Kyle Busch wins NASCAR Auto Club 400 in Fontana

 

Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. He also won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway. It was the first NASCAR Cup win for Joe Gibbs Racing at the track. Busch was the first driver in a Toyota to win a Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was second followed by Kurt Busch in third.

Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano crashed on the last lap of the race. Both drivers were battling for the lead in the final laps of the race. Hamlin hit the infield wall hard and broke his back. He will be out of the race car for several weeks.

 

Joe Gibbs Racing drivers take different paths to success

NASCAR owner Joe Gibbs knows his two drivers, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup championship have completely different styles.

Hamlin is the calculated one, Gibbs said. Busch is more aggressive.

Each has his strengths and both styles have produced wins.

Hamlin has six Cup wins this year and enters the fourth race in the Chase at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana on Sunday in second place in the Chase standings, only eight points behind Jimmie Johnson, the four-time Cup champion.

Busch is seventh in the Cup standings, 80 points out of first, and has won three Cup races this season.

“We worked extremely hard to get ourselves in position where we could challenge,” Gibbs said. “The 48’s (Jimmie Johnson) the favorite and everybody knows that. Somebody’s going to have to catch them at some point. We have two guys who come at it a little different ways."

Busch won a Cup race in Fontana in 2005. Johnson has the most Cup wins at Fontana with five and has won the past three fall races at Auto Club Speedway.

Not many, not even Gibbs, will admit anyone other than Johnson is the favorite at Auto Club Speedway or the favorite to win the Chase. After four Cup championships in a row, it’s hard to pick against him.Gibbs said he wants both his drivers to come out of Fontana within striking distance of Johnson.

“I think it’s a big race, I think it’s a big race obviously in the Chase,” said Gibbs “I would say for us, when we get past L.A. is where we think we’re going to start hitting some tracks that we’ll run extremely well and have a great history. I think Jimmie Johnson won three out of four. It’s one thing to say that we’re pretty good, I think when you look at it, they’re going to be stout here. I think you got to try and put yourself in the best position you can to try and be up front, have a chance to win it, but also you don’t want them to get another big jump here.”

Gibbs said he thinks the tracks on the second half of the Chase schedule are better suited for his drivers. Hamlin won races at Martinsville Speedway and the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway last year.

Johnson won races at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway in last year’s Chase.

“I think if you would ask our guys, I think most of them feel like the first part of this Chase was going to be the toughest for us because there are places in there where we have not run well,” Gibbs said. “They were going to be our biggest challenges. For us, we aren’t going to be the favorite this weekend, but I think if we can get ourselves up front, and have a chance to be there at the end, I think it’s a huge deal for us. What you don’t want to have is a points drop to give them a big lead heading in to some of these other races where we think we’re going to be able to do real well.”

When the Chase started, Gibbs said Hamlin was the driver who had the edge over Busch because of Hamlin’s six wins. He’s already won at Martinsville and Texas Motor Speedway, two tracks the Cup Series will visit in the remaining six races of the Chase. But Busch has a tendency to win unexpectedly and win races in bunches.

“The way I describe them is Denny is really calculated and probably from a points standpoint is the guy that if his car’s a 12^th he’s willing to take a 12^th. Kyle, his general temperament is: I want to try to win, I don’t care what the car is,” Gibbs said. “From that standpoint, that’s kind of the difference in the two. One is more aggressive, the other one is more calculated.”

Which type of driving style will produce a championship has yet to be seen. Gibbs said he won’t know which style is more productive until both their careers are over. While Hamlin has shown he can win races and has put himself in position to challenge for the Cup championship, Busch has one advantage.

“Both of them are focused. I don’t think we’ll know until their careers are over who’s going to have a better chance at winning championships, what driving style helps,” Gibbs said. “I will say this, I think Kyle last year, winning the Nationwide championship, I think when he won that Nationwide championship I think it really helped him toward his Cup effort. He had to take a third, he had to take a fourth, he had to take a fifth on occasion and not get in trouble. I think that process over there really helped him over here.”

Photo: Denny Hamlin (11) and Jimmie Johnson (48) swapped spots in the Chase for NASCAR Sprint Cup as Johnson took the points lead by eight (5,503 to 5,495) after finishing second in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Price Chopper 400. Hamlin finished 12th. (Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Hamlin prepares for NASCAR season despite torn ACL

Denny Hamlin enters the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season as one of a handful of drivers capable of preventing Jimmie Johnson from winning an unprecedented fifth straight Cup championship.
But Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, tore his ACL playing basketball last week. With the Daytona 500 less than a month away, Hamlin decided to forego surgery to repair his torn ACL until the end of the season.
Racing with a torn ACL might reduce his chances of challenging Johnson for the Cup championship. But Hamlin said he would rather race than have surgery.
Hamlin talked about how having a torn ACL will affect his ability to race. He also talked about being compared to Carl Edwards, what it’s going to take to beat Johnson and his No. 48 team for Hendrick Motorsports, having two young teammates in Kyle Busch and Joey Logano and how his relationship with Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been strained in recent years.
“I hate people comparing me to Carl Edwards,” Hamlin said. “I am not Carl Edwards.”
Edwards, a driver for Roush Fenway Racing, and Hamlin have some similarities. One is that they both came into the Cup series the same year as rookies together. Another is that they have both been declared legitimate challengers to Johnson’s reign in the Cup Series in recent years. Edwards was predicted to be the Cup champion in 2009. Hamlin has been receiving the same kind of attention to dethrone Johnson this year.
But Hamlin insists he is a very different driver than Edwards.
When the Chase started in 2009, Hamlin admits he might have panicked a little bit in the first few races. He did not finish two of the first four Chase races, including the one at Auto Club Speedway in October, and fell out of contention. But he said Johnson brings an intimidation factor to races and it affects how other drivers perform.
“He does a good job of making other guys make mistakes,” Hamlin said, adding Johnson and his team overcome obstacles that other teams can’t. “They find a way to come back from that adversity.”
While Hamlin rallied in the last six races of the Chase, winning the season finale in Homestead-Miami Speedway, it wasn’t enough to catch Johnson. But Hamlin and his team aren’t the only ones gunning for Johnson.
“We’re not the only team that has something for them,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin has two very young teammates in Busch and Logano. Each has a bit of a maverick streak, which suits Hamlin fine. Both Busch and Logano also have a commitment from Joe Gibbs Racing that will keep them in Cup for a while.
“He’s going to be there,” Hamlin said of Logano. “He’ll be there for a very long time.”
When Hamlin was coming up through the ranks of NASCAR, he and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a fairly close relationship. But Hamlin said that relationship grew distant once they both started racing in Cup.
“The wishbone went its separate way,” Hamlin said.
One of the reasons for the strain on their friendship was their commitments to sponsors and other obligations that come with being a Cup driver. Another reason was that the competitive nature of the sport. Both started winning races and both became adversaries rather than friends.

A NASCAR Christmas for Toyota: A one-act play

The scene opens in an office at Joe Gibbs Racing. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano are writing Christmas cards to fans, sponsors and family. J.D. Gibbs is in the room, making phone calls and answering questions from the drivers.

Kyle: How do you say Merry Christmas in Japanese?

JD: (With cell phone in hand and held to his hear) I don’t think they celebrate Christmas in Japan.

Kyle: Then why am I sending a Christmas card to Toyota?

JD: (Talking into his cell phone) No, dad, it’s just that I don’t think Christianity is that big in Japan. (He covers the mouthpiece and turns to Kyle) We are all signing a card to send to Toyota for the holidays. No need to write Merry Christmas.

Kyle: Well, what am I supposed to write?

JD: (Talking into his cell phone) Buddhism I think. I’m not sure what religion is big in Japan, dad. I just have a feeling there aren’t that many Christians there. (He covers the mouthpiece on his cell phone again and turns to Kyle) You don’t have to write anything. Just sign your name.

Kyle: I need to add something clever, something snappy. I want to say something cool in Japanese.

JD: How ‘bout a simple thanks. (He uncovers the mouthpiece on his cell phone) Can we talk about this later dad? I have to make sure these cards get out today. All right. Talk to you later.

Kyle: Thanks? For what? Giving me a 13th place car?

Denny: My car worked fine, for the most part. It’s not Toyota’s fault you didn’t make the Chase.

Kyle: Fine. You can thank Toyota. I’m not going to do it.

Denny: Why are you so upset? They gave you a championship Nationwide car. You won almost half your truck races. Those were all Toyotas too.

Kyle: Nobody cares about that. All anybody cares about is why I didn’t make the Chase.

Joey: To enjoy success
One must first find meaning in
Appreciation

Kyle: What was that?

Denny: It’s a haiku, a type of Japanese poetry. Joey’s been talking like that for weeks now.

Kyle: It didn’t even rhyme.

Denny: It’s not supposed to. I guess it can, but not always. It’s just supposed to, y’know, be truthful, profound. It’s supposed to be only three lines too. Short and sweet.

Joey: Poetry needs rhyme
Like a shrub needs a loud voice
Unnecessary

Kyle: Yeah, a loud, talking shrub. That would be obnoxious. C’mon Joey, help me write one of them haikus for Toyota.

(Joey does not respond. He closes his eyes and starts to hum)

Kyle: What’s he doing?

Denny: Meditating.

Kyle: What for?

JD: If he has nothing to say, he doesn’t say anything. Especially now since he’s speaking in haikus. Takes some time and thought to put those things together.

Denny: He’ll answer you when he’s ready.

Kyle: This is killing me. I’ve got hundreds of Christmas cards to sign. I just need one cool haiku to send to Toyota.

Joey: Greetings Toyota
Let’s build something together
Sincerely, KyBu

Kyle: Perfect!

(The scene closes as JD and Denny open their mouths to try  to say something to Kyle, then stop. Kyle writes furiously on his Christmas card to Toyota. Joey sits back, puts his hands behind his head and smiles)

Door-To-Door: Denny gets it

Here's a great reason to be a fan of Denny Hamlin. It never hurts to show your supporters a bit of appreciation. It can go a long way.

Door-To-Door: Denny gets it

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Photo: Denny Hamlin celebrates winning the TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway, his second career win at the Virginia short track. (Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR)