Carl Edwards wins at Richmond; Chase field set

By Sep 7, 2013, 11:24 PM EDT
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After taking the lead from Ryan Newman on the final pit stop of the race, Carl Edwards went on to claim his second victory of the season in tonight’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

But with Edwards already in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the bigger drama unfolded behind him as drivers jockeyed for every position they could get in the final laps as they desperately tried to move into the post-season.

Newman needed to win tonight to clinch a Wild Card spot, and with ten laps to go, he roared past Edwards on the outside to take the lead.

But a spin involving Clint Bowyer with seven laps to go brought out the yellow, and when the leaders went to pit road for service before the final shootout to the checkered flag, Newman fell from first to fifth.

On the restart with three laps left, Edwards and Kurt Busch were able to move past Paul Menard for first and second, with Edwards then able to pull away for the win. Newman was able to get up to third, but with his Wild Card rival, Martin Truex Jr., finishing seventh, the two drivers ended up tied in points – and Truex earned the tiebreaker for the final Wild Card that was up for grabs.

With both his night and title hopes ruined, Newman went on a tear.

“We got killed on pit road – there’s no doubt about that,” he said to ESPN. “Carl and those guys beat us with four tires. The guys that took two were just doing some strategy, but we should’ve been able to come on pit road first and come off pit road first.

“If we’re a championship-contending team, we need a championship-contending pit crew and we didn’t have that tonight.”

Meanwhile, Truex couldn’t believe that he was able to hold off Jeff Gordon in the final laps to maintain his grip on the Wild Card spot.

“My tires were shot, it wouldn’t turn, I couldn’t touch the gas,” a shocked Truex said. “It felt like I had oil on my tires…I don’t know how I kept him behind me. I just tried to run where he was running, try not to make mistakes. Somebody was riding with me tonight.”

Newman’s loss also enabled Joey Logano to hang on to the 10th and final automatic bid in the Chase; had Newman won, he would’ve grabbed the Wild Card and knocked Logano out of the post-season altogether.

Logano had a poor night at Richmond, finishing 22nd and one lap down. But he was able to best Jeff Gordon by one point for that 10th position in the standings.

Also clinching Top-10 bids were Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, and Greg Biffle. For Busch, his Chase berth for himself and Furniture Row Racing marks the first time that a single-car operation has made NASCAR’s post-season.

“To make the Chase with these guys is an unbelievable feeling,” an emotional Busch said. “It’s been an 18-month work in progress. I’ve been through a lot and learned a lot, and I feel like I’m better ready for the Chase and life in general.”

More to come from a very big night in Virginia…

After New York whirlwind, Josef Newgarden makes special trip to simulator before Detroit

By Jun 2, 2023, 10:00 AM EDT
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DETROIT – There’s no rest for the weary as an Indy 500 winner, but Josef Newgarden discovered there are plenty of extra laps.

The reigning Indy 500 champion added an extra trip Wednesday night back to Concord, N.C., for one last session on the GM Racing simulator before Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

After a 30-year run on the Belle Isle course, the race has been moved to a nine-turn, 1.7-mile layout downtown, so two extra hours on the simulator were worth it for Newgarden.

INDYCAR IN DETROIT: Entry list, schedule, TV info for this weekend

JOSEF’S FAMILY TIES: Newgarden wins Indy 500 with wisdom of father, wife

“I really wanted to do it,” he told NBC Sports at a Thursday media luncheon. “If there’s any time that the sim is most useful, it’s in this situation when no one has ever been on a track, and we’re able to simulate it as best as we can. We want to get some seat time.

“It’s extra important coming off the Indy 500 because you’ve been out of rhythm for a road or street course-type environment, so I really wanted some laps. I was really appreciative to Chevy. There was a few guys that just came in and stayed late for me so I could get those laps before coming up here. I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference, but I feel like it’s going to help for me.”

After a whirlwind tour of New York for two days, Newgarden arrived at the simulator (which is at the GM Racing Technical Center adjacent to Hendrick Motorsports) in time for a two hour session that started at 6 p.m. Wednesday. He stayed overnight in Charlotte and then was up for an early commercial flight to Detroit, where he had more media obligations.

Newgarden joked that if he had a jet, he would have made a quick stop in Nashville, Tennessee, but a few more days away from home (where he has yet to return in weeks) is a worthy tradeoff for winning the Greatest Spectacle in Racing – though the nonstop interviews can take a toll.

“It’s the hardest part of the gig for me is all this fanfare and celebration,” Newgarden said. “I love doing it because I’m so passionate about the Indy 500 and that racetrack and what that race represents. I feel honored to be able to speak about it. It’s been really natural and easy for me to enjoy it because I’ve been there for so many years.

“Speaking about this win has been almost the easiest job I’ve ever had for postrace celebrations. But it’s still for me a lot of work. I get worn out pretty easily. I’m very introverted. So to do this for three days straight, it’s been a lot.”

Though he is terrified of heights, touring the top of the Empire State Building for the first time was a major highlight (and produced the tour’s most viral moment).

“I was scared to get to the very top level,” Newgarden said. “That thing was swaying. No one else thought it was swaying. I’m pretty sure it was. I really impressed by the facility. I’d never seen it before. It’s one of those bucket list things. If you go to New York, it’s really special to do that. So to be there with the wreath and the whole setup, it just felt like an honor to be in that moment.”

Now the attention shifts to Detroit and an inaugural circuit that’s expected to be challenging. Along with a Jefferson Avenue straightaway that’s 0.9 miles long, the track has several low-speed corners and a “split” pit lane (teams will stop on both sides of a rectangular area) with a narrow exit that blends just before a 90-degree lefthand turn into Turn 1.

Newgarden thinks the track is most similar to the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.

“It’s really hard to predict with this stuff until we actually run,” he said. “Maybe we go super smooth and have no issues. Typically when you have a new event, you’re going to have some teething issues. That’s understandable. We’ve always got to massage the event to get it where we want it, but this team has worked pretty hard. They’ve tried to get feedback constantly on what are we doing right, what do we need to look out for. They’ve done a ton of grinding to make sure this surface is in as good of shape as possible.

“There’s been no expense spared, but you can’t foresee everything. I have no idea how it’s going to race. I think typically when you look at a circuit that seems simple on paper, people tend to think it’s not going to be an exciting race, or challenging. I find the opposite always happens when we think that way. Watch it be the most exciting, chaotic, entertaining race.

Newgarden won the last two pole positions at Belle Isle’s 2.35-mile layout and hopes to continue the momentum while avoiding any post-Brickyard letdown.

“I love this is an opportunity for us to get something right quicker than anyone else,” he said. “A new track is always exciting from that standpoint. I feel I’m in a different spot. I’m pretty run down. I’m really trying to refocus and gain some energy back for tomorrow. Which I’ll have time to today, which is great.

“I don’t want that Indy 500 hangover. People always talk about it. They’ve always observed it. That doesn’t mean we have to win this weekend, but I’d like to leave here feeling like we had a really complete event, did a good job and had a solid finish leading into the summer. I want to win everywhere I go, but if we come out of here with a solid result and no mistakes, then probably everyone will be happy with it.”