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Author: Adam Lovelace

  • Kyle Busch Sweeps The Brickyard

    Kyle Busch Sweeps The Brickyard

    Kyle Busch continued his amazing comeback on Sunday at the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard winning his first Sprint Cup Series race at the track after also winning the NASCAR XFINITY race on Saturday and sweeping the weekend. Busch, driving the No. 18 Skittles Toyota, started in the ninth position and recorded his third consecutive victory in the Sprint Cup Series and fourth win in the last five races.

    Busch has made only nine starts in the series this year following a leg injury at Daytona in February. NASCAR has waived the rule that a driver must attempt to qualify for all races in order to qualify for the Chase in the last 10 races of the season. A driver must also win a race and finish in the top 30 in points to qualify. Busch’s win puts him in 32nd position just 23 points out of the 30th position.

    “It’s a testament to what this team’s all about. I knew we had a really good car when I was out there practicing Friday. I knew we’d have a good shot if we could get out front. I knew we had a good car. We had a lot of fun today. To come home with a victory at the Brickyard 400, there’s nothing else like it. It’s probably the biggest win of my career so far”, said Busch following his 32nd career win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

    Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford led 28 laps during the race and finished in second place after challenging Busch late in the race during a green-white-checkered finish.

    “We’re going so fast and we don’t have much motor, so when I go to the gas, it just wasn’t going to accelerate underneath him. It wasn’t happening. That was my last-ditch effort. I tried one more time, and we got loose off of one and that was the end of it. Overall, it was a good day, but second hurts. It always does, but it’s always better than third,” said Logano following his second place run.

    Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet, started sixth and led a race-high 75 out of 164 laps run in the event. Harvick continues to lead the championship standings after scoring his 14th top five finish in 20 starts this season.

    “The 18 (Kyle Busch) and 22 (Joey Logano) got hooked up on the restart there and got by us in turn 1. The No. 78 (Martin Truex, Jr.) and I didn’t really get together and weren’t able to keep the lead,” said Harvick.

    “All in all, a pretty good day for us. After the last four weeks we’ve had – we’ve had a lot of tough luck. We had tough luck today, but it was early enough in the race that we could overcome it,” said fourth place finisher, Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet.

    Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five in his No. 11, Joe Gibbs Racing, FedEx Express Toyota.

    Jeff Gordon, winner of five NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, made his 22nd and final start at the famed speedway. Gordon started in the 19th position and finished a disappointing 42nd after spinning into the wall on lap 50 to avoid a spinning Clint Bowyer.

    “My memories are always going to be spectacular. I am very upbeat bout Indianapolis. Some of the greatest memories of my life are here at Indianapolis, starting with the inaugural Brickyard 400. There were too many good ones that won’t get overshadowed by a race like today. The whole week and weekend has been incredible,” said Gordon after the race. The driver of the No. 24, 3M Chevrolet is still seeking his first win of the season and hoping to secure a spot in the Chase.

    Kyle Busch’s win in a Toyota puts an end to a 12 race win streak for Chevrolet at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

  • Busch Makes Last Lap Pass to Win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    Busch Makes Last Lap Pass to Win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    Kyle Busch, in the No.54 Monster Energy Toyota, made a last lap pass on Ryan Blaney, driver of the No.22 Discount Tire Ford, to score his 72nd career victory in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and his second win in four starts at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    Blaney started 11th and ran in the top-3 most of the day before taking the lead from Busch on lap 75 of the 100 lap race. Blaney would lead the next 24 laps before Busch made the pass on lap 99.

    After the race and his second place finish, Blaney was asked if this was his toughest loss in NASCAR.

    “Yeah, pretty easy. Not many can say they had a chance to win at the Brickyard and gave it away, but I did just that,” he said. “I think I’m the only one in that category, so I’m leading that category but that’s definitely gonna sting for a long time.”

    Busch started on the pole with a qualifying lap of 180.527 mph and led 53 laps.

    “I just got close enough to make him mess up and made him get tight off two and then I was able to capitalize underneath him with him losing his momentum off of two and being able to get under him,” said Busch following the race.

    Daniel Suarez, driving the Joe Gibbs Racing, No.18 ARRIS Toyota, started second and finished in the third position in his first start at the famed speedway. His second place finish was his 8th top-10 finish in 18 starts this year.

    Suarez said, “First of all I want to congratulate my teammate and good friend Kyle (Busch). He’s been doing amazing and I’ve been learning a lot from him. I think thanks to that, we are where we are right now. We have to keep working, keep learning and I’m pretty sure we’re going to get our checkered flag soon.”

    Paul Menard finished in the fourth position in his No.33 Menards Chevrolet, followed by fifth place finisher, Elliott Sadler in the No.6 OneMain Financial Ford.

    Chris Buescher retains his points lead over Chase Elliott and Ty Dillon. Buescher finished in 16th place, Elliott finished 10th, and last year’s winner, Ty Dillon, finished in the 9th position.

    There were eight lead changes among six drivers and three caution flags for 16 laps.

  • Gordon Wins Record 5th Time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    Gordon Wins Record 5th Time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    Jeff Gordon, driver of the No.24 Axalta Chevrolet owned by Rick Hendrick, made history at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by becoming the first 5-time winner on the oval and ties Michael Schumacher for most wins overall.  It was Gordon’s first win at the track since since 2004. His other wins include the inaugural race in 1994, as well as wins in 1998 and 2001.

    Gordon started second and lead three times for 40 laps in the 160 lap event. “I don’t think there’s a greater feeling as a race car driver, and a race team. I finally made the restart of my life when it mattered most. I was trying so hard with 10 to go not to focus on the crowd, I was trying not to let it get to me. You can’t help it, it’s such a big race, such an important victory. This one is for all those fans throughout the years and all weekend long who said, ‘go get number five.’” said Gordon in Victory Lane. The win was Gordon’s 90th career win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He now has 17 top ten finishes in 21 starts in this race. Bobby Labonte is the only other driver to run in each of the 21 Sprint Cup races at Indianapolis.

    Kyle Busch drove his Joe Gibbs owned, No.18 Snickers Toyota to a second place finish after starting the race in the 12th position. After the race Busch said, “Today wasn’t bad. Our Snickers Camry was pretty good. We had a good race car today, probably a top four race car and we come home second. We’re proud of the effort there and the guys did a good job. We look forward to the next few weeks.”

    All three Gibbs owned cars finished in the top four. Denny Hamlin, in the No.11 FedEx Express Toyota started 27th and drove his way to a third place finish. “We were awful for two days.” said Hamlin, adding, “The things I require out of a car just doesn’t work until the track gets hot and slick. We knew as soon as the pace started up our car was going to come in. That was a good run for us.” After the post-race inspection, it was determined that there may be some issues with the 11 car for “several rear firewall block off plates.” The parts and pieces will be taken back to the NASCAR R & D Center for further evaluation.

    Matt Kenseth in the No.20 Dollar General Toyota, also owned by Gibbs started 13th and finished in 4th. “It was a good day for JGR. All our Toyotas were pretty quick today. We were all top 10 cars. Kept guys out and got good finishes. Wish it was a one-two-three. Another good day for us.” said Kenseth following the race.

    Joey Logano, in the No.22 Penske owned, Shell Pennzoil Ford, was the highest finishing Ford driver finishing 5th and leading one time for 10 laps. Joey said, “We ran about where we thought we would. We had nothing compared to the 24 car. We stayed out one time and led a bunch of laps and got some track position that way. It was a good call. Fortunately we were able to hang on to where we were. If you ever make one mistake in this race, your day is over. You never get those spots back. You just gotta be perfect all day.”

    Kasey Kahne who has yet to secure a spot in the Chase, dominated the race and looked like he was well on his way to getting locked into the Chase by leading 70 laps before being passed by Gordon on a late race restart. Kahne was not happy with the restart and thought that NASCAR let Gordon control the restart even though Kahne was leading at the time, “I didn’t spin a tire and Jeff was driving by me before we were even at the second red, so they just let him control it. But either way, he was gonna pass me in 1 and 2, so looking back, I probably should have chose the top.” said Kahne following his 6th place finish. Kahne is now 15th in the point standings.

    Jeff Gordon leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings by 24 over teammate, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who finished the race in the 9th position.

    The race had 4 caution flags for 16 laps and had 15 lead changes among 9 different drivers. Gordon’s margin of victory over Kyle Busch was 2.325 seconds.

  • Ty Dillon Scores First Nationwide Series Victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    Ty Dillon Scores First Nationwide Series Victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    In only his second start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Ty Dillon took the famed black No. 3 car of his grandfather, Richard Childress, to victory lane in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Lilly Diabetes 250.

    The race was Dillon’s 31st NNS start and he also won the “Dash 4 Cash,” pocketing an extra $100,000 bonus for the win.

    The Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet started in the third position and ran among the leaders most of the day before leading the final 24 laps of the race.  Dillon lost his air conditioning in the opening laps of the race and said afterwards, “I was definitely pushed. My AC went out before I think we even took the green, so I could already feel it getting hot. I knew I could make it through it for sure, but when Kyle Busch is on you, pushing you as hard as you can go, that guy doesn’t mess up, so I knew I had to be perfect every lap. That definitely takes a lot more out of you.”

    Busch, driving the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, led 10 laps before settling for a second place finish. Busch started the race from the pole but never led until later in the race before being overtaken by Dillon on a restart with 24 laps to go. When asked about the restart, Kyle said, “I slipped and he got right by me. Just drove right underneath me. That was the race right there. I could maintain with him. If I could have been out front I probably could have held him off.”

    Matt Kenseth, driving the No. 20 Resers Toyota, started in the second position and finished third leading eight laps during the day. “The strategy was good. The caution fell at the right time and we could make it on fuel. We were a little off from the best couple cars, but we got our track position there and got a decent finish,” said Kenseth after the race.

    Kevin Harvick started the race in the fourth position and finished in the same spot after leading the most laps in the No. 5 Morton Buildings Chevrolet. Harvick took the lead from Matt Kenseth early in the day and would lead three times for 33 laps.

    Joey Logano finished in the fifth position driving the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford. After the race, Logano said, “Whoever gets out front is gonna win the race. That’s how this place is and that’s why strategy and restarts are so important to make up as much time as you can because it’s just one lane around here.” Logano led twice for 21 laps and was strong throughout the day.

    Chase Elliott, who won his third race of the season last weekend and leads the series points standings by four over his teammate Regan Smith, finished in the 12th position. Smith finished in 10th place.

    There were nine lead changes among six different drivers and a total of three cautions for 17 laps.

  • Third Time is the Charm for Keselowski at Kentucky Speedway

    Third Time is the Charm for Keselowski at Kentucky Speedway

    Brad Keseloswki would not be denied tonight in the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. Keselowski muscled his way past Kyle Busch with just 19 laps to go to score his 12th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory, his second victory at Kentucky Speedway and his second victory of the 2014 season. He had a strong performance all weekend racing his way to a fifth place finish Thursday night in the Camping World Truck Series race and dominating last night in the Nationwide Series race only to finish second to Kevin Harvick.

    Keselowski, driving the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, started from the pole and much like Saturday’s Nationwide race dominated, leading 199 of the race’s 267 laps. The only other leaders of the race were Joey Logano in the No. 22 Pennzoil Ford, who led 37 laps, and Kyle Busch in the M & M’s Toyota who led 31 laps.

    “What a really fast car. It just kind of came together for us, really across the weekend from qualifying to race practice and then in the race,” said Keselowski after the race. “I knew it was gonna be a dogfight to get back to Kyle and race him, but we got there with a really fast car and got a perfect run on him with traffic and the next thing I knew we were there, so it feels really good, obviously, to get that second win.”

    Keselowski becomes the sixth driver to score two or more wins in the 2014 season and is now fourth in the point standings, 58 points behind leader Jeff Gordon.

    Keselowski had to make a trip to the infield care center for four stitches to his right hand after cutting himself on a bottle in the victory lane celebration. The injury is not expected to affect his racing.

    Kyle Busch finished in second after starting the race in 18th position and did not find the lead until lap 217 before being passed by Keselowski on lap 248. After having a lead of over a second on Keselowski, Busch thought he had enough of a lead and clean air to hold him off at the end.

    “I tried to stretch it as much as I could there early when I had the clean air,” Busch said, “and then when we got to traffic I just backed up too much and got way too loose, the loosest I’ve been all race long. We just had to come home second tonight to the best car.”

    Ryan Newman scored his best finish of the year in the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet to come home in third place after starting in seventh.

    “It’s a big gain for us and our Caterpillar Chevrolet. All the guys at RCR and ECR got us that first top 5 of the season,” Newman said after the race.

    Matt Kenseth, in the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, overcame a speeding penalty to finish in fourth place. Dale Earnhardt Jr. started in 29th place and finished in fifth place. The rest of the top 10 at Kentucky were Jeff Gordon in sixth, Kevin Harvick in seventh, Kasey Kahne  in eighth, Joey Logano in ninth and Jimmie Johnson in 10th place.

    Earnhardt is now tied for second in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings with Jimmie Johnson. Both drivers trail points leader Jeff Gordon by 24 points. Keselowski is fourth (-58) and Kenseth is fifth (-63).

    The next NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race is Saturday night, July 5th at Daytona International Speedway.

  • Kevin Harvick is a Nationwide Series Winner at Kentucky Speedway

    Kevin Harvick is a Nationwide Series Winner at Kentucky Speedway

    Kevin Harvick, driving for JR Motorsports, passed Kyle Busch for the lead on the final restart with only five laps remaining, to earn his 42nd career win in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

    Brad Keselowski dominated most of the race, leading 138 laps but a speeding penalty on pit road on lap 148 put him at the back of the field and Harvick seized the opportunity. Keselowski was able to drive back up to the front leading to a three-way battle between Harvick, Busch and Keselowski at the end of the race.

    After the race, Harvick called it “a very strange night.” He went on to say, “In the beginning our car wasn’t that bad, we needed some adjustments, had some things happen on some pit stops, so we pitted and put four tires on and everything kind of fell our way. We were able to get a little bit of a tire advantage there at the end and Ernie (Cope, crew chief) made a really good adjustment to the race car that allowed us to really take off and run the best we had all night.”

    Keselowski started from the pole for the John R. Elliott HERO Campaign 300 presented by Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over NASCAR Nationwide Race and Kyle Busch started second in the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota.

    Keselowski led early and often leading the first 43 laps until the first of seven cautions of the night came out for debris on the back stretch. Paul Menard in the No. 33 Libman/Menards Chevrolet assumed the lead after pit stops followed by Keselowski in second. Keselowski would only let Menard lead four laps before regaining the lead.

    Caution two came out on lap 83 for debris while at the same time the No.39 of Ryan Sieg spun. Sieg then spun out the No. 51 of Jeremy Clements as he thought that Clements had spun him out. Replays showed there was no initial contact between the two and Sieg and his crew chief were summoned to the NASCAR hauler following the race.

    On lap 103 Matt Kenseth in the No. 20 Resers Toyota, who was running in the fifth spot at the time, spun coming off of turn two and slid down the track crashing nose first into the infield wall ending his night.

    On lap 138 green flag pit stops began. After the field cycled through Keselowski found himself penalized for speeding while exiting pit road, resulting in a pass thru penalty and handing the lead to Kevin Harvick in the #5 Kroger/P & G Chevrolet.

    After Keselowski served his penalty, caution for debris came out again on lap 157. After the race’s fourth caution and the resulting pit stops had cycled through, Kyle Busch found himself leading the race. Keselowski was able to take the wave around and get back onto the lead lap, although he was running in 17th place.

    Regan Smith, driver of the No. 7 AmericasPower.org Chevrolet and the current series championship points leader, continued his string of bad luck at Kentucky Speedway by hitting the wall on lap 170 after contact with the No. 16 of Ryan Reed on the back stretch bringing out the fifth caution of the night. Smith finished the night in 28th place and dropped two positions in the overall point standings.

    On the restart with 27 to go Busch led Harvick and Brian Scott. Keselowski restarted in seventh place. The No. 43 of Dakoda Armstrong spun in what looked like fluid between turns three and four with 25 laps to go. Following this sixth caution of the night, Keselowski was back up to the fifth position and would recover from his speeding penalty to finish the race in the second spot.

    “We had a great day going and I got us behind there with a pit road speeding penalty. I just made a little mistake, but the Discount Tire team did a great job,” said Keselowski following the race.

    Lap 193 saw the seventh and final caution of the night after the No. 6 of Trevor Bayne and the No. 9 of Chase Elliott got together in turn four. The race restarted on lap 196 and Harvick passed Busch for the lead. Busch finished third, followed by Menard, Ryan Blaney, and last week’s winner, Brendan Gaughan, finished in sixth place.

    The top five in the Nationwide Series driver standings following the race are:

    Elliott Sadler (541), Chase Elliott (537), Regan Smith (533), Ty Dillon (512), Brian Scott (494).

     

  • Tom Hessert wins International Motorsports Hall of Fame 200 at Talladega Superspeedway

    Tom Hessert wins International Motorsports Hall of Fame 200 at Talladega Superspeedway

    For the fourth time in his career, Tom Hessert was able to get to ARCA victory lane after making a pass late in the race for the win.

    Grant Enfinger, driver of the Casite-Motor Honey-Advanced Auto Parts #90 Ford, and winner of the first 3 races of the season in the ARCA racing series started from the pole at Talladega Superspeedway in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame 200 and was looking for win number 4 of the 2014 season. Once the green flag flew, the front of the field ran single file up front for the first half of the race with Mason Mitchell, Justin Boston, Mark Thompson, and John Wes Townley rounding out the top 5 behind Enfinger.

    Green flag pit stops began on lap 36 of the 76 lap event. Multiple drivers were penalized for speeding on pit road including leader Enfinger who had dominated the first half of the race. Clay Campbell, Mark Thompson, and Frank Kimmel were among the 16 pit road speeding violations. Justin Boston in the #25 Zloop Chevrolet took over the lead after pit stops until lap 54 when he was passed on the track by the Zaxby’s #15 of John Wes Townley.

    The first and only caution of the race came out on lap 56 when Justin Allison, grandson of Donnie Allison, in the #88 HAVACOSales.com Ford, blew a right front tire and slammed into the side of Clay Campbell driving the #52 Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet for Ken Schrader Racing, causing Clay to spin out. The caution put many of the the penalized race cars back into contention for the win.

    The race went back to green at lap 64 with John Wes Townley in first followed by Boston, Mitchell, and Tom Hessert. Bobby Gerhart, making his 300th start in the series took the lead with 4 laps to go and was quickly over taken by John Wes Townley.

    With only two laps to go Tom Hessert, driving the #77 Cunningham Motorsports Caregard-AxiomWarranty.com Dodge took the lead for the first time of the day after passing Townley on the high side and lead the final two laps to win his first ever super speedway race and the 4th win of his career. Hessert was followed by John Wes Townley in 2nd, teammate Austin Wayne Self, driving the #22, in 3rd, Mason Mitchell in 4th and Spencer Gallagher in the #23 rounding out the top 5. The rest of the top 10 were Derrick Lancaster in 6th, Bobby Gerhart 7th, Frank Kimmel 8th, Grant Enfinger 9th, and Buster Graham in 10th.

    The ARCA Racing Series next race is at Toledo Speedway on May 18th.

  • South Bend Native Ryan Newman Wins at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    South Bend Native Ryan Newman Wins at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    Ryan Newman, from South Bend, Indiana won the 20th annual Crown Royal Presents The Samuel Deeds 400 at The Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday after starting from the pole and breaking the nine year old track record. Prior to his win, Newman, in the #39, Stewart-Haas Racing Quicken Loans Chevrolet had only scored two top 10 finishes at Indy in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career. “I knew we had a good car. Starting on the pole and winning the race. Just an awesome day for us. This is a dream come true for me. I can’t wait to push my lips on those bricks”, said Newman after his win. “It will take a week or so for this to set in. Just a great run today. Happy it stayed green. We needed that. A great long-run car”, he added.

    Newman’s teammate and car owner, Tony Stewart, in the #14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, ran strong all day and finished in the 4th position. When asked about Newman’s win, Tony said “I can’t wait to give him a big hug and congratulate him. He did a great job all weekend. It was between him and the 48. I didn’t know what the strategy was going to be at the end. I just kept watching the jumbo-trons coming off (turn) four to see where he was at.”

    Points leader, Jimmie Johnson started the race in 2nd and finished in the same spot, 2.657 seconds behind Newman. Johnson, in the #48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet took the lead from Newman after the first round of pit stops and would lead four times for 73 laps and extending his lead to 75 over Clint Bowyer in the points standings. Johnson’s final stop cost him the lead over Newman after a slow stop on pit road. “There’s definitely disappointment there. But that’s racing – it happens. I’ve given away a few out there this year too. Ryan was fast all day long. I can’t take anything away from him. He was plenty fast”, said Johnson when asked about the last pit stop. In regards to his car, Johnson said, “It wasn’t the easiest one to drive. I was real tight in and loose off. In traffic, it was a little tougher than I wanted. It was still an awesome race car. I just came up a little bit short today.”

    Third place finisher, Kasey Kahne, in the #5 Great Clips Chevrolet started 7th and scored his fifth top-10 finish in ten starts at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “We kept falling back too far. It takes awhile to get back to the front. Congrats to Ryan. He had a big weekend. He deserved it. He needed it.” said Kahne.

    Matt Kenseth, in the Joe Gibbs Racing, #20 Dollar General Toyota continued his strong season finishing in the 5th position after starting the race in 13th. “We had really, really great pit stops from my Dollar General crew and Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) mad a great call to get us some track position. That’s really what got us our top-five. We didn’t have a car that good today. We were just off all weekend. We never hit is exactly right.” said Kenseth after the race.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. started in the 15th position and finished 6th after rebounding from an early unscheduled pit stop for a loose wheel. Four time winner of this race, Jeff Gordon, finished in 7th, followed by Joey Logano, in the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford in 8th, 9th place finisher, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Kyle Busch in 10th.

    Remarkably, Ryan Newman is searching for a ride for the 2014 season. It was recently announced that Kevin Harvick would be moving over to the Stewart-Haas Racing team. Ryan said of his search for a new ride, “The biggest thing is confidence. We still got a championship to go after. We still got the Chase to chase.”

    The win was Newman’s 17th career win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. There were 3 cautions for 14 laps and 20 lead changes among 12 drivers. The average speed of the race was 153.485 mph and all 43 cars that started the race were running at the finish.

    2013 Crown Royal Presents the Samuel Deeds 400 at The Brickyard Results:

    1. Ryan Newman, Chevrolet

    2. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet

    3.  Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet

    4. Tony Stewart, Chevrolet

    5. Matt Kenseth, Toyota

    6. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet

    7. Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet

    8. Joey Logano, Ford

    9. Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet

    10. Kyle Busch, Toyota

    11. Martin Truex Jr., Toyota

    12. Paul Menard, Chevrolet

    13. Carl Edwards, Ford

    14. Kurt Busch, Chevrolet

    15. Jamie McMurray

    16. Marcos Ambrose

    17. Aric Almirola

    18. Denny Hamlin, Toyota

    19. Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet

    20. Clint Bowyer, Toyota

    21. Brad Keselowski, Ford

    22. AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet

    23. Mark Martin, Toyota

    24. Greg Biffle, Ford

    25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford

    26. Austin Dillon, Chevrolet

    27. Casey Mears, Ford

    28. Trevor Bayne, Ford

    29. David Reutimann, Toyota

    30. Danica Patrick, Chevrolet

    31. Travis Kvapil, Toyota

    32. Michael McDowell, Ford

    33. Landon Cassill, Chevrolet

    34. David Ragan, Ford

    35. David Gilliland, Ford

    36. Bobby Labonte, Toyota

    37. Dave Blaney, Chevrolet

    38. Josh Wise, Ford

    39. JJ Yeley, Chevrolet

    40. David Stremme, Toyota

    41. Joe Nemechek, Toyota

    42. Timmy Hill, Ford

    43. Jeff Burton, Chevrolet

  • Ryan Newman Wins the Pole at Indianapolis With a New Track Record

    Ryan Newman Wins the Pole at Indianapolis With a New Track Record

    Ryan Newman became the 9th driver in the history of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to win 50 poles in his 424th attempt. He won the pole at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a lap of 187.531 mph with a new track record for the NASCAR series at a time of 47.992 seconds. Casey Mears set the previous track record with a speed of 186.293 mph 9 years ago at the famous track.

    Newman, in the #39 Stewart-Haas Racing, Quicken Loans Chevrolet was the 45th and final car to make a qualifying attempt. He knocked Jimmie Johnson to the 2nd starting position. Johnson, who was 4th quick in the final practice, was the 11th car out and set the fast time for the day with a speed of 187.438 mph. He would have to wait until the last car of the day to be bumped to the 2nd starting position.

    “That is the benefit of going out last. You can see where guys are making the most time. I’ll admit I was emotional. For me its special because it is the Brickyard, and I hadn’t won a pole here before even though I have won so many poles. It’s been so long since I won a pole, people ask me if I ran out of fuel for the rockets. That type of thing. So this is special to me for a lot of reasons; being home here in Indiana; being at the Brickyard; being so long since I won a pole. Hopefully we can turn it into a good day tomorrow”, said Newman when asked about his record setting lap.

    Points leader Jimmie Johnson, in the #48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet will start 2nd and said of his own lap, “That was a good lap. You always look back on things and wish you could have another shot at it, but very strong lap.” When asked about his thoughts of getting a record 5th win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he said, “It is just indescribable. In the company I am right now with Jeff Gordon and Rick Mears as a four-time winner is beyond my wildest dreams. I have grown up watching many races here like all motorsports fans do. Always dreamed about racing here and had a chance to come out here and be a part of it all. I would be on cloud nine. It’s hard to find words for it. I haven’t really thought about it too much . This is a very special race track and I’m very proud of the four wins I have here”.

    Carl Edwards, in the #99 Fastenal Ford starts 3rd with a speed of 187.157 mph. “We have a fast race car and I am pretty proud of that lap. If I did it again I don’t know that I could go any faster. If we can start up front I think we have the pit crew and crew chief on the box and a car that can win this race. I want to win this thing badly.”

    Rounding out the top 5 were, Denny Hamlin 4th, and Newman’s car owner and teammate, Tony Stewart who starts in the 5th position.

    Kurt Busch, who was fastest in the final practice lines up 6th with a lap of 186.722 mph. Kasey Kahne, in the #5 Great Clips Chevrolet starts 7th, Juan Pablo Montoya, 8th, Jeff Gordon, 9th, and Marcos Ambrose in the #9 DeWalt Ford starts in the 10th position.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the #88 National Guard Chevrolet qualified 15th. ” Well, we would have liked to run a little bit better than that. The guys did a good job. They made a lot of changes during practice. It was a decent lap” said Earnhardt after his run.

    Danica Patrick struggled to a 33rd qualifying start at the track where she has the most experience and some of the best runs of her Indy Car career. When asked about her first start at Indianapolis in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car, Danica said, “In our practice and qualifying runs it was pretty decent and then we’d get really tight off of turn 4, which is a tough problem to fix because you’re looking for some odd issue that’s making it really tight on the last corner. So the positive side is that it was consistent the whole way around the track. It was just consistently tight”.

    Mike Bliss in the #19 Toyota, and Scott Speed in the #95, Leavine Family Racing Ford both failed to make the race.

    Sunday will mark the 20th running of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which ran its first Cup race in 1994 and was won by a young Jeff Gordon.

    Starting line up for the 2013 Crown Royal Presents the Samuel Deeds 400 at The Brickyard:

    1. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 187.531 mph
    2. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 187.438
    3. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 187.157
    4. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 187.122
    5. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 186.827
    6. (78) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 186.722
    7. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 186.633
    8. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 186.536
    9. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 186.474
    10. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 186.281
    11. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 185.954
    12. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 185.92
    13. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 185.789
    14. (51) A J Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 185.655
    15. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 185.621
    16. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 185.448
    17. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 185.437
    18. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 185.181
    19. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 185.101
    20. (33) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 184.961
    21. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 184.794
    22. (93) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 184.676
    23. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 184.646
    24. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 184.593
    25. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 184.536
    26. (55) Mark Martin, Toyota, 184.305
    27. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 184.045
    28. (21) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 183.906
    29. (40) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 183.816
    30. (13) Casey Mears, Ford, 183.752
    31. (83) David Reutimann, Toyota, 183.329
    32. (35) Josh Wise, Ford, 183.046
    33. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 182.938
    34. (47) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 182.826
    35. (98) Michael McDowell, Ford, 182.819
    36. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 182.448
    37. (30) David Stremme, Toyota, 181.675, owner points
    38. (56) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 181.536, owner points
    39. (36) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 181.240, owner points
    40. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 180.825, owner points
    41. (7) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 179.878, owner points
    42. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 179.548, owner points
    43. (32) Timmy Hill, Ford, 178.770, owner points

  • Dillon scores second career NASCAR Nationwide Series win at Kentucky

    Dillon scores second career NASCAR Nationwide Series win at Kentucky

    [media-credit name=”Adam Lovelace” align=”alignright” width=”216″][/media-credit]Austin Dillon, driver of the No.3 Advocare Chevrolet, started from the pole for the second time this year at Kentucky Speedway in the Kentucky 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race, with a speed of 177.264 mph and scored his second career win at Kentucky. “We have a hot rod. This car runs good here. I’ve figured something out with the line. I’m just very confident at this track”, said Dillon after his pole winning run.

    Points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. started second in the No.6 EcoBoost Ford. Sam Hornish Jr., driving the No.12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge for Roger Penske, started third.

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took the lead on the opening lap from Dillon and would lead early. NASCAR announced before the race that there would be a competition caution on lap 30 after heavy rains washed the rubber off the track over night. When the caution waved on lap 30, Stenhouse lead the field buy 1.593 seconds. During the pit stops for the caution, Stenhouse Jr. made contact with Eric McClure in the No.14 Hefty/Reynolds Wrap Toyota, causing damage to Stenhouse Jr’s right front. Stenhouse would have to come in the pits to repair the damage and restarted in 28th spot. Stenhouse would later have to pit again for a flat tire, ultimately losing 3 laps to the leaders and finishing in 17th.

    Elliot Sadler, driving the No.2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing  passed Stenhouse for the points lead after Stenhouse Jr’s problems on the track. Sadler, who would experience steering problems during the race, ran in the top 5 most of the day and would go on to finish in fifth. Sadler now leads Stenhouse by four points followed by Dillon in third, 19 back from Sadler.

    Drew Herring, making his first Nationwide Series start of the year and driving the No.18 SportClips Toyota for Joe Gibbs racing ran with the leaders most of the day and recovered from a spin to score the first top 5 finish of his career.

    Sam Hornish, Jr. ran strong all day and finished in 2nd, followed by Brendan Gaughan in third. The rest of the top 10 were Cole Whitt in 6th, Michael Annett 7th, Justin Allgaier 8th, Ryan Blaney 9th, and Brad Sweet in 10th.

    Johanna Long, driving the ML Motorsports No.70 Keen Parts Chevrolet had a good run and finished in 12th place. Danica Patrick, with new crew chief Ryan Pemberton, finished in 14th. Kurt Busch, driving his brother’s Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota, started last on the field after missing qualifying due to the Sprint Cup Series racing in New Hampshire. He ran up towards the front of the field before burning up a rear gear and would finish the race in 28th position.

    The race had six cautions for 26 laps, with eleven lead changes among seven different drivers. Austin Dillon’s margin of victory was 1.059 seconds and he lead 65 of the races 200 laps.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Kentucky 300, Kentucky Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=27
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 1 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 47
    2 3 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 43
    3 6 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 0
    4 4 18 Drew Herring Toyota 41
    5 8 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 41
    6 15 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 38
    7 5 43 Michael Annett Ford 38
    8 10 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 36
    9 20 22 Ryan Blaney Dodge 35
    10 13 38 Brad Sweet * Chevrolet 34
    11 7 11 Brian Scott Toyota 33
    12 12 70 Johanna Long * Chevrolet 32
    13 19 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 0
    14 11 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 30
    15 18 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 29
    16 23 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota 28
    17 2 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 28
    18 17 44 Mike Bliss Toyota 26
    19 16 23 Jamie Dick Chevrolet 25
    20 22 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 24
    21 27 39 Josh Richards Ford 23
    22 24 14 Eric McClure Toyota 22
    23 33 19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 21
    24 30 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 20
    25 9 199 Alex Bowman Toyota 19
    26 21 8 Scott Lagasse Jr. Chevrolet 18
    27 32 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 17
    28 42 54 Kurt Busch Toyota 0
    29 40 41 Timmy Hill Ford 15
    30 25 4 Danny Efland Chevrolet 14
    31 42 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 13
    32 29 124 Benny Gordon * Toyota 12
    33 36 50 David Starr Chevrolet 0
    34 34 86 Kevin Lepage Ford 11
    35 37 52 Joey Gase * Chevrolet 9
    36 43 108 Mike Harmon Ford 8
    37 41 15 Carl Long Chevrolet 7
    38 38 100 Tanner Berryhill Toyota 6
    39 26 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet 5
    40 39 171 Matthew Carter Chevrolet 4
    41 31 47 Matt DiBenedetto Chevrolet 3
    42 35 42 Matt Frahm Chevrolet 2
    43 28 10 Charles Lewandoski Toyota 1