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Looking into the FUTURE -...
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8 – THE DERRICK. / The News-Herald Wednesday, November 26, 2014 Ken Willis has been covering NASCAR for The Daytona Beach News-Journal for 27 years. Reach him at [email protected] QUESTIONS & ATTITUDE Compelling questions ... and maybe a few actual answers WHAT’S ON TAP? FEUD OF THE WEEK facebook.com/ nascardaytona @nascardaytona news-journalonline. com/nascar ONLINE EXTRAS FEEDBACK Do you have questions or comments about NASCAR This Week? Contact Godwin Kelly at godwin.kelly@news- jrnl.com or Ken Willis at ken. [email protected] CUP POINTS Godwin Kelly is the Daytona Beach News-Journal’s motorsports editor and has covered NASCAR for 30 years. Reach him at godwin. [email protected] GODWIN’S DAYTONA 500 PICKS SPEED FREAKS A couple questions we had to ask — ourselves HOT TOPICS: 3 ISSUES GENERATING A BUZZ 1. Kevin Harvick 5,043 2. Ryan Newman 5,042 3. Denny Hamlin 5,037 4. Joey Logano 5,028 5. Brad Keselowski 2,361 6. Jeff Gordon 2,348 7. Matt Kenseth 2,334 8. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2,301 9. Carl Edwards 2,288 10. Kyle Busch 2,285 11. Jimmie Johnson 2,274 12. Kurt Busch 2,263 13. AJ Allmendinger 2,260 14. Greg Biffle 2,247 15. Kasey Kahne 2,234 16. Aric Almirola 2,195 17. Kyle Larson 1,080 18. Jamie McMurray 1,014 19. Clint Bowyer 979 20. Austin Dillon 958 21. Paul Menard 944 22. Brian Vickers 921 23. Marcos Ambrose 870 24. Martin Truex Jr. 857 25. Tony Stewart 799 26. Casey Mears 782 27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 757 28. Danica Patrick 735 29. Justin Allgaier 636 30. David Gilliland 554 31. Cole Whitt 532 32. David Ragan 531 32. Michael Annett 531 34. Reed Sorenson 516 35. Alex Bowman 412 36. Josh Wise 405 37. Michael McDowell 255 38. Travis Kvapil 214 39. Ryan Truex 193 40. Terry Labonte 88 41. Jeff Burton 87 42. Michael Waltrip 76 43. David Stremme 75 FORECASTING THE 2015 TOP 10 KEVIN HARVICK Always give nod to the de- fending champ JIMMIE JOHNSON Will turn 40 next year JOEY LOGANO Looking like a longtime fixture BRAD KESELOWSKI Looking like a longtime agitator JEFF GORDON Still drivin’ for five CARL EDWARDS New seat, new chances MATT KENSETH First, end the losing streak JUNIOR EARNHARDT Breaking in a new crew chief KYLE LARSON Expectations will be bigger TONY STEWART 2015 will set tone for rest of his career Associated Press/TERRY RENNA The Kurt Busch case will likely be hard to digest for NASCAR. What are the big questions that need answering before 2015? There aren’t many, but the handful of issues facing NASCAR runs a wide range and will have impacts for the short and long term. For starters, there’s the Kurt Busch mess, which is different from NASCAR’s normal troubles that arise from time to time. If the legal system comes down firmly one way or another, it makes the job easy for NASCAR. If not, decisions will have to be made. Either way, Kurt’s career is teetering again. What else? Can Tony Stewart make a clean break from 2014 and become one of the faces of NASCAR again? Will Kyle Larson take the expected step to stardom? What’s the future of Sprint as title sponsor and is yet another name change in store for the top series? Will the newly branded Xfinity Series gain any traction and make the former Na- tionwide Series more of a marketable success? Will the Chase get another modification? Ah, the Chase … Will it? I’m still leaning against them making any tweaks this winter, but also still thinking they should look at a way to guarantee a non-winner doesn’t go through the Chase all the way to the final Sunday. If any changes come, that’ll be the focus. Or at least it should be. Hendrick Motorsports was the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Team of the Year based on sheer volume. The four-car operation, featuring drivers Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne, combined for 13 wins. All four drivers qualified for the Chase playoffs. Surprisingly, Team Penske was second in this category and posted similar numbers with only two Cup Series entries. “Bad” Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano com- bined for 11 wins and both made the Chase. And unlike Hendrick’s bunch, Logano made it through to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The only driver able to challenge the Hendrick- Penske wrestling match was Kevin Harvick, who capped the 2014 season with back-to-back victories to win the Cup Series championship. While Harvick figures to be a major player and Hendrick is the standard bearer for overall excel- lence season after season, Team Penske must be considered the early favorite going into 2015. Roger Penske has found the right mix of mechan- ical and driving talent that should only improve when the season starts in February at Daytona International Speedway. Logano was in the hunt for the 2014 crown until the closing laps at Homestead, when his No. 22 Ford slipped off the jack during a pit stop. Kesel- owski finished the season as the best-of-the-rest, or fifth in points with a series-leading six victories. “Yeah, it was a heck of a season, not just for me but for all of Team Penske,” Keselowski said. “Certainly it was a year that we’ll look back on with a lot of pride. I’m kind of wishing it wasn’t over, but we still have some work to do to continue to work and get better.” And you can bet Team Penske’s research-and- development team will spend the short offseason doing just that, looking to gain that finite edge on the competition. “We have to go back and work a little bit harder and find a little more speed and try to keep up with that,” Keselowski said. DANICA’S SEASON The pandemonium surrounding Danica Patrick’s participation in the Cup Series has decreased to a whisper. She made some gains, but has yet to record a top-five finish. She finished 28th in points. Meanwhile, teammate Kevin Harvick won the championship using the same equipment. With 82 Cup Series starts, Patrick needs to have a breakout season to stay in the game. ABOUT BILL’S KID Chase Elliott, the 18-year-old son of Bill Elliott, won the Nationwide Series championship and Rookie of the Year honors driving for JR Motors- ports, the team started by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister Kelley. Elliott will see some seat time in the Cup Series in 2015, but there’s no rush to get him into the big-league circuit at this point. Looking into the FUTURE Getty Images/STREETER LECKA Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski rode the newfound power of Team Penske to a big year in 2014, complete with champagne and both kinds of fireworks. More to come in 2015? Daytona 500 winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Don’t be surprised if: Brad “The Mad Bull” Keselowski mixes lessons learned in 2014 and integrates that with his ag- gressive driving style to nab title honors. News-Journal file Chase Elliott: The next can’t-miss kid. Gut feeling: Will NASCAR tweak the Chase format before 2015? GODSPEAK: No tweaks. It works. No need to change anything. It’s all good. KEN’S CALL: They should, but they won’t, because they got lucky this year. How long before Chase Elliott is a star? GODSPEAK: He will be a Hendrick driver, so he is at least three years out from Cup Series stardom. KEN’S CALL: Two years. Has there ever been a better name for NASCAR branding? JEFF GORDON BRAD KESELOWSKI Jeff Gordon vs. Brad Keselowski: Of all the driver confrontations, none was more dramatic than Gordon and Keselowski following the Chase race at Texas. They ignited a pit-road melee involving dozens of people. Godwin Kelly gives his take: “Ke- selowski’s aggressive driving style brought out the worst of Gordon, who for the first time in his racing career, used cuss words in a post-race inter- view. More to come for these two.” SPRINT CUP: 2015 Daytona 500 SITE: Daytona International Speedway SCHEDULE: Feb. 15, qualifying (Fox, 1 p.m.). Feb. 22, race (Fox, 1 p.m.). XFINITY: Alert Today Florida 300 SITE: Daytona International Speedway SCHEDULE: Feb. 21, race (Fox Sports 1, 1 p.m.) CAMPING WORLD TRUCKS: NextEra Energy Resources 250 SITE: Daytona International Speedway SCHEDULE: Feb. 20, race (Fox Sports 1, 7:30 p.m.) Champion: Brad Keselowski Rest of the top five: Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson Dark horse: Kasey Kahne Disappointment: Jeff Gordon
Transcript of Looking into the FUTURE -...
8 – THE DERRICK. / The News-Herald Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Ken Willis has been covering NASCAR for The Daytona Beach News-Journal for 27 years. Reach him at [email protected]
QUESTIONS & ATTITUDECompelling questions ...
and maybe a few actual answers
WHAT’S ON TAP?
FEUD OF THE WEEK
facebook.com/nascardaytona
@nascardaytona
news-journalonline.com/nascar
ONLINE EXTRAS
FEEDBACKDo you have questions orcomments about NASCAR This Week? Contact Godwin Kelly at [email protected] or Ken Willis at [email protected]
CUP POINTS
Godwin Kelly is the Daytona Beach News-Journal’s motorsports editor and has covered NASCAR for 30 years. Reach him at godwin.
GODWIN’S DAYTONA 500 PICKS
SPEED FREAKSA couple questions we had to ask — ourselves
HOT TOPICS: 3 ISSUES GENERATING A BUZZ
HOMESTEAD REWIND
1. Kevin Harvick 5,0432. Ryan Newman 5,0423. Denny Hamlin 5,0374. Joey Logano 5,0285. Brad Keselowski 2,3616. Jeff Gordon 2,3487. Matt Kenseth 2,3348. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2,3019. Carl Edwards 2,28810. Kyle Busch 2,28511. Jimmie Johnson 2,27412. Kurt Busch 2,26313. AJ Allmendinger 2,26014. Greg Biffl e 2,24715. Kasey Kahne 2,23416. Aric Almirola 2,19517. Kyle Larson 1,08018. Jamie McMurray 1,01419. Clint Bowyer 97920. Austin Dillon 95821. Paul Menard 94422. Brian Vickers 92123. Marcos Ambrose 87024. Martin Truex Jr. 85725. Tony Stewart 79926. Casey Mears 78227. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 75728. Danica Patrick 73529. Justin Allgaier 63630. David Gilliland 55431. Cole Whitt 53232. David Ragan 53132. Michael Annett 53134. Reed Sorenson 51635. Alex Bowman 41236. Josh Wise 40537. Michael McDowell 25538. Travis Kvapil 21439. Ryan Truex 19340. Terry Labonte 8841. Jeff Burton 8742. Michael Waltrip 7643. David Stremme 75
FORECASTING THE 2015 TOP 10KEVIN
HARVICKAlways give
nod to the de-fending champ
JIMMIE JOHNSONWill turn 40 next year
JOEYLOGANO
Looking like a longtime
fi xture
BRADKESELOWSKILooking like a longtime
agitator
JEFFGORDONStill drivin’
for fi ve
CARLEDWARDSNew seat,
new chances
MATTKENSETH
First, end the losing streak
JUNIOR EARNHARDTBreaking in a new crew
chief
KYLELARSON
Expectations will be bigger
TONYSTEWART
2015 will set tone for rest of his career
Associated Press/TERRY RENNA
The Kurt Busch case will likely be hard to digest for NASCAR.
What are the big questions that need answering before 2015?
There aren’t many, but the handful of issues facing NASCAR runs a wide range and will have impacts for the short and long term. For starters, there’s the Kurt Busch mess, which is different from NASCAR’s normal troubles that arise from time to time. If the legal system comes down fi rmly one way or another, it makes the job easy for NASCAR. If not, decisions will have to be made. Either way, Kurt’s career is teetering again.
What else?Can Tony Stewart make a clean
break from 2014 and become one of the faces of NASCAR again? Will Kyle Larson take the expected step to stardom? What’s the future of Sprint as title sponsor and is yet another name change in store for the top series? Will the newly branded Xfi nity Series gain any traction and make the former Na-tionwide Series more of a marketable success? Will the Chase get another modifi cation?
Ah, the Chase … Will it?
I’m still leaning against them making any tweaks this winter, but also still thinking they should look at a way to guarantee a non-winner doesn’t go through the Chase all the way to the fi nal Sunday. If any changes come, that’ll be the focus. Or at least it should be.
Hendrick Motorsports was the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Team of the Year based on sheer volume. The four-car operation, featuring drivers Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne, combined for 13 wins. All four drivers qualifi ed for the Chase playoffs.
Surprisingly, Team Penske was second in this category and posted similar numbers with only two Cup Series entries.
“Bad” Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano com-bined for 11 wins and both made the Chase. And unlike Hendrick’s bunch, Logano made it through to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The only driver able to challenge the Hendrick-Penske wrestling match was Kevin Harvick, who capped the 2014 season with back-to-back victories to win the Cup Series championship.
While Harvick fi gures to be a major player and Hendrick is the standard bearer for overall excel-lence season after season, Team Penske must be considered the early favorite going into 2015.
Roger Penske has found the right mix of mechan-ical and driving talent that should only improve when the season starts in February at Daytona International Speedway.
Logano was in the hunt for the 2014 crown until the closing laps at Homestead, when his No. 22 Ford slipped off the jack during a pit stop. Kesel-owski fi nished the season as the best-of-the-rest, or fi fth in points with a series-leading six victories.
“Yeah, it was a heck of a season, not just for
me but for all of Team Penske,” Keselowski said. “Certainly it was a year that we’ll look back on with a lot of pride. I’m kind of wishing it wasn’t over, but we still have some work to do to continue to work and get better.”
And you can bet Team Penske’s research-and-development team will spend the short offseason doing just that, looking to gain that fi nite edge on the competition.
“We have to go back and work a little bit harder and fi nd a little more speed and try to keep up with that,” Keselowski said.
DANICA’S SEASONThe pandemonium surrounding Danica Patrick’s
participation in the Cup Series has decreased to a whisper. She made some gains, but has yet to record a top-fi ve fi nish. She fi nished 28th in points. Meanwhile, teammate Kevin Harvick won the championship using the same equipment. With 82 Cup Series starts, Patrick needs to have a breakout season to stay in the game.
ABOUT BILL’S KIDChase Elliott, the 18-year-old son of Bill Elliott,
won the Nationwide Series championship and Rookie of the Year honors driving for JR Motors-ports, the team started by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister Kelley. Elliott will see some seat time in the Cup Series in 2015, but there’s no rush to get him into the big-league circuit at this point.
Looking into the FUTURE
Getty Images/STREETER LECKA
Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski rode the newfound power of Team Penske to a big year in 2014, complete with champagne and both kinds of fi reworks. More to come in 2015?
More than a week after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion-ship, Kevin Harvick has been on the media circuit talking about his accom-plishment. He has made appearances on “Live with Kelly and Michael” and the “Late Show with David Letterman,” plus numerous sports shows.
Has it all sunk in yet and do you re-member much about the race or is it all still a blur?
“The race is defi nitely still a blur. As I’ve told several people over the past
couple days, it’s like you go from this huge, competitive mode, and all of a sudden you get right out of the car, you do an interview, they hand you the trophy and then you’re off to do interviews and photos and interviews and photos, and it’s been hard to sit down and really kind of take a deep breath and take it all in.
“As we go to the banquet, I think it’ll re-ally start to sink in when I can be around my team guys who I’ve been around all year and see their excitement and be able to talk about everything we’ve done
this year.”You must have a tremendous feeling
of accomplishment. “Well, you know, for sure it’s an incredi-
ble feeling of accomplishment. Being able to fulfi ll your lifelong dream and reality is something that a lot of people can’t really say that they’ve ever done.
“I’m incredibly fortunate to be in that position.”
Can you just talk about accomplishing this so deep into your career?
“Well, I think there’s a lot that led to
this, and I always tell people, my Cup career really started backwards.
“It’s like you started with everything that happened to Dale (Earnhardt), and you go through all those scenarios, and you have crazy amounts of fans and at-tention and all the things that came with that situation.
“So it’s taken a long time to navigate through exactly what was a good mix and balance for us, and a lot of experi-ence and a lot of situations to build off of through the years.”
Kevin Harvick races into the post-championship media whirlwind
Daytona 500 winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr.Don’t be surprised if: Brad “The Mad Bull” Keselowski mixes lessons learned in 2014 and integrates that with his ag-gressive driving style to nab title honors.
News-Journal fi le
Chase Elliott: The next can’t-miss kid.
Gut feeling: Will NASCAR tweak the Chase format before 2015?GODSPEAK: No tweaks. It works. No need to change anything. It’s all good.KEN’S CALL: They should, but they won’t, because they got lucky this year.
How long before Chase Elliott is a star?GODSPEAK: He will be a Hendrick driver, so he is at least three years out from Cup Series stardom.KEN’S CALL: Two years. Has there ever been a better name for NASCAR branding?
JEFFGORDON
BRADKESELOWSKI
Jeff Gordon vs. Brad Keselowski: Of all the driver confrontations, none was more dramatic than Gordon and Keselowski following the Chase race at Texas. They ignited a pit-road melee involving dozens of people.Godwin Kelly gives his take: “Ke-selowski’s aggressive driving style brought out the worst of Gordon, who for the fi rst time in his racing career, used cuss words in a post-race inter-view. More to come for these two.”
SPRINT CUP: 2015 Daytona 500SITE: Daytona International SpeedwaySCHEDULE: Feb. 15, qualifying (Fox, 1 p.m.). Feb. 22, race (Fox, 1 p.m.).XFINITY: Alert Today Florida 300SITE: Daytona International SpeedwaySCHEDULE: Feb. 21, race (Fox Sports 1, 1 p.m.)CAMPING WORLD TRUCKS: NextEra Energy Resources 250SITE: Daytona International SpeedwaySCHEDULE: Feb. 20, race (Fox Sports 1, 7:30 p.m.)
Champion: Brad KeselowskiRest of the top fi ve: Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Kyle LarsonDark horse: Kasey KahneDisappointment: Jeff Gordon
