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  • Buescher Brings the NCWTS Heat in a Convincing UNOH 225 Kentucky Speedway Victory

    Buescher Brings the NCWTS Heat in a Convincing UNOH 225 Kentucky Speedway Victory

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”252″][/media-credit]Turner Motorsports driver collects his second career Kentucky Speedway victory

    SPARTA, Ky. – James Buescher brought the heat on a steamy Kentucky Speedway night and scored his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) victory at the facility by leading 119 of 150 laps while guiding his No. 31 Turner Motorsports machine to a 3.805-seconds UNOH 225 victory ahead of Brad Keselowski’s No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing ride.

    Buescher posted the fourth-widest NCWTS margin of victory in Kentucky Speedway history and became the 12th different series race winner in the 14th all-time series event at the track. He earned his second career Kentucky Speedway victory after claiming a 150-mile ARCA Racing Series win on May 9, 2009.

    “I’m just really proud of everyone on the Turner Motorsports Team.  My wife told me this morning she found a picture of the trophy on Twitter and told me she wanted it and you gotta make the wife happy so we got to Victory Lane.”

    Buescher took the lead for the third and final time on Lap 108, survived a restart seven laps later and pulled away from an entertaining battle for position between Keselowski and third-place driver Ty Dillon in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing truck.

    “I’m just really proud of everyone on the Turner Motorsports Team. My wife told me this morning she found a picture of the trophy on Twitter and told me she wanted it. You gotta make the wife happy so we got to Victory Lane,” Buescher said after taking his second NCWTS victory of the season and first since April 21 at Kansas Speedway. He owns a combined four top-five and five top-10 series finishes this season.

    Keselowski picked up his first NCWTS Kentucky Speedway top-five finish in his third career series start at the venue and first since 2006. His posted his previous Kentucky-best 18th-place NCWTS finish on July 9, 2005.

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Penske Racing star qualified 17th for tonight’s event and advanced to fifth place by Lap 30. He raced through the top 10 the rest of the way before nipping Dillon at the finish line.

    “I’m really pleased with the second-place effort. We just couldn’t get the speed that we needed to get all the way to the front. The truck kept coming to us. We were able to make some good moves to get to the front but just didn’t get close enough. Second is good, but I want to win so bad here. We’ll keep working on it and get better. I can’t wait to come back tomorrow and give it another shot,” said Keselowski, who will defend his 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Feed The Children 300 victory tomorrow night at the track.

    Dillon also registered his first NCWTS Kentucky Speedway top-five finish tonight. He placed 18th in his series track debut on Oct. 1, 2011.

    The leader in the NCWTS Rookie of the Year standings leapt into contention for a victory by racing from 10th place on Lap 100 to second on Lap 110.

    “I was real happy with our performance. It has been a long day, a hot day and our guys kept digging all day. We battled from behind, almost got wrecked, and played the strategy right to get a third-place finish. I’m real happy with that.

    “We couldn’t have asked for a better day, except for maybe a win. I thought we were going to have a chance at it. We were starting to run back to the leader there, but we got a little too tight. I’m excited and really happy for what it says about our team in being able to come from behind,” Dillon said.

    Tonight’s UNOH 225 pole award winner Matt Crafton took fourth in the No. 88 ThorSport Racing machine and Timothy Peters completed the top five in the No. 17 Red Horse Racing truck.

    Peters takes over the series championship lead with his fifth top-five and seventh top-10 finish of the season. He will head to the series July 14 event at Iowa Speedway with a four-point advantage on former leader Justin Lofton and Dillon.

    Lofton rolled across the finish line 14th tonight after his No. 6 Eddie Sharp Racing truck was involved in a multiple-truck incident on Lap 70 in Turn 1 that also knocked Nelson Piquet Jr. and two-time Kentucky Speedway race winner Todd Bodine from winning contention.

    “We had a really good truck. Maybe I was driving it a little harder than I should of. We got caught in a three wide situation and it really just didn’t work out for us. I hit the No. 33 (of Cale Gale), got it spinning and it got me. I guess that is fair since I got him. All in all it was a decent run for our truck. I know we lost the points, but I don’t think we lost too much ground. We are going to regroup and go to Iowa,” Lofton said.

    Kentucky Speedway race action continues to tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., with the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Feed The Children 300. Keselowski is the defending race champion.

    Parking lots open at 7 a.m., and gates at 9 a.m., for NNS practice. NSCS teams hit the track for the first time this weekend at 11:30 a.m., for the first of two Quaker State 400 practice sessions. Feed The Children 300 qualifying commences at 3:30 p.m., and is followed by Quaker State 400 qualifying at 5:30 p.m.

    Tickets, campsites and daily infield Fan Zone passes for the Feed The Children 300 and Saturday’s Quaker State 400 can be purchased by logging on to http://www.kentuckyspeedway.com/tickets, calling 859-578-2300 or visiting the Kentucky Speedway corporate offices at 1 Speedway Drive, Sparta, Ky., 41086 just off of Interstate 71 Exit 57 and the newly-expanded, seven-lane Kentucky Highway 35.

    UNOH 225 Extras:

    -Matt Crafton’s fourth-place finish tonight marked his fourth career NCWTS Kentucky Speedway top-five and eighth series top-10 finish in 13 career starts since 2001. He earned career-best third place NCWTS finishes here on July 18, 2009 and July 19, 2008.

    -Tonight’s race witnessed seven caution periods and 31 caution laps. The NCWTS track record for caution periods is nine from the inaugural series race on June 17, 2000. The NCWTS track record for caution laps is 49 from the same race.

    Unofficial Race Results
    UNOH 225, Kentucky Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=8
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 3 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 48
    2 17 119 Brad Keselowski Ram 0
    3 4 3 Ty Dillon * Chevrolet 42
    4 1 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 41
    5 7 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 39
    6 6 13 Johnny Sauter Toyota 38
    7 16 22 Joey Coulter Chevrolet 37
    8 18 18 Jason Leffler Toyota 36
    9 11 9 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 35
    10 25 4 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 34
    11 12 23 Jason White Ford 33
    12 5 32 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 32
    13 26 98 Dakoda Armstrong * Toyota 31
    14 10 6 Justin Lofton Chevrolet 30
    15 24 81 David Starr Toyota 29
    16 29 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 28
    17 23 5 Paulie Harraka * Ford 27
    18 21 168 Clay Greenfield Ram 26
    19 8 29 Parker Kligerman Ram 25
    20 36 84 Chris Fontaine Chevrolet 24
    21 33 275 Caleb Holman * Chevrolet 23
    22 31 214 Brennan Newberry Chevrolet 22
    23 34 202 Tyler Young Chevrolet 21
    24 15 2 Tim George Jr. Chevrolet 20
    25 9 33 Cale Gale * Chevrolet 19
    26 28 99 Bryan Silas * Ford 19
    27 30 7 Jeff Agnew Chevrolet 17
    28 13 11 Todd Bodine Toyota 16
    29 2 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. Chevrolet 15
    30 19 24 Max Gresham * Chevrolet 14
    31 20 101 Jake Crum Chevrolet 13
    32 22 9 John Wes Townley * Toyota 12
    33 14 8 Ross Chastain * Toyota 11
    34 35 27 C E Falk Chevrolet 10
    35 27 93 Dennis Setzer Chevrolet 9
    36 32 186 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 0
  • Bowyer wins the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma

    Bowyer wins the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]Clint Bowyer held off Tony Stewart and won Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350race  at Sonoma, CA. This was Bowyer’s first win of the season and the first win since joining Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR).

    “I’m super excited for everybody involved. To switch teams like I did was a huge risk and a chance for me, and it was a chance to showcase my talents.” Bowyer said.

    The final yellow flag came out on lap 104 after Kyle Busch and Paul Menard spun setting up the final overtime green-white-checkered finish.

    Bowyer restarted first with Kurt Busch running in second and Stewart in third. Busch had something broken in the rear of his car and Stewart had fresher tires.

    Bowyer got a great restart and held off Busch through the final laps until Stewart made the pass on Busch during the final lap. Stewart made one last run on Bowyer for the lead before the finish line but he did not have enough of a run and was out of time.

    “We started too far back, but I think myself and Brian Vickers probably had two of the best cars. Obviously the No. 51 (Kurt Busch) and the No. 15 (Clint Bowyer) were really strong all day too. Glad we got those cautions at the end that got us bunched up. That got us some spots.” Stewart said.

    Kurt Busch finished third, Brian Vickers fourth and Jimmie Johnson finished fifth.

    Kurt Busch drove hard and clean race for several laps, even nudging Bowyer for the lead several times. But Busch had something to brake in the rear of the car and Busch was unable to keep the pace needed to challenge for the lead in the final laps.

    An emotional Busch summed up his day.

    “It’s an amazing day, when you can do what we did. I’m a little choked up because A: We were in position. B: I was very considerate to Bowyer, who was going for his first win with the new team. And then C: which is most important, I made a mistake, I got into those tires in turn 11.” Busch said. “I’m just glad we brought it home third.”

    High hopes for capturing their first victory of the season where in the minds of Marcos Ambrose and Jeff Gordon. Starting 1-2, both drivers led the race early and then has their own issues with handling and running out of fuel for Gordon.

    Ambrose finished 8th.

    “We missed it bad and we did good to recover and get a top-10 out of it. We will take it and move on. We got the pole and had a lot of speed; we just missed it for the race. We were slow. It was just terrible. We had no speed in the car and we paid the price.” Ambrose said.

    Gordon battled back from 15th after his fuel issue to finish 6th.

    “We went about a half-of-a lap too far there on that one run. I think we made the car a little bit better, and just used a little bit more fuel in that second run, and ran out unfortunately. It never fails, you run out just as you pass pit entrance. We were lucky to get back to pit road, and get it fueled up.” Gordon said. “Luckily we had enough laps to slowly work our way up into the top-10, I guess we ended up sixth.”

    Last week’s winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. was running mid pack until the final restart. Earnhardt Jr. spun along with Aric Almirola, Regan Smith and several other cars. Earnhardt Jr. finished 23rd and falls one spot in the series standings to third, -14.

    “We had new tires and we were running good and restarted 13th. So, if it had been somebody else getting wrecked at the end (instead of him) maybe we would have finished in the Top-10.” Earnhardt Jr. said.

    Matt Kenseth’s 13th place finish was enough to move him into the lead in the series standings by 11 points over Greg Biffle, who finished 7th.

    The race had two caution flags for 10 laps (lap 82 and lap 104), the fewest in track history for the Sprint Cup Series.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Toyota/Save Mart 350, Sonoma, CA
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=16
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 – 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 48
    2 – 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 42
    3 – 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 42
    4 – 55 Brian Vickers Toyota 40
    5 – 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 39
    6 – 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 39
    7 – 16 Greg Biffle Ford 37
    8 – 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 37
    9 – 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 35
    10 – 20 Joey Logano Toyota 34
    11 – 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 33
    12 – 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 32
    13 – 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 31
    14 – 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 30
    15 – 13 Casey Mears Ford 29
    16 – 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 28
    17 – 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 27
    18 – 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 26
    19 – 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 25
    20 – 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 24
    21 – 99 Carl Edwards Ford 23
    22 – 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 23
    23 – 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 21
    24 – 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 20
    25 – 195 Scott Speed Ford 19
    26 – 38 David Gilliland Ford 18
    27 – 34 David Ragan Ford 17
    28 – 43 Aric Almirola Ford 16
    29 – 32 Boris Said Ford 15
    30 – 26 Josh Wise * Ford 14
    31 – 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 13
    32 – 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 12
    33 – 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 11
    34 – 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 10
    35 – 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 9
    36 – 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 8
    37 – 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 7
    38 – 10 Tomy Drissi Chevrolet 6
    39 – 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 5
    40 – 98 David Mayhew Ford 0
    41 – 33 Stephen Leicht * Chevrolet 3
    42 – 119 Chris Cook Toyota 2
    43 – 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
  • Piquet Jr. wins the Sargento 200 at Road America

    Piquet Jr. wins the Sargento 200 at Road America

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”244″][/media-credit]Polesitter Nelson Piquet Jr. held off Michael McDowell by 2.258-seconds and won Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Sargento 200 at Road America.

    Piquet Jr. is a former Formula One driver and the son of three-time F1 champion Nelson Sr. has extensive road racing experience and it showed as he easily cruised to his first victory in only three NNS starts.

    Ron Fellows finished third, Max Papis fourth and Sam Hornish Jr. finished fifth.

    On the final lap, Danica Patrick briefly took fourth place from Papis as they entered turn-5. Jacques Villeneuve, driving the no.22 this weekend drove hard into the inside of Patrick entering the turn, booting her into the gravel trap. Patrick was able to get out and finish 12th.

    “Where Villeneuve goes, there tends to be cars that have problems, whether it’s his fault or the other car’s fault or (just) stock car racing at the end of the race. You all can make a decision for yourself, what you think happened there.” Patrick said.

    “We were racing hard, and I wasn’t even fighting with Danica, I was fighting with Max Papis.” Villeneuve said.

    On lap 39, Elliott Sadler got turned around in turn-5. Sadler was able to get the car turned around and continue on despite front end damage. Sadler battled back and finished 15th and holds an 11 point lead over Austin Dillon in the series standings.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Sargento 200, Road America
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=14
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 1 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. Chevrolet 0
    2 2 18 Michael McDowell Toyota 0
    3 3 5 Ron Fellows Chevrolet 0
    4 5 33 Max Papis Chevrolet 0
    5 8 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 40
    6 4 22 Jacques Villeneuve Dodge 39
    7 6 11 Brian Scott Toyota 38
    8 22 54 Kurt Busch Toyota 0
    9 14 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 35
    10 7 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 34
    11 11 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 33
    12 10 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 32
    13 19 44 Mike Bliss Toyota 31
    14 15 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota 30
    15 13 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 29
    16 20 275 Kenny Habul Toyota 0
    17 17 199 Victor Gonzalez Jr. Toyota 0
    18 23 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 26
    19 28 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 25
    20 16 38 Brad Sweet * Chevrolet 24
    21 29 14 Eric McClure Toyota 23
    22 25 41 Timmy Hill Ford 0
    23 33 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 21
    24 37 70 Tony Raines Dodge 0
    25 26 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 19
    26 12 43 Michael Annett Ford 18
    27 36 23 Bill Prietzel Chevrolet 0
    28 27 126 John Young Dodge 0
    29 9 32 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 0
    30 24 19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 14
    31 32 39 Josh Richards Ford 13
    32 34 124 Casey Roderick * Chevrolet 12
    33 18 87 Alex Kennedy Toyota 0
    34 42 4 Matthew Bell Chevrolet 10
    35 21 159 Kyle Kelley Chevrolet 0
    36 41 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 8
    37 43 50 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 7
    38 40 108 Matt Frahm Ford 6
    39 35 52 Ryan Ellis Chevrolet 5
    40 39 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet 4
    41 31 47 Matt DiBenedetto Chevrolet 3
    42 38 42 Tim Schendel Chevrolet 2
    43 30 10 Jeff Green Toyota 1
  • Ambrose captured the pole for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma

    Ambrose captured the pole for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma

    [media-credit name=”Credit: By Ezra Shaw, Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”245″][/media-credit]

    Marcos Ambrose captured the pole for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma, CA with a lap of 95.262 MPH, 75.203 seconds around the 1.99-mile road course for his second pole in a row.

    “’We put a lot of effort into this road course program. I’m thrilled for my team and it takes a whole team to qualify on pole two weeks in a row.” Ambrose said.

    Jeff Gordon had the fastest lap during the first practice session and was the last one to qualify. Gordon just missed the pole with a lap of 95.067 MPH.

    “I thought it was a really good lap. To pick up from practice and have a good day like we did all day today with the Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet. You’ve got to give credit where credit is due Marcos (Ambrose) laid down a heck of a lap. We came up just a little bit short.” Gordon said.

    Jimmie Johnson qualified third, Greg Biffle fourth and Martin Truex Jr. qualified fifth.

    Last weeks winner at Michigan, Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified 19th.

    “We had a little more speed than that for qualifying. The car was pretty comfortable. I think I was too conservative with my driving. But, it never helps when you spin out the run before the last run of practice (smiles); that knocks some time out of you.” Earnhardt Jr. said.

    Starting Lineup
    Toyota/Save Mart 350, Sonoma, CA
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=16
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 95.262 75.203
    2 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 95.067 75.357
    3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 94.795 75.574
    4 16 Greg Biffle Ford 94.722 75.632
    5 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 94.686 75.661
    6 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 94.679 75.666
    7 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 94.632 75.704
    8 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 94.557 75.764
    9 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 94.524 75.79
    10 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 94.509 75.802
    11 99 Carl Edwards Ford 94.503 75.807
    12 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 94.319 75.955
    13 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 94.269 75.995
    14 20 Joey Logano Toyota 94.209 76.044
    15 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 94.206 76.046
    16 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 94.199 76.052
    17 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 94.184 76.064
    18 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 94.103 76.129
    19 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 94.026 76.192
    20 13 Casey Mears Ford 93.991 76.22
    21 55 Brian Vickers Toyota 93.949 76.254
    22 195 Scott Speed Ford 93.913 76.283
    23 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 93.84 76.343
    24 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 93.824 76.356
    25 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 93.732 76.431
    26 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 93.728 76.434
    27 38 David Gilliland Ford 93.524 76.601
    28 32 Boris Said Ford 93.268 76.811
    29 34 David Ragan Ford 93.166 76.895
    30 43 Aric Almirola Ford 93.153 76.906
    31 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 93.064 76.979
    32 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 92.964 77.062
    33 98 David Mayhew Ford 92.833 77.171
    34 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 92.563 77.396
    35 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 92.459 77.483
    36 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 92.14 77.751
    37 119 Chris Cook Toyota 92.076 77.805
    38 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 91.927 77.931
    39 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 91.836 78.009
    40 26 Josh Wise* Ford 91.729 78.1
    41 10 Tomy Drissi+ Chevrolet 90.579 79.091
    42 83 Landon Cassill+ Toyota 89.341 80.187
    43 33 Stephen Leicht* Chevrolet 91.686 78.136
  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. Flies To Victory Lane at Michigan, Ending 143 Race Winless Streak

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. Flies To Victory Lane at Michigan, Ending 143 Race Winless Streak

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”175″][/media-credit]After going 143 races without a win, Dale Earnhardt Jr. led 93 laps on his way to winning the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway. It marked the 19th career win for the driver of the No. 88 Diet Mtn. Dew/The Dark Knight Rises/National Guard Chevrolet.

    “This is incredible,” Earnhardt said. “I just didn’t know when it would happen. I knew it was going to happen, just didn’t know when.”

    With the win, Earnhardt Jr. continues to stand as the only driver to finish in the top-10 in every race this season with 12 top-10s this year. It matches his top-10 total from all of last season. This win also marks Earnhardt Jr.’s first win with Steve LeTarte since the partnership began in 2011.

    “This proves to us that our strategy is correct,” crew chief Steve LeTarte said. “You bring fast enough race cars, you don’t have to get out of your comfort zone too far and you don’t have to get super crazy with your pit strategy.  We say it all the time, you just need to put in hard work, hard work every Sunday and this helps us understand that we are not crazy; that our goals and what we have been trying to do has been working.”

    When Keselowski pitted with 30 laps to go, handing the lead back over to Earnhardt Jr., who would lead the rest of the way.

    Tony Stewart finished second for his seventh top-10 finish of 2012.

    “We had a fast car all week until the happy hour session last night, and you know, we just couldn’t get ahold of the racetrack,” Stewart says. “But I’m really proud of Steve Addington and our engineers.  They did a great job overnight and we started the day pretty much toward the front and never really lost that track position all day.  We had a pretty good car that we could pass with.  It was hard to pass, but it wasn’t impossible.  But like I say, I was really, really proud of our guys.”

    Matt Kenseth would finish third for his 17th top 10 in 26 starts at Michigan. Kenseth still leads the points, now four points ahead of Earnhardt Jr.

    “We were fortunate to qualify good and the first couple restarts were not great but finally got our way to the front,” Kenseth says. “We had a good fuel-only stop will and led a few laps, got behind in the pits, got behind that one time taking more fuel I guess than everybody else and resurfaced seventh and hard for me to get going on the bottom.  As soon as we pitted under the green, the next stop, we caught a yellow, so we got a lap down. So from there, it was a battle back but we got the car pretty good at the end and we were able to make a pretty good charge and salvage a pretty good day out of it.”

    Greg Biffle finished fourth with Johnson fifth, who made his way back up to top five after starting last due to an engine change. Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports team found some engine wear issues after the additional practice on Saturday night.

    During practice on Thursday and Friday, the left side tires were blistering. As a result, NASCAR made the decision to bring in new left side tires, while giving the teams an extra practice session on Saturday evening.  Newman also changed his motor after this session, finishing 15th despite running in the top 10 in the middle of the race.

    Meanwhile, other drivers ran into engine problems during the race including Josh Wise, Trevor Bayne and Kyle Busch. It marked the third straight engine issue for Busch.

    As a whole, Joe Gibbs Racing did not have a good day.

    On a lap 124 restart, Joey Logano would wreck when he tried to avoid David Gilliland. Gilliland got into the wall and when Logano tried to avoid hitting him, he got loose and spun back across the track into the wall, collecting Gilliland and Kasey Kahne.

    “We were just restarting there on the outside of the 14 (Stewart) behind the 17 (Kenseth),” Logano said. “There was a slower car up there and I just tried to get around him and got loose or tagged. But we’re not going to let that get us down. We’ve been on a roll lately.”

    Then on lap 134, Denny Hamlin would go for a spin, tearing the car apart. When he came down pit road, something underneath the car caught fire, bursting him into flames. He would get out uninjured with the help of Biffle’s and Newman’s team.

    “Defiantly got to thank all the crew guys that got me out,” Hamlin said. “Just a tough day. Thought we could run three or four, but just a tough day.”

    Next weekend, the Sprint Cup series hits the Sonoma Raceway road course.

     

    Unofficial Race Results
    Quicken Loans 400, Michigan Int’l Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=15
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 17 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 48
    2 8 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 43
    3 6 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 42
    4 3 16 Greg Biffle Ford 41
    5 10 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 39
    6 28 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 39
    7 13 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 38
    8 21 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 37
    9 1 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 36
    10 2 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 34
    11 42 99 Carl Edwards Ford 33
    12 16 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 32
    13 25 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 32
    14 19 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 31
    15 5 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 29
    16 31 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 28
    17 15 43 Aric Almirola Ford 27
    18 32 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 26
    19 20 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 25
    20 24 13 Casey Mears Ford 24
    21 33 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 24
    22 18 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 22
    23 38 34 David Ragan Ford 21
    24 22 33 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 0
    25 36 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 20
    26 39 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 18
    27 35 38 David Gilliland Ford 18
    28 12 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 16
    29 14 55 Mark Martin Toyota 16
    30 26 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 14
    31 40 32 Ken Schrader Ford 13
    32 34 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 12
    33 4 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 11
    34 11 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 10
    35 9 20 Joey Logano Toyota 9
    36 41 10 Tony Raines Chevrolet 8
    37 43 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 8
    38 27 98 Michael McDowell Ford 6
    39 29 119 Mike Bliss Toyota 0
    40 37 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    41 23 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 3
    42 30 26 Josh Wise * Ford 2
    43 7 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 0

     

  • Lap by Lap: Quicken Loans 400 won by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    Lap by Lap: Quicken Loans 400 won by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”394″][/media-credit]Dale Earnhardt Jr. led the final 30 laps on his way to ending his 143 race winless streak.

     

    Green flag

    Lap 1: Marcos Ambrose pulls out to the early lead

    Lap 2 Ambrose leads Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick as Kurt Busch spins on the backstretch

    Restart lap 5 – Biffle tries to make the move on Ambrose, though Ambrose pulls off with the lead down the back

    Lap 6 Biffle to the lead

    Lap 7 Bayne with motor problems

    Lap 8 Biffle leads Ambrose, Logano, Kahne, Kenseth, Harvick, Almirola, Stewart and Mark Martin

    Caution lap 10 Josh Wise blew up

    Restart lap 16 as Biffle keeps Ambrose behind him

    Lap 20 Biffle leads Ambrose, Logano, Kenseth, Almirola, Kahne, Stewart, Harvick, Martin and Bowyer

    Caution lap 26 – competition caution due to new left side tires, new pavement and rain……Leaders come down pit road…..Ambrose leads Kenseth, Logano, Martin, Kyle Busch and Harvick off pit road

    Restart lap 31 and Ambrose pulls out to the early lead

    Lap 34 Kenseth to the lead

    Lap 37 Kenseth leads Ambrose, Martin, Biffle, Stewart, Logano, Bowyer, Busch, Allmendinger, Almirola

    Lap 43 Keselowski passes Almirola

    Lap 49 Ambrose passes Kenseth in traffic for the lead

    Lap 50 competition caution….leaders pit…..Biffle leads them off pit road

    Restart lap 56

    Lap 59 Biffle leads Ambrose, Martin, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski, Montoya, Kenseth, Hamlin, Bowyer and Stewart

    Lap 69 Ambrose and Earnhardt Jr. both pass Biffle to move up to first and second; Earnhardt Jr. passes Ambrose for the lead

    Lap 72 Earnhardt Jr. leads Ambrose, Biffle, Martin, Keselowski, Montoya, Stewart

    Lap 78 Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. both make pit stops

    Lap 81 A.J. Allmendinger pits as there’s a caution for debris – foam from the safer barrier…..leaders hit pit road…..Earnhardt Jr. leads Stewart, Bowyer and Gordon off pit road

    Restart lap 87 as Stewart passes Earnhardt Jr. on the restart

    Lap 89 Stewart leads Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer, Gordon, Biffle, Ambrose, Newman, Logano, Martin and Menard

    Lap 90 Newman and Logano pass Ambrose

    Lap 91 Martin, Keselowski, Menard and Montoya pass Ambrose

    Lap 92 Stewart leads Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer, Gordon, Biffle, Newman, Logano, Martin, Keselowski and Menard

    Lap 101 Kyle Busch pulled behind the wall with a motor problem.

    Lap 102 Stewart leads Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer, Gordon, Biffle, Newman, Logano, Martin, Keselowski and Montoya

    Lap 105 Earnhardt Jr passes Stewart for the lead

    Lap 114 Montoya and Kenseth pass Keselowski as Keselowski pits

    Lap 115 Logano and Newman pit

    Lap 119 Kenseth, Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Biffle, Ambrose, and Kahne pit, along with a bunch of others. Montoya takes the lead

    Lap 120 Gordon and Truex pit

    Caution lap 121 Kurt Busch spins…….Montoya pits while Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. stay out

    Restart lap 126 Earnhardt Jr. takes the lead from Gordon around the outside through turn two…….Logano tried to avoid Gilliland (who got in the wall) and then got loose, turing back into the wall, collecting Gilliland and Kahne.

    Restart lap 133 as Earnhardt Jr. keeps the lead through turns one and two.

    Caution lap 134 Denny Hamlin goes for a spin and then catches fire on pit road after he got touched by Ryan Newman

    Restart lap 141 and Earnhardt Jr. pulls them around turn one

    Lap 144 Earnhardt Jr. leads Stewart, Gordon, Bowyer, Biffle, Kenseth, Montoya, Johnson, Edwards, Ambrose

    Lap 146 Mark Martin passes Ambrose for 10th; Biffle passes Bowyer

    Lap 147 Johnson passes Montoya

    Lap 149 Earnhardt Jr. leads Stewart, Gordon, Biffle, Bowyer, Kenseth, Johnson, Montoya, Edwards, Martin

    Lap 156 Earnhardt Jr. leads Stewart, Gordon, Biffle, Bowyer, Kenseth, Johnson, Edwards, Martin and Montoya

    Lap 159 Kenseth passes Bowyer

    Lap 160 Biffle passes Gordon

    Lap 162 Johnson hits pit road as Earnhardt Jr. leads Stewart, Biffle, Gordon, Kenseth, Bowyer, Edwards, Martin, Montoya and Ambrose

    Lap 163 Earnhardt Jr. and Stewart pit, handing the lead over to Biffle. Gordon, Edwards, Truex and Harvick also pitted.

    Lap 164 Ambrose and Newman pit.

    Lap 165 Biffle and Montoya pit, handing the lead over to Bowyer.

    Lap 166 Dillon and Bowyer pit, handing the lead over to McMurray.

    Lap 167 McMurray pits, handing the lead over to Keselowski over Burton and Earnhardt Jr.

    30 to go Keselowski and Burton pit, handing the lead to Earnhardt Jr.

    24 to go Earnhardt Jr. leads Stewart, Biffle, Johnson, Kenseth, Gordon, Martin, Bowyer, Montoya

    18 to go Earnhardt Jr. leads Stewart, Biffle, Johnson, Kenseth, Gordon, Martin, Bowyer, Montoya, Ambrose

    15 to go Johnson and Kenseth pass Biffle

    9 to go Kenseth passes Johnson

    7 to go Biffle passes Johnson

    5 to go Bowyer, Montoya and Ambrose pass Martin

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins followed by Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson

  • After 143 races, the winless streak is over….. Earnhardt Jr. wins at Michigan!

    After 143 races, the winless streak is over….. Earnhardt Jr. wins at Michigan!

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”240″][/media-credit]Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended his 143-race winless streak on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway in the Quicken Loans 400 in dominating fashion.

    “I know you guys have been waiting on that one. I know I have.” Earnhardt Jr. radioed to his crew after winning.

    After the cycle of pit stops, on lap 171 Earnhardt Jr. regained the lead by almost 2 seconds and was able to build up a lead of 5.393 seconds in route to his 19th career Sprint Cup series victory.  Earnhardt Jr’s last win was here at Michigan on June 15, 2008.

    “That was a great race. We just had a really good car. Those last 15 laps were the longest laps ever.” Earnhardt said.

    Earnhardt Jr. also narrowed the lead in the series standings and now trials Matt Kenseth by four points.

    “This [win] was for them. We appreciate their loyalty. We wouldn’t have made it back to victory lane without them.” Earnhardt Jr. added.

    Tony Stewart led some near the middle of the race and was “taking no prisoners”. He finished second.

    “Dale had the fastest car all day.” Stewart said. “It’s not a national holiday, guys. This morning they were celebrating his fourth anniversary of his last win, so I guess we’re all in a state of mourning now, because he’s broke that string now, so I don’t know what we’re all supposed to think.” Stewart added.

    Kenseth finished third, Greg Biffle fourth and teammate Jimmie Johnson finished fifth.

    “It was kind of a long day. We were pretty good in the beginning of the race and got shuffled back and it was tough to work traffic today. They got the setup good on the last two runs and had good pit stops and we were able to stand on the gas and work our way up there to third.” Kenseth said.

    Biffle ran of front for most of the race and traded the race lead with polesitter Marcos Ambrose but kept having tire issues.

    “I am a little disappointed because we couldn’t run the car as hard as we needed to. The right rear kept coming apart on us. I could only run it as hard as I could. I am really excited for Junior. What a great day for him to win on. There has been a lot of pressure on him and I am glad he won.” Biffle said.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Quicken Loans 400, Michigan Int’l Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=15
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 17 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 48
    2 8 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 43
    3 6 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 42
    4 3 16 Greg Biffle Ford 41
    5 10 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 39
    6 28 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 39
    7 13 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 38
    8 21 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 37
    9 1 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 36
    10 2 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 34
    11 42 99 Carl Edwards Ford 33
    12 16 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 32
    13 25 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 32
    14 19 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 31
    15 5 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 29
    16 31 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 28
    17 15 43 Aric Almirola Ford 27
    18 32 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 26
    19 20 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 25
    20 24 13 Casey Mears Ford 24
    21 33 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 24
    22 18 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 22
    23 38 34 David Ragan Ford 21
    24 22 33 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 0
    25 36 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 20
    26 39 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 18
    27 35 38 David Gilliland Ford 18
    28 12 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 16
    29 14 55 Mark Martin Toyota 16
    30 26 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 14
    31 40 32 Ken Schrader Ford 13
    32 34 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 12
    33 4 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 11
    34 11 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 10
    35 9 20 Joey Logano Toyota 9
    36 41 10 Tony Raines Chevrolet 8
    37 43 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 8
    38 27 98 Michael McDowell Ford 6
    39 29 119 Mike Bliss Toyota 0
    40 37 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    41 23 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 3
    42 30 26 Josh Wise * Ford 2
    43 7 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 0
  • Logano wins the Alliance Truck Parts 250 at Michigan

    Logano wins the Alliance Truck Parts 250 at Michigan

    [media-credit name=”Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]Under bright skies and sparse stands, the NASCAR Nationwide series took the green flag today at the Michigan International Speedway. That has been one of the stories with the Nationwide series all year, as well as NASCAR as a whole – good racing but fewer people to watch.

    Cole Whitt started on the pole for today’s Alliance Truck Parts 250, but in the opening laps, things didn’t go as planned for his teammate, Danica Patrick. On lap two, she had an incident with the driver of the #38 car, Brad Sweet. They both spun coming off of turn-2. Neither driver had too much damage and both were able to continue.

    On lap 25, NASCAR slowed the field for a competition caution to check the tire wear on the cars. Tire wear has been a big issue at Michigan this weekend, as NASCAR announced prior to the race that the Sprint Cup cars would have a special practice session later in the day to test a new left side tire being used on Sunday due to excessive speed and tire wear during practice. Joey Logano led everyone onto pit road during the competition caution and Sam Hornish Jr. came out first after taking only 2 tires. Hornish Jr. ended up holding off the field for a good number of laps with almost everyone behind him taking four tires instead of two.

    About 15 or so laps into the second long green flag run of the day, Austin Dillon came down pit road because he had a vibration. Dillon took two right side tires. This was a very risky move because you usually should take four tires when you feel a vibration, just to make sure that you changed the correct tires. Dillon felt that the vibration was coming from the right side of the car, so they took two tires only and fell 1-lap down and settled into 27th position. Luckily for Dillon, just as he came on the radio to tell his crew chief, Danny Stockman that the vibration had not gone away, the caution flag flew once again. Dillon received the “lucky dog” pass and was back on the lead lap in no time.

    The leaders headed to pit road again. Hornish took four tires because of only taking two on the prior stop, while Paul Menard, Elliot Sadler and James Buescher were among the leaders that took two tires and led the way off pit road.

    During this caution, points contender Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came down pit road and the team opened the hood to take a look at the right front suspension. Stenhouse has had bad luck and very poor runs the past few weeks, and this has put him in second place in the championship race.

    After the restart on lap-55, Brad Sweet had another incident. This time it was with Brad Keselowski and the #22 Discount Tire Dodge. Sweet got loose and barely kissed the outside wall. Keselowski made a nice save up in the marbles and kept the car off the wall.

    With 40 laps to go, the first green flag pit stops of the day started with Keselowski being the first taker to hit pit road. Michael McDowell in the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) car was next and then Menard pitted from the lead. Menard had a bit of trouble on the right rear during the pit stop. This was because the right rear tire changer had a fireball come up into his face and had part of his goatee burnt off! Yes, you heard me right! It caused Menard to drop from 1st to 4th once all the green flag stops cycled through.

    When Danica Patrick pitted, she took two tires only, but ended up waiting on fuel. During that time she could’ve changed all four tires and lost basically no time at all. Plus, she reported that she had a vibration so that would’ve fixed that problem for sure.

    After all stops, Elliot Sadler, your NASCAR Nationwide Series points leader, was your race leader over Logano, Kurt Busch in the #54 Monster Energy Toyota driving for his brother, Kyle Busch Motorsports, and Menard in the #33 Menards/Rheem Chevrolet.

    With 22 laps to go, Austin Dillon, who was still trying to make his way up through the field, was racing with Patrick for position when Dillon tried to go to Patrick’s inside. Patrick got loose and spun out again in the middle of turns 1 and 2. Although there was no direct contact made by Dillon, it seemed as though he sucked the air out from under her car and caused her to spin around.

    On the next restart with 18 laps to go, Sadler, who started second, got an awful restart and lost a total of six positions and dropped back to seventh. Five laps later, Patrick and Sweet were involved in another accident, but this one was a little more severe.

    Battling for 14th spot, Danica got loose and ended up with her right rear into the outside wall and it was heavily damaged.

    With 10 laps to go and Logano still leading, Menard got a bad restart and Busch, like he was doing all day on the restarts, made it 3-wide going down into turn-1 and gained a lot of spots. James Buescher settled in second and Dillon in third when there was, you guessed it, another yellow flag. This one involved Jamie Dick and Josh Richards.

    There was an oil spill so NASCAR decided to red flag the race to clean up all the debris and oil. Also, something strange happened; after Richards got out of his car, it rolled down the 18 degree banking by itself. It settled on the infield grass and nobody was hurt by the unmanned stock car rolling downhill.

    The last restart of the day came with five laps to go. Logano led, Buescher was second and Busch was third. Buescher stayed on Logano’s bumper for the next four laps. On the last lap, going into turn-1, Buescher got to Logano’s inside, but he couldn’t make it stick. Logano had the momentum coming off the top side of the race track and went on to win the Alliance Truck Parts 250, his fifth NASCAR Nationwide win of this season.

    Busch finished in third place, Cole Whitt finished fourth and Dillon rounded out the top-5.

    Some other notables were Johanna Long, who didn’t get that much TV time, finished in the 16th spot, Sadler in 11th, Patrick 18th and Stenhouse Jr. who had handling problems all day, brought it home 25th.

    The second place finisher, Buescher, said “there were a lot of moves at the end of the race” and that they “didn’t have all the speed [they] needed getting into the center of the corner. Restarts were good. I thought I was gonna get Joey but once I got to the bottom, I was just too loose.”

    Adam Stevens, the crew chief for Joey Logano after the race said that it “feels great” to keep winning these Nationwide races. The winner, Logano, talking about racing Buescher for the win, said that “it’s hard to get away from anyone. I knew the 30 [Buescher] was waiting on me.”

    Talking about his momentum, Logano said that he’s “been on a roll lately [and we] just gotta keep it going. I’m very confident right now in my abilities.”

    This race at Michigan had high hopes after seeing the high speeds being posted earlier in the week and I think that NASCAR fans everywhere would agree when I say that it did not disappoint.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Alliance Truck Parts 250, Michigan Int’l Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=13
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 3 18 Joey Logano Toyota 0
    2 4 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 0
    3 15 54 Kurt Busch Toyota 0
    4 2 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 41
    5 1 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 40
    6 11 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 39
    7 13 20 Michael McDowell Toyota 0
    8 7 33 Paul Menard Chevrolet 0
    9 17 11 Brian Scott Toyota 35
    10 9 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    11 6 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 34
    12 18 43 Michael Annett Ford 32
    13 16 44 Mike Bliss Toyota 31
    14 8 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 31
    15 23 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 29
    16 14 70 Johanna Long * Chevrolet 28
    17 22 14 Jeff Green Toyota 27
    18 5 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 27
    19 19 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota 25
    20 30 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 24
    21 28 19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 23
    22 27 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 22
    23 36 108 Tony Raines Ford 0
    24 12 38 Brad Sweet * Chevrolet 20
    25 20 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 19
    26 32 41 Timmy Hill Ford 0
    27 33 4 Danny Efland Chevrolet 17
    28 37 124 Angela Cope Chevrolet 0
    29 21 23 Jamie Dick Chevrolet 15
    30 24 39 Josh Richards Ford 14
    31 31 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 14
    32 35 50 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 12
    33 39 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 11
    34 10 199 Kenny Wallace Toyota 10
    35 42 52 Tim Schendel Chevrolet 9
    36 34 15 Blake Koch Chevrolet 8
    37 38 175 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 0
    38 29 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet 6
    39 26 42 Josh Wise Chevrolet 0
    40 41 171 Michael Guerity Chevrolet 0
    41 40 47 Matt DiBenedetto Chevrolet 0
    42 25 10 Kevin Lepage Toyota 2
    43 43 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 1
  • Ambrose captured the Quicken Loans 400 pole with record speed

    Ambrose captured the Quicken Loans 400 pole with record speed

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Marcos Ambrose captured the pole for Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan Int’l Speedway with a record lap of 203.241 MPH (35.430 seconds).

    This was Ambrose’s first career Sprint Cup Series pole and he also broke the track record previously held by Ryan Newman (194.232 MPH) in 2005.

    “I left a little bit out there. I got greedy into turn three. The Stanley team at Richard Petty Motorsports did an outstanding job for us. This is a really great hot rod and I am proud to represent them. We get to start in the front and that is all you can ask for.” Ambrose said.

    The top-40 cars in qualifying beat the old qualifying record and nineteen broke the 200 MPH mark on Saturday.

    The last pole winner to break 200 mph was Bill Elliott in 1987 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Kevin Harvick qualified second, Greg Biffle third, Kasey Kahne fourth and Ryan Newman qualified fifth.

    “I got about all I could get I think out of the car. I thought there would be more grip in one and two so I backed it down a little bit in three and four and it might have cost me.” Biffle said.

    Trevor Bayne had to qualify to start on Sunday and he qualified seventh.

    “I am still shaking man that is fast out there. I wish I could have got a little more out of it but I just didn’t trust it on entry. It got a little loose on me and was more free than yesterday. Not sure if that is the track or the heat. I wish I could have drove in a little deeper. I think I could have got another tenth or so. It isn’t a bad starting spot though. We will take a top-10 here.” Bayne said.

    A left-side tire issue has made NASCAR add an evening practice session to be held after the NASCAR Nationwide race on Saturday. NASCAR’s vice president of competition, Robin Pemberton said that the speeds in excess of 200 mph plus the blistering of left-side tires on some cars in Friday’s two practice sessions have caused Goodyear to bring 1,200 new left-side tires from a North Carolina warehouse in on Saturday morning. The change was made to keep “safety and competition in mind” and to reduce speeds.

    “We just trust that NASCAR and Goodyear know enough about the tire we’re putting on that the problem doesn’t migrate over to the right side. I hope that’s the case.” Jack Roush said.

    However, qualifying on Saturday was done with the original tire.

    “We are going to try the tire change tonight and see how our car adapts to that.” polesitter Ambrose said.

    Clint Bowyer is unsure what the new left-side tires will bring.

    “It’s going to be tough to pass anyway, but we’ll just see what the tire brings. It’s going to be a lot harder, it’s going to be more of a bear than we even had before. The grip level is going to be down, but only time will tell how bad it interrupts our cars.” Bowyer said.

  • Joey Logano Puts the Moves on Mark Martin to Score Pocono Win

    [media-credit id=43 align=”alignright” width=”268″][/media-credit]At the newly-paved Pocono Raceway, young Joey Logano put the moves on veteran Mark Martin, literally, to score the race win. This was career win number two for the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota and his first win of the season.

    With the victory, Logano became the youngest race winner at Pocono.

    “That feels awesome to finally win one the right way,” Logano said. “You don’t know how much this means.”

    “I knew my car was better than his and clean air was worth so much,” Logano said of his battle with Martin. “I didn’t want to get in the back of Mark there.”

    “I saw the bobble coming off 3 and I knew that was my chance,” Logano continued. “I would have been on suicide watch if I would have given it away like that.”

    Logano’s crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, got his first Sprint Cup win as well.

    “We were saving the best Gibbs car for last,” Jason Ratcliff said, with a chuckle. “To get my first win at Pocono is a great experience and to get it with Joey was the best.”

    “It was a great weekend for us.”

    In contrast to the youngest race winner, Mark Martin, one of the veterans of the sport and driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, came in second after being moved out of the way by the youngster.

    This was Martin’s second second place finish at Pocono, posting his 34th top-10 in 51 races at Pocono. It is his fifth top-10 finish of the season.

    “We were racing hard,” Mark Martin said. “I wanted to win it so bad.”

    “I’d call it a bump and run,” Martin said of Logano’s move. “It’s not how I would have done it.”

    “If I had a fast enough car, he would have gotten a return,” Martin continued. “It was a great race and I’m very, very proud of my race team for putting me in something that would give me a shot.”

    “Maybe next week, we’ll be the ones with the trophy.”

    Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, finished third. This was Smoke’s 19th top-10 finish in 27 races at Pocono.

    “It was frustrating the first half of the race until guys got their cars better,” Stewart said. “You really just kind of got stuck and then it seems like the longer the race went, the easier it got to pass toward the end.”

    “The restarts were insane,” Smoke continued. “All in all, for a freshly paved track, it was a pretty good race.”

    The day started with a bang at the ‘Tricky Triangle’, with a record two cautions in the first 15 laps, on for an accident involving Landon Cassill, Martin Truex, Jr. and AJ Allmendinger and the second for an accident involving Reed Sorenson, Tony Raines, and JJ Yeley.

    “Sometimes when you try to take it easy, you get yourself in trouble,” Cassill, driver of the No. 83 Burger King/Real Fruit Smoothies said. “I really hate this.”

    “This is two tough weeks in a row and it’s tough on my guys.”

    One of the other drivers involved in the early race melee, AJ Allmendinger, was very slow in exiting his car after his on-track incident in his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge.

    “I’m not sure what happened,” Dinger said. “I think I blew a right front.”

    “I’m just a little sore, had the wind knocked out of me,” Allmendinger continued. “That might be one of the hardest hits I’ve had.”

    The other big story from the Pocono 400 presented by #NASCAR was the incredible number of speeding penalties, some entering but most exiting pit road. The final tally for pit road speeding penalties total was 22 and affected drivers from Jeff Gordon to Jeff Burton.

    “I was obviously being told by my crew chief that a lot of guys were getting busted in that last segment,” Stewart said. “We just made sure we were a little bit on the conservative side.”

    “It just shows the guys are pushing the envelope on it so close,” Smoke said. “But it makes you wonder if something was going on because a lot of guys got busted in the same spot.”

    The other news from Long Pond was that a new points leader emerged after the Pocono 400 presented by #NASCAR. With Greg Biffle’s 24th place finish, his teammate Matt Kenseth, who finished seventh, scored the top dog position.

    “It’s probably the best we’ve ever performed at Pocono,” the driver of the No. 17 Ford EcoBoost Fusion said. “That was the positive part because we went up there and led some laps under green and thought we were pretty competitive.”

    In typical Kenseth style, his comment on assuming the points lead was “It’s better than being second.”

    “But I’m kind of disappointed,” Kenseth continued. “I thought we had a shot to win under the right circumstances.”

    “Us and the 88 (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) were pretty strong when we were out front and it just didn’t happen,” Kenseth said. “We’ll keep working on it, but I’m happy we got a decent finish and took over the point lead.”

    Unofficial Race Results
    Pocono 400, Pocono Raceway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=14
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 1 20 Joey Logano Toyota 48
    2 6 55 Mark Martin Toyota 43
    3 22 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 41
    4 24 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 40
    5 5 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 40
    6 16 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 38
    7 14 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 38
    8 8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 37
    9 3 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 35
    10 11 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 35
    11 2 99 Carl Edwards Ford 33
    12 18 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 32
    13 9 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 31
    14 21 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 30
    15 20 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 29
    16 7 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 28
    17 17 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 28
    18 31 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 26
    19 12 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 25
    20 23 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 24
    21 25 51 David Reutimann Chevrolet 23
    22 27 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 22
    23 36 38 David Gilliland Ford 22
    24 13 16 Greg Biffle Ford 21
    25 42 10 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 19
    26 37 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 18
    27 34 34 David Ragan Ford 18
    28 29 43 Aric Almirola Ford 16
    29 10 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 15
    30 4 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 14
    31 19 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 13
    32 40 36 Tony Raines Chevrolet 12
    33 43 33 Stephen Leicht * Chevrolet 11
    34 30 98 Michael McDowell Ford 10
    35 26 13 Casey Mears Ford 9
    36 32 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 8
    37 33 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    38 28 119 Mike Bliss Toyota 0
    39 39 74 Stacy Compton Chevrolet 5
    40 38 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 4
    41 41 32 Reed Sorenson Ford 0
    42 35 26 Josh Wise * Ford 3
    43 15 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 1