Saturday Dover Notebook

Saturday Dover Notebook

Notebook Items:

·         Kyle Busch has been using the 'crash test' approach with his pit crew

·         Stress to the third power

·         Short strokes

Sept. 27, 2014

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

Kyle Busch has been using the 'crash test' approach with his pit crew

DOVER, Del.—In the first two races of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Kyle Busch has been showing some Jimmie Johnson-like resilience.

Last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, for instance, Busch overcame a litany of issues, including a crash initiated by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth, to finish eighth and tie Dale Earnhardt Jr. for fifth in the Chase standings.

After qualifying second to pole winner Kevin Harvick on Friday at Dover International Speedway, Busch made light of the four accidents and an engine failure he suffered in the weeks leading into the Chase. Those incidents, he joked, prepared his team for the rally achieved at New Hampshire.

“That’s why I wrecked five, six weeks in a row leading up to the Chase, was to give them plenty of opportunity to know how to fix it,” Busch quipped. “So they certainly knew what they were doing when we got to Loudon, and I certainly give ‘em props for that…

“I was really pumped up, really impressed with our guys and what we were able to do there.”

Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover (2 p.m. ET, ESPN) is the first elimination race under NASCAR's revamped Chase playoff format this year. The bottom four Chase drivers in the standings will be cut from the Chase, but Busch, who has a 28-point lead over Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin in 13th, expects to advance to the next round without difficulty.

“We feel plenty confident coming in here to have the opportunity to move on,” he said. “I think a top-20 finish is plenty secure for us. Man, I can’t remember the last time here that I’ve had a solid run and wasn’t in the top 10.

“I foresee us being just fine, and just having a good, solid day here Sunday will take us into Kansas next week.”

STRESS TO THE THIRD POWER

With three races in each elimination segment of the Chase, the stress level of the 10-race playoff has been ratcheted up exponentially. Just ask Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“This has been really intense,” Earnhardt agreed. “We’re not used to racing for our season in little chunks—two- and three- and one-race spans like we’re going to do in this Chase. The Chase itself as a 10-race schedule was a wild idea when it first came out. This definitely makes things really intense.

“You feel it all week long. It’s unescapable as far as trying to get it off your mind or trying to take a break from it. You can’t help but feel these nerves of having to deliver on every lap in practice, every qualifying lap—everything matters to the 10th degree when compared to the format we had last year.”

According to Earnhardt, the difference is almost palpable.

“The races feel wilder, more intense,” he said. “I think the drivers themselves drive with a much greater sense of urgency, and everybody is just really super on edge. That’s what I sense anyways.

“I think that will continue for whoever stays alive (after each elimination round) and probably get worse. We’re all going to be drinking the Mylanta before it’s over with. If we don’t all have holes in our guts by the end of this thing, I’ll be surprised.”

SHORT STROKES

Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke his steering wheel during Saturday morning’s first practice session, requiring a replacement for Happy Hour.

Was the broken wheel a case of Earnhardt not knowing his own strength? “I been in the gym too much, I know,” Earnhardt posted on his Twitter account between sessions…

AJ Allmendinger may have qualified a disappointing 28th, but in Saturday’s morning practice session, the 10th-place Chase driver was second only to eighth-place Matt Kenseth on the speed chart, perhaps auguring favorably for Allmendinger’s chances to avoid elimination. Kenseth paced the session at 155.649 mph, followed by Allmendinger at 154.805 mph…

Coors Light Pole winner Kevin Harvick was fastest in Happy Hour at 157.089 mph, further affirming that the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet will be a contender for the win on Sunday and, in all probability, for the Sprint Cup Series championship in November.