NASCAR at Texas 2015: Winners and Losers from the Duck Commander 500
The fireworks boomed and the flames burned in Victory Lane as Jimmie Johnson won his record fifth race at Texas Motor Speedway in the Duck Commander 500.
Johnson battled a cold and Kevin Harvick to win the race, his second of the year, and further cemented his standing as one of the top five favorites to win the Sprint Cup come Chase time.
Fox Sports analyst Michael Waltrip said after the race during the broadcast:
"The never-give-up attitude of that team...they got a little bit off there in the middle of the race. The car didn’t handle right, but when it came down to crunch time, he restarted seventh, drove around the guy that was dominant all night long in Kevin Harvick and put himself in the position to win this baby.
"
Read on for this week’s winners and losers.
Loser: Roush Fenway Racing
1 of 8
Roush Fenway Racing is in the pits right now. Its best driver, Greg Biffle, managed a 17th-place finish at Texas. Still, Biffle’s best finish was 10th at the Daytona 500. Beyond that, the season for RFR is pitifully low.
Biffle led two laps during the 500, and those two laps were the only laps led by any of the Roush Fenway drivers combined. Come on, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (15th) and Trevor Bayne (18th).
In an effort to find speed, RFR has redesigned its cars. Biffle said in Daniel McFadin’s NASCARTalk.com story:
"We’ve been working really hard on these news cars, trying to get our stuff better and better. These cars have been in the works for about five months. You know, it’s not revolutionary, I’m sure. But we’ve made some changes that are an improvement over what we’ve had. We feel like it’s going to be better.
"
Maybe it will take time for this team to keep growing into these new designs because it didn’t show Saturday night.
Winner: The Return of Kyle Larson
2 of 8
Seeing Kyle Larson back on the track after missing last week’s race at Martinsville was a positive sight for those rooting for the No. 42 car.
He had fainted during an autograph session on the Saturday before the Martinsville race and had to watch it from the hospital.
"Martinsville is where I struggle the most on our tour,” Larson said in Jay Pennell’s FoxSports.com’s story. “So, I was able watch the good guys, because I'm never around the good guys at Martinsville. The cameras are on them a lot, so I can watch what they're doing and listen to the radio communication and all that."
He learned a lesson from his bout in the hospital and was back piloting the No. 42 to a 25th finish in the Duck Commander 500. Larson said on FoxSports.com:
"It stinks when you come here to Texas and they have the Fuzzy's Tacos that are really good and you can't go over there and eat them, probably. I hate breakfast, so I've got to find somethings that I like to eat in the morning and just make sure I drink enough fluids. I feel like I take decent care of myself. That morning was a little bit different because I overslept and had to rush out to the car, but we should be good.
"
Larson will be taking better care of himself, suffice it to say.
Loser: Joey Logano's Slide Up the Track
3 of 8
There were the makings of yet another skirmish between Joey Logano and Harvick.
Late in the race, Harvick didn’t care for Logano’s failure to let the No. 4 through down on the inside. As is Harvick’s purview, he went tap-tap on Logano’s bumper, sending the No. 22 car into the high lane and out of contention for the win.
“That’s racing. Nothing bad he did there,” Logano said during the Fox broadcast. “I felt like if he got by me I’d never have as hot. That’s just hard racing. He had a fast car. I had a fast car. We both had nothing to lose, just trying to race for a win.”
Logano, who still managed to finish fourth, found the silver lining in his little hiccup.
“At one point we were an eighth-place car and got better and led a few laps. Overall just needed more speed,” he said during the broadcast.
The Daytona 500 winner has been one of the fastest cars on a week-to-week basis. He’s already in the Chase, so from here on out is he is just testing and promoting his sponsors.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Winner: The Substitute
4 of 8
David Ragan knows he’s a placeholder for Joe Gibbs Racing, but he’s doing a heck of a job in the No. 18 Toyota.
He was one of the faster cars all night at Texas Motor Speedway, and he’s done a respectable job of keeping Kyle Busch’s seat warm.
"This as an opportunity to help a team in need," Ragan said in Bill Fleischman’s Philly.com story. “I can learn from another top team and kind of rebuild my career and confidence in a winning car."
If nothing else, Ragan’s performance is one of the best auditions in a sport that has a number of aging stars. Many of the sport’s drivers are pushing 40 and beyond. Ragan, 29, could find a permanent spot in the Cup series soon.
Ragan has some of the best tech and operations behind him with JGR, but he’s taking the advantages and driving fast with them. Ragan said on Philly.com:
"In the Sprint Cup Series, sometimes your careers go in different directions. And I think every driver—maybe with the exception of one or two over the years—have all had ups and downs and have been more successful with multiple teams. So in my situation, leaving Roush, going to Front Row Motorsports, I knew I had a great opportunity to help a smaller team and still work on some of my skills. The resources and all the tools that the larger teams have, it's really remarkable that a smaller organization can even keep up with the larger teams.
"
Loser: Brad Keselowski and the Commitment Cone
5 of 8
Brad Keselowski finished fifth and it could have been better. He shook his head after the race, marveling at the speed of those three Chevys in the top three spots, but his Ford could have threatened the top three.
During a somewhat disorganized scurry for pit road, Keselowski got strung out and plowed into the unassuming commitment cone. That’s a NASCAR no-no. It sent him all the way to the back.
“I’m sorry I dug us a hole there hitting the commitment cone that one time,” Keselowski told Fox. “We’re just doing everything we could to get in front of those guys. I messed up. I feel bad about that. It’s still a solid weekend, but I want wins. We’ll come back and try again.”
Texas was the scene of Keselowski’s scrum with Jeff Gordon during the Chase. This time around the only fireworks exploded overhead instead of on pit road.
Winner: Kevin Harvick Gets Up for Second
6 of 8
Kevin Harvick led a second-best 96 laps on the night and showed plenty of horsepower throughout the night.
He sent Logano into the outer orbit of the track and had similar sights set on Johnson ahead of him. USA Today’s Jeff Gluck tweeted what he heard over Harvick’s radio, "You might want to remind the mother f----- what happened to the 22 when he blocked."
Yikes.
Harvick got a bit reckless in the final five laps trying to catch Johnson, so much so that he got into the wall, which let Dale Earnhardt Jr. in to pass.
“I got behind there and Jimmie was really fast for those first couple of laps,” Harvick told Fox during the broadcast. “He got around us, and I got loose coming out of [Turn] 4. I got into the wall just trying to hang on to get where I needed to be. We raced as hard as we could.”
He could have easily settled for third, but he ducked down low and took second place away from the No. 88 car. What does that mean? Nothing, except that his streak of second-place finishes or better starts anew.
Loser: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Not Sewing Up Second Place
7 of 8
After finishing 36th at Martinsville two weeks ago, a third-place finish is awful good, except that it could have been one spot better and a one-two finish for Hendrick Motorsports.
Earnhardt finally got past Harvick after wrestling with the No. 4 car for the better part of five laps. Seemingly out of nowhere, Harvick didn’t settle for third and took second away from the No. 88.
“I had Harvick clear off [Turn] 2,” Earnhardt said in a post-race interview with Fox. “I passed him on the bottom. I had had a hard time on the top. I wanted to try the bottom in three and four, and he beat me there. I still had Jimmie behind me at that point. I should have pulled up on Kevin and made it a little more difficult on him.”
Earnhardt is still trying to get a feel for his new crew chief, Greg Ives. They’re only seven races into the season and have run in the top five four times already. He told Fox:
"We weren’t as good as the No. 48 or the No. 4 early in the race, but we definitely improved. We’ve had that speed all year. It’s good to get a good finish in the bank because these last few weeks have been pretty rough. We know what we’re capable of. Me and Greg are just getting started. Once we get this thing figured out it’s going to be tough.
"
Once they do start clicking the same way Harvick and Rodney Childers have, the No. 88 team will be a force in the Chase, assuming it gets there.
Winner: Jimmie Johnson's Epic Pass
8 of 8
It was the winning move at a winning time. After restarting seventh late in the race, Johnson moved up to third behind Harvick and Jamie McMurray.
Johnson got the inside path and a car-load of momentum and blew right past them on one turn. From that point on it was his race to lose, and he never let it go.
“Just a great race car,” Johnson said during the Fox broadcast. “We’ve had an awesome start to the year. We kept plugging away at it. I think the off week was good for us. We could sit down, relax and reboot. And come back to the track and built me a good race car. It was fast all weekend.”
That makes two wins for Johnson this year and a record fifth at Texas. It was his first win in the Texas spring race.
Another noteworthy statistic courtesy of the Fox broadcast: Johnson and Harvick have finished one-two 11 times, and Johnson has won nine of those head-to-heads.
That's something to look forward to as the season progresses. Both drivers have two wins this year.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
