As he prepares to determine where he will drive in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2011, Kevin Harvick says he hasn’t changed his mind about possibly driving in the series for himself. He just won’t do it.
Harvick’s contract with Richard Childress Racing ends after the 2010 season, and as early as last July Harvick gave indications that he was seriously considering leaving RCR, saying that he was focused on the present when asked about the future.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Rick Hendrick will not be at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday to see his race team make history.
HendrickThe car owner, guaranteed of his ninth Cup championship and 12th NASCAR national division title regardless of what happens in the season's final race, has returned to North Carolina to be with a niece who is in critical condition and being prepared for a liver transplant at a North Carolina hospital.
Hendrick's niece, 29-year-old Alesha Gainey, is the daughter of John Hendrick, who died along with nine others in the crash of a Hendrick Motorsports airplane en route to Martinsville Speedway in October of 2004. Gainey's sisters Jennifer and Kimberly also were among the victims of the accident.
"Rick obviously wishes that he could be here," said Hendrick general manager Marshall Carlson. "He's incredibly proud of the accomplishments of the team, and has asked me to personally express his total confidence in their capabilities. They know exactly what needs to be done, and they know how to do it. Rick's priority at this point is supporting his family at this critical time. Again, he wishes he could be here. He's so proud of the teams. But he needs to be back in North Carolina with his niece and her family."
NASCAR Number
By Roger Kuznia
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(November 21, 2009)
$100,688,921: Career winnings for Jeff Gordon in Sprint Cup racing, making him NASCAR's first $100-million man in that category. Gordon eclipsed $100 million at Auto Club Speedway last month. The next highest total is held by Jimmie Johnson, who has winnings totaling over $74 million.
Almirola hoping to shine in finale in Florida
By Tim Tuttle
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(November 18, 2009)
Aric Almirola has enjoyed a superb season in the Camping World Truck Series with seven top fives including two second-place finishes in 15 races. Almirola could bring it to a dazzling conclusion with his first victory in Friday’s Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“It’s been a great year that I’ve had running for Billy Ballew Motorsports and all of the sponsors that have supported me throughout the last 15 races,” Almirola said. “And I hope to take Graceway Pharmaceuticals and AKAwareness.com to victory lane to finish out the season.”
Almirola joined the Ballew team a third of the way into the season after starting the first seven Sprint Cup races in 2009 with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. He ran the full 25-race truck schedule in 2006 and had 33 total starts in trucks without a top five. More mature and experienced at age 25, Almirola was fourth at Memphis in his third start this season and has had 10 top 10s in the past 13 races.
“Our team has really stepped their game up,” Almirola said of the No. 15 Toyota’s progress. “We bring trucks to the racetrack every single weekend and they’re capable of winning and I think we’ve proved that. I can’t thank Billy enough for putting me in his trucks to race this season. It sort of worked out good for both of us. I needed a truck to drive, and Billy needed a driver.”
Almirola, from Tampa, is excited about racing in his home state, but disappointed it is the final race of 2009.
“It’s bittersweet,” Almirola said. “I love going to Florida any chance I get, but going to Homestead, you know the season is over. I just hope we can continue our relationship (with Ballew) into 2010. I’m very happy that (sponsors) came on board and helped us get through the end of the year, but God’s honest truth about next year, I have no clue.
“Last year, two years ago, I probably would’ve felt like a little bit of an outcast and felt like the minority going to Homestead and not having any idea what I’m doing next year. But for whatever the case may be, whether it’s the economy, whether it’s just people not sure of what’s going on, I really feel like the majority. It seems like half the garage in all three (NASCAR national) series are really unsure on their 2010 plans. There’s a lot of uncertainty going into next season, and I just seem to be a part of that.”
Notes: Ron Hornaday Jr. clinched his fourth truck championship last week at Phoenix and can clinch the owners’ title for Kevin Harvick Inc. by finishing ninth or better. Kyle Busch’s No. 51 Billy Ballew Toyota trails Hornaday’s No. 33 Chevrolet by 60 points. … Johnny Sauter has a commanding 52-point lead over Tayler Malsam for Raybestos Rookie of the Year.
November 16, 2008: Carl Edwards did everything he could, but Jimmie Johnson made sure Edwards’ best wasn’t good enough.
Edwards led the most laps and won Sunday’s Ford 400 to score his series-best ninth victory of the season, but Johnson claimed the big prize—his record-tying third straight Cup title—with a 15th-place finish that gave him a 69-point advantage over Edwards in the final standings.
Saving every drop of fuel he could, Edwards coasted across the finish line 7.548 seconds ahead of Kevin Harvick, who also conserved fuel after his final pit stop on Lap 201 of the 267-lap race. Jamie McMurray was third, followed by Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer.
Though Johnson’s accomplishment comes in a different era and under a different scoring system from that used in Cale Yarborough’s 1976-1978 run, the dominance of No. 48 team has been arguably more difficult to achieve, given the heightened level of competition in today’s Cup series.
Johnson solidified his legacy in typical fashion, with a huge assist from crew chief Chad Knaus, who got the No. 48 Chevy out front under caution on Lap 201 with a two-tire call in the pits. With Edwards and others trying to stretch fuel mileage to the limit, Knaus called Johnson to the pits for a splash of gas on Lap 254—just for security.
“From the first lap on track I knew we had a car that was in the ballpark and a car that I could drive to the front with,” Johnson said. “I felt very, very good once the race started. There were a couple of points where it was dicey at times, but all in all, I really felt like I was in control of where this car was on the track.
“It’s the ultimate reward. We worked so hard to put ourselves in this position. It is such a team sport. I can’t thank Chad Knaus enough. I guess he’s the first crew chief to win three in a row. It’s total teamwork and dedication. I’ve got to commend Carl Edwards and the effort he and his team put forth. Those guys put a lot of pressure on us this year, and they’re going to be a championship threat for years to come.”
Hendrick Nears Owner Record
Based upon owner championships won, Hendrick Motorsports is the New York Yankees of NASCAR.
Drivers in Rick Hendrick-owned cars and trucks have won 11 NASCAR national series titles. Either Jimmie Johnson or Mark Martin will add a record 12th championship on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The record currently is shared by Hendrick and Richard Childress Racing.
Four drivers — Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Terry Labonte and Jack Sprague — have won NASCAR national owner championships for Hendrick. Gordon, Johnson and Labonte won NASCAR Sprint Cup titles. Sprague is a three-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion.
Keselowski meets with NASCAR
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(November 15, 2009)
AVONDALE, Ariz.—In Saturday’s Nationwide Series race, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski were at it again.
After an on-track bumping incident that ended with Hamlin spinning out of control, the drivers exchanged pithy comments while Carl Edwards celebrated in victory lane. The contact between the cars was another episode in a running battle between Hamlin and Keselowski that dates to May 2008 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
With Hamlin all but promising to retaliate at Homestead in next Saturday’s season finale, NASCAR felt compelled to step in, calling Keselowski to a meeting Sunday morning in the sanctioning body’s transporter.
Keselowski met with NASCAR officials—including chairman and CEO Brian France—in the hauler’s inner sanctum, while his PR representative waited outside the door. The meeting clearly made an impression on Keselowski, 25, who will drive the No. 12 Penske racing Dodge full time in the Sprint Cup Series next season.
“Oh, man. We just had a ham sandwich—a good time,” Keselowski said facetiously before turning serious. “It went real well. I think that’s probably the most impressed I’ve been with NASCAR. I honestly will say that. And I’m not brainwashed in saying that, either. I really respected the fact that Brian France walked in there. That meant a lot to me. That’s really the first time I’ve ever had a conversation with him. I think that’s a good sign for the sport, that he was involved in that conversation.”
Keselowski declined to recount the conversation, but the clear implication was that NASCAR advised him to pick his battles more carefully.
“Without just talking about things that were talked about privately, I think the biggest message—because I don’t want you guys to speculate (on it)—was just trying to pick and choose who you want to be your friends and enemies in the sport and making sure that I understood that process and what it takes to make it at this level, and how you’re going to need friends down the line, and make sure you don’t alienate everybody, but at the same time to not give up on being a hard charger.
“I think that was the basic tone of the conversation. I’m just trying to figure out what it takes to be successful at this level, and I certainly don’t feel like I have all the answers, but I’m doing the best I can and welcome any advice I can get.”
Asked whether he felt compelled to change his driving style, Keselowski gave a measured response.
“You’re always changing your style,” he said. “You’re always progressing as a driver. Do I need to do things better? Oh, yeah. All the time. Is that specific to being aggressive? Sometimes. Sometimes not. Being aggressive is what’s gotten me here. Nobody’s handed me anything in my career—ever, ever. I’ve dug and clawed for everything I’ve gotten, and the only way to do that is by being aggressive.
“So that’s not to say that I need to be aggressive every race. No, there’s races where you need to play it cool and be smart. So it’s just trying to learn that timing and learning who you need to be your friends and who you can accept as being your enemies, no matter what you do.”
Nor was Keselowski specific about future interaction with Hamlin.
“I don’t really want to engage that,” he said. “I’m quite satisfied with my own role in the sport as it is with the other drivers. So I don’t feel a need to engage that particular situation.”
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