Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Category: Race Central

Race Central Stories

  • Juan Pablo Montoya Vrooms to Pocono Cup Pole

    Juan Pablo Montoya Vrooms to Pocono Cup Pole

    [media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”219″][/media-credit]Driving the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, complete with his face adorning the box of the Kellogg’s Vroom Cereal box, Juan Pablo Montoya scored the Coors Light pole for the 39th annual Pennsylvania 400.

    JPM qualified with a speed of 176.043 mph and a time of 51.124 seconds, winning his first pole in 12 races at Pocono. This was Montoya’s eighth pole in 202 NASCAR Cup Series races and he is now locked into the 2013 Shootout at Daytona.

    “That was huge,” Montoya said. “Well to be honest to you I’m not sure if I’m more shocked that I’m on the pole right now or that I’m on the pole in Pocono.”

    “This is a big boost for everybody on the Target team,” JPM continued. “We know we’re working hard but to actually get out there and get a pole, I just went through the hauler and they’re all happy and laughing.”

    “We really needed something like this as a company,” Montoya said. “This is big for us.”

    JPM admitted that he and his team played the strategy card in qualifying, particularly when it came to the unpredictable Pocono weather.

    “We looked at the weather and we said it looks like it’s going to rain,” Montoya said. “And if it’s going to rain, we’ll go qualifying runs in the morning. And we did.”

    “Do we have the fastest car out there?” Montoya continued. “No, but qualifying is the same as racing.”

    “You’ve got to make the right calls and do whatever it takes to get it done,” JPM said. “And that’s what we did.”

    Montoya spent time after his qualifying run in the ESPN booth, analyzing the time trials of his competitors. And he admitted that was just a tad bit stressful as he watched others try to unseat his P1 position.

    “When the 48 went out and he was dead even with me, I thought I’m dead,” Montoya said. “Can you believe this last freaking car is going to be beat me?”

    “But then he missed it and the smile started coming back.”

    Both dad to be Denny Hamlin, behind the wheel of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, and Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 Menards/Serta Chevrolet, credited going early in the qualifying run, along with some favorable cloud cover, with their second and third place time trials respectively.

    Hamlin scored his 12th top-10 for the season and his 12th in 14 races at Pocono. Menard posted his fourth top-10 start at Pocono and his fourth in 21 races for the season.

    “I’d like to say it was a good run but I’m a little bit disappointed in our run,” Hamlin said. “I think we reaped the benefits of going out early but knowing we were over a quarter second ahead going into the last corner and just missed it.”

    “At least we are going to have a good qualifying spot.”

    Menard had a bit more of a dicey time getting his P3 qualifying position. He had a problem during practice and had to go to a backup car.

    “I wasn’t expecting to qualify in the top three in a backup car,” Menard said. “Obviously that shows the hard work and preparation of the 27 guys and everybody at RCR.”

    “We had a good primary car and had a radiator hose that blew out of it and hit the wall,” Menard continued. “We had to pull out the backup car but luckily had two hours to get it ready between practices.”

    “It was pretty good right off the truck,” Menard said. “It was the same car we tested with for two days here so we have some good data on it.”

    “One of the biggest things that helped us was going out early,” Menard continued. “Standing on pit road, it was cloudy then and the cars that went before us, the sun came out I think.”

    “A little bit of luck and a lot of hard work.”

    Kasey Kahne, in the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, was the highest qualifying Hendrick Motorsports driver in the fourth position. Marcos Ambrose, in the No. 9 Stanley Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports rounded out the top five in qualifying at Pocono.

    There was one driver, Stephen Leicht, who failed to qualify.

    Starting Lineup
    Pennsylvania 400, Pocono Raceway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=21
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 176.043 51.124
    2 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 175.795 51.196
    3 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 175.627 51.245
    4 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 175.439 51.3
    5 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 175.432 51.302
    6 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 175.339 51.329
    7 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 175.169 51.379
    8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 175.131 51.39
    9 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 175.097 51.4
    10 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 175.067 51.409
    11 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 175.036 51.418
    12 16 Greg Biffle Ford 174.964 51.439
    13 43 Aric Almirola Ford 174.805 51.486
    14 20 Joey Logano Toyota 174.795 51.489
    15 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 174.618 51.541
    16 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 174.561 51.558
    17 99 Carl Edwards Ford 174.432 51.596
    18 55 Mark Martin Toyota 174.419 51.6
    19 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 174.314 51.631
    20 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 174.277 51.642
    21 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 174.213 51.661
    22 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 174.162 51.676
    23 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 173.92 51.748
    24 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 173.571 51.852
    25 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 173.524 51.866
    26 38 David Gilliland Ford 173.41 51.9
    27 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 173.3 51.933
    28 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 173.197 51.964
    29 13 Casey Mears Ford 172.864 52.064
    30 119 Mike Bliss Toyota 172.619 52.138
    31 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 172.371 52.213
    32 34 David Ragan Ford 172.038 52.314
    33 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 171.917 52.351
    34 26 Josh Wise* Ford 171.913 52.352
    35 37 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 171.808 52.384
    36 30 David Stremme Toyota 171.638 52.436
    37 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 171.246 52.556
    38 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 170.804 52.692
    39 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 170.658 52.737
    40 191 Reed Sorenson Ford 170.581 52.761
    41 32 Jason White+ Ford 167.876 53.611
    42 36 Tony Raines+ Chevrolet – –
    43 98 Mike Skinner Ford 170.516 52.781

  • Nelson Piquet Jr. Right at Home With Pocono Truck Pole

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”219″][/media-credit]Nelson Piquet Jr., who was racy in practice behind the wheel of his No. 30 Autotrac Chevrolet, scored the coveted pole position for the Camping World Truck race at Pocono. Piquet’s speed was 169.504 mph and a time of 53.096 seconds, a new track qualifying record.

    This was Piquet’s second pole of the 2012 season. His first pole was in Rockingham in the spring of this year.

    “I feel at home when I come to Pocono,” Piquet Jr. said. “Everyone is so welcoming and there are some diehard race fans in Pennsylvania.”

    “After a weekend off, I’m always more than ready to get back to the racetrack,” Piquet Jr. continued. “It’s going to be an exciting race at the ‘Tricky Triangle.’

    “I would love to get my first NCWTS win at a track I feel so welcomed at.”

    What Piquet Jr. did not share was that he really did not off the weekend off. The young driver completed the Chicago Rock’n’Roll Half-Marathon, with a speed of 2 hours, 18 minutes and 43 seconds, as well as celebrated his 27th birthday.

    Piquet Jr., however, will have a challenge on his hands, having to battle Richard Childress Racing phenom Ty Dillon for the race win.

    Dillon qualified his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet, in the outside pole position at a speed of 169.252 mph and a time of 53.175 seconds.

    This was Dillon’s ninth top-10 start for the 2012 season.

    “I’m excited to see what it’s really like to race on the new surface,” Dillon said. “I had a lot of fun there last year and earned a win in the ARCA Racing Series.”

    Miguel Paludo, with a speed of 168.631 mph and a time of 53.371 seconds, posted his first ever top-10 start at Pocono Raceway. This is the sixth in eleven races this season for the driver of the No. 32 Duroline Brakes Chevrolet.

    Joey Coulter, who had to go out last in the qualifying run due to Justin Lofton’s spin, qualified fourth in his No. 22 RCR/darrellgwynnfoundation.com Chevrolet. James Buescher, behind the wheel of the No. 31 Koike Aronson/Ransome Chevrolet, rounded out the top five.

     

    Starting Lineup
    Pocono Mountains 125, Pocono Raceway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/qual.php?race=11
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. Chevrolet 169.504 53.096
    2 3 Ty Dillon* Chevrolet 169.252 53.175
    3 32 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 168.631 53.371
    4 22 Joey Coulter Chevrolet 168.53 53.403
    5 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 168.143 53.526
    6 2 Tim George Jr. Chevrolet 167.645 53.685
    7 5 Paulie Harraka* Ford 167.448 53.748
    8 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 167.33 53.785
    9 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 167.299 53.796
    10 9 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 167.119 53.854
    11 9 John Wes Townley* Toyota 166.793 53.959
    12 11 Todd Bodine Toyota 166.698 53.99
    13 13 Johnny Sauter Toyota 166.396 54.088
    14 23 Jason White Ford 165.99 54.22
    15 33 Cale Gale* Chevrolet 165.63 54.338
    16 18 Denny Hamlin Toyota 165.596 54.349
    17 29 Parker Kligerman Ram 165.484 54.386
    18 98 Dakoda Armstrong* Toyota 165.484 54.386
    19 99 Bryan Silas* Ford 164.423 54.737
    20 8 Ross Chastain* Toyota 163.304 55.112
    21 93 Dennis Setzer Chevrolet 161.241 55.817
    22 7 Jeff Agnew Toyota 161.005 55.899
    23 84 Chris Fontaine Chevrolet 159.691 56.359
    24 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Ram 169.665 56.368
    25 27 C E Falk Chevrolet 159.295 56.499
    26 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 158.73 56.7
    27 28 Wes Burton Chevrolet 158.59 56.75
    28 38 Chris Jones Chevrolet 158.231 56.879
    29 174 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 157.312 57.211
    30 282 Sean Corr Ford 156.125 57.646
    31 225 Brandon Knupp Chevrolet 155.491 57.881
    32 159 Kyle Martel Chevrolet 151.172 59.535
    33 0 Chris Lafferty Ram 149.43 60.229
    34 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 147.278 61.109
    35 6 Justin Lofton+ Chevrolet – –
    36 175 Adam Edwards Chevrolet 131.886 68.241
  • Johnson Dominates the Curtiss Shaver 400 at the Brickyard

    Johnson Dominates the Curtiss Shaver 400 at the Brickyard

    [Photo by Adam Lovelace] Jimmie Johnson wins at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
    Denny Hamlin, driving the #11 FedEx Express Toyota won the pole for the 19th running of the 400 mile NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a speed of 182.763 mph. Jimmie Johnson in his #48 Lowes/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, started in 6th position and by lap four had passed second place Carl Edwards in the #99 Fastenal Ford.

    Edwards started in 2nd place and on lap 13 had to make an unscheduled pit stop for a possible valve spring or plug wire problem. Edwards would lose four laps and finished in 29th place. “We think it was some issue with the ECU. We changed that along with the spark plugs and the engine started running better” said Edwards after the race.

    Jimmie Johnson’s win was his 4th at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, tying him with teammate Jeff Gordon, his 3rd victory of the season, and 58th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win. Jimmie won the event by 4.758 seconds and led a total of 99 of the 160 laps. It was the 8th win for Hendrick Motorsports at the Brickyard. Johnson knew he would have a good car for the race and said, “I knew second or third lap yesterday on the track that we were going to have an awfully good chance at winning. That confidence that I had helped us through practice yesterday. There were a couple moments where maybe an adjustment didn’t work and we lost a little pace, but I just had a feeling, and I just knew we were going to be fine. We qualified well and then went out there today and put it on them, so solid performance.”

    Kyle Busch finished in 2nd place after starting in 7th. It was Kyle’s 6th top 10 finish in eight starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Can’t say enough about the effort the guys put in for our best finish here and our best run. If it wasn’t for the 48, we were probably in our own zip code on the rest of the field, but Jimmie Johnson was in his own country today, so we just couldn’t keep up with him”, Kyle said when asked about his #18 M & M’s Toyota.

    Greg Biffle, driving the #16 3M Ford for Jack Roush, finished the race in 3rd place after starting in 5th and led four laps on the day. “It was a pretty good day for us. We were just super loose all day long. It made difficult after about four or five laps my car just started to get real loose”.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr.
    [Photo by Adam Lovelace] Dale Earnhardt Jr.
    Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored his best ever finish at IMS after finishing in the 4th position in the #88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet. Earnhardt started in 20th position and worked his way to the front in the early running of the race. Not only was it Earnhardt’s best finish at Indianapolis and his 15th top 10 finish of the season, but he also gained the points lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings. This is the first time Earnhardt has lead the points since Septemeber, 2004. When asked about taking the points lead, Dale Jr. said, “If you run in the top 5 or top 10 enough, you will get points. But we would like to win some more races. I know our fans would like us to win some more races. We are working real hard, really happy with our result today. Happy for Hendrick Motorsports and the #48 shop. Everybody has got to be happy with what we got today. All cars run pretty good.”

    Jeff Gordon finished in 5th place, putting all three Hendrick cars in the top 5 for the day. The rest of the top 10 was Denny Hamlin in 6th, Ryan Newman 7th, Martin Truex Jr. in 8th, Brad Keselowski 9th, and Tony Stewart finished in the 10th position.

    Matt Kenseth, driver of the #17 Fifth Third Bank Ford entered the race with the points lead but on lap 134 Joey Logano and Trevor Bayne got together, collecting Kenseth in the wreck. Kenseth fell out of the race, finishing 35th, 28 laps behind the leaders. It was Kenseth’s first DNF of the season. When asked about the incident, Kenseth replied, “We got back there and some guys were driving pretty crazy. I guess at the very end of it the 21 and 78 were mad at each other and running into each other and then the 20 was trying to pass the 21 and just lost control of his car.”

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. now leads Kenseth by14 points in the series standings. There were 5 cautions for 25 laps and 17 lead changes among 9 drivers.

  • Five-time becomes Four-time at the Brickyard

    Five-time becomes Four-time at the Brickyard

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”229″][/media-credit]Jimmie Johnson won Sunday’s Crown Royal presents the Curtiss Shaver 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in dominating fashion.

    Johnson led five times for 99 laps, including the final 29 and held off Kyle Busch by 4.758 seconds. Johnson joins Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon as the only NASCAR drivers to win the Brickyard 400 four times.

    “Wow, man that victory lap to go around the track is something special. A big thank you to all the fans out there cheering it lets it really soak in. To come here and win is a huge honor, then to have four wins I’m at a loss for words.” Johnson said in victory lane.

    This was Johnson’s third win of the season and the 58th career, leaving him eighth on the all-time list and second to Gordon among active drivers.

    Greg Biffle finished third, Dale Earnhardt Jr. fourth and Jeff Gordon finished fifth.

    Joey Logano spun on lap 132 and collected Matt Kenseth, who came into Sunday’s race with the Sprint Cup Series points lead. Kenseth finished 35th and losses the series points lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 14 points.

    “We got back there and some guys were driving pretty crazy. I guess at the very end of it the 21 and 78 were mad at each other and running into each other and then the 20 was trying to pass the 21 and just lost control of his car.” Kenseth said.

    Carl Edwards had trouble early. On lap 12 his car was losing power and went to pit road. Edwards finished 29th, four laps down and needs wins to get into the Chase.

    “They haven’t told me anything yet. We think it is some issue with the ECU. We changed that along with the spark plugs and the engine started running better.” Edwards said. “We have to plan to win these races. I don’t think we can think about points anymore. I don’t know what the spread is but it can’t be good. That is what I am saying when I say it is simpler. We just have to go race for wins now.”

    Unofficial Race Results
    Curtiss Shaver 400, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=20
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 6 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 48
    2 7 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 43
    3 5 16 Greg Biffle Ford 42
    4 20 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 40
    5 9 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 40
    6 1 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 39
    7 11 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 37
    8 17 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 36
    9 22 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 36
    10 28 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 34
    11 19 55 Mark Martin Toyota 33
    12 15 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 32
    13 27 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 31
    14 8 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 30
    15 33 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 29
    16 24 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 0
    17 18 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 0
    18 14 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 26
    19 4 43 Aric Almirola Ford 25
    20 23 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 24
    21 12 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 23
    22 16 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 22
    23 32 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 21
    24 26 30 David Stremme Toyota 20
    25 38 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 20
    26 29 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 19
    27 31 38 David Gilliland Ford 17
    28 36 34 David Ragan Ford 16
    29 2 99 Carl Edwards Ford 15
    30 42 32 Ken Schrader Ford 14
    31 37 33 Stephen Leicht * Chevrolet 13
    32 21 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 12
    33 3 20 Joey Logano Toyota 11
    34 25 13 Casey Mears Ford 10
    35 10 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 10
    36 13 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 8
    37 30 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 7
    38 34 195 Scott Speed Ford 6
    39 41 10 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 5
    40 35 26 Josh Wise * Chevrolet 4
    41 40 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 3
    42 39 179 Mike Skinner Ford 0
    43 43 119 Mike Bliss Toyota 0
  • Keselowski Wins the Inaugural Indiana 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series Race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    Keselowski Wins the Inaugural Indiana 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series Race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    Keselowski wins at Indy.  Photo Credit: Adam Lovelace

    Indianapolis Motor Speedway kicked of its inaugural NASCAR Nationwide Series race today with stories and drama galore! Three jumped restarts, only one of which resulted in a penalty; Danica Patrick’s return to the Brickyard resulted in a wrecked car; the Dillon brothers finishing in the top 5 with Ty beating out brother Austin; Michael Annett wins the $100,000 Dash for Cash; and Brad Keselowski wins the race after Elliott Sadler is black flagged with 10 laps to go.

    Kasey Kahne started on the pole and was jumped on the start by Kyle Busch but never penalized. Kyle Busch led 3 times for 51 laps. Kyle was running in the top 5 on lap 80 when he spun in front of the field and lost a ton of track position. Kyle would go on to finish 22nd.

    On lap 40 of the 100 lap event, Danica Patrick got into the #98 of Reed Sorenson causing the two to get together and end Danica’s day. Danica finished 35th and Reed Sorenson finished in 33rd. “I just tapped him a little bit, and when I did, he slid sideways. I tried to go around him and didn’t quite get by him and spun around, and unfortunately that was it. I am sorry if I did anything to affect his day, but I didn’t mean to” Danica said after the accident.

    On a lap 82 restart Elliott Sadler was running in 2nd place behind Brad Keselowski. Elliott was being pushed by Austin Dillon, and in-car cameras made it sound as if Keselowski spun his tires. The result was a black flag for Elliott Sadler with 11 laps to go in the race. The black flag cost Sadler, in the #2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet, a shot at the win and a $100,000 bonus in the Dash for Cash. Sadler, who finished in 15th, tweeted after the race, “After meeting with NASCAR.. They said I DIDNT JUMP START but seems to be my fault the 22 spun his tires… I’m devastated”. Michael Annett, in the #43 Pilot Ford, finished ahead of Sadler and claimed the $100,000 Dash for Cash from Nationwide Insurance. “This is awesome. This is the Brickyard. We aren’t kissing any bricks today but we have a big cardboard check that we can lay our lips on” said Annett.

    Brad Keselowski, in the #2 Discount Tire Dodge, gave team owner Roger Penske his first stock car victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and 100th NASCAR win. Brad Keselowski said, “I’ve been watching races here since I was a kid in Michigan. Everybody knows how special Indy is and any win that you can have here, whether it’s the Indy 500 or the Brickyard here tomorrow, the first Nationwide race, every race is special.” When asked about the final restart and black flag for Sadler, Keselowski said, “I can tell you my perception of it was I got a push from Sam (Hornish), and it was a little more that I could take, and certainly I wasn’t going full throttle but I was not in the zone when Elliott took off. It appeared that Elliott got a push from behind, as well, and maybe he just couldn’t slow down, I don’t know. I don’t know how it all played out.”

    Sam Hornish Jr., also driving for Roger Penske in the #12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge, finished in 2nd place and led 7 laps during the race. Ty Dillon, driving the #51Wesco Chevrolet, finished 3rd beating brother Austin, who finished in 5th, by two spots. Denny Hamlin finished in 4th place. The rest of the top 10 were Michael Annett in 6th, Joey Logano 7th, Paul Menard 8th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 9th, and Jeremy Clements finished 10th.

    The race had 9 lead changes among 6 drivers, 5 cautions for 24 laps, and margin of victory or 3.304 seconds. Elliott Sadler now leads Austin Dillon by just 1 point in the driver standings after 19 races.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Indiana 250, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=19
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 8 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    2 13 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 43
    3 3 51 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 0
    4 4 18 Denny Hamlin Toyota 0
    5 7 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 39
    6 21 43 Michael Annett Ford 38
    7 6 20 Joey Logano Toyota 0
    8 9 33 Paul Menard Chevrolet 0
    9 10 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 35
    10 16 4 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 34
    11 12 44 Mike Bliss Toyota 33
    12 14 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 32
    13 19 199 Travis Pastrana Toyota 31
    14 15 11 Brian Scott Toyota 30
    15 5 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 30
    16 24 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota 28
    17 40 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 27
    18 28 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 26
    19 26 124 Kenny Wallace Toyota 25
    20 23 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 24
    21 39 39 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet 23
    22 2 54 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    23 37 41 Timmy Hill Ford 0
    24 34 14 Eric McClure Toyota 20
    25 1 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0
    26 25 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 0
    27 11 136 Ryan Blaney Chevrolet 17
    28 41 52 Tim Schendel Chevrolet 16
    29 22 19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 15
    30 17 70 Johanna Long * Chevrolet 14
    31 42 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 13
    32 29 108 Kyle Fowler Ford 12
    33 27 198 Reed Sorenson Ford 11
    34 18 1 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 0
    35 20 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 9
    36 35 10 Jeff Green Toyota 9
    37 38 15 Scott Riggs Ford 0
    38 33 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 6
    39 43 50 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 5
    40 36 86 Kevin Lepage Ford 4
    41 30 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet 3
    42 31 42 Josh Wise Chevrolet 0
    43 32 47 Stephen Leicht Chevrolet 0
  • Bad Brad wins the Indy 250 at Indianapolis

    Bad Brad wins the Indy 250 at Indianapolis

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”227″][/media-credit]In a wild race, Brad Keselowski won the inaugural NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Indy 250 with his Penske teammate Sam Hornish Jr. finishing second.  This was Roger Penske’s first win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in NASCAR and Keselowski’s first win at the speedway.  This win also gave Penske its 100th victory in NASCAR.

    Ty Dillon, making his second NNS start, finished third (his career best finish), Denny Hamlin finished fourth and Austin Dillon finished fifth.

    Polesitter Kasey Kahne led them to the green flag when Kyle Busch took off as they went into turn one.  Kahne told his team on the radio that the No.54 should get a penalty because he jumped the start.  NASCAR said that the No.38 Great Clips car did not start and that the No.54 would not get a penalty.

    Busch lead the first 15 laps en route to the competition caution. All of the leaders came down for pit stops. Denny Hamlin came in for 2 tires and a wedge adjustment. Dillon came into the pits fifth and got two tires as well. The No.54 car came in the leader and got two tires but they held Busch for just two seconds for fuel and lost three spots. Keselowski won the race off pit road.

    Green flag pit stops started to occur on lap 36 with the Discount Tire Dodge of Keselowski . Keselowski took four tires and a track bar adjustment because he was a little free off the corner.  The No.54 and the No.18 both took four tires.

    While that was happening, Danica Patrick and Reed Sorenson got together when Patrick went into turn-1 and bumped into the No.98 of Sorenson.  Sorenson tried to save it but came back up the track and caught Patrick, sending them both to the outside wall.  Patrick was not happy and showed her anger thru her in car camera.  Patrick said she just got shuffled back and she doesn’t know if she tapped him.

    “It’s just unfortunate for our day. It’s a big race, a big weekend.” Patrick said.

    The rest of the leaders came into pit during the caution. The No.12 of Sam Hornish took four tires and won the race off pit road. Kasey Kahne lost two positions due to putting tape on the car.

    The third caution came out with 37 laps to go for Debris. All of the leaders came in to pit maybe for the last time. the No.12 and the No.43 took two tires and came out first and second. The No.54 came in and was told to save fuel because they are four laps short. The No.22 car took 4 four tires and got tape for the grill.

    They restarted with 34 laps to go with Hornish Jr. leading. Keselowski took the lead from his teammate with 29 to go and also having to save fuel.

    The fourth caution came out when Brian Scott was battling Kahne and Scott spun and saved it but got little damage from Dillon. There was some takers for pit road to top off for fuel but none of the front runners came in.

    They got back to green with Keselowski leading. Busch spun coming off turn-1 and made a great save to keep it off the wall. Busch will have to come to pit road so the fuel mileage situation (for him) is gone. Busch finished 22nd.

    With 15 laps to go, Elliott Sadler was the race leader and got black flagged. Keselowski  was the leader on the restart and spun his tires (just like Kasey at the start). Sadler was asking NASCAR to review it and they did, but they still made Sadler come down pit road on lap 89.

    “It’s so wrong to penalize me for a mistake they made.” Sadler radioed to his crew. “NASCAR just took the championship away from me. They just took the damn championship right out of our hands.”

    Sadler finished battled back to finish 15th after the penalty and remains the series points leader by two points over Dillon.

    Sixth place finisher Michael Annett captured the Nationwide’s $100,000 Dash 4 cash.  “This is awesome. This is the Brickyard. We aren’t kissing any bricks today but we have a big cardboard check that we can lay our lips on.”

    Unofficial Race Results
    Indiana 250, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=19
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 8 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    2 13 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 43
    3 3 51 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 0
    4 4 18 Denny Hamlin Toyota 0
    5 7 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 39
    6 21 43 Michael Annett Ford 38
    7 6 20 Joey Logano Toyota 0
    8 9 33 Paul Menard Chevrolet 0
    9 10 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 35
    10 16 4 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 34
    11 12 44 Mike Bliss Toyota 33
    12 14 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 32
    13 19 199 Travis Pastrana Toyota 31
    14 15 11 Brian Scott Toyota 30
    15 5 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 30
    16 24 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota 28
    17 40 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 27
    18 28 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 26
    19 26 124 Kenny Wallace Toyota 25
    20 23 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 24
    21 39 39 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet 23
    22 2 54 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    23 37 41 Timmy Hill Ford 0
    24 34 14 Eric McClure Toyota 20
    25 1 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0
    26 25 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 0
    27 11 136 Ryan Blaney Chevrolet 17
    28 41 52 Tim Schendel Chevrolet 16
    29 22 19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 15
    30 17 70 Johanna Long * Chevrolet 14
    31 42 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 13
    32 29 108 Kyle Fowler Ford 12
    33 27 198 Reed Sorenson Ford 11
    34 18 1 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 0
    35 20 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 9
    36 35 10 Jeff Green Toyota 9
    37 38 15 Scott Riggs Ford 0
    38 33 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 6
    39 43 50 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 5
    40 36 86 Kevin Lepage Ford 4
    41 30 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet 3
    42 31 42 Josh Wise Chevrolet 0
    43 32 47 Stephen Leicht Chevrolet 0
  • Hamlin captures the Curtiss Shaver 400 pole at Indy

    Hamlin captures the Curtiss Shaver 400 pole at Indy

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”242″][/media-credit]Denny Hamlin captured the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Curtiss Shaver 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a lap of 182.763 mph.

    This was the 11th pole of Hamlin’s career and his second this season.

    “I just made sure I hit my marks, that was the most important thing. It was a great day for our FedEx Express Toyota. We feel like we have a car that will race good.” Hamlin said.

    With new crew chief Chad Norris, Carl Edwards qualified second.

    “That was a really good lap for us. I am just proud of everyone for coming together and working together. Everyone at the shop, Chad Norris, Bob Osborne, all the engineers and everyone here at the track who said, ‘Alright, lets put everything we can into this for the next seven weeks.’ I know this is just the first lap of our run toward the Chase but that is a good lap.” Edwards said.

    Joey Logano qualified third, Aric Almirola fourth and Greg Biffle qualified fifth.

    “It’s really tricky around here. I felt like we had a decent lap in our Dollar General Camry. The car wasn’t quite perfect, but we’ve been working on the thing really hard. We didn’t unload very good. We’ve been working hard and making improvements with it” Logano said.

    Drivers Reed Sorenson, Joe Nemechek and Michael McDowell failed to qualify.

    Starting Lineup
    Curtiss Shaver 400, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=20
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 182.763 49.244
    2 99 Carl Edwards Ford 181.984 49.455
    3 20 Joey Logano Toyota 181.756 49.517
    4 43 Aric Almirola Ford 181.679 49.538
    5 16 Greg Biffle Ford 181.532 49.578
    6 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 181.357 49.626
    7 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 181.046 49.711
    8 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 181.014 49.72
    9 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 180.952 49.737
    10 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 180.654 49.819
    11 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 180.611 49.831
    12 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 180.516 49.857
    13 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 180.487 49.865
    14 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 180.473 49.869
    15 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 180.447 49.876
    16 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 180.437 49.879
    17 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 180.433 49.88
    18 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 180.39 49.892
    19 55 Mark Martin Toyota 180.386 49.893
    20 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 180.245 49.932
    21 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 180.177 49.951
    22 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 180.148 49.959
    23 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 180.072 49.98
    24 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 179.928 50.02
    25 13 Casey Mears Ford 179.519 50.134
    26 30 David Stremme Toyota 179.212 50.22
    27 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 178.894 50.309
    28 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 178.862 50.318
    29 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 178.816 50.331
    30 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 178.543 50.408
    31 38 David Gilliland Ford 178.508 50.418
    32 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 178.486 50.424
    33 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 178.419 50.443
    34 195 Scott Speed Ford 177.855 50.603
    35 26 Josh Wise* Chevrolet 177.743 50.635
    36 34 David Ragan Ford 177.63 50.667
    37 33 Stephen Leicht* Chevrolet 177.347 50.748
    38 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 177.34 50.75
    39 179 Mike Skinner Ford 176.894 50.878
    40 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 176.859 50.888
    41 10 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 176.523 50.985
    42 32 Ken Schrader+ Ford 174.768 51.497
    43 119 Mike Bliss Toyota 176.18 51.084
  • Sadler wins the NNS STP 300 at Chicagoland

    Sadler wins the NNS STP 300 at Chicagoland

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”233″][/media-credit]Elliott Sadler won the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) STP 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday. Sadler led 35 laps and captured his first win at Chicagoland and the third of the season.

    Sadler, spent most of the week battling a stomach virus, held off a hard charging Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the final green-white-checkers restart.

    Sadler also claimed a $100,000 bonus from series sponsor Nationwide Insurance through its Dash 4 Cash program. Stenhouse, Allgaier and Wallace will be the other three drivers vying for the $100,000 bonus next weekend.

    Stenhouse lead a race high of 135 laps but had to pit during the green flag and the caution came out during his stop and he had to go to the back on the restart with 28 laps to go.

    Justin Allgaier finished third, Kenny Wallace (best finish this season) fourth and Michael Annett rounded out the top-5.

    “That’s just shades of the past.” Wallace said. “That’s the Hermanator.”

    They started the race in overcast skies and Stenhouse loved those track conditions. Stenhouse started on pole but Sam Hornish lead the first 7 laps but then Stenhouse took over the lead and never looked back. Stenhouse, who drives for Jack Roush, has never won in Chicagoland and never has his team owner. They have had 37 starts and 11 poles, but Roush Fenway Racing (RFR) continues on without a win.

    Green flag pit stops were starting to occur around lap 40 with the leaders coming in about two laps later. Kyle Busch was running 4th when he was too fast exiting and had to come in for a drive through penalty. Busch caught a good break when the No.23 of Jamie Dick broke something and stopped on the apron in turns 1 and 2. Brenden Gaughan also had trouble in the pits when he went to go in but caught the commitment cone and missed pit road. The caution came out and he and Mike Bliss went in for there stops.

    On lap 127 the 3rd caution was waved when Brad Sweet spun the 38 Great Clips car in turns 1 and 2. Everybody pitted except for Stenhouse, Parker Kligerman, Austin Dillon, Brian Scott and Cole Whitt.

    The third round of pit stops occurred around lap 165 when Dillon came in. Dillon got an air pressure adjustment hoping to correct a too tight condition. Stenhouse came in saying that something starting to go wrong with the right rear tire “bouncing”. Right in the middle of green flag pit stops Brad Sweet spun coming off of turn 2 and the caution came out. The rest of the drivers that did not pit on green including the No.2 of Elliott Sadler and the No.31 of Justin Allgaier came in and got four tires.

    The final caution came out with 7 laps to go when the No.12 car of Sam Hornish Jr. pushed the No.54 of Busch into the wall collecting Gaughan. Busch was not happy and declined to comment after exiting his car. Hornish Jr. went on his radio told his crew chief to tell the “No.54 and the No.33 he is sorry and it was all his fault”.

     

    News and Notes:

    Elliott Sadler told ESPN’S reporter Mike Massero that he was 60% but he would run the entire race.

    ESPN reported on lap 40 that 12 drivers have already start and parks.

    Danica Patrick finished 14th and Travis Pastrana finished 17th respectively.

    Elliott Sadler, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Kenny Wallace and Justin Allgaier all qualified for the Nationwide series Dash for Cash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    Unofficial Race Results
    STP 300, Chicagoland Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=18
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 15 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 47
    2 1 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 44
    3 16 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 42
    4 11 109 Kenny Wallace Toyota 40
    5 14 43 Michael Annett Ford 40
    6 2 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 39
    7 5 22 Parker Kligerman Dodge 0
    8 3 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 37
    9 8 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 36
    10 9 18 Ryan Truex Toyota 34
    11 6 11 Brian Scott Toyota 33
    12 7 44 Mike Bliss Toyota 33
    13 22 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 31
    14 13 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 30
    15 18 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 0
    16 24 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 28
    17 32 199 Travis Pastrana Toyota 27
    18 25 41 Timmy Hill Ford 0
    19 21 38 Brad Sweet * Chevrolet 25
    20 28 39 Josh Richards Ford 24
    21 12 70 Johanna Long * Chevrolet 23
    22 27 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 22
    23 17 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota 21
    24 19 14 Eric McClure Toyota 20
    25 30 19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 19
    26 35 117 Tanner Berryhill Toyota 18
    27 4 54 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    28 10 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 0
    29 20 23 Jamie Dick Chevrolet 15
    30 26 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 14
    31 36 124 Benny Gordon * Chevrolet 13
    32 33 4 Danny Efland Chevrolet 12
    33 37 52 Tim Schendel Chevrolet 11
    34 41 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 10
    35 40 171 Matthew Carter Chevrolet 9
    36 29 42 Blake Koch Chevrolet 8
    37 39 108 Tim Andrews Ford 7
    38 38 50 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 6
    39 42 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 5
    40 34 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet 4
    41 31 47 Stephen Leicht Chevrolet 0
    42 43 15 Carl Long Chevrolet 2
    43 23 10 Jeff Green Toyota 1
  • Buescher wins the American Ethanol 225 at Chicagoland

    Buescher wins the American Ethanol 225 at Chicagoland

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”256″][/media-credit]James Buescher battled back from two laps down and won Saturday nights NASCAR Camping World Truck Series American Ethanol 225 at Chicagoland Speedway.

    Buescher’s truck was losing power and he had to come to the pits to replace the carburetor. The team got it done very quickly and Buescher only went down two laps to the leaders.

    “I didn’t know if the carburetor was going to be a fix or not,” Buescher said. ”I was hoping it was. Luckily it was. From that point on, the goal was to get back on the lead lap and get as many spots as we could.”

    Buescher and Timothy Peters were side-by-side on the final restart with two laps to go. Buescher took the lead away from Peters on the final lap and held off a charge from Brendan Gaughan for his third career win and his third win of the season.

    Gaughan who led a race-high 83 laps finished second, Peters third, Matt Crafton fourth and Parker Kligerman finished fifth.

    Peters started in the back after an engine change.

    “It was just a testament to this whole Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra team. We didn’t get much practice. We had to change engines and this team is strong from adversity. I’m just speechless every week on what they do for me. We started at the back and came to the front, we led a lap, man, close but no cigar.” Peters said.

    Making his 200th career start in the truck series, Todd Bodine finished 18th. He is the first driver in NASCAR to reach 200 starts in all three national series.

    “When I started in this sport as a driver, you never thought about getting to this point. You only thought about the next race — the future wasn’t something you thought about. Here I am after 21 years driving. My first full season in Nationwide was in ’91. To make it to this point, we all strive for excellence in whatever sport we’re in. To have longevity and to make a career out of it, and to get to this point, it’s a pretty special thing to know I’ve been able to accomplish that much. It’s not often in this world that you can get to do for a living the one thing that they love the most. I’m very fortunate in a lot of respects. I’m glad to be able to be a part of this sport.” Bodine said.

    Peters leads Ty Dillon, who finished 12th, in the series standings by 23 points.

    Unofficial Race Results
    American Ethanol 225, Chicagoland Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=10
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 11 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 47
    2 6 2 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 0
    3 4 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 42
    4 9 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 40
    5 17 29 Parker Kligerman Ram 40
    6 8 33 Cale Gale * Chevrolet 38
    7 14 9 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 38
    8 5 18 Jason Leffler Toyota 36
    9 13 23 Jason White Ford 35
    10 21 81 David Starr Toyota 34
    11 22 73 Rick Crawford Chevrolet 33
    12 3 3 Ty Dillon * Chevrolet 33
    13 19 8 Ross Chastain * Toyota 31
    14 16 9 John Wes Townley * Toyota 30
    15 2 22 Joey Coulter Chevrolet 30
    16 20 98 Dakoda Armstrong * Toyota 28
    17 10 32 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 28
    18 7 11 Todd Bodine Toyota 26
    19 18 5 Paulie Harraka * Ford 26
    20 28 92 Chad McCumbee Chevrolet 24
    21 1 6 Justin Lofton Chevrolet 24
    22 15 13 Johnny Sauter Toyota 22
    23 34 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Ram 21
    24 23 99 Bryan Silas * Ford 20
    25 36 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 19
    26 12 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. Chevrolet 18
    27 33 84 Chris Fontaine Chevrolet 17
    28 25 168 Clay Greenfield Ram 16
    29 29 27 C E Falk III Chevrolet 15
    30 24 93 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 14
    31 30 39 Chris Jones Chevrolet 13
    32 31 186 Blake Koch Ram 0
    33 27 38 Dennis Setzer Chevrolet 0
    34 35 0 T.J. Bell Ram 0
    35 26 37 Jeff Green Chevrolet 0
    36 32 7 Johnny Chapman Toyota 8
  • Hamlin dominates but Kahne wins at New Hampshire

    Hamlin dominates but Kahne wins at New Hampshire

    Denny Hamlin clearly had the dominant car today at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but it was a miscommunication during a pit stop that proved costly and gave Kasey Kahne the opportunity to win.

    At the start of the race, polesitter Kyle Busch lead the first green flag run with ease with Hamlin running second for most of the run.  Followed by a Hendrick Motorsports parade behind them.

    On lap 66, the first round of green flag pit stops started. Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart and Brad Keselowski were among the first of the leaders to come to pit road. Leader Kyle Busch had many problems on pit road all day and this stop was awful. First, his right rear tire changer had a huge hiccup while changing the rear tire. It took him about 10 extra seconds. On top of losing all that time on the racetrack, he got nabbed for a pit road speeding penalty. He was too fast entering. Once everything cycled out, Busch was 22nd in the running order and some 44 seconds behind the race leader. All others were relatively clean on pit road and mostly took on four tires.

    Brad Keselowski came out in sixth position after starting in 22nd spot. That was a sign of a strong day to come. Also, the Hendrick cars were second, third, fourth and fifth after it cycled out. That was also a sign of a strong day to come.

    On lap 89, the first caution of the day flew for debris. Since track position at this track is critical, everyone pitted and took only two tires except for Jeff Gordon. Gordon stayed out and eventually ended up pitting on lap 145, off sequence, because he did not pit for fuel under the first caution. Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer also pitted relatively early because the Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) cars were not getting full of fuel for some reason.  Eleven laps later, leader Denny Hamlin pitted and everyone else followed. Once everyone cycled out, Hamlin was still the race leader.

    On lap 188, caution number two came out for more debris. Most of the cars took two tires, except for Jeff Gordon. He took four to get back on sequence, but dropped back to ninth. On the restart, Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin battled for the lead, which Hamlin eventually took. Brian Vickers also settled in sixth spot for that run. It seemed like whenever he gets in that No. 55 car for MWR, he runs well.

    On lap 232, green flag pit stops started, but not for long. David Reutiman blew an engine and the caution came out. Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch came in for service.  Johnson ended up being the lucky dog and Busch got the wave around, so both of them were back on the lead lap.

    Here’s when things got interesting. Under caution, everyone came and took two tires except for the race leader Hamlin, who took four tires. Everyone was scratching their heads as to why he took four when, being the dominant car all day, he really didn’t need to. It turned out to be a costly miscommunication between Hamlin and his crew chief, Darian Grubb. After Grubb took the blame for being mired back in traffic, Hamlin let out a sigh on the radio and from there on, he was on a mission.

    On lap 264, Hamlin was all the way up to fourth, passing Harvick. Eight laps later, he took away third from Dale Earnhardt Jr. With ten laps to go, Hamlin was 1.7 seconds behind the race leader, Kahne. While they both were in lapped traffic, Kahne maintained a steady lead, and ended up being able to close the deal and win his second race of the 2012 season. More importantly, he is now in a very good spot for the wild card spot to get into the chase.

    In victory lane, Kahne said “We ran top five the whole race […] Denny was obviously the best car.” He also added “I feel like we’ve been pretty tough all year. I can’t wait for some of these races coming up.” A dejected Denny Hamlin was able to put a smile on his face after the race. He had this to say: “It was just a miscommunication. We still had a shot at the win.” He also added, with optimism that: “We’re gonna win the one [Chase race at Loudon] that counts.”

    Jeff Gordon ended up sixth, but he knows that he needs to win soon if he wants any shot at making the chase.

    Another disappointing finisher was Kyle Busch, who ended up in 16th after having one of the strongest cars all day long.

    There were not really any major points shakeup this week, however, fan favorite Earnhardt Jr. had another solid top five. He could get that points lead from Matt Kenseth soon.

    Today’s race was great, and everyone can’t wait to get to Indianapolis in two weeks.

    Unofficial Race Results
    LENOX Industrial Tools 301, New Hampshire
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 2 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 47
    2 3 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 44
    3 5 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 42
    4 9 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 40
    5 22 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 40
    6 8 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 39
    7 7 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 38
    8 12 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 36
    9 11 16 Greg Biffle Ford 35
    10 6 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 34
    11 4 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 33
    12 10 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 32
    13 27 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 31
    14 16 20 Joey Logano Toyota 30
    15 15 55 Brian Vickers Toyota 29
    16 1 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 29
    17 13 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 27
    18 21 99 Carl Edwards Ford 26
    19 20 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 25
    20 28 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 24
    21 25 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 23
    22 24 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 0
    23 18 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 21
    24 14 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 21
    25 31 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 19
    26 17 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 18
    27 39 38 David Gilliland Ford 17
    28 23 43 Aric Almirola Ford 16
    29 29 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 15
    30 30 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 14
    31 37 32 Ken Schrader Ford 13
    32 43 33 Stephen Leicht * Chevrolet 12
    33 26 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 11
    34 19 34 David Ragan Ford 10
    35 40 30 David Stremme Toyota 9
    36 33 13 Casey Mears Ford 8
    37 32 26 Josh Wise * Ford 7
    38 34 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    39 35 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 5
    40 36 98 Michael McDowell Ford 4
    41 41 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 3
    42 42 179 Kelly Bires Ford 0
    43 38 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 1