Category: Race Central

Race Central Stories

Stenhouse claims third-in-a-row at Iowa

[media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”256″][/media-credit]NEWTON — The last three NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) races held at Iowa Speedway have more than a grandstand full of fans in common. The driver in victory lane has stayed the same as well.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the Second annual Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race Sunday afternoon. Stenhouse won in convincing fashion, with a 1.465 second margin of victory.

Stenhouse Jr. 209 of the 250 laps ran in route to his third victory on the season, sixth of his NNS career and extended his series points lead over Elliott Sadler to 28.

“It feels good to win three in a row, and it was a lot of fun leading that many laps.” Stenhouse said.

Sadler finished second, Michael McDowell third, Austin Dillon fourth and Kurt Busch finished fifth.

Making his NNS debut, Darrell Wallace Jr. finished ninth.

Danica Patrick blew a right-front tire and hit the outside wall in turns 3 and 4 on lap 115. She took it to the garage and was unable to continue. She finished 30th.

“These are the things that happen. You can’t control it. You’ve got 34 weekends and they’re not all going to go perfect.” Patrick said.

Unofficial Race Results
Pioneer Hi-Bred 250, Iowa Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=10
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	3	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	48
2	1	2	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	43
3	4	18	Michael McDowell	Toyota	0
4	6	3	Austin Dillon *	Chevrolet	40
5	–	54	Kurt Busch	Toyota	0
6	5	31	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	39
7	12	88	Cole Whitt *	Chevrolet	38
8	10	22	Parker Kligerman	Dodge	0
9	8	20	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Toyota	35
10	13	33	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	0
11	7	11	Brian Scott	Toyota	33
12	2	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	33
13	20	38	Brad Sweet *	Chevrolet	31
14	18	43	Michael Annett	Ford	30
15	–	44	Mike Bliss	Toyota	29
16	11	30	Steve Arpin	Chevrolet	0
17	24	81	Jason Bowles *	Toyota	27
18	33	40	Erik Darnell	Chevrolet	26
19	–	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	25
20	14	124	Casey Roderick *	Chevrolet	24
21	26	1	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	23
22	19	70	Johanna Long *	Chevrolet	22
23	17	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	21
24	29	23	Jamie Dick	Chevrolet	20
25	21	41	Timmy Hill	Ford	0
26	15	199	Travis Pastrana	Toyota	18
27	27	50	T.J. Bell	Chevrolet	17
28	36	4	Daryl Harr	Chevrolet	16
29	16	19	Tayler Malsam	Toyota	15
30	9	7	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	14
31	28	89	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	13
32	22	14	Jeff Green	Toyota	12
33	34	52	Joey Gase *	Chevrolet	11
34	32	39	Josh Richards	Ford	10
35	42	174	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	9
36	41	172	John Jackson	Toyota	8
37	37	108	Tim Andrews	Ford	7
38	40	42	Matt Frahm	Chevrolet	6
39	43	175	Michael Guerity	Chevrolet	0
40	38	15	Blake Koch	Chevrolet	4
41	30	10	Kevin Lepage	Toyota	3
42	39	47	Tim Schendel	Chevrolet	2
43	35	46	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	1

May 20, 2012

Johnson takes it to the bank

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”229″][/media-credit]Charlotte NC – The sheriff’s back in town and he goes by the name of Jimmie Johnson, ‘old five-time.’ Sheriff Johnson ran down the Beast of the Southeast to conquer the ‘D’ Shaped Oval and pocket his one million dollar paycheck for his third All-Star win.

Last week’s Darlington winner celebrated in style after another flawless performance by the No. 48 Lowe’s team at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He took his boss, Rick Hendrick, for a ride sitting inside the driver’s side window, down the front stretch, to celebrate another milestone. Johnson joins only two other drivers as a three-time winner in the All-Star event, the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. and his teammate Jeff Gordon.

Johnson and Crew Chief Chad Knaus dominated at this facility when it was appropriately named Lowe’s Motor Speedway, so it was no surprise to find Johnson leading after the first 20-lap caution free segment in the 28th All Star Race event. The team had a great strategy to keep Johnson out of trouble while waiting for the final 10-lap shootout for all the marbles. His marbles added up to a total bank roll of $1,071,340.

Johnson’s win is a culmination of an amazing week, kicked off by Hendrick Motorsports 200th win. The momentum continued for the Lowe’s No. 48 team when they earned top honors in the Pit Crew Challenge and the ability to choose their pit box location. Johnson’s All-Star win is the seventh win for HMS in this event.

“I was doing all I could to get by, but it wasn’t meant to be, “said Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge. Keselowski finished second but was still smiling after the fireworks given the outcome of the race. Matt Kenseth, the third place finisher was cutting jokes with Keselowski as they discussed the race format, side skirting on the cars and the strategic run that placed their cars in the rear of the field while the final segment was decided. Kenseth credited that time as a possible savior on his engine package, his teammates were not as fortunate.

Reigning All Star Race Champion Carl Edwards exited stage left when his No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion broke down. The machine ignited a fire underneath. “It’s insane back there in traffic,” said Edwards. “I don’t know what the front of the race is like, but where I’m at its insane.

Edwards took a different approach and while he was saddened to leave the race early, Edwards was pleased to join the commentators in the television booth. “You might have lost a driver out of this race,” Edwards commented after exiting the race on lap 27. “But you gained a fan,” he said.

Lap 67 saw a similar display of despair for Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing teammate. Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M machine went up in smoke and had to quickly evacuate his flaming ride. The car put down a trail of fluid stretching from turn four to the backstretch.

The four 20-lap segments paid $50,000 to win and gave the driver an early entry to pit lane in preparation for the 10-lap shootout. Johnson took the caution free first segment. The second segment was banked by Kenseth in his Fifth Third themed race car. The third segment went to Keselowski by a bumper over Kasey Kahne who started the race in a backup car after a qualifying accident on Friday. The Sprint Showdown winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. secured his spot with a takedown in the fourth segment.

Rounding out the top five in the final shootout were fourth place Kyle Busch, the polesitter, and Earnhardt. Kevin Harvick, Marcos Ambrose, Kurt Busch, Kahne and Ryan Newman rounded out the top ten. Twenty-one cars finished the race. Fan vote in Bobby Labonte ended up in 19th.

Unofficial Race Results : Sprint All-Star Race
Sprint All-Star Race – May 19, 2012 – Exhibition

Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time	Bnd
1	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
2	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	0	90	Running
3	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	0	90	Running
4	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	0	90	Running
5	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
6	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
7	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	0	90	Running
8	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
9	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
10	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
11	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	0	90	Running
12	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
13	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
14	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	0	90	Running
15	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	0	90	Running
16	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
17	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
18	34	David Ragan	Ford	0	90	Running
19	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	0	90	Running
20	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	0	90	Running
21	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	0	90	Running
22	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	0	67	Out of Race
23	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	0	25	Out of Race

May 20, 2012

Sadler on pole at Iowa Speedway

[media-credit name=”Kyle Ocker” align=”alignright” width=”225″]

[/media-credit]

NEWTON — For the second time in his three Nationwide Series races at Iowa Speedway, Elliott Sadler will start Sunday’s race from the pole.

Sadler makes his third career Nationwide Series start on Sunday at the Pioneer Hi-Bred 250. He recorded the fastest lap of 23.532 seconds during Saturday’s pole qualifying session.

Sam Hornish Jr. will start second, making it the fifth time he has qualified in the top-10 this season. Defending race winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will start third.

Austin Dillion was the field’s fastest qualifying rookie, recording a sixth place effort.

Starting Lineup
Pioneer Hi-Bred 250, Iowa Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/qual.php?race=10
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	2	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	133.911	23.523
2	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	133.294	23.632
3	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	133.114	23.664
4	18	Michael McDowell	Toyota	133.085	23.669
5	31	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	132.514	23.771
6	3	Austin Dillon*	Chevrolet	132.414	23.789
7	11	Brian Scott	Toyota	132.22	23.824
8	20	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Toyota	132.192	23.829
9	7	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	132.042	23.856
10	22	Parker Kligerman	Dodge	131.937	23.875
11	30	Steve Arpin	Chevrolet	131.788	23.902
12	88	Cole Whitt*	Chevrolet	131.217	24.006
13	33	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	131.146	24.019
14	124	Casey Roderick*	Chevrolet	130.781	24.086
15	199	Travis Pastrana	Toyota	130.722	24.097
16	19	Tayler Malsam	Toyota	130.646	24.111
17	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	130.473	24.143
18	43	Michael Annett	Ford	130.392	24.158
19	70	Johanna Long*	Chevrolet	130.316	24.172
20	38	Brad Sweet*	Chevrolet	129.993	24.232
21	41	Timmy Hill	Ford	129.929	24.244
22	14	Jeff Green	Toyota	129.849	24.259
23	44	Mike Bliss	Toyota	129.688	24.289
24	81	Jason Bowles*	Toyota	129.544	24.316
25	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	129.363	24.35
26	1	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	129.289	24.364
27	50	T.J. Bell	Chevrolet	129.231	24.375
28	89	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	129.125	24.395
29	23	Jamie Dick	Chevrolet	129.008	24.417
30	10	Kevin Lepage	Toyota	128.998	24.419
31	54	Kurt Busch	Toyota	128.556	24.503
32	39	Josh Richards	Ford	128.488	24.516
33	40	Erik Darnell	Chevrolet	128.456	24.522
34	52	Joey Gase*	Chevrolet	127.396	24.726
35	46	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	127.386	24.728
36	4	Daryl Harr	Chevrolet	127.35	24.735
37	108	Tim Andrews	Ford	127.345	24.736
38	15	Blake Koch	Chevrolet	127.032	24.797
39	47	Tim Schendel	Chevrolet	126.812	24.84
40	42	Matt Frahm	Chevrolet	126.72	24.858
41	172	John Jackson	Toyota	126.435	24.914
42	174	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	125.703	25.059

May 19, 2012

Lofton Conquers Charlotte to earn his first career win

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”209″][/media-credit]Charlotte NC – Justin Lofton earned his first career victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway, joining two other rookie winners in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) in 2012. It was the 55th start for the Westmoreland CA native. At age 26, Lofton held off a hard charging Brad Keselowski to take the checkers.

Lofton’s best career finish had been third twice, most recently at the Daytona International Speedway in the NCWTS season-opener. Owner Eddie Sharp invested all his cards and funds to this team. “I’m just tickled to be apart of it,” said Sharp, who at the end of last year bought a good portion of equipment from KHI Motorsports. “I love being in this series, and I love being a part of NASCAR,” said Sharp.

“The stars aligned,” said Lofton, who attributes some of his win to timing. He gives credit to Todd Bodine as his mentor. With this win, Lofton takes over the points lead in the NCWTS by one point over Timothy Peters. “This is definitely my favorite place now,” said Lofton. He will ride the wave of confidence to Dover and Texas.

The Camping World Truck Series delivered four-wide door to door racing and an action packed event. With a distance of 134 lap scheduled in the 10th Annual North Carolina Education Lottery 200, the fans witnessed nail biting competition, multiple cautions and on track shuffling.

An after race discussion between Ron Hornaday Jr. and Brad Keselowski had the potential of fireworks, but was quickly simmered down by multiple officials. An altercation between their cars on tone of the final restarts led to a raunchy discussion between the two on pit lane.

Keselowski spoke to the media regarding his second-place finish, he was very proud of his team’s effort and a “phenomenally good car,” Keselowski said. In reference to his incident with Hornaday, Keselowski was looking for a little respect. The second place finish is Keselowski’s second top-10 of 2012. A win in the NCWTS still eludes the Rochester Hills, Michigan driver.

Third place finisher Todd ‘Onion’ Bodine had a decent run. This is the fourth top-10 for Todd Bodine in 9 starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Rounding out the top five was the No. 18 of Jason Leffler and the No. 9 of Hornaday. Finishing in sixth was Jason White. Joey Coulter would cross the finish line in seventh; his evening was not without interest. He had lost a lap when the radiator clamp broke, pushing out water on the RCR Chevrolet.

Jeb Burton, son of former Sprint Cup competitor Ward Burton was the top finishing rookie. He ran the raced and finished the event in eighth place. Burton is trying to get more track time and is in search of a full-time sponsor. He is trying to keep a positive outlook and advance his career in the NCWTS.

The top-ten included point’s leader Timothy Peters and the polesitter Ty Dillon.

Race leaders included Ryan Sieg, Keselowski, Dillon, Lofton and James Beuscher. Ty Dillon led the field to the green flag. Dillon who pilots the No. 3 Bass Pro Shop Chevrolet in the Truck Series earned his pole award with a speed of 181.616. This is his first pole in eight Camping World Truck Series Races, and his fourth top-ten start in 2012

Notable cautions include an incident between Paulie Harraka in the No. 5 and David Reutimann, which sent the No. 5 spinning down the track. The Child Help Ford went back up the track and sustained rear end damage after striking the outside retaining wall. The No. 31 machine of James Buescher was involved. He would return to the track and finish 22nd.

The No. 14 of Brennan Newberry brought out multiple cautions during the event. The Bakersfield, CA native received some driver side door damage in the initial incident, but suffered throughout the event. He finished in 27th.

The NCWTS returns to on-track action at Dover International Speedway on June 1.

Unofficial Race Results
NC Education Lottery 200, Charlotte
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=5
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	2	6	Justin Lofton	Chevrolet	48
2	9	119	Brad Keselowski	Ram	0
3	17	11	Todd Bodine	Toyota	41
4	5	18	Jason Leffler	Toyota	40
5	15	9	Ron Hornaday	Chevrolet	40
6	7	23	Jason White	Ford	38
7	3	22	Joey Coulter	Chevrolet	37
8	21	27	Jeb Burton *	Chevrolet	36
9	4	17	Timothy Peters	Toyota	36
10	1	3	Ty Dillon *	Chevrolet	35
11	14	29	Parker Kligerman	Ram	33
12	11	2	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	0
13	24	98	Dakoda Armstrong *	Toyota	31
14	12	32	Miguel Paludo	Chevrolet	30
15	6	88	Matt Crafton	Toyota	29
16	22	9	John Wes Townley *	Toyota	28
17	34	81	David Starr	Toyota	27
18	31	92	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	0
19	8	33	Cale Gale *	Chevrolet	25
20	26	99	Bryan Silas *	Ford	24
21	35	275	Caleb Holman *	Chevrolet	23
22	10	31	James Buescher	Chevrolet	23
23	28	101	Jake Crum	Chevrolet	21
24	23	24	Max Gresham *	Chevrolet	20
25	13	13	Johnny Sauter	Toyota	19
26	25	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Ram	18
27	29	214	Brennan Newberry	Chevrolet	17
28	27	39	Ryan Sieg	Chevrolet	17
29	16	30	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Chevrolet	15
30	20	5	Paulie Harraka *	Ford	14
31	30	60	Chad McCumbee	Chevrolet	13
32	32	84	Chris Fontaine	Chevrolet	12
33	19	7	John King *	Toyota	11
34	36	138	Dennis Setzer	Chevrolet	10
35	18	8	Ross Chastain *	Toyota	9
36	33	168	Clay Greenfield	Ram	9

May 19, 2012

Busch captures the pole for Saturday nights Sprint All-Star race

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”235″][/media-credit]Kyle Busch captured the pole for Saturday nights Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway by completing three laps and a four-tire pit stop in 45.335 MPH (119.112 SECS) for the second straight time.

“It was a team effort. That is what it all boils down to. We were trying some things and looking at our race stuff. We felt like we had a really good shot at the pole going out late. It’s an honor for us. That’s two in a row for us here.” Busch said.

Ryan Newman starts second.

“Just really proud of the guys they had a good pit stop. I felt like everything was pretty clean. Our car has pretty good balance. We didn’t have a good practice session so hopefully the Tornados Chevrolet will be up front at the start and the finish of the All-Star Race.” Newman said.

Denny Hamlin starts third, Greg Biffle fourth and Kevin Harvick starts fifth.

The 90-lap race will be split into four 20-lap segments with a mandatory pit stop. Then a 10-lap shootout for the $1 million prize.

Last years winner Carl Edwards starts 13th.

“I’m gonna go watch it. It didn’t feel real bad, but it just wasn’t real fast. We’ve got a fast race car, though, and it’s gonna be a fun race.” Edwards said.

Starting in his first All-Star race, Trevor Bayne will start 11th.

“I’m sweating. I was so nervous going out there. I was sweating before I got in the car. I felt like we did well getting to pit road. That’s what I was the most nervous about was making sure I got there quick, but then speed and we smoked them a little bit, but we were slowed down enough. I was pumped about that.” Bayne said.

RACE LINEUP
Sprint All-Star Race, Charlotte Motor Speedway
May 19, 2012 – Exhibition

Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time	Bnd
1	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	45.335	119.11	0
2	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	45.067	119.82	-0.709
3	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	44.937	120.17	-1.056
4	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	44.843	120.42	-1.308
5	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	44.768	120.62	-1.51
6	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	44.6	121.08	-1.964
7	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	44.574	121.15	-2.035
8	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	44.519	121.3	-2.185
9	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	44.451	121.48	-2.37
10	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	44.364	121.72	-2.609
11	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	44.313	121.86	-2.749
12	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	44.157	122.29	-3.18
13	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	44.11	122.42	-3.308
14	34	David Ragan	Ford	43.484	124.18	-5.071
15	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	43.079	125.35	-6.239
16	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	42.646	126.62	-7.512
17	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	42.163	128.07	-8.962
18	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	41.931	128.78	-9.672
19	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	41.4	130.44	-11.32
20	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	–	–	–

Sprint Showdown

The Sprint Show Down, which will be held prior to the start of the Sprint All-Star, will determine two additional drivers (finishers 1 – 2) to the field and a fan vote will determine one more driver to set the starting line-up to a total of 23 drivers for the All-Star race.

AJ Allmendinger starts first in the Sprint showdown.

“That was a good lap. More than anything the car just stuck to the racetrack. I was letting it free up off it, so it wasn’t anything scary. You know, we struggled a little bit in practice. The Pennzoil Dodge had speed in it but wasn’t really comfortable so Todd Gordon (crew chief) and the guys went to work.” Allmendinger said.

Martin Truex Jr. starts second.

Here at Charlotte, we practiced today and it was really hot and the sun was out. This is a difficult place regardless when the sun’s out, but when you have to do qualifying runs and with the impound situation it makes it hard. The guys did a good job. We can win from there.” Truex Jr said.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. starts third. Earnhardt used the fan vote to get into last years All-star race, but getting into the race without the fan vote would be a huge boost to the team and himself.

”It would really help build confidence. I remember when we won here in 2000 how much confidence it gave me. Winning this kind of event would do wonders for our team.” Earnhardt said.

RACE LINEUP
Sprint Showdown, Charlotte Motor Speedway
May 19, 2012 – Exhibition

Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time	Bnd
1	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	192.465	28.057	0
2	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	191.049	28.265	-0.208
3	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	191.002	28.272	-0.215
4	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	189.693	28.467	-0.41
5	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	188.752	28.609	-0.552
6	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	188.679	28.62	-0.563
7	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	188.666	28.622	-0.565
8	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	188.37	28.667	-0.61
9	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	187.977	28.727	-0.67
10	30	David Stremme	Toyota	187.807	28.753	-0.696
11	13	Casey Mears	Ford	187.748	28.762	-0.705
12	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	187.643	28.778	-0.721
13	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	187.578	28.788	-0.731
14	33	Stephen Leicht*	Chevrolet	186.709	28.922	-0.865
15	195	Scott Speed	Ford	186.677	28.927	-0.87
16	38	David Gilliland	Ford	186.67	28.928	-0.871
17	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	186.496	28.955	-0.898
18	249	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	186.046	29.025	-0.968
19	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	185.906	29.047	-0.99
20	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	185.688	29.081	-1.024
21	26	Josh Wise*	Ford	185.008	29.188	-1.131
22	36	Tony Raines	Chevrolet	182.568	29.578	-1.521

May 18, 2012

Jimmie Johnson Wins the Southern 500 and Claims the 200th Victory for Hendrick Motorsports

[media-credit id=9 align=”alignright” width=”199″][/media-credit]Jimmie Johnson held off Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart to take the checkered flag in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. He also gave Rick Hendrick his long anticipated 200^th win. Hendrick Motorsports is only the second team to accomplish this. The first to do so was Petty Enterprises with 268 wins.

It was Johnson’s 56th victory in 374 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. It was the 14^th victory at Darlington Raceway for the Hendrick Motorsports organization.

The two celebrated in Victory Lane with a hug. After the race Johnson said of Hendrick, “Without a doubt, you got to love that man. He just said ‘Let’s go get 250.’”

Johnson went on to say that he was “very proud of the effort that the whole 48 team put together. My mind goes back to the early days of Hendrick Motorsports, to the people that won the early races, worked on those early cars, helped Rick build Hendrick Motorsports to what it is today.”

“I think of Harry Hyde, Tim Richmond, Geoff Bodine and Kenny Schrader. There’s a lot of people over the years that put a lot of time and effort and commitment into this organization. So I think about all those people and I’m just so happy for Rick. His dedication to this sport and to performance and winning is second to none.”

Rick Hendrick also thanked those who helped him get to this point in his career as a team owner.

“I’m just proud of these guys and the whole organization. You want to thank everybody from Harry Hyde to Tim Richmond and Geoff Bodine, all the guys along the way that won races. You think you’re going to get there but then you think you’re never going to win another one when you get to 199. I’m real proud.”

Johnson also presented Rick Hendrick with a helmet celebrating their 200^th win in the media center after the race. It was signed by the drivers that contributed to this accomplishment. Family members signed for those drivers who are no longer with us.

Denny Hamlin finished the race in second place giving him his sixth top-ten finish in 2012.

When asked to talk about his run, Hamlin pointed to the last pit stop when he slid through his pit box. As a result, they lost several crucial seconds on the stop. It cost him the lead but he said he was “really proud of our effort” and “it’s definitely a good run for our team.”

Tony Stewart was the third place finisher posting his eleventh top-ten finish in 20 races at Darlington Raceway.

He talked about the adjustments during the race that helped his car but revealed that he had broken the clutch with about 85 laps remaining. His crew determined that he could continue with the broken clutch. Then, with one lap to go, he began losing fuel pressure which caused him to get a slow restart.

Stewart said, “Considering the hurdles of the day I’m pretty happy with a third place run.”

Kyle Busch finished in fourth place and Martin Truex Jr. finished in fifth.

The top five in the points standings after the finish of the Bojangles’ Southern 500 are Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson.

Unofficial Race Results
Bojangles’ Southern 500, Darlington Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=11
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	2	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	48
2	8	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	43
3	17	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	41
4	5	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	41
5	6	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	40
6	19	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	38
7	7	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	37
8	3	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	37
9	28	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	35
10	21	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	34
11	26	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	33
12	1	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	33
13	14	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	31
14	9	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	30
15	15	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	29
16	23	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	28
17	24	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	28
18	10	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	26
19	13	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	25
20	18	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	24
21	25	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	23
22	31	13	Casey Mears	Ford	22
23	4	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	22
24	27	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	20
25	36	38	David Gilliland	Ford	19
26	20	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	19
27	34	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	17
28	37	34	David Ragan	Ford	16
29	22	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	15
30	42	32	Reed Sorenson	Ford	0
31	38	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	0
32	33	173	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	12
33	16	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	11
34	11	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	10
35	12	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	9
36	41	93	David Reutimann	Toyota	8
37	43	249	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	7
38	39	74	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	0
39	32	30	David Stremme	Toyota	5
40	40	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
41	35	52	Mike Skinner	Toyota	0
42	29	179	Scott Speed	Ford	2
43	30	26	Josh Wise *	Ford	1

May 13, 2012

Logano wins the VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”255″][/media-credit]Joey Logano holds off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin on the final green-white-checkers restart and wins Friday night’s VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway. This is the second time Logano has won back-to-back victories. The first time was in October 2009 at Kansas Speedway and Auto Club Speedway.

“That’s the exciting part for us. Two wins in a row. Dollar General has had a tough run with us at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) for a while right now, so exciting to get them in victory lane.” Logano said.

This was Logano’s third Nationwide Series victory of the season and his fifth top-10 finish in 2012.

With five laps to go, Logano was behind race leader Elliott Sadler on the restart. Logano pushed Sadler to turn one and Sadler got loose, went up the track into Hamlin and turned sideways into the outside wall.

“I was trying to push him, trying to help him. We did it the restart before that. I was able to push him ahead and get ourselves in first and second.” Logano said. “Older tires and his car wasn’t really good all through the gears. He spun his tires a lot. It got me stuck on him and I was trying to get off him when I saw him getting crossed up, but I couldn’t backup enough. I feel terrible.”

Sadler went to the pits with heavy damage and without any oil pressure.

“You just don’t bump draft every place you go, especially not at a place like Darlington.” Sadler said.

Sadler finished 24th and sits 23 points behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (finished 6th) in the series standings.

“It was frustrating. It was a good points night because they had a bad night and not because we had a good one.” Stenhouse said.

Hamlin dominated the race and led for 102 of the 147 laps. At one point he had over a six second lead. Hamlin finished second. It’s his fourth top-10 finish in 2012.

“It’s unfortunate. We lost a cylinder I guess under caution because I had it wide-open those last couple laps. I just couldn’t do anything. It’s a shame. We wanted to get a win for these Sport Clip guys, but tough way to end it.” Hamlin said.

Keselowski finished third, Sam Hornish Jr. fourth and Austin Dillon finished fifth. Dillon was also the highest finishing rookie.

“I’m proud of our effort with the Snap-on Discount Tire Dodge to get a solid finish out of it. We want to win these races so we’re going to keep pushing but this is still my best finish at Darlington and that’s progress and thankful for the hard work by everybody on my team.” Keselowski said.

Danica Patrick finished 12th and Travis Pastrana finished 17th.

“I had a really good time.” Pastrana said. “You have to get through these races.’ To end up on the lead lap in the top-20 — we weren’t driving the fastest, but I tell you what, I couldn’t be happier right now.”

Stenhouse Jr. is the leader in the points standings with a 23 point lead over Sadler.

Unofficial Race Results
VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200, Darlington
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=9
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	5	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	0
2	2	18	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	0
3	13	22	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	0
4	8	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	40
5	3	3	Austin Dillon *	Chevrolet	39
6	1	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	39
7	7	11	Brian Scott	Toyota	37
8	4	54	Kurt Busch	Toyota	0
9	14	30	James Buescher	Chevrolet	0
10	40	88	Cole Whitt *	Chevrolet	35
11	16	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	33
12	15	7	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	32
13	10	31	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	32
14	22	43	Michael Annett	Ford	30
15	12	44	Mike Bliss	Toyota	29
16	31	41	Timmy Hill	Ford	0
17	25	199	Travis Pastrana	Toyota	27
18	9	38	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	0
19	26	14	Jeff Green	Toyota	25
20	36	4	Danny Efland	Chevrolet	24
21	32	81	Jason Bowles *	Toyota	23
22	37	89	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	22
23	28	23	Jamie Dick	Chevrolet	21
24	6	2	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	21
25	19	39	Josh Richards	Ford	19
26	11	33	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	0
27	43	70	Derrike Cope	Dodge	17
28	42	108	Matt Frahm	Ford	16
29	20	40	Erik Darnell	Chevrolet	15
30	21	1	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	14
31	30	19	Tayler Malsam	Toyota	13
32	18	50	T.J. Bell	Chevrolet	12
33	23	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	11
34	35	15	Blake Koch	Chevrolet	10
35	41	52	Kevin Lepage	Chevrolet	9
36	34	10	Tony Raines	Toyota	0
37	39	174	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	7
38	38	175	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	0
39	24	42	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	0
40	27	124	Casey Roderick *	Chevrolet	4
41	29	46	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	3
42	33	47	Scott Speed	Chevrolet	0
43	17	136	Ryan Blaney	Chevrolet	1

May 11, 2012

Lap by Lap: VFW Sports Clips Help a Hero 200 won by Joey Logano

[media-credit name=”John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]On the green-white-checkered finish, Joey Logano would find his way past Denny Hamlin with bump-drafting help from Brad Keselowski to win the VFW Sports Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway.

Green flag as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. leads as Denny Hamlin hands the spot over.

Lap 2 Caution Ryan Blaney hits the outside wall while Jeremy Clements hits the inside wall. Matt Frahm, Chase Miller also gets a piece of the wreck. Blaney got loose, getting into wall; Frahm, Clements and Miller wreck behind him.

Restart Lap 9

Lap 11 Stenhouse Jr. leads Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, Elliott Sadler, Sam Hornish Jr., Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Justin Allgaier and Brian Scott

Lap 16 Scott and Keselowski pass Allgaier for ninth and 10^th

Lap 18 Sadler passes Dillon for fourth

Lap 20 Hamlin passes Stenhouse Jr.; Keselowski passes Scott for ninth; Logano passes Hornish for sixth

Lap 23 Hamlin leads Stenhouse Jr., Busch, Sadler, Dillon, Logano, Hornish, Kahne, Keselowski, Scott

Lap 30 Hamlin leads Stenhouse Jr., Busch, Sadler, Logano, Kahne, Dillon, Hornish Jr., Keselowski and Scott

Lap 34 Logano passes Sadler for fourth

Lap 35 Caution Mike Wallace hits the wall after something broke underneath the car. There is no lucky dog as Wallace was in that position.

Restart Lap 42 as Logano and Hamlin run side-by-side for the lead

Lap 43 Logano gets by Hamlin at the line but Hamlin gets back by

Lap 45 Hamlin leads Logano, Stenhouse Jr., Busch, Sadler, Hornish Jr., Kahne, Keselowski, Dillon and Scott

Lap 46 TJ Bell hits the inside wall on the front stretch to bring out the caution. Got wrecked while running three-wide with Justin Allgaier and Josh Richards.

Restart Lap 51 Kurt Busch goes by Hamlin and Logano three-wide for the lead

Lap 54 Hamlin takes the lead back; Hamlin leads Busch, Stenhouse Jr., Logano, Sadler, Hornish, Keselowski, Kahne, Scott and Dillon.

Lap 57 Keselowski passes Hornish for sixth; Dillon passes Scott for ninth

Lap 69 Hamlin leads Stenhouse, Busch, Logano, Keselowski, Sadler, Hornish, Dillon, Scott and Kahne

Lap 92 Leaders begin making pit stops. Hamlin pits, handing the lead over Kurt Busch.

Lap 93 Busch pits, handing the lead over to Logano.

Lap 94 Logano pits, handing the lead over to Brendan Gaughan

Lap 96 Gaughan pits, handing the lead over to Justin Allgaier.

45 laps to go Hamlin took the lead

35 to go Hamlin leads Busch, Logano, Sadler, Keselowski, Dillon, Hornish, Stenhouse Jr., Kahne and Scott

20 to go Kurt Busch gets into the wall hard…….Leaders pit to get tires for final dash to checkered. Sadler the first off pit road after taking two tires.

Restart 16 to go as Sadler has Logano and Hamlin clear behind him

15 to go Frahm smokes down the backstretch but gets to pit road

13 laps to go Hamlin passes Logano for second behind Sadler. Dillon is fourth, followed by Gaughan, Keselowski, Hornish Jr., Stenhouse Jr., Kahne and Scott

10 laps to go Caution as Brendan Gaughan gets into the outside wall.

Restart 5 laps to go – Sadler doesn’t get a good start, Logano makes contact with Sadler, followed by more contact from Hamlin, which put Sadler in the wall. Kahne wrecked in the aftermath. Travis Pastrana gets the lucky dog

Green flag as there is contact between Logano and Hamlin and Logano jumps out to the lead

Final Lap as Hamlin gets a run on Logano down the backstretch but doesn’t get there.

Joey Logano wins over Hamlin, Keselowski, Hornish Jr., Dillon, Stenhouse Jr., Scott, Busch, James Buescher and Cole Whitt

May 11, 2012

Biffle grabs the Bojangles’ Southern 500 pole

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”249″][/media-credit]Greg Biffle captured the pole for Saturday nights Sprint Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway with a lap of 180.257 MPH (27.281 SECS) for his second career pole at Darlington and the second of the season.

“It was a pretty uneventful lap. The car just had a ton of grip. It stuck to the race track really, really well. I felt like I was a little bit light down in Turns 1 and 2. I should have been a little bit quicker down there but I got a lot out of it in 3 and 4, so it was a great lap.” Biffle said.

Biffle was the next-to-last to hit the track for qualifying and knocked off the Hendrick Motorsports teammates of Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne from the front row.

Johnson qualified second and Kahne qualified third.

“I’m proud of that lap. I felt like there was a little bit left in turns three and four that I didn’t get down there.” Johnson said.

“It was a lot better than where we were in practice. I think the guys did a nice job preparing a little better. We will have to see what happens in the race now. I think we definitely made some gains though.” Kahne said.

Ryan Newman qualified fourth and Kyle Busch qualified fifth.

Making her Sprint Cup debut at Darlington, Danica Patrick qualified 38th.

“It’s the best lap I’ve turned all day in the Cup car, so that’s a positive. We were three-quarters of a second quicker, so for me that’s good. I don’t necessarily find a lot in qualifying from practice. I’m a pretty methodical driver, so that was good. And it shows that the Go Daddy crew did a good job of giving me a good car. It shows me what these Cup guys can do when it comes time to put it on the board. I know the starting spot won’t be great, but it was a step forward for me and those are the things I’m looking for along the way.” Patrick said.

Starting Lineup
Bojangles’ Southern 500, Darlington Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=11
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	180.257	27.281
2	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	179.566	27.386
3	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	179.566	27.386
4	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	179.461	27.402
5	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	179.448	27.404
6	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	179.317	27.424
7	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	179.298	27.427
8	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	179.187	27.444
9	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	179.141	27.451
10	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	179.095	27.458
11	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	179.089	27.459
12	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	179.076	27.461
13	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	178.991	27.474
14	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	178.926	27.484
15	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	178.822	27.5
16	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	178.783	27.506
17	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	178.724	27.515
18	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	178.491	27.551
19	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	178.226	27.592
20	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	178.09	27.613
21	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	177.98	27.63
22	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	177.974	27.631
23	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	177.948	27.635
24	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	177.903	27.642
25	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	177.845	27.651
26	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	177.781	27.661
27	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	177.307	27.735
28	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	176.93	27.794
29	179	Scott Speed	Ford	176.879	27.802
30	26	Josh Wise*	Ford	176.746	27.823
31	13	Casey Mears	Ford	176.733	27.825
32	30	David Stremme	Toyota	176.606	27.845
33	173	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	176.594	27.847
34	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	176.53	27.857
35	52	Mike Skinner	Toyota	175.899	27.957
36	38	David Gilliland	Ford	175.767	27.978
37	34	David Ragan	Ford	175.604	28.004
38	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	175.497	28.021
39	74	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	175.497	28.021
40	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	175.022	28.097
41	10	David Reutimann+	Chevrolet	174.408	28.196
42	32	Reed Sorenson+	Ford	173.724	28.307
43	249	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	174.848	28.125

May 11, 2012

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Captures the Nationwide Series Pole at Darlington Raceway

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]Stenhouse Jr. won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 30^th annual VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway on Friday afternoon.

It’s his first pole in only three starts at Darlington Raceway and his fifth pole in 82 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts.

Denny Hamlin will start the race in second position. This is Hamlin’s fourth top-10 start in 2012 and his fourth top-10 start in seven races at this track.

Austin Dillon will begin the race in third place and was the fastest qualifying rookie. It marks his ninth top-10 start in nine races this season.

Kurt Busch and Joey Logano round out the top five starting positions, starting in fourth and fifth place respectively.

Starting Lineup
VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200, Darlington
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/qual.php?race=9
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	173.546	28.336
2	18	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	172.784	28.461
3	3	Austin Dillon*	Chevrolet	172.65	28.483
4	54	Kurt Busch	Toyota	172.378	28.528
5	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	172.354	28.532
6	2	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	171.92	28.604
7	11	Brian Scott	Toyota	171.698	28.641
8	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	171.357	28.698
9	38	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	170.821	28.788
10	31	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	170.253	28.884
11	33	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	170.2	28.893
12	44	Mike Bliss	Toyota	169.807	28.96
13	22	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	169.725	28.974
14	30	James Buescher	Chevrolet	168.758	29.14
15	7	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	168.497	29.185
16	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	168.169	29.242
17	136	Ryan Blaney	Chevrolet	167.859	29.296
18	50	T.J. Bell	Chevrolet	167.157	29.419
19	39	Josh Richards	Ford	167.152	29.42
20	40	Erik Darnell	Chevrolet	167.066	29.435
21	1	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	166.953	29.455
22	43	Michael Annett	Ford	166.653	29.508
23	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	166.366	29.559
24	42	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	166.337	29.564
25	199	Travis Pastrana	Toyota	166.186	29.591
26	14	Jeff Green	Toyota	165.984	29.627
27	124	Casey Roderick*	Chevrolet	165.956	29.632
28	23	Jamie Dick	Chevrolet	165.95	29.633
29	46	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	165.464	29.72
30	19	Tayler Malsam	Toyota	165.448	29.723
31	41	Timmy Hill	Ford	165.32	29.746
32	81	Jason Bowles*	Toyota	165.298	29.75
33	47	Scott Speed	Chevrolet	165.264	29.756
34	10	Tony Raines	Toyota	164.965	29.81
35	15	Blake Koch	Chevrolet	164.413	29.91
36	4	Danny Efland	Chevrolet	164.391	29.914
37	89	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	161.36	30.476
38	175	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	160.339	30.67
39	174	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	159.481	30.835
40	88	Cole Whitt*	Chevrolet	158.73	30.981
41	52	Kevin Lepage	Chevrolet	158.255	31.074
42	108	Matt Frahm	Ford	156.323	31.458
43	70	Derrike Cope	Dodge	152.158	32.319

May 11, 2012