Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Category: Race Central

Race Central Stories

  • Johnny Sauter Beats Crafton to Win Careers for Veterans 200 at Michigan

    Johnny Sauter Beats Crafton to Win Careers for Veterans 200 at Michigan

    After taking a splash of fuel with seven laps to go, Johnny Sauter would beat his ThorSport teammate Matt Crafton back to the line to score the victory in the Careers for Veterans 200 at Michigan International Speedway. It marks Sauter’s first victory of the season and his 10th victory of his career. It also marked the first race that Sauter had Jeff Hensley on the pit box.

    “I’m so proud of everybody on this team,” Sauter said. “That last stop – I knew I had to get on pit road right and make no mistakes. So proud of Jeff Hensley for coming over here.”

    Heading into the final 10 races of the season, Sauter now leads the point standings by nine points ahead of Crafton.

    “We’re just now past halfway so this is great,” Sauter commented. “This is what we needed, this is the momentum that we needed. We’ve had a solid consistent year, but we really had the speed again.”

    Crafton’s second place finish marks his eighth top-10 of the 2014 season as he tries to win back-to-back championships.

    “Today, I don’t think we had the best truck but I felt we had a top-three, top-five truck today,” Crafton said. “All in all, good day for ThorSport Racing in working hard. We had an incident in practice and these guys kept trashing through practice to solve the tire rub and get the truck right.”

    Ron Hornaday kept his positive momentum going with a third place finish, followed by Tayler Malsam and Kyle Busch. Busch ran up front early, though fell back in traffic after running out of fuel as he got onto pit road at lap 52.

    “I was better at pushing than he was at pulling. I think if we would’ve had 10 more laps, we would’ve caught the leaders,” Malsam said. “It was a lot of fun running Michigan this week so hopefully get to run some more races.”

    German Quiroga finished sixth, followed by Timothy Peters, Jeb Burton, Joey Coulter and Joe Nemechek. Darrell Wallace Jr. finished 11th after leading a race-high 48 laps after running out of fuel as he came on to pit road with 25 laps to go.

    Brad Keselowski Racing teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney ran into problems as both their front nose pieces began to fall apart, requiring lengthy stays on pit road for repairs and poor finishes. Blaney, who came in as the points leader, now sits 16 points behind Sauter after finishing 21st.

    “We had a quick Ford and we led the first part of the race,” Blaney commented. “We had a pretty big vibration and had to come down into the pits with the nose cone loose. We then had to come back down as we didn’t get it fixed. It’s a shame as we had a pretty fast truck. We have to figure out what happened.”

    There’d only be one caution during the 100 lap race, coming at lap eight when Travis Kvapil’s motor went up in smoke after he contended for the win early.

    “No warning. It definitely broke, and it was pretty major under there as there were holes in the oil pan,” he said. “Just thankful for the opportunity. I had a good truck. The drafting was definitely going to play a factor out there and we were able to make some good moves there. Just disappointed, but glad to be back behind the wheel of a fast truck and have the opportunity.”

    The next race for the Camping World Truck Series is on Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

     

  • Gordon Shatters Track Record at Michigan

    Gordon Shatters Track Record at Michigan

  • Allmendinger Wins At The Glen & Updated Chase Grid

    Allmendinger Wins At The Glen & Updated Chase Grid

    With drivers racing with heavy hearts following the tragic incident involving Tony Stewart and Sprint Car driver Kevin Ward Jr., the world’s best stock car drivers knew they had to put on a great show to allow the fans to forget about the events that occurred, even if it was for just a few hours.

    When you see finishes like 2012’s epic duel between Marcos Ambrose and Brad Keselowski, or last year’s battle between Keselowski and Kyle Busch, you know Watkins Glen can put on one heck of a show. Not to mention, with the new chase rules, if you win a race within the first 26 races (and attempt to qualify for every race as well as remain in the top 30 in points) you will be eligible for the chase.

    We’ve already seen one first time winner this season when Aric Almirola took the checkered flag at Daytona, and for the first time since 2011, we now have two first-time winners in one season.

    Judging by the first few laps of the race, it appeared that Jeff Gordon and the heavily favored Ambrose were going to battle it out all day for the trophy, until Gordon’s car lost power around lap 50. Gordon ended up finishing the race in 34th position, four laps down.

    Ambrose was unsurprisingly solid all day long, having the best average running position (third) and highest driver rating (130.9). However, Gordon’s misfortunes may have opened the door for a driver whom everyone thought was a contender for the victory, A.J. Allmedinger. And he did not disappoint.

    After taking the lead on a restart after a massive red-flag-causing wreck involving Ryan Newman, Danica Patrick, Michael McDowell, Greg Biffle and Alex Bowman, not even Ambrose could shake Allmendinger from the top spot. Even when Denny Hamlin, Alex Kennedy and Reed Sorenson wrecked with just a few laps to go, setting up a restart with just two laps to go, Allmedinger was able to defeat Ambrose by 1.160 seconds and claim his spot in the chase. With Allmendinger’s victory, here’s a look at the updated chase grid as well as five drivers who are on the outside looking in.

    1) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 3 wins, 1st in points.

    2) Brad Keselowski, 3 wins, 4th in points.

    3) Jimmie Johnson, 3 wins, 7th in points

    4) Jeff Gordon, 2 wins, 2nd in points

    5) Joey Logano, 2 wins, 5th in points

    6) Carl Edwards, 2 wins, 6th in points

    7) Kevin Harvick, 2 wins, 9th in points

    8) Kyle Busch, 1 win, 15th in points

    9) Denny Hamlin, 1 win, 20th in points

    10) Kurt Busch, 1 win, 21st in points

    11) Aric Almirola, 1 win, 23rd in points

    12) A.J. Allmendinger, 1 win, 24th in points

    13) Matt Kenseth, 0 wins, 3rd in points

    14) Ryan Newman, 0 wins, 8th in points

    15) Kyle Larson, 0 wins, 10th in points

    16) Clint Bowyer, 0 wins, 11th in points

     

    Outside Looking In:

    Greg Biffle, 8 points behind Bowyer

    Kasey Kahne, 12 points behind Bowyer

    Austin Dillon, 18 points behind Bowyer

    Marcos Ambrose, 50 points behind Bowyer

    Paul Menard, 60 points behind Bowyer

  • Ambrose Wins Zippo 200 at the Glen

    Ambrose Wins Zippo 200 at the Glen

    Watkins Glen International Speedway once again delivered a victory for Marcos Ambrose in the Nationwide Series Zippo 200 today.  Early in the race, where he started fourth, he and Kyle Busch got together in the “bus stop” or inner loop and both spun onto the paved run off area losing several positions but at the end of the day it was Busch trying to run down Ambrose as the laps wound down. Busch was closing in rapidly but just couldn’t get there.  Ambrose led two times for 48 laps but the win was more difficult than it looked on paper. It was his fourth victory in the Nationwide Series, all at Watkins Glen.

    About the contact with Busch Ambrose said, “The spotter said he was sticking his nose in and I kind of half closed the door and made contact. I knew it wasn’t over, that is for sure. I am thrilled for the guys. I have a part time crew chief and part time car chief and here we are in victory lane. I had my tongue hanging out all day. I had nothing left. I had to make up all the ground from the spin and Joey was super fast in the middle and I had to hold him back. Kyle really pressed at the end and came alive. Another lap and I would have been in real trouble.”

    Busch, clearly disappointed with his second place finish said in the media center, “Another second place. Monster Camry was probably good enough, just never had track position.” About the early race contact with Ambrose Busch said, “Just driving it for all it’s worth; trying to give it everything it’s got and we were faster and we had some speed in particular areas and maybe not some in others. But, we made the most of our day I guess, considering how it could’ve been, considering how last year went. “ He went on to say, “Just got caught in a bad spot early and battled back from that and was able to get myself back up to second I guess it was on pit strategy.

    Rookie Chase Elliott was the highest finishing Nationwide Series regular with a sixth place result adding to his points lead in the championship standings. Elliott is ahead of Regan Smith by 12 points and Elliott Sadler by 13. Elliott said after the race that he doesn’t really pay that much attention to the points and that he is going to a new track next week as well for some road racing.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Zippo 200, Watkins Glen
    ======================================
    1              09           Marcos Ambrose             Ford
    2              54           Kyle Busch                         Toyota
    3              12           Joey Logano                      Ford
    4              22           Brad Keselowski               Ford
    5              20           Matt Kenseth                    Toyota
    6              9              Chase Elliott                      Chevrolet
    7              11           Elliott Sadler                      Toyota
    8              3              Ty Dillon                            Chevrolet
    9              33           Paul Menard                     Chevrolet
    10           2              Brian Scott                        Chevrolet
    11           99           James Buescher               Toyota
    12           16           Ryan Reed                          Ford
    13           6              Trevor Bayne                   Ford
    14           19           Mike Bliss                           Toyota
    15           42           Kyle Larson                       Chevrolet
    16           51           Jeremy Clements             Chevrolet
    17           7              Regan Smith                     Chevrolet
    18           87           Stanton Barrett                Ford
    19           55           Brennan Newberry         Chevrolet
    20           93           Tomy Drissi                      Dodge

  • Gordon Wins Cheez-It 355 Pole at Watkins Glen

    Gordon Wins Cheez-It 355 Pole at Watkins Glen

    Jeff Gordon won the Coors Light Pole Award at Watkins Glen on Saturday with a lap time of 1:08.126, edging out former Glen winner Marcos Ambrose by .173 seconds. Gordon’s fast time on the 2.45-mile New York road course also comes as his 75th career Sprint Cup pole and the 22nd consecutive year that he was won a pole.

    Gordon was ecstatic after winning the pole and dedicated it to his son saying, “Luckily I got three shots at it today with this format and that last one was just a really, really solid lap. Today’s my son’s birthday so this is just an awesome way to give him a birthday present.”

    He hasn’t won at the track since 2001 and Gordon commented about the significance of starting from the pole at Watkins Glen.

    “It’s very important here,” he said, “and it’s really, I think, contributed to our lack of success the last several years here. You know it’s been a while since we’ve won here and really been in contention to win and a lot of it has had to do with qualifying.”

    “Qualifying has really been what’s hurting us here at Watkins Glen, and I blame myself mainly,” Gordon said. “I’m so happy today to get three shots at it. I think that really made a big difference.”

    Gordon credited the new qualifying format for giving him the opportunity to put together the winning lap.

    “The first lap I did okay, but I got held up a little bit coming back to the checkers, and the second one was a really good lap and got us into the top 12 and I just tried to do the same things in that last lap,” Gordon said. “I thought that it was about the same as what I ran before. I didn’t think it was going to be that much better, but, wow, what a lap.”

    Ambrose broke the track qualifying record in Round One of qualifying, with a lap time of 1:08.113 but was unable to best Gordon in the final round.

    “He’s a fantastic road racer, and I have watched a lot of races here where he dominated,” Ambrose said. “He’s having a standout year. You can’t discount anybody out there. Anyone in that top-12, if they had gotten the pole, I wouldn’t have been surprised.”

    Jimmie Johnson qualified third with a lap time of 1:08.389 and said that he had a “very fast race car,” but they had to make some changes to the set-up for qualifying.

    “We unloaded strong and found something really good for race trim.  It didn’t work so well yesterday for us in qualifying trim. We were still eighth on the board, but a pretty good gap from where we were up to the front. The No. 88 car had a great lap so we really copied the No. 88’s qualifying set-up. It had a lot of speed. So a big thank you to Steve Letarte and Dale, Jr. for a fast set-up under the car, that extra little bit, to get us up there in the top five.”

    Kevin Harvick qualified fourth followed by Kurt Busch to round out the top five.

    Round One began with several drivers, including Ambrose, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Johnson, and Gordon electing to wait several minutes on pit road while the rest of the field took to the track.

    A.J. Allmendinger, who was fastest in Practice Two, took the first spot early in qualifying Round One, until Ambrose jumped in front about eight minutes in.

    Early in Round One, a minor incident occurred during Kyle Busch’s cool-down lap when Kevin Harvick, running a qualifying attempt, was held up by the much slower Busch. Harvick briefly drove alongside Busch and expressed his disapproval by gesturing to Busch out his window. Soon after, Harvick’s radio communication revealed that he had been sent onto the track at a bad time, and that his crew chief and spotter should have waited for a clear track. Harvick’s misstep was corrected when he returned to the track later in Round One and grabbed the second spot.

    Late-round position shifting left Brian Vickers with the last spot in the advancing group, edging out Tony Stewart in 13th place by .004 seconds.

    The end of Round One produced a top five of Ambrose, Harvick, Allmendinger, Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    Edwards, this season’s first road race winner at Sonoma, and Kyle Busch missed the cut-off group and will start 16th and 19th, respectively.

    Ambrose jumped to the lead opening the second round, followed by Allmendinger and Harvick. With three minutes left, Jeff Gordon grabbed the lead that would solidify his pole award.

    Johnson slipped into third place and Kurt Busch moved into fourth shortly before time expired.

    With under a minute left, Ambrose and Allmendinger took to the track for another try at the pole, but only Allmendinger crossed the line in time to clock a lap. He qualified sixth.

    1. Jeff Gordon

    2. Marcos Ambrose

    3. Jimmie Johnson

    4. Kevin Harvick

    5. Kurt Busch

    6. A.J. Allmendinger

    7. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    8. Matt Kenseth

    9. Brad Keselowski

    10. Ryan Newman

    11. Joey Logano

    12. Brian Vickers

    13. Tony Stewart

    14. Jamie McMurray

    15. Justin Allgaier

    16. Carl Edwards

    17. Denny Hamlin

    18. Cole Whitt

    19. Kyle Busch

    20. Paul Menard

    21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    22. Casey Mears

    23. Kyle Larson

    24. Clint Bowyer

    25. Martin Truex Jr.

    26. David Ragan

    27. Aric Almirola

    28. Greg Biffle

    29. Michael McDowell

    30. Kasey Kahne

    31. Austin Dillon

    32. Nelson Piquet Jr.

    33. David Gilliland

    34. Boris Said

    35. Ryan Truex

    36. Alex Bowman

    37. Josh Wise

    38. Alex Kennedy

    39. Reed Sorenson

    40. Joe Nemechek

    41. Landon Cassill

    42. Michael Annett

    43. Danica Patrick

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins and Sweeps at Pocono Raceway

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins and Sweeps at Pocono Raceway

    In 2006 it was Denny Hamlin. This time around, it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who won for the second time this year at Pocono Raceway, effectively sweeping the season. Earnhardt picked up his third win of the season and his 22nd career victory in NASCAR’s most elite series. The last time he swept a race was in 2002 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Earnhardt credited the win to a team effort led by crew chief Steve Letarte saying, “Steve did a great job, really, with his strategy to get in that position. We’re not in that position just on car alone. We had a fast car and I drove a good race, but Steve’s strategy gave us a chance to win.”

    Letarte cited the work the team has done since their first visit to the track earlier this season.

    “I feel we unloaded a better car for the second Pocono than we did the first Pocono,” he said. “You cannot ever assume a winning car is going to be good enough the next week. While we were excited to win (in June) and we’ll take it, there was room for improvement, so we worked very hard between that race and this race.”

    Coming in second in the GoBowling.com 400 was Kevin Harvick who definitely had his fair share of battles today, and third was Joey Logano.

    The dominant car of the race was Jeff Gordon. After leading a race-high 63 laps, the No. 88 team strategy bested Gordon, and ultimately left the five-time Brickyard winner to finish a disheartening sixth place. Fortunately for Gordon and his fans, he was able to maintain the regular season points lead.

    The race started when there was nearly a caution on lap one when Brad Keselowski almost lost his car after Kurt Busch attempted a pass of the No. 2 car. Fortunately, the race continued on smoothly until Jimmie Johnson encountered his first problem of the day.

    The first caution of the day came when debris was reported on the track after Johnson brushed the wall and as soon as he went down, a tire blew. The 48 team went a lap down but almost immediately regained it when yet another caution came out.

    Danica Patrick brought out the second caution while running in 10th as she clipped the wall which resulted in a blown tire.

    Another two cautions were brought out and Kyle Busch’s day ended early when he encountered engine issues. After that, the race remained relatively quiet, despite the fact that there were three different pit strategies going on by the time that Johnson hit the wall and ruined his day.

    On the restart, Denny Hamlin got a little loose which caused a 13 car accident that was reminiscent of what you would expect to see on a superspeedway like Talladega or Daytona. Cars that ran so well earlier in the day suddenly found themselves behind the wall. Drivers like Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, and Carl Edwards found themselves out of the running.

    Another driver involved in the accident was race runner-up Kevin Harvick.

    Under this caution, eventual race winner Earnhardt chose to pit, making it so he would only have to pit once more and only for a splash of gas when the time arose.

    When the race restarted on lap 126 drivers were wary of gas, and it turns out that that wouldn’t be an issue, as the race went on to have two more cautions. On the first one, Earnhardt was able to take the lead for the first time and after the second caution, he was able to hold off a hard charging Harvick with three laps to go, and take the win.

    The fourth place finisher was Clint Bowyer who ran strongly throughout the entirety of the race and fifth place went to Greg Biffle.

    Jeff Gordon retains the points lead by 17 over second place Dale Earnhardt Jr. Brad Keselowski (-70) is third followed by Matt Kenseth (-89) and Ryan Newman (-115).

    Complete Results for the GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway:

     

    Position Car No. Driver
    1 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
    2 4 Kevin Harvick
    3 22 Joey Logano
    4 15 Clint Bowyer
    5 16 Greg Biffle
    6 24 Jeff Gordon
    7 1 Jamie McMurray
    8 31 Ryan Newman
    9 11 Denny Hamlin
    10 5 Kasey Kahne
    11 42 Kyle Larson
    12 13 Casey Mears
    13 41 Kurt Busch
    14 9 Marcos Ambrose
    15 3 Austin Dillon
    16 51 Justin Allgaier
    17 38 David Gilliland
    18 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    19 34 David Ragan
    20 83 Ryan Truex
    21 26 Cole Whitt
    22 7 Michael Annett
    23 2 Brad Keselowski
    24 98 Josh Wise
    25 32 Travis Kvapil
    26 37 Dave Blaney
    27 36 Reed Sorenson
    28 33 Alex Kennedy
    29 99 Carl Edwards
    30 10 Danica Patrick
    31 23 Alex Bowman
    32 78 Martin Truex Jr.
    33 27 Paul Menard
    34 47 AJ Allmendinger
    35 43 Aric Almirola
    36 14 Tony Stewart
    37 55 Brain Vickers
    38 20 Matt Kenseth
    39 48 Jimmie Johnson
    40 66 Joe Nemechek
    41 40 Landon Cassill
    42 18 Kyle Busch
    43 93 Johnny Sauter
  • Keselowski Dominates, Wins at Iowa

    Keselowski Dominates, Wins at Iowa

    In the 20th race of the 33 race-long Nationwide series, Brad Keselowski dominated a field of Nationwide drivers to win his third race at Iowa Speedway and his 30th career win in the series. Keselowski was followed by Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Michael McDowell and Roush Fenway Racing’s Trevor Bayne.

    Keselowski said the race was, “A really good battle. He had me there for a minute. Somehow I slid back by him. I’m not really sure how it worked out. These wins aren’t easy to come by and I’m really proud of the effort everyone put into it.”

    McDowell thought he had a chance to win on the restart saying, “When you’re that close to getting the victory, it’s definitely a tough one. Brad definitely had the best car tonight, but on those restarts everybody’s got a shot.”

    The U.S. Cellular 250 started off with pole winner Trevor Bayne taking an early lead with Brad Keselowski in hot pursuit. The top five quickly became single file with Brian Scott in third, Regan Smith in fourth, and Chase Elliott in fifth. Previous Iowa winner Sam Hornish Jr. was hot on the top five’s heels in sixth place.

    By lap 15, the only change in the top five was Hornish’s leap into the top five by passing rookie Chase Elliott, and by lap 19, the leaders began to contend with lap traffic, which allowed Scott to catch the top two.

    On lap 22 the race for the lead became heated with Keselowski and Bayne racing side by side for the better part of three laps. The first caution of the night came out on lap 25 for debris and the battle for first temporarily went to Bayne.

    The first to pit road, Elliott Sadler, was previously running in ninth place, and only a few others took the opportunity to pit during this caution.

    The race went green once again on lap 31, and less than a lap later, Keselowski took the lead from Bayne and began to lead the drivers around the oval track.

    Chase Elliott took great advantage of the restart and was able to jump into third, trailing the leaders by less than a second.

    The race remained problem free and allowed Keselowski to jump three seconds ahead of Bayne and Chase Elliott who were in the midst of duking it out for second when the second caution of the night flew.

    This caution was brought out by Tanner Berryhill when his car lost power and stalled between turns one and two. When the pits opened, the front runners all came down and pitted, while Elliott Sadler and a few others stayed out and tried to capitalize on their different pit strategies. Keselowski led the field off pit road with Bayne trailing behind him.

    When the race resumed on lap 57, Sadler continued to lead the field until lap 61 when Hornish showed his colors for the first time Saturday night and took the lead. By lap 65, Keselowski and Bayne passed the fading Sadler as well.

    Hornish didn’t get to keep the lead long as Keselowski caught and passed him by lap 72. Despite how easily Keselowski passed Hornish though, Hornish stuck to Keselowski’s bumper. The two pulled away from third place driver, Bayne, by nearly four seconds.

    The race once again remained relatively quiet and calm, with little changing within the top five except for Chase Elliott’s threading through lapped traffic to get himself to fifth position.

    Most came down pit road during this caution. Hornish however, was able to beat Keselowski off pit road. The two were followed by McDowell, Bayne, Smith, Dillon, Kwasniewski, and Elliott.

    On lap 117, the green flag was waved and Hornish was able to keep the lead while McDowell forced himself into a battle with Keselowski for second.  The race once again settled down with little happening. Bayne, running in fourth place, reported a vibration on lap 126, but all else remained quiet.

    On lap 163, Hornish slid loose off of turn four and Keselowski was able to capitalize and steal the lead from Hornish on the outside on lap 164.

    The fourth caution of the race came out on lap 183, when Dakoda Armstrong spun off of turn two. Fortunately no contact was made and the race was able to restart rather quickly on lap 189 with Keselowski able to reassert his lengthy lead rather quickly.

    Keselowski and Hornish began a heated battle for the lead after lap traffic began to come into play again, but before anything came of it, the caution came out for the final time of the night when James Buescher crashed on the front stretch on lap 241.

    For not the first time of the night, mass pit stops took place with Keselowski leading the field out and McDowell heading out in second. Bayne, Scott, and Smith rounded out the top five.

    On the restart, McDowell was able to rip the lead away from Keselowski, but the Sprint cup champion was able to snatch it back and win the race, marking his 30th victory in the Nationwide series. McDowell had to settle for second place. Bayne finished in third and also claimed the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize.  Sam Hornish Jr. finished fourth followed by Ty Dillon in fifth place.

    Chase Elliott was able to leave Iowa and retain the points leader by two over second place Regan Smith. Sadler and Ty Dillon are tied for third in the points standings (-12) and Bayne is in fifth (-41).

     US Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway Complete Finishing Order:

    1. (22) Brad Keselowski

    2. (20) Michael McDowell

    3. (6) Trevor Bayne

    4. (54) Sam Hornish Jr.

    5. (3) Ty Dillon

    6. (7) Regan Smith

    7. (2) Brian Scott

    8. (9) Chase Elliott

    9. (42) Dylan Kwasniewski

    10. (11) Elliott Sadler

    11. (62) Brendan Gaughan.

    12. (5) Josh Berry

    13. (01) Landon Cassill

    14. (60) Chris Buescher

    15. (16) Ryan Reed

    16. (19) Mike Bliss

    17. (28) J.J. Yeley

    18. (31) Chase Pistone

    19. (29) Kenny Wallace

    20. (39) Ryan Sieg

    21. (43) Dakoda Armstrong

    22. (84) Chad Boat

    23. (14) Eric McClure

    24. (52) Joey Gase

    25. (51) Jeremy Clements

    26. (99) James Buescher

    27. (55) Jamie Dick

    28. (44) Hal Martin

    29. (93) Kevin Swindell

    30. (40) Matt DiBenedetto

    31. (4) Jeffrey Earnhardt

    32. (23) Carl Long

    33. (87) Josh Reaume

    34. (70) Derrike Cope

    35. (17) Tanner Berryhill

    36. (89) Morgan Shepherd

    37. (72) John Jackson

    38. (10) Blake Koch

    39. (74) Mike Harmon

    40. (46) Matt Frahm

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Keselowski Repeats at Iowa Speedway

    Keselowski Repeats at Iowa Speedway

    Brad Keselowski dominated most of the evening, leading 146 of the 250 laps to score his third win at Iowa Speedway, tying two-time Nationwide Series Champion, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., with three victories.

    Keselowski did have a short run car and had trouble finding his way around the leaders all night long, but the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang was unbeatable in clean air. As soon as Keselowski could get to the door panel, it was a lights out performance. Sam Hornish Jr. and Trevor Bayne provided Keselowski with the strongest challenges.

    In addition, Brad Keselowski tied Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for the most Nationwide Series victories at Iowa Speedway with three.

    McDowell placed second in a tremendous outing, briefly taking the lead from Keselowski on the final restart. McDowell, who drives for the underfunded Leavine Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, showed that McDowell has more to offer in NASCAR. McDowell, a Glendale, Arizona native, began his NASCAR career with Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007.

    “We took two tires at the end,” McDowell added. “We came so close. It was a great run and I am very blessed and thankful.”

    Trevor Bayne, who started the race from the pole, leading the initial 31 circuits, finished third. In addition, Bayne came home $100,000 richer, collecting the final Dash 4 Cash prize. Nationwide, title sponsor of the second tier series since 2008, is leaving at the end of the season. Sam Hornish Jr. finished fourth, followed by Ty Dillon in fifth.

    Brad Keselowski, the 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion, will start tomorrow’s GoBowling.com 400 from the third position at Pocono Raceway. His Team Penske teammate, Joey Logano, starts on the outside of the front row.

    “I thought Sam Hornish and Michael McDowell were good all night,” Keselowski said. They were tough to beat. We gave it all we had, but it very easily could have turned out differently.”

    Hornish was second when the final caution came out, but decided to take four tires on the pit stop, while most others opted to take just two, leaving Hornish in seventh position.

    However, Hornish managed to finish fourth, falling short of his quest to sweep the races at Iowa Speedway this season. Hornish, a three-time IndyCar Series Champion, led 167 of 250 laps during the race in May.

    “It was the chance that we had to go out there and win,” Hornish commented. “Maybe we would have got it with two.”

    Chase Elliott, who entered the race as the Nationwide Series points leader, finished eighth. Regan Smith, who entered as the runner-up, finished sixth. Elliott, who has three wins this season, maintains a two-point edge on Smith.

    Next weekend, the series heads to Watkins Glen International for Saturday’s running of the Zippo 200 at the Glen (2:15 p.m. ET on ABC).

  • Austin Dillon Takes Chevrolet to Victory Lane in Pocono Truck Race

    Austin Dillon Takes Chevrolet to Victory Lane in Pocono Truck Race

    Austin Dillon, in the No. 3 Yuengling Light Lager Chevrolet, took the checkered flag after a ten-lap overtime shootout in the Pocono Mountains 150. Dillon also brought Chevrolet back to Victory Lane, the first time since brother Ty Dillon won the race in Texas last year.

    This was Dillon’s first victory of the year and his first victory at Pocono Raceway. This was also the first time that the iconic No. 3 has been in Victory Lane since 1993.

    “This is very special for us to run a Truck race with Yuengling Light,” Austin Dillon said. “I circled this race at the beginning of the year and wanted to win it.”

    “We had fun today. It was a good day.”

    The weekend did not start out so stellar, however, as Dillon recounted his ‘Pop Pop’ Richard Childress being a bit unhappy when they practiced two seconds off the pace. But crew chief Nick Harrison made some good adjustments and Dillon was able to calm his grandfather down enough to make the needed adjustments.

    “Then we put it all together to be in Victory Lane,” Dillon said.

    In contrast to Dillon’s ebullient reaction after the race, runner up driver Johnny Sauter seemed shocked and surprised after finishing second at a track that he has deemed his worst.

    “I’m very, very happy to be sitting in here,” the driver of the No. 98 Nextant Aero Space/Curb Records Toyota said in the media center after the race. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in here at Pocono before if that gives you any indication on how well I don’t run at this race track.”

    “It was a crazy day,” Sauter continued. “That extra ten laps really made this race that much more exciting. At one point, I didn’t even know where I was running.”

    “This is like a win,” Sauter said. “We did everything we could do and kept the truck in one piece. It’s a great day for us.”

    Sauter is second in the point standings, just seven points behind leader Ryan Blaney, who finished in the fifth spot.

    Joey Coulter, in the No. 21 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet, finished in the third position and unlike Sauter, Coulter practically gushed over his affection for Pocono, posting his fourth top-10 finish in four races at the Tricky Triangle.

    “It was a great day for us,” Coulter said. “I can’t thank Chevrolet enough for all the support they have given us.”

    “I’m really pumped about our team and what we’ve accomplished.”

    Kyle Larson, who sat on the pole and looked strong throughout the race, had an engine issue and finished a disappointing 18th.

    In addition to the deep disappointment of Larson, there was also controversy on and off the track between German Quiroga Jr. and Tyler Reddick, who got into each other resulting in the latter driver being parked for the remainder of the race.

    “I just tried to stay off the wall,” Quiroga said. “I didn’t mean to spin him. I don’t race like that.”

    “Reddick shouldn’t be wrecking trucks going for the championship.”

    Quiroga finished 22nd and Reddick was right behind him in 23rd. Quiroga fell one position in the point standings as a result of his race finish, from fifth to the sixth position.

    Clint Bowyer, substituting for John Wes Townley in the No. 05 Zaxby’s Toyota after JWT crashed hard in ARCA practice, finished fourth.

    “I think honestly we were a third-place truck,” Bowyer said. “Larson was the class of the field and luckily blew up and gave Austin and I a chance and Austin capitalized.”

    “It was a lot of fun to drive this Zaxby’s Toyota,” Bowyer continued. “These trucks are a blast when they draft the way they do down there.”

    “The restarts are a lot of fun, just come up a little short and got beat but had a lot of fun.”

    The full race results are as follows:

    Pocono Mountains 150 Results

    1. (2) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 64 laps, 133.5 rating, 0 points.

    2. (6) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 64, 97.8, 42.

    3. (11) Joey Coulter, Chevrolet, 64, 93.4, 41.

    4. (10) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 64, 119.5, 0.

    5. (8) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 64, 100.5, 39.

    6. (13) Erik Jones, Toyota, 64, 83.5, 38.

    7. (14) Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet, 64, 83.9, 38.

    8. (15) Darrell Wallace Jr., Toyota, 64, 81.4, 36.

    9. (7) Justin Lofton, Chevrolet, 64, 84.4, 35.

    10. (20) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 64, 79.3, 34.

    11. (16) Jason White, Chevrolet, 64, 69.4, 0.

    12. (5) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 64, 73, 32.

    13. (4) Ben Kennedy, Chevrolet, 64, 99.3, 32.

    14. (9) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 64, 91.3, 31.

    15. (12) Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, 64, 71.4, 29.

    16. (18) Jeb Burton, Toyota, 64, 62, 28.

    17. (17) Mason Mingus, Toyota, 64, 54, 27.

    18. (1) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 64, 118.2, 0.

    19. (26) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 64, 44.7, 0.

    20. (30) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 63, 40.4, 24.

    21. (19) Bryan Silas, Chevrolet, 63, 52.4, 23.

    22. (24) German Quiroga, Toyota, 63, 60.2, 22.

    23. (3) Tyler Reddick, Ford, parked, 60, 99.1, 22.

    24. (27) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 60, 35.1, 20.

    25. (28) Todd Peck, Chevrolet, 60, 32.6, 19.

    26. (23) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, accident, 59, 51.3, 18.

    27. (29) Kyle Martel, Chevrolet, accident, 44, 40.7, 17.

    28. (22) Ray Black Jr., Chevrolet, accident, 16, 32.8, 16.

    29. (21) T.J. Bell, Chevrolet, transmission, 13, 40.7, 15.

    30. (25) B.J. McLeod, Chevrolet, electrical, 12, 33.3, 14.

    31. (32) Caleb Roark, Chevrolet, engine, 3, 31, 13.

    32. (31) Justin Jennings, Chevrolet, vibration, 2, 29.2, 12

     

  • Gordon Wins Record 5th Time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    Gordon Wins Record 5th Time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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