HAMPTON, Ga. – If Paul Menard, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch or Marcos Ambrose wins this Sunday’s AdvoCare 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, they will earn a $1 million bonus, as well as $1 million to a randomly-selected race fan and a charity.
The Sprint Summer Showdown was supposed to pump some energy into the races leading up to the Chase for the Championship. Even teams not in the bonus program are excited.
Crew chief Bob Osborne has gone to Sprint’s website several times to enter for the fan drawing.
“I don’t know if he can actually be a part of the fan winning thing but he has actually been trying to participate,” Carl Edwards said. “If you see Bob extra excited in the next two weeks if we win, that will be why.”
Keselowski won two races in the five-race qualifying period. While he can only earn $1 million for himself and a charity, two different fans will be selected to get $1 million each if he can win his third race in the last five weeks.
Keselowski goes for broke with busted ankle
If Brad Keselowski knew he’d have two wins, a second and a third after breaking his ankle in a testing crash last month at Road Atlanta, he may have broken it sooner.
Even though it’s painful work the clutch and brakes with a bad left ankle, his average finish since the crash is 1.75 and it’s vaulted him from 23rd in the standings to 11th – and on the verge of clinching a spot in the Chase for the Championship.
“Why don’t we go for both (ankles)? I like to consistently win. That’s what this sport is all about,” Keselowski said after winning last Saturday’s race at the Bristol Motor Speedway.
Keselowski knows he will have to maintain his momentum during the playoffs if he’s going to win the championship. Right now, running up front seems easy. But he knows it can all change.
And his ankle can heal.
“I think if you look at Jimmie (Johnson) and the years that he’s had success and won the championships, he wins races in the Chase,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to do that. I’m sure that we can look at this a whole lot of different ways and coast into it, or however you want to look at it, or just take all those stupid risks to win a race. You just do the best that you can on any given week and your try to be smart about it, try not to over-think it and you’ll have good weeks.”
As long as you have a good team, and we have a good team, I don't think that we need to over-think it."
Cup teams not in future at KHI
Kevin and DeLana Harvick have created the model Camping World Truck and Nationwide series operations, but they have no plans to expand to the Sprint Cup Series.
While few doubt they could achieve some level of success, the jump to NASCAR’s top level is too risky and far too expensive, Harvick said.
“As far as the Cup question, it is just too expensive,” Harvick said. “It is too expensive to start a team; it is too expensive to take that risk. You would have to spend $10-to-$15 million to get going and then spend $10-$20 million to maintain it for a year. That is not a risk that DeLana and I are willing to take.”
The Harvicks have 10 Nationwide and 38 Camping World Truck Series victories as car owners. They also won the 2007 and 2009 truck series championship with driver Ron Hornaday Jr.
Contract distraction good for Edwards
Carl Edwards got a lot of criticism for delaying his decision to remain at Roush Fenway Racing, especially from those who thought his on-going contract negotiations would be a distraction from this year’s Chase for the Championship.
Oddly enough, Edwards was ranked No. 1 while he was considering his options he was first in the Sprint Cup Series standings. Now that he’s signed a contract extension, he’s dropped to fourth.
“I should have held out longer, huh? I don’t think that the stroke of the pen on the line there affected the spark plug (at Michigan). I think it is just racing luck right now.”
Pit stops
NASCAR will add extra scoring loops on pit road at the Bristol Motor Speedway to keep teams from taking advantage of the rules. Brad Keselowski was one of several drivers who accelerated well past the 30 mph speed limit, but he escaped NASCAR’s limit by slowing down at the end of the speed zone … NASCAR tracks in the path of Hurricane Irene – the Richmond International Raceway, Dover International Speedway and the New Hampshire Motor Speedway – all escaped any serious damage. All reported storm debris and minor flooding, but will be operating at full speed for upcoming events.
