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  • Biffle wins the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan

    Biffle wins the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]Greg Biffle captures his second win of the season on Sunday in the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan Int’l Speedway.

    Biffle was gaining on leader Jimmie Johnson with less than 10 laps to go.  With six laps remaining, Johnson slowed with an engine failure, bringing out the final caution of the day and giving Biffle the race lead.

    “I thought that I knew I would be able to get him then. I was closing in on him and I don’t know if I would have got him in those eight laps or not but it would have been a hell of a run to the end.” Biffle said.

    Biffle got a great restart and held off Keselowski for his 18th career victory, third at MIS and the 609th Sprint Cup Series win for Ford.

    “Junior gave me a huge push for that win. I have to thank him for that. I saw Brad laying back like always and he got a little jump on me. It probably would have been leveled out by turn one.” Biffle said.

    With the victory Biffle reclaimed the Sprint Cup points lead by 20 over Roush Fenway Racing (RFR) teammate Matt Kenseth, who finished 17th after a late flat tire.

    “We are going to make a run at the title.” said Biffle. “I know they don’t talk about us a lot, but they will when we get to Vegas.”

    Keselowski finished second, Kasey Kahne third, Dale Earnhardt Jr. fourth and last weeks winner Marcos Ambrose finished fifth.

    Pole sitter Mark Martin was dominating the race until Bobby Labonte spun in front of him, sending Martin sliding down pit road.  Martin slid down pit road into an opening on the inside barrier.  Martin’s car was essentially impaled by the end of the wall.  Martin was able to get out and walk away.

    “That was a pretty freak angle that I got it. I’m not sure what you can do. It could have been really bad if I would have got into that hole a little deeper where it would have caught me in the door instead of the crush area back there.” Martin said.

    On lap 76, Ambrose got into Regan Smith, sending him into the outside wall.

    “Marcos Ambrose is just driving over his head. I don’t know if it is because he won last week, he’s got extra pressure or what. He’s been doing it all day. He’s almost wrecked four times that I’ve seen.  Unfortunately, four tires are better than two, and I was four.” Smith said.

    “I didn’t mean to get into him. I got down in there and he came off my side of the car and I was trying to get out of there for him and just caught him on the way past. I feel bad for him. You can’t take it back, all you can say is sorry.” Ambrose said of the contact.

    Hendrick Motorsports suffered four engine failures over the weekend.  Two with Johnson, one with Tony Stewart and one with Jeff Gordon.

    On lap 95, Gordon suffers another setback in his chase hopes.  Gordon headed to the garage after his engine let go.

    “A valve spring, just running along there and all of a sudden dropped a cylinder.  I was pretty sure that’s what it was.  Of course the No.14 had that same issue got our fingers crossed for all the other Hendrick engines out there.  This is a tough place on engines.  We rarely have these issues and it’s unfortunate to have this one here today.  It’s the kind of year we have been having.” Gordon said.

    Stewart suffered engine trouble on lap 56.

    “It’s uncommon to have a problem like this there. It’s not something I’m concerned about and having problems in the future with it’s just a bad day and like I said we have the best engine department in the world in my opinion.  Definitely in this series they did everything they could do.” Stewart said.

    The series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway next Saturday night for the IRWIN Tools Night Race at 7pm on ABC.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Pure Michigan 400, Michigan Int’l Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=23
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 13 16 Greg Biffle Ford 47
    2 – 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 43
    3 5 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 41
    4 – 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 41
    5 8 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 39
    6 2 99 Carl Edwards Ford 39
    7 12 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 38
    8 15 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 36
    9 10 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 36
    10 7 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 35
    11 – 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 34
    12 – 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 0
    13 – 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 31
    14 – 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 30
    15 – 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 29
    16 – 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 28
    17 4 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 28
    18 – 38 David Gilliland Ford 26
    19 – 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 25
    20 – 43 Aric Almirola Ford 24
    21 – 18 David Reutimann Toyota 23
    22 – 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 22
    23 – 34 David Ragan Ford 21
    24 6 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 0
    25 9 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 20
    26 – 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 18
    27 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 18
    28 11 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 16
    29 – 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 15
    30 – 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 15
    31 16 20 Joey Logano Toyota 13
    32 14 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 12
    33 – 32 T.J. Bell Ford 0
    34 – 30 David Stremme Toyota 10
    35 1 55 Mark Martin Toyota 11
    36 – 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    37 – 13 Casey Mears Ford 7
    38 – 10 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 6
    39 – 98 Mike Skinner Ford 0
    40 – 26 Josh Wise * Ford 4
    41 – 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 3
    42 – 191 Reed Sorenson Ford 0
    43 – 119 Jason Leffler Ford 0
  • Allgaier wins at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

    Allgaier wins at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”223″][/media-credit]Justin Allgaier got redemption!  Allgaier won the 6th Annual NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in one of the craziest races but perhaps the best of the season so far.

    Allgaier bumped Jacques Villeneuve on the final lap to score his first NNS victory this season and his third career.

    Sam Hornish Jr. finished second, Jacques Villeneuve third, Elliott Sadler fourth and Ron Fellows rounded out the top-5.

    “Prior to that caution where we got spun out, you know, we were catching the 22 (Jacques Villeneuve) and felt like we had something for it. I felt like we had a winning car today, we just didn’t get the win. All in all, the guys did a great job. Another lap and I think I would have had the 31 (Justin Allgaier). To be able to come back from where we were at and have those kinds of problems I feel pretty good about it.” Hornish Jr. said.

    Alex Tagliani started on the pole for the first time in his short career. Tagliani only completes one or two races a year due to racing in Indy full time. Tagliani led the first lap with Hornish Jr. following closely behind him.

    Sadler headed to the pits after the first lap so that they could make it on only two pit stops. Everybody had to come in within the next 20-25 laps so that they could also make it a two stop race.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Allgaier made their stops on lap 3.

    Nobody else pitted until lap 18 when Fellows came in and took four tires and fuel. Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt came in and took four tires but while that was happening, the No.14 of Eric McClure stopped in turn 9 and the No.23 car spun right in front of of Villeneuve, bringing out the caution.

    Everybody that did not pit during green, came in.  Hornish Jr. got some tape off so that they would not heat up the brakes.  Villeneuve took four tires and told his team that he is holding his good stuff back for the very end.

    Patrick restarted as the race leader on lap 21 and started to pull away from her teammate Fellows and Sadler. Patrick had a 1.067 lead when the No.41 car of Timmy Hill stopped in turn 6, bringing out the second caution of the afternoon. Sadler came in during the yellow and got four tires along with Stenhouse Jr.

    Patrick led the field to the restart on lap 27 with everybody scrambling for position behind.  Kyle Busch went three wide into turn 2 and got the second position and almost got the lead from Patrick, but Patrick went hard into the corner and was able to keep the position.

    Couple laps after the restart, Busch, who never completed one lap on the track in his career and Allgaier pitted for four tires since they were on different pit strategies than the rest.

    The Caution came out for the third time on lap 33 when the No.23 car of Dexter Stacy hit the wall and stopped in turn 6. Fellows came in and got tires but he was the only one to pit.

    Patrick was the leader once again and lead them to the green on lap 37.  Partick was starting to pull away but somebody threw a shoe, yes a shoe, out onto the race track and Patrick ran over it.  Patrick told crew chief Tony Eury Jr that she was feeling like the steering wheel was about to fall off and she couldn’t control it. Eury Jr. told her to pit if she could not control it or if she could, hold on for another 9 laps.

    Villeneuve took the lead in turn 7 and started to pull away. Patrick said that something is going back and forth in her car. It moves when she turns,brakes,turns everything. The caution came out on lap 46 for debris on the track.

    Pit stops happened on lap 47 with the top-5 looking like this, Villeneuve, Patrick, Tagliani, Billy Johnson and Hornish Jr. Patrick got four tires and the crew looked under the car which they found a bar hanging loose. They went behind the wall to fix the problem.

    Sadler was in the lead when the race was restarted on lap 49.  Andrew Ranger, Allgaier, Mike Wallace and Kyle Kelley round out the top-5.

    Ranger, Sadler and Fellows all went into pit road for their finals stops. They rejoined the field in 25th, 26th and 27th.  Villeneuve retook the lead with 20 laps to go but still did not pit. Allgaier went in a lap later and took four tires and fuel. Cole Whitt went to the garage with a lost cylinder.

    Busch came in on lap 58 and got four tires and fuel.

    The caution came out with 14 laps to go when the No.81 of Jason Bowles wheel hoped in the turn and spun into the gravel trap, bringing out the 5th caution of the day.  Villeneuve was told by his team to shut the car off to save fuel.  They were planning to go the rest of the way without pitting.

    Hornish and Villeneuve restarted the race.  Everyone went into turn 1 beating and banging. Michael McDowell went hard into turn 2 and collected Hornish Jr.  Both drivers drove away but a lap later the No.59 of Kyle Kelley went into turn 1 and spun, collecting Patrick, Wallace and Hornish Jr.

    One lap later Tagliani was leading when Villeneuve went for the lead into one, caught his back bumper and kept in the gas until he spun him out. Tagliani slipped back to eighth after the spin.

    “I was a little bit on the inside and we tangled a little bit. I thought it would be alright so I didn’t get off the gas, I didn’t want the cars behind me to get to me. I ended up turning him around. That’s a shame. That wasn’t my intention.” Villeneuve said.

    Caution came out for the sixth time when Wallace spun in the last turn where he wheel hopped and stopped.

    They restarted and it was bombs away! The No.33, 30, 44, 12, 18, 54 and more all spun in turns one and two and caution came out due to the No.30 of Tagliani and the No.51 of Jeremy Clements stopped and couldn’t not get re-fired and there was tons of debris.

    Everybody was having to save fuel while the track was being cleaned for debris.

    They restarted on lap 76 (2 laps after the scheduled laps) with Villeneuve still leading. Everybody made it thru 1 and 2.  Things were looking good until Stenhouse Jr. tried to get on the back bumper of the No.22 and spun out and backed into the wall.  Derek White also spun from contact from Alex Kennedy.

    They final restart of the race was clean.  Allgaier got onto the rear bumper of Villeneuve in turn 6, causing his to go wide into the turn.  Allgaier made the pass for the lead and never looked back.

    “Dodge and Penske gave me an amazing car today. We had the car of the field today. We were untouchable. It makes the end result a little frustrating. We were a little bit low on fuel so I was being careful and as often happens (here) it goes a little bit crazy on the last lap.”

    Allgaier thought Villeneuve was having fuel issues.

    “I got run in to. It (fuel) was no problem. Into Turn 6 I think it was (Justin) Allgaier (who) just hit me really hard and that was it, which is very frustrating because our car was untouchable.” Villeneuve said.

    Sadlers fourth place finish extends his lead in the series standings to 22 points over Stenhouse Jr.

    Unofficial Race Results
    NAPA Auto Parts 200, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=22
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 – 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 47
    2 – 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 43
    3 – 22 Jacques Villeneuve Dodge 43
    4 – 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 41
    5 – 5 Ron Fellows Chevrolet 0
    6 – 18 Michael McDowell Toyota 0
    7 – 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 37
    8 – 60 Billy Johnson Ford 0
    9 – 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 35
    10 – 54 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    11 – 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 0
    12 – 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 32
    13 – 44 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 31
    14 – 19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 30
    15 – 87 Alex Kennedy Toyota 0
    16 – 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 28
    17 – 39 Tim Andrews Ford 27
    18 – 124 Derek White Chevrolet 0
    19 – 14 Eric McClure Toyota 25
    20 – 38 Brad Sweet * Chevrolet 24
    21 – 159 Kyle Kelley Chevrolet 0
    22 – 30 Alex Tagliani Chevrolet 23
    23 – 4 Daryl Harr Chevrolet 21
    24 – 11 Brian Scott Toyota 20
    25 – 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 19
    26 – 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota 18
    27 – 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 18
    28 – 43 Michael Annett Ford 16
    29 – 199 Patrick Carpentier Toyota 15
    30 – 70 Joe Nemechek Dodge 14
    31 – 126 John Young Dodge 0
    32 – 27 Andrew Ranger Dodge 12
    33 – 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 11
    34 – 275 Kenny Habul Toyota 10
    35 – 23 Dexter Stacey Chevrolet 9
    36 – 41 Timmy Hill Ford 0
    37 – 153 Eric Curran Dodge 7
    38 – 108 Louis-Philippe Dumoulin Ford 6
    39 – 15 Chris Cook Chevrolet 0
    40 – 47 Matt DiBenedetto Chevrolet 0
    41 – 42 Blake Koch Chevrolet 3
    42 – 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet 2
    43 – 10 Jeff Green Toyota 1
  • Piquet Jr. wins his first Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan

    Piquet Jr. wins his first Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”241″][/media-credit]Brooklyn, Mich. – Nelson Piquet Jr. won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday.  Piquet Jr. stretched his fuel mileage to 48 laps in route to his first NCWTS victory in 42 career starts.

    “It’s finally an amazing moment that I made it in the Truck Series.  I think if we were second or third in the championship, I would have been more concerned. But I said, ‘Let’s just go for it,’ and we went for the win.” Piquet Jr. said.

    Piquet Jr. is the tenth different winner in the last 10 races for the NCWTS.

    Jason White finished second, Dakoda Armstrong third, Parker Kligerman fourth and James Buescher finished fifth.

    “Really worked out with good strategy there.  We were having problems in the pits today.  I did mess up and then the guys kind of messed up a little bit, but to come back and get that good finish it was awesome.” Armstrong said.

    Kurt Busch led a race-high 57 laps (of 100) and finished ninth in his first NCWTS start since 2001.

    “It was fun to get back in the trucks.  I really enjoyed myself out there and wanted to do a good job for Kyle and I think we got that done as far as evaluating our program, his program.  I say, ‘Ours,’ because we’re brothers and its fun to do this together.” Busch said.

    Todd Bodine lost control of his No.11 truck and crashing the rear end of the truck into the outside wall, ending his day.

    “I don’t know what happened on the first deal.  I don’t know who pushed up into me or whatever.  The aerodynamics on these trucks are so sensitive that you get really aero-pushy and real aero-loose.  Got into the corner, probably got aero-tight and pushed into me.  It happens.” Bodine said

    Unofficial Race Results
    VFW 200, Michigan Int’l Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=12
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 2 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. Chevrolet 47
    2 12 23 Jason White Ford 42
    3 20 98 Dakoda Armstrong * Toyota 41
    4 11 7 Parker Kligerman Toyota 41
    5 8 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 40
    6 5 3 Ty Dillon * Chevrolet 39
    7 1 22 Joey Coulter Chevrolet 37
    8 10 29 Brad Keselowski Ram 0
    9 4 18 Kurt Busch Toyota 0
    10 3 32 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 34
    11 6 13 Johnny Sauter Toyota 33
    12 14 6 Justin Lofton Chevrolet 32
    13 9 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 31
    14 23 99 Bryan Silas * Ford 30
    15 25 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 29
    16 13 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 28
    17 22 9 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 27
    18 21 8 Ross Chastain * Toyota 26
    19 18 214 Brennan Newberry Chevrolet 25
    20 17 33 Cale Gale * Chevrolet 24
    21 7 2 Tim George Jr. Chevrolet 23
    22 29 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Ram 22
    23 34 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 21
    24 15 11 Todd Bodine Toyota 21
    25 16 9 John Wes Townley * Toyota 19
    26 26 7 Johnny Chapman Toyota 18
    27 32 27 Brandon Knupp Chevrolet 17
    28 31 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 0
    29 24 84 Chris Fontaine Chevrolet 15
    30 30 225 Stephen Leicht Chevrolet 0
    31 28 93 Dennis Setzer Chevrolet 13
    32 19 5 Scott Riggs Ford 0
    33 27 38 Chris Jones Chevrolet 11
    34 35 175 Josh Wise Chevrolet 0
    35 33 0 T.J. Bell Ford 0
  • Ambrose wins a wild one at The Glen

    Ambrose wins a wild one at The Glen

    [media-credit name=”Matt LaFlair” align=”alignright” width=”215″][/media-credit]

    In one of the wildest laps ever seen, Marcos Ambrose held off Brad Keselowski for the win in the Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen Sunday. When the white flag flew the leader was Kyle Busch who took the lead in dramatic fashion on a late restart following Tony Stewart’s spin coming off turn 11, slamming the entrance to pit road with 18 laps left.

    With the race winding down, there were numerous reports of the No. 47 car of Bobby Labonte dropping large amounts of oil across all sections of the 2.45 mile road course. A slue of drivers conveyed reports of an oil trail all the way from turn one to the final right -hand turn eleven, and controversy surrounded the finish of the Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen. The finish shaped up to be an old fashion dogfight between the three best cars all day in race-winner Marcos Ambrose (led twice for 8 laps), second place finisher Brad Kesolowski (led three times for 37 laps), and seventh place finisher Kyle Busch (led three times and a race-high 43 laps).

    “It was absolutely chaos at the end.” said Ambrose “Shit, it was crazy!” said race-winning crew chief, Todd Parrott.

    The oil down on the track at the conclusion of the race on Sunday was the main story. Said Brad Keselowski about the situation: “Well the 18, (whom was leading the race at the start of the final lap) was oil. Look like he had something wrong there and had the whole track slick as hell. You couldn’t drive it; it was undriveable…Then it came down to just running a whole lap against Marcos. I got in the oil and we’d slip up. He’d get by me and then he’d get in the oil and I’d get by him. Just really good, hard racing; some beating and banging. I think its the way racing should be.”

    It was no clean road to Gatorade Victory Lane for Marcos Ambrose, as he had his quarrels with the oil-soaked racing surface, “I was the first one to slip in the oil and it was just getting worse and worse. You could tell the car was staying out there because the oil was moving around the race track and you just take your chances. You’ve got to commit at that point in the race and it was great racing with Kyle and Brad. They’re the two best guys to race. It’s just awesome fun and that’s the way racing should be, and we got the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion to Victory Lane.”

    The third driver involved with mixing of front-runners, Joe Gibbs racing’s Kyle Busch, declined to comment on the late-race mayhem that unfolded this afternoon.

    The win marks Ambrose’s second in 141 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, his first victory of the season and six top 10. It also adds to Ambrose’s impressive resume of five straight top-3 finishes at The Glen. Brad Kesolowski added to his Watkins Glen resume, finishing second for the second year in a row.

    With Dale Earnhardt Jr’s troubles on Sunday afternoon, Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson took over the points lead, with Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Dale Jr., and Brad Keselowski making up the top-5.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen, Watkins Glen Int’l
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=22
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 5 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 47
    2 4 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 43
    3 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 41
    4 8 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 40
    5 17 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 0
    6 15 16 Greg Biffle Ford 38
    7 2 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 39
    8 24 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 36
    9 13 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 35
    10 9 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 34
    11 6 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 33
    12 22 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 32
    13 20 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 31
    14 18 99 Carl Edwards Ford 31
    15 19 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 29
    16 30 13 Casey Mears Ford 28
    17 21 195 Scott Speed Ford 27
    18 29 43 Aric Almirola Ford 26
    19 7 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 25
    20 34 38 David Gilliland Ford 24
    21 12 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 23
    22 32 34 David Ragan Ford 22
    23 35 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 21
    24 42 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 20
    25 25 32 Boris Said Ford 19
    26 39 33 Stephen Leicht * Chevrolet 18
    27 26 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 17
    28 16 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 16
    29 36 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    30 28 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 14
    31 27 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 13
    32 14 20 Joey Logano Toyota 12
    33 1 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 12
    34 23 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 10
    35 41 249 Jason Leffler Toyota 0
    36 31 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 8
    37 11 98 Michael McDowell Ford 7
    38 38 26 Josh Wise * Ford 6
    39 10 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 5
    40 37 10 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 4
    41 40 119 Chris Cook Toyota 3
    42 43 30 Patrick Long Toyota 2
    43 33 55 Brian Vickers Toyota 1
  • Ambrose slides into victory lane at Watkins Glen

    Ambrose slides into victory lane at Watkins Glen

    [media-credit name=”Credit: By Jared Wickerham, Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”233″][/media-credit]Marcos Ambrose battled it out with Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski in the final laps and won Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen at Watkins Glen International.

    This was Ambrose’s second career NSCS win and the second straight at Watkins Glen.

    “It just feels so good to be back in Victory Lane. Thank you to Sprint, Stanley, DeWalt, MAC Tools, Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports and everybody that gets us here. It just feels so good. This year is pure joy. It’s a great day.” Ambrose said in victory lane.

    Keselowski held onto second, Jimmie Johnson third, Clint Bowyer fourth and Sam Hornish Jr. finished fifth.

    Johnson’s third place finish was enough to take over the series points lead by 1 point over Greg Biffle, who finished sixth.

    “Those last two laps were just out of control with the oil down. You are studying the road trying to see if you can see an oil trail and there really wasn’t a large visible one to dodge. But you could feel the oil on your tires and slipping and sliding and then guys are spinning all over. It was chaos, but I’m glad we got back to the finish line, finished third very solid day for this Lowe’s team.” Johnson said.

    Busch had built up a size able lead with two laps remaining until everyone started slipping on oil. Busch slipped and that allowed Keselowski and Ambrose to quickly catch-up and make a 3-car battle for the lead.

    Keselowski got into Busch in the esses, causing him to spin. The final lap Keselowski and Ambrose slipped, bumped and traded the lead until the final turn in which Keselowski got loose again and Ambrose pulled away and won.

    “I was the first one to slip in the oil and it was just getting worse and worse. You could tell the car was staying out there because the oil was moving around the race track and you just take your chances. You’ve got to commit at that point in the race and it was great racing with Kyle and Brad. They’re the two best guys to race. It’s just awesome fun and that’s the way racing should be and we got the No. 9 Stanley Ford in Victory Lane.”

    Busch got his car back on track and finished seventh.

    “Well the 47 broke, you can see him, he just went by smoking, he left oil down all over the track. Kyle hit the oil and it allowed the 2 car to get to us and he kind of raced us the way he raced us.” Dave Rogers, crew chief of the No.18 said.

    Jeff Gordon was also a victim of oil. Gordon struggled all day with his setup but the team finally got it working and he was back into the top-10 until the final lap when he slipped in oil and spun out.

    “Oil all over the race track, it’s pretty ridiculous they don’t want to end a race under caution and put that many cars in jeopardy. I had no idea that there was oil out there. I knew there was all kinds of havoc happening all around, but it was a great effort by our Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet.” Gordon said.

    Gordon finished 21st.

    “To work that hard all day long, come all the way from way back all the way up into the top 10 and have it taken away because they don’t want to throw a caution it’s pretty disappointing.” Gordon said.

    “It’s just unfortunate that that gets taken away from you because NASCAR doesn’t want to end the race under yellow (caution). I understand. You want to keep it entertaining and give the winner a shot at it but there are a lot of other things going on our there too. I think they completely disregarded that and hey, it’s over now. We’ll move on.” Gordon added.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen, Watkins Glen Int’l
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=22
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 5 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 47
    2 4 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 43
    3 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 41
    4 8 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 40
    5 17 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 0
    6 15 16 Greg Biffle Ford 38
    7 2 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 39
    8 24 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 36
    9 13 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 35
    10 9 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 34
    11 6 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 33
    12 22 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 32
    13 20 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 31
    14 18 99 Carl Edwards Ford 31
    15 19 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 29
    16 30 13 Casey Mears Ford 28
    17 21 195 Scott Speed Ford 27
    18 29 43 Aric Almirola Ford 26
    19 7 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 25
    20 34 38 David Gilliland Ford 24
    21 12 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 23
    22 32 34 David Ragan Ford 22
    23 35 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 21
    24 42 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 20
    25 25 32 Boris Said Ford 19
    26 39 33 Stephen Leicht * Chevrolet 18
    27 26 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 17
    28 16 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 16
    29 36 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    30 28 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 14
    31 27 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 13
    32 14 20 Joey Logano Toyota 12
    33 1 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 12
    34 23 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 10
    35 41 249 Jason Leffler Toyota 0
    36 31 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 8
    37 11 98 Michael McDowell Ford 7
    38 38 26 Josh Wise * Ford 6
    39 10 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 5
    40 37 10 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 4
    41 40 119 Chris Cook Toyota 3
    42 43 30 Patrick Long Toyota 2
    43 33 55 Brian Vickers Toyota 1
  • Edwards wins the Zippo 200 at The Glen

    Edwards wins the Zippo 200 at The Glen

    [media-credit id=24 align=”alignright” width=”240″][/media-credit]Carl Edwards comes back to the Nationwide Series (NNS) and what does he do? He Wins! Edwards led nine laps in Saturday’s Zippo 200 at The Glen and took over the lead with two laps remaining to earn his 38th career and the first win in 2012.  Edwards also broke a tie for third with Kevin Harvick on the series’ all-time win list.

    “This is huge for us. It’s nice to be in victory lane.” Edwards said.

    Brad Keselowski led 43 laps and finished second.  Sam Hornish Jr. third, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fourth and Ron Fellows rounded out the top-5.

    Sam Hornish Jr. started on the pole first the first time in his NASCAR career.

    Ryan Truex was going into to turn-1 when he went out of control and spun and collect Danica Patrick.

    “I drove in the corner and got wheel-hopped and spun out back in front of everybody. Basically I wheel-hopped and it was either wheel-hop and hope I didn’t run into my teammate in front of me and take out the field, or turn in the grass and spin out and not hit anybody, and I chose the grass. I had no control after that.” Truex said.

    Patrick tried to repair the damage in pit road but had to garage.  Patrick finished 43rd.

    “I feel so bad. I wish it would have gone differently but that’s the sport. There’s a lot of stuff that is out of your control and there’s a lot of stuff you look back at that you would’ve, could’ve, should’ve done differently. But that’s just racing.” Patrick said.

    The first caution came out when the No,19 car of Alex Popow cut a tire and slammed into the guard rail throwing debris everywhere. They had a chance to pit but no came in and they stayed in there position for the time being.

    They went back to green on lap 10 with Sam Hornish leading since the green flag. Hornish was under attack from his teammate Brad Keselowski. Keselowski took over the lead two laps later.

    Green flag pit stops occurred on lap 19 with Justin Allgaier hitting the pit road. He told his crew that he was tight coming up the hill. They took four tires and had a air pressure adjustment. The No.18 of Joey Logano was loose in but he needs to be more loose off. They also took four tires. Carl Edwards went in and was telling the team he was tight in the carousel and got some air pressure. Kyle Busch and Hornish wrapped up the lead lap green flag pit stops. Busch said he need more grip but otherwise was not that bad. He got four tires and a air pressure. Hornish was reporting a little vibration when he was under braking but other then that  he was okay. He said he was free everywhere especially the right handers.

    The only person that has not pitted was the No.87 of Alex Kennedy but on lap 29, Keselowski was much quicker and took over the top spot.

    The second caution came out on lap 37 when Kennedy got loose in turns 3 and 4 and slammed into the guard rail. Austin Dillon also spun out to not run into the No.87 car. The top-5 did not stop but Dillon had to pit to change tires due to his spin. Kasey Kahne also came in during the caution. Dillon will start at the tail of the field since he did not stop in inner loop under green.

    We restarted the race on lap 43 with Keselowski still leading. It was a crazy restart with all the leaders going three wide.

    The final pit stops occurred with 32 laps to go. Elliott Sadler got a air pressure and told the team to pack it full of fuel. He also needed a track bar to help him turn right. Busch came in and need to help turn in the front and the back. He got a air pressure and a track bar. Edwards said the car was great and all they need to do was fill it with fuel and  clean the grill.  Kahne beat everybody off of pit road because he only took fuel due to the previous caution.

    While that was happening, Edwards and Logano were racing hard into 7 and spun the No.18 out. Logano told his crew chief to tell the No.60 to “bite him”.

    On the other side of the track, Joe Nemecheck was stopped on pit road and the caution was waved. Miguel Paludo and Justin Allgaier did not pit and will be pitting during this caution.

    Kahne led the field back to the green flag with 23 laps to go but Keselowski took the spot in turn-1. Busch made it three wide and took second.
    The caution waved once again for the fourth time when the No.88 of Cole Whitt went into turn-5 and clipped the barrier and tore the front bumper off his car. During the caution, Busch told his team the throttle is sticking.
    They restarted the race with 10 laps to go and Edwards was determined to get this lead. Edwards drove down into turn-1 and made it stick and took the spot and started to pull away. It looked like Edwards was going to run away with this win.
    Five laps to go, Keselowski was still going strong but Edwards got a nice run off of 1 and were battling for the lead. During that battle, Dillon blew a right front tire and was throwing debris everywhere. Logano was radioing to his team (during the caution) that his engine was not running so well and he would try and nurse it home for the finish.
    They restarted the race with two laps to go with Edwards in the lead. The No.18 and the No.54 did not get a good jump and spun their tires.  Keselowski tried to take the lead on the high side but could not get it done.
    “I hate to admit it, but I missed a downshift in Turn 6. All day, that was where he was beating me, so I went in there extra hard, and I missed my downshift and he got next to me.” Edwards said.
    Unofficial Race Results
    Zippo 200 at The Glen, Watkins Glen Int’l
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=21
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 2 60 Carl Edwards Dodge 0
    2 4 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    3 1 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 42
    4 10 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 40
    5 15 5 Ron Fellows Chevrolet 0
    6 5 54 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    7 11 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0
    8 3 33 Paul Menard Chevrolet 0
    9 8 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 36
    10 9 11 Brian Scott Toyota 34
    11 19 43 Michael Annett Ford 33
    12 7 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 32
    13 14 30 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 0
    14 20 44 Mike Bliss Toyota 30
    15 13 20 Ryan Truex Toyota 30
    16 16 199 Victor Gonzalez Jr. Toyota 0
    17 27 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota 27
    18 28 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 26
    19 21 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 26
    20 34 275 Kenny Habul Toyota 24
    21 24 159 Kyle Kelley Chevrolet 0
    22 6 18 Joey Logano Toyota 0
    23 30 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 21
    24 12 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 20
    25 39 124 Tim Connolly Chevrolet 0
    26 40 14 Eric McClure Toyota 18
    27 26 97 Joe Nemechek Toyota 17
    28 41 70 Tony Raines Dodge 0
    29 25 87 Alex Kennedy Toyota 0
    30 38 4 Daryl Harr Chevrolet 14
    31 31 40 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 0
    32 42 23 Dexter Stacey Chevrolet 12
    33 43 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 11
    34 35 153 Eric Curran Dodge 10
    35 29 41 Timmy Hill Ford 0
    36 37 39 Matthew Bell Chevrolet 8
    37 32 15 Chris Cook Chevrolet 0
    38 17 19 Alex Popow Toyota 6
    39 18 42 Josh Wise Chevrolet 0
    40 33 10 Jeff Green Toyota 4
    41 36 46 Matt DiBenedetto Chevrolet 0
    42 22 47 Stephen Leicht Chevrolet 0
    43 23 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 1
  • Montoya claims Coors Light Pole award at Watkins Glen

    Montoya claims Coors Light Pole award at Watkins Glen

    [media-credit id=24 align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]Following a day of rain yesterday here at Watkins Glen International, the drivers of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) were given the opportunity to test their equipment early this morning in a 1.5 hour final practice session. With the sun still hidden behind the clouds and a cool breeze aiding the cause, the speeds were at a blistering pace around the 2.45-mile course this morning.

    The 2008 winner, Kyle Busch, claimed the top of the leader board with Juan Montoya second, Carl Edwards third and road course specialist, Marcos Ambrose finishing the session fourth. Five-time Watkins Glen winner, Tony Stewart was shown thirteenth on the charts and four-time race winner Jeff Gordon was sixth.

    During NSCS qualifying, it was a new track record for Juan Montoya at a speed of 127.020 mph that claimed his second Coors Light Pole award for the 27th Annual Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen. This is his ninth career pole award in 203 NSCS races and his second pole in as many weeks. Though he does have a win here at the 2.45-mile short course configuration, he has never started from the point position here in six attempts.

    “Our Target Chevy has been pretty good this weekend. It has been pretty stable; put it in qualifying trim it was really quick in practice. We ran a little slower than practice, but with the sun out, it’s like 20 degrees hotter. I don’t know. I had a pretty good lap. You can always say I could have got a little more, but sometimes when you want a little more you actually lose.” Montoya said.

    Happy Hour winner Kyle Busch, who will start the race on the outside of Montoya, just five-hundredths of a second behind the pole-sitter.

    The 18 M&M’s Camry was really good during qualifying. It was really fast. I thought it was good and I thought it would be close to the pole. It was close, but it wasn’t first.” Busch said.

    Five-time NSCS Champion, Jimmie Johnson will make the start from the third position and Brad Kesolowski qualified fourth.

    “A really solid lap for the Miller Lite Dodge team. We haven’t qualified well this year but today was a great effort. Track position is key on road courses especially at a fast place like The Glen. I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t get the pole.” Kesolowski said.

    Marcos Ambrose rounded out the top-five starters.

    “I made a mistake in turn six and just didn’t quite have enough rear grip there. That’s OK.  We’ve got a great race car and we’ll just play the strategy game and see what comes out of it.” Ambrose said.

    Green flag is slated for just after 1PM tomorrow, and with the grid set the way it is, the 27th Annual Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen is shaping up to have a short-track swagger about it.

    As always, follow me on Twitter @ML_B_Lo for all the up to the minute action.

    Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen, Watkins Glen Int’l
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=22
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 127.02 69.438
    2 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 126.928 69.488
    3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 126.925 69.49
    4 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 126.626 69.654
    5 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 126.524 69.71
    6 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 126.312 69.827
    7 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 126.15 69.917
    8 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 126.061 69.966
    9 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 126.049 69.973
    10 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 125.959 70.023
    11 98 Michael McDowell Ford 125.713 70.16
    12 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 125.643 70.199
    13 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 125.612 70.216
    14 20 Joey Logano Toyota 125.518 70.269
    15 16 Greg Biffle Ford 125.516 70.27
    16 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 125.5 70.279
    17 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 125.42 70.324
    18 99 Carl Edwards Ford 125.409 70.33
    19 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 125.389 70.341
    20 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 125.339 70.369
    21 195 Scott Speed Ford 125.334 70.372
    22 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 125.199 70.448
    23 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 125.08 70.515
    24 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 124.917 70.607
    25 32 Boris Said Ford 124.791 70.678
    26 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 124.715 70.721
    27 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 124.455 70.869
    28 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 124.208 71.01
    29 43 Aric Almirola Ford 124.187 71.022
    30 13 Casey Mears Ford 124.131 71.054
    31 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 124.108 71.067
    32 34 David Ragan Ford 123.868 71.205
    33 55 Brian Vickers Toyota 123.71 71.296
    34 38 David Gilliland Ford 123.576 71.373
    35 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 123.471 71.434
    36 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 123.436 71.454
    37 10 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 123.27 71.55
    38 26 Josh Wise* Ford 122.531 71.982
    39 33 Stephen Leicht* Chevrolet 122.335 72.097
    40 119 Chris Cook Toyota 118.879 74.193
    41 249 Jason Leffler Toyota 118.742 74.279
    42 30 Patrick Long Toyota 117.551 75.031
    43 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota – –

  • Jeff Gordon Weathers Storm to Win Pennsylvania 400

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”241″][/media-credit]In a race delayed by rain at the start and then called later for severe thunderstorms, one driver weathered the storms to collect his first victory of the season.

    Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, won the rain-shortened race, with torrential rain, blinding wind, thunder and lightning heralding his official celebration.

    The win tops an action-packed weekend for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, who earlier collected the Heisman Trophy Humanitarian Award and celebrated his 41st birthday. Crew chief Alan Gustafson also celebrated his birthday on race day.

    This was Gordon’s 86th victory in 674 Cup races and he is third on the all-time series wins list. But sweeter still is that this is Gordon’s first win of the season and his ninth top-10 finish in 2012.

    Although wild weather this weekend, Pocono Raceway has been smooth sailing for Gordon. This is his sixth victory at the ‘Tricky Triangle’ and he is now the sole proprietor of the all-time Pocono win list.

    With the victory, Gordon moves to second in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup wild card standings.

    “Pocono has been a special place for us,” Gordon said. “It’s been an interesting year to say the least.”

    “We’ve had some trying times,” Gordon continued. “We’ve had cars capable of winning and things didn’t go our way, so to see this race unfold the way it did certainly makes up for those would have, could have, should haves.”

    “Today we got the win and it’s nice to know that things can still go our way.”

    What meant the most to Gordon, however, was that his family, his wife Ingrid Vandebosch and children Ella and Leo, were there to celebrate with him.

    “With the wind, rain and lightning, I was so excited to have all my family here,” Gordon said. “I didn’t care if Victory Lane was in a shed.”

    “That experience means more to me than anything else.”

    “Obviously that was a great day for us,” Alan Gustafson, crew chief, said. “We didn’t have the fastest car but we did have a good enough car to get a win. It all worked out our way.”

    Along with Gordon in the first wild card position is now teammate Kasey Kahne. The driver of the No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet finished in the runner up spot, even with a flat right rear tire and some miscues in the pits.

    This was Kahne’s sixth top-10 finish in 18 races at Pocono and his 11th top-10 finish for the season.

    “We had a great car,” Kahne said. “The Hendrick power is something else here on these straightaways.”

    “I made a mistake on pit road, slid over the hose, and it cost us a lot of time and a couple of positions,” Kahne continued. “Jeff got a little better restart and got in front of me when the field wrecked in front of us and he won the race.”

    “And we came in second,” Kahne said. “It was a solid day for us car-wise.”

    New Jersey native Martin Truex Jr., in the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, posted his fifth top-10 finish in 14 races at Pocono. He scored the third place finish in the 39th Annual Pennsylvania 400.

    Truex Jr. commented that the weather was a ‘monsoon’ and that he had to move quickly through his post-race media obligations.

    “Newman told me ‘one word answers’ because he’s waiting on me and we’ve got to go,’ Truex Jr. said. “It was a good race for NAPA Toyota.”

    “Once we got going out there, we were the fastest car on the track,” Truex Jr. continued. “Obviously we got a little bit lucky because a lot of those guys wrecked.”

    “All in all a good day for us.”

    Storms brewed for the Busch brothers, both of whom had close encounters with the wall. Kyle Busch, driving the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, brought out the first caution on Lap 20 and brother Kurt, behind the wheel of the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet, brought out the second caution on Lap 87.

    While Kurt Busch was whisked away without comment from the infield care center after his hard hit, Kyle Busch had plenty to share as his team worked feverishly on his car to get him back on the track.

    “We just blew out the rear brake rotors – – disintegrated it and then blew out the rear caliper after that,” Kyle Busch said. “Getting down into Turn One with a three-wheel brake is about the worst situation you can have as a race car driver.”

    “I kept trying to pump it to keep feeding pressure to the rest of the three wheels to keep it off the fence, but just couldn’t do it,” Busch continued. “I hate it for all of these guys. We had a really fast race car today.”

    Busch admitted that this did nothing but hurt him in the point standings. And he knows that a win will be a necessity going forward.

    “We’re obviously not going to make the top-10 so if we get a win great we’ll make the Chase,” Busch said. “If not, we’ll probably miss it.”

    Points leader Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also had a stormy day at the ‘Tricky Triangle.’  The driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet lost a transmission and finished 32nd.

    “We didn’t have third or fourth gear, so we had to change the transmission,” Junior said. “After qualifying it was fine, but when the race started it was a bit of a vibration and started missing some shifts.”

    “We had a good run going,” Junior continued. “I’m sorry to all the guys at the shop and I hope we get a win for one of our cars.”

    The other major drama of the race occurred in the waning laps just before the storms hit. On Lap 92, the race leaders got into one another, causing a wreck that involved Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton and Jimmie Johnson.

    “Well on that last restart, Turn One actually widened out pretty good and we took off,” Kenseth, driving the No. 17 Zest Ford, said. “The 2 didn’t get going and I had a pretty good gap so I crossed the line and was going to pull behind Jimmie (Johnson) and when I pulled down to go behind him I got a little draft and actually pulled up to his door.”

    “So, I decided to race him through there and we went off into One and I could hear his pipes,” Kenseth continued. “I wasn’t sure he lifted. He drove in really, really far and spun out underneath me and I got wrecked.”

    “You don’t mind if something happens it is just a bummer when it takes you out after you are running top three all day and finish 22nd or wherever we are,” Kenseth said. “That is very disappointing and it is hard to look at the bright spot in that.”

    Rounding out the top-five finishers in the Pennsylvania 400 were Brad Keselowski, in the No. 2 Miller Lite Doge, who finished fourth, and Tony Stewart, in the No. 14 Office Depot Back to School Chevrolet, who finished fifth.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Pennsylvania 400, Pocono Raceway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=21
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 27 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 47
    2 4 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 43
    3 15 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 41
    4 31 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 41
    5 28 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 39
    6 9 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 38
    7 17 99 Carl Edwards Ford 37
    8 19 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 36
    9 11 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 35
    10 5 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 34
    11 3 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 33
    12 18 55 Mark Martin Toyota 32
    13 14 20 Joey Logano Toyota 31
    14 10 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 32
    15 12 16 Greg Biffle Ford 29
    16 25 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 0
    17 21 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 27
    18 16 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 27
    19 13 43 Aric Almirola Ford 25
    20 1 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 25
    21 26 38 David Gilliland Ford 23
    22 23 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 22
    23 7 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 22
    24 24 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 20
    25 37 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 19
    26 22 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 18
    27 39 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 17
    28 32 34 David Ragan Ford 16
    29 2 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 16
    30 6 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 15
    31 41 32 Jason White Ford 0
    32 8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 13
    33 20 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 11
    34 36 30 David Stremme Toyota 10
    35 29 13 Casey Mears Ford 9
    36 38 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    37 34 26 Josh Wise * Ford 7
    38 42 36 Tony Raines Chevrolet 6
    39 30 119 Mike Bliss Toyota 0
    40 35 37 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 4
    41 43 98 Mike Skinner Ford 0
    42 40 191 Reed Sorenson Ford 0
    43 33 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 1
  • Sadler wins in Corn Country!

    Sadler wins in Corn Country!

    [media-credit name=”Kyle Ocker” align=”alignright” width=”232″][/media-credit]Elliott Sadler won the U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway for his fourth win this season and a little bit of redemption from last week. Sadler who told ESPN’S Shannon Spake said that his dad gave him a great quote. Elliott said, “Elliott don’t let NASCAR take the championship away from you. Go to Iowa and give them ****”. You could see the relief on his face as he celebrated to his team in victory lane. Justin Allgaier, Sam Hornish Jr, who won the dash for cash, Michael Annett and Ricky Stenhouse Jr rounded out the top 5.

    Sadler started on the pole and led the 43 NASCAR Nationwide series cars to the green. It did not take long for the lead to change as the 18 year old of Darrell Wallace Jr took the top spot on the back stretch.  This is Wallace’s 2nd race as the other race he competed in was earlier this year at the very same track.

    On lap 35 Wallace was leading until he caught lap traffic which made Austin Dillon and Justin Allgaier catch the leader. Dillon took the top spot until the competition caution on lap 50.

    The leader came in during that caution. Justin Allgaier told the team he is very tight and he has no side bite so they gave him an air pressure adjustment and 4 tires. Dillon came in and also was tight but it was getting better as the run went on.  He only took two tires and came out second as Sadler also took 2 tires and lead them off pit road.

    Sadler led the field back to the green flag on lap 57 but got pushed back to 2nd as Dillon took over the top spot. Brian Scott had to make a unscheduled pit stop as he felt a vibration on his right front. He came in got 4 tires and fuel and went back out but fell back to 31st, 2 laps down.

    Caution came out for the 2nd time when the 44 of John Blanketship got spun by Jeremy Clements  in turn 2. All of the leaders came in as Dillon took four tires and was off but lost 9 spots. Stenhouse’s tire changer slipped coming to the left side of the car which slowed his stop.Stenhouse took 4 tires and a wedge adjustment. Sadler was talking in code with his crew saying they would take “Alabama”. He took 4 tires but barely avoided a penalty when the tire came off the right side and almost left the pit but the rear tire changer caught it and saved it. Allgaier came out first as well as Cole Whitt and gained 10 spots.

    Allgaier lead the field to the green flag on lap 96 followed by Michael McDowell, Sam Hornish Jr, Cole Whitt and Michael Annett. Dillon came in on lap 138 with a vibration and took 4 tires and fuel. He finished 15th when he could not get a lap back.  Allgaier was leading by 3.90 seconds when he caught the 01 of Mike Wallace, who was running 19, which made Sadler catch up to him and contend for the top spot.

    Caution came out for debris for the 3rd time tonight as the leaders could make their last pit stops here in Iowa. The race leader came in to his pit, telling his pit crew that he was tight in the center and loose threw the turns, got four tires and an air pressure adjustment. Sadler got 4 tires wanting more forward bite and also some fuel. Allgaier went off pit road 1st while Sadler lost a spot to Kurt Busch who got 4 tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.

    Allgaier led the field to the green flag with 178 in the books and started to pull away. Sadler gained lap by lap and caught the 31 and passed him for the lead with 57 to go and never looked back.

    Kurt Busch was running second when a tire got cut with three laps to go and he had to go in a to get some new right side tires. He finished 17th driving for his brother Kyle.

    Unofficial Race Results
    U.S. Cellular 250, Iowa Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=20
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 1 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 47
    2 5 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 44
    3 7 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 41
    4 17 43 Michael Annett Ford 40
    5 11 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 39
    6 8 18 Michael McDowell Toyota 0
    7 2 20 Darrell Wallace Jr. Toyota 38
    8 4 30 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 0
    9 10 199 Brett Moffitt Toyota 0
    10 13 22 Ryan Blaney Dodge 34
    11 18 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 33
    12 16 38 Brad Sweet * Chevrolet 32
    13 14 70 Johanna Long * Chevrolet 31
    14 6 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 0
    15 3 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 30
    16 20 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 28
    17 15 54 Kurt Busch Toyota 0
    18 9 11 Brian Scott Toyota 26
    19 12 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 25
    20 21 10 Mike Bliss Toyota 24
    21 24 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 23
    22 23 19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 22
    23 26 44 John Blankenship Chevrolet 0
    24 19 23 Jamie Dick Chevrolet 20
    25 32 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 19
    26 34 52 Justin Jennings Chevrolet 0
    27 28 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 17
    28 36 124 Scott Saunders Toyota 16
    29 22 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota 15
    30 42 41 Timmy Hill Ford 0
    31 33 14 Eric McClure Toyota 13
    32 25 39 Joey Gase * Ford 12
    33 41 4 Daryl Harr Chevrolet 11
    34 29 108 Josh Richards Ford 10
    35 39 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 9
    36 37 50 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 8
    37 40 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 7
    38 35 171 Carl Long Chevrolet 6
    39 38 47 Tim Schendel Chevrolet 5
    40 43 15 Dusty Davis Chevrolet 0
    41 30 42 Matt DiBenedetto Chevrolet 0
    42 31 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet 2
    43 27 191 Jeff Green Toyota 1

  • Joey Coulter’s Dream Comes True with First Ever Truck Win at Pocono

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”219″][/media-credit]With his mother Susan screaming “Burn out time” and “Oh, I love Pocono,” Joey Coulter’s dream of winning a race came true.

    The driver of the No. 22 RCR/darrellgwynnfoundation.com Chevrolet got his first win in the 3rd annual Pocono Mountains 125 and the first win ever in his Truck Series career.

    Coulter is the ninth different winner this season to visit Victory Lane and the fourth different first-time winner of 2012.

    “It feels amazing and there’s no way to describe it,” Coulter said. “I just can’t thank everyone enough for the opportunity. I can’t thank them enough for sticking behind me.”

    “It’s a dream come true,” Coulter continued. “Call me in three days when it finally hits me.”

    Coulter acknowledged that his racing has always included his family and that indeed his mom was even more excited than he was.

    “For us, it’s always been a family event,” Coulter said. “They’ve been the ones to help me get here.”

    “To have them at the race track every weekend is a huge part of my career.”

    Coulter’s mother Susan echoed the family pride in her son’s racing career and his first trip to Victory Lane.

    “I am so proud of him,” Susan Coulter said of her winning son. “He’s worked so hard for this since he was 8 years old.”

    “He did this one himself,” Susan Coulter continued. “We have the best team in the world. I’m so happy.

    While Coulter’s family was ecstatic, team owner Richard Childress was equally proud of his young driver. And he also revealed that Coulter, in his opinion, is ready to go to the next level in the sport.

    “Joey’s had a really fast truck for the last two years and misfortunes would take him out of the winner’s circle,” Childress said. “I’m really happy for his family and for the whole Coulter team.”

    “We’re talking about running in the Nationwide Series with him next year,” Childress continued. “Sponsorship is the key to putting it together.”

    An important part of that Coulter RCR team has been crew chief Harold Holly. Coulter fully credits Holly with “teaching him how to drive” when they first started together in the ARCA Series.

    “This is as big as any of ‘em win-wise,” Holly said of the win. “We have such a strong support group.”

    “I’m tickled to death.”

    James Buescher, piloting the No. 31 Koike Aronson/Ransome Chevrolet, finished second. This was his second top-10 finish in three races at Pocono and his seventh top-10 finish for the season.

    “The Chevy was decent but we were tight all day long,” Buescher said. “Just couldn’t get it to turn on exit on any corner.”

    “I was just trying to keep up with Nelson and stayed out to lead a lap,” Buescher continued. “The truck was good but it wasn’t the fastest truck out there.”

    “We’ll just dust it off, take it to Michigan and try to get back to it.”

    Probably the most disappointed racer when the checkered flag flew was Nelson Piquet Jr., who sat on the pole and was by far the dominant truck for most of the race. Piquet Jr. finished third, scoring his first top-10 finish in two races at the ‘Tricky Triangle.”

    “I don’t know what to say,” Piquet Jr. said. “There’s only one word that can describe it and that’s frustration.”

    “The last restart was a bit of a problem,” Piquet continued. “It’s a shame.”

    “It was another race that we could have won.”

    Piquet Jr. was also involved with one of the more dramatic moments of the race when he and veteran Todd Bodine tangled, with Bodine getting the worst end or it, including a trip to the infield care center.

    After exiting his race truck, Bodine hurled his helmet in the direction of Piquet, Jr.

    “Nelson didn’t get a good run off two and I pulled down to start drafting,” Bodine said. “I should have known better not to trust Nelson to do the right thing, just move over and side draft with me.”

    “You watch tomorrow in the Cup race and you’ll see it a million times,” Bodine continued. “I know Nelson feels like he owes me one, from Kansas I think.”

    “We had a great truck,” Bodine said. “It’s a shame that ignorance has to take you out of the race.”

    Without a doubt, Piquet Jr. had a different take on the incident.

    “His spotter should have told him that I was behind him,” Piquet Jr. said. “There’s nothing I could have done.”

    “The move he did was inexperienced,” Piquet continued. “With all the experience he has, there’s no explanation.”

    “Not much to say,” Piquet said. “I couldn’t have done anything else.”

    Ty Dillon, driving the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet, was the highest finishing rookie driver. Dillon, teammate to race winner Joey Coulter, finished in the sixth spot.

    “I’m kind of disappointed,” Dillon said. “I made a rookie mistake on the first lap that really put us behind.”

    “I’m so proud of my teammate Joey Coulter though,” Dillon said. “That was awesome. I’m really happy for Joey. He’s put his time in.”

    Dillon was most excited about gaining some points in the championship standings. He is now just eight points behind leader Timothy Peters.

    “We’ve got some good momentum coming,” Dillon said. “I think we’ve found something.”

    “We’re second, only 8 points out,” Dillon continued. “And we’ll keep trucking.”

    Matt Crafton, in the No. 88 Jeld Wen/Menards Toyota, finished fourth and Danny Hamlin, driving the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 18 GNC Live Well/M&Ms Toyota rounded out the top five.

    “The power of those guys in front of us was big,” Hamlin said. “We just didn’t have a great handling truck.”

    “Hopefully now I can give them a little bit of feedback for what I feel like this program needs to work on.”

    Unofficial Race Results
    Pocono Mountains 125, Pocono Raceway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=11
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 4 22 Joey Coulter Chevrolet 47
    2 5 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 43
    3 1 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. Chevrolet 43
    4 9 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 40
    5 16 18 Denny Hamlin Toyota 0
    6 2 3 Ty Dillon * Chevrolet 38
    7 17 29 Parker Kligerman Ram 37
    8 11 9 John Wes Townley * Toyota 36
    9 35 6 Justin Lofton Chevrolet 35
    10 20 8 Ross Chastain * Toyota 34
    11 14 23 Jason White Ford 34
    12 18 98 Dakoda Armstrong * Toyota 32
    13 3 32 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 31
    14 15 33 Cale Gale * Chevrolet 30
    15 6 2 Tim George Jr. Chevrolet 29
    16 25 27 C E Falk Chevrolet 28
    17 19 99 Bryan Silas * Ford 27
    18 23 84 Chris Fontaine Chevrolet 26
    19 10 9 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 25
    20 34 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 24
    21 32 159 Kyle Martel Chevrolet 0
    22 8 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 23
    23 27 28 Wes Burton Chevrolet 21
    24 7 5 Paulie Harraka * Ford 20
    25 30 282 Sean Corr Ford 19
    26 12 11 Todd Bodine Toyota 18
    27 13 13 Johnny Sauter Toyota 17
    28 21 93 Dennis Setzer Chevrolet 16
    29 26 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 15
    30 31 225 Brandon Knupp Chevrolet 0
    31 22 7 Jeff Agnew Toyota 13
    32 29 174 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 0
    33 36 175 Adam Edwards Chevrolet 11
    34 28 38 Chris Jones Chevrolet 10
    35 33 0 Chris Lafferty Ram 9
    36 24 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Ram 8