Page 2 for the week of 02-24-2014

The First Reid: Phoenix Will Offer First Full Version Of Amped-Up Qualifying

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

At Daytona, fans got an appetizer.

At Phoenix International Raceway, they’ll get the full-course meal.

The debut of NASCAR’s new knockout qualifying in Nationwide Series time trials at Daytona International Speedway was truncated by rain. Drivers completed the first 25-minute session, but weather washed out the 10- and five-minute sessions that were to follow.

Rain wiped out NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying completely. But fans got a big enough taste of the new format to whet their appetites for the first use of the knockout system in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Feb. 28 at Phoenix.

What was clear from the abbreviated NNS qualifying at Daytona was the exponential increase in strategic elements both drivers and crew chiefs must consider.

Is it best to go out early in the first session to give your tires the maximum time to cool, or do you go out late when you already know what the top qualifying speed might be?

On a one-mile track, how do you pick an entry to the speedway that will give you a clean lap?

If you’re impeded on your first qualifying attempt, is it really worth sustaining additional tire wear to record a better time?

Even though qualifying was cut short at Daytona, drivers universally agreed that the Nationwide Series time trials packed enhanced entertainment value into a more compact time window.

That should be doubly true at Phoenix when the full format rolls out for the first time.

@nascarcasm

• Despite the copious amount of wreckage that occurred during the 2014 Daytona 500, NASCAR would like to clarify that it wasn’t actually the “Eliminator” round of the Chase.

• At the moment, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the only driver that can say what 30 or so drivers were able to say after Richmond last year – “I’m in the Chase!”

• A Dale Earnhardt Daytona 500 victory means one thing and one thing only – look for a Harley J. Earl trophy with a rather high reserve and quality described as “LIKE NEW” to suddenly show up for auction on EBay tomorrow.

• With the new Chase format firmly in place, we would like for you to comb through your post-race quotes from drivers and bask in the glorious dearth of “Good points day” mentions. You’re welcome.

(Follow @nascarcasm on Twitter and also on FOXsports.com. His unique views on NASCAR are his own – but chances are you already knew that.)

NASCAR NUMBERS

By Reid Spencer

3: The number of No. 48 Chevrolets pressed into service during Daytona Speedweeks by Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team. Johnson wrecked his Daytona 500 backup car in the Feb. 15 Sprint Unlimited and lost his Daytona 500 primary car in the last-lap wreck Thursday night’s second Duel.

32: The lap of the Daytona 500 on which Martin Truex Jr.’s oil pump belt dislodged, killing the engine of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet. Accordingly, Truex was the first driver out of the 56th running of the 500. The car was a backup for Truex, who had earned the second starting spot a week earlier, only to have his car destroyed in a last-lap crash in Thursday night’s Budweiser Duel at Daytona.

10: The number of consecutive races since the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has seen a back-to-back winner at Phoenix International Raceway. Jimmie Johnson actually won three straight races at the one-mile track in the Sonoran Desert—the fall race in 2007 and both races in 2008.

11: The maximum degree of banking through Turns 1 and 2 at Phoenix International Raceway, after progressive banking was incorporated into the layout during a 2011 reconfiguration. Aside from Pocono Raceway and the road courses, Phoenix features the most irregular configuration of tracks used in the Sprint Cup Series.

137.279: In miles per hour, the former track-record pole speed at Phoenix, set by Carl Edwards Feb. 25, 2011 in qualifying for the last race before the one-mile track was repaved and reconfigured. Since the renovation, Edwards’ mark has been surpassed three times, with Jimmie Johnson holding the current track record (139.222 mph), set last November.

National Series Standings

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Pos     Driver                                   Points

1      Dale Earnhardt. Jr.                 48

2      Denny Hamlin                         43

3      Brad Keselowski                     42

4      Jeff Gordon                               40

5      Jimmie Johnson                      40

6      Matt Kenseth                            38

7      Ricky Stenhouse. Jr.              37

8      Greg Biffle                                 37

9      Austin Dillon #                        36

10    Casey Mears                             34

11    Joey Logano                             34

12    Kevin Harvick                         31

13    Jamie McMurray                    30

14    Bobby Labonte                       29

15    Reed Sorenson                        28

16    Carl Edwards                           28

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Pos     Driver                                   Points

1      Regan Smith                           47

2      Trevor Bayne                           41

3      Elliott Sadler                            39

4      Brendan Gaughan                   38

5      Ty Dillon #                                37

6      Dylan Kwasniewski              36

7      Joe Nemechek                         32

8      Mike Wallace                           31

9      Chase Elliott #                         29

10    James Buescher                      28

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Pos  Driver                                      Points

1      Timothy Peters                       43

2      Johnny Sauter                          41

3      Ron Hornaday Jr.                    39

4      Ryan Blaney                             38

5      Jeb Burton                                 37

6      Jimmy Weller III                    35

7      German Quiroga                     34

8      Ryan Sieg                                   33

9      Tyler Reddick                          32

10    Matt Crafton                            31

Tweets Of The Week From The Daytona 500

Clint Bowyer
@ClintBowyer

Daytona…

5…

HUNDRED!!!!!!!!

Jenna Fryer
Associated Press

@JennaFryer

All this fretting about if/when it might rain … Why not just ask Tony Stewart’s leg?

Bob Pockrass
The Sporting News

@bobpockrass

Funny at tweetup: Parker Kligerman said after car stopped on his hood (in practice wreck), he realized he had his foot on the brake. Not much good.

Stewart-Haas Racing @StewartHaasRcng
How good is the #AirTitan? It can stand in a bottomless pit.

The #AirTitan can stain stainless steel.

FACT: #AirTitan can kill two stones with one bird.

It used to be known as the Bermuda Square until #AirTitan made it a triangle.

Freddy Krueger has #AirTitan nightmares.

When #AirTitan pokes you on Facebook, you have to go to the ER.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

@DaleJr

Tonight seemed like as good a night as any to join Twitter. How is everyone doin? #2XDaytona500Champ

Jimmie Johnson

@JimmieJohnson

#BlameJJ