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  • Marcos Ambrose Shatters Watkins Glen Track Record

    Marcos Ambrose Shatters Watkins Glen Track Record

    Marcos Ambrose has won the last two Sprint Cup races at Watkins Glen and he will start his run at a third consecutive victory from the pole with Michael Waltrip Racing’s Clint Bowyer 2nd. Marcos seems untouchable at this track and a pole to kick off his pursuit for his third win in as many years at this historic race track is very bad news for the competition. This was the second time NASCAR utilized group qualifying at the Sprint Cup level and it went very well only producing one incident which was Brian Keselowski’s spin early in the session.Jamie McMurray held the pole position for a bit before the final two groups took to the track. Clint Bowyer knocked him from the top spot but he was no match for the Aussie ace who took the pole with ease leaving the rest of the drivers in his group to battle for 2nd on back. Ambrose didn’t just post the fastest time though, he broke the track record that was set last year. This is the 12th track record to fall in 2013 which can be accredited to the introduction of these new Gen-6 cars.

    There was also a couple of surprises towards the front of the field in the form of AJ Allmendinger and Michael McDowell who qualified 4th and 12th in cars that are usually run 20th or worse. Max Papis is the interim driver of the No.14 while Tony Stewart recovers after breaking his leg in a Sprint Car crash and the weekend has been a struggle for him so far. Just like when Vickers/Martin substituted for Hamlin earlier this year, it takes a while to get used to the car and how everything works within the team.

    The Cheez-It 355 can be seen on ABC at 1pm est. Sunday. The full lineup can be seen below…

    1 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley/CTC Jumpstart Ford 128.241 68.777
    2 15 Clint Bowyer PEAK/Duck Dynasty Toyota 127.958 68.929
    3 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 127.462 69.197
    4 47 A.J. Allmendinger Scott Products Toyota 127.433 69.213
    5 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 127.400 69.231
    6 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald’s/Monopoly Chevy 127.374 69.245
    7 27 Paul Menard Menards/Splash Chevy 127.146 69.369
    8 2 Brad Keselowski (PC1) Miller Lite Ford 127.141 69.372
    9 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 127.111 69.388
    10 20 Matt Kenseth (PC4) Home Depot Husky Toyota 127.038 69.428
    11 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevy 126.932 69.486
    12 35 Michael McDowell Dockside Logistics Ford 126.823 69.546
    13 78 Kurt Busch (PC3) Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevy 126.813 69.551
    14 39 Ryan Newman Haas Automation 30th Anniversary Chevy 126.766 69.577
    15 55 Brian Vickers Toyota Camry 30th Anniversary Toyota 126.515 69.715
    16 99 Carl Edwards Kellogg’s/Cheez-It Ford 126.464 69.743
    17 16 Greg Biffle 3M/811 Ford 126.377 69.791
    18 48 Jimmie Johnson (PC2) Lowe’s Chevy 126.357 69.802
    19 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevy 126.321 69.822
    20 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 126.209 69.884
    21 38 David Gilliland Long John Silver’s Ford 126.124 69.931
    22 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevy 126.086 69.952
    23 51 Owen Kelly Phoenix Construction Chevy 126.011 69.994
    24 33 Ron Fellows Canadian Tire Chevy 125.924 70.042
    25 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevy 125.876 70.069
    26 29 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevy 125.711 70.161
    27 32 Boris Said U.S. Chrome Ford 125.707 70.163
    28 24 Jeff Gordon (PC5) Drive to End Hunger Chevy 125.591 70.228
    29 14 Max Papis (i) Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevy 125.589 70.229
    30 13 Casey Mears GEICO Ford 124.890 70.622
    31 34 David Ragan Taco Bell Ford 124.848 70.646
    32 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 124.793 70.677
    33 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # Best Buy Ford 124.576 70.800
    34 36 Victor Gonzalez Jr. Mobil 1/IMCA Chevy 123.878 71.199
    35 10 Danica Patrick # GoDaddy Chevy 123.750 71.273
    36 83 David Reutimann Burger King/Dr.Pepper Toyota 123.708 71.297
    37 19 Alex Kennedy Media Master Toyota 123.687 71.309
    38 93 Travis Kvapil Burger King/Dr.Pepper Toyota 123.637 71.338
    39 30 David Stremme Genny Light Toyota 123.157 71.616
    40 7 Dave Blaney Chevy 123.095 71.652
    41 40 Landon Cassill (i) Interstate Moving Services Chevy 122.004 72.293
    42 87 Tomy Drissi The Counselor Toyota 120.295 73.320
    43 52 Brian Keselowski Star Coach Race Tours Toyota 118.924 74.165

     

  • Keselowski wins at Iowa!

    Brad Keselowski won the 5th Annual U.S. Cellular 250 for his 23rd victory in 198 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts. Keselowski led the last 35 laps en route for his third victory of the season.

    Sam Hornish Jr, Brian Vickers, Austin Dillon, who led the most laps but did not win for the second straight time at Iowa, and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-5.

    Drew Herring started on the pole for the first time in his short career for KBM as Kyle was in Pocono getting ready for the Sprint Cup race.  Herring led the first lap with Smith following right behind him. At lap 7, we already had five “start and parkers”.  Herring led the first 26 laps before losing the lead to Regan Smith.

    First caution waved on lap 53 when Herring spun it in turn 2 but did a complete 360 and drove away. Everybody came in for the first stops of the day and Smith came in first and came out first. Keselowski had a tire violation and had to restart at the end of the longest line.

    They went back to green on lap 59 with Smith in control. Brian Scott has been having a great run in the 4th spot. Kenny Wallace had to come into the pits due to a loose wheel and lost two laps in the process. On lap 81, Smith was approaching lap traffic and that was making Dillon get close to Smith and challenge him for the lead. Dillon was getting closer and closer and finally took over the race leader with 86 laps in the books.

    2nd caution came out on lap 141 when the #40 of Reed Sorenson blew up again. They all went to pitroad for their second stops of the evening and if they would of had 10-15 laps more, they could’ve made it to the end. Dillon led the field off followed by Smith, Hornish Jr Bayne and Brian Vickers rounding out the top-5.

    We went back to green on lap 146 and Dillon just pulled away. Allgaier had a problem and had to come to pit road for a tire problem. Larson radioed to his team that “I have a race car again!” He was up to 6th and flying on this 7/8 of a mile racetrack.

    Caution waved for the third time when the #60 of Travis Pastrana cut a tire in the corners of 3 and 4 and spun the “X Games” Ford out. Everybody came in for the last time and some drivers had a different strategy. Bayne only took two tires and came out with the lead. Vickers, Sadler, and Smith took two tires as well. Dillon took four and will restart 5th.

    They went back to racing with 45 to go and Bayne had a great start! He cleared Vickers out of one but Vickers fought back. Bayne led the lap with 3 wide behind them. Vickers cleared Dillon couple laps later and took the lead while Herring had a tire rub and was falling back fast. Bayne fell back to 5th after losing the lead to Vickers. Keselowski got up to second and was up to the bumper of Vickers with 36 to go and tried to take the lead with 35 to go in turn 1. He took the lead and cleared Vickers the next lap and sailed away.

    Caution waved once again for the 4th time when the #23 of  Richard Harriman spun it out on the front stretch. None of the front runners pitted but 12th position and back did starting with Regan Smith. He will restart 14th when they wave the green.

    We went back to green with 22 to go and Keselowski and Vickers battled for the leading heading into 1! Keselowski got the position followed by his teammate Hornish Jr. Scott and Parker Kligerman bumped fenders in turn 1 but both continued in the race. Hornish was trying to get up to Keselowski but could just not get there.

    Austin Dillon leads the point standings by 14 points over Regan Smith and Sam Hornish Jr.

  • Jimmie Johnson Runs from Tech to Track Record Pole at Pocono

    Jimmie Johnson, who after having issues in tech and sprinting to the qualifying grid, flew his Disney Planes car to the head of the field to qualify P1 for the GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway.

    Johnson put his No. 48 Lowe’s Planes Chevrolet into pole position with a speed of 180.654 miles per hour and a time of 49.819 seconds, scoring a new track record.

    This was Johnson’s second pole of the 2013 season, his 31st pole in his 420 Cup Series races and his third pole at Pocono Raceway. This was also the eleventh track qualifying record broken so far this year by the new Gen-6 race car.

    “I knew it was fast but I didn’t know how fast,” Johnson said. “I was challenging the car and it stuck.”

    “Track records are cool,” Johnson continued. “It makes all drivers and teams smile.”

    Johnson had an interesting time making it to the qualifying grid, once again having difficulty getting through tech and having to run with his car and team to make it in time.

    “We had the left rear tow off by one thousandth of an inch,” Johnson said. “We got on the clock, which is always a scary thing, but we beat the clock.”

    “I’m glad we got it sorted out.”

    Johnson said that he would not wish that stress on any other driver and took exception to the notion that his team might have delayed a bit to go out a bit later in the qualifying order.

    “I wish there was some master plan behind it,” Johnson said. “My heart was pounding out of my chest and I don’t wish that stress on anyone.”

    “That’s not what I want to go through.”

    Johnson admitted that in spite of the stress, both he and his crew chief Chad Knaus really do enjoy the ‘Tricky Triangle’ and all of its challenges.

    “Shifting here makes this track so much fun,” Johnson said. “The gear change makes in interesting.”

    “We have excelled on quirky race tracks,” Johnson continued. “Chad really enjoys setting up the car and the engineering side of it.”

    “We’ve had that knack for odd-shaped race tracks.”

    Kyle Busch, in the No. 18 M&Ms Peanut Butter Toyota, came in runner up in the qualifying effort, with a speed of 180.639 miles per hour and a time of 49.823 seconds. This will be Busch’s 17th top-10 start of 2013 and his tenth top-10 start in 18 races at Pocono.

    “Our Peanut Butter Camry was really fast in practice today,” Busch said. “One run we got a little bit off base but then we backed it right up and the third run we were pretty good.”

    “So, we were excited going into qualifying,” Busch continued. “Fortunately, it was a really fast lap for going that early in qualifying.”

    Busch admitted that going later in the qualifying order would have been beneficial, especially at a track where pit selection and track position are key.

    “I wish we would have gone later because we would have had a better race track, but it was about all I could get,” Busch said. “I wish it was the pole.”

    “That’s what you’d like to have,” Busch continued. “You get so close and it would be nice to have that award, being able to start first and get the number one pit selection.”

    “We’ll take it,” Busch said. “It was a good effort.”

    “And hopefully our car will be better and beat the other guy who beat us today.”

    Busch did, however, take a bit of a jab at pole sitter Johnson during his media availability after his qualifying run.

    “Probably not the clock that he was on made the difference but the draw he had being twenty cars later was beneficial,” Busch said. “It’s just that a lot of these other teams figure out how to play by the rules, you know.”

    “It seems like there is one that is quite often late, more often than the rest.”

    Carl Edwards was the fastest Ford in qualifying, with a time of 49.950 seconds and a speed of 180.180. The driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford came in third in the Pocono time trials.

    Edwards posted his seventh top-10 start at Pocono and his eleventh top-10 start in 21 races this season.

    “We got very fortunate with our draw because the track kept getting faster and faster,” Edwards said. “That and my superior skills and my humility helped.”

    “We didn’t expect to pick up that much and have that much grip,” Edwards continued. “Starting position is really important here.”

    “I’m ready to go racing,” Edwards said. “I’m pretty excited about hopefully our turnaround from last week because that was miserable.”

    Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation 30th Anniversary Chevrolet, and Kurt Busch in the NO. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet, rounded out the top five.

    “It was a good lap,” Newman said. “We picked up a second from what we practiced.”

    “Man that is fast here.”

    “To go for the pole, we were just a little bit too tight,” Busch said. “The pace was so fast that you are on the edge.”

    Three Fords took the sixth, seventh and eighth spots in qualifying, with Joey Logano, Greg Biffle and Marcos Ambrose in those spots respectively.

    “Yeah, that was not bad,” Logano, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, said. “I feel like my lap was pretty good.”

    “I think I got what I needed,” Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford, said. “I’m really happy with that lap and our pick up.”

    “I wish I would have gotten a little more out of it but that’s all the car had.”

    Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, and Aric Almirola, in the Petty No. 43 GoBowling.com Ford, qualified in the ninth and tenth spots.

    “That was definitely good pick up,” Almirola said. “We had to make so many adjustments and I was trying to be a little conservative.”

    “I will take that.”

     

  • South Bend Native Ryan Newman Wins at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    South Bend Native Ryan Newman Wins at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    Ryan Newman, from South Bend, Indiana won the 20th annual Crown Royal Presents The Samuel Deeds 400 at The Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday after starting from the pole and breaking the nine year old track record. Prior to his win, Newman, in the #39, Stewart-Haas Racing Quicken Loans Chevrolet had only scored two top 10 finishes at Indy in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career. “I knew we had a good car. Starting on the pole and winning the race. Just an awesome day for us. This is a dream come true for me. I can’t wait to push my lips on those bricks”, said Newman after his win. “It will take a week or so for this to set in. Just a great run today. Happy it stayed green. We needed that. A great long-run car”, he added.

    Newman’s teammate and car owner, Tony Stewart, in the #14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, ran strong all day and finished in the 4th position. When asked about Newman’s win, Tony said “I can’t wait to give him a big hug and congratulate him. He did a great job all weekend. It was between him and the 48. I didn’t know what the strategy was going to be at the end. I just kept watching the jumbo-trons coming off (turn) four to see where he was at.”

    Points leader, Jimmie Johnson started the race in 2nd and finished in the same spot, 2.657 seconds behind Newman. Johnson, in the #48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet took the lead from Newman after the first round of pit stops and would lead four times for 73 laps and extending his lead to 75 over Clint Bowyer in the points standings. Johnson’s final stop cost him the lead over Newman after a slow stop on pit road. “There’s definitely disappointment there. But that’s racing – it happens. I’ve given away a few out there this year too. Ryan was fast all day long. I can’t take anything away from him. He was plenty fast”, said Johnson when asked about the last pit stop. In regards to his car, Johnson said, “It wasn’t the easiest one to drive. I was real tight in and loose off. In traffic, it was a little tougher than I wanted. It was still an awesome race car. I just came up a little bit short today.”

    Third place finisher, Kasey Kahne, in the #5 Great Clips Chevrolet started 7th and scored his fifth top-10 finish in ten starts at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “We kept falling back too far. It takes awhile to get back to the front. Congrats to Ryan. He had a big weekend. He deserved it. He needed it.” said Kahne.

    Matt Kenseth, in the Joe Gibbs Racing, #20 Dollar General Toyota continued his strong season finishing in the 5th position after starting the race in 13th. “We had really, really great pit stops from my Dollar General crew and Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) mad a great call to get us some track position. That’s really what got us our top-five. We didn’t have a car that good today. We were just off all weekend. We never hit is exactly right.” said Kenseth after the race.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. started in the 15th position and finished 6th after rebounding from an early unscheduled pit stop for a loose wheel. Four time winner of this race, Jeff Gordon, finished in 7th, followed by Joey Logano, in the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford in 8th, 9th place finisher, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Kyle Busch in 10th.

    Remarkably, Ryan Newman is searching for a ride for the 2014 season. It was recently announced that Kevin Harvick would be moving over to the Stewart-Haas Racing team. Ryan said of his search for a new ride, “The biggest thing is confidence. We still got a championship to go after. We still got the Chase to chase.”

    The win was Newman’s 17th career win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. There were 3 cautions for 14 laps and 20 lead changes among 12 drivers. The average speed of the race was 153.485 mph and all 43 cars that started the race were running at the finish.

    2013 Crown Royal Presents the Samuel Deeds 400 at The Brickyard Results:

    1. Ryan Newman, Chevrolet

    2. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet

    3.  Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet

    4. Tony Stewart, Chevrolet

    5. Matt Kenseth, Toyota

    6. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet

    7. Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet

    8. Joey Logano, Ford

    9. Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet

    10. Kyle Busch, Toyota

    11. Martin Truex Jr., Toyota

    12. Paul Menard, Chevrolet

    13. Carl Edwards, Ford

    14. Kurt Busch, Chevrolet

    15. Jamie McMurray

    16. Marcos Ambrose

    17. Aric Almirola

    18. Denny Hamlin, Toyota

    19. Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet

    20. Clint Bowyer, Toyota

    21. Brad Keselowski, Ford

    22. AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet

    23. Mark Martin, Toyota

    24. Greg Biffle, Ford

    25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford

    26. Austin Dillon, Chevrolet

    27. Casey Mears, Ford

    28. Trevor Bayne, Ford

    29. David Reutimann, Toyota

    30. Danica Patrick, Chevrolet

    31. Travis Kvapil, Toyota

    32. Michael McDowell, Ford

    33. Landon Cassill, Chevrolet

    34. David Ragan, Ford

    35. David Gilliland, Ford

    36. Bobby Labonte, Toyota

    37. Dave Blaney, Chevrolet

    38. Josh Wise, Ford

    39. JJ Yeley, Chevrolet

    40. David Stremme, Toyota

    41. Joe Nemechek, Toyota

    42. Timmy Hill, Ford

    43. Jeff Burton, Chevrolet

  • Kyle Busch wins at Indy!

    Kyle Busch wins at Indy!

    Kyle Busch won the second Annual Indiana 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway  Busch lead 92 of the 100 laps in route to his fifth victory from the pole this season, breaking a single-season record for wins from the pole.

    Brian Scott finished 2nd  (Best career finish) followed by Joey Logano, Brian Vickers and Kevin Harvick.

    Busch won the Coors Light Pole Award with a track qualifying-record lap of 50.099 seconds, 179.644 mph. He lead them to the green flag and pulled away from the field. Justin Allgaier had his hood up on his car before the race and had to start at the rear. He went back to the garage on lap six. Busch led the entire way till the green flag stops on lap 30 when Trevor Bayne took the lead. Busch then retained the lead after they cycled thru the stops.  Busch, who had a six-second lead over Bayne, is down to a 4.9-second lead.

    The first caution waved on lap 50, which was halfway, for debris on the straightaway. Everybody came in for their stops except for Busch, Kenseth and Brian Scott. Ken Butler’s car had to stop on backstretch because he didn’t beat pace car off of pit road.

    We went back to green on lap 56 with Busch still leading. Busch had to come into pit little bit earlier then expected so he came in on lap 66, right when the caution came out. Reason for the caution? #12 of Sam Hornish Jr was blowing smoke on the backstretch and he went to the garage.  Everybody that did not pit, came in to get their car worked on. Vickers took two tires. Menard took two tires and makes a track-bar adjustment. Smoke visible from Regan Smith’s tailpipe and he has to take care of his car in order to maintain his point status.

    We went back to green with 30 laps to go with Busch leading as usual. Logano was second and was actually keeping pace with Busch but is iffy on going the distance on fuel.

    The third caution waved on lap 84 when debris was on the racetrack. No.87 of Joe Nemechek cut a tire from that debris and had to come into pit road and get that fixed. Travis Pastrana got the free pass. Everybody but the top-7 cars pitted.

    We went back to green with 11 laps to go but that did not last long as Kasey Kahne and Trevor Bayne got together with couple other guys and bumped fenders heading into the turn and had grass go everywhere to cause the caution to go out.

    We went back to green and there was contact between Logano and Busch which made Brian Scott go to the lead. Busch was gaining a bunch of time and basically had to move Scott to take the lead and he pulled away for the win at the bricks!

    Austin Dillon leads the point standings by six points over Regan Smith.

  • Austin Dillon wins the Mudsummer Classic at Eldora Speedway

    Austin Dillon wins the Mudsummer Classic at Eldora Speedway

    Austin Dillon won the Inaugural Mudsummer Classic for his fifth victory in 53 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races. Kyle Larson, Ryan Newman, Joey Coulter and Brendan Gaughan rounded out the top five.

    “It’s amazing,” Dillon said in victory lane. “I love this dirt racing. It’s so much fun. I want to thank Tony Stewart and NASCAR for coming here and my grandpa and American Ethenol for the opportunity. This is real racing right here – that’s all I have to say. Thanks to everybody back at RCR and ECR Engines.”

     

    Heat Races:

    Kenny Schrader led the field to the first heat and led all 8 laps for the victory. He will start in the pole in the feature race. Jared Landers started on the pole in the second heat and was getting a ton of pressure from Darrell Wallace Jr. Wallace Jr tried to get the middle to work but could not and spun with 3 laps to go and the caution came out. The green came back out and Matt Crafton went to the very bottom of the track and battled Landers for the win in the heat. Landers got him with a lap to go and took the win. Timothy Peters led the field to the green flag on heat 3 and pulled away from the field to win the heat. Larson beat Jason Bowles for the spot to be locked in for the feature in a great back and forth battle. The 4th heat was won by Kenny “Herminator” Wallace when he led the field to the green and was in the top spot for all 8 laps. The 5th and final heat race was won by Jeb Burton with  Newman finishing second and clinching his spot in the feature. There was a last chance race where 10 drivers completed and only 5 of them made the feature race. Before the green flag, The truck did a 4 wide salute like the sprint cars and other do at dirt tracks.

     

    Main Feature

    Schrader led the 30 trucks to the green flag at the PACKED Eldora speedway. Peters, who had barely any experience with dirt at all, was battling with Dave Blaney and Schrader for the lead on lap 13 but could not get it done. He used a slide job on Schrader on lap 14 and took the lead while Schrader fell to 3rd. Larson got to 13th to 5th in about 20 laps and took the lead on lap 38 and never looked back. He lapped 10 cars until the first segment ended or else he would have lapped the whole field!

    Larson led the field to segment 2 and they were 4 wide behind him! Larson pulled away from the field but got caught up to lap traffic and Dillon caught up to him. He got caught up with the #77 and Dillon got past him. Larson said not so fast my friend and tried to get the lead back but the caution waved for debris on lap 92. They went back to green on lap 97 and Newman went three wide to take 2nd. Larson was gaining on him and over took the #34 truck on lap 102. Larson was about to take the lead over Dillon but the caution came out for the end of the second segment.

    We went back to green with 40 laps to go in segment 3. Dillon led easily to the green flag while Blaney and Larson battled Blaney for second but then the caution came out for the #6 of Landers getting together with the #3 of Ty Dillon and the #98 of Johnny Sauter.

    We went back to racing with 5 laps to go but that did not last long as the caution waved with 2 to go for debris coming from the truck of Larson. They tried it again and Dillon pulled away while Larson barely got passed Newman for second.

    Matt Crafton leads the point standings by 48 points over Jeb Burton.

  • Lap by Lap: Mud Summer Classic won by Austin Dillon

    Lap by Lap: Mud Summer Classic won by Austin Dillon

    Austin Dillon would get by Kyle Larson while in lap traffic to take the win in the Mud Summer Classic at Eldora Speedway.

     

    Lap 1 Schrader leads Landers

    Lap 4 Schrader leads Landers, K Wallace, Peters, D Blaney

    Lap 11 Schrader leads Peters D Blaney Landers K Wallace

    Lap 14 J Burton passes K Wallace

    Lap 15 Peters makes the slide job to get the lead from Schrader; K Wallace gets back by Burton

    Lap 16 D Blaney passes Schrader for second; Larson gets by K Wallace for fifth

    Lap 18 Peters leads D Blaney Schrader Landers Larson

    Lap 19 Larson does the slidejob on Landers for fourth

    Lap 20 Peters leads D Blaney Schrader Larson Landers

    Lap 21 Larson passes Schrader for third

    Lap 24 Dave Blaney has closed the gap between himself and Peters…..Larson, Landers, Schrader

    Lap 33 Peters leads D Blaney Larson Landers Newman A Dillon

    Lap 35 Larson passes D Blaney for second as they and Peters are trapped behind the lap truck of Scott Bloomquist

    Lap 36 Larson tries to grab the lead from Peters, but isn’t able to

    Lap 37 Larson looks underneath Peters for the lead down the front stretch though Peters is able to hold on to the lead

    Lap 38 Larson passes Peters on the outside as Peters was looking for a way to lap Norm Benning

    Lap 41 Larson leads Peters D Blaney Landers Newman A Dillon

    Lap 50 Larson leads D Blaney Peters Landers Newman

    Lap 51 A Dillon passes Newman for fifth

    Caution lap 54 for debris. A Dillon knocks a piece off of Bloomquist’s truck trying to get by him. Gresham gets the lucky dog. Caution runs to end of the first segment and teams hit pit road for tires

    Restart lap 61 Larson leads ahead of D Blaney

    Lap 64 Larson leads Blaney A Dillon Newman Peters Gaughan. The 84 is off the pace and smoking.

    Lap 87 Larson leads A Dillon D Blaney Newman Peters. A Dillon got by D Blaney when he got hung up trying to get by the lapped truck of Newberry.

    Lap 89 Larson gets stuck in lap traffic behind German Quiroga, A Dillon grabs the lead

    Lap 80 As Larson tries to grab the lead back from A Dillon, debris caution flies. Gresham gets the free pass.

    Restart lap 97 A Dillon grabs the lead ahead of Larson…..Newman grabs second bumping Larson back to third

    Lap 99 A Dillon leads Newman Larson D Blaney Gaughan

    Lap 100 Larson and Newman side-by-side for second. Larson gets by Newman off of turn two.

    Lap 105 Larson has caught A Dillon for the lead

    Caution lap 111 end of segment 2

    Restart start of segment 3

    39 laps to go A Dillon leads ahead of Larson and D Blaney. Blaney bounced off the wall after contact with Larson

    Caution 38 to go Landers spins, collecting Ty Dillon, Dakoda Armstrong, Jeb Burton and Johnny Sauter

    Restart 26 laps to go A Dillon leads ahead of Newman as Larson falls back due to missing a gear on the restart

    23 laps to go A Dillon leads Newman Larson Peters Schrader Coulter

    16 to go Coulter passes Schrader for fifth

    15 to go Dave Blaney passes Schrader for sixth

    11 laps to go caution for debris

    Restart 66 to go Austin Dillon gets away as Larson and R Newman are side-by-side for second

    4 to go Larson clears Newman for second as Newman battles with Coulter for third. Coulter grabs third from Newman

    Caution 3 to go debris on the front stretch out of turn four

    Green-White-Checkered

    Dillon pulls ahead again as Newman and Larson are side-by-side for second

    White flag – Larson grabs second from Newman

    Austin Dillon wins! Larson. Newman. Coulter. Gaughan. Peters, Wallace Jr.,

  • Ken Schrader wins pole for Mid Summer Classic at Eldora

    Ken Schrader wins pole for Mid Summer Classic at Eldora

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is going back to it’s roots by returning to the dirt on a Wednesday night. Though NASCAR history was also made when Ken Schrader scored the pole for the Mid Summer Classic, becoming the oldest NASCAR pole sitter at the age of 58.

    Dirt racer Jared Landers qualified second in his first truck start, followed by Timothy Peters, Kenny Wallace and Jeb Burton.

    Usually NASCAR would line the trucks up for the main event based on the qualifying results. However, things were changed. NASCAR went with a dirt track format with five heat races that took three locked in drivers and one non-locked in driver per race, followed by a last chance qualifier that took the top five.

    As a result, Ken Schrader would start on pole in the first heat and led all eight laps to take the victory. He’ll start pole come tonight’s A-Main.

    Jared Landers would start on pole in the second heat and lead seven of the eight laps after being challenged by series regulars Darrell Wallace Jr. and Matt Crafton. Darrell Wallace Jr. pressured Landers for the lead, though spun with three laps to go; Wallace Jr. would get back to fourth. After the restart for Wallace’s spin, it was Crafton was pressuring Landers and using the very bottom of the track, however he would come up short and finish second.

    Timothy Peters would lead all the laps in the third heat.

    In the fourth heat, Kenny Wallace led the field to green and like those before, led all of the laps.

    The last chance qualifier saw Brennan Newberry pick up the win. However, behind Newberry, the excitement was on in a battle for fifth between Norm Benning, Jimmy Weller III and Clay Greenfield. The three of them bumped and banged for the second half of the event with Benning bouncing off the wall coming to the line grabbing the final spot.

    “I’ve been looking forward to this race since the day they announced it!” Benning said.

    Known as the underdog story, Benning is a series regular, however is not known for running upfront as he typically runs near the back of the pack with his unsponsored No. 57 truck.

  • Logano wins at Chicagoland!

    Logano wins at Chicagoland!

    Joey Logano won the third Annual STP 300, his 20th victory in 118 NASCAR Nationwide Series races. Logano’s 20th series victory ties him with Greg Biffle for 15th on the all-time wins list. Sam Hornish Jr, Austin Dillon, Elliott Sadler and Brian Vickers rounded out the top-5.

    Hornish Jr won the pole for his first time this year and led them to the green flag. They waved the it and right when they passed the start finish line, caution came out. The reason for it? The No.52 of Joey Gase had his oil pump came off which blew his engine and the yellow came out really early in this Sunday matinee.

    They really started the race on lap 8 with Hornish Jr clearing Sadler and leading the first green flag lap. By lap 33, Hornish Jr had a 1.494 over Sadler and a 4.676 second lead over Vickers. Hornish had lapped all the way up to 24th position.

    The second caution waved on lap 48 when the No.23 of Harrison Rhodes blew up on the bottom of turn 3. All of the leaders came into for their first pit stops of the day. Sadler barely beat Hornish Jr off pit road followed by Logano, Bayne, Vickers and Dillon. Hornish Jr got caught for speeding on pit road so the dominate car so far will have to restart at the back of the field.

    Sadler led the field to the green flag followed by Logano, Bayne, Vickers, Dillon and Crafton. Logano took the lead on the low side but Sadler got it back and Dillon overtook Logano for second. Hornish was up to 12th on lap 68 when he restarted in the back due to speeding.

    Sadler led at halfway and had a 1.699 cushion over Dillon, Logano and Vickers. Green flag pit stops occurred two laps later with the leading starting them. Sadler got some adjustments with four tires but had some trouble with the fuel and cost them some time. Scott, Dillon and Hornish Jr all came in a lap later. Hornish Jr had been flying and wanted no changes.

    Third caution came out when the No.60 of Travis Pastrana blew a tire and smacked the wall. There is nobody that can not make it all the way but Smith and Joey Coulter came in to top off.

    They went back to green on lap 119 with Dillon leading them to the stripe. Dillon continued with the lead but Sadler was right behind him looking for it. The green flag did not last long as the championship leader, Regan Smith, spun onto the front stretch grass and the yellow came out. All of the leaders came in to get as much fuel as they can get in. Logano only took two tires and came out with the lead. Dillon, Sadler and Hornish Jr followed him out of pit lane. Vickers lost five spots during that exchange.

    Kyle Larson led the field back to the green flag as he and Mike Bliss did not pit. They went back to green and Bliss just shot back into the field. Larson led for couple laps but then surrendered it to Logano. Logano led but Sadler got up to him and tried to take the lead back which made Hornish Jr get closer to make it a three way battle for the lead.

    The fourth caution waved for the No.19 of Bliss who spun out trying to get onto pit road. Everybody will be coming in to get their last stop for fuel and tires. Everyone took four tires but Sadler kept the lead off pit road. Vickers again lost spots on pit road. He does not have his regular pit crew as they are a sprint cup crew and have a bye week so they have the Red Horse Racing truck pit crew team.

    They went back to green with Sadler leading and it got crazy! Logano, Sadler and Hornish Jr all went three wide and Dillon tried to make it four wide! Hornish Jr took the lead when they are settled down but then the No.40 car of Reed Sorenson blew his engine and the caution waved once again.

    They went back to racing with 15 laps to go and Hornish and Logano were battling it out for the lead. Hornish was getting closer and closer but could just not finish the deal.

  • Kyle Busch Thanks Lord, Wife, and Gas Man for New Hampshire Nationwide Win

    Kyle Busch Thanks Lord, Wife, and Gas Man for New Hampshire Nationwide Win

    Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, was giving thanks in Victory Lane to everyone from his higher power, lovely wife and probably his gas man for helping him survive three green-white-checkered restarts to score the Nationwide Series win in the CNBC Prime’s The Profit 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    This was Busch’s 58th victory in 258 Nationwide Series races, his seventh win in 2013, and his fourth victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    “We didn’t want to have those late restarts,” Busch said. “We felt like we just had enough fuel to make it to the end and then everything keeps happening where guys keep wrecking and spinning to cause the cautions.”

    “Besides the hiccup on pit road, we showed our strength and am just glad we were able to take the checkered flag first,” Busch continued. “All in all, we had a great race car today.”

    Busch and his crew chief Adam Stevens admitted that fuel was of paramount concern, especially with the multiple green-white-checkered restarts. But they were able to not only have enough to do a burnout but also to drive the car into Victory Lane.

    “I knew we had a buffer of fuel but I didn’t know exactly how much,” Stevens said. “When you get down to the small numbers, the calculations get a little bit fuzzy.”

    “We kept him out there as long as we felt safe to set it up for that situation at the end,” Stevens continued. “That’s what sealed the deal for us.”

    “We pitted two laps after Brian (Vickers, runner up)  so that was part of it,” Busch said. “Brian and the No. 3 car were racing really hard to beat each other too.”

    “That all just compounded the fuel situation,” Busch continued. “I bet you there’s still probably a couple of gallons left in our tank.”

    Busch also tied Sam Ard’s record for wins from the pole in a season set in 1983, with this his fourth win from the Coors Lite Pole in 2013.

    “Wow, every time I get in Victory Lane there’s some sort of record that I tie or break,” Busch said. “That’s cool.”

    “Sam was a huge part of the sport and so there’s been a lot of records that I’ve been able to tie or break of his,” Busch continued. “It’s been fun to do.”

    “We still pay heritage to those that have made this sport and it is guys like Sam that have done a lot of great things for the sport,” Busch said. “Even down the road, maybe somebody’s going to break my records.”

    “Records are always made to be broken so we’ll see who will be better than me.”

    Brian Vickers, behind the wheel of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, finished in the runner up spot. This was his second top-10 finish in three races at New Hampshire and his ninth top-10 finish of the season.

    “It was a good run,” Vickers said. “The guys did their homework back at the shop and we had a good starting spot.”

    “We had a really fast car until we had the overheating issue,” Vickers said. “I got some trash on the grill and that definitely hurt us.”

    “Once we got that off the grill when the caution came out, we were much better,” Vickers continued. “But the third green-white-checkered, we started to run out of gas and I completely ran out coming to the finish line.”

    Austin Dillon captured not only the third place, his second top-10 at New Hampshire, but also secured the $100,000 Dash for Cash winnings for himself and the No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet team.

    “This race played out exactly like last year’s did for us,” Dillon said. “We didn’t get the track position we wanted after the first stop and then had a four-tire stop and the car just came to life.”

    “Super excited to win the Nationwide Dash for Cash,” Dillon continued. “With all those restarts and so close on fuel, I just thank the good Lord above for keeping fuel in that thing for us.”

    Brian Scott, driver of the No. 2 ShoreLodge Chevrolet, finished fourth and then a bevy of Ford Mustangs, driven by Michael Annett, Trevor Bayne and Sam Hornish Jr., finished fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.

    “This was a great run for Richard Petty Motorsports,” Annett, driver of the No. 43 Pilot Travel Centers Ford, said. “We came back at Charlotte after the injury and just had the worst racing luck I’ve had since I’ve been in the Nationwide Series.”

    “Finally, nothing stupid happened and we kept our nose clean and brought home a top-five.”

    “We were 15th with five to go so to come out sixth was a good day,” Bayne said. “Overall it wasn’t a great day though because I felt like we had a car that could win the thing.”

    “To come out of here sixth, I will take it.”

    “Our Ford Mustang was awesome today,” Hornish Jr. said. “We were really good on a long run.”

    “We didn’t have any fall off which would have made us really good but we just didn’t get the run we needed to toward the end.”

    Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 99 SchoolTipline.com Toyota, was the highest finishing rookie, scoring the tenth spot in the race.

    “I think if anybody would have told me I would be sitting in the media center after how we were in practice and at the beginning of the race, I would have laughed,” Bowman said. “We never gave up and my crew chief made a lot of good calls and some people decided to take themselves out at the end.”

    “So, we were able to capitalize on the opportunity and come home in tenth.”

    With his eighth place finish, Regan Smith, driver of the No. 7 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet, now has a five point advantage over Sam Hornish Jr. in the point standings. The Nationwide Series will next race at Chicagoland Speedway next week.Kyle