Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Author: SM Staff

  • After Two Races, What Have We Learned?

    After Two Races, What Have We Learned?

    [media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Two races down and what have we seen? It’s confusing, but we’ve have had one race dominated by Fords and Chevrolets, and another dominated by Toyotas and Chevrolets. What do we make of this? One has to understand that Daytona is an entirely different animal from the rest of the circuit, save Talladega. It appears that the Roush-Yates engines are the way to go at the restrictor plate tracks, and after only one of the real races, the verdict is out.

    I don’t get the euphoria the media gives the current winner of any race. Denny Hamlin might have wintered in Arizona and got his head straight. He had a good car in Avondale, Arizona on Sunday, but he was bailed out by a stronger car running out of fuel. Matt Kenseth might have won Daytona, but it might have been more luck than skill, not to take away from either victory. That’s the way racing goes. A lot of it always has to do with luck and even skill. It’s just the way it goes. So where are we?

    Much of it has to do with what happens next. Las Vegas is key and Bristol is a crap shoot. We won’t know much until we get to California in three weeks. And then we probably will have to look to Charlotte to get the full picture. So far, it’s an open field. A lot will depend on what happens in the soon appeal of the NASCAR penalties given to the No. 48 team after Daytona, regardless of what you think about Johnson, Knaus, and Hendrick Motorsports. That team is a force in this series. The 25-point penalty is big, So far, no date has been established for the appeal. Regardless of what anyone thinks, a lot depends on this decision. The Johnson-Knaus team is formidable.

    I have a real problem in talking about points this early. The media loves it because it gives them something to talk about, but when did we get to the point that points and the Chase was more important than who won the race on any given Sunday? If last year’s championship proved anything else, it was that winning was important. It was the tie-breaker in the closest championship in history. Maybe, the lesson here is that nothing matters until the final ten races, and that bothers me. In stick and ball sports, it works well, but in racing, it’s almost that the individual races don’t matter. Denny Hamlin won Phoenix. Big deal. All that matters is how many points he got. That is NASCAR in the 21st Century. Win a bunch and have a few poor finishes, and you are dust. In the old days, the winners were given all the spoils. Winners were important. Nowadays, it only matters until the final ten races.

    We’re a long way from that, and hopefully exemplary performance will determine the season champion, but I’d wish we could worry about that in August instead of March. I’m a fool and I know I’m daft, but I wish that. Unfortunately, I’m in the minority. Bad deal for me,

  • Subway Fresh Fit 500 Review: A Sign of Things to Come

    Subway Fresh Fit 500 Review: A Sign of Things to Come

    [media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]Denny Hamlin started the race in 13th position and by Lap 20 he was in the Top-5. He worked his way up to third position by Lap 33, after caution was thrown for Clint Bowyer blowing a tire. He hovered in the Top-5 until Lap 247 when caution was thrown for David Reutimann blowing an engine. When leader Martin Truex Jr. pitted for tires and fuel, this allowed Hamlin to get the lead on the restart.

    It looked as if the race would come down to Brad Keselowski and Hamlin battling for the lead, until Keselowski locked up his brakes going into turn four, shortly after the restart on Lap 253. This forced Keselowski to drop back to sixth position and give Hamlin the lead of the race. Hamlin faced heat from a hard-charging Kevin Harvick in the last 50 laps of the race, until he ran out of fuel on the final lap, allowing Hamlin to drive to victory lane for the first time in 39 Sprint Cup Series races.

    We haven’t seen Hamlin in this competitive form since 2010 when he won eight races and finished second in points standings behind five-time champion Jimmie Johnson. Hamlin admitted last season that Johnson defeating him for the championship title is something that has never left his mind. He sought assistance from a sports psychologist in 2011 to help him be mentally prepared and competitive for this season, and it evidently worked. Hamlin is now leading the championship standings by six points over Greg Biffle heading to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Although we are still early in the season, I expect to see Hamlin continue to be at the top of the standings this year.

    Harvick Keeps Up Momentum

    Kevin Harvick started in the eighth position and was leading the race by Lap 20. After a caution on Lap 56 for debris, he lost the lead to Johnson on pit road and dropped back to 4th position. Harvick hovered in the Top-5 until Lap 151, when he moved up to second position and put himself in contention for the lead once again. On Lap 165 a three-wide battle for the lead played out between Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., and Harvick – with Harvick coming out on top.

    Harvick lost the lead once again when Truex did not pit under caution and received the lead of the race, placing Harvick in second position on the restart. Eventually Truex was forced to pit, allowing Hamlin to take over the race lead using pit strategy. Despite running out of fuel on the last lap, Harvick was able to coast around the track to finish the race in second position. With his second place finish at Phoenix and seventh place finish at Daytona, Harvick is now third in the championship standings.

    Edwards’ Disappointing Day in Phoenix

    Carl Edwards started the race in 24th position and didn’t gain much ground in the race. As Edwards was attempting to make a late race charge, gaining sixth positions among leaders, when he made contact with Ryan Newman with 65 laps to go. The contact caused right front fender damage to the No. 99 car and ended Edwards’ chance of a decent finish. Edwards finished the race in 17th position and dropped from the top 10 in points standings.

    This is not the Edwards we are used to seeing, after finishing in second place in the championship battle last season, with a tie breaker used to determine the winner. On the up-side, Edwards has time to make up ground before he has to worry about the championship battle for this season.

    [media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”262″][/media-credit]Stewart Struggles with EFI System

    Reigning champion Tony Stewart got a rude lesson in this year’s new electronic fuel injection Sunday at PIR. With about 60 laps left in the Subway Fresh Fit 500, Stewart was running 13th and shut off his engine during a caution period to save fuel. Normally when drivers do this, the engine will fire back up easily on command. But this time the engine in Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet wouldn’t re-fire despite repeated attempts. Stewart fell two laps down until his crew finally got the car started, and Stewart finished in 22nd position. Stewart’s season hasn’t started off to his liking, after finishing 16th in the Daytona 500 and currently sitting 15th in points standings.

    NASCAR Safety Improvement
    NASCAR has announced that pace cars with flashing lights will now trail jet-drying trucks during caution periods.  The safety workers operating the jet dryers will wear firesuits and helmets for added protection. During the Daytona 500, Juan Pablo Montoya’s Chevrolet suffered a broken part that caused the car to careen into one of the drying trucks, setting off an explosion that delayed the race for more than two hours for track clean up.
  • NASCAR Brings New Experience To Fans With Twitter

    NASCAR Brings New Experience To Fans With Twitter

    [media-credit name=”twitter.com” align=”alignright” width=”150″][/media-credit]Last week during the red flag at Daytona International Speedway, Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) tweeted a picture from inside his racecar. He then continued to send out more twitter messages, better known as tweets, and pictures to keep the fans informed. The result was Keselowski’s following increasing by 100,000 followers in the span of two hours. They were enjoying that he was keeping them informed and amused during a long red flag.

    NASCAR wasn’t pleased with Keselowski having the phone, originally, as they said that they do not allow recording devices or other devices for communication. However, they did not penalize him for the usage. They said in a statement that they would not penalize Keselowski as nothing “violates any current rules pertaining to the use of social media during races……We encourage our drivers to use social media to express themselves as long as they do so without risking their safety or that of others.”

    Twitter and NASCAR combined as worked wonders beyond just what happened in Daytona as the NASCAR fan base on twitter continues to grow.

    Mathew Vance (@48Hollywood) says he enjoys twitter because of “the insight. And feel of accessibility. Plus the contests are absolutely amazing for fans, especially those who may not be able to travel to races as much as others. Also, the ability to build rapport with people is crucial.”

    Many NASCAR fans are joining twitter so they can follow their favorite teams, drivers and the drivers’ significant others. Some fans are joining to take part in the giveaways, which could see them win tickets to a race, a t-shirt, a hat or something else someone is giving away.

    Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) has created a tradition of doing a big giveaway on Christmas. The giveaway sees the winner to win a vacation for a family of four to any place they want to go in the US. Hamlin does more giveaways beyond that as each week, he gives away “Denny Seats” which is four tickets to each race.

    Another big part of fan usage on twitter is the fans are interested in what’s going on with their favorite drivers. Many drivers tweet about what they are doing away from the race track, to therefore keep the fans informed and make them feel a part of their personal life.

    Amy Stabler (@HarpAmyStabler) says she’s on twitter as she likes to be able to connect to the different NASCAR personalities and get them to answer her questions. Drivers will spend time answering questions about a variety of subjects, allowing fans to learn something new. Mark Martin (@markmartin55), who just joined twitter, spends a couple hours each day answering questions.

    Vance had a great experience with Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) as he says his favorite twitter is moment is, “Jimmie telling me to find him at the track for a pic, then remembering me when I did, and gratefully doing a pic and auto.”

    The NASCAR fan interaction goes beyond just the drivers as many fans enjoy following their favorite driver’s spotter. Mike Calinoff (@MikeCalinoff), spotter for Matt Kenseth, and Bob Jeffery (@EyeInTheSky14), spotter for Tony Stewart, are two of the many spotters who have joined twitter. Both spend their time answering the questions for the fans.

    All of this allows the fans to have a connection, as Ford Malone (@FordMalone) says. “We have a connection – access – to the movers and shakers that did not exist in the past. Few fans had this level of connection.” Malone says that he enjoys following Eddie Gossage (@eddiegossage), the President of Texas Motor Speedway, Ted Bullard (@TurnerCMO), the Chief Marketing Officer of Turner Motorsports, Jeff Gordon (@JeffGordonWeb) and more.

    For that sake of connection, Stabler tries to follow as many different drivers and girlfriends as she can, while also following a bunch of media. She also feels that some of the people that she follows and those who follow back feel like friends.

    Malone adds to that by saying he enjoys twitter due the “inner action between fans has never been as wide spread. I can connect with fans from all across the country.” Malone says that twitter has allowed him to find more people to talk about racing with. “Before twitter, I lived in a NASCAR monocosm – a small number of friends that held similar beliefs. Now I live in a NASCAR galaxy and have had a temper my rhetoric because I have NASCAR friends that hold widely different views.”

    For that reason, “tweet-ups” have been brought forth at each track. These “tweet-ups” see an array of fans and media members that are on twitter meet up at an arranged spot to meet each other face-to-face. Sometimes when these tweet-ups are arranged, they include special guests as some drivers and spotters show up.

    In tough economic times, twitter is also a way for drivers to connect with fans and promote their sponsors. Sometimes, it can also work in other fashion for sponsor. Both Todd Bodine (@Team_Onion) and Kenny Wallce (@Kenny_Wallace) are looking for sponsors to continue racing this year. To help the search, fans have tagged tweets with “#sponsorkenny” or #sponsortheonion” to try to spread word for their favorite driver. They have also tweeted big companies, recommending the driver of their choice.

    Beyond these reasons, twitter has also brought an even crazier trend – inanimate objects tweet. Supposedly the cone that sits at the end of pit road and the lug nut on a tire have discovered a way to use twitter. They use twitter to talk candidly with people about their “experience” and more. Here’s a list of some of the objects

    1. @TheOrangeCone
    2. @TheMiniChad
    3. @JacquesDebris
    4. @TheSAFERBarrier
    5. @TheNASCARHauler
    6. @InfieldGrass
    7. @DaCautionFlag / @FlagCaution
    8. @The_GreenFlag
    9. @TheYellowLugnut
    10. @Sir_NASCARNAGE
    11. @GoodYear_Tire_
    12. @The_Sprint_Cup
    13. @NascarPaceCar
    14. @DaCheckeredFlag
    15. @Da_Black_Flag
    16. @StartFinishLine
    17. @TheCatchFence
    18. @NASCARRainDelay
    19. @NASCARJetDryer
    20. @48Horseshoe

    With everything that has happened on twitter, there is only one question that fans are asking – when is Dale Earnhardt Jr. going to join twitter?

     

    You can follow me on twitter via @SS_Informative (professional, nascar news) and @ladybug388 (personal).

  • AN APPEAL TO OUR ENTIRE RACING COMMUNITY: ORANGE SHOW SPEEDWAY

    AN APPEAL TO OUR ENTIRE RACING COMMUNITY: ORANGE SHOW SPEEDWAY

    I had expected to write this article as a formal announcement Orange Show would be racing this season. Instead this article will be an appeal to the Racing Community for support. Long story short, we are competing against a rodeo promoter to open OSS for racing this season.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Subway Fresh Fit 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Subway Fresh Fit 500

    [media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”259″][/media-credit]With the 36 hours of Daytona in the rear view mirror, the Cup Series headed to the Valley of the Sun. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Subway Fresh Fit 500.

    Surprising:  With the short interval between the Great American Race and the trek to Phoenix International Raceway, the amount of news made before the haulers even arrived in the Valley of the Sun was indeed surprising.

    The first ‘surprise’ was for Chad Knaus, who was fined $100,000 and suspended for six races due to illegally modified C-posts found on the No. 48 Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson prior to the Daytona 500. Knaus and his team at Hendrick Motorsports have already agreed to appeal.

    The second pre-race surprise occurred with Penske Racing announcing its move from Dodge to Ford in 2013. Roger Penske, the ‘Captain’ of the team, affirmed that he needed to make the manufacturer move for one reason only, to finally secure the Cup championship.

    Not Surprising:  With a championship level crew chief in Darian Grubb atop his pit box, it was not surprising that his new driver Denny Hamlin raced his way right to the checkered flag. After a spectacular burnout, the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota paid homage to his crew chief and team from Victory Lane.

    “If you would have asked me, I would have told you I would have taken a 15th place finish,” Hamlin said. “We just kept working at it.”

    This was Hamlin’s 18th career win in his 225th start. It was the driver’s first win at PIR, having finished third four times before this victory.

    With the win at Phoenix, Hamlin jumped to first place in the point standings. Although obviously very early in the season, Hamlin has not been at the top of the leader board since his losing championship battle two years ago.

    “We’ve never been in this position at this point in the season,” Hamlin said. “We’re back this year.”

    Surprising:  While NASCAR nation has been waiting with bated breath, it was a bit surprising that the Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) reared its ugly head for none other than reigning champ Tony Stewart. The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet fell prey to EFI difficulties, unable to re-fire his engine after attempting to save fuel.

    “I just shut the car off to save fuel and it never re-fired,” Smoke, who finished 22nd, said. “I don’t know why that was, but it definitely cost us a good day.”

    Not Surprising:  Although he did not quite live up to his moniker as ‘The Closer’, the driver of the No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet was pretty happy nonetheless. Kevin Harvick coasted on fumes to secure a second place berth in the Subway Fresh Fit 500.

    “Finishing second and racing for a win in a place where we ran back in the twenties, was pretty good,” Harvick said. “You cut the fuel mileage that close, you’re figuring it right. Hopefully this is what sets the tone for the year.”

    Surprising:  Those drivers hooked up with new teams for the 2012 season did not fare well in the Valley of the Sun. Hendrick newcomer Kasey Kahne hit the wall in his No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet on Lap 22. Kahne ended up in the garage for many laps, finally finishing 34th.

    AJ Allmendinger, new pilot of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, also had some calamity befall his Phoenix run. The ‘Dinger was caught up in the Paul Menard crash on Lap 132, relegating him to an 18th place finish.

    Not Surprising:   After finishing almost dead last at Daytona and under the gun with his penalty, Jimmie Johnson was already 23 points in the hole before coming to Phoenix. Yet, to no one’s surprise, Johnson was in redemption mode yet again, scoring a fourth place finish in his No. 48 Lowe’s Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, moving him up to 38th in points.

    “We were concerned about fuel,” Johnson admitted. “We just tried to make sure we got some points.”

    “We had a little hiccup on pit road but we really fought back.”

    Surprising:  It was surprising how well Michael Waltrip Racing performed at Phoenix, at least for the majority of the team members.

    Martin Truex, Jr. scored his first top-10 of the year for his No. 56 NAPA Filters Toyota, coming in seventh. Teammate and pole sitter Mark Martin brought his No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota to a second-straight top-10, officially finishing ninth.

    “We need to get finishes like this each week,” Truex Jr. said. “And hopefully there are even better ones to come.”

    “Proud of the effort,” teammate Mark Martin said. “Any time you get a top-10 finish, you have to say it’s a reasonable run.”

    The No. 56 and the No. 55 are now tied, at 71 points, for sixth position in the point standings.

    Not Surprising:  With the slipperiness of the race track, it was no surprise that several drivers, including the third MWR driver, suffered tire troubles. Most notably on the tire issue list was MWR driver Clint Bowyer, behind the wheel of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota.

    Bowyer suffered tire failure not one, but twice, relegating him to a 30th place finish. The MWR driver now sits 17th in points, falling six spots back due to his tire woes.

    Surprising:  In addition to EFI and tire troubles, the Valley of the Sun seemed to cause some engine failures as well. Most notably were the blown engines of Jamie McMurray, Marcos Ambrose and Jeff Burton, all of whom had good runs going until the tell-tale smoke billowed out from their tail pipes.

    “We blew up,” Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion, said simply. “We are here trying to run for wins and run for championships and to trip over ourselves like that, it just isn’t going to get it done.”

    Not Surprising:  Although not technically a short track, there were some short track tempers flaring at Phoenix International Raceway. Most notably was a flare up between Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Subway Ford for whom the race was named, and Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Wix Filters Chevrolet.

    On lap 256, Newman brought out the seventh caution of the race, crashing after contact with Edwards.

    “I’m 99 percent sure Carl Edwards didn’t do that on purpose,” Newman said. “But I trusted him.”

    “Now he can’t trust me because there is a lot to be had and lost, and we lost today,” Newman continued. “We know plenty of times in this sport, what comes around goes around.”

  • Greg Biffle off to a hot start following back-to-back top five finishes

    Greg Biffle off to a hot start following back-to-back top five finishes

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”257″][/media-credit]Starting the season off with two third place finishes has Greg Biffle feeling pretty content.

    Sunday in Phoenix Biffle followed up his impressive Daytona 500 run with another solid performance in his No. 16 3M Ford Fusion. He never led a lap but with his team continuing to improve on the car during the course of the race was able to mount a late race charge to fall in behind winner Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.

    “I certainly would have thought we would have run better today than we did,” said Biffle.

    “We fought the car really bad beginning of this race. I guess the track is just a lot different than it was on Friday. I don’t care so much for this format of doing all of our practice on Friday when we get here. I like to practice and qualify and then Saturday we have happy hour. We have two practices to get ready for the race.”

    This weekend’s schedule put Biffle behind he felt and he missed on what he needed. Luckily crew chief Matt Puccia kept working on it every time the car stopped on pit road. For all his hard work Biffle just didn’t think the car was that good and was ready to write the day off with a 15th or 20th place finish.

    “But boy, it started coming around, coming around and really took off,” he said. “Certainly excited about how they got the car going. But I got off a little bit for today’s race. I probably was being a little aggressive. Great third-place finish.”

    Heading into the season’s third race at Las Vegas next weekend, Biffle sits second in points behind Hamlin. After a 2011 season where he went winless and finished 16th in points, Biffle’s plenty pleased with how his new team is working together.

    The team’s back to being competitive and Puccia seems to work well with Biffle. They were fast during Speedweeks in Daytona, sitting outside pole for the 500 and nearly winning their Duel race. Another top 10 starting position at Phoenix continued the team’s momentum and it was enough to keep them focused when the day could have gone south.

    “I’m feeling really good,” said Biffle.

    “I’ve got all new guys, I’ve got guys working really hard on the car, crew chief and team, and a guy that’s really, really smart paying attention to all the fine details and that’s Matt Puccia. And that’s the reason why we got two third-place finishes, because of his leadership and decision making on pit road on what to do to the car. It’s executed, he’s thinking about it. He makes the decisions he wants and that’s why we’re sitting here now.”

    Yet there was still a bit of disappointment for Biffle. Even though he was ready to take whatever finish he could get during the race, beforehand he was sure that he could have won the thing. It didn’t work out that way and in being disappointed with a top five finish shows how the team is back to being where they should be.

    Biffle acknowledges the team is clicking on all cylinders right now and even with cars that aren’t to his liking they’re bringing home solid finishes. Confidence is at a high going forward he says and their success during the year will come down to him learning from mistakes that he makes behind the wheel.

    “Well, certainly don’t want to be greedy, but I thought myself or the 5 [Kasey Kahne] would have won the race today, honestly,” Biffle said.

    “My was just so good and qualifying – I got high in 3 and 4 and was in that fuzz and came back and I wasn’t very fast crossing the white and the second lap I come back and qualified seventh. I knew my car was just super fast.

    “But I went a little more aggressive on the front end. I was a little nervous about it with the heat today and how warm it was, if what I was going to do was going ot work out. I was trying to keep the front end right on the track real good, and it slid the nose and shattered the front tire. I fought that all day.

    “It would be loose in and then shatter the tire when I’d try to go to the gas, so I made a little big of a mistake probably, but I guess we could have only been two spots better. But Vegas I won’t make that same mistake.”

  • Denny Hamlin Avenges 2010 Hiccup; Wins Subway Fresh Fit 500!

    Denny Hamlin Avenges 2010 Hiccup; Wins Subway Fresh Fit 500!

    [media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]Denny Hamlin avenged his 2010 hiccup during the 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup and used good pit strategy to win the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at the Phoenix International Raceway.

    “If you would’ve asked me at the beginning of the day, I would’ve taken a top-15 finish.” Hamlin said in victory lane. “Just an amazing job by this FedEx Office team. Just kept working on it. Every time we worked on it, it got better. Can’t thank them enough.”

    The race came down to fuel mileage as Hamlin had the 29 of Kevin Harvick breathing down his neck down the stretch, but the 29 was short on fuel by just one lap, but still managed to finish in Second.

    “You cut the fuel mileage that close, you’re figuring it right. So I’m proud of all my guys. When they come to a place like this where we struggled so much, and then race for a win, is hopefully what sets the tone for the year.” Harvick said.

    Greg Biffle, who was one of the favorites for the race today based off his performance during the first practice session struggled for the first half of the race before finally picking up the pace.

    “The guys did a great job with the 3M Ford Fusion. I wish I wouldn’t have tried to save so much gas. I probably would have caught the 29, but you just never know how much gas you’ve got.” Biffle said.

    Jimmie Johnson rebounded from last week’s disastrous Daytona 500 to finish in fourth position, but because of the penalty handed out by NASCAR at the beginning of the week, Johnson only has 18 points coming out of Phoenix.

    “We were concerned because I rarely get good fuel mileage. We were definitely concerned and once we cleared the No. 2 (Brad Keselowski) we just kind of fell into a rhythm at that point and tried to make sure that we got home and made some points. Leaving Daytona in 42nd on the board wasn’t a good way to start the season. But I’m very proud of the effort. We had a very fast Kobalt Tools Chevrolet.” Johnson said.

    Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, and Joey Logano rounded out the rest of the top-10.

    Kasey Kahne ran into trouble during the very early stages of the race. Kahne got loose and hit the wall coming off turn 4 and didn’t finish better than 34th. It has not been a season to cheer about so far for Kahne and Hendrick Motorsports.

    Another driver involved in the silly season was Clint Bowyer. He simply had no luck. The caution flew for him the first time for a cut tire which caused some damage to the right-front fender, but that wasn’t the end of the disaster. Bowyer cut another tire about nine laps later and hit the wall, but no caution was thrown. Bowyer finished in 30th.

    Tony Stewart, who started on the outside of the front row, led early on in the race after passing Mark Martin, but fell victim to the new fueling system which was very similar to what Greg Biffle went through at Las Vegas almost a year ago. Stewart turned off his engine during the yellow, but the engine did not come back when he tried re-firing. Stewart ended up losing laps and wound up a disappointing 22nd.

    “I just shut the car off like we did at Daytona and turned it back on and it never re-fired. That’s all I can tell you. I don’t know why it didn’t re-fire. I honestly don’t know. It’s not really my department. I just turned the switch back on and it never re-fired. I don’t know why that was; but it definitely cost us a good day.” Stewart said.

    I personally witnessed the fate of Marcos Ambrose. Ambrose was inching his way into the top-5, but ran into a problem with his engine. He came down into Turn 1 and it sounded like the engine had farted. I tweeted “Ambrose is in trouble!”. He came around again and his car had begun to smoke and he pulled down off the track. It was sad to see because it looked like he was on his way to a great finish for a lower-funded Richard Petty Motorsports.

    “We blew up. We are here trying to run for wins and run for championships and to trip over ourselves like that, it just isn’t going to get it done.” Ambrose said.

    The only other incident of the day happened when A.J. Allmendinger got loose and made contact with Paul Menard on the front stretch. Menard was sent to the inside wall while Jamie McMurray, an innocent man with no where to go, suffered damage to the front-end. McMurray tried staying out and lead some laps before developing an engine problem and later went to the garage and was done for the day.

    Hamlin, like many drivers, had made a two tire stop to acquire track position and eventually the lead. Harvick led the most laps today, but as stated above, ran out of fuel and finished second. Hamlin now has the point lead as we head into Las Vegas where last year Carl Edwards edged Tony Stewart for his only win of 2010 minus the Sprint All-Star Race. My pick for the race will be Carl Edwards. Last year, the event was plagued with a series of tire failures, including Jeff Gordon and David Gilliland.

    What did you guys think of the race today? Let me know! Follow me on Twitter! http://www.twitter.com/SirRyanTheOHara

    On the possibility of a championship: Absolutely. I think we can do it if we continue to run well, but you never know what’s going to happen. Next week we’re going to an entirely different race track and that is what makes the first half of the season difficult. We get a lot of tracks that all have different dimensions for about five weeks during the year. -Hamlin

    Unofficial Race Results
    Subway Fresh Fit 500, Phoenix International Raceway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=2
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 13 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 47
    2 8 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 44
    3 7 16 Greg Biffle Ford 41
    4 4 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 41
    5 28 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 40
    6 12 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 39
    7 25 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 38
    8 30 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 37
    9 1 55 Mark Martin Toyota 36
    10 9 20 Joey Logano Toyota 34
    11 5 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 33
    12 18 43 Aric Almirola Ford 32
    13 26 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 32
    14 29 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 30
    15 19 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 30
    16 17 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 28
    17 24 99 Carl Edwards Ford 27
    18 15 22 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge 26
    19 41 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 25
    20 3 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 24
    21 6 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 23
    22 2 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 23
    23 23 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 21
    24 42 32 Mike Bliss Ford 0
    25 34 34 David Ragan Ford 20
    26 35 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 18
    27 40 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 17
    28 36 38 David Gilliland Ford 16
    29 43 30 David Stremme Toyota 15
    30 16 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 14
    31 20 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 13
    32 14 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 12
    33 11 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 12
    34 10 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 10
    35 22 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 9
    36 32 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 8
    37 21 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 8
    38 33 26 Josh Wise * Ford 6
    39 31 13 Casey Mears Ford 5
    40 38 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    41 39 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 3
    42 27 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 2
    43 37 98 Michael McDowell Ford 1
  • Winning combination: Confident team and team owner has Sadler making waves

    Winning combination: Confident team and team owner has Sadler making waves

    [media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”207″][/media-credit]A year ago Elliott Sadler felt he was already in a hole when it came to the Nationwide Series championship.

    Following a crazy third place finish in Daytona last weekend and after ending a 14-year drought from victory lane in the Nationwide Series though, it’s clear he’s hitting all the right buttons thus far in 2012. He went to victory lane in Phoenix on Saturday afternoon after leading the final 26 laps and holding Brad Keselowski.

    “It’s a very emotional win, it’s been a while and we all know how long it’s been since I’ve been to victory lane,” said Sadler.

    “Richard [Childress, owner] is such a great owner and when he talks to me he talks to me like he’s got confidence in me and he’s got confidence in our race team and he believes in what we’re doing and he’s giving us the right tools. And as a driver and as a person because I’ve been on the other side of the fence, man that’s all you can ask for.

    “Luke [Lambert, crew chief] made some great calls today and it’s funny because I told him yesterday after practice, ‘Man, we’ve got a good car but I don’t know this is not my best track.’ He said ‘It’ll be your best track after tomorrow don’t you worry about it.’ It’s just cool to have that kind of confidence around my team.”

    Sadler lined up third on the race’s final restart after having only taken two tires during pit stops. The dominant car, teammate Kevin Harvick, was buried in traffic after he took four. Quickly driving to a comfortable lead Sadler watched the laps clicked down, Keselowski unable to mount a comeback.

    The win was the sixth in Sadler’s 166 race NNS career but the first since 1998 when he won at Rockingham. It was his first NASCAR win since 2010 when he won in at Pocono driving a truck for Kevin Harvick Inc.

    It was last year that Sadler drove for KHI and came up short in the championship. Something he’s continually hard on himself for, the expectations had been set pretty high. A wreck at Phoenix in November eliminated him from contention but Sadler said on Saturday that was the furthest thing on his mind.

    “Honestly that feels three or four years ago because last year was last year,” Sadler said.

    “Yes, it probably affected the way the championship could have worked but we’re on a whole new deal, whole new season, whole new outlook with a different team. So honestly what happened here last year just felt like a long time ago, it did not weigh on my mind one second the whole weekend I was here.

    “I felt like coming out of Daytona leading the points with a third place finish we just a lot of momentum on our side. It’s a lot different feeling than I had here last year coming out of Daytona 38th.”

    Sadler is working hard on not dwelling on what happened last year or what could have been. He wants to learn from what he did wrong and apply it to his 2012 campaign as he chases the championship.

    So far so good, he holds on to the point lead, now by 10 over another teammate, Austin Dillon. A week after leaving Daytona ecstatic just to have survived the crapshoot that is a restrictor plate race, the Virginia native heads into the season’s third week a winner and sitting in a position he never had last year.

    Childress couldn’t be more pleased with Sadler and the rest of his RCR teams, saying he knew that he and Lambert were going to be good combination. Also saying that he “just knows” they’re going to be contenders for the championship.

    “I’ve got all the confidence in our whole Nationwide organization and I knew Elliott could get the job done, I’ve seen him too close too many times last year,” said Childress.

    “And have OneMain back with us as a sponsor and get that win early. And Luke, the talent, man he has the talent, he could go to the Cup side but for his career he and I talked about it, to stick in here for a year or so and whenever he’s ready he’ll be a championship Cup crew chief as well. And I’m sure him and our whole bunch will be chasing the championship pretty hard.

    “It’s just the second race a lot can happen but I couldn’t be prouder.”

    The praise he has for Sadler is given right back by his driver. Sadler feels that as an athlete you want to have someone there to have your back and with constant belief in you.

    “Yes sir, 100 percent it makes a big difference, “said Sadler of having a team owner who believes in him.

    “And anybody in here who has played any kind of sport in their life, whether it’s middle school basketball or baseball, if you have a team or a coach or somebody that believes in you, it gives you a ton of different outlook or confidence as a player or as an athlete. In my case as a driver.

    “I’ve been on the other side of the fence when you feel like you walk into the place and the spotlights on you and they don’t really want you there. And you walk into this place [RCR] and everyone runs up to you and they want to talk about what you just did and where you came from and we’re going to kick their butts this weekend.

    “I mean, the team meeting we had in the truck, I was like ‘man these guys believe, this is awesome. These guys believe, hell we’re going to win the race today.’ It’s just neat the attitude that they have and Richard’s had that the whole entire time. Even when I didn’t drive for Richard.”

    More importantly for Sadler, it’s neat how far this team has come in just two races.

  • Nationwide Series Bahas’ Supermarkets 200 Lap by Lap

    Nationwide Series Bahas’ Supermarkets 200 Lap by Lap

    [media-credit name=”www.phoenixraceway.com” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Lap 1 – Pole Sitter Denny Hamlin leads early

    Lap 6 – Trevor Bayne passes Denny Hamlin for the lead in turn one

    Lap 7 – Brad Keselowski passes Sam Hornish Jr. while Bayne continues to lead Hamlin

    Lap 9 – Hamlin takes the lead back in turn three from Bayne as Keselowski chases them

    Lap 11 – Hamlin leads Bayne, Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick and Austin Dillon

    Lap 18 – Kahne passes Keselowski for second while Hamlin leads

    Lap 20 – Hamlin leads Kahne, Keselowski, Bayne, Harvick, Dillon and Hornish Jr.

    Lap 23 – Harvick passes Bayne for fourth as Hamlin leads Kahne

    Lap 26 – Morgan Shephard heads to the garage

    Lap 35 – Hamlin leads Kahne, Keselowski, Harvick, Bayne, Hornish Jr., Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano, Sadler and Dillon

    Lap 40 – Top five are the same though Stenhouse has passed Hornish for sixth

    Lap 42 Caution for debris………pit stops for fuel and tires, Hamlin wins the race off pit road. Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Dillon got two tires while the rest of the field took four

    Restart Lap 48

    Lap  50 Dillon slid up big time coming out of turn four, kept it off the wall, falls deep in the field

    Lap 53 Harvick takes the lead from Hamlin, over Kyle Busch, Logano, Stenhouse, Sadler, Keselowski, Bayne, Justin Allgaier and Kahne

    Lap 56 Busch gets into the wall slightly off of turn two while battling Logano for position. Logano and Sadler pass him for position.

    Lap 59 Keselowski passes Busch for eighth as Harvick continues to lead

    Lap 60 Harvick leads Hamlin, Logano, Stenhouse Jr. and Bayne.

    Lap 72 Harvick leads Hamlin, Stenhouse, Keselowski, Logano, Kahne, Bayne, Sadler, Busch and Allgaier.

    Lap 82 Harvick leads Hamlin, Stenhouse, Keselowski, Logano, Kahne, Bayne, Sadler, Busch and Dillon

    Lap 88 Kahne passes Logano in turn one for fifth

    Lap 97 Dillon passes Busch for ninth

    HALFWAY Lap 100 Harvick leads Hamlin, Stenhouse, Keselowski, Kahne, Logano, Bayne, Sadler, Dillon, Busch

    Caution 104 Kenny Wallace hits the turn three wall after blowing a right front tire…..Everybody pits for fuel and tires: Denny Hamlin leads Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Trevor Bayne, Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier and Kyle Busch off pit road

    Restart Lap 111 as Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin run side-by-side for the lead. Harvick gets the lead off of turn four to take the lead

    Lap 112 Contact between Bayne and Keselowksi while battling for fourth

    Lap 113 Stenhouse makes slight contact with Sadler and Allgaier as they run three-wide

    Lap 115 Michael Annett gets into the turn three wall after getting loose off the turn

    Lap 117 Harvick leads Hamlin, Logano, Keselowski, Bayne and Kahne

    Lap 125 Harvick leads Hamlin, Keselowski, Kahne, Sadler, Logano, Bayne, Allgaier and Dillon while Stenhouse battles with Hornish Jr. for 10th. Stenhouse gets the position off of turn three.

    Lap 137 Harvick leads Hamlin, Keselowski, Kahne, Sadler, Logano, Dillon, Bayne, Stenhouse and Allgaier

    Lap 148 Harvick leads Hamlin, Kahne, Keselowski, Sadler, Dillon, Logano, Stenhouse, Bayne and Allgaier

    50 laps to go Stenhouse passes Logano for seventh

    Caution 38 to go for debris in turn four…….Everybody will come down pit road as they can make it on gas from here, some take two, some take four……..Hamlin leads Keselowski, Stenhouse, Sadler, Dillon, Hornish, Harvick and Bayne off pit road

    Restart with 33 to go as Keselowski gets the lead on the restart while Mike Wallace is off the pace.

    32 to go Sadler and Hamlin battle for second behind Keselowski

    31 to go Kahne gets into the wall hard, making contact with Bayne, sending Harvick for a ride down through the inside paved area but he saves it

    30 to go Kahne is off the pace

    26 laps to go Sadler takes the lead from Keselowski off of turn three

    25 laps to go Harvick passes Dillon for fifth so now Sadler leads Keselowski, Hamlin, Stenhouse, Harvick, Dillon, Hornish, Bayne, Logano and Annett

    15 laps to go Sadler leads Keselowski, Stenhouse, Harvick, Dillon, Hornish, Bayne, Logano, Hamlin and Annett

    Elliott Sadler leads the final 15 laps and wins

  • Elliott Sadler Wins At Phoenix; Breaks Long Winless Streak!

    Elliott Sadler Wins At Phoenix; Breaks Long Winless Streak!

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”231″][/media-credit]Elliott Sadler played pit strategy on the final yellow flag of the day, thwarting a potential blowout victory for Kevin Harvick.

    Harvick led the most laps, but decided to go with four tires on the final pit stop and was never able to get up and challenge the front contenders.

    This is Sadler’s first NASCAR victory since winning the Pop Secret 500 back in 2004 when he drove the #38 M&M’s Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the Sprint Cup Series.  This is Sadler’s first Nationwide Series victory since the 1998 AcDelco 200 at Rockingham.

    Brad Keselowski finished second, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished  third, Austin Dillon edged Kevin Harvick at the line to take the fourth position, so that rounded out the top-5.

    “We just came up short there. Elliott was able to get by us there early in the run. Our car would kind of level back off to his after a few laps, but the first few laps we just couldn’t keep pace with him. They did a great job and my team did a great job.” Keselowski said.

    “We just couldn’t get going on restarts. We would get down to turn one and it felt like we were on ice for 15 laps and then once we got going we were really fast. We have to get back to the shop and do our homework. It is pretty disappointing. We wanted to come here and win and felt this was a track we always have run well at, we just couldn’t get it done today.” Stenhouse said.

    Sam Hornish Jr. failed to defend his win from last fall, he finished sixth. Hornish admitted later during the race that he struggled with brake issues all race long.

    Trevor Bayne, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, and Michael Annett rounded out the top-10.

    Hamlin started the race on pole and led some of the early laps, but spent most of the latter stages of the race following Kevin Harvick before Kasey Kahne took the second position. Kahne on the other hand got shuffled back during all of the pit strategy and unfortunately hit the wall off turn 2. He later fell down a lap and finished in 18th despite running in the top-5 for a majority of the event.

    During a long green flag run, Kenny Wallace cut a right-front tire and ended his day on the 102nd lap. Wallace, who started the race in the third spot was looking to break his winless streak that dates back to the 2001 Sam’s Club 200 at Rockingham.

    “Man, I tell you what — the right front tire blew out like a bomb. It started pushing about four laps before that and I was telling my guys it was starting to push bad.” Wallace said.

    Danica Patrick finished the race 3 laps down in the 21st spot.

    Congratulations to Elliott Sadler on an awesome win and we hope to see you guys tomorrow for the Subway Fresh Fit 500!

    Unofficial Race Results
    Bashas’ Supermarkets 200, Phoenix International Raceway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=2
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 8 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 47
    2 7 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    3 2 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 41
    4 9 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 40
    5 12 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0
    6 6 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 38
    7 5 60 Trevor Bayne Ford 38
    8 10 20 Joey Logano Toyota 0
    9 1 18 Denny Hamlin Toyota 0
    10 21 43 Michael Annett Ford 34
    11 14 54 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    12 25 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 0
    13 17 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 31
    14 11 11 Brian Scott Toyota 30
    15 13 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 29
    16 19 44 Mike Bliss Toyota 28
    17 22 108 Casey Roderick * Ford 27
    18 4 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0
    19 18 81 Jason Bowles * Dodge 25
    20 24 19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 24
    21 30 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 23
    22 28 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 22
    23 32 23 Jamie Dick Chevrolet 21
    24 15 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 20
    25 31 39 Joey Gase * Ford 19
    26 36 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 18
    27 39 124 Benny Gordon Chevrolet 17
    28 37 14 Eric McClure Toyota 16
    29 41 50 T.J. Bell Ford 15
    30 38 52 Tim Schendel Chevrolet 14
    31 34 41 Blake Koch Ford 13
    32 23 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 12
    33 40 4 Daryl Harr Chevrolet 11
    34 42 70 Charles Lewandoski Chevrolet 10
    35 35 28 David Green Dodge 9
    36 3 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 8
    37 16 27 J.J. Yeley Ford 0
    38 29 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 6
    39 43 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 5
    40 33 42 Josh Wise Chevrolet 0
    41 26 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet 3
    42 20 47 Scott Speed Chevrolet 0
    43 27 10 Jeff Green Toyota 1