pocono-raceway

NASCAR – Gordon Wins and Hendrick Scores With All 4 Cars in Rain Shortened Pennsylvania 400 from Pocono

August 6, 2012 by Jay Tomchuk 1 Comment

After the season he has had so far this year, Jeff Gordon will take a win anyway he can get it. Having everything that could possibly go wrong already happen to him so far this season, a little bit of good luck was bound to finally blow his way. And blow it did, as a major weather system blew in dumping torrential rain in Pocono, effectively ending the Pennsylvania 400 62 laps short of a full race, only 18 laps past the halfway mark, making it a complete race in the books. Not only was this a win for Gordon on the track, the points race looks a whole lot better from his perspective with this win. Moving into 13th in points + the win puts him in place for the wild card spot to get into the chase for the 2012 Sprint Cup, a spot he knew he needed a win to get to.

“It’s nice to know that things can still go our way,” Gordon said. “The way our year has gone, we’ll definitely take it like this. I tell you what, with all the things that have gone wrong for us this year, I’m hoping that this is the one that makes up for it all.”

Gordon took the lead when his teammate Jimmie Johnson got loose on the final restart of the race, sliding up the track into Matt Kenseth causing them both to slide back on the track and taking out Denny Hamlin’s #11 car as well.

“I’ve never seen the seas part like that,” said Gordon. “I got a good restart, so I really got up to fifth as we were getting into the braking zone going into 1. I don’t know what happened to the 48. I just saw he got loose, and when he got loose, it took everybody that was in front of us up the race track or into the wall.

“I just made it right to the bottom, stood in the gas and drove out … and we were leading.”

Hendrick teammate Kasey Kahne also got the benefit of the wreck moving up into the 2nd spot on the track and as the caution came out they realized that his left rear tie was flat and would need changing should the race go back to green, which of course never happened.

And to make the rain soaked miracle even better, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had been knocked back to 32nd because of a blown transmission and was looking at a loss of 3 positions in the points, retained the top spot as Matt Kenseth slid backwards in the wreck with the 48. Greg Biffle was also moved backwards allowing Johnson to finish well enough to retain his 4th place standings in the points as well. All 4 Hendrick teams are now in contention to make the chase because of Jimmie Johnson’s accident. Funny how things work out like that.

Dale Jr had what looked to be the fastest car on the track. Johnson had just taken the lead away from him when his transmission issue happened.

“We had a good run going,” he said. “This Chevrolet was pretty fast. Jimmie [Johnson had] the quickest car out there. But we felt like we might be able to work on ours and get a little better.”

“We put it in [Saturday] and during qualifying it was fine,” said Earnhardt. “When we restarted [on Lap 23], it was kind of aggressive, and then [we experienced] a bit of a vibration. The car was just really out of time, and it just kind of started missing some shifts and [was] difficult to get in gear.

“Finally, in third and fourth [gear] coming out of the tunnel, it didn’t have any fourth. Then I didn’t have third.”

After Jr. lost his transmission, Kahne started feeling vibrations in his gear box as well. At first he was worried, but his fears were laid to rest when his crew chief talked with Letarte and they advised Kahne it was not the same issue.

“I don’t think I really had much of a problem,” Kahne said. ” I think I was worried because Junior broke one or broke something with the transmission, I’m not sure what. I was struggling with mine a little bit when that happened … so I just quit shifting for a while, and I was a lot slower.

“[Earnhardt’s crew chief] Steve Letarte said it wasn’t a big deal. What happened with them was not what I feel was going on with mine. So from that point on, I focused on shifting again and didn’t even have an issue. Once I quit worrying about it, we were flying.”

So it appears that Mother Nature is indeed a fan of racing, and her team of choice is none other than Hendrick Motorsports. Why else would all of the bad luck the Gordon has experienced all season be wiped out by a single rainstorm just when the timing was perfect?

NASCAR – Broken Foot and All, Kesolowski Gets His Second Win in 2011 at Pocono

August 9, 2011 by Jay Tomchuk Leave a Comment

Brad Kesolowski in the "Blue Deuce" #2 Miller Lite Dodge - Image courtesy of JDTImages

After a spectacular crash earlier in the week at Road Atlanta, no one expected much out of Brad Kesolowski except that he would finish the race if it killed him.Ã‚Â With some very strategic calls during the rain delayed race however, gaining track position by pitting before the rain delay, Kesolowski moved to the front of the field and never looked back.Ã‚Â So with his stiff and sore back, and a swollen broken ankle, he pushed himself to endure and play through the pain to take the checkered flag at Pocono on Sunday, in the Good Sam’s RV Insurance 400.

This win and the points earned in achieving it, have put Brad in an excellent position as the regular season winds down.Ã‚Â Being the only driver with 2 wins in the standings positions between 11th and 20th, he is in the top spot for the first wild card slot in the chase for the championship.

While some gave him hero status for racing as injured as he was, Kesolowski was quick to down play that idea.

“I’m no hero,” Keselowski said. “The heroes are the guys [who have] died in Afghanistan this weekend. I want to spend time thinking about them. They’re my inspiration for this weekend, the things that those guys do.

“I’m glad that we could win today, but those are the heroes. I just drive race cars for a living.”

Kurt Busch - Images courtesy of JDTImages.

Kurt Busch, The race’s third place finisher and teammate to Brad Kesolowski, gave him a lot more credit than that.

“It’s amazing what the body can do,” Busch said. “For him to go through that wreck this week and get back on his horse right away and find success, that’s only going to make Brad Keselowski a better racer.”

Kurt Busch had his own issues on the track while battling hard to hold on to his third place position with the #48 of Jimmie Johnson.

“For us to beat the No. 48, I mean, we’ve had our battles and a lot of times I come out on the short end of the stick,” Busch said. “But what I saw [in the replays] was good, hard racing; where one guy jukes at the other, the other guy jukes back and rubs you a little bit — that’s racing.

“That’s what race fans love to see. That’s what they bought this ticket for. That’s what they’re sitting in the grandstands rooting on their favorite driver for is to see him get out there, mix it up clean and bring it home just like we were, third and fourth.”

“What we do is just race hard on the track every week,” Busch said. “That’s the way I’d like it to be documented, and if we watch the tape, we’ll see that the No. 48 swerved into us first and I know that, before even watching the tape.”

Jimmie Johnson - Image courtesy of JDTImages.

Johnson, of course has his own opinion of the way things played out.

“Man, I worked him over for 10 or 15 laps and had the opportunity to screw him up and had the opportunity to run into him and never did it. Then, off of 2 he claims I turned down on him, and I don’t have a clue. He ran over me on the corner exit and that’s where it all started.”

“It was a good battle — man, I worked hard to get by him,” Johnson said. I got to the outside of him off of [Turn] 2 and I don’t know, he ran over the side of me off of [Turn] 2. I didn’t really understand, as I took a lot of patience and gave him a lot of courtesy throughout the course of the day running him down.

“I could have run into him. I could have moved him a lot of different ways to get that position, but I didn’t. I went down there and passed him, and off of [Turn] 2 he ran me up into the wall — or tried to. And I held my ground so I wouldn’t get smashed in the fence.”

“Well, track position is everything,” Johnson said. “I have no problem racing hard. And we raced really hard all day long. I just don’t understand why, when I finally get position on [Kurt], he’s got to run all over the side of me down the straightaway.

“It was a great race. The thing is here, track position is everything. And every driver is at 10/10ths, trying to get what they can, when they can, because you can’t pass. And it took me that entire fuel run to set-up that pass and I finally got it done and then that problem happens. So that’s where my frustration comes in.

“I’m not going to run people over to pass them. That’s just not me. I worked on him for however many laps trying to get by him clean, fair and square and as I got next to him we had that issue off of [Turn] 2. I just keep filing things away. I’ll remember this stuff. There’s a couple of other guys out there that have been pushing their luck, too.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr - Image courtesy of JDTImages.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. looked like he was back on his game again, starting back in the 19th position when the green flag dropped, he ran up in the top 10 for most of the afternoon and finished in 9th place, keeping him in 10th place int eh chase standings, 1 point behind Tony Stewart and 23 points ahead of Denny Hamlin.

Dale Jr., who at one time was fielding the car for Brad Kesolowski in the Nationwide Series had nothing but good things to say about his former driver.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“HeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a good driver and a great guy, and heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s not going to let his opportunities pass him by. He wants to drive every lap he can drive. I bet it was tough for him to not run the Nationwide race [Saturday night at Iowa], but thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s probably what made the difference today for him.Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢

NASCAR – Toyota Sits 1,2,3 With Logano on The Pole

August 6, 2011 by Jay Tomchuk Leave a Comment

Joey Logano posing with a fan during the driver's intro parade at Texas Motorspeedway in April - Image courtesy of JDTImages.ca

Joey Logano is sitting pretty to start the race in Pocono tomorrow for the Good Sam RV Insurance 500.Ã‚Â Taking the lead mid way through the knock out qualifying round, Logano’s time ofÃ‚Â Ã‚Â 52.309 seconds at a speed of 172.055 mph was good enough to hold off the rest of the 20 qualifiers who ran after he did.Ã‚Â This is Joey’s second pole of the season and the third of his career in Sprint Cup, all of that time with Joe Gibbs Racing.Ã‚Â With all the speculation this week around where Carl Edwards was going, I’m sure that Joey is glad to know he is secure now at JGR in the #20 car as Edwards re-signed with Roush, ending speculation that he would be leaving in favor of an offer from JGR and Toyota to run the #20 car in the 2012 season.

Kasey Kahne will once again start from the second spot on the grid in his #4 Red Bull Toyota followed by Martin Truex Jr. in the #56 Michael Waltrip Racing NAPA car lining Toyota up for a 1,2,3 start for tomorrow’s race.Ã‚Â Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch round out the rest of the top 5.

Carl Edwards - Image courtesy of JDTImages.ca

Speculation around Carl Edwards finally ended this week with the announcement that Carl will be staying with Roush Racing in the #99 Ford for the foreseeable future.

“I sincerely appreciate the amazing opportunity that Jack Roush has given me in this sport and am honored to race for him,” Edwards said. “As an organization, Roush Fenway provides the resources I need to win, and as a driver, that’s the most important thing. We’re having a fun season on the race track as we’re leading the points and in great position for the Chase. That’s the result of a lot of hard work from the men and women at Roush Fenway, Ford Motor Company and Roush Yates Engines. I really enjoy competing with this group and looking forward to continuing that relationship into the future.”

Jack Roush, owner of Roush Racing,Ã‚Â was equally excited in his announcement about Edwards remaining with his racing team.

“Carl Edwards has achieved a level of success on and off track that would put him at the top of the list for any race team,” said Roush. “Carl and the No. 99 team are having a terrific season again this year, and we’re thrilled that our relationship will continue for many more.”

“We saw great potential in Carl a decade ago, and it’s been a thrill to watch him grow into one of the sports’ premier drivers behind the wheel of the No. 99,” added Roush. “We didn’t take our past success for granted when we sat down with Carl to talk about his future. As an organization, we approach each week with an intense focus on being successful in the race to come. Carl’s position atop the points is a testament to that diligence.”

The other drama in the garage this weekend was all about Brad Kesolowski and his crash during testing atÃ‚Â Road Atlanta.Ã‚Â He was awake and alert and tweeting away shortly after the crash and had this to say in one of his tweets.

“Looks like I’ll be OK to race this weekend,” he tweeted. “Blue deuce, not so much. I’ll keep u posted.”

In a short meeting with the media Brad was able to expand on how he is feeling and what challenges he will face during the race at Pocono.

“Both feet are tore up pretty good,” Keselowski said. “But certainly I’m still able to do what I want to do. I’m not gonna get out (of the car) on Sunday — I don’t care how much it hurts me.”

“(The brace) makes my foot move as one with my leg, which makes it a lot easier,” Keselowski said. “But then again you can’t really use the ball of your foot to modulate the brake pedal, and getting through Turns 2 and 3 here really requires a lot of finesse with the brake pedal, so (the brace)Ã‚Â makes it a little more complicated.”

“You come to Pocono and Turn 1 is pretty fast,” Keselowski said. “I ran over something and cut down a left rear tire. Glad to bring the Blue Deuce, at least in one piece on the race track. Other than the tires, we’ve got no damage.”

“Drivers have been calling about getting into my car,” Keselowski said. “But I’m not getting out. This is our life. This is what I do. I drive race cars for a living. And the second someone else gets in there, you just got replaced.

“And you fight so hard to find your seat, your spot and your way in this sport, that you’re not going to let somebody else replace you.”

Brad Kesolowski sits 21st in points right now, only 12 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya, and is close enough to make a wild card spot in the chase if he can get himself back into the top 20.

Dale Earnhardt Jr qualified 19th behind Teammate Jimmie Johnson who sits in 18th.Ã‚Â Tony Stewart had a terrible qualifying run landing himself in 28th on the grid, 3 positions ahead of Jeff Gordon, the winner from the spring race this year at Pocono,Ã‚Â who also had a bad run landing himself in 31st.

Video: The Garage gets wet over the Lotus Exige S260

December 14, 2009 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Most of us around The Garage have a bit of a thing for cars that bear the Lotus name. The more recent models from the house that Colin built follow the less is more philosophy truly embody the spirit of the marque, having light weight and high performance. The very limited edition Exige S260 has even more (less?) added lightness along with a healthy dose of extra oomph.

Of course when I got behind the wheel, the S260 had substantial removed lightness! Some folks have complained that the cockpit is too tight, but even with my substantial girth I found it comfortably snug. Ok, with Kevin Smith from Lotus and I wedged in there it was a little more than snug but at least we didn’t have to brace ourselves against the Exige’s massive cornering forces.

Even in the rain, on nearly slick tires, the S260 is one of the most capable cars I’ve ever driven. The car reacts to even a hint of movement of the pedals or steering wheel, almost as if you could drive it with telepathy. With gentle, progressive throttle application past a wet apex, the car explodes down the track unlike any other 4 cylinder. At the end of the long straight, one must learn to leave braking well beyond where one would brake in any other car even when traveling at much higher speeds. At just a tick over 2,000 pounds, with gigantic racing brakes, the Exige brakes even more explosively than it accelerates. I imagine this is what the brakes in a formula car must feel like. I’ll never know, as it isn’t likely that anyone is building a XXL Formula Ford any time soon!

When it was my turn to get out of the Lotus, not only did I not want to, but I almost wasn’t able. The exit hole is rather small. Our video guru, Scott Simmons, was nice enough to cut out most of that footage!

After my play time, we sent Scott out on the track with Smith to get some video and he in turn has provided us with some great Frankenheimer inspired on track commentary from the Lotus rep.

Of course the video is after the break!
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Getting wet in the 2010 MazdaSpeed3

November 17, 2009 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Every year at Test Days, there is one car that surprises me. Several of our journo friends have driven the 2010 Mazdaspeed3 on the track and were blown away by how capable it was and yet somehow I was unprepared for how incredible this car is. In fact, the Speed3 exhibited so much grip and accelerated so hard during our wet session that I actually thought it was an AWD car! This machine is just wicked!

Now, enough from me. I hope you enjoy our newest video.

Getting wet in the 2010 Kia Soul

October 27, 2009 by Gary Grant 1 Comment

Anyone who has known me for a while knows that my taste in cars can be best described as somewhat eclectic. Why else would I decide we should do a wet track day video of the Kia Soul. Funky and fun it is. Fast is ain’t. Really though, the rain at Pocono had been coming down really hard and the whole team was getting fed up with feeling like a bag of soggy buns. We needed a nice warm, dry spot to perk us up a bit and some kind soul had left the Soul running. With the defrosters on full. It was just what the doctor ordered, so we thought we’d shoot a bit of video from the inside.

IMPA Test Days 2009 Teaser

October 9, 2009 by Gary Grant 8 Comments

For the second year in a row, we’ve brought video guru Scott Simmons to the International Motor Press Association’s Test Days in the Poconos. A day on the hill is followed by a day lapping Pocono Raceway. Last year we got to muddy things up a bit in the trucks, while this year was dry as a bone on day one. We got some great on road footage and spent far too much time in a big orange Ford. If off road day was a little too dry, Mother Nature made up for it by dropping enough rain to make Noah nervous on track day. Always up for a challenge, our team of Scott, Tom Williams and I made the best of the weather and still took some rather soggy laps and managed to keep it on the pavement. This teaser video gives just a hint of what we have in store for you over the coming weeks!

2009 IMPA Test Days Wrap Up

September 16, 2009 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

For the third year in a row, we’ve made the trek from Ontario down to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania for the International Motor Press Association’s annual Test Days. Our merry band of miscreants grew to 3 this year, as Tom Williams joined video guru Scott Simmons and I in our quest to bring our readers more quality content.

Our objective this year was a bit different from past years where we’ve tried to cover as many vehicles as humanly possible in a short period of time. This year, Scott and I attempted to spend more quality time with each vehicle to put together another collection of videos. This being his first year at Test Days, Tom set out to drive as many cars as possible. Don’t worry though, Scott & Tom also did a few shoots. I’m sure the highlight of these will be from the time they spent driving the wicked Aston Martin DBS.

I suppose I had a two day long brain fart when it comes to photography. On day one, I got some great shots of the 2010 Ford SVT Raptor and everything after that is horribly overexposed. Yes, photoshop will help but it just isn’t the same! Day two was cold and rained hard all day and my camera didn’t leave Scott’s rented Dodge Journey. Oh well, I’ll just have to work with some of Tom’s pics and let the video do the visuals.

Here are a few highlights of the event from my eyes:

Most likely to be raced straight off the showroom floor
Ford’s 2010 SVT Raptor is a hard core off road speed machine. The numbers only tell part of the tale: 320 horsepower and 390 ft.-lb. of torque. Couple this with a suspension package that was designed with FOX Racing and you have a truck that is about as close to Baja ready as they come.

Biggest surprise
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Getting ready to shoot video at Pocono Raceway

September 7, 2009 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

We’re just a couple of days away from our annual trek to the Pocono Mountains for the International Motor Press Association’s Test Days. Last year we shot video for the first time and I was blown away by the results. Thanks to our video guru, Scott Simmons, we got some killer footage and even had a little bit of fun at my expense. This year, we need to kick it up a notch so we’ve picked up a StickyPod mounting system. This cool contraption attaches a camera pretty much anywhere on a car for interior and exterior shots. This year we’ll be able to show some fun angles on track, not to mention steady in car footage. Just for fun, check out the test video that Scott threw together to see what the setup was capable of.

IMPA wrap up

November 30, 2008 by Gary Grant 5 Comments

Over the past few months, we’ve been happy to bring you our first series of videos from the 2008 IMPA Test Days. On the track, through the mud and even on the streets of the Pocono Mountains we had some fun exploring the limits of cars, trucks and sanity.

This series was put together by our resident Video Ninja, Scott Simmons who stepped outside of his usual role as film editor and into the role of shotgun shooter. As you’ve all had fun watching my skill at decapitating cones, you already know that Scott has nerves of steel joining me at 140 mph!

For our final episode, crank up the speakers, as this one is an auditory delight. Be sure to watch right to the end to see why my kids need therapy.

IMPA 08 wrap-up from Scott Simmons on Vimeo.