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Kevin Harvick reacts to NASCAR penalty

Here are some highlights from Kevin Harvick’s media availability on Friday morning at Phoenix, where he addressed the penalty issued to his team this week.

— On his previous success at Phoenix:

“Nobody wants to talk about that. Let’s just go to the first question. They all have the stats.”

— On whether NASCAR issued a penalty in response to social media posts:

“The car passed all the Optical Scanning Station inspections and everything after the race. The car was built to tolerance. The scary part for me is the fact that (NASCAR) went far enough to find something on the car at the NASCAR R&D Center. They could find something wrong with every car if they took it apart for a whole day at the R&D Center.

“The (incorrect) side skirt material is on us. That rule was put into place Feb. 18 and it should have been aluminum, but ours was steel. That is really kind of the meat of what gave them the ability to actually get the fine to where it was meaningful enough to appease everyone on social media.”

— On social media posts leading to NASCAR’s additional scrutiny:

“If you look at Atlanta, the car was there the week before. Same team, same window bracing, same roof, same side skirts, same everything. It was in the R&D Center the week before (for inspection). It has been there 49 times in three years. Technicalities.”

— On photos of other cars (some from races last year) with similarly dented roofs:

“If we want to officiate it with fan pictures, if you want to officiate it with pictures during the race and call people to pit road and do those types of things — from a NASCAR standpoint. I am fine with that. As long as it is consistent. As you can see from a lot of the pictures roaming around on the internet this week, it is not consistent.”

“You could have called the window attached to the brace penalty on 20 cars last week, easy.”

— On why seven playoff points were taken away if the penalty wasn’t big enough to suspend crew chief Rodney Childers:

“That is the other confusing part about the penalty. If it is such a big deal, why is my crew chief still here? I don’t understand that.”

— On the penalty detracting from the conversation about racing:

“As a sport, you don’t want to be talking about penalties. We are right back to where we were with the LIS machine and all the conversations we had about that. The conversations that went away (because of the new Optical Scanning Station) are now right back into play. We have an encumbered win.”

— On how to stop social media from influencing penalties:

“Keep your executives off of it during the race.”

— On the impact of the penalty:

“It just motivates us. I can’t wait to win another race and jump up and down in victory lane on the back of my car.”

Column: Why nothing feels good about Kevin Harvick’s penalty

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Airbnb Travel Tips: How to find the best stay for you

After finally getting up the courage to try Airbnb last year, I’ve been using it almost every week — and it truly is a complete game-changer for travel.

The perception is that every Airbnb means you’re staying in a room in someone’s home. That’s not necessarily true. Though renting a room in a house is certainly an option (probably the most common one), there are other choices if you aren’t cool with that.

I’ll explain more in the tips below, but a couple words of caution first:

— These tips are geared toward a single traveler or a couple, who would often only require one room (under the “private room” option) instead of an entire house/apartment. You can probably apply the same tips to the entire house/apartment, I just don’t have as much experience with renting those.

— I’m operating under the assumption you are doing this because you want a cheaper rate than a hotel room. If you don’t care about money, just ignore all this and stay at a hotel. For my personal preference, a nice hotel is still more comfortable than a nice Airbnb; it just costs like five times more money.

— Renting a cheap room in an Airbnb likely won’t be perfect (I’m talking about the places that are $30-$50 a night, which is my typical price range). But you often can find a place that suits your needs and gives you a pleasant stay if you put enough time into researching the available options. It might take some work, but it will be worth it!

By the way, I have no connection to Airbnb whatsoever and am only writing this because I have saved money through my own personal travel experiences and believe you can as well.

Here are some tips from my Airbnb experiences so far:

No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3: Read the reviews, read the reviews, read the reviews. This is by far the most important factor in finding a good Airbnb location. Even if a place has 50 ratings and it’s all five stars, you won’t truly know what to expect until you go through the reviews to see what people say about their stays.

For example: The property description might say “Private bathroom” in the listing, but then you read the reviews and find out the bathroom is down the hallway and not actually attached to your room. That could be a deal-breaker, depending on your comfort level. Or maybe other reviewers will give insight the check-in process (was it smooth?) or how clean the place really is (should you be prepared for some dust?). It’s just better to know what to expect before booking so there are few surprises, and the only way to do that is to go through all the reviews.

No. 4: Speaking of reviews, do not stay at a place that doesn’t have any. A lack of reviews doesn’t mean it’s a bad place. Actually, it’s probably just a newer listing. But don’t take the chance on it being a scam or a shady place; let other people be the guinea pigs and stay there first. That’s why you should look for a place that has at least 10 reviews and make sure they are all five stars. If the place has even four stars, that indicates a red flag and you should just look elsewhere.

No. 5: The number of reviews is often a good thing. That means the host has their Airbnb skills down to a science and has likely added amenities (like making sure there’s shampoo or bottled water) or other special touches to the room based on feedback. For example: My host last week in Las Vegas said she had gotten feedback that the lamp near the bed and the main ceiling light shouldn’t be on the same switch (because then guests would stumble around in the dark). So she had fixed it. A high number of reviews also means they are less likely to be a strange character (if you’re worried about that) or put you in a sketchy situation. It means many travelers have passed through safely and been happy with their stay, which is what you want for yourself.

No. 6: Look for a private room listing that has the words “private entrance” in the headline. This is a MAJOR key for me. Unfortunately, this option isn’t searchable yet, but it usually indicates you will have your own space and not have to enter the main house at all. This could mean the room is a converted garage, a basement, a mother-in-law unit, a guest house in the backyard, etc. It’s your own, separate space! When you find a listing like this, about 75 percent of the time it means you never have to even meet the hosts. There will be a code on the door or a lockbox with a key, and you just go into your own entrance without having to interact with anyone. These are my favorite places to stay, because it’s more like a hotel situation.

If you don’t mind staying right in someone’s house, then disregard this. You can save WAY more money staying in a room in a home (and maybe even have a more comfortable room), but actually being in someone else’s house is not for everyone. I have done that a couple times and it’s more like you’re staying with a friend, so you might have to be a little social. I’ve enjoyed all the people I’ve met, but after a long day at the track, you might not feel like chit-chatting about how your day went. Or maybe you feel guilty waking up early on race day when the rest of the house is sleeping. Personally, I’d just rather have my own space, which is why looking for “private entrance” in the description is the way to go.

No. 7: Click on the listing to see the fees and actual prices for your desired dates. Though many hosts are not aware there is a race coming to town (and thus do not raise their prices), some are. So when you click on the listing, the price will occasionally change from what you see in the main search screen (I’ve seen it go down, too). At that time, you will also be able to see if your host charges a cleaning fee or if the local area requires you to pay occupancy taxes on the room.

No. 8: Book early, but be sure to check the cancellation policy. That’s up to the host to choose whether they want a Strict policy (only a 50% refund if you cancel, and no refund if you cancel within a week of your stay), a Moderate policy (full refund unless you cancel within five days of your stay) or a Flexible policy (full refund up to 24 hours before).

No. 9: Keep in mind you’re in someone’s home. The host probably cleans it themselves and might not have a professional maid. Some places are spotless, but some might have a hair in the sink. The bed might be squeaky. You might be able to hear the hosts walking around or watching TV. If you’re OK with the unknowns and go in with reasonable expectations, you can find some absolutely amazing deals and easily save yourself hundreds of dollars on a race weekend while having a very enjoyable stay.

Not to jinx myself, but I’ve yet to have a truly bad experience. The worst was probably last July in New Hampshire, when I stayed in an old apartment above someone’s garage. It was deep in the woods and there were some spiders in the room, including some in the shower. I didn’t love that. But at the same time, even that place was worth it because I only paid $135 for the entire race weekend.

No. 10: Treat the space like you’re a guest in a friend’s home. After each stay, you will rate the Airbnb location and write a description for others to see — but the host will rate you, too. Their comments about you will be on your profile forever, and future hosts will read them to see if they want to let you stay in their homes. Do you want to be known as someone who leaves a mess or is loud or disrespectful to their home? I try to leave each place as neat as possible (even if they are charging a cleaning fee); picking up before you leave makes life easier for them and the positive reviews you’ll receive in return will  help clear the way for your future stays.

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How I Got Here with Jordan Anderson

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This is the latest in a weekly feature called “How I Got Here,” where I ask people in NASCAR about the journeys to their current jobs. Each interview is recorded as a podcast but is also transcribed on JeffGluck.com. Up next: Truck Series driver Jordan Anderson.

We’re in your trailer that made it all the way across the country to Las Vegas. People followed that on social media as you drove it out here yourself.

This is it. You hear the quote, “If homes could talk, the stories they would tell” — and if this trailer could tell stories on all it’s been through, it’s crazy.

I bought this trailer back in 2009 when I was racing dirt Late Models, so this trailer’s seen two years of dirt Late Models, it’s seen two years of asphalt Super Late Models, some K&N races, and then a full year of the Truck schedule back in 2015, a full schedule last year in 2017 and we’ve got it back on the road again this year. So it’s pretty cool to be sitting here. I’ve got my guys here, I’ve got Dan (Kolanda, crew chief), Dylan (Corum, car chief), and Cody (Barrett, mechanic) that rode out here with me (from North Carolina to Las Vegas), so I’m very fortunate to have some cool guys that don’t mind riding in the dually for 48 hours like we did coming out here. 

One of the first times I heard of you, I was doing an interview with Carl Edwards at Bristol, and he’s like, “You know who you should go talk to? You should go find this Jordan Anderson guy. He has a really inspirational story. He’s just making it. He’s willing it to happen.” I don’t know a ton about all your background, but it seems nobody’s handed you anything. This is all stuff that you’ve really had to work for and fight for. So how did this whole dream get started?

It’s cool that you mentioned Carl Edwards, because Carl was one of the first guys that I really met and got some advice from. I was probably 13 or 14 years old and racing Legend cars, and I gave him one of my business cards and saw him a year later and re-introduced myself. He’s like, “Yeah, I remember, I got your card sitting on my desk there.” So that was cool, and Carl always gave some great advice.

But it’s been a journey. I’ve been very blessed and fortunate to pursue something that I love. I think I first told my mom and dad at 4 or 5 years old that I wanted to be a race car driver, and being from Columbia, South Carolina, that wasn’t really a big thing. It wasn’t a hotbed for any racing, and nobody in my family had any involvement in racing.

Mom and Dad took me out to a go-kart race when I was probably 7 and we went and sat next to a family. We got talking to this kid, he was four or five years older than me, and his name was Nick Hutchins. He’s actually working at Stewart-Haas now on that 98 Xfinity car. He’s the car chief over there.

But Nick was racing go-karts at the time, had a broken arm and was out of the go-kart, and we got to talking. He basically goes, “I’m getting my cast off next month, would you like to come try out one of my go-karts?” And before Mom and Dad could say no, I said yes, and we were headed out there.

So I got one of his go-karts, and I think I was 7, 8 years old around the time we started racing in the WKA series, and we had no idea what we were doing. We would show up with a truck and like a long trailer and go race go-karts.

I still remember somebody told us that our toe was out. We looked down at our shoes, thinking our toes were out. So we had no idea what we were doing.

But it’s one of those things that we’ve been able to do together as a family. We’ve been through go-karts and Bandolero cars and ran Legend cars for five, six years, won the pro championship out there at the Charlotte Motor Speedway two years in a row. I think it was ’07 and ’08. We never really had the funding to go out and run the best of everything, so we really had to work to build a relationship with the sponsors and people to help us out.

This Fueled by Fans thing that we had (a Truck sponsored by fans) kept our season alive last year. But back in 2007, I lost the sponsorship that I had. We lost one of our bigger sponsors that we planned on coming through and the deal kind of fell through. So I painted my Legend car white. I don’t think I even had a driver’s license at the time, so my dad helped me drive around town on this open trailer, and for $100 people could sign my Legend car with a black Sharpie and become an official sponsor of Jordan Anderson Racing. That’s where the initial idea first came from.

Going through dirt Late Models and Late Models, I always owned my own cars and had to work on it and had a lot of awesome people help make this journey possible.

So being able to be the owner/driver this year is something that I’ve kinda done all along the way. We may have one of the smallest trailers here in the garage, but we have some of the hardest working guys that help make this all possible.

And that’s what this whole journey is about: It’s not any one thing I’ve done, it’s all the people that have helped out — sponsors and people that come by who have 9-to-5 jobs, but they come by our shop at night and help work on the truck.

We had some sponsors that stepped in to help buy a transmission over the offseason, or we had some people just help buy our first truck and put things together. I was showing you our dually out in front of the trailer, we had John Bommarito from the Bommarito Automotive Group, bought us a dually to pull our trailer after ours broke down. And when our old dually broke down in two-month period between when we got that new dually, we got another guy who owned a towing service and let us drive his dually all across the country. So it’s been so cool to see people that we’ve met that have made this journey possible.

No doubt there’s been a lot of generosity involved. But people aren’t going to help just anybody, so there must be something about your story or your personality or what you’re trying to accomplish that has encouraged so much generosity. So what is it about yourself or your driving or your passion that you think has helped you get all these breaks? 

It’s been quite a journey. Nothing was ever easy. There were plenty of late nights and struggles and I’m very fortunate for Mom and Dad, they sacrificed a lot. My dad, he’s been on more late- night road trips than I’m sure he wants to admit to helping me out and going to the racetrack.

We had some wins in Late Models and had a lot of success in Legend cars and dirt Late Models. But one of the things I always go back to is no matter what happens or what kind of adversity we’re faced with or we had to persevere through, we all kept our faith — we kept strong about that — and we never gave up. No matter what was against us, we never gave up.

Much of it was the people who we met who kept us in their prayers and thought about us, that encouraged us, that would support us, that would buy T-shirts and come hang out with us after the race is over.

It was all people, and it’s kind of a throwback. One of the first owner-drivers that I got to meet that was in NASCAR was Marvin Panch. I met him back in probably 2009 and got to know him pretty well. He came to my Late Model shop and I got to hang out with him some and listen to all his old stories of how racing used to be.

You know, I love this sport. I grew up as a huge fan in the ‘90s, and I was a big Jeff Gordon fan growing up. But I always loved to read about the smaller teams and the guys that were making it happen and sort of were in the position we are now. I think it’s so cool, because it kind of gives people (someone) to pull for, the blue collar worker who is working to pay his rent and keep groceries on the table. We’re doing the same thing; we’re doing whatever it takes to grow this team.

And that’s what’s so cool about this year, is having the opportunity to jump up. We had some help buying the Ilmor motor, we got some more trucks this year. So that’s the biggest thing that’s so cool, is we’re not plateauing out. Last year, we ran that one truck the whole season and we’ve got the opportunity now to get some motors, get some more trucks to build it better.

So that was why Daytona was so cool for us (when he finished ninth last month). To come out of the box in our first race as a new team, to almost get a top-five, to spin out across the finish line backward and still get a top-10, that was almost a dream come true for us.

To see all the hard work pay off — it’s not a job for any of us. We love this sport and we love NASCAR, there’s something about it that we love and we’re just so happy to be here.

When people hear me talk about interviews and stuff like that, I’m not talking about the car’s tight or the car’s loose, I’m talking about, “Alright, this is all we’ve had to go through to get here,” and we had to fight through all this stuff, and hopefully people can relate to that a little more as they follow along on what we have going on. 

I know you’re still on the way up and there’s so much more of this story left to be written. But I’m guessing there had to be times during some of the struggles when nothing’s coming easy and you had to ask yourself, “Is this worth it?” or “Why am I doing this?” What about it made you keep going through that?

I think the biggest thing was that failure wasn’t really an option. I knew that this was what I wanted to do. I feel like over the years that God has opened doors to allow me to be in this sport. I can sit here for another two hours and tell you things that have happened that shouldn’t have happened, doors that have opened that shouldn’t have opened. People have helped us out, the timing on things, the way things have happened. A lot of it doesn’t make sense, but you just look back and you’re like, “Alright, that’s an affirmation that you know where you’re supposed to be and God has opened these doors, so here we are. I’m just gonna keep digging and make it happen.” And I look back on that.

I mean, the first time I went to Daytona in 2015 with Mike Harmon, I basically gave everything I could to go down there. We missed the show. We go to Atlanta the next week, we finish 18th. The deal with Mike at that time was, he’s like, “You put this truck together, we go run Daytona, and we’ll see what happens.” We didn’t make Daytona, he said, “We’ll go to Atlanta. Just don’t wreck it.” So we go to Atlanta and then we went Kansas and that turned into me running for him for the whole year using the same truck and trailer here. And it’s just been so cool.

People that have stepped up and people that have come into our life to help us, that’s why Daytona was so big. It was special for me, but it was special for all the people that have helped us get to this point. Hopefully that’s the first of many other things that are coming. Hopefully this team continues to grow.

We have this trailer here; down the road, maybe we can get another trailer where we can haul a second truck, or haul more equipment and do more things. But it’s exciting to do this.

What keeps us going is never giving up. I mean, failure is not an option, but we love to be here, we love to keep things going. And the biggest thing for us is, it’s an adventure for us, and the stories and memories that we make, the way we do this is you can’t put a price tag on them.

We left our shop in Mooresville at 1 a.m. (after turning the truck around from Atlanta). There’s a little shower there. All of us cleaned up, hopped into the truck at 1 a.m. and we came straight out here. We’re stopping at truck stops, we came through snow in Arizona. We had a bunch of crazy things happen out here. We have a good time with it.

So I think you go back, and if you would go ask anybody that raced in NASCAR back in the day what they went through and what this sport was founded on, they did a lot of the same things that we’re doing now. It’s not that it’s a bad thing to us that we’re at a disadvantage, it’s that we love what we do and the opportunity to be here. 

Why is everybody here with you? Why do they want to come out and be with you and be part of this team?

My dad actually just brought up, this was a text that I had. John Bommarito had texted me back at the beginning of the year and I’d forgotten about it. My dad just pulled up the text and showed me because I shared it with him and I want to read it to you.

It says:

Jordan, it’s all good. When you help others achieve their dreams, the feeling is overwhelming with joy. One day, you too will be in the same position to help others. The key is never forget where you came from when it happens. And trust me, I know it will happen for you. Take it one day at a time and continue to be safe and enjoy the journey. I’d give anything to be your age and do it one more time. All our love and trust, now go out there and make it happen in 2018. The Bommaritos.

That’s pretty cool. This is a guy who’s got 40 dealerships and 850 employees, and he and I will text back and forth at 2 o’clock in the morning after a race at times. I think that’s the biggest thing, is people are hopefully drawn to what it is that we stand for.

I know there’s a lot of small teams in the sport, but everything that I do, I try to do with integrity. At the end of the day, it’s all people. We couldn’t be here if it wasn’t for all the people that made it happen. So people are the number one thing, making sure that I take care of my guys, take care of people that take care of us, the vendors that we deal with back home. Make sure everybody stays paid and doing the right thing. This kind of golden rule that we all grow up with the kids, is treat others like you want to be treated. That’s the things that we want to do. We want to build this team and do it the right way, build it on integrity.

You ask why is everybody here. So Dylan (car chief), he’s been with me since 2015. Actually, how Dylan came to help us, it’s a funny story. We were doing the St. Louis/Iowa deal back-to-back, and he thought we were just going out there for St. Louis and then coming back afterwards. We got halfway there and said, “Oh yeah, we’re gonna stay out here until Iowa.” He said, “Well I have another job I have to go back to.” I said, “So I guess you’re officially part of the team now.”

Cody (mechanic), his family helped sponsor us at the first Texas race last year, and he came and hung out with us in the pits. He’s like, “Man, I really like this, I want to be a part of this.” He’s up in school in North Carolina pit training at Xcalibur (Pit School) up there —he’s our jackman.

Dan (crew chief), who’s back here, he helped me back in 2015, he retired at the end of the year. I told him what I was doing this year, and he was like, “Man, that’s exciting. I want to come back and be a part of it.”

So that’s why Daytona was so cool. People don’t expect us in this little trailer with only two or three trucks back in the shop to go to Daytona and run top 10. And we’re really working on our intermediate program to come out here and run better (he finished 17th at Las Vegas last week).

That feeling you get when you out-perform what people expect you to do, it’s kind of a feeling deep down that you feel a sense that all the hard work and staying in the shop until 2 o’clock is all worth it.

Some people believe that anybody can do anything they set their mind to, and other people think that’s just too much of a pipe dream and you shouldn’t tell people that and things like that. Where do you fall on that? Do you believe that anybody can really achieve anything they put their mind to?

I think so, and that’s the biggest thing that I’ve learned on this journey. If you compare to who I was as a person back in 2014, 2013 and who I am now, it’s almost a 180. Just from a sense of having empathy for people and this journey that we’re on and caring about what we’re doing and how we do things.

Who I was back then as a driver, I wanted x, y, z. At certain times in life, people have these expectations and ideas of how things are supposed to be, and a lot of times if you base your self-worth and things off of that. When you finally do accomplish it, if it’s not exactly how you want it to be, you’re like, “Ah, I wanted this (instead)” — and then this cycle begins of you’re never happy about it.

With this, it’s like, “Alright, we love NASCAR. We’re here every week. We get to race. Ever since I was 4 years old, I wanted to be a NASCAR driver, and I’m here racing every weekend. I’m getting to do what I love to do.”

That’s the biggest thing I hope people can see, because when I was a kid growing up racing Legend cars, everybody said unless you get a $4 million or $5 million dollar sponsor, you’re never gonna get to go race.

I remember going and talking to a K&N team one time and they were like, “Oh you can come drive for us, you just gotta write a check for $100,000 a race.” I’m like, my dad has some rental properties in South Carolina and my mom’s a hairdresser. I guess that’s never gonna happen, you know?

So it just was so cool when opportunities presented themselves to go racing, and I learned more about the sport and learned how to do things on our own. We may not have what the big teams have, but we can do it, we can do it right, we can make sure the truck stays together, and we can build on it week after week.

I’ve never had a million-dollar budget or anything like that, but we’re here. We’re here every week. I finished top 20 in the points the last three years. We keep showing up and we keep getting better. If you look at where we were three years ago and where we are now, we’ve gotten better every single year — slowly, but we’re definitely getting better.

That’s the thing for me that’s so humbling, is people are following this journey. I have kids that are racing Legend cars and Late Models and are like, “Hey, I was kind of in the same boat you are. I don’t have this, I don’t have that, but what advice do you have?” So hopefully the journey that we’re on (helps others).

The way the Truck Series is going, I think you’re going to see more Late Model and grassroots people come up and compete at this level, but I think it’s cool to hopefully give some motivation and encouragement to people to do this.

The whole Fueled by Fans thing, that’s what was so special to me when we did that deal. There was a lady who messaged me when we first did it and she said, “Hey, I gotta pay for rent and get groceries, but I’m gonna send you $20 and buy a T-shirt.”

When that crash happened at Atlanta last year, I honestly thought my season was over. That was it. When I told people our season was over, that was really gonna be over.

And the fans stepped up and we were able to raise enough money to build a new truck and get another motor and we did the Fueled by Fans thing for a couple of years and that’s what kept our whole season going.

If it wasn’t for that last year, we wouldn’t be where we are now. That’s what’s so cool, is when you look back on things and how events happen and how doors open, they align to keep moving forward.

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Nothing feels good about Kevin Harvick’s post-Vegas penalty

Welp, here we go again.

Kevin Harvick’s dominating Las Vegas win was ruled encumbered on Wednesday. Technically it wasn’t “encumbered” because NASCAR got rid of that term in the offseason — but the result is the same.

The No. 4 car’s rear window was not rigid at all times, as the rulebook states it must be, and the rocker arm panel extension was the wrong kind of metal (it is supposed to be aluminum).

So Harvick lost all seven playoff points he earned at Vegas. On top of that, the team also lost car chief Cheddar Smith for two races, Rodney Childers lost $50,000 from his wallet and Harvick lost 20 points in the standings.

That’s a lot of losing, but the team kept the win. NASCAR tradition, right? That’s what they say, anyway. So SHR will cash the check and display the trophy alongside all the others, and Harvick will go down as the winner in the history books.

Normally, this is the part where I would argue Harvick should be stripped of the win. An illegal car should not be able to keep a victory, and it looks bad when NASCAR allows this to happen.

When I asked readers about this last September, most agreed.

But I’m not going down that road this time, for a couple reasons.

First, diving back into the same argument over and over is just…exhausting. Second, this instance seems a little different than some of the others.

Harvick’s car has been so fast over the last couple races, it seems hard to believe a dented rear window could have contributed that much speed. Did it help? Probably. Was it the reason he won? Admittedly I have a lack of technical knowledge here, but I would argue no.

Same goes for the rocker arm panel extension. Was having it made out of steel instead of aluminum why Harvick won? Seems highly unlikely.

Still, for the sake of being consistent with my own stance (illegal cars should not win!), I guess NASCAR should probably have taken the victory away.

But…ugh. I just can’t get fired up about this one. In this case, stripping the win would have felt like sending someone to jail for a broken tail light.

I suppose NASCAR had to do something, and the something is better than nothing, but maybe it should come down to either doing nothing or taking away everything.

Otherwise, it feels half-assed, and I’m not sure how outraged we’re all supposed to be here.

Sigh. I’ve come to really hate weeks like these.

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Survivor Ghost Island Power Rankings: Week 2

Two castaways have already been eliminated heading into Week 2. Here’s how things could look heading into what appears to be an early-season tribe swap.

Note: These rankings are in order of best chance to win the game.

Survivor Power Rankings: Week 2

1. Stephanie (Last week: 3) — My favorite player so far. She manipulated Jacob into spilling his secret and played the whole thing masterfully. It’s going to be fun to see how she handles these next few weeks, because she might come off too heavy-handed if she’s not careful.

2. Brendan (Last week: 1) — Seems like a strong leader, but wayyyy too much of one. He needs to be careful to stay below the radar if possible, or he will be a target before the merge.

3. Wendell (Last week: 7) — Appears to be very likable and has a good head on his shoulders. It’s early, but he could emerge as a strong player.

4. Domenick (Last week: 2) — Scrambling! I like his style and he’ll be entertaining, but that’s not the kind of steady game needed to win it all. He needs to tone it down a bit (although nice work grabbing the idol!).

5. Desiree (Last week: 6) — I like her personality, but we already found out she isn’t good at slide puzzles (or puzzles in general). Few Survivor winners can say that.

6. Laurel (Last week: 9) — I thought she was going to be more of a nerd, but she’s pretty athletic as well. Could be a good combo that takes her far.

7. Jenna (Last week: 10) — She seems quietly steady so far and is willing to do what it takes to vote with the majority. I don’t see her as being a target for awhile.

8. Kellyn (Last week: 11) — Lots of potential here, but I need to see more before really moving her up into top five territory.

9. Michael (Last week: 14) — He got gassed in the first challenge, but sort of recovered socially as the episode went on. Will be interesting to see how his game develops.

10. Chelsea (Last week: 16) — I didn’t get a great feel for her game last week.

11. Bradley (Last week: 12) — I didn’t get a great feel for his game last week.

12. James (Last week: 5) — I’ve never been on Survivor, so this is probably an unfair criticism, but…shouldn’t you work on your swimming skills before going out there? Like make sure they are really, really good?

13. Libby (Last week: 15) — The biggest unknown of the season is whether Libby will still be on the show when NASCAR rolls into Texas Motor Speedway in a few weeks (she’s a “Great American Sweetheart” at the track). After the first episode, the chances look decent.

14. Morgan (Last week: 19) — She has the legacy advantage! Will she be around long enough to play it for herself? Eh….

15. Angela (Last week: 20) — It just feels like she’s going to butt heads with someone and get herself in trouble.

16. Sebastian (Last week: 13) — The bromance with Chris will sink his game. Sorry, Sea Bass.

17. Donathan (Last week: 18) — He’s an underdog, which could play well, but he’s almost too much of an underdog. It’s not like he’s Cochran, who is weak physically but has the brilliance and charm. I can’t see him winning the game.

18. Chris (Last week: 17) — This guy is already making enemies and making himself a target. He won’t make it to the merge.

ELIMINATED:

Week 1: Gonzalez (ranked No. 8 of 20 castaways) and Jacob (ranked No. 4 of 20).

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12 Questions with Alex Bowman (2018)

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The series of 12 Questions interviews continues this week with Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports. Bowman, a Tucson native, is returning to his home track at ISM Raceway this weekend. This interview is recorded as a podcast but also transcribed below.

1. How often do you have dreams about racing?

I guess it just depends on previous racing experiences. I feel like after Phoenix two years ago (when he almost won), I dreamt about that ending going a whole lot differently every night for a while. But recently, not very often.

If I’m going to play a game on my phone — if I play a lot of Candy Crush or something, I have Candy Crush dreams. I was thinking that since you’ve been in the simulator so much…

No, I definitely didn’t dream about the simulator, that’s for sure. But yeah, that’s kind of odd — you might want to get that checked out.

2. If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize?

It depends on the situation. And there’s pros and cons to when you apologize as well. Like if you run up right after the race is over, it’s gonna be on the TV highlight reel and TV loves it, the media loves it — but sometimes it gets blown out of proportion, because there are a bunch of angry crew members around and people start yelling and it becomes a bigger mess than it could be if you let the situation calm down first. So I think it really is just situational.

3. What is the biggest compliment someone could give you?

I think for me, I guess it’s easier to ask the biggest compliment I’ve gotten, and that was from Jimmie Johnson in 2014 when I first started running Cup cars. He came up to me after the Vegas race, and he’s like, “Man, when I was lapping you at Vegas, that thing was terrible, out of control. I don’t know how you were driving it.” So just to hear a guy say you’re doing a really good job with what you’ve got to work with, that meant a lot.

Had you ever talked to him before that?

Not really, no. So it was pretty cool.

4. NASCAR comes to you and says, “Hey, we are bringing a celebrity to the race and we’re wondering if you have time to say hi.” Who is a celebrity you’d be really excited to host?

That’s a tough one. Obviously Peyton Manning, but we’ve already gotten to do that. Jennifer Aniston, I’d be pretty excited about. (Laughs)

She’s newly single, by the way.

Is she? You’re way more up on this stuff than I am.

I read it on Snapchat — they have the Daily Mail tab.

I don’t even know how to get to that.

It’s over on the news side.

I mean, Snapchat’s gotten so confusing lately. What happened?

Yeah, I might be done with it unless they switch back.

It’s like the same thing that happened to Jayski. Like, what happened?

5. In an effort to show they are health-conscious, NASCAR offers the No. 1 pit stall selection for an upcoming race to the first driver willing to go vegan for a month. Would you do it?

I saw this question on the previous one. Heck no. Heck no!

No takers so far on this at all.

I mean, it’s such an advantage. I guess honestly, if that really happened, you’re gonna get sat down at your team meeting and be like, “Hey, you’re gonna be a vegan now.” But personally, like…no!

6. It’s time for the Random Race Challenge. I have picked a random race from your career and you have to guess where you finished.

Oh gosh — 36th. (Laughs)

This is the 2015 Dover spring race for Cup.

Oh, we ran really good that day. I mean, for what we had. Did we finish 20th?

Yes! You did finish 20th!

I mean, we got the ol’ 7 to run 20th, we were winning. That was high fives all around after the race. That was doing it right there.

So that one sticks out. You started 30th. You finished right ahead of Denny Hamlin.

Heck yeah, we beat Denny Hamlin in the 7. That was getting after it in the 7 car.

7. Who is the best rapper alive?

That’s a tough one. I don’t really listen to a lot of rap. But I’m a big Mark Martin fan so…Gucci (Mane)? 

He’ll go along with that.

Yeah, going with that because I like Mark Martin. Maybe he’ll retweet me now.

8. Who has the most punchable face in NASCAR?

Oh lord. What kind of answers have you gotten so far?

Most people have not really given a great answer this year.

Yeah, I wonder why. I can’t imagine why most people wouldn’t give a great answer on that one.

I’m gonna go with Matt DiBenedetto, because I owe him a punch in the face.

He didn’t punch you in the face, did he?

No, we’re just buddies and I owe him one for some buddy stuff. He’ll laugh when he hears that, because he would like break me in half if he punched me. I would just disintegrate. (Laughs)

9. NASCAR enlists three famous Americans to be involved with your team for one race as part of a publicity push: Taylor Swift, LeBron James and Tom Hanks. Choose one to be your crew chief, one to be your spotter and one to be your motorhome driver.

Motorhome driver I’m going T-Swift because my girlfriend Emily (Boat) would go insane. She would be so pumped. She’s like the biggest Taylor Swift fan in the world. We’re using one of my off weekends to go see Taylor Swift. So she would be pumped.

Spotter, I’m going with Tom Hanks because he’s calm, cool and collected even when he’s stranded on an island. And crew chief, LeBron. I mean, he’s motivational and knows how to win.

10. What is the key to finding the best pre-race bathroom?

That is a challenge. We had the best pre-race bathroom in our trailer and now we don’t. We took it out. Yeah, that was probably the thing I was excited about most to drive the 88 car, was that we had a bathroom in the trailer. Now we don’t.

What happened?

We needed some extra space, so we no longer have a bathroom in the trailer, which is really, really disappointing. (Smiles) 

11. NASCAR misses the highlight reel value brought by Carl Edwards’ backflips and decides a replacement is needed. How much money would they have to pay you to backflip off your car after your next win?

Probably a couple million dollars, and then also cover the hospital bills.

A couple million plus medical?

Yes, plus medical. Because there’s gonna be a lot of medical.

12. Each week, I ask a question given to me from the last interview. Last week, I interviewed Bubba Wallace. He was wondering, I guess you guys were coming to the line at Homestead 2016 and—

He just turned left and crashed us.

Yes, and he was wondering how long it took you to get over that.

I’d say I was over it pretty quickly because I didn’t see him for a while, and then I saw him and he apologized, but it was like eight months later. But that stuff happens. I was pretty mad at the time, because it was for like 12th on the last lap and we’re like across the start/finish line basically and then I crashed. So it was like super pointless.

It was kinda funny, his spotter texted me and was like, “I’m sorry, that was really unnecessary.” But I guess he didn’t know I was there and it was a mistake. You don’t do that intentionally, so that’s part of racing. But yeah, I was pretty fired up at the time for sure.

I think that was the second race on that race car, so it was fairly new for (JR Motorsports), we ran top three with it all day and then that final restart, when somebody decided to stay out and stack all the front rows up, we got stacked up really hard and kind of got shuffled. We were on two tires, so all the guys that are on four tires are going around you like you’re standing still. So we’re like, “Man, we ran top three all day and now we’re gonna finish 10th or 12th.” And then coming across the start/finish line, you absolutely junk your race car. There were a lot of things that I was mad about at the time, so it’s just part of it.

How do you have such a good memory for races?

Well, you’re picking good memorable ones. I mean, not a good memory with that one obviously, but like Dover 2015, that’s a good memory. That was probably our best race of the entire season. So yeah, you’re just picking good ones. Every other finish would have been like 32nd.

So the next interview I’m doing is with Daniel Hemric. Do you have a question for him?

I don’t really know Daniel that well, but I used to go to Summer Shootout (at Charlotte Motor Speedway) and watch him kick everybody’s butt. And he’s really good in a Super Late Model. And it just seemed like he stalled out there for a couple of years and wasn’t really getting an opportunity, and all of a sudden he got that opportunity in the Truck Series and now the Xfinity Series.

As somebody else who had their career kind of stall out at a different level, what was going through his mind when he wasn’t getting those opportunities he deserved? And how did he approach that — how did he find motivation to keep digging?

That was one that I struggled with for awhile there, like, “Do I keep doing this? What do I do?” And obviously everything happens for a reason, and it all kind of fell into place for me. It’s obviously different in his situation, but somewhat similar there.

Previous 12 Questions interviews with Alex Bowman:

— April 8, 2014

— Nov. 1, 2016

 

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The Top Five: Breaking down the Las Vegas race

Five thoughts following Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway…

1. The Game Done Changed

Brad Keselowski sounded the alarm bells last year when he said NASCAR hadn’t let one manufacturer get so far ahead of the others since the 1970s.

He was talking about Toyota, of course. And with only minor rules changes coming into this year and Chevrolet rolling out its slick new Camaro, Keselowski was worried the Fords might “take a drubbing,” as he put it last November.

But after seeing Fords finish sweep the podium at Atlanta and then take six of the top 10 spots Sunday at Las Vegas — including another dominating win by Kevin Harvick — Keselowski said he is feeling differently.

“My initial reaction is — without a full data set — it seems to imply the field has been evened out a little bit,” Keselowski told me as he walked down pit road. “Or at least the balance has been shifted.”

Keselowski believed Harvick’s strong performance at the end of last year was in spite of the Fords not being on an equal playing field (his words) as the Toyotas. But now, he said, “We got to an equal playing field, and he showed to be as strong as he probably should have been last year.”

So what changed? Well, many people have been pointing the finger at the new inspection system (which was initially called “Hawk-Eye” and then “The OSS” and now the “Optical Scanning Station,” but for our purposes we’ll call the “black tent”).

Does most of the credit go to the black tent? Keselowski gave an initial yes, but he cautioned it’s still too early to know for sure.

“We felt all along if the cars were held to the gold standard — which is the submittal (of the car’s specifications that get approved by NASCAR) — then the playing field would be level,” he said. “And we didn’t feel like that was the case last year, which is why we pushed really hard for this system so everyone was racing what they were supposed to be racing.”

2. Big OSS

Along those lines, Harvick noted the rules might not have changed, but the enforcement has. The black tent — “Big OSS,” as SiriusXM host Jim Noble called it — has made for “a totally different interpretation of the rules,” Harvick said.

“There was a lot of things with the splitters last year that some people were doing and people weren’t doing,” he said. “There’s not rules changes per se, the rules were really different and how teams interpret them.”

There’s a common splitter now, which teams all purchase from the same supplier. So that can’t be manipulated in the same way.

Aside from that, the rules haven’t changed much. So it’s sort of fascinating to see how teams approach the big black tent.

As you recall, Martin Truex Jr.’s team failed three times before qualifying at Atlanta. But then the 78 car was one of the first teams to make it through before the Atlanta race inspection.

Similarly, Jimmie Johnson’s team got through pre-qualifying inspection at Las Vegas easily, but then failed three times Sunday morning before the race (which forced them to start in the back and resulted in the ejection of the car chief).

It was quite common in the last couple years for teams to loudly whisper about NASCAR’s laser inspection station being inconsistent. To this day, many swear the LIS would occasionally spit out bogus numbers.

“Last year, there were so many (times) that you’d go through tech and you’d go through with the same car that you didn’t change — and the numbers were different,” team owner Tony Stewart said. “We didn’t change anything on the race cars, and numbers were drastically different.”

But that’s not the case with this new system so far. Teams are getting through easily, and when they don’t, it’s because they’re pushing the limits — not because NASCAR’s equipment is inconsistent.

Just look at Johnson’s team on Sunday. You can’t fault Chad Knaus for trying everything he could to get Johnson some more speed, but you definitely can’t fault NASCAR for enforcing the limits, either.

Rules are rules. As long as officials apply them fairly to everyone, no one should complain.

3. Johnson’s comeback

As the laps wound down in the first stage, Johnson was in serious danger of going two laps down under green — the continuation of a nightmarish streak for his team dating back to last fall.

As it turned out, Johnson and Knaus pulled out some of the magic that made them so special over the years, salvaging a 12th-place finish on a day that initially looked ugly.

Johnson acknowledged he had to change his approach on Sunday and get back to basics.

“At the end of last year and even in Atlanta, I was trying too hard,” he said. “Just giving 100 percent and driving the car where it’s at and bringing it home is what I need to start doing.

“I have been trying to carry it, and I’ve crashed more cars in the last six months than I have really in any six-month stretch or whole year stretch. (I was) just trying to drive it 100 percent and not step over that line.”

It worked, although Johnson indicated Hendrick Motorsports is still behind — and it’s not all just because the new Camaro is in its infancy.

“There is a piece of performance that is familiar from last year, so I think we have some work to do ourselves underneath the body with the chassis and the setup of the car,” he said, referring to an area where Hendrick fell behind in 2017. “… I think the body is definitely helping the car, we’ve just got some other stuff to sort out to go along with it and kind of find the sweet spot for the car, too.”

 

4. Fords Real, Tho

Part of the Ford boost so far this year has resulted in improved performance for drivers like Paul Menard (ninth at Las Vegas) and Aric Almirola (10th).

Fords are 1-2-3 in the point standings (Harvick-Joey Logano-Ryan Blaney) and eight of the top 13 after the first three races.

“The strength of the Fords has been nice,” Logano said. “Heck yeah. I am excited about it.”

So…are they for real? Though Las Vegas was a good indicator the answer is yes, drivers cautioned to hold off for a few more weeks before making any firm conclusions.

“You take all six races before the (Easter) break to realize (what kind of speed a team has),” Ryan Blaney said. “You come here and it is different than Atlanta. You kind of show your strength here. You kind of see where your short track stuff adds up at Phoenix and then we go to a big two-mile (at Fontana) and you really get an idea there.

“I think when the break comes and that off-weekend comes, you really know where you stack up.”

Kyle Busch said Vegas is indicative of who will run well in the future — but only the immediate future, not the whole year. He pointed to how his team started last season as a top-10 car but eventually improved to a frontrunner by the summer.

“I don’t think it’s a huge telltale, but it’ll obviously give you an idea of who’s going to be tough up through May,” he said.

Keselowski said each race is a data point, and there are only two real data points so far.

“One data point doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “Two data points doesn’t mean everything — but it does mean something.”

5. Stinking up the show?

It didn’t seem like Sunday’s race was the greatest display of NASCAR racing that has ever existed. Clean air was a factor (it even plagued Harvick when he was in traffic) and a single car led 321 of the 400 miles in the race.

But honestly, I’m not sure what NASCAR can do about that. Sometimes a car will just hit on something and kick everyone’s butts — which seems to be the case the last two weeks.

It’s not going to last forever, though. Sure, Harvick might go out and do this again at Phoenix — no one would be surprised if that happened — but it’s not going to be like this all season.

In fact, I don’t even think Harvick is going to pull a Truex and rack up an unfathomable amount of playoff points. One or two gains in speed, and everyone else will be right there with Harvick.

Now, if Harvick is still doing this by the time Texas rolls around? Then yeah, it’s going to be a lonnnnng year for everyone else.