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  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Auto Club 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Auto Club 400

    From the moment Sugar Ray Leonard dropped the green flag for the pole and outside pole sitters, Juan Pablo Montoya in his fiery red No. 42 Target Chevrolet and Denny Hamlin in his No. 11 FedEx Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, expectations were high at the fourteen degree banked, wide open track in Fontana, California.

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Victor Decolongon/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”273″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising in the purposely shorter Auto Club 400, down in length by 20% and 100 miles from last year:

    Surprising:  After an absolutely dominant performance by Kyle Busch, who led the most laps at 151 and ascended to 29th on the all-time laps led leader list surpassing Fireball Roberts, and a late race charge by Fontana favorite Jimmie Johnson, one driver led less than a lap and took the checkered flag.

    Bakersfield, California native Kevin Harvick finally got that coveted first win at his home state track, Auto Club Speedway. Reminiscent of his racing idol the late, great Dale Earnhardt, Harvick sported his own brand of intimidation, bumping Jimmie Johnson just enough to rattle him so Harvick could slip by for the win on the last lap.

    “Well we had them all beat last year and I gave it away,” Harvick said in a Budweiser-soaked Victory Lane. “What a great day.”

    “All these guys did a great job on pit road,” Harvick continued. “Gil (Martin) made the right call. We held those guys off and our car just kept going.”

    “Today we had a fast car and the circumstances played in our favor.”

    This was Harvick’s 15th victory, putting him in a tie with Ernie Irvan for 48th on NASCAR’s all-time Cup Series win list. This was team owner Richard Childress’ 95th Cup Series win, but the team’s first ever win at Auto Club Speedway as well.

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising to see five-time champ Jimmie Johnson, piloting the very familiar No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, finish in the runner up position. This was Johnson’s 10th top-two finish in 17 races at Auto Club Speedway.

    “It reminded me of last year in the spring race,” Johnson said. “We just couldn’t hold him off.”

    “I knew he was coming,” Johnson said of Harvick. “If I could have got by the 18 a lot sooner, it might have been enough, but I was way loose and driving my butt off.”

    “Just glad it turned out to be a decent day.”

    Surprising: In spite of losing the race after being so dominant, it was surprising to see this ‘new’ Kyle Busch take it all in stride. Busch stood calmly by his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, waiting to share his thoughts on his third place finish and his first top ten finish in the past four races at Auto Club Speedway.

    “We gave the race away today unfortunately,” Busch said. “We seemed to be losing the handle on that last set of tires and couldn’t get the right speed I needed.”

    “I can’t say enough about the guys on pit road and the guys back at the shop,” Busch continued. “They got us in position but unfortunately I couldn’t get the job done today.”

    “I just didn’t have what it took there at the end.”

    Not Surprising: After having a chance at the race win and falling back, it was not surprising to see Tony Stewart pitch his gloves off after the race and stalk out of his car to his hauler, waving off any media who dared approach him. Stewart, who had run in the top five most of the day, making daring pit calls with his crew chief to stay out when others pitted for tires, faded back to finish 13th.

    With that finish, Stewart ended a four race streak of top-10 finishes at Auto Club Speedway. The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for the team that bears his name also fell three spots in the point standings to the sixth spot.

    Surprising: Unfortunately, the engine woes that have been plaguing Joe Gibbs Racing continued this weekend. Young Joey Logano had to start at the back of the pack due to an engine change, clawing his way back up to a 25th place finish.

    Even more devastating was the engine failure of Denny Hamlin, who had been the outside pole sitter and who looked to be a contender early in the race. After nursing his wounded car along and then going a lap down, Hamlin finally gave it up and headed to the garage.

    “We’ve got to go to work and figure out how to get the reliability back,” Hamlin said. “Our engine department has got to go to work.”

    “It was a slow death for our car today.”

    Not Surprising:  Sadly the curse of the first lap leader continued at Auto Club Speedway. In 21 races at the track, the first lap leader has never gone on to win the race.

    This was the case for Juan Pablo Montoya, who started off in the pole position and led that first deadly lap. Montoya had his struggles but did manage to rally back for a top ten finish, keeping him solidly in eighth position in the point standings.

    Surprising:  Both Red Bull teams had amazingly good runs in Fontana this weekend. Brian Vickers, in the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, finished eighth while teammate Kasey Kahne, in his No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, followed right behind in the ninth position.

    “Well, we wanted to win,” Vickers said. “But this is just what the Red Bull 83 team needed.”

    Not Surprising: Carl Edwards, who has been so dominant this season, finished sixth. With his good run, Edwards was able to assume his place on top of the points leader board, now officially the first repeat points leader in five races this season.

  • California Dreaming or was it a nightmare?

    California Dreaming or was it a nightmare?

    The shortest race of the year 2 hours and 39 minutes was perhaps the longest for fans viewing on TV. California showed once again why it has been reduced to only one race.

    The weekend at California was marred by rain, weepers and long drawn out green flag runs. Though many at the track said the racing was better than normal and excellent in most cases, the TV audience saw little of it. Between long commercial breaks that missed cautions and on track action, along with very poor camera work the day proved to be a dull grey day until the last 10 laps of the race.

    The final stop and the end of the race was as good as it gets. Kyle Busch took the green flag with 9 laps to go on old tires with Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart following close behind. Johnson took the lead on lap 198 with a low side pass on the Interstate Batteries Camry. The racing between them allowed Harvick to catch the pair and overtake Busch whose Camry had developed a progressively tight condition.

    Kevin Harvick flexed his muscle and let the 5 time series champion know he was there and he would not go quietly. Harvick who ran up to the back bumper of the 48 Lowes Chevrolet on the back stretch managed to loosen the champ up just enough to make his pass on the high side coming out of 4 and then out ran the 5 time champ back to the checkers.

    The champion showed his composure and showed his class with gracious congratulations to the winner and acknowledged that Harvick was undoubtedly the class of the field on the final run. Harvick when told they lead one lap stated, “Yeah but it was the one that counted.”

    The class of the field for most of the race was Kyle Busch. Busch lead for 151 laps and finished third. But Kyle’s weekend did not start out typical for Kyle Busch. He wrecked his primary car on his first lap on the track when he hit a wet spot coming out of turn 4. Relegated to a back up he and his team fought to regain their momentum in a [media-credit name=”Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”272″][/media-credit]shortened practice session leading up to qualifying. Busch pulled off an 8th place qualifying run and never looked back.

    He dominated the race until the last restart when Jimmie Johnson would take the lead on the low side coming out of 3. Busch would say later that the car just continued to tighten up on the exit of the corner and at the end he had used up everything he had.

    Joe Gibbs Racing experienced another weekend of engine failures with Joey Logano losing one after happy hour and Denny Hamlin losing one during the race. When Coach Gibbs was asked if the recent fire and explosion at their engine shop was playing a role in the failures he stated that it was not and they simply needed to work on their durability.

    Another standout this week was Brian Vickers. In his first strong performance after his health issues forced him to vacate his seat last year, Vickers pulled off a strong top ten finish with 8th.

    Tony Stewart had a strong run until the last restart of the race when he faded to 13th. Smoke was obviously upset and declined comment following the race. Smoke showed dominance and skills that are found in few driver seats in the series however. When informed the change he wanted was maxed out he said simply, I will figure it out from here. And he did with smooth skill and confidence. The late race fade was certainly not indicative of his performance.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr, showed a consistency that we have never seen from him throughout his career with a 12th place finish. Earnhardt credited his crew and his equipment with the success and stated that if he had qualified better he would have had a better finish. “If we just qualify better, we’ll be all right,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s not allowed us to show as good as we really are. … We’re a top-10 team. We’re doing pretty good.” He stated that he had a top 5 car for about 60 percent of the race. Even with the strong finish, Earnhardt dropped to 12th in the points going into Martinsville.

    TV broadcasters raved about the finish of this race. The finish was incredible. It was exciting. It was action filled and it took place in 10 laps. The first 390 were not exciting. The last 10 laps don’t make a good race. The race was boring. Whether it’s the track or whether it’s the new car on the track, doesn’t change it. The people in California deserve their date but something has to be done to improve the competition on the track. Shortening the race by 100 laps didn’t improve the competition only the length of the boredom.

    Thoughts and best wishes go to Joe Slingerland, the rear tire changer for the Hendrick Motorsports Amp Energy Chevrolet, who was injured on the first pit stop of the day.  The tire changer apparently suffered a hamstring injury during the first pit stop and was taken to the infield care center by stretcher. Steve Letarte reported on Sirus Radio that he would be checked out by an orthopedic specialist on Monday in Charlotte.

    ~~~~~ **** ~~~~~

     

    Congratulations to Kevin Harvick and his Richard Childress team on their exciting victory in Sunday’s race. Also congratulations to Kyle Busch on his Saturday victory in the Nationwide series race.

    That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

  • Point Leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Sees Positives in Both His Team and Nationwide Series

    Point Leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Sees Positives in Both His Team and Nationwide Series

    According to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. he’s more focused this year.

    Thats good to hear since it should help eliminate a possible repeat of what Stenhouse did last season. He wrecked, a lot and was taken out of the car by team owner Jack Roush. His second chance led to things starting to click for the young driver and he ended the season as one of the hottest drivers in the Nationwide Series.

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”290″][/media-credit]It’s carried over into 2011 and following his fourth place finish in Saturday’s Royal Purple 300 at the Auto Club Speedway moved him to the series points lead. To think that just a year ago, Stenhouse could have been just weeks away from losing his ride, to now leading the series point standings and turning quite a few heads.

    “That is good,” said Stenhouse on Saturday, “because I think last time I was here they were talking about me for a different reason.”

    Indeed. Now the talk has turned to what accomplishments he might compile this year. Much like Bristol last weekend, Stenhouse was able to drive his No. 6 Roush Ford to the front and lead the race. At Auto Club Speedway he did so by driving past both teammate Carl Edwards and eventual winner Kyle Busch with 50 laps to go.

    While he would lose the lead a few laps later, it came only after Edwards had to work for it. Stenhouse was able to pull along the No. 60 of Edwards who said he could see Stenhouse driving the wheels off his car and was having a hard time getting to his bumper.

    “It is good to be up front and leading,” said Stenhouse.

    “These guys work hard every week. Our Mustangs have been fast. We finally got the finish we deserved this week. We feel like we have had top five’s the first four races and let it slip away with mistakes we made or just the way it worked out with fuel or cautions. It was a good day for us and we will carry this momentum into Texas.”

    Stenhouse said he wasn’t looking forward to California since he doesn’t particularly run well there. Now though, he’s looking forward to Texas and the rest of the season. The NNS takes a week off as the Camping World Truck Series and Sprint Cup Series heads to Martinsville next weekend.

    Stenhouse and 42 other NNS drivers will get back to racing at Texas two weeks from now. The O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 will be no different than most NNS races and the first five of the 2011 season – Cup drivers will be in the field and most likely in victory lane.

    They’ll get majority of the attention but so will Stenhouse being the point leader. He says he knew his team was capable of competing like this since Daytona and credits many things for the turnaround. They have new cars this year and they’re working closely with the engineering group from the organization’s Cup program.

    And like many Ford drivers, Stenhouse says the new FR9 engines have been awesome. Plus, keeping the same team as last year has made things easy.

    But what his point lead really comes through is NASCAR’s new pick a series rule. Cup drivers can no longer run for the NNS championship and don’t receive points; they can still take home the trophies though much to the chagrin of many in the sport.

    When Busch won Saturday it was his third of the NNS season in just five races. Tony Stewart and Mark Martin won the other two races. The question has already been raised of whether the NNS champion of 2011 will be winless.

    Stenhouse and other NNS regulars are doing their best to avoid that and Stenhouse says he likes the new format.

    “I think Nationwide Insurance has done an awesome job of making our own identity,” he said.

    “I feel like looking at the races, I don’t know if it is the new points system getting in our minds that a Nationwide regular is going to win the championship, but it seems like the regulars have been in the top five and running strong. I think it has upped the competition and everyone is trying a little harder.”

    Not only has the other competitors up their game but Stenhouse says he has as well. Running with the Cup drivers, as he was on Saturday, makes him race harder because of how high the bar has been set.

    He’s enjoying racing against them and is learning a lot too.

    Stenhouse hopes things continue going as they are and while he says he hasn’t begun to think about points or whom he’s racing for the championship, he did say it’s nice to be leading and hopes he can begin to open it up.

  • Simona de Silvestro Gets Best Career Finish of Fourth at St. Petersburg

    Simona de Silvestro Gets Best Career Finish of Fourth at St. Petersburg

    At the end of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Simona de Silvestro finished fourth behind Dario Franchitti, Will Power and Tony Kanaan.

    In the final laps, she tried to make the move on Kanaan for third, though could not complete the pass.

    [media-credit name=”cg photography” align=”alignright” width=”255″][/media-credit]”We kind of battled like the last 15 laps to get in,” she said. “You know, it was kind of a high risk to try to pass him because it was so dirty on the inside of [turn] one. I had one shot that I think I could have made it, but I almost overshot it. So I think I’m really happy with fourth because we started 17th.   And, with how we started the weekend, it wasn’t how I would thought we would end the race here. You know, I’m just really happy with my new engineer. We started working together on Friday, and to be running fourth today is something pretty special.”

    Silvestro started the race with a new engineer after her previous engineer left the team, so there was extra grastification in getting a top five finish. 

    “It’s huge. Like I said, I never thought on Friday that we would be running so well during the race,” she said. “We were keeping up with the leaders, and my new engineer….. communication in the beginning was pretty tough because I never worked with him. But this morning it seemed like it really clicked and we really tried to figure it out. It was a tough moment for the team last weekend. We were scrambling to try to find a new engineer, and I think we made the right choice. Brent Harvey is pretty awesome. When he talks to me on the radio, he’s really calming me down, so I think we’ll make a good team.”

    Part of getting that communication with Brett Harvey involved having to make some final changes to the car following the morning warm-up.

    “We struggled with the new tires with our car,” she said. “We couldn’t quite figure it out, and then this morning we pretty much changed a couple of things on the car and suddenly it was there. I finally had the feel for the car.

    “And I think it was mostly the communication between my engineer and me that started to click this morning. Before, he was trying to understand me, I was trying to understand him. And for me, it always has been a big part of it – for my engineer and I to have really great communication. And, this morning, I thought, “okay, that’s what we are going to do,” and it just kind of went in the right direction.”

    If given a couple more laps, Silvestro says she may have been able to get by Kanaan.

    “I definitely had a couple of boosts left,” she said. “Maybe I should have used one a little bit earlier, but I got close to TK a couple of times because he was making a couple of mistakes. But, like I said, it was really risky to try to make the move. I was running fourth and I never really quite got the shot that I was next to him. I didn’t take any crazy chances to ruin our race because the [race to the] championship is really long.”

    Right off the bat, she had to work hard for her position as with starting back in the pack in 17th, she had to avoid the first lap wreck that involved Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves, Mike Conway, Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon.

    “I started way back, so I couldn’t see anything really because there was so much dust,” she continued. “But, I kind of made it through. And, I think I saw Marco – I saw a car kind of going up in the air.  I tried to find a hole and I did. I came out in ninth position, so I think I made the right move. Maybe I was a little bit lucky, also, through turn one at the start of the race.”

    IndyCar put forth a new rule this year to start each race with double-file restarts, which made the race interesting for Silvestro near the end.

    “I got the inside and pretty much everybody kind of came down on me and I had nowhere to go,” she said. “I kind of made a little bit of contact with Will because I was pretty much on the rumble strip.  But I thought the double‑file restarts were pretty fun because it actually gave us a chance to actually make positions.   Last year, we would start single file every time, it would be hard. You would be just following the leader. I think it [the restarts] made it exciting and I really enjoyed it.”

    With this being her best career finish, she includes this race in her career highlights, along with making the Indy 500 last year.

    “Today is definitely going to go right up there, because I think it was one of the best races I’ve done,” she said. “I didn’t really make many mistakes and I really liked that. Being a female driver, I really get along with Danica, but it’s not like we compare notes or anything. I think she’s doing a great job.   At the end I think we are just here to try to beat every other driver.”

     This also marks a big moment for the entire team as they are considered one of the smaller IndyCar teams.

    “I think even last year when I was racing there, we struggled towards the end to get the sponsorship together,” she said. “But he worked hard and he has a great group of people on the team. They are like a big family. It’s a pretty small team but we really get along really well. And my manager, Imran Safiulla, put the whole Nuclear Clean Energy deal together. Those folks are going to be with me for the next couple of years.

    “I’m really lucky; not many drivers have this opportunity. And, with an industry like this supporting and choosing you as a spokesperson, it’s something pretty special.”

  • Austin Dillon To Make Sprint Cup Debut Later This Season

    Austin Dillon To Make Sprint Cup Debut Later This Season

    Austin Dillon has already made a name for himself in the Camping World Truck Series, though is now looking to make his move up the ranks. Dillon announced yesterday at Auto Club Speedway that he would make his debut later this year in the No. 98 car owned by Mike Curb.

    Dillon will have sponsorship support from The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation’s Centennial Celebration and the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma.

    “It’s an honor and a privilege to be part of the Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration as a Co-Chair of the National Youth Leadership Committee,” said Dillon. “President Reagan was always one of my grandfather’s, Richard Childress, heroes, so I grew up hearing about the President’s strong leadership abilities and family values. Those are two qualities I carry with me in my career as a NASCAR driver by being a strong leader for my team and making my family proud of my accomplishments on and off the track.”

    The Ronald Reagan Centennial is a year long celebration of the 100th birthday of the 40th President of the United States of America. A series of events, partnerships and initiatives sponsored by the Foundation are planned to happen throughout this year. Regan was the first president to attend a race as in 1984, he gave the command to start motors for the Firecracker 400 at Daytona and on that day, Richard Petty won his 200th race.

    “President Reagan was the first sitting U.S. President to attend a NASCAR race,” said Stewart McLaurin, Executive Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Centennial Celebration. “As many Americans take a moment this year to remember the life, lessons, and legacy of President Reagan in their own way, we are grateful for this partnership and we are honored by the leadership Austin will bring to the national youth leadership council.”

    Last year, Dillon earned seven poles in the Camping World Truck Series, breaking a 12-year-old rookie record. He also captured his first career victory at Iowa, followed by a win at Las Vegas, on his way to winning Rookie of the Year and finishing fifth in the standings.

    The decision has yet to be made whether the first start will come at Kansas or Phoenix, but Dillon is comfortable either way.

    “Those are the two races that I feel like I have some experience [at the tracks], and we can go race with these guys and we can run up there and compete with them,” Austin Dillon said. “We want to go to a place where we want to be on a level playing field.

    “Phoenix, they’re doing the new pavement, might be the place or Kansas, where I have some laps at. It is going to be a learning experience.”

    When Dillon makes his Cup start for Mike Curb, it’ll mark the 100th start for Curb. Curb has a connection with Dillon’s grandfather Richard Childress, as he reunited Childress back with Earnhardt in the mid-1980s.

    “I am proud to be associated with Richard Childress and Austin Dillon as he makes his first Sprint Cup start,” said Curb. “I am proud that my company Curb Records is also involved in this wonderful tribute to President Reagan’s 100th Centennial Celebration. I had the opportunity to serve President Ronald Reagan in several capacities including Co-Chairman of his successful 1980 Presidential campaign.  I also want to thank our partners at FullCircle Ventures for putting this program together.”

    The car is set to be Richard Childress Racing prepared with an Earnhardt-Childress Racing motor and pitted by Dillon’s truck team.

    “This is such an opportunity with the Reagan opportunity, we couldn’t turn it down,” Childress said. “You never know if you’re ready until you do it. He’s got some good experience at some of the tracks, and we’re going to just try him a race and see how it goes.”

    Childress says longterm plans have Dillon running full-time in Nationwide next year with younger brother Ty Dillon running the truck.

  • NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: KEVIN HARVICK STUNS THE COMPETITION AT FONTANA

    NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: KEVIN HARVICK STUNS THE COMPETITION AT FONTANA

    On late Saturday afternoon Kevin Harvick was being interviewed on the Auto Club Speedway’s pit road. He had just driven his self owned Chevrolet to a third place finish in the Royal Purple 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. After leading a race high 64 laps, Harvick said “I hate to give one away. We just can’t seem to get going here, (at the Auto Club Speedway), but I am pleased that we were competitive.”

    24 hours later Harvick’s “get going” problem was resolved and he found himself standing in the speedway’s Gatorade victory lane after scoring a stunning last ditch effort win in the Auto Club 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

    Through out much of the Auto Club 400 it appeared that Kyle Busch was going to use his giant broom to sweep a NASCAR weekend for the second time in as many races. Busch led a race high 151 laps and was pretty much formidable all through this event.

    But the fourth and final caution flag came, when Bobby Labonte hit the fourth turn wall, with only 13 laps left. That set up a double file, shoot out style, restart between Busch and Jimmie Johnson. The race returned to green flag status with only nine laps left. Busch again jumped into the lead and again appeared to be on the way to the sweep. But Johnson ran him down and, with a low line pass on the front stretch, took the lead with only four laps remaining.

    But once again the completely obvious assumption was not meant to be and the Fontana finish wasn’t quite complete yet. While Busch and Johnson were racing each hard, Havick was in third reeling them in. On the white flag lap he moved around Busch to take command of second. Now the battle between the “California kids”, Johnson from El Cajon versus Bakerfield’s Harvick, was on.

    Going into turn four, with the checkers ready to wave in the air, Harvick gave Johnson’s rear bumper a light tap. It created just enough racing room for Harvick to pass his race rival on the high side and then slide in front of him coming off of turn four. Harvick literally stole the show in the final 100 yards of the race while an crowd of 88,000 were on their feet cheering the two combatants on.

    Harvick scored his first win of the 2011 season, his 15th career win, and his first at the Auto Club Speedway. Of equal importance is the way the win elevated his status in NASCAR’s recently reconfigured championship points system. He got off to a terrible start following the season opener at Daytona. In the last four races since then Harvick has moved from 37th to 9th in the standings and is back on track to again make the Chase For The Championship line up.

    Following Harvick, Johnson and Busch under the checkers to complete the top five were Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman. Carl Edwards, who left California as the new series’ points leader, brought his Ford home in sixth while Clint Bowyer, Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne and Coors Light pole winner Juan Pablo Montoya completed the top ten.

    After collecting his trophy, and a winner’s check worth $331,961, “Happy” Harvick said Those guys got to racing side by side and it allowed us to get to them. The more laps we ran on our tires, (to build up air pressure), the better we were. It’s pretty cool to win here at home.”

    Harvick also admitted that he was a little nervous about crew chief Gil Martin’s call not to come in for tires during the final yellow flag pit stop opportunity. When asked who makes the final call on those situations, Harvick smiled and said “it depends on what day of the week it is.”

    Jimmie Johnson called the Auto Club 400 “a great race” and added “If I could have gotten around Kyle Busch one lap sooner that would have made the difference and I would have had the room to hold off the 29, (Harvick). I did everything I could even though I was sometimes sideways. I think I actually scraped the wall while chasing Kyle but, overall, it was a great day for the Lowes team.”

    After what could only be deemed a disappointing third place finish, Kyle Busch said “sometimes you lose some but it’s frustrating to lose one like that. We simply lost some of our rubber grip on the track. But from where we started, (8th on the grid), it’s a good outcome.”

  • Dario Dominates St. Pete

    Dario Dominates St. Pete

    [media-credit name=”Cg Photography” align=”alignright” width=”270″][/media-credit]Two time Indy Car series champion, Dario Franchitti got his 2011 season off to a good start with a dominating win on the downtown streets of Saint Petersburg Florida at the 7th annual Honda grand Prix. Dario had been quick all week end, posting the fastest practice speed on Friday, and qualified second for Sundays’ race. The Target Ganassi team was very optimistic about their chances with both cars starting at the front of the grid, Scott Dixon would grid just on spot behind Dario in third position. Race day would get off to a somewhat ominous start, during the morning warm up, Sebastien Bourdais, driving his backup car, after an incident during qualifying Saturday left his primary car to badly damaged to continue, clipped the inside wall in turn eleven, damaging the right side suspension, and Sebastien was along for the ride at that point. The car slammed the retaining wall in turn twelve, and came to rest against the wall just short of the entrance to turn thirteen, A small fire was evident at the back of the car but fire, and rescue crews quickly extinguished the flames, and Sebastien exited the car unharmed. This crash would force Bourdais to withdraw his entry.

    As the cars were being formed up on pit road, and ABC was in the midst of their pre race show, the six vintage world war two aircraft were taking off from the only open runway at Albert Whited Airport in preparation for the fly over at the conclusion of the national anthem. As the old war birds came into formation, one of the aircraft would experience a complete engine failure, and be forced to execute an emergency landing. Unfortunately the aircraft would not make it back to the airport, and end up in the waters of Tampa Bay. Saint Petersburg fire, and rescue boat that was anchored at the Accura Yacht Club was quickly on the scene, and was able to safely remove the two man crew from the aircraft. Both men were unhurt.

    The initial start of the race saw the field storm into turn one four wide, this would result in a multi car incident that would leave Marco Andretti upside down, the cars of Helio Castroneves, Mike Conway, Ryan Briscoe, and Scott Dixon heavily damaged. Andretti was done for the day. Mike Conway was also unable to continue. Ryan Briscoe drove back to his pit, but the crew was not able to get him back out and retired the car for the day.Castroneves would spend fifteen laps making repairs and was able to get back on track, the Target Ganassi crew made repairs to Dixons’ car and was able to keep Scott in the race. The race would see several more cautions early on, but settled down around lap forty. Franchitti would remain out front through these caution periods, and was never seriously challenged for the top spot.

    As the race wound down Franchitti would stretch his lead to over six seconds over second place Will Power. Power, the defending race winner from last years’ race didn’t have anything for Franchitti, and settled for a very fine second place finish. Crowd favorite Tony Kanaan brought his Lotus home in third place, “Six days ago I didn’t have a job, now things seem to be working out” Kanaan said in post race ceremonies. Simona De Silvestro would finish a career best fourthTakuma Sato would round out the top five. This would give the KV Racing Technology team two cars in the top five.

    As the dust settled, and the confetti flew, the seventh edition of the Honda Grand Prix of Saint Petersburg gave the race fans everything they had come to see, and left race organizers and city officials with very big smiles on their faces. Plans are already underway for the eight annual edition in 2011.

  • Harvick out duels Johnson for California Victory

    Harvick out duels Johnson for California Victory

    [media-credit name=”Patrick McBride” align=”alignright” width=”284″][/media-credit]Kevin Harvick won the battle with Jimmie Johnson and took the win at Auto Club Speedway in last corner on the last lap of the race.

    Kevin Harvick had a tough day ahead of him as  many of the other front runners in the series point standings found themselves, starting in the middle of the field. Harvick’s reward of the day was leading one lap, but the most critical one, the final lap.

    The showdown for Harvick would be a nine lap battle between himself, Kyle Busch and Johnson. As the final green flag restart of the race was displayed, leader Busch was out front, Johnson was to his inside as the field headed into turn one.

    Busch fought a tight car, forcing him to slow in the corners. This allowed Johnson and Harvick catch and overtake Busch and a two driver battle for the win with three laps to go.

    Johnson threw blocks to the high and low side to keep Busch and Harvick in his mirror. As Busch faded back to third, the fans broke out into cheers.

    The Johnson and Harvick took the white flag, Harvick would ride the high side in turns one and two, Johnson ran in the middle.

    On the back stretch Harvick would tap the back of Johnson’s car several times to upset the corner entry for Johnson in turn three. Harvick continued his ride on the outside through turns three and four and pulled ahead of Johnson.

    Johnson would try the crossover move on Harvick, but Harvick dropped to the inside of the track to quash Johnson’s chance of the win. Harvick crossed the finish line by a car length over Johnson. Busch would finish 1.1 seconds back in third.

    A Day in Southern California –

    Harvick’s day started back in 24th among top drivers in overall standings Carl Edwards (started 18th), Kurt Busch (23rd), Jeff Gordon (29th) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (30th)

    Harvick would be mired in three to four wide racing for the opening 30 laps of the race into the first round of green flag stops for the field. Harvick broke into the top ten by the second round of green flag stops around lap 67.

    The rest of Harvick’s race would be battles between himself and Brian Vickers (Finished 8th), Matt Kenseth (4th), Ryan Newman (5th), Carl Edwards (6th) along with several others under gray skies in Southern California.

    Harvick would find that the big challenge came in those last laps of the race after a late accident involving Bobby Labonte brought out a caution with 13 to go. The last laps that closed out the event seemed to be the most exciting of the day as the crowd erupted in cheers as Johnson and Harvick passed Busch.

    This is Harvick’s first Sprint Cup win and his 8th top ten finish in his eighteen races at Auto Club Speedway.

    Another Sweep Swept Away –

    Kyle Busch began his weekend by winning the weekend’s Nationwide race. Busch looked for a back to back event sweep following last week’s Bristol races.

    Busch started his race with a top ten start of 8th. Busch broke into the lead on lap 22 for ten laps. He then came back into the lead on lap 37. Busch would lead for a total of five times for an overall count of 151 laps.

    The Joe Gibbs Racing team for Busch would keep their driver with the extra seconds separation during pit stops that he held the front over the majority of the race.

    Busch rocketed away from the field anywhere on an average of four to nine seconds in front of the challengers. The day seemed to be going for him until the last caution flag of the day.

    The top seven drivers including Busch, Johnson and Harvick would remain on the track while the rest of the lead lap cars would pit.

    On the restart it looked like Busch would lock in another win, but his car would tighten up so much that he would have to slow down in the entry of the corners which opened the door for Johnson and Harvick.

    With his third place finish, Busch moves up two positions to 4th overall.

    Starting Upfront has its Challenges –

    Juan Pablo Montoya started on the pole for the race to lead the first six laps of the day, which was the only time the Chip Ganassi driver would see clean air during his race.

    Montoya did not seem to hit on the correct combination of setup for the car and would find himself challenged by stronger drivers to keep in the top ten for the opening laps of the race.

    Running in front, as in the past at Auto Club Speedway was essential to have a winning car. Montoya would be in the mix with the front runners looking to have a strong car, but with the falling off in lap times, Montoya could not challenge for the lead.

    In the last 70 laps of the event Montoya fell out of the top ten and held himself in the top fifteen. Montoya would finish his day 10th.

    Engine, Engine, who has an Engine –

    Gibbs Racing faced yet more challenges of the season as Joey Logano would start in the back of the pack after an engine change from a failed motor that he experienced this weekend. Logano finished 25th.

    More trouble for the group hit when Denny Hamlin would be hit with engine issues on lap 83 to send him to the garage, ending his day with a 39th place finish.

    A Big Mover –

    Greg Biffle was the biggest mover of the day from his start of 32nd to just miss the top ten with a finish of 11th. Biffle moved into the top ten for a period of time by lap 120.

    Biffle would flirt with the top ten battling with Montoya, Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers. The team would work with Biffle to keep the car in shape to give the driver help of three spots in the standings to the top twenty.

    Lap By Lap –

    The rain holds off from the area where the song it never rains in southern California. It rained earlier this morning, but NASCAR has the track ready to go.

    Juan Pablo Montoya and Denny Hamlin will lead our 43 drivers to the green flag. We have a lot of clouds in the skies, so who knows what will happen.

    We also will see 100 less miles for this race, so the action should pick up today.

    The engines fire up and we are off and rolling. Joey Logano for yet another week, has issues with his car and will to the rear of the field. Dave Blaney and J.J. Yeley also head to the back.

    GREEN FLAG as the cars get up to speeds of two-oh-ten as a famous broadcaster we all know says.

    Montoya has the lead but look who’s coming but none other than Kyle Busch who started 6th is duking it out with his teammate Hamlin. Lap 3 Busch is 3rd. Lap 4 Trevor Bayne was way high and earns a California stripe in both turns one and four.

    Lap 5 Montoya and Hamlin leave the field behind by 1.2 seconds. Busch continues his third place hold followed by Matt Kenseth and David Ragan.

    Lap 6 we see some type of fire from under Tony Raines’ car out of turn two as he limps to pit road.

    Lap 7 into 8 Hamlin challenges Montoya for the lead, taking it coming out of turn four.

    Lap 10 we see early movers on the track of Clint Bowyer running 6th from his start of 17th, Jimmie Johnson up to 10th from 16th, Martin Truex Jr. 17th from 26th, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 19th from 30th and Jeff Gordon 21st from 29th.

    Lap 14 Kyle Busch is up to 2nd and 1.5 seconds behind Hamlin.

    Lap 20 Kyle Busch for the lead on Hamlin in turns one and two, which does not work. Truex Jr. is up to 12th, battling for 11th with Ragan and closes in on Tony Stewart for 9th.

    Lap 23 Busch takes the lead.

    Lap 25 your top ten drivers are Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Montoya, Jeff Burton, Bowyer, Brian Vickers, Matt Kenseth, Truex Jr., Carl Edwards and Stewart.

    Lap 29 we are about 8 to 10 laps from pit stops. Lap 30 two start and parks are in the garage with Joe Nemechek being one of those who just pulled in.

    Lap 31 Kyle Busch has a one second advantage over Hamlin. Montoya slips to 1.3 seconds back from Hamlin. Lap 33 pit stops begin.

    About 12 drivers head to pit road along with the leaders of Busch and Hamlin. Lap 34 pit road is way busy as almost 2/3rd’s of the field is on pit road.

    During the transition we see Bowyer and Johnson lead a lap.

    Lap 35 as pit stops are complete for the leaders, Kyle Busch will be in the lead once Yeley comes down to pit road. Lap 37 trouble for Yeley as he is out of gas on the back stretch.

    Lap 38 Busch has the lead. Battle between Bowyer and Truex Jr. for 5th. Lap 40 Burton and Bowyer fight for 6th after Truex Jr. pulls away and Burton follows the plan of attack to take 6th.

    Lap 42 Truex Jr. is up to 4th place and the biggest mover from his start of 26th. Keep an eye on Kevin Harvick as he runs 12th from starting 24th. Lap 46 Greg Biffle has moved up in the field to 18th from his start 32nd.

    Joey Logano who had to start from the back of the field is up to 20th. Lap 48 Todd Bodine, Michael McDowell, Nemechek and Yeley are in the garage.

    Lap 50 (150 to go) with your top twenty drivers of Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Vickers, Truex Jr., Bowyer, Stewart, Burton, Montoya, Mark Martin, Kenseth, Edwards, Harvick, Ryan Newman, Johnson, Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann, Ragan, Biffle, Earnhardt Jr. and Logano.

    Busch has led the most laps so far with 27. Truex Jr. moves up to 3rd. Lap 53 Kyle Busch leads new second place driver Truex Jr. by 4.5 seconds as Hamlin drops to 3rd.

    Lap 57 we see the following on the lap down list – In the garage are Bodine, McDowell, Nemechek and Yeley. Raines is down 6 laps, Ken Schrader (who we have not seen in a while) is 2 laps down, one lap down we see Travis Kvapil, Blaney, Andy Lally, David Gilliland, Casey Mears, Landon Cassill, Robby Gordon, Bobby Labonte on the track.

    Lap 62 in danger of falling a lap down is Bayne, Marcos Ambrose, Regan Smith, Jamie McMurray and A.J. Allmendinger.

    So far we are setting a record for no cautions this early in the race, in fact we are going to see pit stops soon.

    Lap 65 pit stops begin with the cars in the back of the field.

    Lap 67 the field begins the trek into pit road.

    Lap 69 Kyle Busch regains his lead over Truex Jr. and strings it out more to a gap of 6.6 seconds. Burton is busted for speeding.

    Lap 75 (125 to go) with Busch with possibly another sweep? We will see. Busch is 6.5 seconds out in front followed by Truex Jr., Stewart, Vickers, Hamlin, Montoya, Bowyer, Harvick, Martin and Newman.

    YELLOW FLAG lap 76 (after setting a record for amount of green flag laps on the start) for debris. Smith is the lucky dog. Burton was about to be lapped for the stop and go and a big save for him.

    Most of the leaders head to pit road. The race back to the track is Newman, Martin, Busch, Truex Jr. and Johnson. Stewart remained on track as the field has only been on the current set of tires for six laps. We will see if that works or not.

    GREEN FLAG lap 80 as Stewart and Newman lead the field into turn one. ON the next lap Newman has the lead with Kyle Busch grabbing second from Stewart. Lap 82 talk about racing in the back of the pack as we see a big three and four wide move in turn one.

    Lap 83 trouble for Hamlin as he is falling back in the pack like a rock, so far back to 27th and still going backwards. Lap 85 we see about four to five different race lines on the track at the start of the corner and middle of the corner to shrink back into one and a half at the exit of turn two, and it comes back quick.

    Lap 87 Busch closes in on Newman for the lead. Lap 88 look out from behind as Stewart teams up with Newman to lock out Busch and push him back to third. Lap 89 Stewart is back in the lead again.

    Lap 92 Busch drops to the low side of Stewart in turn four to take the lead. His teammate of Hamlin is the last driver on the lead lap running 27th. Lap 94 it looks like an L.A. freeway with all the drivers driving where they want to.

    Lap 95 pole setter Montoya runs 9th after passing Bowyer, but he is in a battle with Harvick as they race in the turns in their own line. Lap 98 Stewart is holding good in second but he will have to stop short as he has those six laps less than the rest of the field.

    Lap 100 (Halfway home) with your top twenty drivers of Kyle Busch, Stewart, Newman, Vickers, Johnson, Harvick, Truex Jr., Martin, Kenseth, Bowyer, Montoya, Jeff Gordon, Edwards, Biffle, Burton, Paul Menard, Reutimann, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, and Earnhardt Jr.

    So far we have seen 14 lead changes among 9 leaders. 26 drivers remain on the lead lap and we have had one caution so far, but…

    YELLOW FLAG lap 103 as Stewart has a big save for him as Gilliland blows a tire and throws debris on the track. Hamlin is the lucky dog. The leaders head into pit road for the second time under caution. The battle for the first to the track is won by Kyle Busch who throws his car in front of a three wide battle for second of Vickers, Newman and Stewart.

    GREEN FLAG lap 108 with Busch and Vickers leading up to speed. A big restart by Busch and Vickers with less experience allows Busch to jump ahead by almost a half seconds as the drivers exit turn two.

    Lap 109 talk about nail biting as we see Truex Jr. in the middle of Logano and Logano as they head into turn one fighting for 15th.

    Lap 112 Kyle Busch over Stewart by a half second. We se a good battle between Harvick, Montoya (Like we haven’t see a battle between them before) and Bowyer for 5th place. Vickers drops back to 5th after a Newman pass.

    Lap 113 (87 to go) as we hear that Hamlin is done for the day with a sour engine. It looks like Joe Gibbs Racing is going to have some work to do on what to do with the engine department.

    Lap 117 movers on the track see our biggest mover at the moment being Greg Biffle up 21 spots to 11th from his start of 32nd. Harvick looks to be on the move this round up to 5th. We also see Truex Jr. slip back to 15th but Earnhardt Jr. move into 16th followed by Jeff Gordon.

    Lap 123 other movers on the track are Harvick +19 to 5th, Earnhardt Jr. +15 (15th), Vickers +14 (now 5th as Harvick is 4th), Jeff Gordon +12 (17th) and Truex Jr. +12 (15th as Earnhardt moves into 14th).

    Lap 125 (75 to go) with the top ten of Kyle Busch over second place Stewart by 2 seconds, 3rd place Newman is 4.4 seconds back, 4th place Harvick is 4.8 seconds back, 5th place Vickers 6.3 back, 6th place Johnson 7.4 seconds, 7th place Kenseth 8.3 back, 8th place Bowyer 8.7 back, 9th place Menard is 10.4 seconds back and 10th place Biffle is behind by 12.4 seconds.

    70 to go with drivers who have slipped back in the field at this time being McDowell slipping down 10 positions to 43rd and out of the race, Jamie McMurray down 10 running 22nd, Montoya from his pole down to 13th, Ragan down 15 to 21st, Ambrose down 17 to 30th and a lap down, Logano down 20 to 23rd, Smith 22 markers down to 26 and Hamlin 37 spots to 39th and in the garage.

    Lap 135 Earnhardt Jr. in the middle of a battle of Truex Jr. and Montoya for 13th. Montoya holds the position. We are closing in on green flag stops as Smith and Gilliland head to pit road. We see a shot of Smith getting his Auto Club stripe.

    62 to go as the leaders head into pit road. 60 to go as we see some pretty good stops this round. After this round, Kyle Bush is 6.5 seconds in front of Stewart and a gain of 4.4 seconds from the stop.

    Lap 142 Harvick is up to 3rd and 9.5 seconds, Vickers 4th and 11.8 seconds back with 5th place Johnson 12.7 seconds back.

    Lap 145 as we see a challenge from Johnson on Vickers for 4th place with making the pass in the turn.

    Lap 150 (50 to go) and the top twenty led by Kyle Busch over Stewart by 4.6 seconds, 3rd place Harvick is 8.4 seconds back, 4th place Johnson is 11 seconds back, 5th place Vickers is 12.5 seconds back. Then we see 6th place Kenseth, followed by Newman, Bowyer, Menard, 10 place Biffle (down by 20 seconds), Edwards, Montoya, Burton, Earnhardt Jr., 15th place Martin (25 seconds back), Kahne, Truex Jr., Ragan, McMurray and 20th place Jeff Gordon down by 32 seconds.

    45 to go Brad Keselowski falls a lap down who is 25th, Kurt Busch 24th is down a lap with Allmendinger in danger of going a lap down with Reutimann, Logano and Jeff Gordon.

    42 to go as Bowyer challenges Newman for 7th and takes it coming out of turn two.

    40 to go as Stewart closes in a bit on Busch to 3 seconds, but the drivers have one more stop to go where we may see some stops as early as the next ten laps.

    38 to go the gap between Stewart and Busch continues to shrink as the gap is now 2.1 seconds. Busch has led 117 laps so far and the most for him at this track.

    36 to go Menard and Edwards battle for 10th. This changes tough as Menard moves into 9th passing Biffle. 34 to go Stewart moves in closer to Busch to 1.3 seconds.

    34 to go pit stops begin. 32 to go with Busch heading for his stop.

    YELLOW FLAG 30 to go as Lally was heading into turn three, bobbled, bobbled again, looked like he was going to save it and by turn four spins out. Cassill is the lucky dog. This will be a quick caution period.

    GREEN FLAG with 26 to go and Busch and Stewart leading the field into turn one. From 5th place on back it is three wide racing into the turn with the field getting through it with no issues.

    25 to go as four wide racing is afoot with Earnhardt Jr. on the high side around Montoya, Biffle, Logano and Menard for 12th. 24 to go as the action continues between Allmendinger, McMurray, Kurt Busch, Reutimann and Menard for 16th.

    21 to go as Johnson begins his fight for second on Stewart as they are one second back with Harvick, Newman and Bowyer closing in on the two.

    20 to go as Johnson grabs second. Neman and Bowyer for 4th, Earnhardt Jr. vs. Vickers for 11th.

    18 to go as Reutimann and McMurray fight for 20th.

    17 to go as Johnson closes in on Busch to a half second. Stewart and Bowyer fight for 3rd.

    16 to go Burton up to 9th.

    YELLOW FLAG 15 to go as Bobby Labonte blows his right front tire in the middle of one and two to head straight for the outside wall. Big damage on his right side. Kurt Busch is the lucky dog. Who is heading into pit road. We see a fire under Labonte’s car.

    Pit road is closed as Labonte’s car came to a stop at the entrance to pit road and the laps click away to 12 to go and we may get down to 10 to go before it opens up.

    11 to go and it is open as the top 7 stay out but the rest of the field heads in. We see Busch, Johnson, Stewart, Bowyer, Harvick, Newman and Edwards from the front stay out. We then see Cassill, Edwards, Kenseth and Burton round out the top ten.

    GREEN FLAG with 9 to go and Busch and Johnson for the first time today fighting for the lead into turn one.

    Johnson looked to have the lead, but Busch holds the outside to grab the lead.

    8 to go as Stewart slips back to 11th. Logano is busted for passing before the start finish line.

    7 to go as Kahne battles with Harvick for 4th.

    6 to go as Johnson hangs in on the rear of Busch.

    5 to go Bowyer slides between Vickers and Kahne.

    4 to go Johnson tries to get Busch on the front straight, but no dice. Turn three Johnson on the apron in turn three and four.

    3 to go as Johnson takes the lead in turn one. Harvick is all over Busch.

    2 to go as Johnson keeps throwing the block on Busch. Heading into turn one Busch overdirves the corner which allows Harvick to take second.

    WHITE FLAG and on the back stretch Harvick tapping on the back of Johnson as they headed to turn three. This causes Johnson to get out of shape where Harvick takes the outside line.

    The drivers swap positions and Johnson tries the cross over move but Harvick drops to Johnson’s inside as they head out of turn four where Harvick heads to the apron to lock Johnson back by a third of a car and take the win.

    Your unofficial top ten of the race is Harvick, Johnson, Kyle Busch, Kenseth, Newman, Edwards, Bowyer, Vickers, Kahne and Montoya.

    The race lasted for two hours and forty-five minutes. We saw 18 lead changes among 10 leaders. 25 drivers finished on the lead lap. 4 yellow flags were displayed during the race that lasted for 16 laps.

    Busch led the most laps with 151, Harvick 1 lap.

  • NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: HAS TWO NASCAR CHAMPIONS CAUGHT THE ACTING BUG?

    NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: HAS TWO NASCAR CHAMPIONS CAUGHT THE ACTING BUG?

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”256″][/media-credit]Don’t expect Hendrick Motorsports drivers, and NASCAR champions, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson to hang up their helmets in order to become movie and television stars. That’s not going to happen. But they did arrive in California early last week, prior to the NASCAR weekend at the Auto Club Speedway, to take care of some show business. Gordon was busy promoting his role in the upcoming movie “Cars 2” while Johnson was in front of the cameras to film an episode of the new television show “Breaking In.”

    “Cars 2” is a computer animated 3-D film that is a sequel to the critically acclaimed 2006 film “Cars.” Once again the film is being produced by Pixar Animation Studios with film distribution by Walt Disney Pictures. Director John Lasseter returned to work on the sequel along with co-director Brad Lewis. The film has a scheduled U.S. release date of June 24th. Gordon plays the role of Jeff Gorvette in the movie and is rubbing elbows with some impressive cast mates. The film stars Owen Wilson, Larry The Cable Guy, Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer.

    Last Friday Gordon talked about the movie, how much fun he had and the process of promoting its upcoming release. When asked if he had fun doing the movie, Gordon broke out in a big smile and said “oh my God, yeah, that was very cool. Again, it’s a small part but I became good friends with John Lasseter. He is a huge NASCAR fan, he loves this sport. You would be shocked to know how much he follows this sport. I think he was one of the most excited people when I won at Phoenix.”

    Gordon also went on the say that it was a pleasure to watch Lasseter in his natural environment directing the movie because he’s so good at what he does. “I totally understand how and why those movies are so good, so well done and so successful. He’s so passionate about it. I was directed by him while I was doing my stuff and the things that he got out of me was stuff i could have never gotten out of myself. It was really cool to be a part of this and see him do his job. I have really only seen very little clips of the movie. All I saw was very rough so I am really looking forward to seeing how it all comes together.”

    Part of being in a feature film includes promoting the project and that’s why Gordon arrived in southern California earlier than usual. He made a guest appearance on “Ellen” the extremely popular talk show hosted by comedian Ellen DeGeneres. Gordon said he was pleased with the appearance and added “I like Ellen a lot. I did her show one other time and really enjoyed it, it’s a good show.”

    But Gordon admitted that he was nervous appearing on the “Ellen” and had a similar feeling when he recently appeared on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno to promote the film. Explaining those TV jitters, Gordon said “you don’t know exactly what’s going to happen and what to expect. You kind of have an idea of where it may be headed, but you never know (for sure). They throw you a curve ball.”

    It’s was a little surprising that Gordon would be nervous appearing on a talk show. In the past he has co-hosted “Live With Regis and Kelly”, while filling in for Regis Philbin, a total of ten times. Also on his television resume is the fact that he’s the first, and likely only, NASCAR driver to host NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”

    When asked if he thought his children would recognize him in “Cars 2”, Gordon smiled and said “it’s funny because Ella sees me on TV and she hasn’t quite figured out why I’m on TV. She understands the race car and that’s what I do on the weekends. When I left she was like “good luck, go win the race,” all these cool things. But as far as seeing me on TV, she doesn’t quite grasp that. With the “Cars 2″ movie it’s not going to be my face, it’s going to be my voice so it’s going to be interesting to see if she recognizes my voice in that movie. If she doesn’t, I’ll be sure to tell here it’s me.”

    While Jeff Gordon was busy promoting his upcoming movie, his Hendrick Motorsports team mate, and fellow NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, Jimmie Johnson was also busy in Los Angeles with an acting role in the upcoming television series “Breaking In.”

    “Breaking In” is an upcoming series set to air on Fox as a mid season replacement and is currently being filmed at the Sony Studios. The half hour workplace comedy stars Christian Slater, who served as the Grand Marshall for Sunday’s Auto Club 400, along with Odette Yustman and Bret Harrison. Slater plays the role of Oz who leads an eclectic team of 20 something geniuses who work at a high tech security firm. They are assigned to break into computer security systems. The new series debuts on April 6th.

    On his episode Johnson plays a character that is perfectly suited for him: NASCAR champion driver Jimmie Johnson. He spent the majority of the day, last Wednesday, in Los Angeles filming the episode. Describing the plot Johnson said there’s a situation involving his race team and he goes to Christian Slater for help. “We have somebody that’s on our (team) radio during the races and they affect me in a way to where I lose the race so we go to them for help,” (no, it’s not Kevin Harvick on the radio). “The whole episode is kind of built around the team and the car and it’s going to be really cool, I’m glad to be a part of it,” he added.

    Johnson also said that the process of filming the show was a long day, although it really didn’t seem like it, adding “once we looked at our watches, when we got out of there, it took a full day.We spent a lot of time just doing the same thing over and over. They would change cameras and get angles and close ups of each person involved. Five or six hours went by and we taped a two minute piece just for that. It was a long day due to the different scenes we ended up taping. Johnson also noted that there are some genuine characters in this show and there was never a dull moment on the set adding “I had a great experience with it, it’s an edgy show.”

    When asked if he ever had any formal acting training Johnson replied “no training, trial and error. I guess the commercials we’ve shot have been my training ground of sorts. But this project is not Johnson’s first acting rodeo. A few years ago he spent several days filming an episode of the television show “Las Vegas.”

    Again, don’t expect either Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson to hang up their helmets to become actors anytime soon. However it does appear that they are having a lot of fun in front of the cameras and hanging out with their new friends while playing in the land of make believe.

  • Harvick wins the Auto Club 400 with a last lap pass

    Harvick wins the Auto Club 400 with a last lap pass

    [media-credit name=”Patrick McBride” align=”alignright” width=”273″][/media-credit]Kevin Harvick led one lap in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway and it was the most important one, the last one.

    Harvick passed Jimmie Johnson on the final turn to win his first race of the season and the 15th of his Sprint Cup career.

    “You know those guys (Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson) started racing and they got side-by-side and we were able to pull up in there. The more cycles that got on our tires, the better off we were. But I was really nervous about that last call staying out but it all worked out in our favor and we were able to make up ground.” Harvick said.

    Kyle Busch dominated the race by leading a race-high of 151 laps but he didn’t have the car after a late caution flag.

    “It’s just we give it up, you know. We gave the race away today, unfortunately. We seem to be losing the handle a little bit two runs from the end and especially that last set of tires.” Busch said.

    Johnson passed Busch for the lead with three laps remaining. But Harvick was right behind both drivers just waiting to make his move. Harvick also passed Busch and pulled right up on Johnson’s bumper, setting up his last lap pass for the win.

    “It reminded me of last year in the Spring race, you know. Just didn’t hold him off that time. Those tires made the difference. I knew he was coming, they said he was coming. If I could have got by the No. 18 maybe a lap sooner that might have been enough to give him the margin I needed. Just way loose. I was driving my butt off just trying to keep this Lowe’s Chevrolet up front but it didn’t pan out.” Johnson said.

    Denny Hamlin led 15 laps before having engine problems and eventually went out of the race. Joey Logano also had engine problems and had to switch engines before Sunday’s race. Joe Gibbs Racing has had engine problems in all five races this season.

    Busch finished third, Matt Kenseth fourth and Ryan Newman finished fifth.

    “It is a good day for us. You are always greedy and want more. I was the first guy on tires and I didn’t do probably as good a job as I needed to on the restart. It just took awhile to get there.” Kenseth said.

    “We had some bad pit stops and they we under green fortunately at least one time I should say for sure I shouldn’t say two. Tony Gibson made a great call staying out. Just really proud of the U.S. Army Chevrolet and everybody at Stewart-Hass Racing giving us the opportunity.” Newman said.

    Unofficial Race Results

    Auto Club 400, Auto Club Speedway
    =================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Pts.
    =================================
    1 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 47
    2 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 43
    3 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 43
    4 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 40
    5 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 40
    6 99 Carl Edwards Ford 38
    7 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 38
    8 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 36
    9 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 35
    10 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 35
    11 16 Greg Biffle Ford 33
    12 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 32
    13 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 32
    14 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 30
    15 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 29
    16 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 28
    17 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 27
    18 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 26
    19 0 David Reutimann Toyota 25
    20 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 24
    21 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 24
    22 6 David Ragan Ford 22
    23 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 21
    24 9 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 0
    25 20 Joey Logano Toyota 19
    26 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 18
    27 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 17
    28 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 16
    29 13 Casey Mears Toyota 15
    30 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 0
    31 34 David Gilliland Ford 13
    32 71 Andy Lally * Chevrolet 12
    33 32 Ken Schrader Ford 11
    34 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 10
    35 38 Travis Kvapil Ford 0
    36 37 Tony Raines Ford 8
    37 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 7
    38 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 6
    39 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 6
    40 60 Todd Bodine Toyota 0
    41 46 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 4
    42 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    43 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 1