pandr
06-19-2012, 06:53 PM
Race Rewind: Looking back at the Quicken Loans 400
By Jim Utter
Sunday, Jun. 17, 2012
Observations
• Tony Stewart was asked after the race what he thought about Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s win on Sunday. Stewart's reply? “It's not a national holiday, guys.” No, it's not. All is not right in the world. Nobody can pack up and call it a season. But in some respects perhaps it is. It's certainly cause for celebration for Earnhardt's legions of fans, who have not been able to see their favorite driver in Victory Lane for four years. A group so dedicated certainly deserves to savor this win. And second, many, many people in NASCAR have said how important it is for the sport for Earnhardt to be competitive and win. Now, we get a chance to find out again what that's like.
• Considering all the possible outcomes on Sunday with the last-minute left-side tire change and a midday downpour that washed all the rubber off the track, the final product turned out pretty good. The quality of the racing wasn't spectacular but was better than is found on many recently repaved tracks. And in the case of the tires, it was better to be safe than sorry. Needless to say, Goodyear needs to test again before the August race here to put on the best possible show the second time around.
• Team owner Rick Hendrick was not in Michigan to celebrate Earnhardt's victory but he did make an appearance in the postrace winner's interview – sort of. Earnhardt and crew chief Steve Letarte brought a bobblehead doll of Hendrick to the news conference and placed it at the table with them.
Notes
Kenseth leads the way: Matt Kenseth led once for 17 laps Sunday but couldn't get near Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the final laps for a chance for the win. His third-place finish, however, was good enough to maintain the series points lead. He leads Earnhardt by four points.
“I was very difficult at times, especially when you had four new tires on and they were so hard and you had people to the outside and the groove was narrow and you didn’t have a lot of air,” Kenseth said.
“It was definitely a challenge, especially on short runs and restarts with cold tires. Overall they did a nice job with the track.”
Stewart put in a lot of work: Stewart was beaten off pit road by Earnhardt on the final round of green-flag pit stops and could never make up the difference. He settled for a runner-up finish but not bad considering the amount of work he and his No. 14 Chevrolet team have put in the past two weeks.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” Stewart said. “We did the Bristol (Motor Speedway) test on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we have been in a track 11 out of 12 days in a row,” he said.
“I’ve got a bunch of tired crew guys and a tired crew chief and I’m a tired driver, but I’m really proud of the effort they put forth in the last week-and-a-half. They did an awesome job at Pocono. We had a fast car all week (at Michigan) until the happy hour session (Friday) night, and you know, we just couldn’t get a hold of the race track.”
Johnson foiled at the end: For a while, it looked like Jimmie Johnson was rocketing to the front on the final 28-lap run to the finish. And he was.
Two things slowed him down, however. He blistered a right-rear tire and ran out of fuel on the last lap. He still managed to finish fifth.
“Man, we were coming. We were really flying,” Johnson said. “It was a tough day; but a good finish, so we’ll take that. I just couldn’t be more happy for my teammate. Junior has been chipping away at it and has been so close to victory.”
3 keys to victory
1. The key to any victory this weekend was adapting to uncertain conditions. Earnhardt's team obviously was one of the best as the driver was not pleased with Goodyear's decision to change left-side tires on Friday night.
2. Tony Stewart easily got around Earnhardt, then the leader, on a restart on Lap 86 and ran out to a sizable lead. Over the next 18 laps, Earnhardt patiently ran him down and took back the lead on Lap 105.
3. Earnhardt has been plagued by mistakes on pit road during his career, but on Sunday with several green-flag pit stops making the difference, the No. 88 team was flawless.
Turning point
During the last round of green-flag pit stops, Earnhardt and Stewart, then running first and second, both pit on the same lap. Earnhardt came off pit road the leader and gained a lot of ground on Stewart in the process.
Things would have been different if …
Hard to see how they could be. Earnhardt had by far the dominant car the whole race.
C/P thats racin
By Jim Utter
Sunday, Jun. 17, 2012
Observations
• Tony Stewart was asked after the race what he thought about Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s win on Sunday. Stewart's reply? “It's not a national holiday, guys.” No, it's not. All is not right in the world. Nobody can pack up and call it a season. But in some respects perhaps it is. It's certainly cause for celebration for Earnhardt's legions of fans, who have not been able to see their favorite driver in Victory Lane for four years. A group so dedicated certainly deserves to savor this win. And second, many, many people in NASCAR have said how important it is for the sport for Earnhardt to be competitive and win. Now, we get a chance to find out again what that's like.
• Considering all the possible outcomes on Sunday with the last-minute left-side tire change and a midday downpour that washed all the rubber off the track, the final product turned out pretty good. The quality of the racing wasn't spectacular but was better than is found on many recently repaved tracks. And in the case of the tires, it was better to be safe than sorry. Needless to say, Goodyear needs to test again before the August race here to put on the best possible show the second time around.
• Team owner Rick Hendrick was not in Michigan to celebrate Earnhardt's victory but he did make an appearance in the postrace winner's interview – sort of. Earnhardt and crew chief Steve Letarte brought a bobblehead doll of Hendrick to the news conference and placed it at the table with them.
Notes
Kenseth leads the way: Matt Kenseth led once for 17 laps Sunday but couldn't get near Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the final laps for a chance for the win. His third-place finish, however, was good enough to maintain the series points lead. He leads Earnhardt by four points.
“I was very difficult at times, especially when you had four new tires on and they were so hard and you had people to the outside and the groove was narrow and you didn’t have a lot of air,” Kenseth said.
“It was definitely a challenge, especially on short runs and restarts with cold tires. Overall they did a nice job with the track.”
Stewart put in a lot of work: Stewart was beaten off pit road by Earnhardt on the final round of green-flag pit stops and could never make up the difference. He settled for a runner-up finish but not bad considering the amount of work he and his No. 14 Chevrolet team have put in the past two weeks.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” Stewart said. “We did the Bristol (Motor Speedway) test on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we have been in a track 11 out of 12 days in a row,” he said.
“I’ve got a bunch of tired crew guys and a tired crew chief and I’m a tired driver, but I’m really proud of the effort they put forth in the last week-and-a-half. They did an awesome job at Pocono. We had a fast car all week (at Michigan) until the happy hour session (Friday) night, and you know, we just couldn’t get a hold of the race track.”
Johnson foiled at the end: For a while, it looked like Jimmie Johnson was rocketing to the front on the final 28-lap run to the finish. And he was.
Two things slowed him down, however. He blistered a right-rear tire and ran out of fuel on the last lap. He still managed to finish fifth.
“Man, we were coming. We were really flying,” Johnson said. “It was a tough day; but a good finish, so we’ll take that. I just couldn’t be more happy for my teammate. Junior has been chipping away at it and has been so close to victory.”
3 keys to victory
1. The key to any victory this weekend was adapting to uncertain conditions. Earnhardt's team obviously was one of the best as the driver was not pleased with Goodyear's decision to change left-side tires on Friday night.
2. Tony Stewart easily got around Earnhardt, then the leader, on a restart on Lap 86 and ran out to a sizable lead. Over the next 18 laps, Earnhardt patiently ran him down and took back the lead on Lap 105.
3. Earnhardt has been plagued by mistakes on pit road during his career, but on Sunday with several green-flag pit stops making the difference, the No. 88 team was flawless.
Turning point
During the last round of green-flag pit stops, Earnhardt and Stewart, then running first and second, both pit on the same lap. Earnhardt came off pit road the leader and gained a lot of ground on Stewart in the process.
Things would have been different if …
Hard to see how they could be. Earnhardt had by far the dominant car the whole race.
C/P thats racin