Sunday Michigan Notebook:
Flawless Car Takes Jeff Gordon To Victory Lane Again:
Lately the No. 24 Chevrolet SS looks like the Jeff Gordon of old.
On Sunday, Jeff Gordon delivered Hendrick Motorsports his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win of the season at Michigan International Speedway in the Pure Michigan 400. And other than a mechanical gremlin last weekend at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Gordon and the No. 24 bunch remain the hottest combination on track.
Furthermore, the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS that crew chief Alan Gustafson brought to the 2.0 mile speedway this weekend proved to have virtually the same dominance it had at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month. It won there too.
But, whether it’s the car, the team or crew chief, Gordon is poised to make a run at this NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship and not only attempt to deny teammate Jimmie Johnson a seventh championship crown, but instead bring Gordon his fifth championship ring.
“Everybody who is building the chassis and the bodies and the cars back at the shop; the engines are amazing,” said Gordon. “And then, I’ve got to give so much credit to Alan Gustafson and his crew. This guy is a great leader. I knew that he had this in him and he’s just been showing it by bringing great race cars every weekend. Today it was more than just a great race car, it took the whole team effort and making great calls and of course, I had a good restart again. That was fun. And these guys; they’re just awesome. Rick Hendrick is here and I love celebrating wins with him.”
Gordon, who claimed his 91st NSCS victory, admitted it wasn’t easy winning at Michigan International Speedway again for the first time in 13 years, but was adamant that everything (just) fell into place.
“It wasn’t easy. It’s never easy to win at any of these tracks, especially when aerodynamics and track position mean so much. I thought we learned a lot the last time we were here on track position. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) just called a perfect race. I kept getting on that inside lane and just not getting very good restarts. I knew it was going to get exciting with Kurt (Busch) and Joey (Logano). Those two are very, very aggressive; and of course Kurt got loose. That last restart was it. We had the car to win.
“Our car was amazing. But whoever got out in front had such a huge advantage. I got a good restart and Kevin (Harvick) for some reason, wasn’t getting good restarts, so Joey was sort of out there by himself and I was able to get to his quarter. When I got to his quarter, I dragged him back and I was able to shoot to the bottom and get by. But he made a heck of an effort. I thought he was going to get back by me; he almost did. And I just needed a couple of laps for my tires to come in and all of a sudden we were out front and setting sail and the checkered flag was waving. This is just unbelievably awesome. This is fantastic.”
Fantastic is putting it mildly. Of course, Jimmie Johnson is the favorite to win overall, but as it stands right now, it’s Jeff Gordon’s championship to lose.
Kevin Harvick Stands Behind Boss; Puts Tragedy Into Perspective:
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick recorded his fifth runner-up finish of the season Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, but it was obvious that his thoughts were still with his boss and the Kevin Ward Jr. family.
The past two weeks, Harvick, one of the most vocal drivers on the NSCS circuit, has remained mum on the situation that has kept his boss and friend on the sidelines for the past two races, but the driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS stood his ground Sunday post-race on how he felt Tony Stewart was being portrayed.
“It has been a difficult week,” Harvick offered. “I think the hardest part for me has been the way the whole media thing has shaken down. It’s an absolute tragic accident that has happened on both sides of the fence.
“You have one young man who is dead. You’ve got a guy that we know and are part of an organization that is just getting a lot of just crazy press. I’ve known Tony Stewart for a long time. You look, you know, you see what happened. I still don’t believe that he even knew that he ran into that car. I know for sure that Tony Stewart is not going to run over somebody that’s on a racetrack. I don’t think there’s anybody in this garage that would. It would be hard to find somebody in the racing world that could point that car, just run somebody over.”
The 38-year old Harvick noted that coverage from media outside the sport has in a way crucified Stewart without knowing him, the series (Sprint Car) and most importantly the facts.
“You have just a lot of unknowledgeable people reporting on a situation that know absolutely nothing about racing. It’s just really unfortunate, the perception that has been given to him.
I know he’ll stay strong and fight and he’ll get the right people and do all the right things.”
Brad Keselowski Bounces Back From Accident
It’s always important for Team Penske to do well at Michigan International Speedway. Not just because the 2.0-mile oval is nestled in the backyard of some of team owner Roger Penske’s corporations, but also because MIS serves as the trademark track for the manufacturers.
Brad Keselowski, the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, made the best of a potentially bad situation by finishing eighth in the Pure Michigan 400, 31 laps from the finish of the race, while leading, the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion creamed the Turn 1 wall after blowing a tire.
At first glance it appeared the damage would be enough to keep the No. 2 from a solid finish, let alone a competitive one. Though with the guidance of crew chief Paul Wolfe and Keselowski’s determination to bounce back in front of his hometown crowd, the blue deuce made the charge through the field to deliver his 11th top-10 finish of 2014.
“That was a good finish to come home eighth after hitting the wall,” said Keselowski. “We had some pretty good adversity there with the blown tire. I am not sure why that happened. We didn’t have any indication of it and there was no real reason to. I was about the least aggressive you could be and did a run before that where I was more aggressive and didn’t even come close to showing signs of an issue. I don’t know. I think we just got a bad tire. It is hard to say but the team did a hell of a job to overcome that and get an eighth place finish out of what should have been probably a 25th or 30th place finish.”
Keselowski, a two-time winner this season is a native of Rochester Hills, Michigan.
Bad Day Gets Worse For Kyle Larson At Michigan:
Kyle Larson’s chance of getting into the 2014 edition of The Chase took a glaring blow on Sunday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway.
The driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS showed speed throughout the weekend for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and had been dubbed by some as a potential first-time winner in the Pure Michigan 400.
But, instead of winning on Sunday afternoon, Larson finished last after his day went from bad to worse.
An early pit road collision with Dale Earnhardt Jr. damaged the left front of his Chevrolet SS and his race abruptly ended on Lap 98 when he slammed into the Turn 4 wall. His car caught fire as it rolled to a stop, but Larson quickly unbuckled from his automobile unscathed.
The last-place result dropped him from 10th to 14th in the standings and now puts an enormous amount of pressure to win or stay near the front in the next three races to ensure a spot in The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
“It’s just a shame we were up there in the points battle so we have to work even harder know with our Target Chevy to try and get in the Chase,” said Larson. “It sucks we had that deal happen on pit road it really killed our day. Just ended up blowing a right-front (tire) there. I thought we had a car capable of winning the race for sure. Before that competition caution we were really fast. I could pass people no problem and was catching the two in front of us. On pit road me and the No. 88 (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) got together. It messed the tow up and hurt the body too. Had a lot of work to do, but the Target team worked hard to get it back out there. Those right-front’s blowing do not feel good.”
Larson added, “Anytime you see flames you want to get out. I have had fires and stuff, but that is the first time I have ever had fumes or smoke and stuff in the cockpit. That is the main reason why I wanted to get out.
“It’s a shame I thought we had a car capable of winning the race today. We have been working really hard to get back up in points after our couple of DNF’s there a couple of months ago. Now we are back to that. It just stinks, but we will work hard. I think we have a great car every time we get on the track and Bristol is one of my favorite tracks so we will try to go there and get a win and not worry about points anymore.”
Locked And Secured:
With the completion of the Pure Michigan 400, the following drivers have locked themselves into the first round of The Chase for the Sprint Cup: A.J. Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
