The Race We Were All Waiting For

Vegas was the race that we were all  anticipating to see, since the Gen 6 car appeared, and all I can say is "It can pass." This past weekend the Gen 6 car showed us what we can expect on mile and a half tracks in the future, and boy does it look bright. The race may not have been action packed but it was the best race that we have seen so far, there was side by side racing, four wide at one point, passing on the bottom, and on the top.The race was impressive almost as impressive as Joe Gibbs Racing despite most of the race belonging to driver of the number 5 Farmers Insurance Chevy of Kasey Kahne it was the Joe Gibbs Racing team that really showed that despite there recent troubles they are ready to flex there muscle. Both Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch had pit lane speeding violations at one point during the race but both fought back hard. Kyle even managed to show his determination by not losing a lap while serving his penalty. In the latter stages of the race Hamlin was even trying to stretch his fuel mileage while leading, until cautions allowed him to pit resulting in a 15th place finish, Kyle Busch fared better by turning his penalty into a 5th place finish. But the light was focused on JGR new comer Matt Kenseth and the number 20 Dollar General Toyota as he did what he always does so well and closed out the race. Kenseth led the finally twenty laps of the Kobalt Tools 400, putting on a great show by holding off the hard charging Chevy of Kasey Kahne who was doing every thing he can, and Matt new he was coming continuously asking his new spotter to get the lap cars out of his way now. He navigated the traffic and was very excited after taking the victory with his new team.
The race was just fantastic and I believe there is a lot in store for the future.
-Stephen Appell
stephenappell.com

Place your bets Vegas is here

Nascar is back in action on the exciting mile and a half Las Vegas Motorspeedway in just a few short day, and I am not placing my bets on the drivers I am betting on the cars. With mediocre Daytona 500 and exciting finish of the race this past weekend at Phoenix who knows what to expect. I feel that this race is going to set the bar on what to expect from the new Generation 6 car. My expectations are that this high banked, multiple racing grove mile and a half track, is going to provide for some great side by side racing. I feel that this track is going to be great for these cars with fast straightaways long sweeping turns that do not scrub off speed. If there is a side by side battle on the last lap you can expect someone to dive bomb to the bottle while the other trys the momentum of the high side. Either way I feel this track will have what we have all been waiting for.
As far as predictions go I am going with the two drivers, my first prediction is a driver who had a rough start to the season last year but battled back at the end of the season, he sat on pole last weekend at Phoenix watch out for the Farmers Insurance #5 of Kasey Kahne, He loves these mile and a half tracks and he knows how to win on them. My second prediction is the driver that just ended a long winless drought and is making the Ford Fusion work Carl Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing is one of the best and mile and a half tracks and even though the Fords seem like they have been struggling Edwards and the 99 crew are making theirs work.
Let me here your predictions at stephenappell.com, stephenappell.com on Facebook, or @stephen_combat, @stephenappell on Twitter

-Stephen Appell    

Welcome Aboard Farmers Insurance

Combat Radio and myself are proud to welcome aboard Farmers Insurance Group as the sponsor of the sports report hosted by my self Stephen Appell on Combat Radio. I can not express how excited i am to have a great sponsor such as Farmers on board to support us. I am looking forward to many of great Farmers Insurance Sports Reports to come. I will be keeping updates on driver of the #5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet Kasey Kahne. This is a great experience and I cannot wait to share it with every one of you. Remember to catch Combat Radio on latalkradio.com from 10a.m. to 12p.m.
And for all your insurance needs to contact Johnny Castaneda at Farmers Insurance and learn why packaging your Home/Auto/Life/Commercial Insurances can save you money/time and stress at 661-252-1866.
Keep following for more updates at stephenappell.com, stephenappell.com on Facebook, and Twitter @stephen_combat and @stephenappell

New Beginnings

I am proud to announce that I am starting a new internship with CombatRadio on LAtalkradio.com. I am so excited to start this new adventure with such a great program with fantastic guest. I have a secondary twitter account so head over and follow me @stephen_combat, and tune into combatradio tomorrow morning on LAtalkradio.com

Vicotory for the Small Teams

Hendrick Motorsports may have taken the Harley J. Earl trophy of the Daytona 500 home but Drivers Michael McDowell and J.J. Yaley were celebrating like they just won the 500 after McDowell finished 8th and Yaley 9th in the Great American race. This is a huge victory considering the size of there teams. McDowell driver for Phil Parsons Racing a one car Operation and Yaley Driver for Newly two car team Tommy Baldwin Racing. A top ten at the Daytona 500 for these small teams means a big pay day for these small teams that may have to live race by race. A big congratulations to Phil Parsons Racing and Tommy Bladwin Racing for there individual victories at Daytona.

- Stephen Appell  

The Smoke Has Settled

The smoke has settled over Speed Weeks at Daytona International Speedway and there was smoke. Speed Weeks 2013 was filled with wrecks, starting with testing; then The Inaugural Battle at the Beach which had controversial finishes in each. The biggest wreck came Saturday coming to the checked flag when Regan Smith and Brad Keselowski tangled when Smith went to block. This caused the big one coming to the line it also sent rookie Kyle Larson air born slamming nose first into the catch fence. The fence did its job correctly by keeping Larson’s car out of the grandstands yet debris went flying into the stand injuring fans. Tony Sterwart was the one who made it through the wreck to take yet another victory in the Nationwide series at Daytona. The 500 also had a last lap wreck in which Nascar made the correct call by not throwing the caution since no cars were in danger if they ran to the checkered in which Jimmie Johnson held off a last lap charge from Teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. to end a six year 20^th or worse 500 drought.

            Although the 500 was not the race most were probably expecting most of the race was spent in a straight line lacking the action that the past few years have supplied. The small spoilers and longer bumpers lead to the end of tandem drafting. We can most likely expect a rules change by the time we get to Talladega. The Nationwide series has it down tandem drafting to pack racing there speedway package works so hopefully we will see a pack for the cup cars like that. One thing is for sure the season will sure be interesting off to Phoenix.

-Stephen Appell

5 Races Down 5 to Go

Were half way through the Races during Speedweeks at Daytona. The ARCA Racing Series kicked off the races with a usual Daytona style race with the big one in which Jon Wes Townly too the victory, later that night the Sprint Cup cars took the track for there first race in the Sprint Unlimited. This was the first chance for fans to see how the new GEN 6 car would fair during a race and it was not what we were used to seeing, as the passing was not as present unlike years past although Kevin Harvick had an impressive win over Greg Biffle. The following races of the first ever Battle at the Beach had fireworks for the first two. In the Late Model race rising star Kyle Larson had a controversial bump to leader CE Faulk, followed by Larson spinning CE exiting turn 4 coming to the checkered flag. Tuesday nights Modified was dominated by Todd Szegedy who lead 126 laps before a lower right front ball joint broke on his car, handing the lead to Mike Stefanik who lead until the last lap when second place Steve Park was bumped by third place which forced him into the back of Stefanik turning him around exiting turn two. Following the modified rac was the K&N Pro Series East and West race which was as exciting compared to the previous two races. Gene Price Motorsports new comer Cameron Haley was victorious in the final Battle at the Beach race.
We have 5 more races to go wit the Budwiser Duels, Camping World Truck, Nascar Nationwide Series, followed by the Daytona 500