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.

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-           -  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

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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