Experts Archive - rspencer.tsn (%2)

• High marks for Danica Patrick in stock car debut
  posted on February 07, 2010 - 02:27:02 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

  DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Danica Patrick changed the question.

  
  
  
• Patrick finishes sixth in stock car debut
  posted on February 06, 2010 - 04:56:24 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
  

  
  
  
• Harvick gets well with Bud Shootout win
  posted on February 06, 2010 - 07:44:47 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
  

  
  
  
• Notebook: Vickers enjoying 'slow' pace of season
  posted on February 05, 2010 - 03:45:42 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
  
  DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Now that racing season is under way, Brian Vickers can slow down and relax a little.
  

  
  
  
• Martin, Earnhardt earn top 2 spots at Daytona
  posted on February 06, 2010 - 02:22:48 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
  

  
  
  
• Danica starting 12th in Daytona ARCA race
  posted on February 05, 2010 - 01:34:33 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
  

  
  
  
• Racing royalty celebrates Daytona anniversary
  posted on February 11, 2008 - 10:53:24 am
  
  
  Reid Spencer
  
  
  
• JTG-Daugherty provides a model for small teams
  posted on February 04, 2010 - 11:57:29 am
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

  It's hard to say "no" to Tad Geschickter.

  
  
  
• Dale Jr.: Problems pitting 'broke the camel's back'
  posted on January 26, 2010 - 10:25:03 am
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

  
  
  
• Three-wide with Vickers, Kahne and Kurt Busch
  posted on January 22, 2010 - 02:45:57 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

  
  
  
• Notebook: NASCAR relaxing rules, but not safety
  posted on January 21, 2010 - 03:15:38 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
  

  
  
  
• Search is on for new Sprint Cup director
  posted on January 20, 2010 - 03:17:59 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
  

  
  
  
• Notebook: No contract? Knaus isn't concerned
  posted on January 20, 2010 - 03:38:26 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
  

  
  
  
• Notebook: NASCAR replacing Darby as Cup director
  posted on January 19, 2010 - 03:39:46 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

  
  
  
• Kyle Busch signs long-term deal with JGR
  posted on January 18, 2010 - 03:00:41 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

  
  
  
• Notebook: Who's Newman's spotter? Not his dad
  posted on January 18, 2010 - 03:59:34 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

  
  
  
• Earnhardt Jr. approaching 2010 with optimism
  posted on January 16, 2010 - 07:34:58 am
  
  
  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
   
  DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  
  
  
• Off the track ... with Brian Vickers
  posted on January 15, 2010 - 03:30:26 pm
  
  

  From the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
  
  Sporting News goes behind the scenes—and off the track—with Sprint Cup Series driver Brian Vickers.
  

  
  
  
• Three-wide with Wingo, Berrier and Inman
  posted on January 14, 2010 - 10:09:26 am
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
  

  
  
  
• California Chase race shortened to 400 miles
  posted on January 13, 2010 - 11:03:18 am
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
  

  
  
  
• Kyle Petty's night at the Opry a hit for charity
  posted on January 09, 2010 - 03:14:19 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
  

  
  
  
• Edwards: The shorter the spoiler, the better
  posted on January 09, 2010 - 03:42:30 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
  

  
  
  
• NASCAR, country music stars to share the stage
  posted on January 06, 2010 - 01:47:55 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

  
  
  
• Three-wide with Scott, Allgaier and Bayne
  posted on January 04, 2010 - 09:53:00 am
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
  
  Three up-and-coming drivers—Brian Scott, Justin Allgaier and Trevor Bayne—answer three questions.
  

  
  
  
• Three-wide with Montoya, Newman and Edwards
  posted on December 29, 2009 - 09:44:40 am
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

  Three Sprint Cup drivers—Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards—answer three questions.

  
  
  
• Commentary: Award validates drivers as athletes
  posted on December 28, 2009 - 01:51:16 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

  The image of a racecar driver hasn't always lent itself to inclusion among the world's elite athletes.

  
  
  
• Johnson widens Chase lead with win at Phoenix
  posted on November 15, 2009 - 05:01:12 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

  AVONDALE, Ariz.—From his fiasco in Forth Worth, Jimmie Johnson rose like a phoenix in—where else?—Phoenix.

  A week after teasing his Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup competitors with a 38th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway—his worst of the season—Johnson regained control of his championship run by winning Sunday's Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

  In a dominating performance in which he led 238 of 312 laps, Johnson increased his advantage over fourth-place finisher Mark Martin (second in the standings) to 108 points. With a finish of 25th or better in the season finale next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Johnson will lock up his record fourth straight championship.

  Johnson, who won for the seventh time this season and scored the maximum 195 points (winning and leading the most laps) for the fourth time in the Chase, will eliminate the other 10 Chase competitors as soon as he takes the green flag at Homestead.

  The victory was the 47th of Johnson's career, breaking a tie with Buck Baker for 13th on the career win list.

  "First of all, I have to thank this race team for having the strength and mental attitude and everything that they do to bounce back from last week and show up and just put a butt-kicking on everybody today," Johnson said.

  "At the start of the race, we were a little loose but still running second or third. As soon as we put new tires on, the car came to life. We made a couple of small adjustments that really, really helped it, and I could get out to a nice comfortable lead, ride, protect what I had, work my way through traffic—not with ease, but better than other guys."

  The race ran caution-free for the final 134 laps. Johnson lost the lead briefly when he pitted for four tires and fuel on Lap 243 at the 1-mile track, but he regained it on Lap 248 when Matt Kenseth came to pit road.

  Johnson kept his No. 48 Chevrolet out front the rest of the way, as third-place finisher Denny Hamlin and runner-up Jeff Burton, who passed Hamlin for second on Lap 284, took turns in pursuit. Johnson's only anxious moments came when Hamlin teammate rookie Joey Logano made Johnson work especially hard to complete a pass.

  "I was trying to be smart through traffic," Johnson said, "and the 20 car (Logano)—I'm not sure if he was just trying to stay two laps down and didn't want to go three laps down, or if he was really trying to help his teammate out—but, either way, the 11 car (Hamlin) caught me. Once I cleared him (Logano), I got back going, and everything was fine. But the 20 car wasn't being all that friendly."

  Johnson, who started third Sunday, plans to take an aggressive approach to qualifying at Homestead to try to avoid a repeat of the early crash that took him out at Texas.

  "I think qualifying 12th (at Texas)—even though that's a good qualifying spot—put us in harm's way, and I was a little cautious, maybe, in qualifying," Johnson said. "We need to show up down there and treat it like any other race.

  "The farther forward we start, the better off we're going to be, track-position-wise, the better pit stall selection we're going to have. Until we get in the race and see what we really have, we're going to treat it like any other race and just go as fast as we can."

  Notes: Johnson's margin of victory over Burton was 1.033 seconds. … Polesitter Martin Truex Jr. finished fifth, his first top five of the year in his next-to-last race for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Truex will drive Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 56 Toyota next year. … Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon and David Reutimann finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

  
  
  
• Nationwide Series will race at Road America
  posted on December 21, 2009 - 01:27:50 pm
  
  

  By Reid Spencer
  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

  
  
  
• Taking the Chase one race at a time
  posted on September 17, 2009 - 09:59:52 am
  
  
  Reid Spencer

  Breaking down the Chase for the Sprint Cup, one race at a time …

  RACE 1: Sylvania 300

  Where: New Hampshire Motor Speedway

  When: 1 p.m. ET Sunday, September 20 (ABC)

  2008 winner: Greg Biffle

  SN's pick: Clint Bowyer. He's running better in the second half of the season and has the right combination for flat-track success.

  Michael Waltrip says: "New Hampshire is an interesting track because it has short-track type turns and the size of a mile racetrack. "

  RACE 2: AAA 400

  

  Greg Biffle won the Dover fall race last year.
  Where: Dover International Speedway

  When: 1 p.m. ET Sunday, September 27 (ABC)

  2008 winner: Greg Biffle

  SN's pick: Tony Stewart. Runner-up to Jimmie Johnson at the spring Dover race, Stewart will make a statement early in the Chase.

  Michael Waltrip says: "Dover is a mile in length, exactly like New Hampshire, but it's totally the opposite. It's really wide through the corners with all the banking. At Dover there's plenty of room to pass, so if it's a choice of pitting for new tires or staying out, you're probably going to opt for the tires."

  RACE 3: Price Chopper 400

  Where: Kansas Speedway

  When: 1 p.m. ET Sunday, October 4 (ABC)

  2008 winner: Jimmie Johnson

  SN's pick: Carl Edwards. We all remember his banzai move at last year's Kansas Chase race. This year Edwards will win it.

  Michael Waltrip says: "Kansas is a new track, and we've all heard about mile-and-a-half quad-ovals all being alike, but that's certainly far from the truth. Kansas has a lot of grip. It's the first track in the Chase where you want to set up your aero platform as fast as it can possibly be."

  RACE 4: Pepsi 500

  Where: Auto Club Speedway (California)

  When: 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, October 11 (ABC)

  2008 winner: Jimmie Johnson

  SN's pick: Matt Kenseth. Despite performance issues throughout the season, Kenseth will get the sweep at one of Roush Fenway Racing's strongest tracks.

  Michael Waltrip says: " At California, I would look at who was good at Kansas and maybe circle them as somebody that might be really tough."

  RACE 5: NASCAR Banking 500

  Where: Lowe's Motor Speedway

  When: 7 p.m. ET Saturday, October 17 (ABC)

  2008 winner: Jeff Burton

  SN's pick: Jimmie Johnson. The three-time series champ will deliver for Lowe's in its last year of its track sponsorship.

  Michael Waltrip says: "The track has big transitions from the straightaways to the turns. You really have to barrel into the corners. Nowhere will the handling in the corners be more significant than at Charlotte."

  RACE 6: Tums Fast Relief 500

  Where: Martinsville Speedway

  When: 1 p.m. ET Sunday, October 25 (ABC)

  2008 winner: Jimmie Johnson

  SN's pick: Jeff Gordon. He will unseat his teammate Johnson, who has won five of the past six races at the Virginia short track.

  Michael Waltrip says: "It's the only short track in the Chase, and it's a short track like no one's ever built before. I think that's one of the tracks where you can sort of throw out the whole setup and just know that you have a driver who's good at Martinsville. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson come to mind. Denny Hamlin is a guy who really gets it there."

  RACE 7: Amp Energy 500

  Where: Talladega Superspeedway

  Time: Noon ET Sunday, November 1 (ABC)

  2008 winner: Tony Stewart

  SN's pick: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Junior will rediscover his restrictor-plate magic.

  Michael Waltrip says: "At Talladega, you want to build all the speed into the car that you possibly can. It's so smooth and so big that the cars are going to handle. I want to pick the driver who understands how to race in a restrictor-plate race."

  RACE 8: Dickies 500

  Where: Texas Motor Speedway

  When: 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, November 8 (ABC)

  2008 winner: Carl Edwards

  SN's pick: Jimmie Johnson. Late in the Chase, Johnson will find a way to win.

  Michael Waltrip says: "Speed is what gets your attention at Texas. Maybe at Texas more than at Charlotte and Kansas, I want a guy who can run high and run low. The first guy that comes to mind is Kurt Busch. Give me a guy who can run right out at that wall at 190 mph and be comfortable doing it."

  RACE 9: Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500

  Where: Phoenix International Raceway

  When: 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, November 15 (ABC)

  2008 winner: Jimmie Johnson

  SN's pick: Mark Martin. He'll double up on his April victory and extend the Hendrick win streak at Phoenix to six races.

  Michael Waltrip says: "There's grip in the corners, and there's room to move around. My thought would be to look at who does well at Loudon and think that they could be good when we get to Phoenix."

  RACE 10: Ford 400

  Where: Homestead-Miami Speedway

  When: 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, November 22 (ABC)

  2008 winner: Carl Edwards

  SN's pick: Kyle Busch. He 'll break the five-race winning streak the Roush Fenway Fords have at Homestead.

  Michael Waltrip says: "It's a fun track to drive, with variable banking. It's a great place to wrap up our season. You also have to throw in the dynamic that guys are going to be racing for a championship. If you only have to finish seventh to win a championship, you're not going to make a mistake to try to win the race."

  
  
  
• Johnson is SN's NASCAR athlete of decade
  posted on September 28, 2009 - 11:16:42 am
  
  
   By Reid Spencer

  Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

   

  In the most recent issue of Sporting News magazine, SN named seven athletes of the decade—one in each sport we cover. The winner in NASCAR is three-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who gets the nod over two-time champion Tony Stewart.

   

  Johnson picked up his 44th Cup win Sunday at Dover, tying him with Bill Elliott for 14th on the all-time list. Johnson's 44th win—all this decade—came in his 283rd start, giving him a winning percentage of 15.6, eighth-best all time and third best in NASCAR's modern era (since 1972). It is easily the best of the decade: Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart are tied for second at 9.4 percent.

   

  We say …

   

  If it's true that some drivers were put on this earth to rally the Southern masses, then Johnson was born to race—and win. With the looks, smarts and skill to be as popular as he wants to be, Johnson has quietly focused on checkered flags and championships and taken more of both than anybody this decade. You don't have to love him, but you have to acknowledge his standing among the best of all time.

   

  The numbers say …

   

  Johnson 44 Cup wins, 112 Top 5s, 173 Top 10s, three titles

  Stewart 33 Cup wins, 130 Top 5s, 205 Top 10s, two titles

   

  You say …

   

  SportingNews.com voting

  Jimmie Johnson 51%

  Tony Stewart 49%

   

  They say …

   

  Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s case for Johnson: "Jimmie would be my pick. He has won more championships, and three in a row is pretty impressive. The No. 48 has been the dominant team. Jimmie's an all-American, and he's a good role model for everyone. He seems to have it all together."

   

  Johnson says ...

   

  Our pick's memory of the decade: "One of the things that comes to my mind most often is my first Cup win (at California in 2002). I had a lack of confidence coming to the Cup level. ... I didn't know if I was going to make it. So to win that first race—I knew if I didn't put up a good year that first (full) season, I wasn't going to have a job. When you go to a big team and don't make it, you have a tendency to fall down quite a few levels before anybody catches you. With that first win, the weight of the world was off my shoulders. That was really a special moment."

   

  SN drivers of the year

   

  2000: None-x

  2001: Jeff Gordon

  2002: Tony Stewart

  2003: Matt Kenseth

  2004: Jimmie Johnson

  2005: Tony Stewart

  2006: Jimmie Johnson

  2007: Jimmie Johnson

  2008: Jimmie Johnson

   

  x-SN began covering NASCAR in 2001