NASCAR 2014 at Texas: Winners and Losers from AAA 500
Tempers burned hotter than the fires lighting up Victory Lane following the AAA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Those tempers came from the brawl that brewed from actions on the track and then sparked by Kevin Harvick, who pushed Brad Keselowski from behind. The resulting melee bloodied up Keselowski while the race winner, Jimmie Johnson, sat patiently in Victory Lane.
The Eliminator Round has just a single track left and that means eight drivers are starving for the four remaining spots.
The new playoff format adds a layer of drama that everyone is getting used to. We're seeing the water boil over. It makes for great television knowing these drivers are under pressure. It's like watching golf's U.S. Open: The athletes are squirming.
Keselowski told ESPN.com:
"In some ways, with this format, you don't feel like you are ever really secure unless you win a race, and it is hard to really build a big lead that means anything, kind of like Joey Logano, where he is at now [third in the standings but only three points ahead of Hamlin in fifth]. On the other side of it, you always feel like you can get your way out of a jam, and in this case, it is with a win. We were able to do that in the last round.
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There are just two races left, so let's look at Texas' winners and losers as they set the table for the final push to Homestead.
Winner: Red Vests
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Sporting the red vests of the over 200,000-plus Lowe's employees, Johnson became the Johnson of old, winning his first race in 18 tries.
Johnson led 191 laps on the night and kept his jaw from getting bloodied. While he left rubber all over the track, his teammate, Jeff Gordon, offered Keselowski a knuckle sandwich.
"It's a testament to this team that we never give up," Johnson said during the ESPN broadcast. "We're not in the Chase, we're not where we want to be. It's a great day with this red-vest Lowe's Chevrolet. It was just a Chase that was tough for us. We found some speed we've been missing."
For the second straight week, a Hendrick Motorsports driver won a race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won last week at Martinsville. These two wins were just the wrong HMS driver to win. The right one, of course, would be Gordon.
Either way, Johnson reclaimed his form, won the restarts and reminded people how great he can be.
Loser: Jeff Gordon
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Well.
Gordon left an opening and expected no one would take it. Maybe Kurt Busch leaves it alone. Maybe Kyle Busch leaves it alone. Heck, maybe even the middling and somehow-still-in-this-Chase Ryan Newman may have left it alone. Not Keselowski.
Gordon got loose, Keselowski went for the daylight and the incidental contact slashed Gordon's rear left tire. Gordon, to put it mildly, was upset. He said after brawl on ESPN:
"We went down into one and I wanted to get to the outside. Out of nowhere I got slammed with the [No. 2 car] and he cut my tire. He's just a dips--t. The way he races I don't know how he's won a championship. I'm just sick and tired of him. That's why everyone is running him down. Your emotions are high. That was a huge race for us. We had the car. I'm proud of Jimmie Johnson for winning that race and not letting that you-know-what win the race. Oh my God.
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Gordon had this race won, but the ever-present yellow flag came out with five laps to go. Gordon, at that point, was uncatchable. Clint Bowyer went into the wall and kept Gordon from running away with this race and automatically qualifying for the Championship Round.
"I disagree with his comments," said ESPN analyst Andy Petree during the broadcast. "Brad Keselowski doing all he can do to win this race. He's trying to get through. His whole season's on the line. It's unfortunate he made contact. It was, in my mind, a racing incident."
Gordon finished way back—now sitting on the bubble in fourth place—then found Keselowski.
"There wasn't any conversation," Gordon said on the ESPN broadcast. "You can't have a conversation with him. He beats to his own drum. He's got to pay the consequences. I'm not going to stand for it. To me it's a bunch of crap. He's doing stuff way over his head."
It's on.
Winner: Brad Keselowski
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Keselowski saw an opening and he took it. He's not going to sit around and, to paraphrase a term New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan used, kiss Jeff Gordon's rings.
"We're just racing for the win," Keselowski said during the ESPN broadcast. "I was just racing hard. I didn't wreck him. He left a hole. It closed back up we made some contact. I don't want to ruin anyone's day. I want to win the race and that was our opportunity."
It could have easily gone the other way. Keselowski's move could have easily backfired. In racing, there's luck, and one was lucky while the other finished 29th.
"I've got a little blood on me now," continued Keselowski on the ESPN broadcast. "I've been roughed up and put in the grandstands. I'm still here fighting. I race with 100 percent intensity."
Keselowski felt vibrations, and they weren't good vibrations. The car was unstable and wouldn't turn.
He did make a brilliant move by not pitting late on Lap 253. With staler tires, Keselowski held off Jeff Gordon for several laps. BK relinquished the lead to Gordon's fresher tires with about 55 laps to go, but it was a valiant effort at making something happen on a day where he car wasn't strong.
The No. 2 Ford started 26th on the day and never had it going. He should have performed better since he's owned the 1.5-mile tracks, three wins from nine starts.
He reached the eliminator round by winning at Talladega, taking it to the field and driving best when the pressure was highest. He'll have to do the same at Phoenix, a track he's never won at.
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Loser: Kevin Harvick's Blind-Side Push
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Harvick finished second in the AAA 500 and currently sits eighth in the Chase standings. After the race, when Jeff Gordon pulled alongside Keselowski, Harvick leaned up against a car behind the No. 2 with his arms folded.
Gordon and Keselowski scuffled a bit, then it settled. Then Harvick entered the frame and pushed Keselowski from behind and a brawl ensued.
What did Harvick have to do with this scenario? He had finished third.
Gordon isn't his teammate. What this equates to is a collective hate toward Keselowski. If Harvick doesn't push Keselowski, the brawl as we know it never happens (which is not to say it would not have happened somewhere else).
It made for an entertaining five minutes that saw haymakers and horse-collar pulldowns. It was a mess, but it was totally emblematic of the internal struggles these drivers are facing in this highly charged Chase format.
"It was no holds bar there with the two. He was in bulldoze mode there," Harvick said during the ESPN broadcast. "It's being played rough. It's just one of those deals where everyone's trying to get what they can."
Harvick sits in eighth right now, just five points behind Gordon in fourth place. Harvick will be one of the favorites at Phoenix, a track where he has won five times.
Winner: Carl Edwards
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On Lap 104, Carl Edwards got lapped by leader Jimmie Johnson. He had every reason to fold. He was down by as many as two laps and was 30th at one point.
By the final restart, Edwards was eighth.
Early on, his car had no power, no grip, nothing. Edwards entered the AAA 500 sixth in the Chase standings—20 behind Jeff Gordon. His performance at Texas was a moral victory of sorts. He sits in fifth in the Chase standings.
Now the pressure is ramped up for Phoenix. Edwards needs a very strong finish to get into the Championship round at Homestead.
Edwards has won twice at Phoenix, his last win back in March of 2013. It's not outside the realm of possibility, but Edwards has his work cut out for him.
Loser: Glued Lug Nuts
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There was a scurry to the Goodyear garage for new tires. Tire crews ran with their dollies and came back with fresh sets of tires that needed some attention. This attention affected Joey Logano.
Logano had an issue with the right rear, something to do with the glue on the lug nuts. Logano then dealt with a flat tire that spun him out. Logano was dominant in the Challenger and Contender Rounds and found himself in third heading into Texas.
The 22 car was forced to pit several times late in the race with tire issues that effectively took him out of the race.
In spite of all that, he still finished 12th, and he's currently first in the Chase standings with total control of his destiny to reach Homestead.
Winner: Denny Hamlin
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Denny Hamlin had the 2010 championship in his hands, and it all slipped away in the final few races. This year, the No. 11 has been one of those steady cars.
Yes, Hamlin won races this year—unlike Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth—but Hamlin has reached the Eliminator Round by being steady, not exceptional. Hamlin told Fox Sports:
"For whatever reason we've gotten so far now in this year's Chase that I feel like the expectations aren't set as high as they were in 2010. We had won so many races that year that everyone expected us to go out there and win. I feel like now we're kind of on that house money-type thing where people aren't expecting us to be here. Everywhere we go from here on out is a bonus and I feel like we've had an off-year with our race team and our cars.
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Hamlin did little to inspire confidence early in the AAA 500. But like Edwards, he grinded.
Hamlin finished 10th at the AAA 500 and is now in second place in the Chase standings, up from fifth at the start of the race.
He's still alive, which is more than Johnson can say, and he's won one race at Phoenix before. He'll need to summon that form to advance.
Loser: Matt Kenseth
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Kenseth had the pole but only managed to lead 59 laps en route to finishing 25th. He rubbed flanks with fellow non-winner Ryan Newman, which sent both to pit road for tires and repairs.
"Five hundred miles is a really long race," Kenseth said on ESPN.com. "It depends on how your car is handling. Obviously, the better your car handles, the less important track position is and the easier it is to overcome being in the back."
At this point, Kenseth has not proved he can win a race this year. He's consistent, but at some point these drivers have to win. He's in sixth place and has one shot at advancing to Homestead. Can he point his way there? He's going to have to. He hasn't won at Phoenix in 12 years.
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