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October 13, 2010
Is The Chase All Locked Up?
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
This year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup has the somewhat underwhelming feeling of being over before it started. So many chasers got hosed at Sunday’s race at Auto Club–with Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle detonated, Carl Edwards knocked back with ignition problems, Kurt Busch wrecked and Jeff Gordon tagged with a pit-row speeding penalty–that a lot of people are saying that Jimmie Johnson all but has it in the bag. At this point, the reasoning goes, Jimmie would have to falter colossally to lose the Cup–he’d have to wreck or blow up and DNF. Still, I find the whole Drive For Five to be a kind of an uncompelling storyline–sure, it’s making history to win five Cups in a row, blah blah blah, but I just can’t feel it (you know?), and it seems to be something that’s more of a preoccupation of the pundits than the fans. The championship getting won by the same guy year after year seems boring, and if this year’s Chase really is all locked up for Johnson, I’ll probably stop paying attention to it pretty soon–it’s no fun if there’s no battle. But what about the guys who are still mathematically in the running–Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, and Tony Stewart–the last, an already two-time champion who is on the march and who scored a great win at Fontana last weekend? What do you think: do any of these guys have anything for Jimmie?
October 12, 2010
Did This Used To Be a Squareback?
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
Throw this one in the category of cars you don’t expect to run into at a NASCAR race–this bizarre vee-dub was randomly parked off to the side in the garage area at Fontana on Sunday, probably one of the pre-race parade vehicles. It had a dual-carbed V8 fitted into the not-very-functional pickup bed. Interesting choice for a ute conversion. More pics below the jump!
The Roush Fords: How Could So Much Go So Wrong?
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
It was hard not to feel terrible for Jack Roush on Sunday, as his shot at the Sprint Cup championship with any of his teams literally went up in smoke. I was glad at least that Matt Kenseth got to finish the race, even if in 30th, his crippled No 17 car leaving a wake of oily smoke as the motor started coming apart in the final laps. Even so, he ultimately fared a lot better than both Greg Biffle (finished 41st), whose engine blew up early on, and Carl Edwards (34th), who was mired hopelessly laps-down after having to go to the garage during the race with distributor problems. That’s it: the Roush Fords are completely out of the running for this year’s Sprint Cup. At least in the case of the two expired motors–one of which let go suddenly and punched a hole through the oil pan, while the other languished gradually following a late-race restart–the temperamental new FR9 engine platform, which has dealt out more than its fair share of black eyes, seems an obvious culprit. Still, it’s a bit baffling to see such an advanced and well-funded organization still struggling so greatly with their technology. It’d be great to have the Fords truly competitive again at the Cup level, so I hope they’re able to exorcise their demons in time for the 2011 season.
October 11, 2010
Auto Club Speedway: Racing In Paradise
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
This weekend I went to check out the Pepsi Max 400 at Fontana. Having been marooned in the NASCAR-devoid Pacific Northwest, I’m always keen on the idea of Sprint Cup-level tracks anywhere on the West Coast. And after visiting Auto Club Speedway, about a 45-minute straight shot from LA over to San Bernadino county, I think I’m finally actually jealous of SoCal residents: they get to call this place their hometown track.
The eye-appeal of Fontana is addictive–think of race cars against a desert backdrop of mountains and palm trees–and the two-mile D-oval, banked 14 degrees in the turns, is majestic in its scope. Despite its massiveness, Auto Club isn’t a restrictor-plate track, and with its breadth and its ultra-slick surface it lends itself to the kind of changeable, five-wide, thrills-a-minute racing that we saw on Sunday. The track is run as a pretty tight ship, with ample security and good crowd control–important when you’re dealing with a facility of this magnitude, though it can feel at times like you’re being herded just a little. Next year, in place of its twice-yearly NASCAR events, Auto Club will host only one Sprint Cup race in March. If you’re in the SoCal area, don’t miss it–it’ll be the only chance you’ll get for some local NASCAR action, and this gorgeous track is well worth the price of admission.
Head on over to the Events section to see a ton of photos from Sunday’s race!
October 10, 2010
Howdy From Fontana!
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
Just when I thought I was probably all done with NASCAR travel for the season, I got a surprise invite from our Streetfire crew in LA to come check out the race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. Sweet! Our office maven Michelle and our marketing guru Butch are here, and I’ll be all over the track and garage during the race today in the hopes of snagging you guys some half decent photos.
I’ve never attended a Chase race before, and already, the vibe around the garage seems single-mindedly focused and pretty intense. Kyle Busch won the Nationwide race last night, the Roush Fords were fast in practice, and Jimmie is back on the march in the Drive For Five. I’m frankly kind of at a loss to pick a Champion winner at this point, because it still seems like it could be anyone’s game. Who is your pick for this year’s champ?
Dale Jr. of course didn’t make the Chase, though he’s celebrating his birthday today and there’s clearly at least some fans who feel a Sprint Cup win for Junebug would beat the hell out of a whole cakeful of candles–see this tribute car not-so-happy-birthday message after the jump.
