Flashback Friday: Stories and Statistics from Kevin Harvick’s Victory in the 2002 Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway

        On July 14, 2002, the stars of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series invaded Chicagoland Speedway for the second annual Tropicana 400 at the 1.5-mile track. 75,000 fans packed the Illinois grandstands and 43 drivers delivered a thrilling race. In the end, though, the battle for the win came down to some late strategy thanks to a beautiful accident. Going to complete lap 197, Kevin Harvick made an aggressive three-wide move onto the frontstretch apron underneath Kurt Busch and Dave Blaney as he tried to move into fourth spot. The apron caused Harvick to break loose and he barely saved his #29 Chevrolet before riding below the banking all the way into turn 1.

        After brilliant save attempts, the California driver ended up stopped in the turn 1 grass with all his track position gone and his tires flat spotted. It wasn’t all bad news for the reigning Rookie of the Year. He only dropped to 14th for the next restart and he had the freshest tires in the field and no damage to his RCR Chevrolet. Over the next run, he passed drivers on older tires and looked to be faster than the leaders. Laps were clicking away, though, and Ryan Newman had a sizeable lead with Harvick mired outside of the Top 5. Fortunately, Harvick caught a break with the seventh and final caution on lap 240. 

  Just about 15 seconds apart from each other, Newman and Joe Nemechek had tire issues in turn 1. While Newman kept his #12 Ford off the wall, Nemechek wasn’t so lucky as his #25 Chevrolet Monte Carlo grazed the outside wall in turn 1 and prompted the yellow flag. This allowed the teams that needed to stop do under yellow without the threat of green flag pit stop mistakes. On the other hand, Harvick, Jeff Gordon, and Robby Gordon stayed out with enough fuel to make it to the end. This put the #29 Chevrolet in the lead with just 20 laps to go and that was the break that the struggling Harvick needed. 

        For the last 20 green flag laps, he put distance between himself and Gordon to take the white flag comfortably with nearly a second lead. He crossed the finish line ahead of the #24 by eight tenths of a second to grab his first checkered flag of the season. It turned out he had just enough gas to finish the race as he ran out on the frontstretch in the middle of his burnout. The entire Richard Childress Racing #29 team happily went to victory lane and celebrated a much-needed boost to their season. In addition to Harvick’s win, the rest of the NWCS field featured a variety of stories and statistics. Some of those include Kevin Harvick’s 2002 struggles in the first 17 races, Ryan Newman’s large number of laps led at Chicagoland, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s missed opportunity at a win, Jeff Gordon’s continued long winless streak, the Burton brothers’ Chicagoland struggles, and a short recap of the races for all eight of the drivers carrying Muppets on their cars for 400 miles of racing.

        While the 2001 season could be considered a success for Kevin Harvick and the #29 team considering everything all RCR faced as an organization, the first 17 races of 2002 were far from good. Other than a third-place finish at Darlington and a tenth at Bristol, the California driver finished outside of the Top 20 in eleven races. Eight of those finishes occurred in a row from Race #7 of the season at Texas until Race #15 at Michigan. During that eight-race streak, Harvick even missed an event after he was suspended for the Cup race at Martinsville due to an incident in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the half-mile track. Because of all the struggles, he was 30th in the points standings. Race #18 of the 36-race schedule at Chicagoland Speedway came as a possible turning point, though, as the young driver could claim to be the only Cup winner at the track when the series arrived at the Illinois track. 

        Despite a 32nd place starting spot, Harvick methodically moved through the field with his eyes on his best finish of the year. He finally made it to the Top 5 on the restart after the fifth caution on lap 192, but he promptly spun out just a couple of laps later. The aforementioned strategy shuffle allowed him to inherit the lead to steal his best finish of the season and capture a momentum shifting win. Interestingly, the win was his third career victory and it came just 364 days after his second one. On July 15, 2001, Harvick won the inaugural event at Chicagoland. His win made him the only winner two races into the track’s history.

        In the end, a flat tire on lap 240 cost Ryan Newman the win as he lost all his track position and didn’t have enough time to make it up on his four fresh tires. The Indiana Rookie of the Year contender fought back to fifth, but it wasn’t the points paying win he hoped for after his triumph in The Winston exhibition race just two months earlier. Yet, the hopeful NWCS star achieved some important feats in the race. Newman captured his third career pole and started his pursuit of the “Rocketman” nickname he has carried throughout his career. 

        Starting first allowed him to the lead the first 56 laps of the race before the first round of green flag pit stops. He returned to the lead on lap 209 and led for 31 more circuits before his unfortunate flat tire. Despite not leading the most important lap, the Purdue University graduate led 87 laps in total of the 267 laps. At the time, it was the most laps he had led in a single race in his 26th series start. Of course, he led more laps in future races and victories, but the 2002 Tropicana 400 paved the way for the “Rocketman” to show his speed for a majority of an event for the first time in his career.

        For several runs of the race, it looked like Dale Earnhardt Jr. would capture his sixth career NWCS win. He was third when the final caution of the race waved on lap 240 and it appeared some good strategy would hand him the win. However, his team decided to change all four tires while everyone either to took two tires or just added fuel. Being back in traffic made the #8 Chevrolet struggle to handle. Junior could only muster a tenth-place finish when the checkered flag waved. The finish didn’t give the team complete disappointment, though. 

        After leading 133 of 188 laps in his dominating victory at Talladega Superspeedway in mid-April of 2002, Junior struggled to run up front and finish well. He led only 15 laps between California and the previous race at Daytona. His fortune changed at Chicagoland, though. He led 81 of the 267 laps and returned to the lap leading form he had early in the season where he sat 5th in the points at one point. While the win slipped away, Earnhardt Jr. gained some momentum by leading 30% of the race’s laps.

        As soon as Jeff Gordon started running full-time in the NWCS, he became a weekly contender for wins and championships. Yet, in July of 2002, the California born driver found himself in a slump he had only experienced once in his career. Gordon went 41 races before he won his first race in the 1994 Coca-Cola 600. That streak was the longest of his career as he started winning races consistently after the Charlotte Motor Speedway win. When he entered Chicagoland Speedway twelve years after his first win, though, his winless streak stood at 25 races. It appeared he would come close to matching his longest winless streak, but his crew chief, Robbie Loomis, had a plan to try and end the streak.

        After running in or around the Top 10 all day from his 15th place starting spot, Gordon brought his #24 car down pit road under the sixth caution on lap 197 while most of the field stayed out. Despite the loss in track position and being off strategy, he could finish the race without stopping again. The seventh and final caution waved on lap 240 and it appeared the strategy move would put Gordon in contention for the win. Ultimately, though, the #24 restarted second and could not pass Harvick to take the win. The streak extended to 26 winless races and the #24 team left Illinois a bit disappointed as victory lane continued to elude them.

        Starting in 1994, the Burton brothers, Ward and Jeff, began a career battle in the NWCS. The Virginia natives, of course, wanted to beat each other as much as possible, but they wanted each other to have success. In 2002, Ward experienced the ultimate moment of success in stock car racing as he captured the win in the Daytona 500. Yet, the rest of the season until Chicagoland proved to be forgettable for both Burtons. At Texas and Charlotte, the two brothers both finished outside of the Top 35. Also, they had several bad runs and terrible finishes in addition to those shared bad days. Unfortunately, while they hoped Chicagoland would be a turning point, it proved not to be.

        On lap 4, Ward went for a spin on the frontstretch in a pack of traffic to bring out the first caution. Just 13 laps later, the driveshaft on his #22 Pontiac exploded and littered some debris on the 1.5-mile race track. The mechanical issue put Ward behind the wall early and he spent a portion of the race in the garage. He ended up in 41st place and 130 laps down to the leader. Jeff had a solid start to his afternoon in the race, but on lap 165 his good run disappeared. He reported to his crew chief, Frank Stoddard, that his engine was running on just seven cylinders. Seven laps later, he was on pit road with the #99 team pushing their car to the garage. The team’s day was done and the younger Burton brother finished in 39th, 100 laps down. It proved to be yet another difficult day for Ward and Jeff Burton as they combined to finish outside of the Top 35 together for the third time on the 2002 season. 



        Finally, some beloved characters in American culture made an appearance on eight NASCAR racecars at Chicagoland. The Muppets Show, created by Jim Henson, celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 2002. To bring awareness to the event, several NASCAR teams were contacted to run cars with various Muppets characters on them. The schemes were released in March and fans anticipated each team’s arrival at the track in Chicagoland for the Tropicana 400. Unfortunately, some controversy surrounded the crossover as the actual Muppets weren’t allowed into the track due to legal issues. Despite the controversy, all eight teams competed with their respective paint schemes and had very different days.

        Of all eight teams, Bill Elliott had the best afternoon at the Illinois track. Elliott put his #9 Dodge featuring the Swedish Chef on the second row for the initial start. He quickly moved into the second spot and set his sights on the lead. The 1988 NWCS champion spent the first half of the race solidly in the Top 5 before he dropped into the Top 10 around the halfway mark due to various strategies from his other competitors. When the seventh and final caution waved on lap 240, Elliott and his crew chief, Mike Ford, decided to use some strategy of their own. The Georgia driver took fuel only, which allowed him to restart sixth with just 20 laps left. Unfortunately, the move didn’t work out and Elliott ended up in seventh place at the finish, in a close battle for the sixth spot with Kurt Busch. It was his eighth Top 10 of the season and made him the highest finisher of the drivers with Muppet racecars.

  After the first set of green flag pit stops, it looked like Dale Jarrett would give Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy the best finish for the Muppets at Chicagoland. The 1999 NWCS champion moved from his 11th place starting spot to second following the first round of green flag pit stops on lap 84. On the run following the third caution on lap 138, though, Jarrett’s #88 Ford struggled with a tight condition and he slipped outside of the Top 10. From there, he struggled to find his way inside the Top 10 and when the checkered flag waved on lap 267, Jarrett finished exactly where he started in 11th. The race ended in a disappointing fashion for the Robert Yates Racing team, but the #88 finished second highest of the Muppets drivers.

        Of the 43 drivers in the field, Bobby Labonte had the quietest day with Pepe the King Prawn on his #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac. The 2000 NWCS champion started in 12th spot, but struggled to stay inside the Top 15 in the first half of the race. Following the two rounds of green flag pit stops in the first 140 laps, Labonte found himself a lap down just inside the Top 20. Throughout the remainder of the race, he stayed consistently at the front of the drivers a lap down. Yet, he couldn’t move in front of the leader on restarts to earn his lap back and fight to move up the running order. The #18 Pontiac finished the day in 18th after a simply quiet and average day at the 1.5-mile track.

        Ricky Rudd had a very eventful day with Gonzo the Great on the hood of his #28 Robert Yates Racing Ford. After starting 38th, he powered through the field hoping to gain as many positions as possible in the early laps. He did advance through the running order, but he lost a lap to the leaders following the two rounds of green flag pit stops during the first half of the event. With still a lot of time left in the 267-lap race, Rudd hoped to earn his lap back. His pursuit of trying to move back onto the lead lap created some controversy with the leader following the fifth caution on lap 192. As Dale Earnhardt Jr. followed the pace car on the backstretch just after the yellow flag waved, Rudd drove up to the leader’s left side door and bumped him a little bit. The 23-time race winner was upset Earnhardt Jr. hadn’t allowed him to gain his lap back racing to the caution. The intense moment ended quickly, and the Virginia driver returned to working hard on restarts to earn his lap back. Rudd never did return to the lead lap and he finished the day in 19th. While it wasn’t a Top 10, the #28 did improve his starting spot by 19 positions.

        The worst starter of the eight Muppet drivers was Tennessee’s Casey Atwood. He qualified his #7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge featuring Rowlf the Dog in 41st for the 400-mile race. Fortunately, he moved up a few positions for the start as drivers dropped to the rear of the field. Atwood hoped to take his Ultra-Evernham Motorsports car into the Top 20 for a much-needed good run, but he struggled in the early portion of the event. He quickly went a lap down and appeared to be in position for his eighth finish outside of the Top 30 on the season. Yet, the two-time NASCAR Busch Series winner didn’t give up. He fought all race long and thanks to some attrition and adjustments, he crossed the finish line in 28th with a clean racecar. Interestingly, it was exactly where he finished a year before in his first trip to Chicagoland Speedway.

        With Animal on his #41 Target Dodge, Jimmy Spencer looked to capture a good finish for his race team. Unfortunately, track position and a late-race incident prevented him from earning a good finish. Spencer rolled off in 39th spot and made some moves early in the first half of the race to gain spots. He rode around inside the Top 25 until an incident ended his shot at finishing there. As Kevin Harvick spun in turn 1 on lap 197, Spencer crashed with several other drivers like Hut Stricklin, Kurt Busch, and Jerry Nadeau. When the smoke settled, the #41 had a huge hole in the nose and smoked heavily while driving away. Despite the damage, Spencer continued off the pace after some repairs. He ended up in 32nd spot when the checkered flag waved, 28 laps down. A clean day for Spencer and his team turned into a damaged racecar with a less than stellar finish.

        Unlike his Evernham Motorsports teammate, Bill Elliott, Jeremy Mayfield’s #19 Dodge featuring Dr. Honeydew and Beaker didn’t end the 400-mile race with an excellent finish. Mayfield started the 400-mile event in 20th and held station in the Top 20 for the first half of the event before mechanical troubles faced the team. A rear gear burnt up in his racecar and it forced him behind the wall as his fellow competitors continued to race. The #19 team did an admirable job repairing the car and returned their driver to the race, about 30 laps down to the leaders. For the remainder of the event, Mayfield rode around gaining points as drivers fell out of the event. When the checkered flag waved, he finished 34th, 33 laps down. A mechanical problem created an issue for the three-time NWCS race winner, but he showed speed in the early portion of the event.

        When Action Racing Collectibles originally announced the line-up of drivers with Muppets racecars, Johnny Benson Jr. was scheduled to drive the #10 Pontiac with Fozzie Bear for Nelson Bowers. Of course, things change often in NASCAR and Mike Wallace actually drove the racecar in the Tropicana 400. Benson had been involved in a vicious crash at Daytona the week before, which left him with bruises and injured ribs that kept him out of the racecar. Wallace, who had made sporadic appearances in NASCAR’s Top 3 series throughout the 2002 season, hopped into the car for the Chicagoland event. The Missouri driver gave the car a good run from his 36th place starting spot before engine woes started around lap 170. He reported to his team that his car was running on seven cylinders. His teammate, Ken Schrader, had dropped out of the race earlier with the same issue. Wallace only ran a few laps after reporting the issue before he pulled into the garage. He finished in 38th spot, 95 laps down to the leader. For the entire team and driver, it was a disappointing day as Wallace tried to highlight his skills and the #10 team tried to run without their usual driver.


  The 2002 Tropicana 400 provided everything a NASCAR fan could want in a race. Consistent battles for position at the front of the field, green flag pit stops, drivers moving from the back to the front, spins and crashes, interesting strategy calls, and a late-race battle between two of the most talented competitors in the sport. All 75,000 fans got exactly what they paid for thanks to Kevin Harvick’s late duel with Jeff Gordon and Harvick’s late race strategy gamble. Plus, some very interesting stories and statistics emerged from the race thanks to many of the drivers in the field. Finally, fans young and old were able to see the Muppets sail around Chicagoland Speedway at over 180 miles per hour.

  On Sunday, 16 years after the second Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to Illinois for the 18th race at the 1.5-mile track. Just like 2002, the series heads to the speedway with a lot of potential storylines brewing. In the last two races at Chicagoland, only one driver has visited victory lane: Martin Truex Jr. He captured the victory in 2016 and won last season en route to his first Cup championship. Truex will be a legitimate threat for the win again. Chase Elliott hasn’t won a Cup race in 93 career starts, but he has an average finish of 2.5 at Chicagoland and a goal of winning this weekend. Kevin Harvick won the first two Cup races at the Illinois track, but he hasn’t been to victory lane there since. With five wins on the 2018 season thus far, he will be another contender for the win. The stars of the MENCS hope to thrill the fans on Sunday just like the NWCS drivers did in 2002. 
(More Stats Down Below!)





Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 4- Ward Burton went for a spin exiting turn 4 as he raced in a pack of traffic. He spun to a stop on the frontstretch apron without damage and continued in the race.

2nd Caution: Lap 17- Debris from Ward Burton’s exploded driveshaft littered turns 3 and 4.

3rd Caution: Lap 138- Michael Waltrip blew an engine entering turn 1, which littered debris and oil on the track. Waltrip came to a stop alongside the wall with his day finished.

4th Caution: Lap 182- Debris was spotted on the 1.5-mile track in turn 4.

5th Caution: Lap 192- Elliott Sadler broke loose exiting turn 4 and spun down the frontstretch. He ended up stopped on the apron without damage before he continued on.

6th Caution: Lap 197- Kevin Harvick shot to the apron past the start/finish line to pass Kurt Busch and Dave Blaney. The apron made Harvick’s #29 loose and he ended up spinning in turn 1 after riding the apron to save his car. He spun harmlessly into the grass and continued after he refired his racecar. Hut Stricklin, Jerry Nadeau, Jimmy Spencer, and Elliott Sadler also spun during the incident.

7th Caution: Lap 240- As Ryan Newman coasted on the backstretch with a flat right front tire, Joe Nemechek had a left front go flat, which sent his #25 Chevrolet up the track and into the outside wall. Nemechek only made slight contact with the wall and he continued after repairs from his Hendrick Motorsports team.

Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Kevin Harvick
2nd: Jeff Gordon
3rd: Tony Stewart
4th: Jimmie Johnson
5th: Ryan Newman

Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Kurt Busch
7th: Bill Elliott
9th: Mark Martin
10th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
11th: Dale Jarrett
13th: Terry Labonte
14th: Matt Kenseth
18th: Bobby Labonte
21st: Elliott Sadler
25th: Rusty Wallace
33rd: Joe Nemechek
39th: Jeff Burton
42nd: Michael Waltrip




Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
~~racing-reference.info/race/2002_Tropicana_400/W
-Full Race:
~~www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp68t_QrbO4&t=1398s
-Images:
~~www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jimmy-spencer-dirves-his-ganassi-racing-dodge-intrepid-on-news-photo/1157200#/jimmy-spencer-dirves-his-ganassi-racing-dodge-intrepid-on-july-13-picture-id1157200
~~www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ricky-rudd-drives-his-havoline-racing-ford-on-july-14-2002-news-photo/1157369#ricky-rudd-drives-his-havoline-racing-ford-on-july-14-2002-during-the-picture-id1157369
~~www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/casey-atwood-drives-his-ultra-motorsports-dodge-intrepid-on-news-photo/1157197
~~www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jeremy-mayfield-drives-his-evernham-motorsports-dodge-news-photo/1157167#/jeremy-mayfield-drives-his-evernham-motorsports-dodge-intrepid-on-13-picture-id1157167
~~www.sorte.org/tropicana400-2002/index2.html
~~www.motorsportimages.com/photos/?race_type_id=117&year=2002&driver_id%5B0%5D=590
~~www.motorsportimages.com/photos/?race_type_id=117&year=2002&driver_id=30&location_id=69
~~www.qvc.com/Bill-Elliott-Swedish-Chef-1%3A24-Scale-Die-Cast-Car.product.C19823.html
~~www.motorsportimages.com/photo/1012764072-2002-nascar-chicagoland-usa-july-13-14-2002/1012764072/?p=2&search=2002%20Tropicana%20400&is_popup=1
~~www.motorsportimages.com/photo/2002-nascar-chicagoland-usa-july-13-14-2002-1012764124/1012764124/?p=3&search=2002%20Tropicana%20400&is_popup=1
~~www.motorsportimages.com/photo/1012763808-2002-nascar-chicagoland-usa-july-13-14-2002/1012763808/?p=5&search=2002%20Tropicana%20400&is_popup=1
~~www.motorsportimages.com/photo/1012763729-2002-nascar-chicagoland-usa-july-13-14-2002/1012763729/?p=4&search=2002%20Tropicana%20400&is_popup=1
~~www.motorsportimages.com/photo/1012763748-2002-nascar-chicagoland-usa-july-13-14-2002/1012763748/?p=4&search=2002%20Tropicana%20400&is_popup=1
~~www.motorsportimages.com/photo/1012763709-2002-nascar-chicagoland-usa-july-13-14-2002/1012763709/?p=3&search=2002%20Tropicana%20400&is_popup=1
~~www.motorsportimages.com/photo/1012763707-2002-nascar-chicagoland-usa-july-13-14-2002/1012763707/?p=7&search=2002%20Tropicana%20400&is_popup=1

A Tribute to the “Ragin’ Cajun,” Jason Johnson

        Last night felt just like Sunday night, August 7, 2016. On that night two years ago, I combed through various social media websites trying to gather information about Bryan Clauson’s condition following his terrible crash in the Belleville Midget Nationals just the day before. On that Monday morning, I woke up to tragic news delivered by Indianapolis Motor Speedway: Clauson was gone. 

        Last night, around midnight in South Carolina, I searched Twitter and other social media outlets hoping to find good news about another driver: Jason Johnson. The “Ragin’ Cajun,” as he was affectionately known thanks to his proud Louisiana roots, first caught my attention watching Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series races on MAVTV. Johnson won five championships in the ASCS and anytime I turned on one of their races on my TV, he was certain to be a contender for the win.

        Over the past three and a half seasons, though, Johnson has been a regular in the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series driving the #41 for the team he owned. The World of Outlaws are widely considered to be the premier series for sprint car racing and Johnson integrated into the series smoothly. After going winless in 2015 after missing races due to injury in a crash at Placerville Speedway, Johnson captured four wins each in 2016 and 2017 in addition to two wins just two weeks ago in preliminary features leading up the Jackson Nationals. Plus, Johnson had two wins in the series as a part-timer in 2003 and 2005. 

       The Louisiana driver’s most thrilling victory came in the 2016 Knoxville Nationals where he outdueled a nine-time Knoxville Nationals winner at the time, Donny Schatz, to capture a thrilling checkered flag for his self-owned race team. As a fan, I thoroughly enjoyed the battle between the two and it made me respect both competitors more for how hard they raced. Johnson’s performance in that 50-lap race was enough to establish his place as a legendary figure in sprint car racing, but he kept racing and looking for more victories behind the wheel of his #41.

       Last night at Beaver Dam Raceway in Wisconsin, it appeared he would be adding another win to his World of Outlaws total. He recorded quick time in qualifying and led three of the first 17 laps after starting thanks to the Craftsman Dash. On the third lap 18 restart, though, the unthinkable happened. While racing with Daryn Pittman down the backstretch for the lead, the two drivers locked wheels and a vicious crash occurred, one I don’t want to describe. Quickly, safety crews arrived on the scene and took Johnson to the local medical center. The race finished and Pittman, somberly, captured his fifth checkered flag of the season. Everyone’s thoughts were with Johnson, though.

        As I sat in my bed looking through social media at around midnight last night, I read statements from several sources and Johnson’s outlook seemed bleak based on their wording. I watched the crash two times and it looked awful, which made me regret watching it. But hope and faith were still there for a recovery for the Louisiana driver. His wife, Bobbi, had a positive statement before I went to sleep and I hoped to wake up to better news. As I woke up, though, the morning resembled August 8, 2018, as the news of Bryan Clauson’s death broke. Unfortunately, the announcement was the same: Jason Johnson was gone. And my emotions of sadness overflowed.



The sport of auto racing is one of my favorite things in the entire world. I will watch any racing and support it as much as possible. This includes NASCAR, the World of Outlaws, IndyCar, Formula 1, and so much more. Most importantly to me, though, is the drivers who compete in those respective series. Every racecar driver is my hero. They are willing to climb in a racecar and risk everything to provide a show for fans like myself. 

        Jason Johnson is my hero. 

        Every time he could be at the track, Jason was there. Many nights, he gave me excitement and thrills as I heard his name over the DirtVision audio broadcast of the World of Outlaws and saw his name on Race Monitor gaining spots while running blazing fast laps. 

        That is what makes days like today so challenging as a huge fan of racing. Sometimes, I wonder if the risk is worth the reward for drivers, Is the show they put on enough to suffer through the tragic loss of great men like Jason Johnson, Bryan Clauson, Dale Earnhardt Sr., and so many others? But that question would be laughable to any driver who has lost their lives in a fatal crash. While the risk is great, they love what they do and I truly believe Jason Johnson died doing what he loved. So, no one can ever question a driver’s motivation to race because the real racers want to compete every single day. And, truly, I believe God has a plan even in tragic circumstances.

        The void left by Jason Johnson will never be filled in both the racing world and in the lives of the people close to him. I never met Jason and didn’t know him personally, but I already miss him and wish I could change the outcome of the entire situation. Yet, time must go on through the hurt. And I have decided the best way to honor Jason, as many people have said, is to just enjoy auto racing like he did. Watching a race can heal some of that hurt while providing an opportunity to remember such a great person both on and off the race track.

        Thanks for all the memories in the past few years, Jason. My prayers and thoughts will be with your wife, your son, your family and friends, and everybody who has been affected by your tragic death. You will be missed greatly. RIP.




Credits:
-Image:
https://www.lakeexpo.com/community/community_news/local-racer-jason-johnson-wins-knoxville-nationals-sprint-car-championship/article_edf4a1ec-6433-11e6-811b-2f1d531873e3.html

A Las Vegas Motor Speedway Memory: Earnhardt Jr.’s Empty Fuel Tank Hands Keselowski the Victory in the 2014 Kobalt 400

Strategy has always been an important aspect of NASCAR racing, most recently with pit road calls. Extended lengths of races, improved tire wear, fuel saving techniques, and the emphasis on winning at all levels of the sport have forced teams to stretch their resources in hopes of earning the best possible finish. Drivers have learned to push fuel windows to their extreme and ask for two tires rather than four to improve their track position. Sometimes, these bold strategy moves work and put drivers in victory lane. However, most of the time, these calls lead to disappointment as a win slips away.

On March 9, 2014, two drivers familiar with each other experienced the highs and lows of strategy racing while battling for the win in the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his team decided to stay on track during the fourth and final caution on lap 221, hoping to run 56 laps on a tank of Sunoco gasoline after his lap 211 green flag pit stop. The #88 already had a win from the season opening Daytona 500, which meant the team could try some unique strategy to grab another victory since they were already locked in NASCAR’s brand-new “win and you’re in” Chase format.

Meanwhile, Brad Keselowski, who drove for Earnhardt Jr. in the NASCAR Nationwide Series from 2008 to 2009, and his team opted to pit during the final caution. Keselowski’s crew put two fresh tires on the #2 Ford Fusion and returned their driver to the race in seventh spot. He had three drivers with little fuel in their racecars in front of him, including the #88, and three drivers with a full tank of gas. His fresher rubber was a distinct advantage for the 42-lap green flag run to conclude the event.

In the end, the battle for the win came down to Earnhardt Jr.’s fuel mileage gamble and Keselowski’s two fresh tires. The two drivers participated in a thrilling battle for the win underneath the Las Vegas sun. However, the victory came down to a last lap slip up for Earnhardt Jr. and Keselowski’s ability to capitalize. One driver was left with a bad LVMS memory and the other experienced a happy moment at the 1.5-mile track.

Brad Keselowski started the 400-mile race in the second position while Dale Earnhardt Jr. started on the outside of Row 7 in the 14th spot. During the first half of the event, the two drivers maintained their spots in the Top 10 as they battled through a 106-lap green flag and three cautions in the first 160 laps of the event. On lap 196, though, Keselowski and Junior’s path towards victory in the race crossed for the first time.

Just four laps prior to lap 200, Keselowski started a round of green flag pit stops as the leader. His team gave him four fresh tires and returned him to the race track as other pit crews prepared for their own stops. As the next few laps passed, drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Paul Menard pitted for four tires to continue the cycle of stops. On lap 206, Earnhardt Jr. grabbed the lead for the second time in the race as his team pondered a potential strategy call much different from the rest of the field.

Due to the green flag character of the race, Steve Letarte, Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief, decided to keep his driver on track longer than the rest of the field during the round of stops. The team’s hope was that Junior could pit around lap 210 and have the race stay green to its conclusion. If that occurred, the reigning Daytona 500 champion would have a possibility of making it on fuel to the finish while his fellow competitors would definitely have to pit again.

The #88 led five laps before he came down pit road for his stop on lap 211. The stop was flawless from his crew and he returned to the track with only two drivers left to pit during the cycle: Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards. They pitted on lap 213, hoping to use the same strategy as Earnhardt Jr. in the late stages. After the cycle of stops, Keselowski returned to the lead knowing he would need to stop again and Junior cycled into the fifth position. However, after making all the strategy plans for green flag racing, the fourth and final caution waved on lap 221. Now, teams would have to work on another strategy decision to end the event.

Three drivers decided to stay on track during the caution while the rest of the field pitted. Earnhardt Jr., Edwards, and Hamlin, the three drivers who had pitted late during the green flag cycle, stayed out with enough fuel in their racecars according to the teams’ calculations to finish the 267-lap event. Behind them, three drivers prepared to restart in the fourth through sixth spots after adding just fuel to their racecars on pit road. In seventh for the restart was Keselowski. His crew chief, Paul Wolfe, had opted to give his driver two fresh tires, which cost the team some track position. Yet, they had fresher tires than everyone else in the race. For the next 42 laps, those pit road decisions would help determine the winner of the race.

On lap 226, the green flag waved for the final time and the mix of strategy calls caused a chaotic restart. As Earnhardt Jr. moved out to a five car length lead, drivers behind him battled two and three wide around LVMS. Keselowski ended up in second position on his two fresh tires at the completion of lap 226, but he was three-fourths of a second behind the leader. On lap 228, the #2 Ford dropped to third while Junior held the lead. The battle between the two drivers was far from over, though.

Despite losing the second spot, Keselowski maintained his momentum and returned to the runner-up position around lap 244 with just 23 laps left in the event. The next 10 laps proved to be crucial in deciding the race winner. While Earnhardt Jr. tried to save fuel at the front of the pack, the #2 Ford started chasing him down for the lead. On lap 253, the advantage moved underneath a second between the two drivers. Five laps later, the gap was only three tenths of a second and it appeared the two tire strategy call of Keselowski would prevail.

However, Earnhardt Jr. and his spotter, T.J. Majors, noticed Keselowski’s charge towards the lead and the #88 changed its racing line on track. For the next few laps, the North Carolina driver extended his lead by a few tenths as the end of the race neared. Finally, after saving fuel throughout the final run and monitoring his gap, Earnhardt Jr. took the white flag with Keselowski half a second behind him. The final lap ended up being very interesting for the two competitors.

Both drivers powered through turns 1 and 2 smoothly with the advantage between them remaining at half a second. On the backstretch, though, Earnhardt Jr. experienced a problem. The low amount of fuel in his racecar caused his engine to miss slightly exiting turn 2. The hiccup caused him to lose power and he moved towards the inside of the track, trying to slosh some fuel in the pickup. Meanwhile, Keselowski destroyed the half second between himself and the lead heading down the backstretch and cleared Junior entering turn 3. The power returned to Earnhardt Jr.’s car in the final turn, but it was too late. 

Keselowski powered away from the #88 and crossed the finish line first while Earnhardt Jr. managed to finish in second spot over a second back. Wolfe’s two-tire decision paid off with a much-needed victory after a tough 2013 season. On the other hand, Letarte’s gamble to keep his driver on track during the final caution resulted in a disappointing second place finish after Junior led at the white flag. Earnhardt Jr. wasn’t discouraged after the race, though, due to his chance to win the race and his win in the Daytona 500 just two weeks prior. 

“We took a gamble and we didn’t win the race, but it still worked in our favor to run second and gave us a chance to win," Earnhardt Jr. said after the race. Still, watching Keselowski celebrate on the frontstretch wasn’t what the #88 team had hoped for when making the late gamble. For the #2 team, the victory lane moment proved to be an early memory to carry throughout the rest of 2014.  

Keselowski ended the 2014 season with six total victories. He captured wins at Kentucky, New Hampshire, Richmond, Chicagoland, and Talladega in addition to his Las Vegas triumph to lead the series in the category. However, a 31st place finish at Martinsville in October derailed his championship hopes and he missed the first Championship 4 battle at Homestead-Miami Speedway by just a couple of points. Over the next three seasons, he won eight total races and finished fourth in the points last year after making the Championship 4 for the first time.

In the two races this season, the 2012 Cup champion has shown speed and been a contender for the race win. A crash in the Daytona 500 left him with a disappointing 32nd place finish, but he returned to the track last week and captured a runner-up finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway. With a win to his credit at Las Vegas, the #2 Ford will be a car to watch for the 400-mile event tomorrow and it could be another excellent season for the Michigan native.

Despite missing out on the Las Vegas win, Earnhardt Jr.’s 2014 season ended as one of the best of his career. He added a season sweep of victories at Pocono and a Martinsville win to his Daytona 500 victory, giving him four total for the season. He ended up finishing eighth in the points after an excellent year compared to his previous seasons. A year later, he added three more victories to his career total including another Talladega win, a Daytona triumph, and a rainy victory at Phoenix. He finished 12th in the overall standings at the end of the year. Unfortunately, his win at Phoenix turned out to be the last of his career.

2016 started off inconsistent for the North Carolina driver and ended early for him. Crashes at Talladega and Michigan caused him to experience concussion-like symptoms, much like he experienced late in the 2012 season. After the Kentucky race in July of 2016, Earnhardt Jr. was forced out the car due to the severity of his medical issues. He missed the remainder of the season trying to heal from his head injuries. The two-time Daytona 500 champion returned for the 2017 Cup season, but he wasn’t in his usual form. He announced in April of last year that 2017 would be his final full-time season in the sport. He ended the disappointing year with only one Top 5 finish. He concluded his Cup career with a 25th at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the season finale.

For 2018, the 15-time Most Popular Driver award winner has stayed busy as he prepares for the future. He spent the week following the 60th Daytona 500 in Pyeongchang, South Korea, working the Winter Olympics for NBC Sports. When NBC begins broadcasting NASCAR races in a few months, he will be a prominent figure on TV talking about the sport. Also, he has plans for a DIY Network home renovation show and he will become a dad for the first time in May. Finally, he will be in the racecar for at least one more time this season. He will be piloting his own #88 at the fall Richmond race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for all his fans to see him back in a racecar.

Strategy gambles sometimes pay off for teams and sometimes they don’t. In 2008, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first race at Michigan driving for Hendrick Motorsports with just a few drops of fuel left in the tank. His team’s strategy decision had paid off. In 2014, though, their late race fuel mileage gamble didn’t end in a victory at Las Vegas. For Brad Keselowski and his team, the decision to take on two fresh tires allowed them to move up the leaderboard in the last run and steal the victory from Earnhardt Jr. Their late race battle and exciting final lap duel created a memorable Las Vegas Motor Speedway memory, one that will be remembered for years to come.
(More Stats Down Below!)




Cautions: 4 for 18 laps

Lead Changes: 21

Margin of Victory: 1.530 seconds

Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Brad Keselowski
2nd: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3rd: Paul Menard
4th: Joey Logano
5th: Carl Edwards

Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Jimmie Johnson
7th: Ryan Newman
8th: Kasey Kahne
9th: Jeff Gordon
10th: Matt Kenseth
11th: Kyle Busch
12th: Denny Hamlin
14th: Martin Truex Jr.
16th: Austin Dillon
17th: Jeff Burton
19th: Kyle Larson
21st: Danica Patrick
26th: Kurt Busch
33rd: Tony Stewart
37th: Alex Bowman
41st: Kevin Harvick




Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
racing-reference.info/race/2014_Kobalt_400/W
-Image:
www.cbssports.com/general/story/24475310/keselowski-edges-junior-on-last-lap-in-las-vegas
-Quote:
www.sportingnews.com/nascar/news/las-vegas-results-finish-brad-keselowski-wins-dale-earnhardt-jr-second-out-of-fuel/cb7zkq48ajv61r22e30mi4i87
-Video of Finish:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bxYOEXv5fg&t=67s
-Full Race:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6_l6x26bJs&t=12s