Sprint Cup 2014: Race 15 -- Michigan: Who Will Be the Big Papa in the Shadow of the Motor City?

CAREER NEARING END?

Bobby Labonte will not start in the #47. The 2000 series champion for Joe Gibbs racing, with 705 career starts, one less than Rusty Wallace, and 21 victories, 32^nd on the all-time wins list has been all but invisible the last few seasons unless captured in one of the “big ones” where multiple cars get wiped out. He will continue racing having been enlisted to race in James Finch’s #51 Chevies, Finch speaking openly of closing down his shop perhaps after the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis late next month. Labonte has only two finishes in the top 20 in 2014, 15^th in the Daytona 500 and 19^th in Richmond.

Once one of the top drivers in the sport since 2004 when he won no races, Labonte’s career has been in a long downward spiral. He left Joe Gibbs racing in 2005 to energize Richard Petty’s enterprise at a t the King’s operation was in financial ruin. In 2006, Labonte scored 3 top 5’s and 8 top 10’s. Since that season, Labonte has only two top 5’s total, one in 2009 and another in 2011. Since 2007 with three top 10’s, he has typically only managed two top 10’s a season but none in 2010. Leaving Petty after 2007, Labonte has been little more than a journeyman driver, barely a cut above “start and park” entries, a convenience for underfunded teams whose available past champion provisional’s could assume him a starting spot.

Bobby Labonte was part of a crew of exciting drivers who moved from the then Busch series to Cup racing in the early 90’s along with Jeff Gordon, Jeff and Ward Burton, and Joe Nemechek, a crew of drivers to form the generation to succeed the likes of Bill Elliot, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, and Mark Martin. Ward Burton is gone. Nemechek is racing a little more this year in a very marginal capacity having been one of the originators of the shameful “start and park” fraud. Jeff Burton has struggled working with a premium team with Richard Childress but where he will be next year is uncertain. Even four time champ, Jeff Gordon, struggles to find himself positioned to win having struggled for two seasons.

It’s hard to imagine a resurgence for Bobby Labonte but surely he might be able to hang around for a paycheck for the foreseeable future with his champion provisional cache, clearly JTG Daugherty working with Michael Waltrip equipment is anxious to find the winning formula and is turning to A.J. Allmendinger for at least the next few races to see if they can find the right combinations.

ON THE TRACK:  

The buzz from practice and qualifying is speed. Finally the Ford drivers are right in the mix of competition with Toyota perhaps taking a bit of a fall back. Certainly Jack Roush, a Michigan fellow, must feel some relief to see Carl Edwards in the 99 Ford on the pole (and second in the points) but this has been a very difficult season for Ford so far.

Meanwhile, much attention will focus on Dale Earnhardt Jr. who won last year’s race and enjoyed his last two races in the Wolverine State.

STARTING LINEUP: 

POS		CAR#		DRIVER		MFG		SPONSOR		SPEED
1		99		Carl Edwards		Ford		Fastenal		202.4520
2		78		Kurt Busch		Chevrolet		Furniture Row/Sealy		201.8790
3		5		Kasey Kahne		Chevrolet		Farmers Insurance		201.2130
4		27		Paul Menard		Chevrolet		Menards/CertainTeed		200.8030
5		43		Aric Almirola		Ford		Eckrich		200.7640
6		22		Joey Logano		Ford		Shell Pennzoil		200.7250
7		33		Austin Dillon(i)		Chevrolet		American Ethanol		200.6300
8		20		Matt Kenseth		Toyota		Home Depot Husky		200.5680
9		18		Kyle Busch		Toyota		M&M's		200.4570
10		42		Juan Pablo Montoya		Chevrolet		Target		200.4450
11		11		Denny Hamlin		Toyota		FedEx Express		200.4060
12		88		Dale Earnhardt Jr.		Chevrolet		National Guard/Man of Steel		200.1000
13		56		Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota		NAPA Auto Parts		200.0500
14		14		Tony Stewart		Chevrolet		Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1		199.7890
15		17		Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #		Ford		Zest		199.7610
16		2		Brad Keselowski		Ford		Miller Lite		199.7500
17		48		Jimmie Johnson		Chevrolet		Lowe's		199.6890
18		31		Jeff Burton		Chevrolet		Caterpillar		199.6560
19		16		Greg Biffle		Ford		3M/Give Kids a Smile		199.3800
20		51		Bobby Labonte		Chevrolet		Phoenix Construction Services		199.3580
21		29		Kevin Harvick		Chevrolet		Budweiser		199.2310
22		55		Mark Martin		Toyota		Aaron's Dream Machine		199.2140
23		9		Marcos Ambrose		Ford		Stanley		198.6920
24		13		Casey Mears		Ford		GEICO		198.5930
25		21		Trevor Bayne(i)		Ford		Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center		198.4290
26		38		David Gilliland		Ford		Long John Silver's		198.3640
27		15		Clint Bowyer		Toyota		5-hour Energy		198.2920
28		1		Jamie McMurray		Chevrolet		McDonald's		198.0800
29		24		Jeff Gordon		Chevrolet		Drive to End Hunger		197.9220
30		98		Michael McDowell		Ford		Phil Parsons Racing		197.2170
31		34		David Ragan		Ford		Taco Bell		196.8130
32		47		AJ Allmendinger		Toyota		Charter		196.7910
33		83		David Reutimann		Toyota		Burger King/Dr.Pepper		196.2760
34		30		David Stremme		Toyota		Widow Wax		196.2660
35		39		Ryan Newman		Chevrolet		Quicken Loans		195.7370
36		7		Dave Blaney		Chevrolet		SANY		195.5140
37		10		Danica Patrick #		Chevrolet		GoDaddy		194.9000
38		35		Josh Wise(i)		Ford		MDS Transport		193.9080
39		32		Ken Schrader		Ford		Federated Auto Parts		193.0920
40		36		JJ Yeley		Chevrolet		(unsponsored)		192.9620
41		93		Travis Kvapil		Toyota		Burger King/Dr.Pepper		192.8330
42		87		Joe Nemechek(i)		Toyota		Belle Tire		191.9900
43		19		Mike Bliss(i)		Toyota		Plinker Tactical		187.1490
				DID NOT QUALIFY
44-DNQ		44		Scott Riggs		(unsponsored)		No Label		184.3930

Sprint Cup 2013: Race 14: Party in the Poconos 400

Friday practice and qualifying was rained out for Sunday's action at Pocono Raceway as the Sprint Cup Season goes through a transition from Fox to TNT covering the next six weeks -- meaning no more "boogity-boogity" and the personality driven Fox coverage to TNT's more reserved coverage which in recent years, thanks to a no nonsense professional aproach has served them well. The network announced its coverage package on NASCAR.COM:

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2013/05/31/tnt-nascar-summer-series-2013-sprint-cup-series-television.html

Much will be decided before the real hot push to the Chase deadline jumps into high gear with the Brickyard 400. The one real certainty for this year is the dominance of (surprise?) Jimmie Johnson and the #48 Lowes Chevrolet team with Chad Knaus leading the crew. Despite Ford's miserable overall performance, consistency and avoiding trouble paired with one early victory in Phoenix, Carl Edwards is in 2nd place. He's followed by perhaps another slight surprise in Clint Bowyer before the season's most visibly dominant driver, Matt Kenseth checks in 4th place burdened by engine failure at last week's Dover race. As red hot as the Joe Gibbs cars have been, the ticking time bombs of possible engine failure always hovers over their possible successes. 

Last year's champ, Brad Keselowski, is currently struggling to maintain 10th position in the standings dogged by two infraction episodes which have cost points and disrupted leadership. Ford entries seem to be just a little short on power so far this year. Perhaps that big stylish simulated grill is a wedge in the wind, but the entire Ford operation needs to turn up the performance in all facets to be possible championship contenders come September. 

The summer season is here for NASCAR. Will it be smokin' hot?  Last week's win by Tony Stewart was the first true highlight for Stewart-Haas since Danica Patrick burst upon the field securing the Daytona 500 pole.

Pos.		Car#		Driver		Manu		Owners		Race
								Points		Attempts
								Rank
1		48		Jimmie Johnson		Chevrolet		1		13
2		99		Carl Edwards		Ford		2		13
3		15		Clint Bowyer		Toyota		3		13
4		20		Matt Kenseth		Toyota		4		13
5		29		Kevin Harvick		Chevrolet		5		13
6		88		Dale Earnhardt Jr.		Chevrolet		6		13
7		5		Kasey Kahne		Chevrolet		7		13
8		18		Kyle Busch		Toyota		8		13
9		27		Paul Menard		Chevrolet		9		13
10		2		Brad Keselowski		Ford		10		13
11		24		Jeff Gordon		Chevrolet		11		13
12		43		Aric Almirola		Ford		12		13
13		16		Greg Biffle		Ford		13		13
14		55		Mark Martin		Toyota		14		13
15		56		Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota		15		13
16		17		Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #		Ford		16		13
17		11		Denny Hamlin		Toyota		17		13
18		51		AJ Allmendinger		Chevrolet		18		13
19		14		Tony Stewart		Chevrolet		19		13
20		78		Kurt Busch		Chevrolet		20		13
21		22		Joey Logano		Ford		21		13
22		1		Jamie McMurray		Chevrolet		22		13
23		39		Ryan Newman		Chevrolet		23		13
24		31		Jeff Burton		Chevrolet		24		13
25		42		Juan Pablo Montoya		Chevrolet		25		13
26		9		Marcos Ambrose		Ford		26		13
27		13		Casey Mears		Ford		27		13
28		34		David Ragan		Ford		28		13
29		47		Bobby Labonte		Toyota		29		13
30		10		Danica Patrick #		Chevrolet		30		13
31		38		David Gilliland		Ford		31		13
32		7		Dave Blaney		Chevrolet		32		13
33		30		David Stremme		Toyota		33		13
34		83		David Reutimann		Toyota		34		13
35		36		JJ Yeley		Chevrolet		35		13
36		35		Josh Wise(i)		Ford		36		13
37		33		Landon Cassill(i)		Chevrolet		37		13
38		32		Timmy Hill #		Ford		38		13
39		93		Travis Kvapil		Toyota		39		13
40		87		Joe Nemechek(i)		Toyota		40		13
41		98		Michael McDowell		Ford		42		12
42		19		Jason Leffler		Toyota		44		12
43		44		Scott Riggs		Ford		46		6