Gray makes history with NHRA win at Vegas

In a slight departure (OK...a big one) from what normally gets done around these parts of the blogosphere, it's time for me to clean out my notebook from the NHRA's DENSO Nationals stop that happened Sunday at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

For starters, the hot-rod, straight-line fans got a moment to savor when Tanner Gray became the youngest winner in NHRA history.

And the crowd asked..."how young is he?"

Tanner Gray is 17 years old. He's still two weeks shy of his 18th birthday (April 15), and he went out and piloted his Pro Stock car to one of the more awesome race victories in recent memory.

I've been covering drag racing since 2006, so that gives you a bit of an idea.

Gray didn't beat just anyone along the way after qualifying fifth for the final eliminations on the warmest day of the race weekend. He got by Summit Racing teammates Greg Anderson (quarterfinals) and Jason Line (semifinals) -- who are 1-2 in the current Pro Stock standings -- to get his chance at history.

Thanks to a near-perfect reaction time off the starting line (.010), Gray denied Bo Butner his first career win on a hole shot (Gray crossed in 6.681 to Butner's 6.678 with a .088 RT) and made history as the youngest winner of the NHRA Wally trophy.

Against Anderson in Round 2, Gray's reaction time was even better at .001.

The amazing part through all the excitement: Gray still has two more months of online course work before he graduates from high school.

Such is a racer's life. When you make a dream come true at that young an age, it only gets better from here. Well done.

-As for Sunday's Monster Energy Cup race at Martinsville, the STP 500 gave NASCAR's new stage-racing format another huge boost for the excitement level.

Case in point came at the end of Stage 2. With Kyle Busch leading, he was caught in race traffic as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. battled to stay ahead and on the lead lap.

When Stenhouse nudged Busch up the track -- not enough to cause a problem other than the one that blew up in Busch's brain -- it was the gift Chase Elliott ran with to take the Stage 2 win and the playoff point that goes with it.

Afterward, Busch sounded off. We shouldn't have expected anything less.

Busch claimed he was trying to be nice to Stenhouse.

“I actually was rolling into Turn 3 and was kind of going higher out of my way in order to let (Stenhouse) back by and give him the lap,’’ Busch said in an NBCSports.com story written by Dustin Long. “That was my intent. He just drove through me. Cost me my spot to (Elliott). I was hoping I could run off the corner side by side with (Stenhouse) and keep (Elliott) at bay and keep my nose in front of his and be able to score the segment. I was trying to be the nice guy but nice guys don’t finish first.’’

Stenhouse's take on the matter from the same story:

“I got sponsors, fans and a team to take care of,’’ he said. “I had to stay on the lead lap. That was a turning point in the race. If (Busch) laps (Dillon) and then we’re stuck a lap down, it could ruin our race. I drove as hard as I could, and it paid off for us.

“(It was) nothing to get him back for. Cars were hard to drive. We had a lot of laps on the tires. I saw he was going to try to get on the outside of (Dillon) and that’s where was good in (turns) 3 and 4. So I ran in there with him. I was just going to give him a nudge and make sure he didn’t get by (Dillon). I didn’t mean to give up the win there for him in that stage.’’

Thanks to his approach, Stenhouse finished 10th and earned a stage point.

Proving that the lost opportunity is already in Busch's head, he not only lost the race win to Brad Keselowski -- who became the first driver to earn a second win this season -- but isn't excited about the near future.

Joe Gibbs Racing has won three of the last 30 races in NASCAR's Chase/playoff, but this year's race to the title is still 21 races away.

Tell us how you really feel come September, Kyle. Maybe everything will be great by then.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @TommyZee81 or email tominator19@yahoo.com.

Mr. Johnson heads to Homestead

After two years of wondering what's wrong with Jimmie Johnson, we can safely say he's finally got this new Chase thing pretty much down pat.

At a track he's basically dominated in the past, Johnson grabbed another dose of Martinsville Speedway magic and earned his ninth career win Sunday in the Goody's Fast Relief 500 at the paper clip. Another grandfather clock -- the standard trophy the track awards to the race winner -- is nice, but a shot at his seventh championship likely has the driver of the No. 48 a little more excited this week.
Johnson can use the upcoming races at Texas and Phoenix to get himself mentally ready for the mission at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Unlike in years past, where he basically had to stay out of trouble and get a decent-enough finish to claim the checkered flag trophy, Johnson actually has to -- wait for it -- race hard come Nov. 20.
He'll only have three other drivers to worry about, but finishing ahead of them is the only way to guarantee he'll be alongside Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty with the most championships in NASCAR history.
The 41-year-old from El Cajon, Calif., now has 79 career wins, only four behind Cale Yarborough for sixth on the all-time list and five behind Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison. Elite company, indeed.
In his 15 full-time seasons in Sprint Cup, the fewest wins Johnson has had is two (2011). With his win at Martinsville, this is the third time the Hendrick Motorsports driver has had four checkered flags in a season (2005, 2014).
So how well will Jimmie really need to do at Homestead? He's finished ninth in each of the last three races there. Not bad, but both Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch won to make sure they secured the championship.
Johnson hasn't so much as led a lap at Homestead since 2012. Take it for what it's worth, but it's clearly go time this time around.
There are still two races left in the final round before the Championship 4, but Johnson has dealt a big blow to all four Joe Gibbs Racing cars in their Chase for the title. Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch finished third, fourth and fifth at Martinsville, but Joey Logano is lurking as another potential party spoiler after he finished ninth.
Then again, winning matters, and Carl Edwards -- even though he finished 36th after wrecking Sunday -- still has a shot.
He needs a win, but it's still a shot. Same goes for Harvick and Kurt Busch.
Edwards won at Texas in April. Harvick has won six of the last eight at Phoenix and led 994 laps in the last five trips there.
Strap yourself in for the last two races before we set the final four. Nothing is over until the guy in the flag stand says it is.
Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @TommyZee81 or @Tomzsports. Email him at tominator19@yahoo.com.
THIS WEEK'S RACES
Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile D-shaped oval), Fort Worth, Texas.
-SPRINT CUP: AAA Texas 500, Sunday, 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, NBC. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.
Race distance: 501 miles, 334 laps.
2015 champion: Jimmie Johnson
-XFINITY SERIES: O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT, NBC. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.
Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.
2015 champion: Brad Keselowski
-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Longhorn 350, Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN affiliate.
Race distance; 350 kilometers (219 miles), 146 laps.
2015 champion: Erik Jones.

Don’t hate the driver, cheer harder for yours

Over the course of the last two NASCAR race weekends, a machine-like pattern has emerged, rife with not only predictability over the outcome, but the backlash on social media that comes afterwards.
And it’s all because of one driver most fans love to hate. His name is Busch. Kyle Busch.
The reason for the vitriol is simple. Busch wins, and he’s won with greater regularity of late, regardless of series. First, he swept the weekend April 2 and 3 at Martinsville Speedway, starting with the Camping World Truck Series, then went out and rolled through the field in the Cup race on a track where he had never won before.
Busch was so good, he led 352 of 500 laps on NASCAR’s shortest track, one that can be murder on brakes for those who get overly ambitious.
Then over this weekend, Busch swept aside all challengers in the XFINITY and Sprint Cup races. First, he led 150 of 200 laps in winning the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300, then endured a two-hour rain delay and won the Duck Commander 500.
Even more frustrating for those who aren’t fans of the 18, Busch only led the last 34 laps of the Cup race. It doesn’t matter how many laps you lead, as long as you lead the last one.
The next few paragraphs are going to make those who can’t stand Kyle Busch even madder, but they need to be said.
First off, in the five XFINITY races Busch has entered, he’s won the pole three times, qualified third in the other two, and had only a cut tire on the final lap at Auto Club Speedway keep him from winning all of them.
In total, Busch has led 776 of a possible 913 laps in 2016. That’s 85 percent of the total, an insane figure to comprehend. He has reached 80 career wins in NASCAR’s No. 2 series in only 316 starts, not even one in every four.
The Martinsville truck race was Busch’s first entry of the season. He led 123 of the 255 laps and now has 45 wins in that series in 130 starts.
He may be behind the pace in the series that is NASCAR’s gold standard, but Busch has 36 victories and a Sprint Cup trophy to show for his efforts. He’ll make his 400th career Cup start at Talladega on May 1.
Put all the gaudy numbers aside for a moment and understand something here. It’s a driver’s job to get in the car or truck and drive it like a maniac with the intention of getting to Victory Lane. Nothing else matters, and as Ricky Bobby once said, second place is the first loser.
What may rub those who don’t care for Kyle Busch is how he handles himself when things don’t go his way. After the frustration of what happened at Auto Club, it’s understandable why he blew off the media interview, especially when there’s always potential for fines to come down for saying the wrong things in the heat of the moment.
But that’s what some racers do. Love or hate him, Kyle Busch knows how to put his race cars in the right places to win. It’s on everyone else to keep up and make the adjustments to go out and beat him.
Even with all the winning Busch has done of late, there is good news. After this weekend’s races at Bristol, he won’t run in another XFINITY race until Pocono on June 4. On the truck side, he’ll only run three other events – at Charlotte on May 20, Kentucky on July 7 and Bristol on Aug. 17.
In the meantime, it’s better to appreciate what Kyle Busch has done rather than hate and long for the “good old days,” whatever they mean. Soon enough, someone else is going to come along and wreak the same amount of havoc.
And those who hate whoever that is will be just as vocal. It’s the nature of the racing beast.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports. Send your email praise, beefs, disagreements, etc., to tominator19@yahoo.com

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Bristol Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval), Bristol, Tenn.

-SPRINT CUP: Food City 500, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, Fox. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 500 laps, 266.5 miles

2015 champion: Matt Kenseth

-XFINITY SERIES: Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300, Satuirday, 12:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 300 laps, 159.9 miles

2015 champion: Kyle Busch

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Off until May 6 for the Toyota Tundra 250 at Kansas Speedway.

Kenseth suspension worth the effort?

We had to wait a bit longer than normal for NASCAR's penalty police to hand down the punishment for Matt Kenseth after his blatant, deliberate wreck of race leader Joey Logano on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.
The verdict is in, and Kenseth has been sent to the sidelines for the next two races. No Texas. No Phoenix. A definite disruption in the force of what had been a pretty special playoff format that's leaving more questions behind with every incident, on-track or off.
It isn't hard to figure out why it happened. Three weeks ago at Kansas, Logano turned Kenseth sideways in the closing laps and won the race. Kenseth didn't advance after the Contender round and was seething over what happened.
Kenseth called Logano a "liar" at one point over description of the Kansas incident. On Sunday, the 2003 champion got his revenge.
But what was the real cost? According to the rules, Logano still has two more shots to advance to the four-driver championship fight at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He'll probably need a win at Texas or Phoenix, but he was going for four in a row before Kenseth got to him and took him for a ride into the wall at NASCAR's shortest track.
What's to stop Logano from getting right back on the bump and getting to Victory Lane again? Only one person -- Joey himself.
Some of my media brethren have written and discussed how NASCAR is starting to blur the dividing line between sport and entertainment. Kyle Petty called the Kenseth-Logano incident "a black eye" for the sport.
It was a punch that certainly wobbled the character a bit, but the fans are talking about it. Many vow to never return to buying tickets or watching the races on TV, but they certainly know how to vent on social media.
And there are just as many, if not more, who would give Kenseth a pat on the back in appreciation if they could. Yes, NASCAR had to hand down some sort of punishment over what happened. It would have been absolutely insane if they let him off with a fine and no suspension.
Unlike at Kansas, Kenseth was multiple laps down at Martinsville after getting tangled with Brad Keselowski, Logano's teammate. He had intent to take out Logano and did so. Justice served, racer style.
Here's one last thought. If "boys have at it" is the operating mantra for NASCAR, drivers need to quit complaining when incidents like the ones at Martinsville happen.
It may be the "wild, wild West," as Denny Hamlin described, but it beats the alternative.
If Logano can win either of the next two races and get his title shot again at Homestead, it will only prove one thing. Tough times don't last. Tough racers always do, and Logano can fit that bill perfectly in the days to come.

A crazy day in motor sports

As I sit waiting for the NHRA Toyota Nationals to run the final rounds of the four pro classes at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the emotions ride all of the extremes, from celebration to confusion to occasional bouts of irritation.
The celebration is the easy part. For the first time in NHRA's Countdown era, Las Vegas has crowned two champions a full race early. If there's one word to describe what Erica Enders-Stevens has done, the choice is easy.

Simply amazing. Oh, wait...that's two words, but a lot more superlatives would be just as appropriate.
When fans of straight-line racing talk about the greats of the NHRA, Shirley Muldowney is one of the first women who come to mind. She won three Top Fuel titles in 1977, 1980 and 1982.
Even better and a bit more recent, Angelle Sampey ruled Pro Stock Motorcycle three straight years, from 2000 to 2002.
What Enders-Stevens has done takes special to another level.
When she broke through for her first Pro Stock car title last year, the 32-year-old Texan had to sit out two races during the Western Swing as her race team had difficulty securing sponsorship. In spite of that, she somehow found a way to get past Jason Line at the Pomona final and grab the Golden Wally trophy.
As she told me at the pre-race press lunch in Las Vegas on Thursday, finding sponsorship is still a challenge, but a full season at Elite Motorsports with multiple teammates has made a difference. Enders-Stevens has nine event wins on the season and has absolutely demoralized the competition at Las Vegas with four straight event wins to go with 22 round wins in a row.
When your season is only 24 races long, that's called serious world domination.
NASCAR's only big deal among female racers is Danica Patrick. She's a marketer's dream, but hasn't produced much in the way of winning on the track. Jennifer Jo Cobb hasn't gone much beyond the Camping World Truck Series and hasn't won, either.
But the NHRA has multiple ladies who've been successful in addition to Enders-Stevens, who has 21 career victories. Alexis DeJoria has three Funny Car career wins, Courtney Force has eight wins and some famous family in father and 16-time champion John Force, while sister Brittany has been to six final rounds in her budding career.
Living proof that when it comes to drag racing, the girl power is far greater.
And to put a bow on the madness, Jeff Gordon won't be shut out of the win column in his final season after all. It came with help from the Matt Kenseth-Joey Logano feud that officially reached the boiling point.
With 47 laps to go in the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Kenseth -- driving a car that was far from competitive -- ran down Logano and ran him into the wall, effectively ruining his day and a free pass for the 22 into the final at Homestead in three weeks.
But while the social media universe has thrown out every bit of ugliness known to man, there's one fact that can't be ignored. Unless NASCAR parks Kenseth for next week's race at Texas, the battle is far from over. It's become personal instead of professional, and that's a shame.
Followers and comments are welcome on Twitter @Tomzsports.
NEXT WEEK'S RACES
Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile D-shaped oval), Fort Worth, Texas
-SPRINT CUP: AAA Texas 500, Sunday, 2 p.m  ET/11 a.m. PT, NBC. Radio: SiriusXM channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.
Race distance: 501 miles, 334 laps
2014 champion: Jimmie Johnson
-XFINITY SERIES: O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge, 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT, NBC. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.
Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps
2014 champion: Kyle Busch
-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Winstar World Casino 350, Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.
Race distance: 350 kilometers (219 miles), 146 laps.
2014 champion: Kyle Busch