In Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Raceway, Kevin Harvick became the first driver since Jeff Gordon in 2001 to eclipse 1,200 laps led 15 races into a season.
Harvick only has two wins, but his robust loop data numbers suggest more are coming.
Remember, you can’t win races unless you lead laps.
The No. 4 Chevrolet driver ranks first in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average running position (7.3), number of fastest laps (755), laps led (1,225) and driver rating (126.0).
Harvick’s number of fastest laps are nearly triple the next-best driver’s total (Kurt Busch, 277). His number of laps led are nearly double the next-best driver’s total (Kurt Busch, 665).
Furthermore, the defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title-winner is on pace to shatter the driver rating record of 112.2 set by Jimmie Johnson is his 2009 championship season. The only caveat when comparing Harvick’s driver rating statistic is that it could drop with two restrictor plate and two road course races left on the schedule.
Confirming what had been widely discussed this past weekend at Michigan, NASCAR announced on Tuesday it will implement significant changes to the current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rules package for the July 11 Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.
Specifically, the rear spoiler will be shortened from six inches to three and a half inches, the front splitter overhang will be shortened by 1 3/4 inches and the splitter extension panel will be decreased from 38 to 25 inches wide.
The net result will be a lower-downforce package that will be offset to some extent by a Goodyear tire combination that provides more mechanical grip than did last year’s Kentucky tire. Because of the time frame for implementation of the new rules package, which at this point is for Kentucky only, Goodyear did not have an opportunity to test a tire combination with NASCAR’s new specifications.
Race teams, however, will have extended practice time on Wednesday, July 8 in order to fine-tune the new competition package.
“We’ve probably been too steadfast about our rules packages being an annual component to the sport, and that’s really not accurate,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, during a conference call with reporters on Tuesday. “If you look at where we’ve been, we’ve actually had several different elements of rules for many of our events, whether that’s tire combinations, drive train configurations, engine specs, aerodynamics. …
“Look no further than, as we head out to Sonoma, Daytona and then Kentucky, you’ve got a road course, superspeedway rules package and then we’ll head into Kentucky as well. I think, when you look at the industry as a whole, we feel like we’re as nimble an industry as we’ve ever been, with the ability to evolve almost in real time, and I think that’s great news for the fans.”
O’Donnell indicated the Kentucky rules package changes occurred after extensive input from drivers, race teams and manufacturers. He also stressed that the changes are part of the evolution of the sport, not a reversal of existing rules.
“This is not an abandonment of any rules package,” O’Donnell said. “There’s many positives we’ve seen out of our current rules that shouldn’t be dismissed, but we’re constantly working on all areas of competition, and we’ll never consider the racing package final, because we’ve been vocal and will continue to be vocal about our commitment to continuing to improve the racing.”
Asked about the potential changes last weekend at Michigan, driver Carl Edwards, long a proponent of reduced downforce, was enthusiastic.
“I’d be in favor of anything that makes the cars able to race around each other and to put more of the speed into the drivers’ hands,” Edwards said. “I know NASCAR is all for the same thing. Everybody wants this thing to be the best possible show for the fans and I don’t think NASCAR is scared to make changes.
“I think it’s really cool that they’ve been talking with the drivers more, they’ve been more involved with it. … I think we’re heading in the right direction.”
Whether the Kentucky changes are incorporated elsewhere will depend on what happens in the Quaker State 400.
“We’ve been very, very vigilant in talking about tighter racing,” O’Donnell said. “I think we’ve achieved that in terms of first to 43rd. You see that those teams are closer than ever, but we certainly want to see more lead changes on the race track.
“We’ll evaluate not only that but a number of different factors coming out of Kentucky and see what we can learn and potentially what we can implement down the road.”
Richard Childress Racing Announces Crew Chief Changes on Sprint Cup Program
Slugger Labbe to take over No. 3, Gil Martin to take over R&D leadership role
Welcome, N.C. (June 15, 2015) – Richard Childress Racing has made a change in crew chiefs for its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series program, effective immediately.
Veteran crew chief Richard “Slugger” Labbe will assume crew chief responsibilities for the No. 3 Dow/American Ethanol/Cheerios/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS team with Austin Dillon as the driver. Labbe’s first race with the team will be the Sonoma Raceway road-course event on Sunday, June 28.
Labbe’s wins include the 2003 Daytona 500 and 2011 Brickyard 400 championship, as part of 433 Cup starts to his credit. Dillon, a two-time NASCAR champion, is currently 23rd in driver’s points standings.
Martin will move into a leadership role within the RCR R&D Department, taking over Labbe’s responsibilities. As a Sprint Cup crew chief, Martin has visited Victory Lane 16 times in 472 NSCS starts, including a 2003 Brickyard 400 victory, and has finished in the top-10 in year-end championship points seven times. Martin also has eight wins to his credit in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.
during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 14, 2015 in Brooklyn, Michigan.
June 14, 2015
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
BROOKLYN, Mich. – Starting 24th in a backup car, Kurt Busch fought his way to the front of the field through intermittent rain showers and won Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway when a deluge halted the race after 138 of a scheduled 200 laps.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was second when NASCAR red-flagged the event for the fourth time. Martin Truex Jr. was credited with third, followed by Matt Kenseth and Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski.
The victory was Busch’s second of the season. He won for the third time at Michigan and for the 27th time in his career.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling to know what we went through, paced ourselves, and found the lead toward the latter part of the race when the rain came in,” Busch said in Victory Lane.
“You know what’s more special about this? Winning in Chevrolet’s backyard. That’s what’s most important about winning in Michigan, so thanks to Chevrolet.”
That his team had put in extra hours to ready a backup car after Busch hit the wall in Friday’s opening practice was not lost on the winning driver.
“Yeah, you have to get down and dirty,” Busch said. “You have to really roll-up your sleeves, get your elbows dirty, and put the work into it. And (crew chief) Tony Gibson makes these guys work a little extra hard.
“I always say thanks. I’m always there early with them. And it’s a great team chemistry feel.”
Busch grabbed the lead for the first time on Lap 133 when Kyle Larson’s gas-mileage gamble came up short and the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was forced to pit road for fuel just as a storm cell was advancing toward the speedway.
Busch had pushed Larson to the lead after a restart on Lap 130, but Larson hadn’t gotten fuel since Lap 88, and crew chief Chris Heroy was gambling that the rain would arrive before Larson ran out of gas. As it turned out, the rain came three laps too late for Heroy’s strategy to bear fruit.
The heavy thunderstorm arrived on Lap 136, forcing NASCAR to throw a caution and then to red-flag the race for the fourth time two laps later, with Busch out.
Busch also got an unintended assist from teammate Kevin Harvick, who led 63 laps in the race’s dominant car.
Harvick held a lead of roughly four seconds when he brought his No. 4 Chevrolet to pit road on Lap 120, but the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion had to return to his pit stall two laps later because of a flat right front tire. Harvick lost two laps in the process and was 29th when NASCAR called the race shortly after 6 p.m.
Earnhardt was on the inside beside Larson for the final restart, but the push from Busch propelled Larson to his short-lived lead, and Busch followed to the outside of Earnhardt’s car.
“When it came to the restarts, we didn’t take off as well as the 41,” Earnhardt said. “We saw the same thing at Charlotte, the 78 (Truex) and the 41 take off real good.
“We were just kind of tight waiting on the front to work, don’t have the good speed that they have the first three or four laps, and that was the difference today, and the 4 (Harvick) having the trouble he had. He had the field covered.”
If fortune favored Kurt Busch on Sunday, the same can’t be said for brother Kyle Busch, whose car slipped on damp asphalt in Turn 3 and shot into the outside wall to bring out the third caution on Lap 52. In what may be the decisive blow to his prospects of making the Chase after missing the first 11 races because of injuries sustained at Daytona in February, Busch finished 43rd.
during the NASCAR XFINITY Series Great Clips 250 Benefiting Paralyzed Veterans of America at Michigan International Speedway on June 13, 2015 in Brooklyn, Michigan.
June 13, 2015
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
BROOKLYN, Mich. – In his first NASCAR XFINITY Series race back from a broken right leg and left foot, Kyle Busch proved conclusively that he hasn’t lost a step.
Taking advantage of contact between the Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick and the Ford of polesitter Joey Logano—as those two drivers were battling for the lead—Busch passed Chase Elliott for the lead on lap 122 of 125 and held on to win Saturday’s Great Clips 250 at Michigan International Speedway.
Busch’s series-best 71st victory, his second at the two-mile track, came nearly two months after the driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was sidelined by a brutal Feb. 21 crash into a concrete wall in Turn 1 at Daytona International Speedway.
Busch returned to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series action in the Sprint All-Star Race in May, but deferred his XFINITY Series comeback to Saturday’s race at Michigan.
“It feels good,” Busch said after climbing from his car in Victory Lane. “This is only a preliminary for what we’ve got to do on Sundays (in the Sprint Cup Series), but it’s a start. You’ve got to start somewhere, right?
“I can’t say enough about this team. (Crew chief) Chris Gayle did an awesome job today with this race car. We messed up a little bit today on a pit call, but we made up for it. Hard racing today, man. It was crazy, the side-by-side action we got here. The track’s kind of widening out, lending itself to some cool action.”
After a restart on Lap 116, the race unraveled for Logano and Harvick. As the two drivers fought for the lead in Turn 3, with Logano to the outside, Harvick’s Chevrolet got loose and washed up the track into Logano’s Ford.
The right rear of Logano’s Ford brushed the outside wall, but both drivers were able to continue, albeit after losing several positions. Harvick finished sixth, and Logano, who led a race-high 54 laps came home seventh.
Harvick took responsibility for the incident.
“I just got loose underneath him,” Harvick explained. “I had a huge run down the back straightaway. That late in the race, I figured I need to try to win the race, and I got in there, and he was on the outside of me, but it was too late to not have contact at that point.
“So totally my fault. I just got loose under him going for the win.”
Harvick’s mea culpa was little consolation for Logano, who had the race’s dominant car for most of the day.
“We were racing for a win here, and it just seems like he drove in there pretty hard trying to slide me,” Logano said. “I drove up in there, too, and he got loose underneath me and got into my left rear and up we both went into the race track.
“It’s unfortunate. I had a fast Discount Tire Ford, obviously the winning car, leading a ton of laps and up there at the end of the race. I was racing hard, and he just drove over his head a little bit.”
Despite his runner-up finish, Elliott left Michigan disappointed he couldn’t find a way to keep Busch behind him in the closing laps.
“I’ll be honest—second does not feel good, to me at least,” Elliott said. “I thought we had a car good enough to compete today… We finally got ourselves in position there. We had two even-numbered restarts where we were six and fourth (in the preferred outside lane) that put us in position there to have an opportunity on that last restart.
“Obviously, the 22 (Logano) would have been really hard to beat, and Kevin got into him by accident and moved him up the race track. Obviously, that opened up our opportunity to have a shot at the win… (Kyle) is really good at what he does, and I don’t really have an excuse for it. So, yeah, he outran me.”
Kyle Larson finished third, followed by Chris Buescher, who extended his series lead to 25 points over Ty Dillon, who came home 13th. Elliott is third in the standings, 35 points back.
NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Great Clips 250 benefiting Paralyzed Veterans of America
Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn, Michigan
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Average Speed of Race Winner: 132.567 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 53 Mins, 09 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.477 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 26 laps.
Lead Changes: 13 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Logano(i) 1-9; B. Scott 10-15; K. Busch(i) 16-29; B. Scott 30-33; K. Busch(i) 34-42; J. Logano(i) 43-73; P. Menard(i) 74-78; C. Buescher 79-88; A. Almirola(i) 89; J. Logano(i) 90-92; C. Buescher 93-105; J. Logano(i) 106-116; C. Elliott 117-121; K. Busch(i) 122-125.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): J. Logano(i) 4 times for 54 laps; K. Busch(i) 3 times for 27 laps; C. Buescher 2 times for 23 laps; B. Scott 2 times for 10 laps; P. Menard(i) 1 time for 5 laps; C. Elliott 1 time for 5 laps; A. Almirola(i) 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points: C. Buescher – 489; T. Dillon – 464; C. Elliott – 454; R. Smith – 434; D. Wallace Jr. # – 428; E. Sadler – 414; B. Scott – 394; R. Reed – 378; B. Gaughan – 378; D. Suarez # – 369.
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