8 – THE DERRICK. / The News-Herald Wednesday, April 22, 2015

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2010 SUBARUFORESTER

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Ken Willis has been covering NASCAR for The Daytona Beach News-Journal for more than 30 years. Reach him at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com

QUESTIONS & ATTITUDECompelling questions ...

and maybe a few actual answers

SPEED FREAKS3 questions we

had to ask — ourselves

CUP POINTS1. Kevin Harvick 3142. Joey Logano 2843. Martin Truex Jr. 2814. Jimmie Johnson 2585. Brad Keselowski 2556. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2417. Kasey Kahne 2378. Matt Kenseth 2369. Jeff Gordon 22710. Aric Almirola 22611. Jamie McMurray 22311. Denny Hamlin 22313. Danica Patrick 21114. Paul Menard 21015. Carl Edwards 20316. Ryan Newman 20117. Clint Bowyer 20018. David Ragan 19719. Casey Mears 18620. Greg Biffle 18021. Austin Dillon 17722. Kurt Busch 17423. Kyle Larson 17324. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 17225. AJ Allmendinger 17126. David Gilliland 16227. Trevor Bayne 15428. Justin Allgaier 14528. Tony Stewart 14530. Brett Moffitt 13631. Sam Hornish Jr. 13532. Cole Whitt 12833. Alex Bowman 9134. Michael Annett 9035. Michael McDowell 7936. Josh Wise 63

Godwin Kelly is the Daytona Beach News-Journal’s motorsports editor and has covered NASCAR for more than 30 years. Reach him at godwin.kelly@news-jrnl.com

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Questions? Contact Godwin Kelly at godwin.kelly@news-jrnl.com or Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com

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Matt Kenseth’s skid is over, who’s next?GODSPEAK: I’m voting for three-time Cup champ Tony Stewart. He hasn’t won in 49 starts.KEN’S CALL: Ryan New-man now stands at 60 straight without a victory, and Danica is 0-for-90.

Smart move by Denny Hamlin, or lack of toughness?GODSPEAK: Yes to both. Even more painful? Kurt Busch’s crew chief Tony Gibson, who came off the box and passed a kidney stone Sunday. Ouch!KEN’S CALL: Welcome to today’s NASCAR. Denny didn’t create the new en-vironment, he just used it.

Will Harvick recover from this slump?GODSPEAK: New car, new race, so expect Kevin Harvick to pick up where he left off at Texas.KEN’S CALL: Richmond identifies the best, and so far he’s the best, so yes, he wins Saturday.

AP/WADE PAYNE

Racers like Matt Kenseth are always excited when reminded of the smell of champagne.

What happened to the racin’ landscape?Just when you think you’re getting a good hold on things, along comes Bristol, where everything down in that bowl gets stirred around into a whole new stew. This time, the chef was Joe Gibbs.

Can you help decipher?Well, for starters, we now know that Gibbs driver Matt Kenseth remem-bers the way to Victory Lane. Not that NASCAR would allow such technology, but Mild Matt didn’t even need GPS to find it. So, as-suming he’s not planning another 51-race winless skid, we can return to adding him to our list of potential Chase threats, where he was once a perennial fixture.

And what else?Another Gibbs driver, Denny Hamlin, confirmed the new era in NASCAR by deciding to hand over the keys rather than do further damage to his neck, which is connected to his spine, which, you know, he’s injured before. The old-schoolers hate such things. But then again, most of them are limping out to the mailbox.

SPRINT CUP: Toyota Owners 400SITE: Richmond International RacewaySCHEDULE: Friday, practice (Fox Sports 1, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.), qualifying (Fox Sports 1, 5:45 p.m.). Saturday, race (Fox, coverage begins at 6 p.m.; green flag at 7:15 p.m.)

XFINITY: ToyotaCare 250SITE: Richmond International RacewaySCHEDULE: Friday, qualifying (Fox Sports 1, 3:30 p.m.), race (Fox Sports 1, 7:30 p.m.)

FEUD OF THE WEEK

KASEY KAHNE

TONY STEWART

KASEY KAHNE VS. TONY STEWART: Kahne said Stewart spun him in Turn 2 after he moved in front of the three-time Cup champ. “He was mad about that,” Kahne said.GODWIN KELLY’S TAKE: “Kahne talks with his steering wheel. Is payback looming in Richmond?”

WINNER: Carl EdwardsREST OF THE TOP FIVE: Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Denny HamlinDARK HORSE: Martin Truex Jr.

FIRST OUT: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.DON’T BE SURPRISED IF: Edwards gives Joe Gibbs Racing a first-half, short-track sweep for Toyota, joining Hamlin and Matt Kenseth.

3 THINGS WE LEARNED AT BRISTOL

3 THINGS TO WATCH FOR AT RICHMOND

GODWIN’S RICHMOND PICKS

Feb. 14 — x-Sprint Unlimited (Matt Kenseth)Feb. 19 — x-Budweiser Duel 1 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.)Feb. 19 — x-Budweiser Duel 2 (Jimmie Johnson)Feb. 22 — Daytona 500 (Joey Logano)March 1 — Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (Jimmie Johnson)March 8 — Kobalt 400 (Kevin Harvick)March 15 — CampingWorld.com 500 (Kevin Harvick)March 22 — Auto Club 400 (Brad Keselowski)March 29 — STP 500 (Denny Hamlin)April 11 — Duck Commander 500 (Jimmie Johnson)April 19 — Food City 500 (Matt Kenseth)April 25 — Toyota Owners 400, Richmond, Va.May 3 — GEICO 500, Talladega, Ala.May 9 — SpongeBob SquarePants 400, Kansas City, Kan.May 15 — x-Sprint Showdown, Concord, N.C.May 16 — x-NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Concord, N.C.May 24 — Coca-Cola 600, Concord, N.C.May 31 — Dover 400, Dover, Del.June 7 — Axalta We Paint Winners 400, Long Pond, Pa.

June 14 — Quicken Loans 400, Brooklyn, Mich.June 28 — Toyota/Save Mart 350, Sonoma, Calif.July 5 — Coke Zero 400, Daytona BeachJuly 11 — Quaker State 400, Sparta, Ky.July 19 — New Hampshire 301, Loudon, N.H.July 26 — Crown Royal Presents The Your Hero’s Name Here 400 at The Brickyard, IndianapolisAug. 2 — Pennsylvania 400, Long Pond, Pa.Aug. 9 — Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, Watkins Glen, N.Y.Aug. 16 — Pure Michigan 400, Brooklyn, Mich.Aug. 22 — Irwin Tools Night Race, Bristol, Tenn.Sep. 6 — Bojangles’ Southern 500, Darlington, S.C.Sep. 12 — Federated Auto Parts 400, Richmond, Va.Sep. 20 — MyAFibStory.com 400, Joliet, Ill.Sep. 27 — Sylvania 300, Loudon, N.H.Oct. 4 — AAA 400, Dover, Del.Oct. 10 — Bank of America 500, Concord, N.C.Oct. 18 — Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas City, Kan.Oct. 25 — Alabama 500, Talladega, Ala.

Nov. 1 — Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500, Ridgeway, Va.Nov. 8 — AAA Texas 500, Fort Worth, TexasNov. 15 — Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Avondale, Ariz.Nov. 22 — Ford EcoBoost 400, Homestead, Fla.

x-non-points race

SPRINT CUP SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

NASCAR via Getty Images/PATRICK SMITH

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is walking tall after posting a top-five finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. And, whew, he finished five positions better than girlfriend Danica Patrick.

1. Little RickyBristol was bad for some driv-ers and great for others, such as Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who worked through the mess of crashes and finished fourth. Stenhouse understands the reality of Bristol, where it’s a matter of survival. “We still need a little bit to go up and contend and lead laps,” he said.

2. Harvick humanKevin Harvick was post-ing superhero competition numbers before the No. 4 Chevrolet pulled into Bris-tol. He started fourth in the 43-car field and led 186 laps, but then the defending Cup champion came off the rails. He got in a wreck and finished 38th. Harvick has led more than 900 laps.

3. Old quoteOld racing quotes get recycled now and then, but David Ragan pulled one of the all-time favorites after getting swept into a Bristol crash. “Sometimes when you race back there with the squir-rels, you find a nut,” he said. Maybe at Richmond he’ll say, “Mess with the bull, get the horns.”

Getty Images/SARAH GLENN

Carl Edwards is looking for a victory at Richmond behind those dark sunglasses, especially after a potential win slipped away following a late crash at Bristol.

1. Toyota time?Toyota has two wins through eight races, both at short tracks. Denny Hamlin won Martinsville, and Matt Kenseth conquered Bristol. Look for a strong run by Carl Edwards to complete the sweep.

2. Stuff happensTeam Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski wrecked each other at Bristol. Now, it’s on to Richmond where each scored a Cup win in 2014. Key word? Avoidance.

3. Streaks overKevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. saw their streaks of top-10 finishes come to an end after some Bristol brawling. Both will be driving with passion at Richmond.

KEVIN HARVICKApparently

specializes in dry tracks

JIMMIE JOHNSON

You’re looking at the

Richmond winner

JOEY LOGANO

Not first driver collected in a

Kez spin

MARTIN TRUEX JR.Coming off

his first 2015 clunker

JEFF GORDON

Back up front, now needs a

win

JUNIOR EARNHARDT

Still not invited to

Redskins’ war room

MATTKENSETHHe’s back. This is our

welcome, Matt

KURTBUSCH

Shares home-town (Vegas) with Steven

Jackson

BRADKESELOWSKIManaged to not blame

Joey

ERIKJONES

Also filling in here for

Denny Hamlin

WEEKLY DRIVER RANKINGS — BASED ON BEHAVIOR AND PERFORMANCE

DID YOU KNOW?Lee Petty won the inaugural Cup Series race at Rich-mond International Raceway in 1953. Petty, driving a Dodge, grabbed the checkered flag in the 100-mile race and won $1,000 in first-place prize money. Dick Rathmann was second in a Hudson.