Gaughan's Time to Shine

The off season marks a new start and opportunity for Brendan Gaughan at Richard Childress Racing. Gaughan will compete full time in the Nationwide Series in the number 62 South Point Chevy, using the points from the 33 car. With this new “blessing” as he called it he is ready to succeed.

            No doubt Gaughan is a good driver but in his former opportunities he did not have strong showings. In 2007 Penske gave him a shot in the cup series, Gaughan recorded only four top ten’s and one top five, before being released. In 2009 Rusty Wallace Racing presented him with a ride for two years, where he had six top five’s and seventeen top ten’s total. From my point of view in these opportunities there appears to be a common factor, was it top notch equipment? Now given these teams had good cars, yet he may not of had that opportunity he could have with the cars he was in, He was the third car at Penske and the second at RWR.

            Now he does have the opportunity and he is ready to prove himself. Every RCR car has the capability to win at any track whether it is a part time car or full time. In Nationwide races this year he was a strong contender at times. Since his move to RCR in the tucks Gaughan has had very impressive runs and showed he still has it. In Phoenix Gaughan stated “He can’t wait to get next season started and to show Richard he will get it done.” From my perspective instead of bringing in a young shoe Richard Childress took a chance on the experienced Gaughan and presented him with the opportunity. Gaughan finally has the equipment to do what he needs to do to be a threat next season in the Nationwide series and he will be one. This will be a true point the team and equipment can hinder driver’s possibilities.

-        

-           -  Stephen Appell

We Say Farewell

News broke Saturday night that actor and racer Paul Walker and racer Roger Rodas had tragically passed away due to a single car accident in Santa Clarita. Walker most know for his role as Connor O'Brain in the famous Fast & Furious films and Rodas a Pro-Am racer were in a 2005 Porsche GT when they lost control and hit a light pole or tree, causing the car to split and catch fire.
Walker was an avid car enthusiast and was on his way back to a car show benefiting typhoon victims put on by his organization Reach Out WorldWide with Rodas when the accident occured. Walkers death was shocking to the community, he was well liked by many fans not just for his acting but his actions off screen. His fellow Co-Stars were heartbroken over the news, Tyrese Gibson was at the accident sight on Sunday with tears streaming. Vin Diesel was also at the sight last night when he thanked everyone over a police car loud speaker for coming to remember his "brother". But let us not forget Roger Rodas a well accomplished pro-am sports car racer. Rodas was not only a long time friend to walker but his financial adviser and teammate. Rodas competed in Porsche Cup and most recently in the Pirelli World Challenge where he was an owner driver for his team Always Evolving, he claimed rookie of the year with two wins and six podium finishes.
These two loved cars and they loved to give back.
Walker leaves servived by his daughter Meadow, and Rodas with a family of his own.
 They will forever be missed but never forgotten, thank you for all you both have given us rest in peace and Godspeed.

This link is a song that RZA of the Wu Tang Clan made for his friend Paul Walker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16SAFgCSHTI

-Stephen Appell   

Gen 6 Synopsis

            The Sprint Cup season is over and now it is time to chime in on how the new Gen 6 car performed.

            NASCAR where was this car in 2007, this car is fantastic.

            First off the manufacturers have model identity once again, very reminiscent of the 80’s, the showroom look is back. In the previous seasons with the original Car of Tomorrow the only identity the manufactures had were the grill indents where the decals sat,; now each manufacture is unique, practically no similarities between them. The best part about the new body is that they retained great aerodynamics, and the safety is only getting better which is of the utmost importance.

            So while the differing bodies look good, the true question was how did it preform overall?

            It was off the charts, perfect from superspeedways to short tracks. At the superspeedways the cars were twitchy in the draft like pre-COT cars. Drafting is fun to watch again due to the twitchy manner, along with the bumpers and noses not lining up.

            The intermediate tracks stood out the most; Auto Club Speedway had the best finish of the season, a track leading the category of boring races was in fact the stand-out of the season. The Gen 6 shined on the road courses, it was easily whipped left and right with tight competition.

             Short tracks are short tracks they have always been and always will be exciting, even more so with faster cars.

            Best of all, qualifying offered heart pounding excitement at times. Nineteen track records were set this season, no one knew who the pole sitter would be until the last hundredth of a second.

My opinion is simple - the Gen 6 is astonishing,  the car the fans have been waiting for.

-Stephen Appell

Johnson's Cushion isn't Comfy

Jimmie Johnson jumped all over the opportunity to extend his points lead last weekend at Phoenix when Matt Kenseth had a poor run. Though some still wonder if Johnsons twenty-eight point gap is comfortable enough.

Johnson and the 48 team are certainly no strangers to situation of being conservative, seeing as they have been in it five of the last seven seasons. Homestead-Miami Speedway is not one of Johnson’s strongest tracks statically, given the fact he has never had to run hard there, just conservative. From my prospective conservative is not Johnson’s first option, because no one knows how the 20 of Matt Kenseth will perform, and tracks this size has been Kenseth’s strong point this season. Johnson has to enter this race ready to be inside the top fifteen and stay out of trouble. Johnson has a cushion he can lean on but it is a cushion that can deflate very quickly if issues arise, like the past two years. Johnson needs to stay in Kenseth’s head as he already is, letting Kenseth know he will do whatever it takes. Johnson wants his name in the record books yet again, and it would appear to me he has his pen ready write it down.

-Stephen Appell

A Champion hangs up his suit

Thursday afternoon the racing world was taken off guard when Indycar and Indy 500 Champion Dario Franchitti announced his retirement from racing. His announcement come just a few months after his horrific crash at the Houston Grand Prix.
 Franchitti stated "...based upon the expert advice of the doctors who treated and assessed my head and spinal injuries post accident,it is their best medical opinion I must stop racing." He will continue to purse racing off the track, but this Hall of Famer will be recognized for his amazing accomplishments.
He has had an outpouring of thank yous from racers of every kind.

Dario thank you for your time sir enjoy retirment

-Stephen Appell
 

Gaulding’s Controversial Move

-->

While there was a championship battle to be settled last Saturday night at the K&N West Series finale at Phoenix International Raceway, it was the two youngest drivers from the East who dominated the event.

There was action as soon as the green flag took flight, yet it was the last lap battle between Cole Custer and Gray Gaulding, which left the crowd wondering if the correct driver got the win.

Most felt Custer deserved the win, but Gaulding was the first to the checkered flag after making contact with Custer.  After the race Gaulding told me “my mindset going into turn three was to do the bump and run but with the speeds we are running here it sent him around.” Custer had a different point of view “I don’t know how you can’t control yourself one last lap… he’s done it three other times this year.”

Gaulding did exactly what he said in his interview, he drove in hard in an attempt to get to Custer’s bumper. His move appeared reminiscent of his last lap move at Battle at the Beach in which he sent the leader spinning. Gaulding is a young driver with talent trying to prove that he has the skill to be here, so he will do whatever he has to, to win. He saw his opportunity to capture his first win, so he took it, to me the move was done to fast and hard to even attempt the bump and run. In Daytona it looked like a blatant take out, Phoenix looked to have a plan that was executed poorly. Gaulding reminds me of Kasey Kahne in his first season with Hendrick, trying too hard, and going a little too far, he needs to settle down and look at the big picture. He is still young with a lot to learn but Gaulding has a bright future ahead.

-Stephen Appell

Two Rounds Left

With eight races down only two remain in the chase and it’s an all out boxing match between Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth. Johnson came out of his corner strong leading 255 of the 334 laps Sunday on his way to his third win at Texas, and Hendrick’s first on a mile and a half all season (not including the All-Star). Matt Kenseth had another strong day but made a mistake by speeding on pit lane and had to serve a pass through penalty. Kenseth and his team never gave up and were able to salvage a fourth place finish. With Johnsons win and most laps lead bonus points he finds himself leading Kenseth by seven points heading into Phoenix this weekend.

Jeff Gordon who was third in the standings fell to sixth after having a tire failure and contacting the wall. Kevin Harvick moved into third place in the standings but now find himself 40 points back of Johnson. Its now a two horse race for the championship heading into Phoenix

Jimmie Johnson was in this exact position going into Phoenix last season leading by 7 points over Brad Kelesowski, when he suffered a tire failure and made significant contact with the wall; surrendering the points lead and eventually losing the championship. Johnson would appear to be the favorite this weekend with 4 wins and 16 top tens at Phoenix while Matt Kenseth only has 1 win and 9 top tens.  Do they play it safe this weekend at Phoenix with one round left or go for the knockout punch.

-Stephen Appell

Is Everything Bigger In Texas?

Last week at history was against Matt Kenseth and for Jimmie Johnson due to his great record at Martinsville, but now we enter a track where the two driver an equally matched. Kenseth and Johnson lead the Chase into Texas this weekend and both are ready to pounce to break there tie atop the point standings. Kenseth and Johnson both have two wins and each and have scored fifteen tens at Texas. This has been the story of the Chase if you see one the other is lurking behind ready to attack if the opportunity presents its self. There game of where ever you go I go differently wont be taking a rest this weekend. The two are excellent on mile and a half tracks, these two know how to put on a show and show has a great ending building up.
-Stephen Appell  

Partridge Seals the Deal.

Saturday October 5th marked the conclusion of the 2013 Lucas Oil Late Model series at the Irwindale Event Center. Ryan Partridge and the number 48 LoanMart Racing team came into the race with a comfortable thirty-six point margin over second place Toni McCray, this would mean that Partridge would have to finish 18th or better.
The day started well for Partridge and the 48 as he set fast time in the first practice within a few laps. As soon as the 48 was back in the pits Partridge and the LoanMart team placed  the car on jack stands, as usual the team sat out the second practice to let the car continue to cool as they prepped for qualifying. Partridge was the second to last car to qualifying setting 3rd quick time. Partridge stated that the car "was a little off".  Although Partridge was 3rd quick the top six would be set by a 6 lap trophy dash in which he would start 4th due to the invert. Partridge and the team discussed plans to keep safe during the dash and they decided that if things got hairy up front they would drop to the back. Just after the green dropped a speedy Partridge settled into second behind the 55 of Cole Custer. Partridge would finish second and start on the outside pole.
Cole Custer slowly led the field to the green flag, when it was dropped it was a slow start as Partridge shot past Custer but, Nascar called for a restart, it was another slow start so Partridge checked up allowing Custer to take the lead. The faster Partridge stayed glued to Custer who made his car very wide, as they raced three wide with lap cars. Coming to get the white flag Partridge and Custer had to split two lap cars running side by side, Partridge went low with a lap car to his outside,as Custer split both the lap cars. Custer made contact with the lap car to his outside sending him nearly spinning into turn one but Partridge did not gain much ground due to his poor entry, But as they exited turn two Partridge was once again on his bumper, Custer got lose going into turn three due to his damage and Partridge dove to the bottom in hopes of a slide job off turn four but Custer began his decent to defend as they exited the two made heavy contact sending Partridge spinning, but Partridge made an amazing save and still finished in second claiming the championship.
This is Partridges second track championship, first in Late Models and Partridge gave LoanMart Racing there first championship. Partridge said that "None of this would have been possible without LoanMart, PPL Motorsports, my amazing crew and supportive family"

-Stephen Appell

Kahne Seizes Opportunity

Kasey Kahne sized his opportunity to get his Famers Insurance Chevrolet in Victory lane last weekend at Pocono. Kahne had a competitive all race long but the race appeared to belong to Jimmie Johnson yet again. But disaster struck for the 48 team when Johnson blew a right front tire exiting turn two force the Lowe's Chevy into the hard into the wall. From that point on it was Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne who appeared to run the field they swapped the lead a limited amount of times, but the action started with nine to go when the caution flew. Gordon restarted on the outside front row with Kahne on the inside, Gordon got the edge on the restart and started to run until another caution flew. They restarted the same as before but this time it was Kahne who was able to edge out Gordon to go on and win the race.
This was Kahne's second win of the season. Kahne has had a multitude of great runs  all season long but has not been able to capitalize on them, this is a huge momentum builder for the 5 team and I feel they could be a strong force to be reckoned with come chase time.

-Stephen Appell

Taking Risk

Tony Stewart suffered a broken leg in two places after a hard car crash Monday night while running his 410 dirt sprint car., and it has people talking and not about a replacement. People are talking about if drivers should be racing in different divisions of motorsports much like Stewart running sprint cars, others are Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson who also compete in the same cars. Kyle Busch love to run his late model at tracks everywhere such as in Ottawa where he won Tuseday night.
Stewart being the team owner really does not have anyone to tell him do not run so much it can hurt you. Ray Evernham stated Tuesday night that when Kasey Kahne ran for him that they had an agrement that Kahne could run a limited about of races in a 360 sprint a slightly smaller car to the 410 sprint.
Their will always be a risk in running other divisions besides just your main division. That is a risk a lot of racers will take because racing is what they do. For those you that say they should not run other division i understand your point but then should Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, etc. be running in the Nationwide Series on a part time basis. I like that these drivers go out during the week to run the small tracks, its good for the fans who cannot afford to go to a NASCAR race to see there favorite driver possibly. It also allows the driver to go and run where they started and potentially scout new talent.
A driver such as Tony Stewart or Kyle Larson fully understands the potential risks they take every time they strap into a car, but they are racers and it is what they do.
Let them race.

-Stephen Appell    

INDY.

Only one word is needed to explain this weekends historical race. INDY, that is right we are back at Indianapolis Motorspeedway, for the Brickyard 400. This has been one of NASCAR'S most famous and toughest races to win since its inaugural race in 1994. Dale Jarrett, Jimmie Johnson, and Jamie McMurray are the only three drivers to win the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same year. Jamie McMurray is also the only driver to ever with the Daytona 500, The All-Star Race, and the Brickyard 400 in the same year; but that could all end this weekend. Jimmie Johnson has his eyes set on putting his name next to McMurray's as a drive to win NASCAR'S big three in the same season. But he has drivers hungrier then him that want this race, Like Indianapolis native Tony Stewart who is in search of his third Brick trophy, and Juan Pablo Montoya who dominated the race a few years back only to have a speeding penalty killed his dream, of being the first ever driver to win the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400.
The Brickyard 400 always makes for and exciting race like in 2011 when Paul Menard won his first ever NASCAR Sprint Cup at the Brickyard 400 in a fuel mileage race. Who will win this weekend well we will just have to wait to find out. It will be great.

-Stephen Appell
-stephenappell.com

Give Me More Dirt!

WELL WELL WELL. The first NASCAR dirt race in 43 years has concluded and I think there is only one thing that can be said. Show me the dirt!!! The Camping World Truck Series at Eldora, it was some of the best racing that this sport has seen in years. Constant side by side action with beating and banging all around. NASCAR made a great move taking a chance on this race and everything fell into place. Austin Dillon who started a miserable 19th managed to keep his nose clean as he dove through the field to win the first ever Truck series dirt race, and by his excitement level you would have thought he won the Daytona 500. Dillon had a contest on his hands though as he held off dirt ace and NASCAR young gun Kyle Larson who beat and banged with his team mate Ryan Newman to capture second.
There were smiles every where after the race, because a show had been put on. over 20,000 fans from forty-eight states, packed into the tiny town of Rossburg, Ohio. Every fan left satisfied but not every driver did. The drivers who were not able to transfer into the main event through the qualifying races were heart broken as they new there shot at history was over.
Hats off to NASCAR and track owner Tony Stewart as they made this amazing deal happen. I am positive that this race will become an icon of the series and the sport. I even think that more of these races are to come, and they are welcomed as long as the racing is good.

-Stephen Appell
-stephenappell.com

Rain Rain Go Away

Saturday's Quaker State 400 from Kentucky MotorSpeedway was postponed last night due to rain, the Green flag drops in just over an hour at 12 pm ET. And who do we find leading the field to the green flag, none other then Mr. June bug himself, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Junior nation was presently surprised when Dale Jr. stripped the pole away from teammate Jimmie Johnson who had just set a new track record. Although this is only the third time the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, Kentucky MotorSpeedway has proven in the past to be a track with tough racing and first wins. Junior has officially started his winless drought since two weeks ago at Michigan marked a year since his last victory. Junior has proven over the past two season that he and his team are capable of winning and running up front. Although I feel today at Kentucky is when Junior and crew chief Steve Letarte put the right package together and race on into victory lane.

-Stephen Appell
-stephenappell.com
-Facebook: stephenappell.com
-Twitter: stephenappell & stephen_combat

Jimmie's Weekend

After last weekends controversial restart in which Jimmie Johnson was black flagged for jumping the restart, he came out and dominated this weekend. Most of this weekends festivities at Pocano Speedway were a wash out due to rain storms, but when the cup cars did find themselves on track it was the 48 at the top of the board. Qualifying was rained out so owner points set the field, and it was Jimmie Johnson who would start first and Carl Edwards to his outside in second. When the green flag fell it was Edwards that lead the first lap but that was about all. Johnson Dropped the hammer and set sail passing Edwards and leading more then half the laps. As the laps dwindled down so did fuel millage and everyone started to conserve, as a late race caution flew the fuel millage went out the window as everyone hit pit road. Johnson elected to only make a two tire change and top it off with gas. The green flag flew with 9 to go with Junior on Johnson's inside but there was no challenge as Johnson took off yet again until a final late race caution. On the restart Johnson took the outside with Junior to his  inside but it was Greg Biffle who restarted in the fourth position who took off into second but he had nothing for Mr. 5 time as Jimmie Johnson finished his domination with a win.

-Stephen Appell