Controversial Penalty by NASCAR Helps Keselowski Claim Victory at Indy



Winning at Indy gets you a big kiss.



The Nationwide Series made its inaugural trip to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway today for the running of the Indy 250. A track rich in prestige and stature became the home for 43 of NASCAR stars as they took to the track a few hours ago.

When it comes to success at Indy, no one knows about that better than NASCAR and Indy Car owner Roger Penske, who has 15 Indy 500 victories as an owner.

Brad Keselowski, driving a Penske Dodge was able to hold off competitors today to win the Nationwide Series’ first race at Indianapolis.

“Any victory is very special here,” said Keselowski in victory lane.

However, that victory didn’t come without controversy.

Keselowski was able to pull away to victory after race leader Elliot Sadler was black flagged for passing the leader before the start finish line. Much to the displeasure of Sadler and team, they had to serve a penalty and come down pit road late in the race. With their shot at the win ruined by what seemed to be a bad call by NASCAR, Sadler finished 15^th.

When the race started, Kyle Busch passed pole sitter Kasey Kahne before the start finish line and there was no penalty. The Sadler situation looked exactly the same, but Sadler (a championship contender) was penalized by NASCAR. Busch is not racing for a championship in this series and was not penalized.

Despite the controversial call by NASCAR, Keselowski was able to pull away and take the victory.

It was the 100^th win for Penske Racing in NASCAR.

Keselowski’s Penske teammate Sam Hornish Jr. topped it off by finishing 2^nd, Ty Dillon ( in his 2^nd career NNS start)  3^rd, Denny Hamlin 4^th, and Ty’s big brother Austin rounding out the top 5.

After the race, Sadler and car owner Richard Childress went to voice their displeasures with NASCAR’s controversial call.

The Twitter world is doing the same.   

Send comments and follow me on Twitter, @Dontae_Allen

Nothing Like the Truth

A season of hope that started bad at Daytona and ended worse at Daytona

As kids, we were all raised with values taught to us by our parents and elders. They would teach us about respect, manners, and key virtues that have made some of us the people we are today.

For people like me, at times we had to learn the hard way. By not taking the advice to heart or straight defiance of authority, things didn’t always go according to the plan of a child’s when dealing with parents.

Despite the trials and tribulations we experienced as kids, there’s one virtue that I learned shall never let you down, honesty.

For AJ Allmendinger, the truth shall set you free.

As most of you should know by now, Allmendinger was suspended by NASCAR prior to the July 7^th race at Daytona International Speedway after failing a random drug test.

The announcement came as a shock to the NASCAR community and the story continues to be the buzz of the sport every, single, day. Why is this? It’s because everyone is pulsating for the truth.

NASCAR writer Jim Utter is infamous on Twitter for stating the “facts.”

The only facts of this case prior to today were that AJ failed a drug test and it was a positive test for a stimulant.

Originally I was at odds with the conversation about this suspension. I felt like the substance didn’t matter and the media and fans should just let it play out rather than rip him apart with speculation like the Jeremy Mayfield saga.

In that case Mayfield eventually brought it on himself with straight up lies, denial, and a barrage of legal issues that followed. However the thing that makes Mayfield different is the fact that he actually spoke up for himself and tried to fight NASCAR. He lost, but he was open to media and fans after the initial suspension.

Despite the speculation by the media and fans, both NASCAR and Allmendinger have been reluctant in exposing exactly what caused the positive test. AJ is in no way comparable to Mayfield, but both men should have remembered that honesty is the best way out.

Today it was announced by Allmendinger’s manager, Tara Ragan, that the failed test was for some type of amphetamine and they are working hard to find out where it could have came from.

This is indeed a “fact” but it’s the fact that we still don’t know what the exact substance was that triggered the positive test. This keeps the debate going.

To be clear, I am not a physician and have no credibility when it comes to medicine. However, it does not take a rocket scientist to know that there is more to the story that we still don’t know.

In the United States, stimulants and amphetamines are either legal via prescription medication or they’re illegal narcotic drugs. Both are on NASCAR’s illegal substances list, but like other important documents, it’s apparently locked and sealed stories below the ground because we don’t know what substances are on the list.

In Allmendinger’s case, it’s pretty simple. But, why are they trying to hide it?

If AJ were prescribed a drug like Adderall, which is a common drug to treat ADD/ADHD, then he could have told NASCAR about it or been upfront with the media and his fans. It is a legal form of amphetamine and his use of it would have put the pressure on NASCAR to answer the critics about its policy.

Any prescribed amphetamine to Allmendinger would have been examined by his doctors and NASCAR would have to allow him to use the medicine during race weekends. Case closed.

So was it illegal? The fact is we don’t know.

In a recovery program the first step is to be open about your problem. Allmendinger is faced with the trials and tribulations that plagued me as a child. Some of us learn the hard way and for AJ no one knows what his fate will be.

The best option is for him to let the truth set him free.

  The view expressed are those of the writer, send comments and follow me on

                                       Twitter, @Dontae_Allen

  

The Road-Course to Redemption

With only 11 races left until the cutoff for the Chase, time is running out for a number of teams outside the top 10 in points.

The competition is so tough this season that there doesn’t appear to be a driver that can go on a hot streak similar to Brad Keselowski’s remarkable run to make the Chase in 2011.

For a few drivers outside the top 10 looking in, the schedule could not have come to a better place than Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, a road course that has been dubbed by Kevin Harvick as NASCAR’s most difficult track.

Unlike the 34 other weekends on NASCAR’s Sprint Cup schedule, the two road course races bring out the best in some drivers.

For others like Harvick, they can’t wait to get it over with and back to tracks with strictly left turns.

Unfortunately for Harvick, Sonoma presents both left and right turns. However, there’s a select group of drivers outside the top 10 that love the challenge and hope that turning “right” will steer their season in the “right” direction.

Any driver is capable of doing what Keselowski did last year, but the race to the cutoff after race 26 is dwindling down. In order to make the Chase of 2012 teams have to capitalize on tracks where they know they should be successful.

Road course races are often taken for grant it, but this year the road courses can help drivers make the Chase. After all, all drivers fighting for the wildcard only has one win.

Winning on the road course race can catapult road experts like Ambrose, Gordon, and Montoya into the contention for one of those merited spots.

For these 3 teams, crunch time begins with the complexity of Sonoma, much to their delight.

DRIVERS ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

Jeff Gordon:  Undoubtedly NASCAR’s king of the road, Gordon practically holds every major record at Sonoma (wins, top5’s, top10’s). An up and down season has plagued Gordon, but coming to a track where Gordon has 5 wins has to have team 24 ready to pounce this weekend.

Gordon hasn’t won here since 2006, but he has an average finish of 5.2 since that win, including a 2^nd last year. Expect Gordon to be a contender before all is said and done, taking all chances to get see victory lane.

Marcos Ambrose: Last week’s pole at Michigan was huge for Ambrose and team. Backing it up with a solid 9^th place finish was evidence that Richard Petty Motorsports has made tremendous gains with catching the competition. Ambrose currently sits 17^th in the points and isn’t likely to race his way into the 10. Though he badly wants to win on an oval, it’s the road courses that Ambrose needs to win if he wants to make the Chase.  Given his record and abilities, I’d say he has a really good shot.

He broke through and won Watkins Glen last year, but at Sonoma he isn’t too shabby. After making an ill advised mistake and stalling the car while saving fuel late in the race, Ambrose lost a Sonoma race in 2010 after dominating all day. Sonoma has been good for Ambrose. Can he break through this weekend?

There are about 42 other drivers that know he will be a threat for the win. Ambrose starts on the pole. So far so good.

Juan Pablo Montoya:  If someone had told Juan that hitting the jet dryer at Daytona would cause his season to go up in smoke, he probably wouldn’t believe it. If you told him that he still has a chance to make the Chase, he would say, “tienes toda la razon,” you’re damn right. Montoya’s season has been a complete disappointment so far. For a driver that has raced on road courses throughout his illustrious career, a stop in wine country California can turn a bad season around in a heartbeat.

Montoya has won at both Sonoma (2007) and Watkins Glen (2010) and normally runs in the top 10 at these tracks. Sonoma requires aggression and there’s not a more forceful driver than Montoya. If he’s in contention late in the race, expect the Target car to have one aim, seeing the smoke. Rather than jet fuel, burning rubber from the tires will be the only smoke Montoya wants to see. Like Ambrose, Montoya needs to win both to make the Chase.

The view expressed are those of the writer, send comments and follow me on

                                       Twitter, @Dontae_Allen

Expect the Same at Pocono

There is nothing that makes the schedule more of a grind than when the Sprint Cup Series travels to the tricky triangle in Pocono, Pennsylvania.

Pocono Raceway has been a place where people have to exhibit a lot of patience.

Experience is thrown out the window as long as you have three important traits: endurance, resiliency, and pure toughness. After a race at Pocono, these traits are needed.

Okay, that’s enough about the viewers.

For drivers, the race is one of the most challenging of the tracks they travel to.

All 3 turns are shaped differently, making it difficult to get the perfect balance on the car. The race seems to always come down to strategy and fuel mileage no matter what happens during the race, making it frustrating if your strategy doesn’t work.

And, simply put, the race is long. It takes forever to complete.

Despite some changes to the races at Pocono,  expect the same results in today's race.

For the first time since 1974, Pocono Raceway will not have a 500 mile race. It was trimmed to 400 miles after years of complaints from viewers and people involved in the sport.

If you thought the Coke 6 long 600 was long, a 500 mile race at Pocono seemed worse.

Will cutting it to 400 miles change anything? I highly doubt it. 

Another recent change at Pocono was the repaving of racing surface.

Yesterday, Joey Logano set a qualifying record with an average lap of 179.598, eclipsing Kasey Kahne’s 2004 record  by over 7 seconds.

Wow! That’s fast. The new pavement was needed for all the bumps.

The feat by Logano was great, but 35 other drives also beat Kahne’s 04 qualifying time. This means that once the green flag drops at Pocono, don’t expect anything out of the ordinary.

The repave will give us something that the 400 miles gives us… a faster race. As a viewer, I see no problem with this.

However, I expect the racing to be the same.

The restarts will be WILD, drivers going 4 and 5 wide will make your heart race at home. Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin will be hard to beat, but others who've had success here can rise up (5,16,24,99). And no matter what happens in the first 300 miles, the last hundred miles will come down to strategy for track position and fuel mileage.

The only hindrance would be another thing that has been known to drag on a race here, Mother Nature. Today's forecast is sunny with a chance of an isolated thunderstorms.

Start building your stamina. Endurance may be required even for 400 miles.

The views are expressed are those of the writer. Follow me and send your comments to Twitter:

@Dontae_Allen

                                                                                                       

Who Will Rise Up?

2011 Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart and a blur of the competition looking to dethrown him.

At this point in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, it’s hard to decide the favorite to win this year’s championship.

Drivers like points leader, Greg Biffle, and second place Denny Hamlin are having great comeback seasons. Are they capable of taking the crown at season’s end? Time will tell.

Others like, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex Jr. have consistently been near the front of the points since Daytona, but will that pay off in the Chase without wins? History says no, ask Carl Edwards.

So far this season we have seen races with a lot of green flag laps. This year’s  Coke 600 was the biggest proprietor of all, setting the record for the fastest ever 600 mile race in history, putting the 234 consecutive at Texas on the backburner.

Some of the races have lacked the excitement they’ve been hyped up to be, this frustrates me as a fan like many of you. That said, no matter how many green flag laps or how “boring” (according to most) the races may seem, the end product is that the competition is perhaps better than ever.

If you take away the deficiency of drama, aka “wrecks”, the competition this season has been outstanding.

After 12 of 36 races this season, 9 different drivers have scored at least one win.

Drivers that  struggled the past few seasons have new found success. Dale Jr. can possible end his winless drought this year and team Hendrick Motorsports is back to form. What else could we ask for…more Danica?

With 14 races remaining until the Chase cutoff, teams are entering the summer stretch which can make or break their season.

Prepare yourselves because some races this summer will have long green flag stretches. However if the competition is anything like what we’ve seen so far, the drama will build as the cutoff point nears.

It’s too early to declare a champion but after completing a third of the season, some drivers stand out over others.

Will they continue the success, will they be the champion? Like the lottery, NASCAR is hard to predict, but like many of us we try to do it anyways. Now is my turn.

Here are my rankings on where drivers stack up at this point of the season and who I believe makes the top 10 in points as we enter the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Where They Stack Up

1)      Jimmie Johnson – If we take away the two restrictor plate tracks, Johnson’s worst finish is a 12^th at Martinsville. After wins at Darlington and the Sprint Allstar race, this team is showing the caliber that led them to 5 straight titles. With a little luck in the pits, the 48 team is the team to beat for the title. #6pack is trending.

2)      Denny Hamlin - When Joe Gibb’s Racing signed Darian Grubb, I knew it could  bring instant success. Hamlin is showing why he finished 2^nd in points a few years ago and is a rejuvenated man. Early wins at Phoenix and Kansas and an average finish of 8.8 has elevated Hamlin’s team into the conversation about title threats. The summer has been good in the past for Hamlin, winning at Pocono, Michigan, Richmond

3)      Greg Biffle – The current points leader is having a comeback year. Biffle and crew chief Matt Puccia have built a chemistry that Biffle had in earlier years when he was a championship threat. If you take away the short tracks and Darlington(12^th) Biffle’s worst finish is 6^th. Snapping his drought with the win at Texas was great for the Biff. I see another win coming before the Chase: Pocono, Michigan, Kentucky, or Indy

4)      Kyle Busch -  “Rowdy” has must have had a noise violation, because we haven’t heard a peep from him since last year. Kyle Busch however, is lurking around the corner. In what seems like a tame season for Kyle, the JGR cars are capable of winning any week. It is only a matter of time before Kyle lights it up and wins a few more races. He enters this weekend’s race at Pocono with four straight top 5 finishes. The 18 car is due for another race soon. Fortunately for Kyle Busch he can do that on any track.

5)      Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Junior Nation has had plenty to celebrate this season. Earnhardt leads all drivers with 9 top 10 finishes and in their second year together he and crew chief Steve Letarte are in racing harmony. Consistent finishes have kept Jr. in the top 5 in points. This won’t win the championship. A win is possible if Jr. keeps running the way he is, but unfortunately other than Daytona, I don’t have a track where he may be favored.

6)      Brad Keselowski – Brad seems to be hot one week, cold the next. Blame it on bad luck, blame it on misfortunes, the end result is that he can win races. Wins at Bristol and Talladega have put Brad in the catbird seat for making the Chase as a wildcard, but I think the blue deuce gets in via the top ten in points and will win more races. I’d watch out for this guy in the Chase.

7)      Tony Stewart – Last year’s champion has an uphill battle to defend the thrown of NASCAR. Though he has 2 wins this season, Stewart and new crew chief Steve Addington have struggled to find what they need on raceday. The first thing to fix is qualifying. With green flag racing being the norm, track position is everything, 5 top 10 starts for Smoke so far, not good. The summer, which is usually good for Smoke, will be a struggle I think. He will be close to the cut off bubble or may have to rely on the wild card.

8)      Carl Edwards – The 99 team has been consistent, but like last year, winning is more important. If Edwards wants to be in the title conversation, he has to join his other Roush teammates and get in victory lane. Consistency can only get you so far, why settle when you can get one more point.

9)      Kevin Harvick – For a guy nicknamed “Happy” it’s hard to see why Harvick would be happy about racing these days. With only two top 5 finishes, Harvick and crew chief Shane Wilson are still working out some kinks. If Harvick had a teammate at RCR that he could better relate to, things may be different. It will be tough, but Harvick is tough to count out of making the Chase. I think he barely stays in the top ten and creates some drama that fans and especially media members will enjoy.

10)  Kasey Kahne - Despite a rough start to the season Kahne has 6 straight top 10 finishes since Texas and has moved up to 15^th in the points. Getting his first win for Hendrick Motorsports in the Coke 600 last week gives him an extra boost of momentum heading into this crucial stretch of the season. It also helps when you qualify well. Other than Daytona, Kasey hasn’t started worse than 10^th.  Kahne wins a couple more races and sets himself up for his career best finish in points.

Outside Hoping for Wildcard Spot

·         Martin Truex Jr – Although he is currently 6^th in points, the 56 team has lost a little of their previous thunder. Truex has 7 top ten finishes and is capable of winning races, but they still have work to do. I think he falls out of the top 10 in points due to others’ success. He struggles for a stretch of the summer. He needs to win and win soon.

·         Ryan Newman – Though he won a wild race at Martinsville, Newman continues to be overshadowed by teammate and owner Tony Stewart. Only 3 top 10’s at this point in the season doesn’t get you far, so luckily Newman has a win. Another may be needed to make the Chase.

·         Jeff Gordon – Like Newman, Gordon only has 3 top 10’s. Despite a string of bad luck, Gordon and team were able to put a whole race together at Charlotte, finishing 8^th. Gordon isn’t close to the top 10 in points so the only way he makes the Chase is if he wins races. His team is more than capable and should have many chances in the next 14 races to make a wildcard spot. Pocono, the road courses, Bristol, and Atlanta are tracks where Gordon should be tough to beat.

·         Juan Pable Montoya – This may come as a surprise, but I think Montoya has a chance to make the Chase. Saying Chip Ganassi Racing is struggling is an understatement. However, Montoya is really good on the road course and larger tracks like Michigan and Pocono. If he can stay in the top 20 in points, Montoya is my dark horse to make the Chase.

Can these predictions come true? Time will tell.

The view expressed are those of the writer, send comments and follow me on

                   Twitter, @Dontae_Allen

Voters Get it Right by Not Electing Wendell Scott

On Wednesday, the five inductees to the 2013 NASCAR Hall of Fame were announced.

After the votes were tallied, including a tie for the final spot, those elected included some big names from NASCAR’s past and present.

For the new inductees: Rusty Wallace, Leonard Wood, Herb Thomas, Cotton Owens, and Buck Baker, there cannot be a greater appreciation of their success than being elected to the hall of fame.

There were 20 others who didn’t make the list. Amongst those was former driver, Wendell Scott.

As an African American I love the fact that Wendell Scott was the first (and still only) black driver to win a race in NASCAR’s biggest series. That’s history that can never be taken away.

Does that make him a hall of famer? Not for one second.

In sports, being elected to the hall of fame is the ultimate reward for one’s career. People that are elected have distinguished themselves from others who participated in their sport.

The 2013 inductees are all accomplished figures that have attributed to NASCAR’s history.

Electing Wendell Scott for the third class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame would have discredited the achievement, because the end result (statistics) should overshadow everything else.

We all know the history of racial tension in the United States during the 1950’s and 1960’s.  Scott knew these challenges before he chose to enter into NASCAR, a southern breed sport.

It was an immeasurable hurdle for Scott during his tenure in NASCAR.

He was able to fend off many of the obstacles and he obtained 1 series win. The win was in Jacksonville, FL in 1961. Due to the racial apprehension plaguing the south, Scott wasn’t awarded the win that night.

Ironically it was newly elected, Buck Baker who was declared the winner, though the entire field was 2 laps down to Scott at the finish. NASCAR later credited Scott with the win.

What happened in 1961 was unfortunate, but it’s 2012 people. We can’t change the past.

Electing someone to the hall of fame should be based on the results they produced throughout their career. There is no place in a hall of fame where voting should be determined by remorse or regret.

Without the racial difficulties, Scott’s statistics alone are not worthy of being in the hall of fame.

All drivers struggled during the 50’s and 60’s because sponsors were hard to find, for Scott and white drivers.  

Scott wasn’t the only driver to struggle during this time so he shouldn’t stand out on a ballot because he was black and won a race. He should stand out for his results which were no more than average, if even that.

For those that voted for Scott or would vote for Scott, I am sure he will get in within the next few years. After all, he did make history.

History is important. But for me, a good hall of fame is about inducting people whose history helped shape the sport in a major way. Scott’s journey in NASCAR was big for the sport, but it didn’t shape it in any form or fashion.

I don’t say these things out of spite, but for a rare change, voters in North Carolina got something right.

The views expressed are those of the writer. Send your comments and follow me on Twitter, @Dontae_Allen

Allstar Race Going in the Wrong Direction

Jimmie Johnson celebrating his 3rd Sprint Allstar race win

The 48 team from Hendrick Motorsports has dealt with many challenges that NASCAR has given them over the years. Last night Jimmie Johnson and team threw one right back at NASCAR.

When NASCAR changed the format for this year’s Sprint Cup Allstar race they hoped to bring excitement back to a race that had lost some of the excitement and drama we are accustomed to seeing.

The new format was made up of 5 segments: four 20 lap segments and a final 10 lap shootout. The winners from the first four segments were placed 1^st-4^th on the track. All d rivers had to make a mandatory 4 tire pit stop before the final 10 lap sprint.

Jimmie Johnson won the first segment. He was guaranteed to enter the pits first on the mandatory pit stop after segment 4.

After the first segment, Johnson drove Charlotte Motor Speedway like he was back at Talladega, just cruising along in the back, staying out of trouble.

There was no reason for the 48 to charge back up front because his segment 1 win was all of the racing he truly needed to do until the final shootout.

During the final 10 laps, Jimmie led the field to the green after his team got him out of the pits as the leader. A few minutes later, Johnson won his 3^rd allstar race as he drove away then held off a charging Brad Keselowski.

Prerace festivities

Johnson’s win was a slap in the face to the changes that NASCAR made to this year’s format. There was excitement and there were even fireworks, but unfortunately… it all happened during the prerace festivities.

Chad Knaus is somewhere smiling ear to ear I bet, because again this year he was able to beat the NASCAR rules. This time stinking up the show for fans watching.

Not to discredit the win, this team played within the rules and did what they had to do to win the race. No harm, no foul.

The only foul should be to the powers that be who decided this format would actually work. Did they not play out all of the possibilities?

 Here’s my take on it and what I think they should do to make the Allstar race once again a race to remember.  

MY FORMAT:

 120 laps-elimination style, top 30 in NSCS points, no fan vote,

If there would have been one more lap in last night’s race, things could have been different, according to Brad Keselowski.

As a spectator of this event, it seemed that every time I turned around or tried to check my Twitter account we were under caution, getting ready for another segment. Are four 20 lap segments really needed? Are the tires even warm? I don’t think so.

First I would make 4 segments:

1)      50 laps with a required green flag pit stop, teams have the option on tires. This gives drivers a long run to really see how the car is handling. Cars in position 26-30 are eliminated from the race. The winner receives compensation and starts segment 2 as the leader.

2)      30 laps, no stops required, drivers in positions 21-25 are eliminated from the race. The winner receives compensation and starts segment 3 as the leader.

3)      20 laps, no stops required, drivers in position 16-20 are eliminated from the race, the winner receives compensation and is the leader for the final shootout.

** 5 minute break, the race will be red flagged, teams will come down pit road and be allowed to make any change to the car within the NASCAR rulebook on pit road. This will gear the top 15 up for the final shootout.

4)      20 lap Sprint to the finish.

This format seems a bit like older formats that have been used, but I believe that adding more drivers to the show and eliminating them based on actual track position will make drivers go that much further and not give an inch on the track.

The fan vote will forever go to Dale Earnhardt, it is unfair to drivers like Bobby Labonte who got the fan vote because Jr. won the opening race. All of the drivers in the cup series are allstars, the best of the best. Having the top 30 in points would only create more excitement for the actual allstar race.

It seems like we’re changing things in NASCAR on a regular basis these days. Add something else to the list.

The views expressed are those of the writer. Send comments and follow me on                                 Twitter @Dontae_Allen