Auto Racing Capsules: Logano feels he was 'done wrong' by Harvick
BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Kevin Harvick can deal with Joey Logano's aggressive driving. He can tolerate the weekly battles on the Nationwide and Sprint Cup circuits as the veteran and the youngster test each other's patience.
Harvick can even put up with NASCAR's youngest Cup driver taking a shot at his manhood by saying Harvick's wife DeLana "wears the firesuit in the family."
That's all fine, to a point. Harvick's bigger concern these days isn't who's in charge of his decision making, it's who's in charge of Logano's.
Harvick blasted Logano's father Tom on Friday, arguing the elder Logano needs to step aside and stop meddling in his son's racing career following a very public dustup between the two camps during last week's Cup race at Pocono.
"His father has no place in this," Harvick said. "He needs to step back and act like the rest of the dads and be happy that his kid is here. This isn't Little League baseball anymore."
The lecture from the current Cup points leader followed a series of run-ins between Harvick and Joey Logano, the most public of which came moments after the checkered flag dropped at Pocono.
Logano, angry at Harvick for nudging him out of the way as they battled near the lead with barely a lap remaining in regulation, charged toward Harvick's pit box. The 20-year-old jumped out of his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and had to be restrained by members of Harvick's crew. His father, a highly visible presence around the garage, was right in the middle of it, at one point shoving a television reporter before things calmed down.
The outburst from the normally soft spoken second-year Cup driver raised eyebrows around the garage. Harvick, however, wasn't surprised. And he's not entirely sure who made the call to put on such a public display of anger.
"It's very evident who's pushing him the most and that's his dad," said Harvick, who finished fourth at Pocono while Logano ended up 13th. "His dad shoved him into a pile like a dog chasing after a bone."
Tom Logano was later summoned to speak with series officials, though he was not reprimanded. It was not his first visit to the NASCAR hauler. He temporarily lost his credentials last season after making a threatening gesture toward Greg Biffle following a Nationwide race in California, a race his son won.
Joey Logano, however, defended his father while allowing that he could have opted to sit this one out.
"He's always been by my side my whole life and maybe it was a position that maybe he shouldn't have been there, but he's a father," the driver said. "I bet 99 percent of the fathers would've been there anyway."
Harvick contends one of the problems is that Tom Logano is always there. Where drivers like Mark Martin see a father trying to help his son find his way at NASCAR's top level, Harvick sees someone who needs to let his son fight his own battles.
Harvick has little problem if those battles are fought on the track, a common occurrence for Harvick and Logano over the past year. The list of tracks where they've mixed it up is lengthy and spans both of NASCAR's top two series.
Bristol. Nashville. Phoenix. Richmond. Pocono. It's gotten to the point that when one driver sees the other, things are going to get interesting.
Harvick argues it's Tom Logano's inability to simply let the drivers "have at it" that is the problem. Harvick claims Tom Logano had physical contact with one of Harvick's public relations managers at Bristol.
When he tried to address the situation with Joey Logano before a Nationwide race at Nashville the next week, Harvick says the younger Logano blew him off.
Things have remained frosty ever since, though Harvick maintains he's happy to meet with Joey Logano to talk things out.
Logano, at least for the moment, doesn't appear to be interested. He jogged past reporters after qualifying for Sunday's Cup race at Michigan to catch a ride to Kentucky for Nationwide practice.
Earlier Friday he stressed he wasn't trying to send a message to Harvick. He got mad. He's done it before, though this was one of the first times he's done it in front of the camera.
"It was not a big deal to me, but I think a lot of people are surprised and they weren't ready for that," Logano said.
Count Mark Martin among those startled by Logano's display.
"I was surprised to see his ferocity," Martin said.
Will there be any carry-over this weekend? Logano didn't rule it out, though he stressed he's more focused on getting back into the mix to make NASCAR's playoffs. He enters Sunday's race 17th in points with 12 races to go in the regular season.
"There's plenty of time," said Logano, who will start 12th while Harvick will start 31st. "We're not that far out of the Chase."
There has been at least one benefit from NASCAR's latest feud. DeLana Harvick designed a T-shirt after Pocono that reads "I wear the firesuit in this family." All the proceeds for the $15 shirts will benefit the Kevin Harvick Foundation.
Kurt Busch captures pole at Michigan
BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Kurt Busch spent Thursday hanging out at Dodge headquarters in the Detroit suburbs, chatting up the employees and shaking hands.
As the star of the only major NASCAR Sprint Cup team still driving Dodges, there's a special kinship between Penske Racing and the manufacturer, which is still trying to find its way through the rubble left by the economic downturn.
"With the odds stacked up against you, you always feel like you're running an uphill battle," Busch said.
Funny, it doesn't seem that way these days for Busch.
The surging NASCAR veteran took the pole for Sunday's 400-mile race at Michigan International Speedway with an average speed of 189.984 mph, his second pole of the season. Jamie McMurray will start second and Jimmie Johnson third.
"I give all the credit to the crew and Steve Addington for making the sharp decision that it takes to set a car on the pole and stay on top of changing track conditions."
Busch enters Sunday's race fifth in the points standings and is possibly the hottest driver on the circuit not driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. He swept the All-Star event and the 600-mile race at Charlotte last month then backed it up with a sixth-place finish at Pocono last week on a day when he didn't have a great car.
Picking up his third career victory at the two-mile oval would further stamp Busch as a legitimate contender for a Cup championship to bookend the one he captured in 2004. Busch won at Michigan in 2003 and 2007, the second triumph coming at the end of one of the longest weekends in NASCAR history after rain pushed the race back to Tuesday.
Busch spent most of that weekend camped out in the motor home and joked the event should have been renamed "the 72 hours of MIS."
It could be a repeat this weekend. The forecast for Sunday is iffy at best, with showers likely at any time.
Not that Busch would mind the delay if the weekend ends with him back in Victory Lane. He's been among the tops in the series over the past month and he appears to be getting stronger as the weather gets warmer.
"You've got to have the horsepower, you've got to have the aerodynamics, you've got to have the handling," he said.
Busch had it all on Friday, with McMurray's run for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing giving the front row a decidedly IndyCar feel. Penske and Ganassi teams dominate the open wheel series, and it doesn't go unnoticed by the bosses when one team gets the better of the other on the Cup side.
Whenever Busch finds himself in front of a Ganassi car, owner Roger Penske is quick with a text or a pat on the back.
"(He'll say) 'Way to bring it home for the good guys,'" Busch said. "It makes you feel like the rivalry is there for sure."
Current points leader Kevin Harvick qualified 31st. Kyle Busch, second in points, will start 15th. Denny Hamlin, a winner last week at Pocono, will start seventh.
Travis Kvapil qualified 34th for the No. 38 team two days after NASCAR docked Kvapil and owner Doug Yates 150 points for using illegal valve stems last week at Pocono. The penalty bumped the No. 38 car out of the top 35 in owner points, meaning Kvapil had to get in the race on his qualifying time.
Rookie Landon Cassill will make his Cup debut driving the No. 09 car. He qualified 35th.
Michael Waltrip, Johnny Sauter and Dave Blaney failed to make the 43-car field.
-- Will Graves
Front Row Motorsports fights "excessive" penalties
BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Travis Kvapil qualified 34th for Sunday's NASCAR Cup race at Michigan, undaunted by penalties levied on his Front Row Motorsports team for using illegal valve stem caps on his tires during last week's race at Pocono.
Kvapil was forced to make it in on time after NASCAR docked him and car owner Doug Yates 150 points each after the infractions were discovered at Pocono.
The penalty knocked Kvapil from 32nd to 36th in points, meaning he had to get in to Sunday's 400-mile race on time. The top 35 cars in owner points are guaranteed a spot in the race.
"It is a good feeling to qualify on time," Kvapil said. "It has been a long week."
The effort came two days after NASCAR came down hard on the No. 38 team. Crew chief Steve Lane was fined $100,000 and suspended for 12 weeks, along with car chief Richard Bourgeois and tire specialist Michael Harrold.
Team co-owner Bob Jenkins took responsibility for the "unintentional" mistake and plans to appeal the penalty. The violation was found following a rain delay in last Sunday's race. Kvapil's rear tires were almost flat, and NASCAR discovered that the valve stem caps on the tires had been altered to allow air to gradually leak out — an act that would help the car with its speed during a long run.
Though Jenkins recognizes the need to discipline the team, he believes the penalties were "excessive."
"It was obvious to me, and I think to others, that there was no intent," Jenkins said. "Obviously it is a big fine and it is a lot of points. ... I understand there should be a fine, but I felt that 12-week suspensions and that level of points are pretty high."
Jenkins pointed to the timing of the infraction, early in the race, as evidence the mistake was innocent.
"If you look at the specifics of it, it just doesn't make sense," Jenkins said.
Front Row also fields cars for David Gilliland and Kevin Conway, who are both currently inside the top 35 in owner standings. Gilliland qualified 36th and Conway 42nd for the race.
NASCAR Hall of Fame attendance lags in 1st month
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The NASCAR Hall of Fame had 30,000 paid visitors in its first 21 days, making it hard to meet its first-year attendance goals.
The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority had estimated 800,000 visitors in the first year. The $195 million facility opened May 11, which was followed quickly by its first induction class ceremony and two weeks of NASCAR racing activities at nearby Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Hall of Fame officials tried to put a positive spin on the attendance figures Friday, saying the feedback they've received on comment cards from May 11-31 have exceeded expectations.
But the hall had expected larger crowds in the first month because of the hype of the opening and the racing events in the city.
Formula One
Vettel tops Canadian GP practice
MONTREAL (AP) — Sebastian Vettel topped the Canadian Grand Prix speed chart Friday, rebounding from a costly accident two weeks ago in Turkey to show that Red Bull has the speed to extend its season-opening pole streak.
Vettel edged Ferrari's Fernando Alonso by 0.086 seconds, turning a lap of 1 minute, 16.877 seconds in the second 90-minute practice session at 2.709-mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Fifth in the opening practice, Vettel used Bridgestone's super-soft compound tires on his fast lap in warm afternoon conditions.
"The secret here is the tires," Vettel said. "Everyone was sliding around a bit at the end. It was a bit more like rally cross than Formula 1. The track started very green (rubber-free) this morning, but that's normal and it will improve as the weekend goes on.
"The secret with these circuits is not to panic, as they tend to come toward you. We only made some small adjustments between the two sessions."
Mercedes' Nico Rosberg was third in the second practice, 0.274 seconds back.
Red Bull's Mark Webber, a two-time winner this year and the Formula 1 points leader, was fourth after running 14th in the first session.
"We were pleasantly surprised with the pace," Webber said. "We're going to have a tight fight with everyone tomorrow, but the car ran really well. There was some graining with the option tire, but they'll get better as the track rubbers in."
Red Bull has won the first seven poles of the season, with Vettel — the Malaysian winner in April — taking the top spot three times and Webber four.
But all the focus has been on the team's costly run-in in Istanbul when Vettel made contact with Webber and spun while trying to pass for the lead.
"It's been dealt with. It's been discussed," team principal Christian Horner said. "It was shame to lose a Grand Prix win and 1-2 finish that way, but you move on."
In the first practice session, McLaren's Jenson Button led the 24-car field at 1:18.127 on Bridgestone's medium-compound tires.
Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, driving for Mercedes GP after a three-year retirement, was second in the opening practice and ninth in the second. The 41-year-old German star has won seven times on the Montreal track.
"My sessions were a bit mixed," Schumacher said. "In the morning, we were making progress, but toward the end we carried over some issues into the second session, which we could not solve. The main focus this afternoon was to get the tires together. The track is pretty green with not much rubber, which means the tires are getting a hard time and everybody was struggling with graining.
"If it rains, the track will remain green and it will probably be difficult to hold the tires together again, even the harder compound."
After a final hour of practice Saturday morning, the field will be set in the afternoon with three rounds of qualifying.
"For tomorrow, it is difficult to predict what we will be able to achieve," Schumacher said. "My feeling is that we will perform according to our expectations, which is around the third quickest of the teams."
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, the winner in Turkey, was third in the first session and seventh in the second. He won the 2007 race in Montreal for his first F1 victory.
"I'm not entirely happy with how this afternoon went," Hamilton said. "Today, in general, the track has been incredibly difficult to drive. It's very hard to switch the tires on and get heat into them. It's so slippery, it's like driving on an ice rink. It's such a huge difference from when we were last here."
Renault's Robert Kubica, the 2008 winner for BMW Sauber in F1's last Montreal race, was sixth in the opening practice and eighth in the second.
"It was quite a difficult Friday," Kubica said. "Overall, we're struggling with a lack of grip and it seems like everybody is suffering with the tire wear on the long runs. So managing the tires will be quite an important factor for the weekend."
-- John Nicholson
NHRA
Driver killed in crash at New Jersey raceway
OLD BRIDGE, N.J. (AP) — A drag racing driver ran through a containment area at the end of a track and died of head injuries after crashing his alcohol-fueled funny car at a "high rate of speed" during a qualifying round at the NHRA SuperNationals at a New Jersey raceway Friday, state police said.
Neal Parker, 58, of Millville, N.J., crashed at Raceway Park in Old Bridge, state police Sgt. Stephen Jones said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Parker was entered in the Top Alcohol Funny Car competition. The crash occurred shortly before noon.
"Parker ... crashed Friday at a high rate of speed in the shutdown area during qualifying," the NHRA said in a statement on its website. "On behalf of everyone at NHRA and Raceway Park, we are deeply saddened and want to pass along our sincere condolences to the entire Parker family."
NHRA officials and New Jersey state police are investigating.
The car ran through a containment area with soft barriers, sand and a safety net and wound up in pieces in front of a wall at the edge of the raceway property. State police declined to comment on whether the car hit the wall or on eyewitness accounts that a drogue chute designed to slow the car failed to deploy properly.
Spectator David Farrah of Manalapan said it appeared the chute malfunctioned.
"It looked like the chute just didn't open and he couldn't stop," Farrah said. "The car was just crushed. It was tragic."
Another spectator, George Tompkins, 63, of Metuchen, said he left the stands shortly before the crash. He didn't see the wreck, but said he heard it.
"You heard that sound and knew right away that it was bad," he said.
Racing was suspended for more than three hours while the crash was being investigated.
Parker often drove in NHRA events on the East Coast, but was not among the NHRA's top-ranked drivers nationally, NHRA spokesman Anthony Vestal said.
Telephone messages left at Parker's Millville home and an excavating business listed in his name were not immediately returned Friday.
Friday's accident comes nearly two years after top racer Scott Kalitta died when his Funny Car burst into flames and crashed at the end of the track in central New Jersey.
Kalitta's Toyota Solara was traveling at about 300 mph when it burst into flames.
New Jersey State Police investigators determined that "catastrophic mechanical failure" caused the fuel-fired explosion.
The 1994 and 1995 Top Fuel season champion had 18 career victories.
In February, a spectator died after being hit by a tire from a crashing dragster at the NHRA Arizona Nationals. The woman was watching a first-round Top Fuel run when Antron Brown's Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster went out of control on the strip and its left rear wheel came off.
-- Bruce Shipowski
