Slip Sliding Away in Michigan

NASCAR used this second race in Michigan as another (and probable last) time to try out the even-lower downforce package that they are considering for 2017.  Consequently all of the teams were dealing with some unknowns.  This was a relatively safe time to do some testing for the future, given that this track is not in the Chase.

Carl's Arris Surfboard Camry unloaded with a bit less speed than he has usually shown this year.  His practice speeds were consistent, with 10th, 11th, and 9th places.  And the three rounds of qualifying were similar:  12th, 10th, and 9th.  It turns out that those positions were a glimpse into the future.

The common race refrain from everyone was "loose loose loose."  The 19 Toyota was so loose on the first lap that Carl had to react quickly to catch the car as it was sliding up the racetrack.  As a result, he fell from 9th to 13th by the time he completed his first lap around the track.  He continued to lose positions until he was all the way back in 17th by the time the competition caution on lap 20.

His always speedy pit crew got him a few spots on pit road, so he restarted in 14th on lap 25.  A few laps later his teammate Kyle Busch spun out just inside of him, sending the 18 car sliding through the grass.  Remarkably he did not get into Carl or hit anyone else, ending up with no damage to his car.  Considering how loose everyone was, you would have expected a lot of cars spinning out this afternoon, but the race did not play out that way.

When the race resumed on lap 29 following Kyle's spin, Carl restarted in the 11th spot.  The   race went caution free for 89 laps, so we saw the usual Michigan green-flag pit stops.  Carl told his crew chief that his car was too free on entry and had no speed in turns three and four.  Dave Rogers responded with a significant air pressure adjustment and a wedge adjustment to accompany the four tires and fuel.  But that did not have much effect on his position.  Both before and after that green-flag pit stop, he ran between 10th and 14th.

The green flag laps were broken up with a debris caution on lap 118.  The orange and white Arris car pitted for four more tires and fuel.  But following the caution, the car continued to fall back through the field.  Within 25 laps, he was back as far as the 17th position.

When the final caution flag waved 14 laps before the end of the race, Carl had advanced only three positions.  The team elected to stay out, getting Carl the best track position of the entire race.    With 9 laps to go, he restarted in 5th place.  On older tires, he did fall back a few positions, eventually crossing the finish line in 7th.  He maintained the 4th spot on the Chase grid but moved up one position in the drivers' standings, from 4th to 3rd.

The Gibbs cars as a whole did not show the power they have usually demonstrated.  Carl's 7th place finish was the best of the bunch, with his teammates coming home in 9th, 13th, and 19th.  It does make you wonder if they will not do as well next year with the new even-lower downforce package.  Of course, there are other explanations to consider as well.  Perhaps they have not yet taken the time and money to work on next year.  Or they have and they are simply not showing their hand to their competitors.  In any case, it makes me wish extra hard that Carl aces this year's championship run, while JGR continues to run strong.

Meanwhile, the race announcers were busy preparing for a new race winner.  With young Chase Elliott leading the race, they spoke eloquently about the history of the 24 car, and how nobody but Jeff Gordon has ever won a race with that car number.  They had the cameras trained on Rick Hendrick as he watched his rookie run up front.  They described the nail biting that his crew chief was going through, and imagined how proud his father would be.

Well, they got their new race winner, but they had the number backwards.  Without any cameras focused on Chip Ganassi, Kyle Larson in the 42 car finally did what everyone knew he would eventually do.  He crossed the finish line first and kept going, doing doughnuts right into the winner's circle, and launching himself into the Chase.  He was so exciting that he literally leapt into the arms of his teammates.  During his interview in victory lane, the adrenaline surge left his legs so weak that he slid to the floor.  Welcome to the contenders, Mr. Larson.

5 Poles and 1,000 Laps Led

The Cup series visits Bristol twice each year.  The second visit is planned to be a night race.  This year it was a night-day-night race.  It started at night on Saturday, but was red flagged for rain after only 38 laps.  Rescheduled to resume at lunchtime on Sunday, the weather did not cooperate until the middle of the afternoon.  By the time the race ended, it was nighttime on Sunday.

In preparation for this race, Carl's practice times ranked him 9th and 10th in practice.  But in qualifying, he and his teammates led the way.  The Stanley Camry advanced through all qualifying rounds.  The Gibbs cars grabbed four of the top five positions, with Carl earning his fifth pole of the season.

Carl's car ranged between pretty good and downright speedy.  Because he started on the pole, he got to choose which lane he would start in.  Believing that the rosin put down on the inside lane would prove to be advantageous, he selected the inside lane.  Apparently that was not the best option, as he fell back 6 spots in the first 18 laps.  When the race was suspended for the night, he was in 7th place.

When the race resumed on Sunday afternoon, he continued the backward slide until he found himself in the 12th spot.  But that is as far back as he would go.  He started to move back up through the field, getting back one position at a time.  It took about 120 laps until he got back into the lead, the result of a top notch pit stop that got him off pit road first.  He held the lead for about 25 laps, just enough for reach 1,000 laps lead at Bristol!

There were several cautions brought out by spins and collisions that collected innocent cars.  Other than debris hitting his grill during one of the cautions, Carl managed to avoid all of the on-track obstacles.  In spite of that, he struggled to get back to the lead.  He ranged from 2nd to 9th, finally ending the race in 6th place.  He fell one spot on the Chase grid, from 3rd to 4th, but moved up one position in the drivers' standings, from 5th to 4th.

Leading the Pole Championship Race

Carl had a pretty good car in practice, finishing the first practice in 4th and the second and final practice in 10th.  But he really shined (shone?) in qualifying.  He was second in the first round, then went one spot better in the second and final round, grabbing his 4th pole of the season and his 20th of his Cup career.  He swept the poles for the road courses this season and has more poles this season than any other driver.  If there was a championship handed out for pole positions, he would be in the lead!

With Carl starting on the pole combined with holding the best average finish of 8.4 at Watkins Glen, best of any active driver, this looked to be a good race for him.  He led for the first 25 laps, until green flag pit stops got underway.  That is when his luck changed.

One of the tire changers removed the front right tire and pushed it toward the wall to be caught by a crew member on the other side of the wall.  But the push was a little off kilter, so instead of the tire getting close enough to the wall to be grabbed, it wobbled in front of and around the 19 car.  So on lap 30, Carl had to do a drive through on pit road, the penalty for an uncontrolled tire, dropping him to 30th place. 

Between other drivers completing their green flag pit stops and Carl getting around slower cars, he got back up to 14th place by the time the caution flag came out on lap 47.  Rather than pitting, they chose to stay out, putting him up near the head of the field.  On lap 52, he restarted in 2nd.

 

The field had only barely restarted when a big wreck brought out the red flag, parking the cars for over 13 minutes.  Once the track was cleaned up and the cars were allowed to move again, the 19 team pitted for 4 tires and fuel.  With struggles to get fuel into the car, they ended up restarting in 23rd when the race went green again on lap 56. 

 

Once again the race had barely resumed when another wreck brought the caution flag back out.  This time we were involved, but fortunately the damage was not so bad that we had to go to the garage.  His crew got him fixed up and back on the track in 30th place for the restart on lap 59.

 

Again he gained ground, passing cars, maneuvering his Stanley Toyota up to 14th.  On lap 83, another wreck brought out the second red flag of the race.  When the track was cleaned up and the race resumed, Carl restarted in 14th.  He spent the remaining 15 laps ranging between 14th and 17th, finally crossing the finish line in 15th place.  He maintained the 3rd spot on the Chase grid and 5th in the drivers' standings.

David Beats Goliath at Pocono

As we have come to expect, Dave Rogers brought Carl a fast Stanley Camry for the second Pocono race of the season.  All of the practices and qualifying rounds saw the 19 team in the top ten:  4th and 9th in the two practice sessions; and 1st, 2nd, and 2nd in the three qualifying rounds.  So they looked ahead to the race with a front-row starting position.

 

Mother Nature decided to throw a monkey wrench into the weekend schedule with stubborn Sunday rain.  The race was delayed until Monday morning, meaning that many of us (yours truly included) had to hide from social media and the news until we could watch a recording of the race.

Carl started out strong, running in the second position until the competition caution on lap 15.  His team opted for 4 tires when most other teams took 2, so he restarted in 14th.  Other than a quick caution for Truex putting his car into the outside wall, the race ran green for quite some time.  By the time the next caution flag waved on lap 60, Carl had moved his Toyota up to 6th.  He came off pit road in 3rd, but restarted 9th because a half a dozen cars did not pit.

 

On the restart, he fell back to 13th place.  During the next 35 laps, he ranged between 10th and 15th place.  Truex brought out the caution again on lap 99.  This time we did not pit, finally get back up near the front of the field in 4th place.

 

Mother Nature was not yet done with NASCAR, though.  On lap 131, with Carl in 8th place, the fog rolled in.  It was so thick you could not see across the raceway.  For several laps the cars continued to circle the track.  But as the raindrops started to fall, the race was red flagged and the cars were covered.  NASCAR waited some time before finally giving up and calling the race on lap 138 of 160.

 

During an interview after the race, Carl was disappointed that they could not complete the race, as he felt he had a car capable of better than an 8th place finish.  Coincidentally, that is the same finish he earned when the Cup series visited Pocono earlier this season.  He maintained the 3rd spot on the Chase grid, and moved up one position in the drivers' standings, from 6th to 5th.

 

While we always would prefer that Carl take the checkered flag and give us a backflip, it was fun to see that the race was won by Chris Buescher, a former teammate of Carl from his Roush days.  And Chris has Carl's former crew chief, Bob Osborne, sitting atop the pit box.  It was good to see him in victory lane once again.

 

This was Chris' first Cup win, and the first win by a rookie this season.  He is currently on loan from Roush to Front Row Motorsports, one of the underdog teams who try to battle with the big boys on a much smaller budget.  They do not get to taste victory very often, so it is especially sweet for them.  And the win is huge for their bottom line, both for the prize money as well as the increased interest from sponsors.

 

Chris' team now sits 6 points out of the top 30 in points.  If they can claw their way into the top 30, they will make the Chase.  If they do, that will have big repercussions from the bubble drivers trying to point their way into the playoffs, because one fewer spot will be available.  Carl may be safely in the Chase, but there will be plenty of storylines to watch between now and the middle of September.