NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES 10/29/15 NEWS
Joey Checkers: Logano Takes Down Talladega For Third Straight Win
Joey
Logano took the checkered flag at Talladega to sweep the Contender
Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint
Cup with his third consecutive win. The No. 22 Team Penske driver now
leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with six wins and 26 top 10s – both
career highs. He also ranks tied with Kevin Harvick for the most top
fives with 20, also a career-best total.
In
Sunday’s Goody’s Headache Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway (1:15
p.m. ET on NBCSN), Logano will attempt
to become the first driver to win four straight races since Jimmie
Johnson achieved the feat in the 2007 Chase when he visited Victory Lane
at Martinsville, Atlanta, Texas and Phoenix on his way to his second of
six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships.
Logano has never won an NSCS race at Martinsville, but has finished in the top five in his last three starts
at the Virginia short track.
The
25-year-old Connecticut native is the second driver to win three
consecutive races this year after Kyle
Busch pulled off the achievement by conquering Kentucky, New Hampshire
and Indianapolis. The last time two different drivers won three straight
races in a season was 1993 when Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin did it.
Father Time: Gordon Goes For Ninth Martinsville Clock
Jeff Gordon has to love his position in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup now.
He heads to Martinsville Speedway – arguably his best track – where a win automatically advances him to the
Championship Round of the Chase at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Gordon
is tied with Jimmie Johnson for the active wins lead at Martinsville
with eight checkered flags – a
total that is also his most at any track. The No. 24 Chevrolet driver
boasts series bests in average finish (6.9), average running position
(6.7) and average green flag speed (91.7 mph) at Martinsville.
Last season, Gordon finished second at Martinsville to Dale Earnhardt Jr., a race in which he led a race-high
130 laps.
Although he squeaked into the Chase on points and still doesn’t have a win, Gordon is building up some momentum
in NASCAR’s playoffs. He placed in the top 10 of all three Contender Round races.
JGR Chasers Hope Organization Has Unlocked Secret To The Paperclip
Kyle Busch didn’t seem worried that he hasn’t performed up to his expectations at Martinsville heading into
Sunday’s Eliminator Round opener.
“I
wouldn’t have said that I felt comfortable at Martinsville based off
how we ran there last year,” said Busch,
who has never won at the .526-mile track. “But the way the guys at Joe
Gibbs Racing ran this spring, everybody ran in the top five, so it was
really a good race. I’m looking forward to getting back and utilizing
some of that in order to have a good race and
maybe do what Denny (Hamlin) did and win one here.”
JGR
placed three drivers in the top five at Martinsville in the spring
(Denny Hamlin, first; Matt Kenseth,
fourth; David Ragan, fifth). Carl Edwards finished 17th, but led 13
laps and looked like a contender for the win before a late-race spin.
With
wins in nine of the 12 races leading into the Contender Round of the
Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup,
JGR had aspirations of advancing all four of its drivers to the
Championship Round at Homestead. That can no longer happen; Busch and
Edwards are JGR’s only drivers still in the Chase after Hamlin and
Kenseth were knocked out at Talladega.
Busch
and Edwards better hope that JGR figured out Martinsville this spring.
Busch has been boom-or-bust at
The Paperclip with eight top fives in 20 starts, but also has 11
finishes outside the top 10. In 22 Martinsville starts, Edwards has
posted only one top five and five top 10s.
Stayin’ Alive: SHR’s Harvick And Busch Remain Standing In Chase
The two dominant drivers at the beginning of the year – Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch
– remain alive in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Both Harvick and Busch are strong bets to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title, too.
As
the defending champion, Harvick knows how to handle the pressure of the
Chase format. A win in the next
three events gets a driver a free pass to the Championship Round race
at Homestead, which is great news for Harvick. He is practically
automatic at Phoenix where he has won the last four races.
Busch has won at all four of the remaining tracks and cannot be counted out either. He and Jeff Gordon are
the only Chase drivers who have visited Victory Lane at the final four ovals (Martinsville, Texas Phoenix, Homestead).
Short Track Showdown
Martinsville
Speedway serves as the only short track in the Chase for the NASCAR
Sprint Cup. If a Chase driver
wins at Martinsville, he gains a distinct advantage over the field
because his team can focus on preparing for the Championship Round at
Homestead.
Here’s how the Chase-eligible drivers rank in winning percentage at short tracks:
Kyle Busch – .145 win pct., 9 wins, 62 starts
Jeff Gordon – .110 win pct., 16 wins, 145 starts
Kurt Busch – .100 win pct., 9 wins, 90 starts
Brad Keselowski – .083 win pct., 3 wins, 36 starts
Joey Logano – .073 win pct., 3 wins, 41 starts
Carl Edwards – .059 win pct., 4 wins, 68 starts
Kevin Harvick – .057 win pct., 5 wins, 88 starts
Martin Truex Jr. – .000 win pct., 0 wins, 59 starts
Watch Out for ‘Spoilers’ At Martinsville
Chase-eligible
drivers aren’t the only competitors who can win at Martinsville on
Sunday. Last season, Dale
Earnhardt Jr. was the first “spoiler” in NASCAR’s playoffs when he won
for the first time at the Southern Virginia track to block a transfer
spot.
In
fact, many of the favorites on Sunday are not in the Chase. Past
Martinsville winners set to race on Sunday
are Jimmie Johnson (8 wins, tied for the active lead), Denny Hamlin (5,
spring winner), Tony Stewart (3), Earnhardt (1) and Ryan Newman (1).
The Chasers who have never won at Martinsville are Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Carl Edwards and
Martin Truex Jr.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
A Closer Look At Roush Fenway Racing’s Potential Champion – Chris Buescher
With a 27-point lead over second-place Chase Elliott in the NASCAR XFINITY Series standings, Chris Buescher
is on top of the world with just three races remaining in 2015. But who is Chris Buescher?
Buescher, 22, grew up in Prosper, Texas. He enjoys fishing, ATV and motorcycle riding, movies and fabrication
work. Buescher is also the cousin of former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion James Buescher.
In
1999, at the age of six, Chris Buescher started racing motorcycles, but
it wasn’t long until he moved to
four wheel vehicles. He went on to win the Bandolero Series Nationals
in 2004 at the age of 12. The following year, Buescher competed in the
Legends Car Series, becoming the youngest winner in the Pro Division at
the age of 13.
While
driving in the Legends Car Series, Buescher made his first connection
to NASCAR in 2007, when he signed
as a development driver for David Ragan Racing after he purchased his
first late model from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver.
Buescher then dabbled in ASA Late models and ASA Speed Trucks before getting a shot in the ARCA Series where
he won the Rookie of the Year honors with three wins. Buescher would go onto win the ARCA Series championship in 2012.
Roush
Fenway Racing picked Buescher up on a part-time basis in 2011 and 2013.
He ran a total of nine races
and posted two top 10s. RFR then signed him full-time in 2014 to drive
the No. 60 Ford. He ran 32 races that season, finishing seventh in
points with one win (Mid-Ohio), five top fives and 16 top 10s.
This season, Buescher has upped his game again. In 30 starts, he has posted two wins (Iowa, Dover), 11 top
fives, and 20 top 10s.
Buescher needs to finish fourth or better in the next three races and he will win the NASCAR XFINITY Series
championship no matter what any other driver does.
Jack Roush: A Fountain Of NASCAR Talent
While
nothing is set in stone as of yet, Roush Fenway Racing does have a high
probability of winning the organization’s
fifth NASCAR XFINITY Series driver title this season. The credit of
masterfully assembling these winning teams goes to RFR owner Jack Roush;
who has proven over his tenure in NASCAR that he has an eye for young
talent by paving the way for the careers of Greg
Biffle, Carl Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and now Chris Buescher.
Roush’s
gift for eyeing talent really developed into success with Biffle.
Biffle brought Roush Fenway Racing
its first XFINITY Series title back in 2002 after he began racing for
Roush in 1997 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS). The
Washington native now competes full-time for RFR in the NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series in the No. 16 Ford.
Next,
Roush stumbled upon a young man by the name of Carl Edwards, who
happened to give him his business card
when they first met. Roush was impressed by Edwards on and off the
track and signed him in 2003 to drive in the NCWTS. It wasn’t long until
Roush moved Edwards up to the NASCAR XFINITY Series and from there he
blossomed. Edwards captured the series title in
2007. He now competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Joe Gibbs
Racing, but drove for RFR in the series from 2004-2014.
Roush’s
most successful NASCAR XFINITY Series driver in terms of titles is
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who captured
back-to-back championships in 2011 and 2012. He started driving
part-time for Roush in the NXS in 2009, but went full-time in 2010.
Stenhouse struggled at first, but found his groove in 2011. He now
competes in the NSCS for RFR in the No. 17 Ford.
Roush’s next protégé is Chris Buescher and only three races remain to find out if his eye for talent to win
titles will be on par with those of the recent past.
Who That Rookie? The Spotlight Turns To Daniel Suarez
Not
only can he steer a 3,450 lbs. NASCAR XFINITY Series Toyota around with
ease, but the Joe Gibbs Racing
Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate, Daniel Suarez, can also speak two
languages (Spanish, English), which is more than most can say in the NXS
garage. But who is this international driver that has commanded our
attention?
Suarez, a Monterrey, Mexico native, currently leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings in the NXS with
just three races remaining and could become the first Hispanic and Mexican-born driver to win the series honors.
Suarez
got his start in motorsports back in Mexico where he raced go-karts as
young boy. In 2007, he won the
national karting championship and from there he started working his way
up to competing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West in 2011. He also
competed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East from 2011 – 2014
finishing a series career-best third in the 2013 standings.
Suarez also competed in the NASCAR Mexico Series from 2011 – 2014,
finishing a series career-best second in the points in 2013.
In his rookie season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, the 23-year-old driver has posted seven top fives, 15 top
10s an average finish of 12.3.
This weekend, the young JGR talent will be strapping into the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 51 Toyota for the
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday.
Young Talent Holds Strong In 2015
At
the beginning of the season everyone was talking about the young talent
at the top of the series standings
when the average age of the top five in points was 21.2. Now, with 30
races in the books, the young drivers haven’t waivered to their veteran
counterparts and the average age (23.6) continues to be on the younger
end of the spectrum proving a wave of solid
young talent has washed ashore.
The
youngest of the top five in points is the 2014 series champion Chase
Elliott, 19, who is currently second
in the 2015 point standings. Elliott’s sophomore season has seen one
win (Richmond), 11 top fives and a series leading 24 top 10s.
The
next two youngest are standings leader Chris Buescher and Sunoco Rookie
of the Year candidate Darrell Wallace
Jr., both 22. Buescher has posted two wins (Iowa, Dover), 11 top fives
and 20 top 10s. Wallace is fifth in points after posting three top fives
and 12 top 10s.
Ty Dillon, 23, is the third youngest of the top five in points. The Richard Childress Racing driver is currently
fourth in points after posting 10 top fives and 22 top 10s this season.
Last
but not least, the elder statesman of the five is Regan Smith at the
grizzled age of 32. Smith is currently
third in the series points, 33 points back from Buescher. Smith has
made 30 starts this season posting two wins (Mid-Ohio, Dover), 11 top
fives and 23 top 10s.
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