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Category: NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series

  • Pocono Raceway Solar Project Excellence In Renewable Energy Winner

    POCONO RACEWAY SOLAR PROJECT

    EXCELLENCE IN RENEWABLE ENERGY WINNER

    Long Pond, PA (March 8, 2011) ― The Pocono Raceway Solar Project has been recognized as the winner of the 2011 Excellence in Renewable Energy Awards, Readers Choice Award. Of the hundreds of nominees, The Pocono Raceway Solar Project was one of four finalists selected by the Renewable Energy World Network of Editors. Pocono Raceway’s Solar Project was recognized for its achievements in developing the world’s largest solar-powered sports facility. The award was announced at the Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo in Tampa, Florida on March 8, 2011.

    The Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo has been a leading event in the renewable industry for eight years. Jim Callihan, President of RenewableEnergyWorld.com, said of the winner, “Pocono Raceway exemplifies the kind of company that will lead our economy to the next generation of energy excellence and make our planet a safer, cleaner place for the future.”

    The Pocono Raceway Solar Project, developed by enXco and Evolution Energies, and owned by Pocono Raceway is located along Long Pond Road adjacent to the storied Raceway. The installation consists of nearly 40,000 American made photovoltaic modules that will produce more than 72 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy over the next 20 years. The environmental attributes associated with the system will offset more than 3,100 Metric Tons of carbon dioxide annually and will generate enough power to provide the electricity needs for over 1,000 homes beyond the power needs of Pocono Raceway.

    “This is an important milestone for Pocono Raceway and our sport,” said Brandon Igdalsky, President of Pocono Raceway. “Pocono Raceway strongly believes in the NASCAR industry’s commitment to operate in a more environmentally responsible way and is proud to be the first race track to power our sport with clean, renewable sunlight. This solar power system, built with timber, steel and solar panels made in the U.S., satisfies all our Raceway’s energy needs, while helping to power local homes. This project demonstrates real sustainability and proves that any business that truly wants to go green can do it.”

    “The Tricky Triangle” is host to two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards races each year and added a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in 2010. Pocono Raceway’s 2.5-mile triangular design makes it truly unique. Pocono is the only track on the NASCAR circuit with three turns, three different radii and three variant degrees of banking. All that ensures our fans will enjoy some serious action, meanwhile presenting a competitive challenge to the world’s best drivers and their crew chiefs. Pocono strives to create a family atmosphere with increased focus on the Fan Experience. We are Pocono Raceway and this is “The Tricky Triangle.”

    In business for over 50 years, Pocono Raceway is family-owned and situated in the beautiful Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. We are located within 300 miles of one-third of the U.S. population and within 90 miles of New York City and Philadelphia. Pocono Raceway is and always will be an attractive option for NASCAR and race fans alike.

    Pocono Raceway is the world’s largest solar powered sports facility. The Raceway developed a 25 acre, three megawatt solar farm that provides the energy needs of the Raceway as well as adding electricity to the local power grid.

  • How our California NASCAR drivers fared in Las Vegas

    How our California NASCAR drivers fared in Las Vegas

    CALIFORNIA CONNECTION  

    Several NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers have California connections, including 5-time Champion Jimmie Johnson who hails from El Cajon.  Below is a roundup of how each Californian driver fared at the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  

    SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. (March 8, 2011) —  California drivers battle in the desert, as several California drivers made their mark in the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday.  Below is how the Golden State drivers competed in this past weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event:

    AJ Allmendinger          No. 43 Best Buy Ford                           Hometown: Los Gatos              9th in points 19th PLACE FINISH:  “I felt like overall we had a good car. We’d either be really good or we’d be a little bit loose and struggle on long runs. I felt like if we could have stayed green a long time we would’ve been really good. All in all, to start the season with an 11th and ninth place finish with as many wrecks as we’ve been in and not actually gotten wrecked is all right. We’ll take it.”  

    Jimmie Johnson           No. 48 Lowe’s / KOBALT Tools Chevrolet  Hometown: El Cajon                12th in points 16th PLACE FINISH:  “Yeah, we started pretty far off but we made some real smart adjustments and got the car real close and then at the end we had a couple of bad things go our way,” said Johnson. “A bad stop, and lost track position. We didn’t adjust on it on one stop when we needed to and just started slipping back at the end. But for a while we had momentum going our way and we worked our way to a decent finish and then had a little trouble late.”  

    Jeff Gordon                   No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet                      Hometown: Vallejo                   19th in points    

    36th PLACE FINISH:  “The day actually started out pretty good for the DuPont Chevrolet. We were further up toward the front than I thought we would be based on practice yesterday so pretty happy with that. But, the track kept tightening up and we just couldn’t stay up with it so we started falling back a little bit on those restarts. We were definitely were fighting a tight condition right there, but I certainly wasn’t expecting to blow a tire like that going into three. Thankful for the safer barrier here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and a safe race car.”  

    Kevin Harvick               No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet                 Hometown: Bakersfield            20th in points 17th PLACE FINISH: “Gil (Martin) and the guys on the Budweiser crew gave me a good car today. That speeding penalty killed us.  We got stuck back in traffic and just couldn’t go anywhere after that.”  

    David Gilliland              No. 34 Taco Bell Ford                           Hometown: Riverside               21st in points 

    37th PLACE FINISH:  “It is a tough day for our Taco Bell Ford Fusion. I don’t think we have seen a whole lot of tire issues through the weekend. That last lap we ran on the race track was as fast as we had run.  It was a hard hit, but I’m fine.”  

    Robby Gordon              No. 7 SPEED Energy Dodge                 Hometown: Orange                  27th in points 31st PLACE FINISH:  “We were supposed to be good to go to the finish (on fuel), but ran out and turned a 27th-place finish into a 31st. The 27th would have been a decent day as bad as our race car was. We just don’t have a handle on it. We haven’t caught on to what it takes with the new nose. When you run with the leaders, you can almost run their speed; when you run with the guys in the back, you run their speed. It’s all relevant to the cars you have around you.”  

    Casey Mears                No. 13 GEICO Toyota                           Hometown: Bakersfield               33rd in points 25th PLACE FINISH:  “Sure, it was a tough day, but once again this GEICO team never gave up. We all remained calm and just kept working hard trying to get the car right and get a decent finish.  We could’ve very easily quit and just took a 35th place finish, but that’s not in us.”  

    Mike Skinner                No. 32 Southern Pride Trucking Ford         Hometown: Susanville             44th in points 29th PLACE FINISH:  While Skinner is a veteran NASCAR driver, the Kobalt Tools 400 was Skinner’s second Sprint Cup race, where he qualified 29th and had a solid finish leading the 60th lap, finishing the race in 29th place.

    NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Driver Leaders:

    Position           Driver                                       Points 1                     

    TONY STEWART                       113 2                     

    KURT BUSCH                           113 3                     

    CARL EDWARDS                      106 4                     

    JUAN PABLO MONTOYA          106 5                     

    RYAN NEWMAN                       103 6                     

    PAUL MENARD                        96 7                     

    MARTIN TRUEX JR.                  95 8                     

    DENNY HAMLIN                        95 9                     

    A J ALLMENDINGER                94 10                    

    DALE EARNHARDT JR.            91 11                    

    MARK MARTIN                          91 12                    

    JIMMIE JOHNSON                    87

  • Country Music Recording Artist Jake Owen to Entertain Fans before the Kansas 400

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. (March 8, 2011)–In addition to the thrills on the track, race fans will experience an “Eight Second Ride,” coupled with a dose of “Yee-Haw,” when country superstar Jake Owen takes to the stage prior to the Kansas 400.  

    “Pre-race concerts have been very popular amongst our fans, particularly with the addition of our Track Pass benefit, allowing season ticket holders an up close look at these incredible performers,” said Kansas Speedway President Patrick Warren. “We feel that Jake’s entertaining show will be appreciated by our fans as we embark upon the first of two NASCAR Sprint Cup headlining weekends this year.”   Owen, a Florida native, is expected to perform hits from his first album, “Startin’ With Me,” and his sophomore effort, “Easy Does It.”

    The RCA Nashville recording artist is a CMA-ACM-Grammy nominated entertainer known for his southern style and charm, he cites Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams Jr. and Conway Twitty as those who inspire his music.  

    Tickets for the Kansas 400, which includes the Jake Owen pre-race concert, are available now. Individual tickets for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on June 4th are also on sale.  

    Kansas Speedway tickets are on sale now for all events during the 2011 season. Season tickets are available, starting at just $159 and include two NASCAR Sprint Cup races, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck race, the Kansas Lottery 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race and a Track Pass for each Sunday race event. Individual tickets are also on sale now for all events (June 4 O’Reilly Auto Parts 250, the June 5 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, the Oct. 8 Kansas Lottery 300 and the Oct. 9 Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway).

    Tickets for the Oct. 9 Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race start at $64 and are available. Fans can purchase tickets to Kansas Speedway by calling 866.460.RACE (7223) or by logging onto www.kansasspeedway.com.

  • Ryan Newman Schools Students in the Name of Science and Technology

    Ryan Newman Schools Students in the Name of Science and Technology

    Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet for Stewart Haas Racing and a Purdue engineering grad, took some time away from the big track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend to school some science, technology, engineering and math high school students in the art of remote control car racing.

     

    [media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”223″][/media-credit]Newman spanked the field of students with his remote control race car on a small track set up in the Neon Garage at the Speedway, all for the sake of furthering their education. The students were part of a new NASCAR partnership called Ten80 Education’s Student Racing Challenge.

     

    “I just really like the fact that it’s hands on,” Newman said of the Ten80 program. “There is a time to study, a time to read, and a time to apply all of those things to a piece of paper.”

    “But when you take the opportunity to do it hands on, as a group, you become a better team,” Newman continued. “Doing what they are doing with the ten scale cars is something that I did when I was their age.”

    “I had remote control cars,” Newman said. “I rebuilt them and tried to make them go faster too. I”m proud to represent the engineering group of the whole program, understanding the math and the physics and the science of it.”

    “It’s extremely important not just if they want to be involved in NASCAR but whatever else they want to do in their lives,” Newman said. “Racing a ten scale, remote control car will have an impact on the rest of their career, the rest of their lives and the rest of their professions.”

    Bobby Hutchins, Director of Competition at Stewart-Haas Racing, could not agree more with Newman.

    “Just seeing the enthusiasm on the students’ faces as we were out there talking with them was great,” Hutchins said. “We talked to them about there being jobs in our sport for engineering and technology people.”

    “I gave them a goal, to get through school, go to college and hopefully they can build their resumes and we can hire some of these kids into our race teams,” Hutchins said. “That’s a dream and a goal that Ryan and I had when we were kids a long time ago and we weren’t fortunate enough to have a program like Ten80.”

    “I hope these kids can come into our world.”

    The Racing Challenge uses a NASCAR-themed curriculum for students from grades six to twelve, simulating how big league race teams prepare for competition. In order to compete in the Ten80 Challenge, students had to build their own remote control race cars, similar to what their NASCAR counterpoints have to do every weekend with their stock cars.

    “We’re very exited about the partnership that we’ve just engaged in with Ten80 Education,” Jjim Obermeyer, NASCAR Managing Director of Brand and Consumer Marketing, said. “This is a partnership that helps NASCAR and Ten80 have success in getting into the schools to teach science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).”

    “The program itself uses remote control cars at one tenth ratio to the cars that we have on track that allow for a lot of the setups with down force and camber set up the same way our teams participate,” Obermeyer continued. “We felt this was a great way to introduce ourselves into the schools in a way that separates us from all the other leagues in sports. This helps teach a much-needed territory for our youth today.”

    Teri Stripling, President of Ten 80 Education, shared that the most important part of the program is the creation of heroes.

    “The math and science concepts that students are learning all over the country, everyone single one of them is illustrated in NASCAR every week,” Stripling said.”When the cars are out on the track, the students can look out and see engineers on war wagons, looking at data and making decisions. From an engineering perspective that is very exciting and creates a bunch of heroes for engineers.”

    Stripling also likened her progrm to the little league, creating a career ladder to the big league of NASCAR.

    “So if NASCAR is the big leagues, Ten80 is the little leagues, Stripling said. “NASCAR makes sense to get students interested in science, technology, engineering and technology.”

    The most eloquent spokesperson for the Ten80 program, however, was Kiera Fischer, a junior from Legacy High School right in Las Vegas, Nevada.

    “NASCAR is something that I enjoy dearly and I’ve been a huge fan,” Fischer said. “When I found out my school was going to participate in Ten80, I was so excited that we would get to be involved with NASCAR.”

    “We got to build our own cars and we act like our own little pit crew,” Fischer continued. “We design our cars to run on different tracks and see what is the best. It allows us to work on our cars in a way that is much more fun than a textbook.”

    Fischer’s teacher got her into the Ten80 program and she was most excited to be able to build her car with her team and race against one of her racing idols Ryan Newman.

    “Unfortunately we lost,” Fischer said. “But we’re hoping to get this thing going and next year, win.”

    “NASCAR is definitely where I want to be,” Fischer said. “My dream is to own my own race team.”

    And thanks to Ryan Newman, Fischer along with many of her other Ten80 compatriots, will no doubt have the opportunity to learn, grown and ultimately realize their own NASCAR dreams.

  • The Fastest Car Doesn’t Always Win, Tony

    After seeing Tony Stewart’s disgust at not winning the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, I had to wonder if this was the same two-time champion that has 426 starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Surely he knows that the fastest car doesn’t always win. I can give him four arguments for this in the year 2011.

    [media-credit id=41 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]The fastest car in the 2011 Daytona 500 was probably not Trevor Bayne. Daytona is such an aberration of a race that anyone could win, but judging by time trials, you could argue that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. or even Jeff Gordon had the fastest cars. They didn’t win. Trevor Bayne did.

    The fastest car at Phoenix last week was probably Carl Edwards. Edwards had problems early. Edwards didn’t win. Jeff Gordon won. He wasn’t the fastest car. And let us not forget the Nationwide Series race at LVMS on Saturday. Mark Martin was not the fastest car, but he won and even said it didn’t make any difference anyway. He had the trophy.

    I appreciate Tony’s will to win, and I can almost understand when, in post-race comments, he said second place “sucked”. That’s a trait of winners. I remember one old racer telling anyone who would listen to him that second place was just the first loser. That may be true, but it sure beats where one of the fastest cars in the field, the No. 16 of Greg Biffle finished. Some days the fastest don’t win.

    I also heard Tony say he gave the race away. Hardly. Pit strategy has always been a part of our sport. It was simply a case of Bob Osborne making a better move than Darian Grubb. It happens. the fastest car doesn’t always win. And who could tell who the fastest car was anyway? ONce a car got into clean air, it took off, so let’s just say the fastest car did win. At the time.

    Maybe it’s this new point system that has given these drivers the push to win at any cost. Maybe it’s the fragile business environment that teams face these days. Keeping a sponsor is paramount now. Whatever it is, I do hope it continues. I want to see a win as the ultimate thing to do on Sprint Cup race day. No more riding around for points. For too long, we’ve forgotten that fans come out to the track to see who wins, not how many points they accumulated on that day. Let’s continue that trend.

    CARL’S ROLL

    There is no doubt that Carl Edwards in on a roll these days. He’s won three of the last five Sprint Cup races (going back to the last two races of 2010), finished second at Daytona, and has run up front in all his Nationwide Series races. Now, he heads to Bristol Motor Speedway in two weeks, a track where he has been known to run very well. In fact, all the Fords are running up front (when they don’t break or have a problem), so the competition for the championship this year should be more lively. As it stands now, five-time champ Jimmie Johnson is12th, 26 points behind, Jeff Gordon is 19th, 39 points down, and Kevin Harvick is 20th, 42 points down. Before you talk about how close that is, remember the point deficit is the number of positions on the track the driver has to make up in a given race to tie the points leader. Or you might just multiply the deficit by 4 or 5 points to give you a better idea compared to the former point system. Of course, it’s too early to start counting points, but through three races, it does seem that a change in who is going to lead the points in the regular season is here. We’ll see.

    KUDOS TO MARCOS AMBROSE AND JUNIOR

    With all the troubles a lot of top drivers had this weekend, kudos must go out to Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Ambrose was fast all weekend and Earnhardt came in slow and was very quick at the end of the race. Ambrose finished fourth and Earnhardt eighth. It proves that Richard Petty Motorsports is on its way to being really competitive again with Ambrose at the controls, but it also shows that Earnhardt is making progress toward turning around a career. I congratulate both and hope it continues.

  • Viva Las Vegas!

    Viva Las Vegas!

    Viva Las Vegas! Sunday was a strong showing by the Sprint Cup boys. It wasn’t spectacular. It wasn’t boring. It was steady and strong racing. There were surprises. There were finishes that were expected. But the biggest surprise was probably the strong and dominating performance by two time series champion, Tony Stewart.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Going into the day, the odds on favorite was Matt Kenseth whose record setting qualifying lap was followed up by blistering fast practice speeds. Virtually all of the odds makers chose drivers of blue ovals to dominate and win the race.

    When the green flag dropped nothing could have been further from the truth. A Chevy bowtie lead the way for 163 laps with Tony Stewart showing the prowess he is known for in the cockpit of about anything with wheels. But a pit stop mistake, when an air hose curled, causing him to remove equipment from the pit box and then a late race 4 tire change would relegate the champ to a 2nd place finish.

    Carl Edwards was lurking. All day long he was lurking. He showed strength and speed at times but never quite showed his hand. He stayed just close enough to stay in touch with the leader. He could see him. He could watch him. He was at times faster than him. But he was bidding his time. When the final stop came, it was a two tire change and one can of fuel that would put Carl out in the lead by almost 2 seconds over the then 3rd place Stewart.

    Stewart would close but ultimately finish 1.24 seconds behind Edwards and his Scotts Ford Fusion. “The key to winning today was my team,” Edwards said. “These guys are unbelievable. It means a lot coming off Phoenix. I went home last week and didn’t know how things were going to go. You don’t get a good race car like that often. We had another one today.”

    A very disappointed Tony Stewart said, “We just gave it away,” he said. “We shot ourselves in the foot two weeks in a row.”

    Other surprises included a fiery explosion of an engine by Kyle Busch taking him out of contention on lap 108. A blown right front tire that ended last weeks winner Jeff Gordon’s day at lap 193. Neither driver was injured.

    Notable performances belonged to Marcos Ambrose who finished 4th in his Richard Petty Motorsports Stanley Tools Ford; a strong finish and the first top 5 for the Australian born driver on an oval race track.

    In 10th was possibly the feel good story of the day, Brian Vickers. After having to lay off most of last year with blood clots and heart surgery, Vickers finished a strong 10th.

    Once again, the National Guard Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr. turned in a very strong and promising performance. After starting the race in the 30th position, Earnhardt Jr. rallied to an 8th place finish and showed signs of breaking out of the slump that has claimed him since June of 2008. Earnhardt Jr., who hadn’t posted back to back top 10 finishes since July of 2010, stated his run was the first time in a long time in which he felt he could “beat the guys I was around.” It boosted his confidence – an often discussed subject for Earnhardt Jr. – and he admitted thinking that his relationship with Letarte was somewhat of a last chance.

    “Failure at this point is completely unacceptable,” he said. “I’ve got to put it all out on the line to make this work, because if it don’t work with him, I’ve got nowhere else to go. I’ve got no other options, really – other than to race myself into oblivion with my own team and Tony Jr and them guys.”

    “I want this to work. I want to race Cup. I want to be in the COT the rest of my career, and I want to be successful.”

    The glitz and glamor of Vegas gives way to a week off for the Sprint Cup teams. And maybe it’s a good thing for some to get their tempers under control before they enter the grand coliseum of racing at Bristol. I am of course referring to the altercation between Robby Gordon and Kevin Conway. The altercation it is believed came about as a result of tensions caused by financial lawsuits on both coasts involving Gordon, Conway and Conway’s sponsor Extenze. Witness’ say the tension came to ahead Friday afternoon in the garage when Robby and Kevin came to blows physically. Although the stories vary in what actually occurred, the one thing for certain is that Conway filed a criminal complaint following the altercation and went to NASCAR. NASCAR immediately took action putting Robby Gordon on probation. It has still to be announced how long that probation will be for.

    This week was not the most exciting racing we have seen. It was however steady old school racing. There were adjustments and strategies playing out all over the track. The fastest and best car didn’t win the race. But the car that did win the race wasn’t a fluke win. He was there all day. He earned it. He raced for it. And for those that worship in the tabernacle of the blue oval, it was too long coming.

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

    Congratulations to Carl Edwards and the Scotts Fusion team of Roush Fenway Racing. Congratulations also to Mark Martin and his Turner Racing team on their NNS victory on Saturday. Also Congratulations to Danica Patrick, and her Go Daddy Chevrolet JR. Motorsports team for making history as the highest placing woman ever in a NASCAR 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.

  • Martinsville Speedway Grub-N-Rub Includes Great Food, Great Racing And Great Drivers

    Martinsville Speedway Grub-N-Rub Includes Great Food, Great Racing And Great Drivers

    Grub-N-Rub Includes Great Food, Great Racing And Great Drivers  

    MARTINSVILLE, VA (March 7, 2011) – Fans can get the best racing and best food Martinsville Speedway has to offer with SPEED TV’s Grub-N-Rub package for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 weekend.

    The bargain-priced offer from SPEED includes a ticket for the Kroger 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on April 2, a ticket for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 on April 3 and admission to a breakfast that will include appearances by NASCAR Camping World Truck series drivers along with SPEED personalities.

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series drivers set to appear at Grub-N-Rub include Brendan Gaughan, Max Papis, Austin Dillon and Joey Coulter.

    “SPEED has put together a great fan package with the Grub-N-Rub deal,” said Martinsville Speedway president W. Clay Campbell. “You get two days of great racing, lots of good food and some up close time with drivers. It’s a pretty amazing deal.”

    The $85 price tag, $30 for children 18 and under, includes a reserved ticket in the Bill France Tower for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 and general admission seating for the Kroger 250. It also includes a breakfast in Martinsville Speedway’s hospitality area at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

    Gaughan, Papis, Dillon and Coulter will all make appearances during the breakfast for a question and answer session. They will be joined by SPEED personalities.

    The SPEED Grub-N-Rub package may be purchased by calling 877.RACE.TIX.

    Tickets for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 on Sunday, April 3, the Kroger 250 on Saturday, April 2 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Truck Series Practice Day on Friday, April 1 are on sale and can be purchased by calling 1.877.RACE.TIX. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.martinsvillespeedway.com.   Tickets for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 start at just $25.

  • HOORAHS AND WAZZUPS: WHO CASHED IN AND WHO CRAPPED OUT IN LAS VEGAS

    HOORAHS AND WAZZUPS: WHO CASHED IN AND WHO CRAPPED OUT IN LAS VEGAS

    During the previous weekend at Las Vegas we witnessed the continuation of Roush inspired horsepower, we loved the sight of a well loved driver’s return to a Nationwide Series victory lane, we watched a huge improvement in an Indy car driver’s transition to stock cars and two drivers who weren’t getting along late last year really aren’t getting along now. With those thoughts in mind, let’s begin with:

    HOORAH to Carl Edwards for winning Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 marking his 19th NASCAR Sprint Cup career win and his second win at Las Vegas. Edwards and his Roush Fenway Racing team has now won three of their last five races after winning the final two events of the 2010 season.

    Edwards gets another HOORAH for his decision to donate his winner’s trophy to the Air Force’s Thunderbirds flying team headquartered at nearby Nellis Air Force Base. Edwards went on a high flying ride along with the Thunderbirds last Thursday and said “they taught me a lot about self discipline and about believing in what you can do. I can’t thank them enough.”

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

    WAZZUP with Tony Stewart’s pit road woes that cost the best car on the track a win at Las Vegas? During the course of a lap 155 pit stop, an air hose hung up on the back of the car and Stewart drug the impact wrench attached to it when he left his pit stall. The result was a return to pit road to serve a penalty and a huge loss in track position. The ensuing stop forced the team to only put on two tires in an effort to improve track position. Unfortunately that decision forced the team to take on four tires during their final stop, with 32 laps to go, due to extremely worn left side rubber. Edwards, on the other hand, had to option of only putting on two tires during his final stop and that turned out to be his winning edge.

    Stewart put on a hard charge to catch the new race leader but time simply ran out. After the race he came on the radio and said “somebody please tell me how we lost this race today.” The consolation here is the fact that Stewart left Las Vegas tied for the lead in the points standings with Kurt Busch.

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

    On the subject of frustrating pit stops, WAZZUP with the fuel issues that plagued driver Greg Biffle? His Roush Fenway Ford was considered a pre race favorite but a pit road miscue involving the new vented gas can turned his day in Las Vegas into an afternoon loaded with anger and frustration. There appeared to be a hang up in the gas can’s air vent tube which caused a long stop and a loss of track position. It also turned out that the tank wasn’t quite full. When Biffle returned to pit road for his next stop on lap 148, he literally coasted to his pit stall completely out of gas. There was yet another miscue with the gas can leaving the team to wonder if, again, the tank was completely full.

    An understandably angry Biffle, who was regulated to a 28th place finish three laps down, came over the radio and said “I hope all of you are feeling my pain, this is ridiculous.”

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

    WAZZUP with the Las Vegas luck suffered by pre race, and home town, favorite Kyle Busch last Sunday. The “Rowdy” one found himself having to dig out of an early race hole after a blown right front tire forced an unscheduled pit stop.

    That turned out to be the least of his problems. It’s very rare for Joe Gibbs Racing to suffer a blown engine. But Busch’s engine blew big time on lap 107 while belching smoke inside of the car. A despondent driver came over the radio and said “there’s flames in my face, load it up let’s go to the house.” Busch started the race leading the Sprint Cup points standings. His 38th place finish on Sunday caused a free fall to 14th in the points.

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

    HOORAH to NASCAR for their special effort towards honoring the late, and legendary, Wendell Scott during the Las Vegas weekend. Now regarded as a true pioneer in the history of NASCAR, Scott was the first African-American to officially enter a NASCAR Sprint Cup event, in Spartanburg-South Carolina, back on March 4, 1961. Scott advanced his legacy a giant step further on December 1, 1963 when he became the first African-American to win a NASCAR race in Jacksonville-Florida. NASCAR celebrated the 50th anniversary of Scott’s entry into the sport by issuing a special decal that was displayed on their Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series cars last weekend. His daughter, Deborah Scott, was at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to participate in this special remembrance.

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

    HOORAH to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for a well planned fan promotion that led to Sunday’s Sprint Cup race being a sellout. The fan base for Saturday’s Nationwide Series was also quite good. This lends additional credence to the popular theory that says Las Vegas deserves a second NASCAR weekend on the schedule. During the Fox Sports broadcast Darrell Waltrip said he would like to see a second Cup event in Las Vegas as the final race of the season which would lead right into champion’s week. I find myself agreeing with that.

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

    HOORAH to Mark Martin for his triumphant return to a Nationwide Series victory lane after winning Saturday’s Sam’s Town 300 in Las Vegas. Granted, he had some help when Brad Keselowski crashed on the final lap, but Martin put himself in position for the win by doing an outstanding job of conserving fuel during the latter stages of the race. Martin scored his 49th career win in the series.

    A HOORAH also goes to Turner Motorsports for scoring their first ever series win and backing that play with a one-two finish after Justin Allgaier finished second. Their other teams, driven by Jason Leffler and Reed Sorenson, also had strong finishes of ninth and 11th. Turner Motorsports also left Las Vegas with Sorenson leading the series’ championship points standings with team mates Leffler and Allgaier ranked third and fifth.

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

    WAZZUP with the horrible racing luck experienced by Brad Keselowski, and Roger Penske Racing, so far in the Nationwide Series? The trend started with the season opener at Daytona where Keselowski finished 30th following a crash. The news wasn’t any better a week later in Phoenix where the team finished 34th also due to a crash.

    But the absolute crushing blow came last weekend at Las Vegas. First off a practice crash forced the team to roll out their back up car. During the race Keselowski had to make up ground due to a pit road speeding penalty and then later just missed being caught up in someone else’s wreck by a matter of inches. Keselowski took command of the Sam’s Town 300 on lap 144. It appeared that he had removed the monkey on his back and was on the way to a win. That’s when the right front tire blew and sent his Penske Dodge hard into wall on the white flag lap. However the driver does deserve a HOORAH for limping his way under the checkers for a third place finish.

    Doing a little bit of math, that’s four wrecked race cars since February 19th. This is not a reflection on driver and team performance levels. This is just plain bad luck.

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

    WAZZUP with “Rowdy” Busch’s bonsai restart with 70 laps left in the race? During the course of a double file restart, Busch was lined up on the outside and then dived low all the way to the bottom of the apron in an effort to charge to the front. All of a sudden he moved up on the track and came perilously close to Brad Keselowski who barely had time to react to give him some racing room. Busch wound up sliding his Toyota across the infield grass and parked his car nose first into the inside turn one wall. After leading 81 laps of the race, a sure fire favorite to win had to take the car behind the wall and settle for a 30th place finish.

    However, Busch does deserve a HOORAH for taking full responsibility for the incident by saying “I screwed up, that’s why I run these, (Nationwide Series), races so I can learn something for tomorrow.”

    WAZZUP with Josh Wise and his wild ride through the infield grass? The Kobalt Tools 400 was barely underway when Wise’s Ford went sailing through the infield with such force all four wheels left the ground. It was a good thing Wise wasn’t playing golf. It would have taken forever to replace all of those divots.

    WAZZUP with the grass being there in the first place? I’ll agree that the finely manicured lawn makes for some nice looking landscaping and it really brings out the color of those custom painted corporate logos. But when a race car slides into that grass it’s like driving on ice and frequently a recipe for a major wreck. Perhaps it’s time, in the name of safety, for all tracks on the NASCAR schedule to place a layer of asphalt over the pretty grass.

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

    HOORAH to Danica Patrick for a job well done in the Sam’s Town 300. After going two laps down early in the event, she drove her way to a fourth place, lead lap, finish. The effort made her the first ever female driver to score a top five finish in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race. She’s also the highest finishing female driver in a NASCAR national touring series race. The previous record dates back to October 2, 1949 and was set by Sara Christian who finished fifth in a Sprint Cup event in Heidlberg-Pennsylvania.

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

    WAZZUP with that altercation between drivers Robby Gordon and Kevin Conway? On Saturday morning NASCAR announced that Gordon had been placed on immediate probation for an unspecified period and the decision was based on what they termed an “emergency action.” Robin Pemberton, NASCAR Vice President of Competition, said the precise term of Gordon’s probation would be announced on Tuesday. Conway was not placed on probation, but Pemberton did say that “Conway may not get a free pass either.” He also noted that no NASCAR official actually witnessed the incident and that it was Conway himself who notified them of the situation.

    There has been no real comments from anyone regarding this alleged altercation but it is known that Conway has filed an official complaint with the Las Vegas Police who are reported to be interviewing possible witnesses to determine if the investigation will be turned over to the Clark County District Attorney’s office who will decide if official charges will be filed.

    The hard feelings between these two drivers stems from last year when Robby Gordon Motorsports provided Conway, and his sponsor Extenze, with a car to drive for seven races. Gordon has since filed a California based lawsuit against Extenze citing non payment of their sponsor bill. Meanwhile Conway has filed a North Carolina based suit claiming Gordon owes him $27,000 in bonus money for winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year title. It’s believed that the presence of these dual lawsuits has made both drivers hesitate to officially comment on what happened last Friday in the Las Vegas garage. However, Gordon did reportedly state that he would pay Conway the $27,000 when he receives his $690,000 from Extenze. Gordon did acknowledge that there was a heated confrontation with Conway but said it was verbal.

    This incident has already launched a debate that raised the question why isn’t this incident covered by the “have at it boys” policy implemented by NASCAR early last year? There also seems to be a question regarding why wasn’t Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton punished for their nationally televised fight last year during the Texas race? The answers to those questions may come when we finally learn exactly what happened between Robby Gordon and Kevin Conway.

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

    Here’s some HOORAHS for this week’s NASCAR notable quoteables. The first two goes to the always fun Kyle Petty and some clever “Twitter” messages. A fan sent Petty a “Tweet” asking him if he thought there was a way for NASCAR to sanction a 24 hour endurance race. Petty replied “yes, it’s called Pocono.”

    In a second “Tweet” Petty wrote “if I were a driver still, in every interview I would try to work in a Charlie Sheen quote, just saying.”

    Carrying that line of humor one step further was Fox Sports’ NASCAR host Chris Meyers. Part of the network’s pre race show is the popular “gas and go” segment with Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond. Making it a point to let us know that they had not seen the questions in advance, Meyers said “these questions were locked up, much like Charlie Sheen’s sanity.”

    The absolute final WAZZUP of the week goes to ESPN NASCAR analyst Brad Daugherty for his efforts to sing Elvis Presley’s “Viva Las Vegas.” It was so bad that I’m amazed one of those famous Las Vegas Elvis impersonators didn’t charge into the ESPN booth to make him stop.

  • Bayne, Wood Brothers Pleased With Their Performance at Las Vegas

    Bayne, Wood Brothers Pleased With Their Performance at Las Vegas

    Although the final result didn’t truly reflect it, Trevor Bayne and the Wood Brothers left Las Vegas Motor Speedway looking a lot like the driver and team that won the Daytona 500 two weeks ago.

    Early in the Kobalt Tools 400, Bayne had driven his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion from his 16th starting position up to as high as third place and was giving all appearances of having a top-five car for the remainder of the race. But a penalty for speeding as he entered pit road on a Lap 56 pit stop put Bayne nearly two laps down.

    Undaunted, the rookie driver restarted the race in 32nd place and eventually worked his way back into position to get the free pass that goes to the first driver not on the lead lap when a caution flag flies. On Lap 150 the caution flew with Bayne in the free pass position, and the No. 21 Ford Fusion was back on the lead lap.

    Team co-owner Eddie Wood noted that Bayne and the team didn’t have to resort to gambles like taking the wave-around option. Instead they made up the lost ground through hard driving under mostly green-flag racing conditions.

    “Trevor drove his way back onto the lead lap,” Wood said. “He did it on his own.”

    Once back on the lead lap, Bayne quickly moved back into the top 20, but with 48 laps remaining, he bounced off the wall after contact with Matt Kenseth. The damage to his car ended his forward march, and he had to settle for a 20th-place finish.

    “We were just biding our time after we got back on the lead lap, but the 17 got into us and it flat-sided the car,” Wood said.

    Still Bayne and the Woods left Las Vegas pleased with their performance.

    “I am proud of our Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion team today,” Bayne said. “They did a great job to keep us in the race, get us back on the lead lap.

    “I am just really proud of my team today. We will learn from it and head to Bristol in a couple of weeks, and I am really looking forward to that.”

    Wood pointed out that the team moved up one spot in the car owner standings to 18th and that the team had a strong run on an intermediate track, which is where the Woods historically have had their best runs.

    And he said it was encouraging to see his Daytona 500-winning driver and team quickly bounce back from a disappointing outing at Phoenix the week before.

    “This kind of evens things out,” he said.

    Bayne and the Wood Brothers will enjoy a NASCAR off- weekend before returning to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Jeff Byrd 500 on March 18-20.

  • Ford Las Vegas Post-Race (Edwards Presser)

    Ford Las Vegas Post-Race (Edwards Presser)

    CARL EDWARDS PRESS CONFERENCE

    YOU HAVE TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT HOW THE 99 TEAM IS PERFORMING. “We have been performing really well and it is just a joy to drive these race cars right now. You look at the way we qualified and ran, the Fords are back and are strong. It is due to the work of these two guys next to me and the guys back at the shop like Robbie Rizer. Everyone has worked really well together. It is great to drive these race cars.”

    BOB CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW THE TEAM PERFORMED FROM YOUR STANDPOINT? “I think the team performed well but I don’t believe they performed their best. There is more to come. They did do what they had to do at the right time which I was very happy with but I think they will get even better from here. I believe that all the programs probably will. I know there is more potential in the crew that goes over the wall for me and the crew that works on these race cars so I am very excited about that.”

    JACK, YOU MUST BE PLEASED WITH HOW THE 99 TEAM FINISHED 2010 AND THE START TO 2011. “We always look forward to coming to Las Vegas and I wish we could come a couple times instead of once a year. Las Vegas has been good to us and the track is comfortable for Carl and all the guys. The team worked especially hard over the winter on things that they knew were strengths and made them stronger and they worked extra hard to fix things that were lacking. Right now as I look at our program, except for the judgments we made and running over things on the race track our Fords have never run better. I can’t wait to see how things unfold. I am really excited about what we have in front of us.”

    BOB, WERE YOU TAKING NOTES WHEN TONY TOOK TWO TIRES AND RAN AWAY FROM EVERYBODY? WAS THAT A SIGNAL TO YOU THAT TWO TIRES WOULD WORK? “It definitely didn’t hurt the decision making process to see them run extremely well with two tires. I guess I was taking notes. Their car was very good regardless of four or two and I thought our only opportunity was to leap-frog them on the track and hope we could hold them off.”

    CARL, HAVE YOU EVER STARTED THE SEASON AS WELL AS THIS BEFORE? “This is the best start to a season that I have ever had and you know Daytona could have gone any way. That was a lot of luck involved in our good finish at Daytona. Phoenix was a very strong performance from everyone but we had bad luck there. I felt today we had a solid top three car all day. Those are three different types of tracks with success on all three so I am really excited about the season. This is a great start.”

    CARL, OVER THE LAST 10 DAYS YOU HAVE JUMPED OFF A HUGE BUILDING, FLOWN WITH THE THUNDERBIRDS AND NOW WON A CUP RACE. “That is a really great week. I have had a blast. I don’t know what I am going to do this weekend (laughter). I really had a lot of fun and I am really excited to be able for our whole team to be able to give that trophy to the Thunderbirds. They were inspiring to hang around with.”

    CARL, WE DIDN’T SEE MUCH PASSING OUT THERE. IS THAT THE NATURE OF THE BEAST OR SHOULD SOMETHING BE DONE TO PUMP UP THE ACTION? “I can tell you from the drivers seat that there are no more exciting tracks to drive on. This place has a lot of character. You slide the car at 200 mph through the corner and there are multiple grooves. I think striving to deliver a product that is impossible to deliver in auto racing is foolish. I think we need to be NASCAR. We need to be what we are. Some days we will have races that are more single file and some days we won’t. The true sport of auto racing is making your car fast, driving in perfectly and having the engine have tons of power. I think the fans can appreciate that without having to be in a giant pack with the restrictor plates. I think the savvy fans know what is going on.”

    CARL, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 2008 AND RIGHT NOW? “We are making it through tech aren’t we (laughter). If we can come out of here with the points lead or be third or whatever we are in points now will be spectacular. We did not mean to cheat that day (laughter). I guess the biggest difference between then and now from my perspective is that I feel like I have a better understanding of how the sport works. I am more prepared to use these fast race cars and do a better job to try to win this championship. That is something Jack and I have talked a lot about over the years. There is definitely a process to becoming the best you can be at this level because all the guys are so savvy. I feel I am in a better position to get all the points we can and all the wins we can this year.”

    WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN TONY WAS PENALIZED AND WAS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOUR ENGINE WITH FIVE TO GO? “We will find out when we take the engine apart but I definitely heard a different sound at the end of the straight away. We are turning these engines really hard and I was trying to be careful with our engine all day. It very well could be just the five laps to go jitters when you are leading but we will find out about that. With Tony, the first thing that went through my mind was that we would see him again in a minute because that car was spectacular. He did a great job driving it. That was a gift for us to have that penalty. In the end it really put him in a position where he had to take two to get to the lead. He had to take four when we took two. It may have been the difference in the race there.”

    DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS FOR THE SPANISH FOLLOWERS OF NASCAR? “Buenos dias, gracias, me coche is muy rapido and much denero today (laughter). I took a lot of Spanish folks but I did not pay attention.”

    HOW HAS JUAN PABLO ASCENDED IN NASCAR OVER THE YEARS? “It was a big moment when Juan came to NASCAR. I still remember where I was when they made that announcement. I was in Phoenix going to an Aflac or Scott’s suite and it was on one of the TV’s and I thought, ‘Juan Montoya is coming to race here?’ and it blew my mind that he would make that jump. He is a very fierce competitor. When he is running fast like that we aren’t going to help him out. He did a really good job today and did a good job not only of driving the race car but he raced me really clean. We really had to battle for the lead right there when I came out of the pits. I got by him on the outside. He got really loose and gave me enough room. I really enjoy racing with him lately.”

    DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU GOT SOMETHING BACK TODAY AFTER PHOENIX? “I really do but that is not how this sport works. When you are down it will just keep beating you down sometimes. It is amazing that it worked out this well. It isn’t something you can count on you know. It was a long week. I thought long about Phoenix this week, just because of how great our car was. You don’t get cars like that very often. Jack told me not to expect that at Vegas. This is a true gift.”

    HOW HAS FATHERHOOD CHANGED YOU AS A RACER? “I don’t know if it has changed me as a racer or not. I don’t really think about my wife and daughter when I am in the race car. It definitely has been the best thing that has happened to me in my life. It has changed my priorities a little bit. It hasn’t made any less important but there is one big priority that is moved to my front and that is my family. I am truly blessed. It is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me in my life.”

    JACK, DOES THIS SHOW THAT YOU GUYS ARE READY TO TAKE CHARGE AND THIS IS YOUR SEASON? “There were a lot of good cars out there. Tony certainly surprised me a little bit. I didn’t realize he would be as good as he turned out to be and the 42 car was really good. The thing I worried about was the fact that we had been so good at 1.5 mile race tracks that it is assumed we would be a factor and we concentrate on speedways more than we ever have and have tried to test for the short track everywhere we could. I was afraid the luster would be off the 1.5 mile. That is the reason why I cautioned Carl that we ran great at Phoenix but don’t assume that means we can keep it going. Based on the way we qualified it looks like it is still there. You look at the way you spend your time as a race team doing your testing, you have to work with your athletes to get your pit stops right and you have to work with your brakes and engine and cooling system and aero. In today’s world you use software and simulations and all the data acquisition and data reduction and analysis. If you have any of those things let you down it will affect you dramatically. As we have concentrated on the things we were weak on it has been my fear that we would miss something on the things we were assumed to be good at. I feel more confident on Atlanta and other 1.5 mile tracks since we have in a long time.”

    JACK, GREG BIFFLE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT A DEVICE ABOUT HELPING WITH THE FUEL OVER HIS RADIO, CAN YOU COMMENT ON THAT? “I didn’t hear what Greg said. We will have plenty of time to talk about it though. He was frustrated that they didn’t get it full of gas. There is a big challenge for these teams with the new fuel system because it doesn’t fuel consistently from the bottom of the tank to the top. We can get the first gallon or two out of the can at two gallons a second and I am not sure but it is probably twice that long to get the last couple gallons out. For everybody that has to have a finger in this thing there is a learning curve that is not perfect. You need to know what your fuel mileage is before you have a reason to understand what it is and you need to be able to guess correctly about it. My guess is that we didn’t get the 16 cars gas tank full and either it had something to do with the exchange on the cans or maybe the jack man let the car down to early. Either way, we had some kind of a disconnect there that jeopardized Greg’s result. Early in the race the 99 was obviously a good Ford but early in the race the 16 looked every bit the measure of it. Greg was really frustrated but we will get that all calmed down and look at what happened there and look at all the things going right with Carl’s program and put it all together. As Bob said, it takes us longer to change the cans and we weren’t as slick as we should have been with our fueling operation even though we had a good result today.”

    BUT ARE YOU TRYING TO COME UP WITH A DEVICE TO LET YOU KNOW HOW MUCH FUEL GET’S INTO THE TANK OR SOMETHING SO YOU KNOW SINCE THERE IS A BIG UNKNOWN OUT THERE? “I am sure it is Bob’s intention to comply with the spirit and the written things that are involved with the rules within the parameters we are given we will work as hard as we can.”

    CARL, IS BRISTOL ON YOUR MIND? “Yeah it is already on my mind a little bit. It is going to be a wild race and always is. I believe the reasons we were good at Phoenix we will be pretty good at Bristol but you never know. We have won I think two races there. We have had good runs and had terrible days there too. I think that everyone goes through Bristol and hopes they have a good points day and a chance to win.”

    YOU DIDN’T WANT ANYONE TO PICK YOU FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP PRIOR TO THIS YEAR AFTER WHAT HAPPENED IN 2008. ARE YOU READY TO TALK CHAMPIONSHIP NOW? Jack Roush – “It is way too early to be thinking championship. One of the two races before Homestead in the fall I encouraged everyone to be as conservative as we might be if it were in our grasp. We can’t make a misstep and keep our eye on the ball. We can’t squander the opportunity we have now that we are running better than we did last year. It certainly feels more like 2008, even better.”

    DID YOU ENGINE PERFORM WELL DOWN THE STRETCH OR WAS IT JUST AN AUDIBLE THING? “It was an audible thing and I lifted off the throttle when I heard it. What I was doing the last few laps was going ¾ of the way on half throttle. I never turned it hard again after I heard that noise. It could have just been the win bumping the car differently but I wasn’t going to take any chances. That was with about five or six to go. I was worried there could be another restart and thinking of how to protect that engine the best I could. It is probably fine. Nobody had any trouble, none of our guys, so it is probably just fine. The clock is ticking you know with six to go and five to go. It is another dimension of time and it is very slow. A lot goes through your mind.”

    WAS BOB COUNTING DOWN LAPS FOR YOU OR KEEPING HIS MOUTH SHUT? “I can count well enough to do that myself but with 20 to go you think; I wish you guys could have a microphone to hear what drivers are thinking. With 20 to go I am planning on a caution and what to do on a restart. You have to keep your mind busy because if you start thinking you are going to win the race then it all goes to hell. The key is to focus on what you have to do. We do this to win. We do this for that victory. When it is right there within your grasp, that is the toughest time to stay the course and stay focused.”

    HOW DID THE NEW NOSE IMPACT THE RACE TODAY? BOB OSBORNE – “It is hard for me to comment on how it affected the race. I don’t really want to step out on that. Adjustability and how the car reacted on the race track seemed to be okay. Carl could probably comment on whether it was more influential in traffic this year than last year but the car responded well to changes I thought.

    CARL EDWARDS – “We were still a little tight in the center of the corner. It wasn’t like we had a ton more front grip or something. The car drove well like it did at Homestead but there are still things we can do to make it better.”

    DO YOU HAVE A PROCESS OF WHAT CHASSIS YOU ARE GOING TO USE WEEK TO WEEK? BOB OSBORNE – “I was going to make a joke and say we just wing it, but I have written down already on a piece of paper what chassis we will use form now to the end of the season. That will change if we have damage but I have a plan for the entire season.”

    CARL, MARCOS WANTS YOU TO JUMP OFF THE STRATOSPHERE AGAIN BUT WITH A HELMET CAM THIS TIME AND ON LIVE TV, AND JACK, DID HE RUN THIS BY YOU BEFORE HE DECIDED TO LEAP 800 FEET INTO SPACE? JACK ROUSH – What did you do? CARL EDWARDS – “I jumped off the Stratosphere. You may be the only person in all of Las Vegas that doesn’t know I jumped off the Stratosphere. It’s a tall building downtown.” JACK ROUSH: “Were you in a balloon?” CARL EDWARDS: “No, I was tied to a cable. You can see Jack is really concerned about me.” (Laughter.) JACK ROUSH: “A couple years ago, or maybe it was last year, he broke his foot playing Frisbee, and he started to tell me how he thought he could do it and how he thought it was going to be all right, and I really didn’t care how painful it was. I can’t imagine what my impression would be if you cracked your head or something.” CARL EDWARDS: “Yeah, each time I dislocated think thumb, it was aimed backwards, then I broke my foot, and each time it was pretty much the same from Jack; if you’re going to be dumb, you’ve got to be tough. That’s all he said. You don’t get a lot of sympathy from Jack. I don’t think there were going to be any minor injuries if something went wrong with this one.” (Laughter.)

    CARL, IN ADDITION TO JUST WINNING, TO WANTING TO WIN, DO YOU VIEW WINNING MORE IMPORTANT FOR THE BONUS POINTS WHEN YOU ENTER THE CHASE, OR THE FACT THAT IF YOU DO GET A COUPLE OF WINS HERE, YOU CAN MAYBE EXPERIMENT WITH SOME THINGS KNOWING THAT YOU’D HAVE THAT WILD CARD TO FALL BACK ON? “I hadn’t thought of the bonus points in the Chase, but I did think a lot about the wild card position. A lot of people knock the new points system saying they didn’t put enough emphasis on winning. But when you look at it from the wild card perspective, the bonus points in the Chase, those two things alone make winning extremely important right now. So for us, the thing I’m most excited about this win or that makes me most excited about it is that we’ve got one in the column, in that win column already, and if we do well enough, maybe win one or two more, we’ll be in a position to have that wild card no matter what happens at Bristol or Talladega, some of these tracks that we may not be in control of our own destiny, so it’s good.”