Two Wins Down, Kenseth Going For Three
In a display of virtual perfection on and off pit road this past Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, Matt Kenseth (No. 17 USG Ford) and crew became the fourth team in NASCAR history to win the Daytona 500 and the following event.
What is even more impressive is the No. 17 team has the opportunity to become the first to win the first three races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, and just might do it.
Kenseth joined some elite company by starting off 2-0. Ironically, the last driver to pull off such a feat was four-time series champion, Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) in 1997, winning Daytona and Rockingham. Gordon, incidentally, battled Kenseth last weekend in the closing laps at ACS, finishing second.
The other two drivers to open with two wins are three-time series champion Cale Yarborough (1977, Daytona/Richmond); and seven-time champion, Richard Petty (1973, Daytona/Richmond).
After going all of 2008 without a win, the No. 17 team has turned it around by adding crew chief Drew Blickensderfer.
“I just feel great about the group we have assembled,” said Kenseth. “Everybody’s having fun. Everybody’s loose. Everybody’s performing at the same time. I think that, Drew has given the leadership and the spark they (the team) kind of needs.”
Kenseth heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway ready to keep the streak alive. He has a Loop Data Driver Rating of 107.8 at LVMS and an Average Running Position of 10.771 .
Kenseth has posted two wins, four top fives and five top 10s at Las Vegas in nine starts. Kenseth is first in the series standings 85-points ahead of Gordon.
Busch Brothers Head Home, Seeking Elusive Las Vegas Win
Las Vegas is the home of the Busch Brothers, Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota) and Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge), who grew up racing on the “bull-ring” dirt track across the street from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The Busch brothers had much success at the dirt track, but surprisingly, neither have won a NASCAR national series race at LVMS.
Both have kicked the ‘09 season off to a good start. Kurt Busch is third in the series standings with a 10th-place finish at Daytona, and a fifth-place finish at Auto Club Speedway. Kurt has posted one top five and two top 10s in eight starts at LVMS. He has a Driver Rating of 89.9 and an Average Running Position of 13.354 at the 1.5-mile oval.
Kyle Busch is 18th in the series standings after finishing 41st in the Daytona 500 and third in the Auto Club 500.
He became the first driver ever to win a NASCAR Nationwide Series and a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in the same day this past Saturday, sweeping the doubleheader at Auto Club Speedway.
Kyle will attempt to carry his momentum to Las Vegas this weekend. He has two top fives, three top 10s and a pole (2008) at LVMS. Loop Data has him ranked first at the track in Average Running Position with (6.777), third in Driver Rating (109.8), second in Quality Passes with (174) and second in Laps in Top 15 (93.1%).
Gordon Second In Points, And 11 Laps Shy Of 20,000 For His Career
Turning up the heat. That’s exactly what Jeff Gordon did at Auto Club Speedway, battling for the lead with Matt Kenseth.
Gordon, for the second week in a row, had the best finish by a Hendrick Motorsports driver, finishing second in the Auto Club 500. That followed a 13th in the Daytona 500.
As a result, Gordon is second in the series standings 85-points back from Kenseth.
This weekend ,the No. 24 team heads to Las Vegas with the confidence that comes with improvement.
“I’m so excited about this race team right now,“said Gordon. “I just think we’re head and shoulders above where we were (last year).”
Gordon has posted one win, five top fives and five top 10s at LVMS in 11 starts.
The Las Vegas-specific Loop Data has him ranked second in Average Running Position (7.446), second in Driver Rating (111.4), first in Quality Passes (186) and first in Laps in Top 15 (93.5%).
Gordon has the opportunity to reach a career milestone this weekend at LVMS. He is currently 11 laps shy of 20,000 laps run in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career.
Gordon’s teammates have not shared the same early success.
Of the three Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet) is fairing the best. He is 19th in the series standings after posting a 31st at Daytona and a ninth at the Auto Club Speedway.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a perfect place for Johnson to get the ball rolling.
Johnson has three consecutive wins (2005-‘07), three top fives and four top 10s in seven starts at LVMS.
Mark Martin (No. 5 Pop-Tarts/CARQUEST Chevrolet) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet) had their weekends cut short at Auto Club Speedway after both their engines expired.
Martin is 27th in the standings but is likely to turn out a good finish at LVMS. He won the inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup race there n 1998. He has since then posted five top fives and nine top 10s in 11 starts.
After being projected as a title contender in ‘09, Earnhardt can’t seem to catch a break this season.
After finishing 27th at Daytona, and his engine letting go at Auto Club Speedway en route to a 39th-place result, he is 35th in the series standings.
Roush Fenway Racing Picks ‘09 Up Where They Left ‘08 ’ Victory Lane
Jack Roush and his five-car team Roush Fenway Racing are building on the momentum left over from the end of 2008.
Not only has Matt Kenseth won the Daytona 500 and the Auto Club 500, but Carl Edwards (No. 99 Aflac Ford) finished the 2008 season winning three of the last four races including the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Roush also has four of his five cars in the top 10 in the 2009 series standings.
Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford) is fifth in the standings after a 20th-place finish at Daytona and a fourth-place at Auto Club Speedway.
David Ragan (No. 6 UPS Ford) is eighth in the standings after a sixth-place finish at Daytona and a 17th-place at ACS.
Carl Edwards is ninth in the standings after an 18th-place finish at Daytona and a seventh at ACS.
Roush has accumulated five straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series February wins at Auto Club Speedway.
The one catalyst that has sparked the No. 17 team and the whole Roush Fenway Racing organization this season is Drew Blickensderfer, crew chief of the No. 17.
As a rookie NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew chief Blickensderfer is 2-0.
He began his motorsports career seven years ago when Roush Fenway Racing hired him as a tire changer. Since then he has worked his way up to crew chief.
“Drew has brought magic to the team,” said Jack Roush. “He knows how to capitalize on the energy within a team. We needed that.”
“We had all the right team with the right skill sets on the team; we just needed somebody to create the magic. Drew has done that.”
The Roush Fenway camp heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend looking to keep there undefeated season alive.
Jack Roush leads all other car owners with six wins at LVMS.
Data Delivering Positive Outlook For Jimmie Johnson, Going Into Las Vegas
After two races, a number of 2008 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup participants are facing a daunting uphill climb if they want to make the 2009 edition.
Luckily for them, Las Vegas should be a perfect place for many to erase their early season woes.
On the top of that list is Jimmie Johnson, winner of three consecutive Las Vegas races from 2005-2007. Johnson currently sits 19th in series points, but a launch up the standings seems likely, if his statistics hold true.
Johnson owns series-best stats in Driver Rating (112.0) and Fastest Laps Run (149) and has solid numbers in Average Running Position (11.6), Green Flag Speed (164.583 mph) and Laps in the Top 15 percentage (70.2%).
Vegas native Kyle Busch is a spot ahead of Johnson, in 18th. That should improve this weekend, as Busch has a third-best Driver Rating of 109.8, a series-best Average Running Position of 6.8 and the fifth-most Fastest Laps Run (64).
Most figured Mark Martin would immediately jump to the top of the standings after rejoining the series on a full-time basis. That has yet to happen. Martin sits a surprising 27th, but is strong at Las Vegas. Since the inception of Loop Data in 2005, at Las Vegas, Martin has a Driver Rating of 96.8 (sixth-best), an Average Running Position of 12.2 (seventh), 36 Fastest Laps Run (eighth) and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 72.8% (fifth).
Even further back of the pack is Jeff Burton, who has made the Chase the last three years. Currently, he’s well off that pace, in 30th-place. But he, too, is strong at Las Vegas. At Vegas, Burton has a Driver Rating of 95.4 (seventh-best), an Average Running Position of 10.5 (third), 268 Green Flag Passes (second) and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 80.9% (third).
Last Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, Kevin Harvick ended a record-setting streak of 81 consecutive races running at the finish. His DNF knocked him to 16th in the standings. That position could improve, as he has a Driver Rating of 88.8 at Las Vegas.
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