Sunoco Rookies Patrick, Stenhouse Look To Top Previous Success :And Notebook

Sunoco Rookies Patrick, Stenhouse Look To Top Previous Success

Sunoco Rookie of the Year points leader Danica Patrick rolls into Texas coming off a 12th-place finish in her first start at the daunting Martinsville Speedway, a place where debuts go to be forgotten. Since 1972, only 29 drivers have had a better Martinsville debut than Patrick. Some of the marquee names she bettered: Rusty Wallace (15th), Tony Stewart (20th), Kasey Kahne (21st), Matt Kenseth (21st), Kurt Busch (37th) and Jimmie Johnson (35th).
A successful follow-up act at Texas might prove even more surprising. Saturday night will mark Patrick’s eighth race at a 1.5-mile venue. Her average finish in the first seven is just 28.8. She has only one other NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Texas, a 24th-place finish last November.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished 25th at Martinsville on Sunday, and now looks to uphold a long-established pedigree of Roush Fenway Racing excellence at Texas. RFR counts nine wins at Texas, five of which have come at the hands of teammates Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards. Stenhouse’s best career finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series came at a 1.5-mile track – Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he finished 11th in the 2011 Coca-Cola 600. Outside that event, Stenhouse’s intermediate-track experience is few. In all, he has four starts at 1.5-mile tracks, with an average finish of 25.8 and a Driver Rating of 66.2.

Standings All Shook Up As Series Goes Night Racing

Only one driver in the top 20 of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings left Martinsville with the same standings position he came in with – Brad Keselowski, who remained second in the points.
The points lead changed, from Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Jimmie Johnson. Earnhardt dropped to third. The all-important 10th-place spot changed. It now belongs to Matt Kenseth, with Joey Logano falling out of the top 10. Denny Hamlin, recovering from a back injury, also fell out of the top 10 with Clint Bowyer the benefactor. Bowyer’s runner-up finish catapulted him six spots, from 14th to eighth. Though he did drop a spot, ninth-place Paul Menard remains a dark horse candidate for a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup spot. It was a wild one. And expect more of the same.
Earnhardt has the potential to right the ship immediately. His first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory came at Texas in 2000, and he comes into this race with four consecutive top-10 finishes. Last year, he went 12-for-12 at the 1.5- and 2-mile tracks.
Kenseth’s case could be an interesting one. Kenseth comes into this event with five consecutive top fives at Texas (including a win in 2011), but all that came under the Roush Fenway Racing umbrella. He hasn’t missed a beat on intermediate tracks yet in 2013 with new team Joe Gibbs Racing, chipping in a win at Las Vegas and a seventh at Auto Club Speedway.

Vickers Must Improve To Maintain JGR Momentum

The process continues. With Denny Hamlin on the mend but still on the sidelines, Joe Gibbs Racing heads for Texas Motor Speedway intending to keep its No. 11 Toyota near the top of the NASCAR Sprint Cup owner point standings.
Stand-in Mark Martin did his job. A 10th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway – while Hamlin sat atop the pit box and coached his substitute – leaves the No. 11 car ninth in owner points. Brian Vickers takes the wheel Saturday night with Hamlin’s return to competition still several weeks away.
 Vickers, who drives JGR’s No. 20 Toyota in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, will do double-duty at Texas and beyond. Based on teammate Kyle Busch’s success parlaying the same system into a NASCAR Sprint Cup victory and three Nationwide wins, Vickers could be a contender on Saturday night.
His record at the 1.5-mile track suggests he can use the track time.
In 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup trips to the Lone Star state, Vickers has yet to reach the top 10. His best finish, 12th, came in his first start with Hendrick Motorsports in 2004. Vickers’ average finish is 23.9 with a Driver Rating of 63.2. Vickers does hold the track’s qualifying record of 196.235 mph set in 2006.
The irony is that a healthy Hamlin would be a solid favorite to win this week. He swept both races in 2010 when the Virginian challenged for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. JGR’s third Texas win came with Tony Stewart in 2006.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Etc.

Three prominent NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers will pull double-duty this weekend, and race in Saturday night’s NSCS race: Austin Dillon (No. 51), Brian Vickers (No. 11) and Trevor Bayne (No. 21). … Milestone Watch: Jeff Gordon is approaching a major milestone that could be reached in Texas. With his third-place finish last Sunday at Martinsville, Gordon now has 299 career top fives. Only three drivers in NSCS history have 300 or more top fives, and all are NASCAR Hall of Famers: Richard Petty (555), Bobby Allison (336) and David Pearson (301). Gordon has eight top fives in 24 Texas starts. … Kyle Busch will attempt to make NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start No. 300 on Saturday night.