8 – THE DERRICK. / The News-Herald Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Feb. 14 — x-Sprint Unlimited (Matt Kenseth)Feb. 19 — x-Budweiser Duel 1 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.)Feb. 19 — x-Budweiser Duel 2 (Jimmie Johnson)Feb. 22 — Daytona 500 (Joey Logano)March 1 — Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (Jimmie Johnson)March 8 — Kobalt 400 (Kevin Harvick)March 15 — CampingWorld.com 500 (Kevin Harvick)March 22 — Auto Club 400 (Brad Keselowski)March 29 — STP 500 (Denny Hamlin)April 11 — Duck Commander 500 (Jimmie Johnson)April 19 — Food City 500 (Matt Kenseth)April 25 — Toyota Owners 400 (Kurt Busch)May 3 — Geico 500 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.)May 9 — SpongeBob SquarePants 400 (Jimmie Johnson)May 15 — x-Sprint Showdown (Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer)May 16 — x-NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (Denny Hamlin)May 24 — Coca-Cola 600, Concord, N.C. (Carl Edwards)May 31 — Dover 400, Dover, Del. (Jimmie Johnson)June 7 — Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 (Martin Truex Jr.)
June 14 — Quicken Loans 400, Brooklyn, Mich. (Kurt Busch)June 28 — Toyota-Save Mart 350, Sonoma, Calif. (Kyle Busch)July 5 — Coke Zero 400, Daytona Beach (Dale Earnhardt Jr.)July 11 — Quaker State 400, Sparta, Ky. (Kyle Busch)July 19 — New Hampshire 301, Loudon, N.H. (Kyle Busch)July 26 — Brickyard 400 (Kyle Busch)Aug. 2 — Pennsylvania 400, Long Pond, Pa. (Matt Kenseth)Aug. 9 — Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, Watkins Glen, N.Y. (Joey Logano)Aug. 16 — Pure Michigan 400, Brooklyn, Mich. (Matt Kenseth)Aug. 22 — Irwin Tools Night Race, Bristol, Tenn. (Joey Logano)Sept. 6 — Bojangles’ Southern 500, Darlington, S.C. (Carl Edwards)Sept. 12 — Federated Auto Parts 400, Richmond, Va. (Matt Kenseth)Sept. 20 — MyAFibStory.com 400, Joliet, Ill. (Denny Hamlin)Sept. 27 — Sylvania 300, Loudon, N.H. (Matt Kenseth)
Oct. 4 — AAA 400, Dover, Del. (Kevin Harvick)Oct. 10 — Bank of America 500, Concord, N.C. (Joey Logano)Oct. 18 — Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas City, Kan.Oct. 25 — Alabama 500, Talladega, Ala.Nov. 1 — Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500, Ridgeway, Va.Nov. 8 — AAA Texas 500, Fort Worth, TexasNov. 15 — Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Avondale, Ariz.Nov. 22 — Ford EcoBoost 400, Homesteadx — non-points race
SPEED FREAKS
QUESTIONS & ATTITUDE
FEUD OF THE WEEK
WHAT’S ON TAP?
ONLINE EXTRAS
GODWIN’S PICKS FOR HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400
SPRINT CUP POINTS
WEEKLY DRIVER RANKINGS — BASED ON BEHAVIOR AND PERFORMANCE
A couple questions we had to ask — ourselves
Questions? Contact Godwin Kelly at [email protected] or Ken Willis at [email protected]
Ken Willis has been covering NASCAR for The Daytona Beach News-Journal for 27 years. Reach him at [email protected]
Godwin Kelly is the Day-tona Beach News-Journal’s motorsports editor and has covered NASCAR for 30 years. Reach him at [email protected]
Compelling questions... and maybe a few actual answers
news-journalonline.com/nascar
facebook.com/nascardaytona
@nascardaytona
JOEY LOGANOAnother
reason for that mammoth
smile
1
KEVIN HARVICK
Doesn’t look like a brides-maid, but …
2
MATT KENSETH
Queen’s “Under Pressure” play-ing in his head
3
DENNY HAMLINNothing
playing in his head
4
JEFF GORDONHoarding points for retirement
5
CARL EDWARDSAlmost a
home game this week
6
JUNIOR EARNHARDTNeeds horses;
Nation is nervous
7
KYLE BUSCHNever a Chase winner? That’s
crazy
8
BRAD KESELOWSKI
Mr. Hunch likes him at
Kansas
9
MARTIN TRUEX JR.
Fastest furni-ture truck in the business
10SPRINT CUP SCHEDULE AND RESULTS
DID YOU KNOW?
3 THINGS WE LEARNED AT CHARLOTTE
3 THINGS TO WATCH— Godwin Kelly, [email protected]
— Godwin Kelly, [email protected]
Overlooking Kansas Speedway's Turn 2 is the Holly-wood Hotel and Casino. The casino has 100,000 square feet of gambling space, along 28,000 square feet of restaurants and nightclubs. If fans are hungry after Sunday's race, they can visit the Hollywood Marquee Cafe, where the Sunday special is prime rib for $15.99.
Matt Kenseth in trouble? No way, right?
GODSPEAK: If he stumbles at Kansas, it's all over for Kenseth.KEN'S CALL: Anyone else but Mild Matt, I'd say it was time to panic. But something tells me he wins one of the next two weeks. Who do you like at Kansas?
GODSPEAK: I like Ken's Call right here, but it will be more "Mad Max" Matt than mild.KEN'S CALL: As if you couldn't tell by the first question and answer? I'm taking Matt. If you were Joey Logano, would you park early the following week at Talladega?
GODSPEAK: Take the green, then take it to the garage and root for his pal, "Kez."KEN'S CALL: Joey and this week's winner should sud-denly develop vibration issues on Lap 2 at Talladega.
1. Joey Logano 30482. Kevin Harvick 30423. Martin Truex Jr. 30414. Denny Hamlin 30405. Kurt Busch 30395. Carl Edwards 30397. Jeff Gordon 30378. Brad Keselowski 30359. Ryan Newman 302910. Kyle Busch 302511. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 301612. Matt Kenseth 300313. Jamie McMurray 213014. Jimmie Johnson 209215. Paul Menard 208316. Clint Bowyer 208217. Aric Almirola 80118. Kasey Kahne 77119. Kyle Larson 74220. Greg Biffle 72621. Austin Dillon 68522. Casey Mears 65023. AJ Allmendinger 62824. Danica Patrick 62225. Tony Stewart 59926. Sam Hornish Jr. 59827. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 59228. David Ragan 58329. Trevor Bayne 55230. Justin Allgaier 486
WINNER: Matt KensethREST OF TOP 5: Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Dale Earn-hardt Jr., Joey LoganoFIRST ONE OUT: Sam Hornish Jr.
DARK HORSE: Tony StewartDON’T BE SURPRISED IF: Kenseth goes all out at Kansas because he knows Talladega is simply a crapshoot.
SPRINT CUP: Hollywood Casino 400SITE: Kansas SpeedwayTV SCHEDULE: Friday, practice (NBC Sports Network, 1 p.m.), qualifying (NBCSN, 6:15 p.m.). Saturday, practice (CNBC, 11:30 a.m. and NBCSN, 2:30 p.m.). Sunday, race (NBC, coverage begins at 1:30 p.m.; green flag at 2:35 p.m.) XFINITY: Kansas Lottery 300SITE: Kansas SpeedwayTV SCHEDULE: Friday, practice (NBC Sports Network, 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.). Satur-day, qualifying (NBCSN, 12:45 p.m.), race (NBCSN, 4 p.m.)
DALE EARNHARDT JR. VS. CARL EDWARDS: Junior says Edwards “put us in the wall,” but wasn’t sure if it was intentional or just racin’. He is going to review the tape.
GODWIN KELLY’S TAKE: There is a little edge between these guys. What will Junior’s investigation reveal? Will this go to trial?
Carl EdwardsDale Earnhardt Jr.
Why could the Kansas winner be the happiest winner we’ve seen this year?For the reason behind this coming Sunday’s big smiles, look ahead to the following Sunday, which brings Talladega. No one wants to go to Tal-ladega with pressure to finish near the front, much less win. So if this week’s winner is a Chase driver other than Joey Logano, who’s already set for the next round, expect an extra joyous post-race burnout.
Wait, burnouts are still OK?For now, yes, but if NASCAR is serious about post-race tech, they should think about taming them.
Huh? You’re kidding, right?You heard me. Too often, those winning cars come into contact with the wall during all the smoke-bellowing, and might just magically bend something in a way that makes those incremental aero maneuvers impossible to detect — at least retroactively. There’s been talk of shenanigans, so maybe it’s time to come up with a new, original victory celebration. Bring back Alan Kulwicki’s “Polish Victory Lap,” perhaps.
Look out for that wall, Joey. ASSOCIATED PRESS/TERRY RENNA
1. Further reviewSo, we have all been swept up into the Chase hype, and there is nothing wrong with that. But just take a look at the past five weeks of racing and you see some surprising names among the top 10. Kyle Larson was seventh at Chicagoland and ninth at Dover, while Aric Almirola was fifth at Dover, 10th at Charlotte and fourth at Richmond. It looks like those two drivers are build-ing momentum for the 2016 season.
2. Tensions risingTension and anxiety are natural byproducts for drivers
involved in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase playoffs. Kyle Busch finished 20th and looked like he was about to release steam from his ears
after exiting his car. Ryan Newman was ticked off that Matt Kenseth pushed him into the wall, but Kenseth finished 42nd and is now last in the playoff standings.
3. NB-See itHey, don’t take a swing at the messenger; blame Mother Nature. The Charlotte race was supposed to be on NBC Saturday night, but was postponed by rain and rescheduled Sunday. NBC had to kick it over to baby brother NBC Sports Network. If the skies remain clear in the Mid-west on Sunday, the race will be shown on NBC's mother-ship network.
Aric Almirola may not bring that Fu Manchu moustache with him into the 2016 NASCAR Cup Series, but he is quietly building momen-tum going into next season. JONATHAN MOORE/GETTY IMAGES
1. Hendrick bluesWho would have thought that Hendrick Motorsports would have three cars finish 28th or worse at Charlotte? Any good signs? Ageless Jeff Gordon finished a strong eighth and helped his chances to advance into Chase Round 3. The “drive for five” lives.
2. Snapshot finishJoey Logano won hand-ily at Charlotte, with Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Chevy in his rearview mirror. These two drivers have been the most dominating this season, and the finish proves the point. Martin Truex Jr., who is “Mr. Consistency,” finished third, right on cue.
3. Busch bafflingThe fact Kyle Busch has never won a race in the Chase seg-ment of the season remains a real mystery, like Amelia Earhart’s disappearance or the Loch Ness monster. Busch finished 20th Sunday after his Toyota was sideswiped by Kyle Larson’s Chevy — during a caution period.
Who would have guessed that Jeff Gordon would be leading the Hendrick Motorsports charge into the NASCAR Chase? He’s suddenly the top man on campus around the Hendrick shop. JERRY MARKLAND/GETTY
IMAGES
Mon. & Thurs. 8:30-8:30 Tues., Wed., Fri. 8:30 -6
Sat., 8:30-2
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