kevin harvick

NASCAR Fan Dog-Owners: Want to Be on TV?

by Bruce Simmons on January 20, 2012

The TV show Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan will be visiting Daytona International Speedway on February 17-18 to film a NASCAR-centric episode. And one lucky dog-owning NASCAR fan from the Daytona region could find themselves showcased in the episode alongside two NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers.

Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan will be filming an episode focused on NASCAR and will include Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick for the first segments, and a fan for the third segment.

Kevin Harvick and his wife DeLana will be featured with their Chihuahua, Little One (LO), and Greg Biffle will select animals in need through his charity, the Greg Biffle Foundation.

How You Can Be On The Show:

“Boys Have At It” Does Work in NASCAR, But You Have To Catch Them First

by Bruce Simmons on November 7, 2011

A NASCAR Bits & Pieces opinion piece:

Classic fans of the latest NASCAR policy of letting the “Boys have at it” echoes back to the classic days when drivers policed themselves. It’s a practice I completely approve of, but when handled properly. Of course, in between the spats, we have new races each weekend to make more spats!

But all joking aside, emotions run high in any sport and this isn’t isolated to onl NASCAR .

Of late, boys having at it involves sheet metal and I mean lots of sheet metal. I’m going to try not to pull up my favorite examples of that, because if you’re a regular around these parts, you know my premise comes from how Carl dumped on Brad for an entire season, for whatever the reason.

But in the old days, having it it meant that when a driver did stupid things out on the track, other drivers would have a “conversation” with “that” driver in the garage, and more than likely, the stupid driver would not be so stupid in future events.

NASCAR Statistical Advance For the ‘AAA Texas 500′ At Texas Motor Speedway

by Bruce Simmons on November 2, 2011

Going into Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, the battle for the NASCAR 2011 championship is getting interesting. At least it looks like it is.

First up, the schedule for Texas:

NSCS

Next Race: AAA Texas 500
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
The Date: Sunday, Nov. 6
The Time: 3 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN, 2 p.m. (ET)
Radio: PRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
Distance: 501 miles (334 laps)

NNS

The Race: O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
The Date: Saturday, Nov. 5
The Time: 12:55 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN2, 12 p.m. (ET)
Radio: PRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
Distance: 300 miles (200 laps)

NCWTS

The Race: WinStar World Casino 350K
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
Date: Friday, Nov. 4
The Time: 8 p.m. (ET)
TV: SPEED, 7:30 p.m. (ET)
Radio: MRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
Distance: 220.5 miles (147 laps)

The top five drivers in the standings have curiously interesting stats. Though Matt Kenseth is 36 points behind Carl Edwards with only three races to go, all it would take is a fluke of a flat tire or even some from of karma from all the fender carnage that Edwards dished out last year and suddenly, Kenseth wouldn’t be that far back!

Looking at driver ratings, here’s how the top 6 spots shake out statistically…

Driver	[Driver Ratings Rank]
Matt Kenseth	1st
Tony Stewart	2nd
Jimmie Johnson	4th
Carl Edwards	5th
Kevin Harvick	14th
Brad Keselowski	32nd

But those are driver ratings that also score various factors like laps led, quality passes and a few other things that to me, don’t rate. To me, looking at the average finish of these drivers and see what’s going on there….

Driver	Average Texas Finish
Matt Kenseth	9th
Jimmie Johnson	10th
Tony Stewart	13th
Kevin Harvick	13th
Carl Edwards	16th
Brad Keselowski	24th

Depending on weather, how the car unloads, and various other unknown factors, these stats could mean absolutely nothing. The above average finishing spots are only a few points apart. Nothing huge and nothing that statistically threatens Edwards.

What I’d like to see is combining these stats with practice speeds and qualifying that that may very well be quite telling.

Martinsville’s Impact on the Chase, Edwards Retains Lead But For How Long?

by Bruce Simmons on October 31, 2011

This last weekend, NASCAR‘s TUMS Fast Relief 500 race from Martinsville mixed up the drivers points standings quite a bit…

The big surprise was that Carl Edwards pulled one out of his back pocket and found himself finishing 9th. But other contenders for the Cup had unfortunate finishes and dates with the wall, dropping themselves farther back in the points.

The great surprise for Tony Stewart fans was his battle to take the lead and win the race in front of Jimmie Johnson. Johnson could have dumped Stewart coming out of turn 4, headed for the checkers, but he didn’t. I was impressed by his self-control in the matter. Besides, he might have had to back his car into the wall if he did win! (D’oh!)

The finishing positions of the Chase Contenders looked like this:

FIN	DRIVER
1st	Tony Stewart
2nd	Jimmie Johnson
3rd	Jeff Gordon
4th	Kevin Harvick
5th	Denny Hamlin
7th	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
9th	Carl Edwards
10th	Ryan Newman
14th	Kurt Busch
17th	Brad Keselowski
27th	Kyle Busch
31st	Matt Kenseth

NASCAR Driver Stats Coming Into Martinsville’s “TUMS Fast Relief 500″

by Bruce Simmons on October 26, 2011

With NASCAR headed to the tight confines of the classic and timeless 1-mile paperclip track called Martinsville, we have numerous factors to ponder.

First and foremost is to remember the loss of so many from the NASCAR family so many years ago. That is something we will never forget.

But Martinsville is also known for the tight racing it produces and the frustrated tempers that can explode later.

Looking at our NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase Contenders coming into this Wheel-man’s track, even if Carl Edwards has been practicing on the simulator, or if he does poorly, statistics say he won’t be threatened too much by the 2nd and 3rd place contenders, though the 4th through 7th place drivers might be able to shore up their point spread a bit, if luck is on their side.

If any of these top-5 contenders win, each story will be a unique and fantastic story in and of themselves.. with Keselowski actually in the top-5, with Kenseth lurking with top-10 finishes, as is Harvick… And then there’s Stewart… he’s capable, but is his equipment? Regardless, I believe one of them will be the man who will be known for having dethroned Jimmie Johnson.

Below I look at each of drivers NASCAR season driver rating, and then compare and show their numbers as related to the track…

NASCAR ‘Good Sam Club 500′ at Talladega – Edwards Extends Point Lead

by Bruce Simmons on October 23, 2011

NASCAR has done it… they’ve made enough adjustments over the last few years and they have finally unpacked the pack of cars that we have been used to seeing over the years at Talladega.

But is that good or bad? We now have tandem drafting, with its own hazards, as the back car can’t see what the front car sees, or reacts to.

And that was seemingly what happened in several incidents at the Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega. With 72 lead changes amongst 26 drivers, Carl Edwards extended his championship points lead up to 14 points today.

And as you can see, the drafting and some race incidents impacted the Championship contenders…

FINISHING CHART for the ‘Good Sam Club 500:’

Finishing	CAR #	DRIVER
Pos. 1	33	Clint Bowyer
Pos. 2	31	Jeff Burton
Pos. 3	36	Dave Blaney
Pos. 4	2	Brad Keselowski	Chase Contender
Pos. 5	83	Brian Vickers
Pos. 6	4	Kasey Kahne
Pos. 7	14	Tony Stewart	Chase Contender
Pos. 8	11	Denny Hamlin	Chase Contender
Pos. 9	115	Michael Waltrip
Pos. 10	56	Martin Truex Jr.
Pos. 11	99	Carl Edwards	Chase Contender
Pos. 18	17	Matt Kenseth	Chase Contender
Pos. 25	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chase Contender
Pos. 26	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chase Contender
Pos. 27	24	Jeff Gordon	Chase Contender
Pos. 32	29	Kevin Harvick	Chase Contender
Pos. 33	18	Kyle Busch	Chase Contender
Pos. 36	22	Kurt Busch	Chase Contender
Pos. 38	39	Ryan Newman	Chase Contender

NASCAR Bits & Pieces Perspectives On The Talladega Race This Weekend

by Bruce Simmons on October 20, 2011

This weekend, we have the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series leagues hitting up Talladega Superspeedway. Specifically, we’re looking at the Cup Series winding down and who will win the championship. I have schedules, some thoughts, then point standings and at the bottom, some Talladega-specific stats for the top-12 spots.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Next Race: Good Sam Club 500
The Place: Talladega Superspeedway
The Date: Sunday, Oct. 23
The Time: 2:00 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN, 1 p.m. (ET)
Radio: MRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
Distance: 500 miles (188 laps)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

The Race: Coca Cola 250 Powered by Fred’s
The Place: Talladega Superspeedway
Date: Saturday, Oct. 22
The Time: 4 p.m. (ET)
TV: SPEED, 3:30 p.m. (ET)
Radio: MRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
Distance: 250.04 miles (94 laps)

Jimmie Needs to Points Race (Play if Safe)

Coming into the superspeedway, Carl Edwards has a five-point lead over Kevin Harvick coming into Talladega, and Jimmie Johnson‘s mistake that put him into a wall at Charlotte dropped him five spots, down into 8th, and 35 points out of first. If Talladega strikes at him like it does when those big wrecks happen, we could be writing off Jimmie Johnson’s chances for the NASCAR title for 2011.

Carl Edwards Should Worry

Coming into Talladega, Edwards has the points lead, but this track does not like him. Looking at Loop Data, this is his worse track, with a driver rating of 67.8, an average finish of 20th.

But that’s how dancing with this track can be. And it can be ugly to points leaders:

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NASCAR: Kansas In The Books, Edwards Adopts Points Lead from Harvick

by Bruce Simmons on October 10, 2011

With the NASCAR‘s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway in the books, it looked like another points blender event in The Chase, and we’re suddenly starting to see a pattern developing with the top 6 spots in The Chase for the Cup. And one of those patterns involves the last ten races and a certain blue & silver car team turning it on.

Jimmie Johnson won the Hollywood Casino 400 as he paced the field, while forty-two other cars jockeyed for positions behind the blue & silver Lowe’s Chevy No. 48 car for the entire race. And Jimmie Johnson winning moved himself 2 more spots up the points standings, putting him in third place, only 4 points out of first.

And after Kansas, there are now only nine teams within one race’s worth of points (43, not counting bonuses) behind the points leader.

Here’s how it’s looking after Kansas:

1st: Despite straggling along all day, Carl Edwards managed a 5th place finish and that was good enough to propel him 1 spot up the standings into the points lead.

The [AAA 400] Mixed Up the Standings After Kurt’s NASCAR Win

by Bruce Simmons on October 2, 2011

This Sunday at Dover, the NASCAR gang tackled the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. The first highlight of the day was when A.J. Allmendinger got tapped a bit by Denny Hamlin and he did what I call a “splide,” which is when a potential spin is turned into nothing but a very long, sideways slide by the driver!

Dale Earnhardt Jr. started having issues early, but fortunate timing on many fronts save him and he got back into the fray but then ended up 24th.

Part way into the race, Carl Edwards found himself a recipient of a pit road penalty. But a lucky dog got him back on the lead lap and he got back into third.

Then Jimmie Johnson took over the race for a while, until in the late laps, Kurt Busch took it from him on a restart and he never looked back!

Tony Stewart dinged his championship efforts with a 25th place finish. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 24th, Ryan Newman 24th; Brad Keselowski 20th; Denny Hamlin 18th; Jeff Gordon 12th.

After today, Kevin Harvick slipped into the top spot in the points, Carl Edwards 2nd. (Kevin has 1st by virtue of more wins.). The biggest movers were Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch, moving up 5 spots each.