling over Kevin Harvick running out of gas, up in Louden. I sat there watching that part of the race (I didn't see the whole race), and I yelled, "NO !!" when the TV announcer said that Kevin's car was out of fuel. It was facepalm time. You're right, the # 4 team is not making the best decisions and if not careful, Kevin could be out of the Chase. Think he's dropped to # 15 now, and if he doesn't do well in Dover, he's out of the final standings. Ugh . . .

 

[artvandelay]

I am still reeling over Kevin Harvick running out of gas, up in Louden. I sat there watching that part of the race (I didn't see the whole race), and I yelled, "NO !!" when the TV announcer said that Kevin's car was out of fuel. It was facepalm time. You're right, the # 4 team is not making the best decisions and if not careful, Kevin could be out of the Chase. Think he's dropped to # 15 now, and if he doesn't do well in Dover, he's out of the final standings. Ugh . . .

Harvick's crew chief, Rodney Childers, said based on their EFI info from previous races, they thought he was six laps to the good. They were shocked when he ran out. The excuse was that they didn't get a full tank in the last pit stop or had a small crack in the tank.