Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Category: Race Central

Race Central Stories

  • Joey Logano Scores First Season Pole at Tricky Triangle

    Joey Logano Scores First Season Pole at Tricky Triangle

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”220″][/media-credit]Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, scored his first pole of the season at the track known as the ‘Tricky Triangle.’ And his time trial lap for the Pocono 400 Presented by #NASCAR was tricky indeed, especially with some leftover speedy dry from a problem in the ARCA Series.

    “The track was dirty and I really don’t know why but I think it was from the ARCA cars,” Logano said. “I saw a few cars with the rooster tail off the back of them so the first few guys had a hard time.”

    “Even when I went out, I got to that trouble spot and got loose,” Logano continued. “I felt like I left a tenth and a half right there.”

    “I felt like I nailed Turns Two and Three pretty good,” Logano said. “So, I was hoping to have been in the top five and it ended up being good enough.”

    Logano ran a lap of 50.112 seconds at a speed of 179.598 miles per hour. This was Logano’s fourth pole in his 125 Cup Series races and his second pole in seven races at Pocono Raceway.

    “I think my guys have done a really good job focusing in here from the tire test to the practice to get the car handling right,” Logano said. “We went down a lot of different routes with our set up and we just kind of found something that all of us like.”

    “My Home Depot car is fast,” Logano continued. “It’s good in qualifying trim and in race trim too.”

    “It’s exciting and I think the race will be good,” Logano said. “Anytime you can be up front and start with clean air is important.”

    Including Joey Logano as pole sitter, Joe Gibbs Racing had all three of its drivers in the top five in time trials. Kyle Busch, in the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota, qualified fourth and Denny Hamlin, in the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, qualified fifth.

    “We missed just a little bit,” Busch said. “You’re kind of tentative going out there knowing everybody has been a little bit slick, but a couple of guys started to back up their times from practice.”

    “We backed up our time from practice too, but just a little bit off in qualifying trim for some reason,” Busch continued. “Solid lap.”

    “We were on pace for the pole and just got loose in Turn Three and lost a bunch of time,” Hamlin said. “I wanted to get below 50 seconds.”

    “We have a great car for tomorrow and should be up front throughout the day,” Hamlin continued. “Hopefully we can get the first win at Pocono on the new pavement.”

    Carl Edwards, behind the wheel of the No. 99 Kellogg’s Ford Fusion, scored the outside pole position at Pocono. This was Edwards’ sixth top-10 start of 2012 and his fifth in 15 races at Pocono.

    “Joey had to go show off for everybody and do what he did in practice,” Edwards said. “I’m telling you, I have to give Joey credit.”

    “For me, it’s very difficult to run a fast lap yesterday and go through the night thinking about everything and come back a day later in pretty difficult conditions there in Turn One and back that time up,” Edwards continued. “I think it’s very impressive.”

    “I’m extremely pleased that we get to start up front with our Kellogg’s Ford,” Edwards continued. “A lot of people were complaining about how long we were here and how much practice there was. I’m not complaining at all because we needed every day that we were here to get faster.”

    “I’m pretty excited about the race.”

    Paul Menard, in the No. 27 Menards/Sylvania Chevrolet, qualified third. This was Menard’s best career start at Pocono Raceway.

    “Up to this point, this was probably the most important qualifying session of the year,” Menard said. “It’s going to be hard to pass and we’ve put a lot of emphasis on qualifying.”

    “I felt like I did as good as I could have hoped,” Menard continued. “I’m really glad we’re starting on the inside.”

    Josh Wise, in the No. 26 MDS Transport Ford, was the highest qualifying rookie, scoring the 35th starting spot.

    “It was really loose for me,” Wise said. “I’ve never been here before so we just got the car driving as good as we could.”

    “We just put in a solid lap and got it in the show, so that’s all we’ve got to do.”

    Starting Lineup
    Pocono 400, Pocono Raceway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=14
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 20 Joey Logano Toyota 179.598 50.112
    2 99 Carl Edwards Ford 178.866 50.317
    3 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 178.582 50.397
    4 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 178.575 50.399
    5 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 178.543 50.408
    6 55 Mark Martin Toyota 178.228 50.497
    7 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 178.158 50.517
    8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 177.939 50.579
    9 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 177.862 50.601
    10 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 177.823 50.612
    11 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 177.658 50.659
    12 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 177.536 50.694
    13 16 Greg Biffle Ford 177.518 50.699
    14 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 177.501 50.704
    15 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 177.204 50.789
    16 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 177.026 50.84
    17 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 176.988 50.851
    18 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 176.852 50.89
    19 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 176.803 50.904
    20 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 176.658 50.946
    21 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 176.543 50.979
    22 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 176.419 51.015
    23 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 176.16 51.09
    24 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 176.149 51.093
    25 51 David Reutimann Chevrolet 176.074 51.115
    26 13 Casey Mears Ford 175.596 51.254
    27 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 175.576 51.26
    28 119 Mike Bliss Toyota 175.387 51.315
    29 43 Aric Almirola Ford 175.159 51.382
    30 98 Michael McDowell Ford 175.073 51.407
    31 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 174.88 51.464
    32 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 173.943 51.741
    33 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 173.869 51.763
    34 34 David Ragan Ford 173.853 51.768
    35 26 Josh Wise* Ford 173.497 51.874
    36 38 David Gilliland Ford 173.24 51.951
    37 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 171.854 52.37
    38 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 171.52 52.472
    39 74 Stacy Compton Chevrolet 171.155 52.584
    40 36 Tony Raines Chevrolet 167.411 53.76
    41 32 Reed Sorenson+ Ford – –
    42 10 Dave Blaney+ Chevrolet – –
    43 33 Stephen Leicht* Chevrolet 170.345 52.834
  • Lap by Lap: Winstar World Casino 400k won by Johnny Sauter

    Lap by Lap: Winstar World Casino 400k won by Johnny Sauter

    [media-credit name=”Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway” align=”alignright” width=”373″][/media-credit]Johnny Sauter led the final 22 laps on the way to winning the WinStar World Casino 400 for his victory of the 2012 season.

     

    Lap 1 Justin Lofton leads

    Lap 3 Lofton leads Timothy Peters, James Buescher, Ty Dillon, Brendan Gaughan, Nelson Piquet Jr., Parker Kligerman, Matt Crafton and Joey Coulter

    Caution lap 4 as John Wes Townley has a flat tire after getting into the outside wall.

    Restart Lap 8

    Lap 9 Lofton and Peters run side-by-side for the lead over Dillon, Buescher, Todd Bodine, Piquet Jr., Gaughan, Ron Hornaday, Kligerman and Jason Leftler

    Lap 11 Lofton holds the lead as Buescher moves up to second while Dillon and Peters run side-by-side for third.

    Lap 12 Peters stays third with Dillon fourth

    Lap 13 Lofton leads Buescher, Peters, Dillon, Bodine, Piquet Jr., Gaughan, Hornaday, Kligerman and Leftler

    Lap 16 Dillon passes Peters for third while Sauter passes Leftler for 10th

    Lap 18 Peters pits with a possible vibration and overheating problems.

    Lap 25 Lofton leads Buescher, Dillon, Bodine, Piquet Jr., Gaughan, Hornaday, Sauter, Kligerman and Crafton.

    Lap 27 James Buescher takes the lead from Lofton; Sauter passes Hornaday; Crafton passes Kligerman

    Lap 30 Todd Bodine blew up to bring out the caution…..pit stops for the leaders……Dillon leads Lofton and Buescher off pit road……..Max Gresham gets the lucky dog

    Restart Lap 30 as Ty Dillon leads through turn one

    Lap 31 Dillon leads Lofton, Buescher, Gaughan, Piquet Jr., Coulter, Sauter, Leftler, Crafton and Kligerman

    Lap 43 Dillon leads Lofton, Buescher, Sauter, Piquet Jr., Gaughan, Coulter, Crafton, Leftler, Kligerman

    Lap 45 Buescher passes Lofton for second; Coulter passes Gaughan for sixth

    Lap 46 Paulie Harraka and Rick Crawford wreck for a caution.

    Restart Lap 51 Buescher passes Dillon on the backstretch for the lead

    Lap 52 Buescher leads Dillon, Sauter and Lofton

    Lap 53 Buescher leads Sauter, Dillon, Lofton, Piquet Jr., Gaughan, Crafton, Kligerman, Coulter and Leftler.

    Lap 55 Sauter takes the lead from Buescher on the front stretch.

    Lap 69 Sauter leads Buescher, Dillon, Piquet Jr., Lofton, Gaughan, Crafton, Coulter, Leftler and Kligerman.

    Lap 71 Piquet passes Dillon for third

    Caution Lap 73 Paulie Harraka and Max Gresham spin in front of Sauter – Harraka gets into the wall while Gresham stays out of the wall; Buescher passes Sauter for the lead…..Leaders hit pit road……Jason White leads Dillon, Piquet Jr., Buescher and Lofton off pit road. White took two tires; Kligermann runs Sauter into the grass a little coming off pit road.

    Restart Lap 79 as Jason White gets a good restart

    Lap 80 White leads Buescher, Dillon, Piquet Jr., Coulter, Kligerman, Sauter, Crafton, Lofton and Miguel Paludo

    Lap 82 Buescher takes the lead from White

    Lap 85 Sauter passes Kligermann; Gaughan  and Cale Gale pass Paludo

    Lap 86 Crafton passes Kligermann

    Lap 88 Gaughan passes Lofton for ninth; Buescher leads White, Dillon, Piquet Jr., Coulter, Sauter, Crafton, Kligermann, Gaughan and Lofton

    Lap 89 Gaughan passes Kligermann for eighth

    Lap 90 Dillon and Piquet pass White

    Caution Lap 93 for debris…….leaders pit for fuel……..Dillon leads Piquet Jr., Coulter, Crafton, Buescher and Sauter off pit road. Lofton stays out so he takes over the lead

    Restart Lap 100 as Lofton leads heading into turn one.

    Lap 101 Coulter and Buescher pass Dillon for second and third while Lofton leads.

    Lap 102 Buescher passes Coulter for second

    Lap 104 Dillon passes Coulter for third

    Lap 105 Lofton leads Buescher, Dillon, Coulter, Sauter, Crafton, White, Gaughan, Gale, and Piquet Jr.

    Lap 107 Kligerman passes Piquet Jr. for 10th

    Lap 115 Lofton leads Buescher, Dillon, Coulter, Sauter, Crafton, Gaughan, White, Gale, Kligerman

    45 laps to go Piquet passes Gale and Kligerman; Sauter passes Coulter for fourth

    43 to go Sauter passes Dillion; Piquet passes White

    42 to go Lofton pits, handing the lead over to Buescher; caution as Norm Benning spins Bryan Sylas…..leaders pit…….Dillon leads Buescher, Coulter, Crafton and Sauter off pit road……

    Restart 33 to go as Dillon and Buescher run side-by-side for the lead

    Caution 31 to go Dillon gets loose under Buescher and they both get into the wall; Crafton takes the lead…..Dakoda Armstrong gets the lucky dog

    Restart 24 to go as Crafton and Gaughan run side-by-side through turns one and two……Sauter makes it three-wide going in turn three. Gaughan backs off and now Sauter and Crafton run side-by-side

    23 to go Crafton clears Sauter for the lead

    22 to go Sauter takes the lead from Crafton

    18 to go Sauter leads Crafton, Coulter, Gaughan, Leftler, Gale, Piquet Jr., Kligerman, David Starr and Dillon

    17 to go Dillon passes Starr for ninth

    13 to go Piquet Jr. passes Gale; Dillon passes Kligerman

    10 to go Sauter leads Crafton, Coulter, Gaughan, Leftler, Piquet, Gale, Dillon, Lofton, Kligerman

    Sauter wins over Crafton Coulter Gaughan Piquet Leftler Dillon Gale Lofton Kligerman

  • Johnny Sauter Breaks Bad Luck Spell, Wins WinStar World Casino 400k

    Johnny Sauter Breaks Bad Luck Spell, Wins WinStar World Casino 400k

    [media-credit name=”Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]After having bad luck for the first six races this year, Johnny Sauter would come home victorious in the seventh race of the season as he won the WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. It marked his first victory and his second top 10 finish of the 2012 season.

    “First of all, I want to thank everyone at Peanut Roaster, Toyota, everyone at ThorSport,” Sauter says. “This is unbelievable. After all the bad luck this year, good to get this. I wasn’t sure what was going on with the restart there – first I was third, then I was fourth. The bottom was where you wanted to be on the restarts there. Great job by (crew chief) Joe.”

    Sauter led early in the race before problems on pit road set him back to the bottom half of the top 10. With 22 to go, he was able to pass ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton and never looked back.

    Crafton came home second for a 1-2 finish for ThorSport and his third top 10 of 2012.

    “It was a bit too much,” Crafton says. “I was a little bit tight the previous one, went up a bit on the right rear and it was just a little too much. When I had Johnny right up there behind me, I was loose. I just burned the right rear off trying to hold Johnny off. This Thorsport organization is awesome.”

    Birthday boy Joey Coulter came home third for his best career Camping World Truck Series finish. Brendan Gaughan and Nelson Piquet Jr. rounded out the top five.

    Jason Leftler would come home sixth with rookie Ty Dillon seventh. Dillon was battling with James Buescher for the lead with 31 laps to go when Dillon got loose and caused both drivers to wreck.

    “”He was mad, but I’m not just going to pull over and let him go,” Dillon says. “I’m racing for my first career win.  “I’m goin’ to win races. If he’s not, then he can go where they don’t allow blocking and hard racing.”

    Buescher would come home with a 15th place finish and make contact with Dillon as they entered pit road and then have a discussion on pit road afterwards.

    “Ty just kept running me up the hill,” Buescher says. “He needs to learn how much space you need on the right sides of these trucks”

    Rookie Cale Gale would finish eighth followed by Justin Lofton and Parker Kligerman. Lofton would lead the most laps at 55, though after staying out under a caution, he had to pit before the leaders and got trapped a lap down. He would take the wave around and work his way back up to the top 10.

    Last week’s race winner Todd Bodine blew a motor early in the race on lap 30.

    “No warning at all,” Bodine says. “I think it broke a valve, dropped a piston and then it just locked up. We were just messing with Ty (Dillon) there. We could’ve went up and done more. I gotta thank (car owner) Todd for what he has done with this team. He’s done a great job. We’ve got a great team. It was just a part failure. Can’t be mad about that. They happen.”

    Lofton still leads the points, five points over Timothy Peters. Peters came home with an 11th place finish.

    Unofficial Race Results
    WinStar World Casino 400, Texas Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=7
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 20 13 Johnny Sauter Toyota 47
    2 10 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 43
    3 11 22 Joey Coulter Chevrolet 41
    4 6 2 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 0
    5 8 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. Chevrolet 39
    6 18 18 Jason Leffler Toyota 38
    7 3 3 Ty Dillon * Chevrolet 38
    8 16 33 Cale Gale * Chevrolet 36
    9 1 6 Justin Lofton Chevrolet 37
    10 5 29 Parker Kligerman Ram 34
    11 2 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 33
    12 9 9 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 32
    13 17 81 David Starr Toyota 31
    14 15 32 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 30
    15 4 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 30
    16 23 8 Ross Chastain * Toyota 28
    17 13 23 Jason White Ford 28
    18 19 98 Dakoda Armstrong * Toyota 26
    19 25 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 25
    20 34 214 Brandon Miller Chevrolet 0
    21 21 24 Max Gresham * Chevrolet 23
    22 30 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 22
    23 26 84 B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 21
    24 31 165 Scott Stenzel Chevrolet 20
    25 24 99 Bryan Silas * Ford 19
    26 27 93 Brent Raymer Chevrolet 18
    27 12 9 John Wes Townley * Toyota 17
    28 22 5 Paulie Harraka * Ford 16
    29 32 73 Rick Crawford Chevrolet 15
    30 7 11 Todd Bodine Toyota 14
    31 28 7 Johnny Chapman Toyota 13
    32 29 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Ram 12
    33 33 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 0
    34 35 0 Chris Lafferty Ram 0
    35 14 27 Brandon Knupp Chevrolet 9
  • Jimmie Johnson Masters the Monster Mile; Monster Wreck Dominates Opening Laps

    Jimmie Johnson Masters the Monster Mile; Monster Wreck Dominates Opening Laps

    [media-credit id=26 align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]Jimmie Johnson, complete with his Madagascar No. 48 car and wig, mastered the Monster Mile for the seventh time, tying Bobby Allison and the King, Richard Petty, for the most career wins at Dover International Speedway.

    This was Johnson’s 57th victory in 376 Cup races and his second victory in 2012.

    “I’m just proud of this hair,” Johnson said, still rocking his Madagascar wig. “It brought some speed to the team.”

    “It was just a fun day,” Johnson continued. “We had a fast car and amazing pit stops.”

    “When you lead the most laps, sometimes it can backfire on a dominant car,” Johnson said. “It was a brand new race car so I’m just proud of the effort.”

    “The car was really good,” Chad Knaus, Johnson’s crew chief, said. “Jimmie’s the man here.”

    “He understands this race track and enjoys coming here,” Knaus continued. “We enjoy it as well.”

    Kevin Harvick, in the No. 29 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, was not able to live up to his ‘Closer’ moniker, but did finish in the runner up spot, maintaining his seventh position in the point standings. This was Harvick’s 18th top-10 finish at the Monster Mile.

    “The 48 just had us covered today,” Harvick said. “But all in all our Jimmy John’s guys did a good job.”

    “I made a mistake on pit road, but we had a car capable of making up positions and drive back through the pack,” Harvick continued. “We were able to keep up with the race track and that was the key to get in position to at least give ourselves a chance.”

    “We had a solid race.”

    The driver of the No. 17 Best Buy Ford, Matt Kenseth, came in third in the FedEx 400 Benefitting Autism Speaks. He remains second in the point standings, just one point behind his Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle.

    “We honestly struggled,” Kenseth said of his race. “But I’m happy to come home third in a car that didn’t drive the way we wanted it.”

    “I feel good about our points position obviously,” Kenseth continued. “But certainly, we know we have some work to do.”

    “I don’t think anyone could run with the 48 so we have some work to do.”

    Dale Earnhardt, Jr., behind the wheel of the No. 88 AMP Energy/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet, and Clint Bowyer, driving the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, rounded out the top five.

    “We needed a little more grip in the front end,” Junior said. “We had a good car though.”

    “We had a good run and a good points day,” Junior continued, moving up one spot to third in points, just ten back from the leader. “I want to congratulate Jimmie my teammate.”

    “It was a solid weekend,” Bowyer said. “I had a tough day on pit road, but we could battle back on restarts.”

    “I’m proud of the effort and MWR had good cars all weekend long.”

    The race was marred by a monstrous crash early in the race, in fact on Lap 9, involving thirteen cars. This was the most cars in a wreck to date in the 2012 season.

    Drivers from Regan Smith to Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Landon Cassill, to name a few, were involved in the melee, which brought out the red flag for 19 min 54 seconds.

    “I actually didn’t even feel him (Tony Stewart) touch me,” Landon Cassill, driver of the No. 83 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota, said. Cassill’s car bore the brunt of the multiple-car pileup.

    “I was just passed by the No. 1 (Jamie McMurray) and I was trying to dime in the corner a little bit more,” Cassill continued. “He (Stewart) was just barely there.”

    “Tony is one of the most patient drivers and especially in this part of the race,” Cassill said. “It’s just too bad that it tore up that many race cars.”

    Regan Smith, behind the wheel of the No. 78 Furniture Row/CSX Play It Safe Chevrolet, took responsibility for the wreck.

    “I know I got in the back of the 14 and spun him,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of wrecked race cars here and none of us like that, especially on Lap 9.”

    For Tony Stewart’s part, the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, said that it was a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

    “As far back as we were, I didn’t have the luxury of being patient,” Smoke said. “It’s just a crappy weekend all around.”

    The mile was monstrous for the Busch brothers, with Kurt Busch, in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet, having two pit road penalties and ultimately blowing his engine, and Kyle Busch having engine woes as well, which put him out of the race.

    Kurt Busch, who had had an altercation with Sporting News reporter Bob Pockrass after the Nationwide race again displayed his anger and frustration, asking his team at one point, “Anybody want to drive?”

    Kyle Busch, driving the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota, said that dropping a valve ended their day early in at the Monster Mile.

    “It’s real unfortunate,” Busch said. “We had a good car, we were running up front there. We were biding our time trying to see if we couldn’t keep up with the race track.”

    “I hate it that we give a post-race interview this way rather than finishing.”

    ‘Concrete Carl’ also had difficulties at the Monster Mile. Edwards, in his No. 99 Subway Ford, blew a tire and hit the wall hard on Lap 165.

    “Our front right tire went flat,” Edwards said. “It is so frustrating to have that good of a car.”

    “We will come back and get them in the fall.”

    The race at the Monster Mile also sported several engine failures, including Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, David Reutimann and Jeff Burton. This was more engine failures at Dover than in the last three races combined.

    “First of all we had a good car today,” Burton said of his No. 31 BB&T Chevrolet, which was running in the ninth position prior to the engine failure. “That’s the good thing.”

    “We broke an engine here, but the monkey is on us right now and it will get off one day,” Burton continued. “I’ve never quit anything in my life and I’m not going to quit this.”

    The Cup Series next moves from the Monster Mile to the recently repaved ‘Tricky Triangle’ at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, June 10th.

    Unofficial Race Results
    FedEx 400, Dover International Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=13
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 48
    2 6 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 42
    3 5 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 42
    4 17 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 41
    5 4 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 39
    6 12 43 Aric Almirola Ford 38
    7 18 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 37
    8 11 20 Joey Logano Toyota 36
    9 13 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 35
    10 21 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 34
    11 7 16 Greg Biffle Ford 33
    12 16 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 32
    13 14 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 32
    14 1 55 Mark Martin Toyota 31
    15 3 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 29
    16 23 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 28
    17 20 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 27
    18 10 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 27
    19 24 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 25
    20 22 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 24
    21 28 34 David Ragan Ford 24
    22 15 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 22
    23 42 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 21
    24 9 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 20
    25 29 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 19
    26 19 99 Carl Edwards Ford 18
    27 26 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 17
    28 31 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 16
    29 8 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 15
    30 38 32 Reed Sorenson Ford 0
    31 39 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 13
    32 41 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 12
    33 32 30 David Stremme Toyota 11
    34 34 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 10
    35 37 33 Stephen Leicht * Chevrolet 9
    36 36 119 Mike Bliss Toyota 0
    37 43 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 7
    38 27 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 6
    39 35 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    40 30 38 David Gilliland Ford 4
    41 40 13 Casey Mears Ford 3
    42 33 98 Michael McDowell Ford 2
    43 25 179 Scott Speed Ford 1

  • Logano Puts on Monstrous Nationwide Show; Stenhouse Jr. Wrecks Out of Points Lead

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”223″][/media-credit]Joey Logano put a whipping on the Monster Mile, dominating most of the race and leading laps to score his first Nationwide win ever at the Dover track, as well as the coveted Miles the Monster trophy.

    Although strong throughout much of the race, Logano pitted under caution and had to battle back against teammate Ryan Truex in the last twenty laps to score the checkered flag.

    “I was frustrated as soon as the caution came out and we lost our track position,” Logano said. “Once we got to second and he (Truex) got caught in lapped traffic, I was able to pass cars, take the lead and get the win.”

    “When you lead it, think you gave it away, and then get the win, it’s good.”

    “It’s been four or five years and I have never gotten a win here,” Logano said. “It’s the coolest trophy you can win. It’s awesome to finally get it.”

    The driver of the No. 18 Dollar General Toyota led the parade of Joe Gibbs Racing drivers with teammates Ryan Truex and Brian Scott in second and third respectively.

    Although Truex gave a very gutsy performance to finish second, especially after just having had surgery for appendicitis, he was not a happy camper.

    He was particularly upset with lapped traffic, which slowed his run and allowed Logano to pass him.

    “I’m not happy,” the driver of the No. 20 Grime Boss Toyota said. “It’s second and I’m not happy with it.”

    “We had a winning car,” Truex said. “I hate to blame it on someone else, but it’s just stupid.”

    “I probably could have picked a better lane around them,” Truex said of the lapped traffic. “It’s just frustrating.”

    “I wish I could have got a win,” Truex said. “It was too close to come in second.”

    As unhappy as Truex was, the third member of the Joe Gibbs Racing triumvirate, Brian Scott was most pleased with his third place finish. Scott did admit, however, that he probably could learn some lessons from his younger teammates.

    “We had a really good Dollar General Toyota all day,” Scott said. “This one’s for JGR with a one, two, three finish.”

    “It’s fun to be up there and racing our teammates for the win,” Scott continued. “I’m a young kid myself at 24, but Ryan and Joey, who are younger than me, can show me a few things.”

    “Really happy to bring back a top-5 finish after all we’ve been through this year,” Scott said. “Hopefully, it’s a huge confidence booster for the team.”

    Kurt Busch, in the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports, finished fourth and Justin Allgaier, in the No. 31 Brandt Chevrolet, rounded out the top five. These two drivers, however, were none too happy with one other, having some words after the race on pit road.

    “We just agreed to disagree on a few things at the race track,” Allgaier said of the incident with Busch. “Great day for the Brandt Chevrolet.”

    “Glad we finished in the top-five; that was the first one for us this season,” Allgaier continued. “It was definitely a good day.”

    Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 American Ethanol/New Holland Chevrolet, was the highest finishing rookie, scoring the sixth spot.

    “It was a good run,” Dillon said. “We made sure our car was good for the race and it was.”

    “It was just way too tight in traffic,” Dillon continued. “We didn’t have the car to get up there like Joey did.”

    Troubles abounded, however, for points leader Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. when he lost control of the No. 6 Cargill Beef Ford Mustang and hit the wall hard on lap 27. The young driver took full responsibility for the wreck.

    “I just lost it,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “I wasn’t up on the wheel and just kind of riding around until that competition caution and just got behind on the steering.”

    “It was driver error, totally my fault,” Stenhouse continued. “We will have to go back take a weekend off and get ‘em at Michigan.”

    Stenhouse, Jr. was able to get back out onto the track but his car looked more like a modified car than a Nationwide car. He finished a disappointing 32nd and fell to second in the point standings, twelve behind Elliott Sadler.

    Yet in spite of being the new points leader, Elliott Sadler was also not amongst the happy camper drivers as far as his finish.

    “Our run today was not what we were looking for,” Sadler said. “To finish seventh is kind of disappointing.”

    “We had to fight back from a lucky dog but definitely not the day we wanted at Dover,” Sadler said. “We have homework to do before we come back in the fall.”

    “We are the points leader and we’re very happy to be back in the points race,” Sadler continued. “But we know as a team that the 6 car is going to run good every week and is not going to have problems every week.”

    “But it does feel good to be back in the middle of this thing,” Sadler said. “As a team, we just have to keep fighting and keep improving.”

    Unofficial Race Results
    5-hour Energy 200, Dover International Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=12
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 2 18 Joey Logano Toyota 0
    2 1 20 Ryan Truex Toyota 43
    3 5 11 Brian Scott Toyota 41
    4 9 54 Kurt Busch Toyota 0
    5 7 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 40
    6 11 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 38
    7 6 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 37
    8 3 33 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 0
    9 14 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 0
    10 15 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 34
    11 23 43 Michael Annett Ford 33
    12 12 22 Parker Kligerman Dodge 0
    13 10 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 31
    14 19 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 30
    15 30 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota 29
    16 20 19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 28
    17 28 14 Jeff Green Toyota 27
    18 27 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 26
    19 21 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 25
    20 13 199 John Wes Townley Toyota 0
    21 34 23 Jamie Dick Chevrolet 23
    22 18 39 Josh Richards Ford 22
    23 22 38 Brad Sweet * Chevrolet 21
    24 32 50 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 20
    25 – 4 Brad Teague Chevrolet 19
    26 36 52 Joey Gase * Chevrolet 18
    27 29 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 17
    28 – 124 Tim Bainey Jr. Chevrolet 0
    29 35 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 15
    30 17 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 14
    31 26 41 Timmy Hill Ford 0
    32 4 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 12
    33 8 44 Mike Bliss Toyota 11
    34 – 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 10
    35 37 171 Matt Carter Chevrolet 9
    36 – 175 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 0
    37 24 42 Josh Wise Chevrolet 0
    38 16 47 Scott Speed Chevrolet 0
    39 25 10 Kevin Lepage Toyota 5
    40 31 108 Tim Andrews Ford 4
    41 – 15 Blake Koch Chevrolet 3
    42 33 46 Matt DiBenedetto Chevrolet 0
    43 – – – – 0
  • Martin captures the NSCS pole at Dover

    Martin captures the NSCS pole at Dover

    [media-credit id=26 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Mark Martin captured the pole for Sunday’s FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway with a lap of 158.297 mph.

    “I knew the conditions were looser than they were in our mock qualifying run yesterday and I didn’t want to ask him because I didn’t want to get concerned. I knew that I only had to make it one mile without wrecking and I was going to drive to the limit and slightly beyond and I felt like I did that.” Martin said.

    This was Martin’s 54th career Sprint Cup pole and the third of the season in just 10 race starts.

    “I can’t sit on these poles without the fastest race car and MWR and Rodney Childers in particular and the guys on our team are doing that. We won one little challenge today and that was to sit on the pole and that gives us a good starting position and a good pit stall, but the whole race is completely dictated by how your car handles in race setup.” Martin said.

    Jimmie Johnson qualified second, Ryan Newman third, and Clint Bowyer qualified fourth.

    “I got to the gas, I got through (turns) one and two so good that I got to the gas pretty early and three and four and just drove it pushing into it and kind of killed my lap.” Bowyer said.

    Matt Kenseth qualified fifth.

    “Our speed was okay but we just have kind of been struggling a little bit with it. We don’t have it quite right for balance. I feel like I got everything there was to get but we just have to keep looking to get our stuff improved a little bit here. I feel like this is one of our better tracks but we are just kind of missing something a little bit this weekend.” Kenseth said.

    Series points leader Greg Biffle qualified 7th.

    “The car was sliding up the track a little bit. It seemed real slick to me and then the 55 went and ran that kind of lap. I guess it is only a tenth. If he entered a little different or the car hooked the bottom and he went to the gas really early that would make a difference. Seventh isn’t bad and I feel good about tomorrow. I think we have a good car.” Biffle said.

    Starting Lineup
    FedEx 400, Dover International Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=13
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 55 Mark Martin Toyota 158.297 22.742
    2 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 158.263 22.747
    3 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 158.235 22.751
    4 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 158.047 22.778
    5 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 157.985 22.787
    6 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 157.867 22.804
    7 16 Greg Biffle Ford 157.839 22.808
    8 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 157.839 22.808
    9 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 157.611 22.841
    10 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 157.549 22.85
    11 20 Joey Logano Toyota 157.542 22.851
    12 43 Aric Almirola Ford 157.494 22.858
    13 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 157.418 22.869
    14 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 157.405 22.871
    15 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 157.363 22.877
    16 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 157.343 22.88
    17 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 157.329 22.882
    18 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 157.178 22.904
    19 99 Carl Edwards Ford 157.061 22.921
    20 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 156.822 22.956
    21 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 156.822 22.956
    22 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 156.781 22.962
    23 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 156.637 22.983
    24 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 156.563 22.994
    25 179 Scott Speed Ford 156.488 23.005
    26 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 156.46 23.009
    27 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 156.27 23.037
    28 34 David Ragan Ford 156.216 23.045
    29 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 156.121 23.059
    30 38 David Gilliland Ford 155.723 23.118
    31 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 155.676 23.125
    32 30 David Stremme Toyota 155.266 23.186
    33 98 Michael McDowell Ford 154.912 23.239
    34 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 154.672 23.275
    35 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 154.559 23.292
    36 119 Mike Bliss Toyota 154.559 23.292
    37 33 Stephen Leicht* Chevrolet 154.48 23.304
    38 32 Reed Sorenson Ford 154.096 23.362
    39 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 154.024 23.373
    40 13 Casey Mears+ Ford 153.866 23.397
    41 36 Dave Blaney+ Chevrolet 153.702 23.422
    42 93 Travis Kvapil+ Toyota 153.584 23.44
    43 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 154.48 23.304

  • Todd Bodine Scores Truck Win at Rainy Monster Mile

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”223″][/media-credit]In spite of Kevin Harvick having by far the dominant race truck, Todd Bodine, in his No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota, stole the win away thanks to rain calling an early end to the Lucas Oil 200.

    This was Bodine’s 22nd victory in 196 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races, but his first victory this year. It was also his first win at the Monster mile.

    “Man, finally,” Bodine said. “It’s pretty special. Dover has always been high on my list as one of my favorite tracks. To be able to come back and get a win in Trucks, it kind of puts in perspective what I’ve needed to do here.”

    “To be able to do it with a brand new team and get the team the Monster trophy, it means a lot.”

    “We didn’t have the best Tundra today but Rick (Gay Jr. crew chief) made a great call,” Bodine said. “You don’t like to win them this way but I’ve lost them this way so I’m going to take it.”

    “I took a gamble today and it paid off,” Gay said simply.

    Parker Kligerman, behind the wheel of the No. 29 Cooper Standard Ram, finished 2nd in the rain-shortened event. This was his first top-10 finish in two races at the Monster Mile and his third top-10 finish in 2012.

    “We had a really fast race truck and were biding our time until halfway,” Kligerman said. “We got a little front end damage and the guys did a great job repairing it.”

    “I was angry and I drove like my hair was on fire,” Kligerman continued. “We drove up to sixth and knew the rain was coming so we just were at the right place at the right time.”

    Kevin Harvick, pole sitter and driver of the No. 2 Tide Chevrolet, did all he could to preserve a good finish, coming out third when the race was called. It was his second top-10 finish in two races at Dover.

    “We had a great truck all weekend and just got beat by the weather there,” Harvick said. “All in all the guys did a great job of controlling all the things that can and that’s all you can do.”

    “I still thought we had a chance,” Harvick continued. “They threw the caution before it even started raining so we wasted 25 laps between two cautions waiting around to see if it was going to rain.”

    “It was just one of those deals.”

    Harvick was unbeatable when he was out front in clean air. But the driver of the No. 2 Tide Chevrolet had more difficulty in the midst of traffic.

    “We just got tight,” Harvick said. “So when we got in traffic, it didn’t handle near  as well.”

    “It would take a little longer in traffic because it would get so tight off the corner.”

    Nelson Piquet, Jr. had a great run in his No. 30 Qualcomm Chevrolet, finishing in the fourth position.

    “At the end with the rain coming and going, we stayed out and it worked out,” Piquet Jr. said. “We ended up with a top five and that was very important for us.”

    Cale Gale, who finished fifth in the No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet, was the highest finishing rookie in the race.

    “Obviously we qualified good today,” Gale said. “We got involved in a little incident at the start of the race that got us behind.”

    “We made adjustments to the truck and the last portion of the race, it was a lot better,” Gale continued. “We were praying for a little bit of rain there at the end.”

    “We are happy,” Gale said. “We finally got a result that we are proud of.”

    Ty Dillon, who finished sixth in his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Allstate Chevrolet, had a very special evening in addition to the top-ten finish.

    Dillon broke Ricky Hendrick’s record of five straight top-10 finishes by a rookie in the opening five races and now is the sole owner of that record, with six straight top-10 rookie finishes in the first five races.

    “That’s very special,” Dillon said. “I’m very happy for my team.”

    “Now we need to consistently make those top-fives,” Dillon continued. “We had a fast track today but a little bit to the free side.”

    “Track position meant a lot and we played our hand right there at the end.”

    Unofficial Race Results
    Lucas Oil 200, Dover International Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=6
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 13 11 Todd Bodine Toyota 47
    2 11 29 Parker Kligerman Ram 43
    3 1 2 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0
    4 18 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. Chevrolet 40
    5 5 33 Cale Gale * Chevrolet 39
    6 6 3 Ty Dillon * Chevrolet 38
    7 15 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 37
    8 10 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 36
    9 8 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 35
    10 16 6 Justin Lofton Chevrolet 35
    11 2 22 Joey Coulter Chevrolet 33
    12 9 32 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 33
    13 17 18 Brian Scott Toyota 0
    14 24 81 David Starr Toyota 31
    15 12 8 Ross Chastain * Toyota 29
    16 21 9 John Wes Townley * Toyota 28
    17 25 5 Paulie Harraka * Ford 27
    18 30 275 Caleb Holman * Chevrolet 26
    19 7 27 Jeb Burton * Chevrolet 25
    20 19 98 Dakoda Armstrong * Toyota 24
    21 27 170 Jeff Agnew Chevrolet 23
    22 23 99 Bryan Silas * Ford 22
    23 29 84 Chris Fontaine Chevrolet 21
    24 4 13 Johnny Sauter Toyota 20
    25 35 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 19
    26 33 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Ram 18
    27 3 9 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 17
    28 31 261 Wes Burton Ford 16
    29 22 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 15
    30 14 24 Max Gresham * Chevrolet 14
    31 28 7 Chris Jones Toyota 13
    32 32 93 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 12
    33 20 23 Jason White Ford 11
    34 34 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 0
    35 26 38 Dennis Setzer Chevrolet 0
  • Kahne wins the Coca-Cola 600

    Kahne wins the Coca-Cola 600

    [media-credit id=38 align=”alignright” width=”245″][/media-credit]Kasey Kahne held off Denny Hamlin on Sunday night to win NASCAR’s longest race, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    “It felt really good to put the entire race together and have speed all night long. The Quaker State Chevrolet was really fast, the adjustments were great. It feels good to get a win for Hendrick Motorsports.” Kahne said.

    This was Kahne’s 13th career, his first win of the season and the first since he joined Hendrick Motorsports. At Darlington teammate Jimmy Johnson gave Hendrick its 200th cup series win; now Kahne increases the total to 201.

    “I said this back on our media tour, that I think we have the best balance and we were excited about the year, the way (crew chief) Kenny (Francis) fit in. We knew how Kasey would run. I’ve seem Kasey drive. Knowing that we gave him the equipment, and when we ran so good everywhere we’ve been, and he got in the car and did the same thing. He and Jeff (Gordon) have just had rotten luck.” Rick Hendrick said.

    Kyle Busch finished third, Greg Biffle fourth and Brad Keselowski finished fifth.

    “Felt like we were really good. Certain small adjustments can mean so much these days. The M&M’s guys did an awesome job. We had a really good race car. We just didn’t have quite enough there at the end.” Busch said.

    After a miscue on his pit stop with 45 laps to go, Johnson had to serve a stop-n-go penalty after his gas man left the pit box. He cycled back into 13th place, one lap down and finished 11th.

    “We had a couple little mistakes on pit road tonight. It happens. Last week things couldn’t have gone any better, and then this week we had a few little issues.” Johnson said.

    Making her first 600 race, Danica Patrick started 40th and finished 30th, 5 laps down.

    “We brought the GoDaddy car home and one of the goals was to finish. I would have liked to have been a little faster overall, but I think there were some times in there when it was decent.” Patrick said.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Coca-Cola 600, Charlotte Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=12
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 7 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 47
    2 8 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 43
    3 17 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 42
    4 4 16 Greg Biffle Ford 42
    5 24 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 40
    6 12 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 38
    7 23 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 38
    8 14 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 37
    9 28 99 Carl Edwards Ford 35
    10 20 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 34
    11 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 33
    12 15 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 32
    13 5 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 31
    14 16 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 30
    15 9 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 29
    16 1 43 Aric Almirola Ford 29
    17 10 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 27
    18 18 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 27
    19 22 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 25
    20 29 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 24
    21 31 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 23
    22 25 13 Casey Mears Ford 22
    23 19 20 Joey Logano Toyota 21
    24 13 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 0
    25 21 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 19
    26 39 38 David Gilliland Ford 18
    27 42 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 17
    28 26 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 16
    29 37 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 15
    30 40 10 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 0
    31 41 32 T.J. Bell Ford 0
    32 2 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 13
    33 11 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 11
    34 6 55 Mark Martin Toyota 10
    35 30 34 David Ragan Ford 10
    36 32 98 Michael McDowell Ford 8
    37 38 195 Scott Speed Ford 7
    38 35 30 David Stremme Toyota 6
    39 34 33 Stephen Leicht * Chevrolet 5
    40 36 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 4
    41 43 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    42 27 74 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 0
    43 33 26 Josh Wise * Ford 1
  • Keselowski wins the History 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

    Keselowski wins the History 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Brad Keselowski led the final 67 laps in route to his victory in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) History 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Keselowski last pitted with 73 laps to go while most of the field did pit. Keselowski and his team were left guessing if they had enough to make it to the end. It was enough to finish and Keselowski got his first victory of 2012 and his eighteenth overall victory in the Nationwide series.

    “Thankfully, we were able to save enough fuel. And I get what I think is one of the biggest wins of my career, to win on Memorial Day weekend and what it means to me and this country. It feels great.” Keselowski said.

    The race was a tale of two halves. The first 100 laps were dominated by Kevin Harvick who led a race high 97 laps and were for the most part uneventful. The second half saw a number of crashes and lead changes, with Keslowski ultimately making his way to the point, after starting the race from the 10th starting position, and leading the final 67 laps in his Penske Racing Dodge.

    “There’s a strategy and you know, Penske Racing engines, they do a great job with fuel mileage on the Dodges and they deserve a lot of credit for it. There’s only so much you can do as a driver and a lot of it comes down to the car and what it needs. Denny didn’t let me save any. I can tell you, at the end he was running pretty hard.” Keselowski said.

    Denny Hamlin finished second.

    “Just didn’t have that great of a car. We were able to get it good enough at the end to run those guys down. Proud of our effort. This is a great run for this Sport Clips Toyota. I want to get these guys a win. I keep talking about it because we keep finishing second, but eventually we’ll knock down the door.” Hamlin said.

    Kyle Busch finished third, Kevin Harvick fourth and Elliott Sadler finished fifth.

    “It was a really good race for us. Coming home third is pretty good for our Monster Energy Camry. The guys have worked really hard at trying to make our program better and getting it to where it needs to be.” Busch said.

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had driveshaft problems and took it to the garage on lap 65. He returned to the track 22 laps later and finished 26th.

    “I think the U-joint between the driveshaft and the transmission broke first. We’re gonna have to go back and look at it. It was a new driveshaft, new everything, so it was a tough day. Our Ford EcoBoost Mustang was by far a top-five car and had a chance to win for sure, so we can take that from today and go on.” Stenhouse Jr. said.

    Stenhouse now holds a 13-point lead in the series standings over Sadler.

    “We picked up some points today with a top-five finish.” Sadler said.

    Joey Logano was the pole sitter setting a fast time of 30.157 and finished 6th. For Logano, it was his first NNS pole.

    “It didn’t play out the way it was supposed to. It didn’t play out right according to a sixth place finish.” Logano said. “Overall got a pole today, so that’s good. Just wish we were a little bit faster. We weren’t quite quick enough to win the race anyways, but I feel like we had a third place car for sure.”

    Travis Pastrana spun several times, bringing out the caution flag twice. He finished 24th, five laps down.

    Danica Patrick qualified third, but she fell a lap down after getting caught on pit road during an early caution. She battled her way back to finish 13th. Patrick is now ninth in points.

    Rookie Austin Dillon, who was the fastest qualifying rookie (2nd) finished 11th, while Cole Whitt finished 28th.

    Unofficial Race Results
    History 300, Charlotte Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=11
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 – 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    2 – 18 Denny Hamlin Toyota 0
    3 – 54 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    4 – 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0
    5 – 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 39
    6 – 20 Joey Logano Toyota 0
    7 – 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 0
    8 – 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 37
    9 – 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 35
    10 – 21 Joey Coulter Chevrolet 0
    11 – 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 33
    12 – 44 Mike Bliss Toyota 32
    13 – 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 31
    14 – 43 Michael Annett Ford 30
    15 – 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 30
    16 – 198 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 28
    17 – 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0
    18 – 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 26
    19 – 41 Timmy Hill Ford 0
    20 – 19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 24
    21 – 124 Casey Roderick * Chevrolet 23
    22 – 70 Johanna Long * Chevrolet 22
    23 – 108 Kyle Fowler Ford 21
    24 – 199 Travis Pastrana Toyota 20
    25 – 52 Joey Gase * Chevrolet 19
    26 – 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 18
    27 – 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 17
    28 – 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 16
    29 – 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 15
    30 – 50 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 14
    31 – 11 Brian Scott Toyota 13
    32 – 14 Jeff Green Toyota 12
    33 – 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota 12
    34 – 39 Josh Richards Ford 10
    35 – 4 Danny Efland Chevrolet 9
    36 – 100 Angela Cope Chevrolet 0
    37 – 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 7
    38 – 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 6
    39 – 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 5
    40 – 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet 4
    41 – 42 Josh Wise Chevrolet 0
    42 – 47 Scott Speed Chevrolet 0
    43 – 10 Kevin Lepage Toyota 1
  • Almirola captured the Coca-Cola 600 pole

    Almirola captured the Coca-Cola 600 pole

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Aric Almirola captured the pole for Sundays Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a lap of 192.940 MPH, 27.988 seconds, giving Richard Petty Motorsports a front-row sweep.

    “It’s been a huge honor for me from day one to come to this organization, not just to drive at Richard Petty Motorsports but to drive the No. 43 car, probably the most iconic car in the history of our sport.” Almirola said.

    Teammate Marcos Ambrose qualified with a lap of 191.598 MPH, 28.184 seconds.

    “It’s a great night for us. We’ll take a front row. If you’re going to get beat by anyone I guess you want to be beaten by your teammate. It’s a proud day for us.” Ambrose said.

    All-Star winner Jimmie Johnson third, Greg Biffle fourth and Clint Bowyer qualified fifth.

    “Just real proud of where our equipment is going. I have been able always race better than I qualify. Our qualifying effort this year has been improving week in and week out. I can’t express enough how important that is on pit road and late in the race.” Johnson said. “I’m just very proud of everybody on this Lowe’s Chevrolet. The cars have been very fast and really great couple of weeks for us and we hope to keep things rolling”

    Last years winner, Kevin Harvick starts 14th.

    “We had a terrible first lap then just kind of backed off the second lap and ran faster. They are doing a good job when you can make a mistake like that and still have a decent qualifying lap.” Harvick said.

    Kurt Busch wrecked during qualifying and will start 42nd.

    Danica Patrick qualified 40th for her first Coca-Cola 600.

    “I was just a little loose. I was really loose getting up to speed and loose on the first timed lap. That is kind of where it’s at. I don’t know if maybe my line wasn’t perfect for those conditions or what I needed to do or what.” Patrick said. “Good news is we are in the 600, we just have to regroup and go out there and do a good job on Sunday night.”

    Starting Lineup
    Coca-Cola 600, Charlotte Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=12
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 43 Aric Almirola Ford 192.94 27.988
    2 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 191.598 28.184
    3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 191.374 28.217
    4 16 Greg Biffle Ford 191.259 28.234
    5 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 191.198 28.243
    6 55 Mark Martin Toyota 191.171 28.247
    7 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 191.13 28.253
    8 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 190.887 28.289
    9 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 190.597 28.332
    10 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 190.456 28.353
    11 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 190.329 28.372
    12 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 190.302 28.376
    13 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 190.268 28.381
    14 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 190.201 28.391
    15 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 190.194 28.392
    16 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 190.054 28.413
    17 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 190.034 28.416
    18 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 189.987 28.423
    19 20 Joey Logano Toyota 189.707 28.465
    20 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 189.607 28.48
    21 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 189.574 28.485
    22 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 189.52 28.493
    23 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 189.076 28.56
    24 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 188.871 28.591
    25 13 Casey Mears Ford 188.363 28.668
    26 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 188.344 28.671
    27 74 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 188.324 28.674
    28 99 Carl Edwards Ford 188.206 28.692
    29 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 187.924 28.735
    30 34 David Ragan Ford 187.656 28.776
    31 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 187.526 28.796
    32 98 Michael McDowell Ford 187.487 28.802
    33 26 Josh Wise* Ford 187.259 28.837
    34 33 Stephen Leicht* Chevrolet 187.169 28.851
    35 30 David Stremme Toyota 186.143 29.01
    36 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 186.111 29.015
    37 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 186.085 29.019
    38 195 Scott Speed Ford 185.976 29.036
    39 38 David Gilliland Ford 185.81 29.062
    40 10 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 185.179 29.161
    41 32 T.J. Bell Ford 183.886 29.366
    42 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet – –
    43 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 185.784 29.066