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Month: June 2011

Roush Fenway Solid at Kansas

Three Roush Fenway Fords finish top 10; All four inside top 13th

Edwards continues to increase Sprint Cup points lead

KANSAS CITY, Kansas (June 5, 2011) – Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth led the Roush Fenway effort with fifth and sixth-place finishes in Sunday’s STP 400 Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway. Greg Biffle finished 10th and David Ragan was 13th to place all four Roush Fenway Fords inside the top 15.

Edwards led 29 laps in the race and with the finish increased his Sprint Cup points lead to 40. Kenseth is seventh in the points and has two wins, Biffle is 12th and David Ragan moved up to 17th.

Roush Fenway and the Sprint Cup Series return to action next weekend at Pocono Raceway, where Roush Fenway has won four times in Sprint Cup action.

More info to come at http://www.roushfenway.com/ www.roushfenway.com.

June 5, 2011
Ford Kansas Cup Post Race Quotes

MATT KENSETH, No. 17 Affliction Clothing Live Ford Fusion (Finished 6th) “We just kind of missed it. We thought we were pretty good Friday but we missed it today. The track really changed on us and we didn’t keep up. I am really happy to finish sixth. I saw those other guys pit the race different again and I knew some of those guys would beat us if it went green to the end and it looks like three of them got us. We finished third out of the guys that were all racing for speed there so I guess that was pretty good.”

DAVID GILLILAND, No. 34 Taco Bell Ford Fusion (Finished 33rd) “We had an alright day. We definitely made the car a lot better and kept adjusting on it through the race and put ourselves in position to have a decent finish before we ran out of gas at the end. It is a disappointing end to a halfway decent day.”

MIKE SHIPLETT, Crew Chief No. 43 STP Ford Fusion (Finished 27th) “We were fighting grip all day. I thought we had a handle on it and we were moving up there during the middle of the race but something happened and we lost a lot of track position and we got behind. This place is extremely tough to pass at and some guys could run the top and some guys could run the bottom, but it is very hard to pass.”

DAVID RAGAN, No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion (Finished 19th) “We had a small mistake on pit road and some guys gambled and got lucky. Sometimes it pays to be lucky. We had a top seven or eight car and I am proud of our UPS team. I can feel a win coming any week. We just got beat by circumstance today. We will work hard and go get ’em next week.”

CARL EDWARDS, No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion (Finished 5th) “I really wanted to win and it is really hard to win here. Today was a little bit extra difficult because the track was changing a lot. The first third of the race and even the first half our Aflac Ford Fusion was superior. It was great. Bob and I didn’t change the car enough to keep up with the conditions. We had a restart and I went backwards in a hurry and I thought we had to really gather it up. We did that and made it up to fifth. I had a good time though. It is a fun race track and it is my new favorite race track. When it is hot and slick like this you can slide the cars around and run multiple grooves. It is a lot of fun and I like it.”

TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 30 Long John Silver’s Ford Fusion (Finished 34th) “That was a tough day. Our car broke a sway bar pin coming to the green flag. The pin fell out of the car and I don’t know if it broke or if we overlooked it or what. Obviously we ran all the way to the first caution without a front sway bar and it took us like 15 or 20 laps to get it fixed. Our day was over before it even started.”

June 5, 2011
TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Kyle Busch — Notes & Quotes Kansas Speedway

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What happened between you and Richard Childress following Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race? “There was an altercation in the garage area — in the Truck garage area — on my way out to my motorhome. Fortunately, NASCAR is taking the situation seriously and is looking into it, and making their decisions based what facts they can discover.”

Did you meet with NASCAR and what did you discuss? “I met with NASCAR (Sunday morning). Just discussed with them the incident to my best recollection and from there they will take all their discoveries and all their findings and make the best decision they feel possible.”

Do you think NASCAR should penalize Richard Childress? “That’s not my decision. That’s NASCAR’s decision. Whatever they feel best to protect their sport and to protect what we have going on here is to their best discretion. I’m all for whatever they decide to do.”

Do you have any reaction to Mike Helton’s comments from this morning? “All I can say is I did hear what (Mike) Helton said and I follow by what they said. I don’t know that I did anything out of the ordinary that would provoke something of Mr. Childress. Mr. Helton gave a good description of events and what they saw happen and what further penalties might be.”

Do you plan any action outside of what NASCAR may decide? “I’m going to leave it up to NASCAR and let them decide what they feel is best.”

June 5, 2011
Pre-race at Kansas… Busch, Childress and NASCAR take on it all

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Tempers flared hotter than the Kansas sun after the Camping World Truck Race on Saturday. With rumors and stories about a wild altercation between legendary car owner Richard Childress and driver Kyle Busch. The stories appeared to grow in intensity from the time the story broke until this morning when everyone returned to the track.

There wasn’t a black eye as far as I could see for Busch, but he was wearing his normal vision sun glasses. Although when he went into the NASCAR truck he was not wearing them. He was in pretty good humor for someone who was punched by a 65 year old man who is significantly larger than he is. No one will say absolutely for certain that some of the extreme stories that have been reported are true. Everyone does agree on one thing however, that is that.at least one punch a piece was thrown. I attempted to ask Kyle Busch about the incident and he said,”You can ask me a question as long as you are not asking about yesterday.”

Coach Gibbs was the first to go into the NASCAR truck. He was followed shortly by Kyle and then approx 15 minutes later by Richard Childress.The entire meeting took approx 15 minutes with all parties declining comment on their exit from the truck. Coach Gibbs did say he would have a statement later on today.

If I may be blunt and honest, There have been a lot of liberties taken here with this story. Richard Childress of late has lost a lot of man hours to fixing equipment that Kyle Busch has been involved in tearing up. Man hours equal money. I doubt that Richard Childress is hurting for money but to spend it unnecessarily is frustrating to have to spend it.

Also if you stop and look at it RCR cars or trucks have been involved in more incidents with Busch than any other team. Combine that with the heat and humidity here. Combine it then again with the frustration of wrecks and mechanical issues and you have the recipe for disaster and aggression. Now I am not making excuses for Childress if he threw the first punch, then he is responsible and should at least get what the drivers would have gotten for the same behavior. He obviously did by accounts throw the first punch. My real issue with that is it was apparently pre-meditated as he removed jewelery and handed it to Austin Dillion. It appears, and appearances are sometimes deceiving, that he intended to spark the physical altercation.

NASCAR issued the following statement at approximately 930AM.

“NASCAR has reviewed the incident involving Richard Childress and Kyle Busch after the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Saturday at Kansas Speedway. We have met with all parties involved and have determined what happened yesterday is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by NASCAR

Richard Childress’s actions were not appropriate and fell short of the standard we expect of owners in this sport. We have met with Childress this morning and made our position very clear to him. Further, we expect he will make it clear to all in his organization to ensure this situation does not escalate any further. We will announce our actions regarding this incident Monday.

Kyle Busch remains on probation with NASCAR and we continue to watch his actions carefully. However, we have determined that Kyle’s involvement in this incident does not violate his probation and no further action is required.”

Mike Helton made it clear that there were restrictions on Richard Childress as far as where he can and can’t be for this race. He didn’t give out any specifics except to say that the teams required leadership for this weekend and he would be allowed to stay at the track with restrictions.

Helton also stated that they would make further decisions on penalties and actions this week perhaps sooner than they normally would.

June 5, 2011
Offical Statement from Nascar on the Richard Childress and Kyle Busch incident

Nascar Statement June 5, 2011

“Nascar has reviewed the incident involving Richard Childress and Kyle Busch after the Nascar Camping World Truck Series race Saturday at Kansas Speedway. We have met with all parties involved and have determined what happened yesterday is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by Nascar

Richard Childress’ actions were not appropriate and fell short of the standard we expect of owners in this sport. We have met with Childress this morning and made our position very clear to him. Further, we expect he will make it clear to all in his organization to ensure this situation does not escalate any further. We will announce our actions regarding this incident Monday.

Kyle Busch remains on probation with Nascar and we continue to watch his actions carefully. However, we have determined that Kyle’s involvement in this incident does not violate his probation and no further action is required.

June 5, 2011
Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes – NNS Race Final – Chicagoland Speedway

Saturday, June 4, 2011 Motorsports PR Chicagoland Speedway STP 300 Post-Race Quotes NASCAR Nationwide Series

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger R/T) Finished 30th “What a bummer. I’m not sure what exactly happened, the car just started to slow down. I thought at first that it might be an ignition box problem, but it’s something internal with the engine. It’s been one of them years where we’re catching some bad breaks. We had a great run last year and I’m still really proud of the guys that are working on this team. We’re fighting really hard and have Michigan coming up in a few weeks. Hopefully we’ll have a little bit more for them at my home track. I seem to race really well there and I can’t wait to get this Dodge Challenger to MIS. I feel fortunate and proud to have a sponsor like Discount Tire and Ruby Tuesday that really supports this series. It’s been a rough year to date but we’ll keep plugging away and get this Dodge into victory lane.”

PRIOR TO THE ENGINE PROBLEM YOU HAD A TOP-FIVE CAR ALL NIGHT: “We started sixth and never ran outside of fifth. We fought a little loose condition, but nothing that was too bad. The only issue we had was when I fought some vibration with the right-front, but we think that may have been because of the set of scuffs (tires) that we put on the car. Not the result we were looking for tonight.”

TODD GORDON (crew chief, No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger R/T) “Again we just try to make steps to get to where we want to be. I felt like we were doing it again tonight. We started sixth and ran second for quite a while. We decided to take a set of scuff tires out of sequence so we had stickers for later in the race. We were one adjustment away and I think we had a shot at a win. These Penske motors.they don’t have problems. It’s a part failure. It happens. We have really good stuff. We’ll just continue to work hard and move forward.”

June 5, 2011
Walking to Victory Lane- Allgaier Wins STP 300 at Chicagoland Speedway !

Justin Allgaier walked to victory lane at the Chicagoland Speedway after winning the STP 300 by having just enough fuel to pass the slowing car of leader Carl Edwards who had run out of fuel heading into the final turns. Allgaier’s car rested on the front stretch empty of fuel but Allgaier had the checkered flag in his hand for the walk to victory lane.

As Allgaier sped past Edwards his own car also sputtered and ran out of gas so he pulled down to the apron of the track with Edwards following. They both crossed the finish line before Trevor Bayne, making his first start since being hospitalized with a mystery illness in April, did under his own power at full speed. There was a lapped car in front of Bayne and initially Allgaier thought he was the winner. “I thought it was Trevor,” he said.

Allgaier said, “Jimmy Elledge has made great calls all year long. I’m having a blast. To get a win in Illinois is just great. It doesn’t get much better than this. It’s a pretty awesome day.”

Bayne said afterwards, “I could have won this thing. I should have stopped conserving fuel a little earlier. But we’ll take this third place. I feel good.”

Aric Almirola and Jason Leffler rounded out the top 5.

Carl Edwards dominated the race for the for 2/3 of the race but battled with the Kevin Harvick Inc cars driven by Elliott Sadler and owner Harvick. Sadler had a great run but elected to get fuel and tires as the laps were winding down. Reed Sorenson’s sixth place finished allowed him to take the lead in the series points from Sadler by 2 points.

Danica Patrick ran in the race and finished 10^th, on the lead lap after getting a “lucky dog” lap back earlier in the race after going a lap down to the leader.

June 4, 2011
TOYOTA NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Post-Race Notes & Quotes Kansas Speedway

Todd Bodine was the top-finishing Tundra driver in Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Kansas Speedway with a third-place result. Bodine led the field twice for nine laps.

Bodine’s third-place finish equaled his best result of the year — a third-place result at Darlington Raceway.

Tundra driver Kyle Busch also recorded a top-five finish with a fifth-place result.

Brendan Gaughan (seventh) and Travis Kvapil (10th) also finished in the top-10 in their Tundras.

Toyota drivers Miguel Paludo (13th), Timothy Peters (14th) and David Starr (16th) registered top-20 finishes.

Toyota drivers in the top-25 were Justin Lofton (19th), Max Papis (22nd), Craig Goess (23rd) and Johanna Long (24th).

TODD BODINE, No. 30 NTB/Valvoline Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 3rd How good was your truck today? “It’s a brand new Tundra. These guys worked to build a great truck. It ran great. But, as in all new pieces you got to work out the bugs. We got to work out the heat. That thing fried my rear end and under my arm. If you’re going to be dumb you have to be tough. We had a great truck and we hung in there. Great pit stops. At the end, the ‘Dirty 30’ Germain team is just awesome every single week. We had a good run. To come out of this slump – we wanted to win no doubt – but we had the third best truck – Clint (Bowyer) and Johnny (Sauter). We were running Johnny (Sauter) down at the end. We had another 10 or 15 laps, we probably could have got him. We had a great day and a great truck.”

How important were pit stops? “Great job. Dirty 30 on pit road again – awesome, awesome pit stops. Those guys kept us up there.”

Did this run help get your season back on track? “We’re going to take the same truck (to Texas). To be able to run here and run that good and come out of here in one piece and just rub on it and look at the set-up a little bit and see what we got to do. I think it’s a different tire at Texas we’re going back with. It’s going to change. The good thing about this truck is it’s brand new and it really responds. This Toyota Tundra was awesome.”

Were you happy with your race truck today? “It’s a brand new Toyota Tundra that these guys built. They built a great truck. It ran great, but as in all new pieces you’ve got to work out the bugs and we’ve got to work out the heat. That thing, it fried my rear end and under my arm. But, hey, if you’re going to be dumb you’ve got to be tough. We had a great truck and we hung in there. Great pit stops again. The Germain team was just awesome and they are every single week. We had a good run. To come out of this slump – we wanted to win. There’s no doubt. But, we had the third best truck . Clint (Bowyer) and Johnny (Sauter) – we were running Johnny down at the end and I think if we had another 10 or 15 laps we probably could’ve got him. We had a great day and a great truck.”

Did you think you had a race-winning truck today? “I never quite could get it to where I needed it. We were the third best truck. Obviously, that 2 truck (Clint Bowyer) was unbelievable fast. That thing was so solid up off the corner and rolled the middle great. That’s what you’ve got to have. I think me and Johnny (Sauter) were about equal. We had a great day. The way to come out of a slump. It’s been pretty bad. To have NTB and Valvoline on it, a sponsor, which we need. That was a great day for us.”

Are you comfortable racing at Kansas Speedway? “This place has got so much character now. When it was first built, we came here and could run wide open. It was smooth and lots of grip and now, even in the trucks, we were out there sliding around. You’re driving the heck out of them every lap and that’s why you see great racing here. It has a lot of character. It’s a neat place.”

TODD BODINE, No. 30 NTB/Valvoline Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing (continued) What happened on the last two laps of the race? “I had the high line really working down here in (turn) one and two and I was really backing the corner up in three and four. I was back to the throttle before the center of the corner. I think Johnny (Sauter) got a little tight. Once I got up on Johnny I got a little tight behind him. I think with another 10 laps we would’ve had some fun. I gave it a shot getting into three. Second and third — you’re the first and second loser anyway so I didn’t want to take him out or anything. Just finish where we were going to be. I gave it a shot.”

How did you deal with the elements in today’s race? “I pity them. I’ll tell you that. This was a new truck for us and a lot of times when you have a new truck you might have a header resting up against the frame somewhere and it’s transferring all of the heat through. I literally burned my butt so we’ve got to work on it a little bit. It’s hot, no doubt about it. The humidity is what is bad and that’s what gets you. It was pretty humid out.”

Do you think they should repave Kansas Speedway? “Don’t pave it. Why are they talking about paving it? It’s not actually coming up, is it? I didn’t see any place that it came up. Yeah, it’s got a couple of bumps and it’s wore out but that’s what makes it fun. It separates good trucks from bad ones and good cars from bad ones and good drivers. It makes it fun. Anybody can go fast on fresh pavement.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Dollar General Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports Finishing Position: 6th What was the problem with your truck today? “We had a horrible truck all day. Just was fighting real, real tight. Couldn’t get it to where it needed to be. We came in and tried to make wholesale changes and work on the track bar — do something because all we were going to do was finish fourth or fifth. That’s all we had anyway.”

BRENDAN GAUGHAN, No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 7th Were there any issues with your truck during the race today? “We cracked an exhaust, I guess. The exhaust broke and they put a heat gun on my seat when I got out (after the race) and it said 220 degrees. So, they gave me some ice bags during the race. But, they broke open. You never want water in a seat. I don’t know if you remember watching Bugs Bunny when you were a kid — Elmer Fudd used to always put him in a big pot and try to cook him. That’s what happens when you add water to a metal seat.”

How was your truck handling today? “Our Tundra was fast. I killed my boys on pit road today — absolutely destroyed on pit road. Totally my fault. We had a better Tundra — probably a top-five. Think we were a little better than Kyle (Busch). I just destroyed us on pit road. Lost focus and overshot the pits once — pitiful job on my part. Great comeback by the boys. That’s the way the Germains run – – Todd (Bodine) and I top-10 and all four team Tundras in one piece after the race. That’s what we need to do.”

TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra Camry, Randy Moss Motorsports Finishing Position: 10th How was your race today? “Average day. We had a little bit higher expectations. I thought my truck was a little bit better than that in practice and what we showed today. We just fought it. Just didn’t really have the speed we needed in the middle of the corner. It was hard to pass. It’s all a big track position game here. Everybody just about runs wide open which makes it pretty tough to pass. All in all we worked on it all day yesterday and got it much better and a solid 10th-place finish.”

Was the heat a problem? “I’m kind of used to it. It’s hot, but you don’t really think about it at all until after the race or when you slow down during a caution. You don’t really feel it when you are out there racing.”

MIGUEL PALUDO, No. 7 STEMCO-Duroline Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position: 13th

TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position: 14th

DAVID STARR, No. 81 Zachry Toyota Tundra, SS Green Light Racing Finishing Position: 16th

JUSTIN LOFTON, No. 77 Lofton Cattle/Devil Brigade Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 19th

MAX PAPIS, No. 9 GEICO Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finishing Position: 22nd

CRAIG GOESS JR., No. 46 Great Wolf Lodge/Greenville Toyota Toyota Tundra, Eddie Sharp Racing Finishing Position: 23rd

JOHANNA LONG, No. 20 Panhandle Grading & Paving Toyota Tundra, Panhandle Motorsports Finishing Position: 24th

SCOTT RIGGS, No. 07 Toyota Tundra, SS Green Light Racing Finishing Position: 36th

June 4, 2011
Childress to be penalized for fight with Busch

NASCAR president Mike Helton said Sunday morning that penalties will be announced for Richard Childress on Monday after his post Truck Series race fight with Kyle Busch. NASCAR deemed that Busch’s involvement did not violate his NASCAR probation, therefore he will not receive any further sanctions from NASCAR.

“Obviously after last night’s incident, we began looking into it through the evening, and as recent as 15 minutes ago, meeting with different parties,” NASCAR President Mike Helton said. “We concluded that the driver of the 18 truck, Kyle Busch, did nothing to provoke or to cause the reactions that, in our opinion, would have violated probation. Did nothing that would have warranted the actions of Richard Childress.

“And so we’ll have to — once we get today’s race concluded, which is the focus of today, we’ll have to decide what NASCAR’s reaction is to Richard Childress as a member of NASCAR in an action against another NASCAR member.

“The biggest topic today, certainly, through the conversations outside of the incident itself was to be sure that today’s event went on correctly and safely for everybody involved, and both the Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing organizations, we have made it clear to them that our expectations is that both Joe Gibbs and Richard Childress meet with their teams to be sure that nobody from their organizations felt like there was anything that needed to be done from their side.

“So we’ll focus on today’s race now, and then quickly, maybe more quickly than normal, come back with our reaction as it relates to NASCAR member Richard Childress. ”

According to sources who spoke to SB Nation’s Jeff Gluck, Childress handed his watch to grandson Austin Dillon before punching Busch multiple times and putting him into a headlock. Busch reportedly bent down to avoid further injuries, but Childress tried to land another shot once Busch returned to his feet, sources told Gluck.

Busch raced hard with Joey Coulter in the closing laps of the race, with the two drivers making contact coming towards the finish before Coulter eventually got the best of the two-truck race for fifth. After the checkers flew, Busch tapped Coulter’s driver side door panel.

“With as hot as it is and the tires, you know, had a bunch of laps on them, once the tires start sliding it’s really hard to get them to stop,” Coulter told media after the race. “And we [him and Busch] just run up towards the fence. I really hate that it happened because it was going to be a pretty exciting run to the line. But, I guess that’s part of the mile and a half stuff.”

Busch is on NASCAR probation in all NASCAR series and events until June 15.

June 4, 2011
Bowyer wins the NCWTS O’Reilly Auto Parts 250

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”268″][/media-credit]Clint Bowyer dominated Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race by leading 124-laps of the 167-laps run at Kansas Speedway in route to his first victory in his home state.

This was his third career trucks series win and first of the season for the Kansas native who grew up 90 miles away in Emporia.

“I’m so happy to finally be in victory lane here,” Bowyer said.

This win also stopped Kyle Busch’s three-race winning streak. Busch battled his car all day and finished sixth.

Johnny Sauter finished second, Todd Bodine third, James Buescher fourth and Joey Coulter finished fifth.

Sauter also took over the series points standings by 12 over rookie Cole Whitt.

“I couldn’t be any prouder of everybody at ThorSport (Racing),” Sauter said.

Unofficial Race Results
O’Reilly Auto Parts 250, Kansas Speedway
June 4, 2011 – Race 8 of 25
=================
Pos. Driver
=================
1 Clint Bowyer
2 Johnny Sauter
3 Todd Bodine
4 James Buescher
5 Joey Coulter *
6 Kyle Busch
7 Brendan Gaughan
8 Nelson Piquet Jr. *
9 Brad Sweet
10 Travis Kvapil
11 Parker Kligerman *
12 Austin Dillon
13 Miguel Paludo *
14 Timothy Peters
15 Cole Whitt *
16 David Starr
17 Jason White
18 Matt Crafton
19 Justin Lofton
20 Justin Marks
21 Ricky Carmichael
22 Max Papis
23 Craig Goess *
24 Johanna Long *
25 Nick Hoffman
26 Bryan Silas
27 Jennifer Jo Cobb
28 Clay Rogers
29 Shane Sieg
30 Ron Hornaday
31 Ryan Sieg
32 J.J. Yeley
33 Norm Benning
34 Chris Jones
35 Mike Garvey
36 Scott Riggs

June 4, 2011