Martinsville 2012 Spring Race Photo – Getty Images
The Sprint Cup Series heads to the “paperclip” this weekend for their sixth race of the season. In past years, the Martinsville Speedway has produced great racing and shocking moments. Last year’s Spring Race is likely the most memorable race from the past few years. The drama occurred on the final restart when Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer spun out while heading into turn 1. Ryan Newman snuck by the accident and took the win. Short track racing always produces action and Martinsville never disappoints. Continue reading →
Impressed with Keselowski‘s championship run throughout the Chase last year?
The champ is still focused as he starts this season giving his competition notice of his intention to contend for another Sprint Cup trophy with perhaps, an even more impressive run this season. Four races into the season, the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion has assumed the points lead, over Dale Earnhardt Jr. by nine points entering Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.
Should the competition fear the Keselowski?
It appears so, as he continues to set the bar within the Sprint Cup Series ranks. While the 29-year-old Keselowski hasn’t won – yet, he’s done the next best thing. Recognizing the potential of putting yourself in position to win, Keselowski has certainly positioned himself well, in the first four races of the season.
Keselowski is the only driver to finish among the top-five in the season’s four opening races. A third-place finish in last Sunday’s Food City 500 follows a third-place in Las Vegas and fourths at Phoenix and in the Daytona 500.
He’s also the only leader of all four races.
Keselowski’s start is the best in the series since Jimmie Johnson’s performance in 2005. A fifth consecutive top-five would be the first time that feat was accomplished since NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace’s 1998 start, which also came in a No. 2 Miller Ford. Fellow Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough holds the all-time season start mark of nine in 1974.
“Obviously, we’re off to my best start ever. That’s really cool. I’m happy for my team and all that stuff,” said Keselowski, who stood 14th in last year’s standings after four races. “We can’t keep our feet still. We know that Kyle [Busch] and Jimmie [Johnson] are going to continue to make their cars better. We have to keep digging and push on our stuff, too. I think we got a pretty good feel on the 2 team.”
Daytona 500 winner Johnson had been the points leader until Sunday, when an accident resulted in a finish of 22nd. Kyle Busch has top-five finishes in the past two races.
While it seems Auto Club Speedway remains a question mark for Keselowski, with a career best finish – in just four races – of 18th in last year’s weather-shortened event, many fans will recall, Keselowski has a way of erasing poor finishes. In 2012, he matched or exceeded his earlier performance at 16 different tracks, while winning five times. Three of Keselowski’s victories – Chicagoland, Dover and Kentucky – came at tracks where he had never won.
The Sprint Cup Series season continues this weekend and fans are anticipating another impressive run as Keselowski’s competition continue to challenge the series’ defending champion.
Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Dollar General Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 10, 2013 Photo – Todd Warshaw/Getty Images
Happy Birthday Matt Kenseth!
What better way to celebrate your birthday than in victory lane? Everything came together Sunday afternoon at Las Vegas for Kenseth and his crew. This win sends a huge statement throughout the garage that says Kenseth is already acquainted with his new team and he is ready to pounce on his competition. Kenseth’s crew chief Jason Ratcliff made the late strategy call by taking no tires on the final pit stop and that allowed Kenseth to be up front. Once Kenseth got to the lead, he never looked back. Kenseth gave Kasey Kahne a few glances in his rearview mirror in the closing laps since Kahne was so close, but other than that, Kenseth didn’t look back once he gained the lead.
The race played out fairly typical for Las Vegas and there were no major surprises. The Gen 6 car’s debut on an intermediate track went well and produced the fantastic race to the finish we witnessed. Continue reading →
“The night was great,” Johnson said of the celebration. “We had a lot of fun in the infield. I think the security guys knew we were here and said, ‘Nice job celebrating, now you guys just need to slow down a little bit.’ ”
Johnson’s late night celebration might have gone well, but his immediate celebration after taking the checkered flag wasn’t as successful. His burn out in the tri-oval grass actually damaged the front end of the No. 48 car that is now on display in the indoor Gatorade Victory Lane at the “World Center of Racing.” Continue reading →
