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  • Dario Franchitti and Will Power Lead IZOD IndyCar Practices at Honda Indy Toronto

    Dario Franchitti and Will Power Lead IZOD IndyCar Practices at Honda Indy Toronto

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”150″][/media-credit]In preparation for the Honda Indy on July 10th, the IZOD IndyCar Series hit to the streets of Toronto for a pair of practices.

    In the first practice, it was Dario Franchitti leading the way with an average speed of 102.619 and was followed by Penske Racing driver Helio Castroneves with a speed of 102.51.

    “Overall, it was a good day for the Penske Truck Rental team,” Castroneves said. “Right off the bat, the car had good balance and good speed here in Toronto. We didn’t put on new tires at the end of the last practice – I wanted to, but my new strategist (John Erickson) is already working on trying something different so I listened to him! I love the yellow car and the yellow suit of Penske Truck Rental. It reminds me of Dancing With the Stars. Let’s hope we have the same kind of result this weekend.”

    Team Penske put Erickson in place as the strategist for Castroneves for the first time this weekend in Toronto. Erickson was working with Will Power, who will now be teamed up with Tim Cindric. Finally, Clive Howell will continue to focus on his duties as team general manager.

    Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top three at an average speed of 102.458mph.

    “We were third-quick in the first session, so we had a good morning – and I think we were having a good afternoon,” he said. “The DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop car was feeling pretty good; we were in the top five until we decided not to take new tires like most of the top 10 did. But, we’ll just save those for tomorrow and hopefully it will pay off for us.”

    Justin Wilson and Power was fourth and fifth, followed by Scott Dixon was sixth, followed by Alex Tagliani, Takumo Sato, Tony Kanaan and Mike Conway. James Hinchcliffe, who calls the Honda Indy his hometown race, was the quickest rookie in 11th.

    The first practice saw no on track incidents.

    In the second practice, Power led the way with an average speed of 104.330.

    “The Verizon car is good, but we are still not quick enough,” he said. “We put tires on there at the end of the second practice and no one else did. We are just a bit off the pace. We still have a few things in mind to improve the car. It is great to be in Toronto, though, and relaly good to see all the fans.”

    He was followed by Ganassi Racing driver Dixon with a speed of 104.145 as the top 15 cars were quicker than Franchitti’s first session quickest lap.

    “It’s definitely cool to be back at a street course, especially Toronto,” he said. “It’s a fun circuit. It’s definitely different than the last four races with all left hand turns and now coming back to a bumpy circuit. The track seems to be a little bumpier, especially going into turn 1 and maybe down the back straight as well. It’s created a few new issues that we haven’t had before. The times actually seem surprisingly quicker. Even on the primary tires, we only seems to be five-tenths off the quick times of the options.”

    Franchitti was third in the session, followed by Hinchcliffe and Kanaan. Wilson was sixth, followed by Oriol Servia, Ryan Briscoe, Castroneves and Danica Patrick.

    The second practice saw two full course yellows. The first was eight minutes into the session when Tagliani spun mid corner in turn 8, making contact with the outside retaining wall. He was then struck by Graham Rahal, briefly lifting the car off the ground. Due to the wreck, Tagliani suffered rear wing damage while Rahal had front wing damage. The second incident was when Sebastian Bourdais stopped on course in turn 8. After being re-fired by the Holmatro Safety Team, he was able to make it back to pit lane. There was also local caution, which saw Ana Beatriz spin in turn 2.

    Qualifying will take place Saturday afternoon at 12:50pm EST, with the race taking place on Sunday July 10th at 2pm ET.

  • NCAT: Jason Bowles Wins The Pole For The Streets of Toronto 100

    NCAT: Jason Bowles Wins The Pole For The Streets of Toronto 100

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”150″][/media-credit]

    Jason Bowles ready to go out and practice.

    Jason Bowles, the one lone non-Canadian driver in the 33 car field, won the Keystone Light Pole Award with a lap of 1 minute, 16.260 seconds to break Andrew Ranger’s track record.

    “It was a good lap,” he said. “When we first went out, there was a little bit of speedy dry on the track, so it was a little bit tricky to get through that section on the second lap. But the car’s pretty good. It’s good to have Fuel Doctor on board this week and get the pole for them, our first one of the year. My guys have brought me a great car. I think it’s going to be a great race. Andrew and Scott will be tough tomorrow. We’re going to go out and I think we’re ready.”

    The pole marks the first NASCAR Canadian Tire Series pole for the driver from Ontario, California. Bowles has been a successful road course racer as he has nine K&N Pro Series West wins on road courses.

    Ranger, who set the record at 1:16.659 last year, qualified second for this weekend’s race with a fast lap of 1:16.526.

    “Well, I think its been alright,” he said. “I think we have a really good car. Jason is a little bit quicker than us, but its going to be a good race tomorrow. It’s a long race, a lot of things can happen here in the streets in Toronto. But above that, I think we’ve got a really good car for tomorrow.”

    The pair, Bowles and Ranger, finished 1-2 in last year’s race with Ranger coming out the winner.

    Points Leader Scott Steckly, meanwhile, qualified third with a lap of 1:17.002.

    “It was just another qualifying run,” he said afterwards. “Toronto isn’t one of our best tracks, that’s for sure. We put a lot of extra resources in it trying to get better here and car’s been good here so far so we’re just happy to be starting upfront.”

    Kerry Micks and Don Thomson Jr. rounded out the top five. Defending series champion D.J. Kennington qualified sixth, followed by Robin Buck, Peter Klutt, J.R. Fitzpatrick and Jeff Lapcevich. Louis-Phillippe Dumoulin was the highest rookie in 11th.

    After crashing during practice, John Farano, Noel Dowler and Ray Courtemanche Jr. did not  attempt to qualify as they were still repairing their cars.  Hugo Vannini and Kennington were also involved in wrecks, however both made a qualifying attempts with Kennington ending up 6th and Vannini in 30th. Kennington’s team continued repairs after qualifying, which could see Kennington starting at the rear as a result of unapproved changes.

    Many teams experienced mechanical difficulties during practice as Micks stalled during practice, Mark Dilley made an engine change although he qualified 14th and Jason White changed a drive train before qualifying 18th. None of the above will have to drop the rear as their changes were made before qualifying and therefore don’t fall under the Canadian Tire Series Impound procedure.

    The race is set for 2pm EST on Saturday, with it being shown on TSN on July 17th.

  • Stefan Wilson Leads Firestone Indy Lights Practice For Toronto 100

    Stefan Wilson Leads Firestone Indy Lights Practice For Toronto 100

    At the end of the only practice for the Firestone Indy Lights, it was Andretti Autosport driver Stefan Wilson at the top with a speed of 96.254 mph.

    “We just went out there to see how the car was reacting, and the car was good straight out of the box,” Wilson said. “The track can change from year to year, so you never know how it’s going to be for the first practice. We had a few things nailed down that we wanted to try; some worked, some didn’t. I think we found some things that will help us move forward in a good direction for the rest of the weekend here in Toronto.”

    Rookies Estban Guerrieri (95.863) and Josef Newgarden (95.428) were second and third, respectively.

    “For myself, it’s very important to find the right way in the track because there are plenty of bumps, but yes it was fun,” Guerrieri commented.

    Daniel Herrington and Peter Dempsey rounded out the top five. Dempsey’s deal with Andretti Autosport just came together in the middle of the week has a lot of people watching him to see how he’ll do.

    “My first practice went as well as we had expected,” he said. “It’s great Stefan was quickest out there because it gives us some good stuff to work off of. I felt pretty comfortable with the car. Adapting to a new car, especially on a street course that’s a little bumpy, is always a bit difficult. Overall we were pretty happy with practice. We aimed for a top five and that’s where we finished.”

    David Ostella was sixth, followed by Gustao Yacaman, Victor Carbone, Anders Krohn and Bruno Andrade. The practice saw no issues for any of the drivers.

    Indy Lights qualifying will take place on Saturday at 11:45am EST with the race on Sunday at 12:15pm.

  • NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: WILL WE SEE THE BEGINNING Of A NEW RACING TRADITION IN KENTUCKY?

    NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: WILL WE SEE THE BEGINNING Of A NEW RACING TRADITION IN KENTUCKY?

    Since 1875 the most prestigious racing event located in the state of Kentucky has been the annual Kentucky Derby. This spectacular race for thorough bred horses is a huge part of the state’s rich history.

    [media-credit name=”KentuckySpeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”233″][/media-credit]Will we see the beginning of a new racing tradition in the state of Kentucky this Saturday night? It’s very possible that a new form of horsepower will take a prominent position in Kentucky’s top annual events. The stars and cars of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series will finally make their racing debut at the Kentucky Speedway. This is an event that has been a long time coming. A large contingency, from speedway executives to fans, wanted this event to become reality. But there were numerous obstacles along the way including difficulties with scheduling realignment and even some court house drama.

    After a lengthy period of point-counter point, it’s finally time for the Sprint Cup Series to shine under the lights of the Kentucky Speedway. Because this is an inaugural event, the winner of the Quaker State 400 is going to collect bragging rights connected with leading some key Sprint Cup categories. That includes most Cup wins at this speedway, most laps led and someone will spend the next year holding the track’s qualifying record.

    ************

    THE VEGAS BREAKDOWN

    So, who’s going to set new NASCAR records for the first time ever following the Quaker State 400? There are no previous stats from this speedway to refer to, but one good source for stats can be found among the driver numbers for intermediate race tracks. The Kentucky Speedway’s 1.5 mile oval is very similar to other race tracks of the same size on the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule.

    The clues for solving this riddle can also be found via the hard work of the professionals of the Las Vegas based World Sports Exchange, (WSE).

    Topping the WSE rankings for Kentucky is Carl Edwards and his Roush Fenway Racing Ford at 7 to 1 odds. Edwards suffered an early race setback last weekend in Daytona and found himself falling from first to second in the standings. However, the deficit is only five points and he’ll be looking to make that up Saturday night. Edwards is strong on intermediate tracks, again around 1.5 miles in length, and has 17 wins on them along with a healthy average finish ratio, (AFR), of 12.0. The fact that he’s been a major player in Sprint Cup racing all season long is another reason why he’s always going to be a safe bet consideration.

    In the 8 to 1 category is the duo of Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch. When it comes to racing on intermediate tracks, it’s very hard to top the team of Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus. This championship tag team has 37 wins on these tracks along with an awesome AFR of 9.8. The car looked strong during Thursday’s first practice session. Johnson set a chart topping speed of 175.839 MPH. Johnson is currently sixth in the championship standings, 22 points out of first. He and Knaus will be working on that between now and the time the official Chase line up is announced on September 10th. The drive for championship number six is on.

    By the time you read this you’ve probably already heard that Kyle Busch won Thursday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at the Kentucky Speedway. He will be racing in all three of the NASCAR events this weekend and he will be looking to perform a trifecta sweep similar to what he accomplished at Bristol last August. Prior to the win in the truck series, he scorched the competition during the second Sprint Cup practice session with a lap of 178.849 MPH. This driver, and his Joe Gibbs Racing team is always a solid consideration to win a race.

    The WSE has Kurt Busch ranked at 9 to 1 odds to win the Kentucky race this Saturday. That’s very possible. This is the most improved team in NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing. At fourth in the standings, only 16 points from the top, their Chase presence is looking stronger than ever.

    At 10 to 1 odds you will find the duo of Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth. Hamlin’s championship hopes are somewhat at a crossroads right now and it’s time to solidify that position. He’s currently 11th in the standings only three points away from that coveted top ten. On a more positive note, he does have 11 wins and a 13.4 AFR on intermediate tracks. His one win this year will help with his wild card status, but the team known they can’t rely on that. It’s go time for Hamlin and company.

    Matt Kenseth has 14 career wins, and a 13.5 AFR, on these so called “cookie cutter tracks.” This year he’s having a rock solid season with two wins and his fifth in the championship standings. He has a habit of blending into the pack during the first two thirds of a race without barely a mention of his name during a live broadcast. Then all of a sudden, in the latter stages of the race, there’s Kenseth taking on the role of a major player in the finish. He could very easily do that again Saturday night in Kentucky.

    At 11 to 1 odds you will find drivers Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick. As an elder statesman in the Sprint Cup Series, as well as a four time champion, Gordon has 40 wins on intermediate tracks and a healthy 12.1 AFR. He also holds a unique NASCAR status in winning the series’ debut races. He won the inaugural events at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994, the inaugural race at the California based Auto Club Speedway in 1997 and he won the first ever Cup race at the Kansas Speedway in 2001. He’ll be looking to add the Kentucky Speedway to that list Saturday night.

    Meanwhile Kevin Harvick is a nine time winner on intermediate tracks. However, the strength here lies in the fact that this Richard Childress Racing Team is looking more and more like Sprint Cup champions. His three wins, and six top five finishes, now has him on top of the championship standings.

    Owner-driver Tony Stewart is ranked at 12 to 1 odds by the WSE this week. Traditionally, it’s always been believed that Stewart’s performance levels gets hot during the summer months. Summer is here and the temperature is plenty hot. It’s time for this team to get motivated, and do it quickly, if they’re going to making this year’s Chase line up. He’s still looking for his first win of the year and he’s currently 12th in the championship standings but is only four points from the top ten. On the plus side, Stewart is very solid at intermediate tracks with 20 wins and a 12.4 AFR.

    Greg Biffle is riding in the same boat as Stewart. He’s 13th in the standings, looking for the first win of the season and has slid to 25 points away from the top ten. It’s go time for this Roush Fenway team. His career stats shows 15 intermediate track wins and a 15.4 AFR. Biffle is ranked at 13 to 1 this weekend.

    It’s Junior time. NASCAR’s most popular driver is ranked 15 to 1 to win Kentucky. The focal point for Dale Earnhardt Jr this weekend will be the ability to halt the slide from the past two races. Granted he was caught up in racing situations that were both unavoidable and not of his making, but none the less the collateral damage was a slide from third to seventh in the standings. The one major strength is his crew chief, Steve Letarte, who is very good at keeping his driver calm and motivated during a race.

    In the middle tier of this week’s WSE listing you will find drivers Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne ranked at 25 to 1 followed by Joey Logano at 30 to 1. Let’s pause and reflect on the Logano rating. Granted, he’s been having a tough season and the team hasn’t lived up to the pre season potential that everyone expected. First off, Logano has some strong momentum going for him following last weekend at Daytona where he won the Nationwide Series race and finished third in the Cup race. Also prevalent here is Logano’s Nationwide Series record at the Kentucky Speedway. He’s won the last three races there and won all three of them from the pole position. At 30 to 1 odds, Logano might make an interesting wager for those of you who like to roll the dice on long shot bets.

    At 35 to 1 odds you will find the trio of Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya and Mark Martin. The 40 to 1 category features Jeff Burton, Martin Truex Jr, David Reutimann, and Brian Vickers. Closing out the WSE rankings this week are last week’s Daytona winner David Ragan, 45 to 1, and Jamie McMurray at 50 to 1. If you didn’t see the name of your favorite driver listed then he’s automatically placed at 8 to 1 by the WSE.

    Now for this week’s disclaimer. NASCAR wants us to remind you that these odds numbers are for information and entertainment purposes. They neither encourage nor condone the placing of wagers on their races. But, if you’re going to do it anyway, then you will need the latest information from the professionals at the World Sports Exchange. I’m thinking some of you are already pondering those Joey Logano stats aren’t you?

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    THE RACE BREAKDOWN

    The Quaker State 400 will be 267 laps/400 miles around the Kentucky Speedway’s 1.5 mile oval.

    The race has 48 entries vying for the 43 starting berths. 18 of those entries are on the go or go home list. These teams are not guaranteed an automatic starting berth because they are currently outside of NASCAR’s top 35 in owner’s points. These teams will have to rely on qualifying speeds to make the race.

    That could be a problem due to weather. The Friday daytime forecast for Sparta-Kentucky calls for cloudy skies and a 40% chance of thunderstorms. Saturday race night has an improved forecast calling for clearer skies and 68 degrees.

    The Kentucky Speedway is a 1.5 mile oval with 14 degrees banking in all four turns, 10 degrees banking in the tri oval but only four degrees in the straightaways.

    The speedway does have a few bumps in its asphalt surface especially in turns three and four. This will be a challenge for crew chiefs to develop a good shock package prior to the race to help their car’s handling capabilities.

    To accommodate the inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, the Kentucky Speedway added additional grand stand seating and can now accommodate 117,000 fans. On Thursday speedway officials declared Saturday night’s race a sell out.

    The Quaker State 400 will be broadcast live by the TNT Network beginning at 630 pm eastern time. The race re air will be Wednesday, July 13th, at 12 pm eastern on SPEED.

  • Change is Good: Jason White Has Success Early in Canadian Tire Series Season

    Change is Good: Jason White Has Success Early in Canadian Tire Series Season

    Sometimes they say change is good and for Jason White, that has exactly been the case.

    At the beginning of the year, White announced that he was going from a team owner/driver to the role of just a driver as he teamed up with last year’s Canadian Tire Series champion D.J. Kennington.

    “I moved on from my own, obviously, and working with DJ’s flying horsepower with Triple Sport and Derek Lynch and his group are supplying the cars and crew for me,” the driver of the No. 21 A&W Dodge said. “It’s a great group of people that have come together. Everybody is working really hard to put the cars on the track and that is really awesome for me.”

    The results have showed on track as so far this year, White has three top 10s in four races, including a sixth in the last race at Mosport.

    “I’m extremely happy with how things are going,” he said. “I moved to a new team and I’m not the owner and manager anymore so a lot of the stress from that sort of stuff has been relieved so I can just concentrate on driving and the results are showing with the two-top 10s here in the first four races so I’m really happy with how the first half of the season is going here.”

    This weekend, White heads into Toronto sitting sixth in points, 154 points behind points leader Scott Steckly.

    “I think with the amount of the cars that I am looking at here in the garage right now,” he commented. “I think it’s going to be about keeping your nose clean and being there at the end. A top 10 will probably be the attainable, but everybody is going to have drive smart to be there at the end for sure. It’s going to be a good one.”

    The Honda Indy in Toronto marks one of the biggest races of the year for the series, though White says it doesn’t bring any more pressure.

    “There’s not more pressure on this race than any other race for me,” he said. “I love racing and wherever we get the opportunity to do it, we do it and we go from there.”

    With the success that White has had on the road courses so far this year, it’d be no surprise if Toronto adds more happiness to the season and why right now, he prefers the road courses on the split schedule over the ovals.

    “Road coursing makes you a better race car driver in general so with the five road courses we have,” he added. “It just goes well for being a better race car driver and we’ll take that experience to the ovals as well.”

    For the driver from Sun Peaks, British Columbia who fell in love with racing by following his dad around while his dad raced super modifieds, there have many lessons learned, including patience, though also many memorable moments. The one that stands out so far would be the 2008 Canadian Tire Series Rookie of the Year Award, however hopefully five years down the road, White says he hopes to be called a series champion.

  • Race #5 for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series: Streets of Toronto 100

    Race #5 for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series: Streets of Toronto 100

    While it marks the 25th anniversary of the event, this is only the second year that the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series has raced on the streets of Toronto alongside the IZOD IndyCar Series and others. The temporary-street course, which is 1.755-miles in length, runs through Exhibition Grounds and along one of the best known streets in Toronto – Lakeshore Blvd.

    Last year, it was Andrew Ranger taking the pole with an average speed of 80.820mph and winning the race with an average speed of 69.065mph.

    Ranger is one of the strongest road course racers in NASCAR Canadian Tire Series as he has nine wins in 17 series career road course starts. Three of those wins came last year as along with Toronto, Ranger was able to win Montreal and Trois-Rivieries. Ranger will definitely be a driver to expect in the top three as in those 17 starts, he has only finished outside the top three twice – sixth at Mosoprot in 2008 and 21st at Circuit ICAR this season. The 2-time series champion also has made starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this year on the road courses so he comes in Toronto prepared.

    Another driver who has ran in the Nationwide Series and has been strong on the road courses in the series is J.R. Fitzpatrick, who finished eighth in last year’s event. His road course stats rank right up there with Ranger as he has five of his six Canadian Tire Series wins have come on the road courses.

    “The (Honda Indy Toronto) is definitely a big event for all of us,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s a big stage and everyone wants to put on a great show for the fans.”

    So far this year, the 23-year old has legged four consecutive top-10 finishes and sits second in the standings, 48 points behind Scott Steckly.

    Steckly is more of an oval racer, though hasn’t done that bad this year as he finished second and fifth in the two road-course races this year.

    “It’s a very important race for us,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of cars at Toronto so we definitely don’t want to get a DNF. The road courses attract a lot of cars so we need a good solid finish here at Toronto. We definitely are going to try for a very first road course win. It’s definitely very important for our sponsors to be in Toronto racing at the Indy so we’re looking for great things this weekend.”

    Last year, the 2008 series champion finished 11th in Toronto, though will be looking for his 10th series victory after scoring the win in the season opener at Mosport.

    A lot of eyes, though, will be on Robin Buck as the road course instructor scored his first series victory on June 5th at Circuit ICAR and finished third in the June 26th event at Mosport.

    The Streets of Toronto 100 will see a series-high count so far this year of 36 cars with a mix of series veterans, road course veterans and rookies. With the Toronto track being a challenging course, it’ll be crucial to survive first to win, but watch out for plenty of action. Practice and qualifying is set to be held on July 8th with the race on July 9th. The race will be aired on TSN on July 17th at 5p.m. EST.

  • Dario Franchitti Takes IZOD IndyCar Series Points Lead into the Honda Indy Toronto

    Dario Franchitti Takes IZOD IndyCar Series Points Lead into the Honda Indy Toronto

    This season so far for Dario Franchitti has gone great, even despite the bad luck that he had at Indianapolis. Going into the Honda Indy in Toronto, Franchitti sits first in points, 20 points ahead of Will Power with three wins this year. The Ganassi Racing driver from Scotland is ready to do battle on the Exhibition Place temporary-street course, where he won in 2009 and finished second last year to Power.

    [media-credit name=”hondaindytoronto.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Before the cars took the track on Friday for practice, Franchitti answered some questions about the season so far and more.

    Ashley McCubbin: How’d you originally get with Chip?

    Dario Franchitti: Well, Chip and I talked for a number of years about doing a deal, going back as far as 2001. We never got anything down, until we started talking about the deal in NASCAR with him back in 2007. Luckily for me, that didn’t happen. Then after winning the 500 and the championship in 2007, he asked me to come run with him in Nationwide, which I did for six months. That didn’t go according to plan, so he asked me at that point to come and drive for him for the IndyCar team so that was a very fortunate situation for me to go away from IndyCar Series and come back with Team Target.

    AM: What are some of your thoughts on the season?

    DF: The season is in a lot way has been good with the three wins so far and with the championship lead, [but still as a team, we’re looking at Indianapolis; we’re still upset with the missed opportunity. I felt that myself, Scott or I should’ve won that. Indy was quite a tough one this year.

    AM: What are some of your thoughts on having the points lead this early?

    DF: Its nice to have the points total, but having the points lead at the end of the season is what counts. We have done well like I said, but we gotta keep scoring those points and keeping winning those races for me. Right now, its about trying to win whatever race we’re doing and then the points will take care of themselves.

    AM: What are some of your thoughts heading into Toronto?

    DF: Toronto’s a difficult track, there’s no doubt it’s a challenge. It’s very bumpy, which is part of the charm of the place, very narrow, the brakes are punished pretty hard and its got the new restarts for the first time. It’s going to be an interesting weekend. I love coming to race in Canada. Hopefully I can have a good result here.

    AM: Having driven the Rolex Sports Cars and in NASCAR, what are some of the biggest differences that you’ve seen in comparison to the IndyCar?

    DF: Well, IndyCar is a different. I’ve driven the Champ Cars of the late generation to the current IndyCar, then the American Lemans Series Grand Am, then NASCAR. The way I would explain it is the IndyCar is one extreme of performance with acceleration and power-wise, the Grand-Am is somewhere in the middle, and then you have the dirt car, with lots of power and no grip. Each one is a little different, requires a different driving style and also skills, so that’s why you see some guys are good in one form of racing, but not another.

    AM: What are some of your thoughts on the new IndyCar coming in 2012?

    DF: Well, the new car is very new right now because we’re seeing some examples, which are very much concept cars. Nobody has really seen what they’re actually going to look like so we’re waiting to see what they’re going to come up with. I’m very excited that we’re going to have multiple engine manufactures next year with Chevy, Lotus and certainly Honda. I’d like to see the body kit as well. I think the car is going to be great for the series. This car has been great, but to have something new, we’re all excited about it.

    AM: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in racing?

    DF: I think you learn something in racing every week. It’s just like life; I think you learn something new in life everyday. I think you’re on an accelerated course in racing. It’s just like normal life, but more in the extreme sense so there’s not just one thing. There’s probably a lot of things I’ve learned.

    AM: What’s your most memorable win?

    DF: I think one of the wins at Indianapolis is got to be pretty memorable. I think the first one at Indy was really special, but the second one felt really good too.

  • Kyle Busch Claims 5th Truck Victory of 2011

    Kyle Busch Claims 5th Truck Victory of 2011

    For Kentucky Speedway the UNOH 225 NASCAR Camping World Truck series race the kick off to the biggest weekend in the track’s history. The track joined a small group of NASCAR tracks that can boost of running all three of NASCAR’s top series on the same weekend and all night races at that.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]To go along with the multi-series events, Kyle Busch began the weekend by winning the Truck series race. The win Thursday night marks his 5th win of the 2011 Truck series season and his 29th overall in the series,

    But Busch had to work a bit harder for this win. On a day where he ran a 4 hr Cup practice, two Nationwide series practices and then winning the pole in Truck series qualifying, he showed up seconds late for the driver’s meeting. That slip up forced him to start the race from the back of the field.

    It took Kyle 61 laps to finally work his way back to the number 1 position, but he remained up front for the rest of the night leading twice for a total of 61 laps, the most by a single driver. He faced late race challenges by Nelson Piquet, Johnny Sauter, Joey Coulter and finally Parker Kligerman, but held them all off to take the checkered flag on a G/W/C finish at lap 152.

    Following Busch across the line were Kligerman, Brendan Gaughan, Todd Bodine and Jason White. Rounding out the top ten were Elliott Sadler, Coulter, David Starr, James Buescher and Travis Kvapil.

    The NASCAR Nationwide Series 11th annual Feed the Children 300 is up next Friday night at Kentucky Speedway as Busch looks to claim victory number two for the weekend.

     

    Unofficial Race Results
    UNOH 225, Kentucky Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=10
    =========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 8 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    2 5 29 Parker Kligerman * Dodge 42
    3 14 62 Brendan Gaughan Toyota 42
    4 20 30 Todd Bodine Toyota 40
    5 9 23 Jason White Chevrolet 40
    6 4 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 0
    7 6 22 Joey Coulter * Chevrolet 38
    8 18 81 David Starr Toyota 36
    9 12 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 36
    10 16 5 Travis Kvapil Toyota 34
    11 22 9 Max Papis Toyota 33
    12 13 32 Steve Arpin Chevrolet 32
    13 23 4 Ricky Carmichael Chevrolet 31
    14 2 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 31
    15 17 46 Justin Lofton Toyota 29
    16 25 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 28
    17 28 92 Clay Rogers Chevrolet 27
    18 33 63 Jack Smith Ford 26
    19 26 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 25
    20 30 99 Charles Vest Ford 24
    21 11 7 Miguel Paludo * Toyota 23
    22 3 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. * Chevrolet 23
    23 34 7 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 0
    24 1 13 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 21
    25 32 93 Shane Sieg Chevrolet 19
    26 10 60 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 18
    27 7 33 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 17
    28 19 116 John King Toyota 16
    29 24 15 Josh Richards Toyota 15
    30 29 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Ford 0
    31 36 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 13
    32 15 88 Matt Crafton Chevrolet 12
    33 35 84 Chris Fontaine Chevrolet 11
    34 31 138 Mike Garvey Chevrolet 10
    35 27 66 Justin Marks Chevrolet 9
    36 21 20 Johanna Long * Toyota 8
  • Busch wins the NCWTS UNOH 225 at Kentucky Speedway

    Busch wins the NCWTS UNOH 225 at Kentucky Speedway

    Kyle Busch held off Parker Kligerman on the final green-white-checkered restart and won Thursday nights NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) UNOH 225 at Kentucky Speedway. This was Busch’s fifth NCWTS this season and his 29th in this series.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”226″][/media-credit]“On the restart, when Jason White was on my inside, I figured if I could just get another good restart where I didn’t spin my tires, I’d be all right. Those guys spun their tires every time, and it kind of worked for us.” Busch said.

    This is also Busch’s 98th NASCAR career win, placing him third all-time (29-NSCS, 48-NNS).

    Brendan Gaughan finished third, Todd Bodine fourth and Jason White finished fifth.

    Despite finishing 24th after his truck broke its rear axle, series points leader Johnny Sauter extended his lead to 23 points over Cole Whitt.

     

    Unofficial Race Results
    UNOH 225, Kentucky Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=10
    =========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 8 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    2 5 29 Parker Kligerman * Dodge 42
    3 14 62 Brendan Gaughan Toyota 42
    4 20 30 Todd Bodine Toyota 40
    5 9 23 Jason White Chevrolet 40
    6 4 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 0
    7 6 22 Joey Coulter * Chevrolet 38
    8 18 81 David Starr Toyota 36
    9 12 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 36
    10 16 5 Travis Kvapil Toyota 34
    11 22 9 Max Papis Toyota 33
    12 13 32 Steve Arpin Chevrolet 32
    13 23 4 Ricky Carmichael Chevrolet 31
    14 2 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 31
    15 17 46 Justin Lofton Toyota 29
    16 25 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 28
    17 28 92 Clay Rogers Chevrolet 27
    18 33 63 Jack Smith Ford 26
    19 26 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 25
    20 30 99 Charles Vest Ford 24
    21 11 7 Miguel Paludo * Toyota 23
    22 3 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. * Chevrolet 23
    23 34 7 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 0
    24 1 13 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 21
    25 32 93 Shane Sieg Chevrolet 19
    26 10 60 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 18
    27 7 33 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 17
    28 19 116 John King Toyota 16
    29 24 15 Josh Richards Toyota 15
    30 29 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Ford 0
    31 36 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 13
    32 15 88 Matt Crafton Chevrolet 12
    33 35 84 Chris Fontaine Chevrolet 11
    34 31 138 Mike Garvey Chevrolet 10
    35 27 66 Justin Marks Chevrolet 9
    36 21 20 Johanna Long * Toyota 8
  • Andy Lally: From Daytona Lone Ranger to Inaugural Kentucky Wannabe

    Andy Lally: From Daytona Lone Ranger to Inaugural Kentucky Wannabe

    Andy Lally, rookie driver of the No. 71 TRG Motorsports Interstate Moving Services Ford, is making an interesting transition, from lone wolf without a dance partner at this past weekend’s Daytona race to Kentucky wannabe, having to qualify in on time for this weekend’s inaugural race.

    [media-credit name=”andylally.com” align=”alignright” width=”222″][/media-credit]Lally started this journey last weekend with his best qualifying effort to date at Daytona, snagging the seventh starting spot between five time champ Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the sport’s most popular driver.

    “This was just a cool little feather in the cap that a small team had come up here and done this,” Lally said. “That was pretty neat.”

    Yet, in spite of the excellent starting position, Lally was quite the lone wolf, at least in the initial portion of the Coke Zero 400.

    “Yes, I did feel like the ‘Lone Ranger’ a little bit, but it was fairly expected,” Lally said.

    “I had spoken to Geoff Bodine before the race about hooking up and getting together,” Lally continued. “But we were starting in seventh and he was back in 35th or so, so it was going to be a little bit of time before we found him.”

    “We just tried to hold on at the front as long as we could.”

    Lally acknowledged that it was easier to hold on at the front more so when the race started and on the restarts when there was a bit of a pack. But that quickly changed when the tandem racers started the two-by-two pairings, causing Lally to struggle.

    “It was kind of like the old days in the big packs until everybody gets hooked up and single file,” Lally said. “It wasn’t easy to hold on after that happened.”

    “I was fighting tooth and nail to do whatever I could to stay in the draft and side draft guys,” Lally continued. “But it was definitely difficult to get off the gas and try to hook up with somebody.”

    “This was my third restrictor plate race so I’ve seen the benefits of the hook up every time,” Lally said. “We struggled on our own for about 20 laps or so but once we hooked up with other cars, we were pretty decent and were able to move up through the field.”

    Lally had particularly good luck when he teamed up with Terry Labonte, who was driving the No. 32 C&J Energy Ford. The Lally/Labonte tandem was so good together that they were able to push their way forward into the top ten at one point in the race.

    “That was not planned,” Lally said of his liaison with Labonte. “That was almost forced by me.”

    “Terry Labonte and Robby Gordon were running together and on the restart they got split up,” Lally continued. “Terry was on the bottom with a bunch of fast cars linked together. When I saw it, I moved to the bottom and drove up behind Terry, smashed him in the rear and started pushing him, whether he wanted me there or not.”

    “I think Terry was a little hesitant at first but after the first few laps, we started going forward and passing cars,” Lally said. “So, then we got a message over the radio from his spotter that he liked the way I was going and he wanted to stay together.”

    “We did that for the next 130 laps and we stayed together as best we could.”

    The tandem did indeed stay together, that is until mayhem ensued at the end of the race during the two green, white, checkered attempts at a finish.

    “Unfortunately, we weren’t in a position to really capitalize on that mayhem at the end of the race,” Lally said. “We had done a long green flag run but the pit stops weren’t what we needed and we lost the lead draft.”

    “And then we went on a long green flag run and the pack pushed by us to put us a lap down,” Lally continued. “If all that havoc had happened one lap prior, we would have been in decent shape.”

    “Once we took the white flag, we knew there was no more advancing of positions, so we just kind of backed off and tip toed through the minefield on the way to the checkered flag, passing battered car after battered car.”

    After finishing 27th, Lally admitted he was ready to put the superspeedway in his lone wolf rear view mirror and head to the first-ever Cup race, the Quaker State 400, at Kentucky Speedway. At that track, he will not be alone as he was at Daytona.

    “We’ve got a track that I’ve never been to,” Lally said. “But for the first time a number of other guys have never been to it either.”

    “A bunch of these guys have done the Truck race or the Nationwide race but from the information I got from the guys who did the tire test, it was fairly similar to Kansas,” Lally continued. “So, I think everybody will unload with their Kansas set up and go from there.”

    Lally is definitely a Kentucky wannabe as he currently sits 36th in owner points, just one position shy of being locked in.

    “Right now getting in the show will be the biggest thing,” Lally said. “It’s going to be a big challenge.”

    “We actually get a test day so we’ll get some laps on the track on Thursday,” Lally continued. “So, we’ll make some adjustments and see what we got for qualifying. We’ve got 48 cars for 43 spots so that’s a challenge.”

    “You’re never not trying to go hard but we’ll do more mock qualifying runs and do more in qualifying trim than race trim,” Lally said. “So, we’ll see.”