NASCAR Programming is on the air from the final races in Homestead, Florida. Clouds blanket the sky. There’s a 30 percent chance of rain this afternoon and a 50 percent chance tonight. Certainly not the weather one imagines when one thinks of Florida. A full schedule of NASCAR action today as the three national touring series will all qualify or practice today and the trucks will race tonight. Matt Crafton needs only to start the race in order to win the championship.
It’s kinda depressing that I end up watching a lot of the practices with the mute on now. I detest Kyle Petty with a microphone in his hand – he adds nothing except bitterness and aggravation to the proceedings. I don’t want to hear from cheating Michael Waltrip. So usually I only listen to Nationwide practice, but this week Petty Kyle is in that booth, so mute is engaged. Please, please, please, please, please Fox Sports let Rick Allen, Jeff Hammond, Darrell Waltrip, Mike Joy, and Phil Parsons handle all of the practice broadcasts. Since you most likely have contracts with Michael Waltrip, Kyle Petty, Adam Alexander, Larry McReynolds, and Danielle Trotta getting rid of them probably isn’t cost prohibitive, but at least please limit the viewers’ exposure to their lack of talent and professionalism.
Apparently James Buescher will be going Nationwide full time next year. Dillner mentioned they’re feeling raindrops as Truck practice continues. Ross Chastain will apparently not return to BKR in 2014. He’s using the Homestead race as a tryout. Poor watermelon boy. If I had a team, or if I were a sponsor, he wouldn’t be my first choice – or third choice, for that matter. He’s not the hot commodity for me this week. Ron Hornaday is driving for Turner Scott Motorsports this weekend with Trent Owens as crew chief. TSM managed to get this deal together during the week. Yay Horney! I believe he still has the talent to win in this series. He just needs the equipment and some support. It would be a shame to see another Truck Series champion just disappear (like Johnny Benson, Todd Bodine, Ted Musgrave, Jack Sprague, and Mike Skinner).
German Quiroga is going to do a marathon in Las Vegas. 26.2 miles. Bless! There are raindrops on the camera as Bob Dillner talks to German who hopes to do the marathon in under 4 hours. He has had less than 14 weeks to prepare for the marathon. He says his achilles tendon has been bothering him, but he only has two more days before he runs.
People are standing under covers around the track now. I’m guessing the rain may have picked up a bit.
After a delightful hour and twenty-five minutes of NASCAR coverage with Bestie and Petree (yeah, DJ was there too, babbling madly) I await Nationwide practice on one of the FS channels. I’m hoping Petty Kyle will not make a return appearance. DJ’s Jimmie Johnson hating is a bit aggravating, though I’d take it any day over the aforementioned Fox talking heads. NASCAR extended the Sprint Cup practice session an additional few minutes since the start of practice was delayed by jet dryers. When FS* picked up coverage we get the end of the Sprint Cup Practice coverage. Much to my delight Petty Kyle is gone and Philly Parsons is in the booth HOORAY!!!!
Another delightful session concludes and unfortunately Michael Waltrip is blabbing all over CWTS qualifying. I’m going to see if they’re showing qualifying online. Nope, looks like just the leaderboard. Bummer. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the nascar.com site. It is unbearably cluttered, slow, and just too much of too many things I don’t like, want, or need. I wish, though, someone would stream the practices and qualifying online without commentary or commercial interruptions. Ryan Blaney gets the pole. Congrats to Ryan.
Now back to the ESPN NASCAR gang for Sprint Cup Qualifying. Bestwick says there are showers in the Homestead area, but so far they’ve not reached the Speedway. Qualifying completes without interruption by Mother Nature. Kenseth is on pole (his first at Homestead), Harvick qualified sixth, Jimmie qualified seventh.
Now on to FS* for the final Truck Series Race of the season. Matt Crafton has only to start to win the championship. He’s pretty hyped about his truck though and looking for the win to help his owner win the Owner’s Championship. His closest competition for the owner’s championship is Kyle Busch for KBM.
After three green-white-checker attempts Kyle Busch crosses the finish line first winning the final race of the season. Ryan Blaney finishes second, Jeb Burton third. Ryan Blaney is the Rookie of the Year. Due to a late race wreck KBM wins the owner championship. Crafton finished in a position to tie for the championship points. The tie is broken by wins and KBM has more wins this season. As mentioned previously Matt Crafton became champion when he started the engine.
Eventful Nationwide Race. Keselowski (with Paul Wolf on the box) won the race. In the end Austin Dillon won the driver’s championship partially thanks to Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski providing no support whatsoever to Sam. Both Keselowski and Logano and Kyle Larson finished ahead of Sam. So the Nationwide Series champ did not win a race this season. Sam won a race and needed three spots to win the championship. So if all of his teammates would’ve given him a break he would be champion. KyBu was trying to win the owner’s championship for JGR, but was battling all of the Penske teams for that, so Penske got the owner’s championship by adding cars to every race at the end of the season. Kyle Larson got the Rookie of the Year. Sadly the Nationwide Series shows what money can buy, as opposed to what hard work and dedication will get you. What was worst to me was watching Brad and Joey gleefully celebrate shortly after Sam Hornish’s devastated interview. Not much team spirit there it seems, but then again I may be under the mistaken impression that Penske was actually interested in a driver’s championship this season. Pathetic ending to the season.
K & N Racing finale from Phoenix. Derek Thorn is the champ. Gray Gaulding won his first race. Nutty race, as usual for the series. Nice start to Race Day.
DW is on Race Day!!!! It’s fantastic to see him on the show! Now is we could replace Petty Kyle and Larry McNuggets and put Hammond back on. Maybe replace Johnny TV with Steve Byrnes – get well soon Byrnesy! I’m fine with a three man desk for the show and if we could get the haters/grandstanders off it would be a much better show. I was excited when I saw Kenny Wallace doing an interview. I thought Woody Rut wouldn’t be on. Bummer. I was wrong. Don’t know if he’s replacing Dillner or Hermie. I rarely watch this show anymore since the talent level has decreased massively with the additions of Clueless Clark and Petty Kyle and Woody Rut. Okay, enough of that rant for the moment.
DW just tore Donovan a new one with regard to Donovan McNabb’s comments on Friday. He said he didn’t consider Jimmie an athlete. NASCAR Nation has been in an uproar since. DW said going by Donovan’s criteria quarterbacks aren’t athletes since someone gives him the ball and he gives it to someone else who does all the work. Yowsah!
267 laps under a clear blue sky to determine the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion. Matt Kenseth will lead the field to the green flag. This may be the final Sprint Cup race for Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Dave Blaney, Ken Schrader and Juan Pablo Montoya. Last week may have been Bobby Labonte’s last Sprint Cup race. Harvick starts in the sixth position and Jimmie in the seventh position.
Caution is out on lap 11 of 267 for Travis Kvapil getting into the wall.
Caution is out on lap 24 for Travis Kvapil spinning out.
Caution on lap 68 of 267 for debris in turn two.
JPM was on pit lane at the time. Green flag pit stops were underway – though in the early stages. Biffle was going to come in for a pit stop then went back on the track. Burton and McMurray had already made their stops shortly before the caution.
Caution on lap 89 of 267 for a spin by Dave Blaney in the 7 car.
Caution on lap 152 of 267 for debris in the backstretch.
Kenseth takes two tires to beat Dale Earnhardt Jr off pit road. Dale Jr led for most of the previous run.
Kenseth has locked up the bonus points for leading the most laps.
Caution on lap 189 of 267 for debris in turn three. There are currently 25 cars on the lead lap. Kasey Kahne will get the free pass to get back on the lead lap. He made an unscheduled stop a little while ago which put him a lap down.
Kenseth, pitting from fourth, will get four tires this time. The two tires did him no favors. Jimmie gave up a few spots on pit road and is eighth coming out of the pits. Kenseth’s first pit stall is helping him not lose much ground. Hamlin barely beat Jeff Gordon off pit road.
Big scramble on the restart because Jeff Gordon couldn’t get going and Jimmie ends up getting left front damage from Paul Menard and drops from eighth to 23rd position. Kenseth also had issues on that restart.
Caution on lap 207 of 267 for Paul Menard who seems to have lost a right rear tire. Menard was running tenth at the time. He slowed and got down when the tire started going down. Looks like everybody is coming into the pits.
Kenseth appears to have a little right rear damage also. Harvick is first off pit road. Kenseth came off fifthe, just behind ‘It’. Hamlin and Truex Jr. are second and third. Jimmie is in 17th position for the restart.
On lap 231 Paul Menard is coming in with a fire under the car. The tire exploded on pit road when they were trying to extinguish the fire. It blew the whole wheel off the car. No one was hurt. The caution came out on lap 230 of 267. Menard said some rubber got wrapped around the axle and they were unable to get it all off. He said he didn’t realize it, though there was some sparks flying by the window net which he thought was odd then he heard he was on fire. He didn’t have brakes. Then he got it in and the tire exploded.
Kenseth will restart fourth, Jimmie twelfth and Happy thirteenth with 28 laps to go. Dale Jr takes the lead.
Dale Jr and Kenseth are battling hard for second position as Denny Hamlin pulls away.
Danny Hamlin wins. Kenseth finishes second. Dale Earnhardt Jr finishes third. Jimmie finishes ninth.
JIMMIE WINS THE 2013 SPRINT CUP CHAMPIONSHIP!!!
Denny’s car chief (20 years with Joe Gibs) and gas man (9 years) are moving on and Denny mentioned it in Victory Lane and hugged the Car Chief while saying he was moving on (taking a management position). Also Denny has at least one victory in every season he’s been in Sprint Cup. He’s been in the Sprint Cup for eight seasons now.
In NASCAR news this week:
- Dario Franchitti is retiring from racing on doctors’ advice. Dario was injured last month during a late race crash in Houston. He suffered head and spine injuries.
- Keselowski. I hope he comes to understand the value in letting everyone guess whether or not you’re a fool rather than opening your mouth and showing them. Only time will tell.
- Trevor Bayne has Multiple Sclerosis. He was diagnosed in June and disclosed this week. Now maybe he can get on with his career. I’ve been saying if I were a sponsor I wouldn’t sponsor him with the mystery illness. Now that we’re dealing with a known quantity I would have no problems sponsoring him. I hope the sponsors feel the same.
- a href=”http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/World-of-Outlaws/News/Articles/2013/11/Larson-and-Marks-Form-Sprint-Car-Team.aspx” target=”_blank”>Kyle Larson and Justin Marks are now Sprint Car team owners.
- The Sprint Cup Champ will now get a vote on the NASCAR Hall of Fame starting next year.
- Crafton re-signs with ThorSport.
- Joey Logano is engaged. He’s lived an accelerated life up to this point and the trend continues as the 23 year old proposes to his girlfriend.
- Jeff Green will sub for Eric McClure Saturday in the final race of the season. McClure is in the hospital again.
- Travis Pastrana is outtie. Travis is unable to find funding for 2014 so his NASCAR tenure is over, for now.
- Ryan Blaney has a full-time truck series ride in 2014,
- Johnny Sauter has signed a multi-year contract with ThorSport Racing.
- A sign of things to come? Nelson Piquet will pilot the #9 NTS Motorsports Truck in Homestead.
- Kyle Busch Motorsports expects two young superstars of the sport, winners Darrell Wallace Jr.(20 year old) and Erik Jones (17 year old), to return in 2014.
- Hornaday Looking for a Ride for 2014.
- The Boss Speaks.
- For reasons beyond my comprehension (apparently) Michael Annett will have a Cup ride in 2014.
- KBM is leaving the Nationwide series.
- Ross Chastain’s replacement at BKR named.
- Retired footballer player puts his foot in it.
Next Race: Daytona 2014
CONGRATULATIONS 48 TEAM!!!!
