“Summer’s Five Things” is a daily column for NASCAR fans to catch up on the most recent, relevant, and need-to-know news and information in the sport! While mostly focused on NASCAR, this column may also feature other interesting and exciting moments from the world of motorsports. Enjoy!
- Kevin Harvick Won The Race, But It Was Son Keelan Who Stole The Show
It’s really no surprise to anyone that Kevin Harvick went to victory lane on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. The win was Harvick’s seventh victory in 23 races this season, more than any other driver so far this year. Leading 108 of the 200 laps, the 42-year-old driver earned his 44th career victory, tying Bill Elliott for 17th on the all-time wins list.
But, let’s be honest, this is but a sidebar. The real story was Harvick’s six-year-old son Keelan, who got the experience of a lifetime with dad.
It’s not totally uncommon to see Keelan with his father at the racetrack and he certainly has had some time in victory lane. However, this was a special father-son weekend, and Keelan was able to experience the full stops when it comes to winning a race.
“For him to be here and able to do that and be a part of NASCAR and bring your son to work and do all the things that we get to do with our kids, I have had him with me by myself the last three weeks and we have had a ball,” said Harvick post-race. “I couldn’t be happier to be a dad and be a part of NASCAR where they let your family come to the race track and be a part of it.”
Keelan, for his part, got some media availability of his own:
And, just like his dad, sometimes he can be a little ornery …
- Kyle Larson Finishes 17th in Michigan Following Busy Week in Knoxville Nationals
Kyle Larson hasn’t made it any secret that he loves his sprint car racing, so of course he’s not going to miss the biggest sprint car event of the year — the Knoxville Nationals.
Unfortunately, the Knoxville Nationals fell on the same weekend as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
Apparently Larson doesn’t need sleep, because he spent the weekend flying back and forth from Michigan to Knoxville, up to and including the main event on Saturday night.
Larson wound up finishing third in the Knoxville Nationals, and got back to Michigan late Saturday night (or maybe more accurately, early Sunday morning).
His day in Michigan was a lot less eventful and, if he’s being honest, probably not as much fun. The driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet finished 17th, his third finish outside of the top 10 in the last four races.
Larson is still, however, firmly in the Playoffs based on points, holding a 201 point advantage over 17th-place Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (the first driver outside of the current Playoff standings) with three races left in the regular season.
- There Was Debris On The Racetrack — No, Really! — And Ty Dillon Found It
Debris cautions are somewhat of a running joke in NASCAR. From the so-called “phantom debris” cautions (which aren’t nearly as prevalent with the advent of stage racing) to drivers conveniently locating “debris” on the racetrack when a caution would greatly benefit, debris cautions just simply have a bad rap.
However, Ty Dillon would have appreciated one of those debris cautions in yesterday’s race.
Running over an as-of-yet unidentified piece of debris on lap 133, Dillon’s No. 13 car immediately started smoking, carrying Dillon into hard passenger-side contact with the turn three wall.
“Ran over something whether it was a battery or a piece of lead,” said Dillon after going to the garage. “I saw it, but I had nowhere to go we were two-wide there. You can’t really turn your car out of the way quick enough to miss it. I was just hoping it was a glove or something that wouldn’t collect it. As soon as it hit, it was like hitting a wall and I had no control of the car. I just drove it straight at 218 mph into the wall, no brakes, no nothing. So, hopefully, NASCAR finds whose piece that was because that shouldn’t happen in our sport. There shouldn’t be batteries laying on our tracks. Not to tear down, I know a lot of these people have to do a lot to make these cars come to the race track, but things like that can’t happen because it’s too dangerous at a place like this.”
Dillon was credited with a 38th-place finish.
- Glenn Jarrett Has Called His Last Cup Series Race
Glenn Jarrett has a long history in NASCAR. He competed in 77 races between what is now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series, between 1978 and 1994. His best career finish was a fourth-place run at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1982 in the XFINITY Series.
Glenn Jarrett is the son of Ned Jarrett and the older brother of Dale Jarrett.
However, what race fans in today’s NASCAR know him for is his pit reporting duties for the Motor Racing Network.
Jarrett turned 68 this past Saturday in what would be his final weekend calling a Cup Series race.
His fellow MRN colleagues, as well as a few others in NASCAR, took to social media to wish him well.
- Austin Dillon Earns Best Finish Since Winning Daytona 500
Up until a couple of weeks ago at Watkins Glen when Chase Elliott went to victory lane, Chevrolet only had one win in 22 races this year.
But it happened to be the biggest one of the season: the season-opening Daytona 500 won by Austin Dillon.
Unfortunately for Team Chevy and Dillon, that success didn’t carry forward into the rest of the season. Chevrolet has struggled to keep up with Ford and Toyota all season, and RCR hasn’t been a legitimate week-in-week-out contender for the win like they used to be for several years.
However, Dillon’s performance on Sunday in Michigan may have been a sign that the race team is turning a corner.
Dillon finished fourth in Sunday’s race and it was no fluke. In fact, he likely would have finished runner up if not for an ill-timed vibration.
“Man, we had a fast car,” Dillon said after the race. “I got to battle with (Kevin) Harvick there and that was awesome. I’m so proud of the guys for having a car capable of doing that. Yeah, that really stunk. We were kind of in position that if something happened to the No. 4 (Harvick) we could win the race. With two (laps) to go, I went into (Turn) 3 and I kind of missed the corner. When I came down the straightaway, it was just shaking like either the tire was unraveling or it was a loose wheel. But, I didn’t want to lose this great finish we had in front of us, but we brought it home with a top five at least.”
While a two-tire call by crew chief Justin Alexander was certainly helpful in getting Dillon to his first top-five finish since winning the Daytona 500, it was clear that Dillon felt like the car he had underneath him was capable of contending for the win.
“I think it just all came together,” Dillon continued post-race. “This is one of my best tracks. We have been working hard. We had spurts of speed in qualifying at the last couple of big mile-and-a-half’s. When you do that there is some reason… you should be able to keep that speed into practice and race time. We haven’t been able to do it and today we did. I don’t know if we hit something yesterday in practice that the car balance kind of kept the same speed that it did in qualifying, which was nice. The pit crew did a great job. Everybody just had a solid day, which is what we really needed.”
The fourth-place run also marked the No. 3 team’s fourth top-10 finish of the season.
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If you would like to receive “Five Things” in your inbox, or just connect with me, you may send me an e-mail at [email protected].
You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram.
Summer’s Five Things: What You Need To Know For August 13, 2018
“Summer’s Five Things” is a daily column for NASCAR fans to catch up on the most recent, relevant, and need-to-know news and information in the sport! While mostly focused on NASCAR, this column may also feature other interesting and exciting moments from the world of motorsports. Enjoy!
It’s really no surprise to anyone that Kevin Harvick went to victory lane on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. The win was Harvick’s seventh victory in 23 races this season, more than any other driver so far this year. Leading 108 of the 200 laps, the 42-year-old driver earned his 44th career victory, tying Bill Elliott for 17th on the all-time wins list.
But, let’s be honest, this is but a sidebar. The real story was Harvick’s six-year-old son Keelan, who got the experience of a lifetime with dad.
It’s not totally uncommon to see Keelan with his father at the racetrack and he certainly has had some time in victory lane. However, this was a special father-son weekend, and Keelan was able to experience the full stops when it comes to winning a race.
“For him to be here and able to do that and be a part of NASCAR and bring your son to work and do all the things that we get to do with our kids, I have had him with me by myself the last three weeks and we have had a ball,” said Harvick post-race. “I couldn’t be happier to be a dad and be a part of NASCAR where they let your family come to the race track and be a part of it.”
Keelan, for his part, got some media availability of his own:
And, just like his dad, sometimes he can be a little ornery …
Kyle Larson hasn’t made it any secret that he loves his sprint car racing, so of course he’s not going to miss the biggest sprint car event of the year — the Knoxville Nationals.
Unfortunately, the Knoxville Nationals fell on the same weekend as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
Apparently Larson doesn’t need sleep, because he spent the weekend flying back and forth from Michigan to Knoxville, up to and including the main event on Saturday night.
Larson wound up finishing third in the Knoxville Nationals, and got back to Michigan late Saturday night (or maybe more accurately, early Sunday morning).
His day in Michigan was a lot less eventful and, if he’s being honest, probably not as much fun. The driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet finished 17th, his third finish outside of the top 10 in the last four races.
Larson is still, however, firmly in the Playoffs based on points, holding a 201 point advantage over 17th-place Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (the first driver outside of the current Playoff standings) with three races left in the regular season.
Debris cautions are somewhat of a running joke in NASCAR. From the so-called “phantom debris” cautions (which aren’t nearly as prevalent with the advent of stage racing) to drivers conveniently locating “debris” on the racetrack when a caution would greatly benefit, debris cautions just simply have a bad rap.
However, Ty Dillon would have appreciated one of those debris cautions in yesterday’s race.
Running over an as-of-yet unidentified piece of debris on lap 133, Dillon’s No. 13 car immediately started smoking, carrying Dillon into hard passenger-side contact with the turn three wall.
“Ran over something whether it was a battery or a piece of lead,” said Dillon after going to the garage. “I saw it, but I had nowhere to go we were two-wide there. You can’t really turn your car out of the way quick enough to miss it. I was just hoping it was a glove or something that wouldn’t collect it. As soon as it hit, it was like hitting a wall and I had no control of the car. I just drove it straight at 218 mph into the wall, no brakes, no nothing. So, hopefully, NASCAR finds whose piece that was because that shouldn’t happen in our sport. There shouldn’t be batteries laying on our tracks. Not to tear down, I know a lot of these people have to do a lot to make these cars come to the race track, but things like that can’t happen because it’s too dangerous at a place like this.”
Dillon was credited with a 38th-place finish.
Glenn Jarrett has a long history in NASCAR. He competed in 77 races between what is now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series, between 1978 and 1994. His best career finish was a fourth-place run at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1982 in the XFINITY Series.
Glenn Jarrett is the son of Ned Jarrett and the older brother of Dale Jarrett.
However, what race fans in today’s NASCAR know him for is his pit reporting duties for the Motor Racing Network.
Jarrett turned 68 this past Saturday in what would be his final weekend calling a Cup Series race.
His fellow MRN colleagues, as well as a few others in NASCAR, took to social media to wish him well.
Up until a couple of weeks ago at Watkins Glen when Chase Elliott went to victory lane, Chevrolet only had one win in 22 races this year.
But it happened to be the biggest one of the season: the season-opening Daytona 500 won by Austin Dillon.
Unfortunately for Team Chevy and Dillon, that success didn’t carry forward into the rest of the season. Chevrolet has struggled to keep up with Ford and Toyota all season, and RCR hasn’t been a legitimate week-in-week-out contender for the win like they used to be for several years.
However, Dillon’s performance on Sunday in Michigan may have been a sign that the race team is turning a corner.
Dillon finished fourth in Sunday’s race and it was no fluke. In fact, he likely would have finished runner up if not for an ill-timed vibration.
“Man, we had a fast car,” Dillon said after the race. “I got to battle with (Kevin) Harvick there and that was awesome. I’m so proud of the guys for having a car capable of doing that. Yeah, that really stunk. We were kind of in position that if something happened to the No. 4 (Harvick) we could win the race. With two (laps) to go, I went into (Turn) 3 and I kind of missed the corner. When I came down the straightaway, it was just shaking like either the tire was unraveling or it was a loose wheel. But, I didn’t want to lose this great finish we had in front of us, but we brought it home with a top five at least.”
While a two-tire call by crew chief Justin Alexander was certainly helpful in getting Dillon to his first top-five finish since winning the Daytona 500, it was clear that Dillon felt like the car he had underneath him was capable of contending for the win.
“I think it just all came together,” Dillon continued post-race. “This is one of my best tracks. We have been working hard. We had spurts of speed in qualifying at the last couple of big mile-and-a-half’s. When you do that there is some reason… you should be able to keep that speed into practice and race time. We haven’t been able to do it and today we did. I don’t know if we hit something yesterday in practice that the car balance kind of kept the same speed that it did in qualifying, which was nice. The pit crew did a great job. Everybody just had a solid day, which is what we really needed.”
The fourth-place run also marked the No. 3 team’s fourth top-10 finish of the season.
~~
If you would like to receive “Five Things” in your inbox, or just connect with me, you may send me an e-mail at [email protected].
You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram.