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  • Kahne captures the pole at Martinsville

    Kahne captures the pole at Martinsville

    [media-credit id=5 align=”alignright” width=”234″][/media-credit]Following Sprint Cup qualifying, Kasey Kahne won the pole for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. This marks Kahne’s 24th career Coors Light Pole Award and his first pole at Martinsville.

    “It was a really solid lap,” he says. “The team did a good job yesterday.  We didn’t have the most speed yesterday but I felt like the car was balanced really well.  I felt pretty stable going around the track. It was the same in qualifying today.  It was a good lap.  First pole here for myself.  It’s a tough track to qualify.  It’s a tough track to race, always has been one of my tougher ones over the years.  I’m glad we can start up front and have a great pit stall in that number one stall.  I think that helps throughout the whole race with track position.  Hopefully we will have a solid day tomorrow.  That is what we need to do.  We have had great Friday and Saturday’s and just haven’t put together a Sunday yet.”

    Kahne drove a lap of 19.496 seconds, to beat Kevin Harvick by 16 hundredths of a second.

    “The guys have done a great job this weekend,” Harvick says. “The track conditions have changed a lot since the beginning of practice until where we are now.  Obviously the race conditions are where we will have to take a little bit of a guess like we did for qualifying based on the rubber being on the track from yesterday.  They have done a good job and I just slipped the tires off both corners a little bit but all-in-all they have stepped the program up this year.”

    Four-time Martinsville Speedway winner Denny Hamlin qualified third with a lap of 19.521 seconds.

    “We didn’t really show a lot of good qualifying speed or really front end speed of a long run yesterday,” he says. “That’s good for us to be that close and after only a couple laps. I feel like once the race gets into a groove and gets going — things get strung out, I think we’ll be pretty good.”

    Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five.

    Brian Vickers, making his second start of the season, starts sixth. He is followed by Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, seven-time Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano. Six-time Martinsville winner Jimmie Johnson qualified 22nd while points leader Greg Biffle is 26th.

    Tony Raines was disqualified from the starting field after his car was found to be too low in post-qualifying inspection. That moved J.J. Yeley into the 43-car field.

    Starting Lineup
    Goody’s Fast Relief 500, Martinsville Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=6
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 97.128 19.496
    2 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 97.048 19.512
    3 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 97.003 19.521
    4 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 97.003 19.521
    5 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 96.988 19.524
    6 55 Brian Vickers Toyota 96.765 19.569
    7 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 96.751 19.572
    8 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 96.745 19.573
    9 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 96.731 19.576
    10 20 Joey Logano Toyota 96.706 19.581
    11 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 96.701 19.582
    12 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 96.627 19.597
    13 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 96.583 19.606
    14 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 96.43 19.637
    15 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 96.322 19.659
    16 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 96.215 19.681
    17 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 96.2 19.684
    18 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 96.18 19.688
    19 43 Aric Almirola Ford 96.049 19.715
    20 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 96.049 19.715
    21 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 95.971 19.731
    22 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 95.854 19.755
    23 98 Michael McDowell Ford 95.849 19.756
    24 34 David Ragan Ford 95.83 19.76
    25 13 Casey Mears Ford 95.796 19.767
    26 16 Greg Biffle Ford 95.743 19.778
    27 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 95.738 19.779
    28 99 Carl Edwards Ford 95.607 19.806
    29 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 95.607 19.806
    30 26 Josh Wise* Ford 95.583 19.811
    31 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 95.511 19.826
    32 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 95.477 19.833
    33 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 95.352 19.859
    34 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 95.347 19.86
    35 74 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 95.223 19.886
    36 32 Ken Schrader Ford 95.127 19.906
    37 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 94.936 19.946
    38 38 David Gilliland Ford 94.78 19.979
    39 30 David Stremme Toyota 94.609 20.015
    40 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 94.566 20.024
    41 33 Hermie Sadler Chevrolet 94.486 20.041
    42 36 Dave Blaney+ Chevrolet 93.18 20.322
    43 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 93.212 20.315
  • KASEY KAHNE WINS POLE FOR GOODY’S FAST RELIEF 500 AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

    KASEY KAHNE WINS POLE FOR GOODY’S FAST RELIEF 500 AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”227″][/media-credit]Team Chevy Drivers Occupy Three of the Top-5 Starting Positions For Sunday’s Race

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. (March 31, 2012) – Kasey Kahne No. 5 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet, earned his second straight pole in NASCAR Sprint Cup series (NSCS) competition in the past four weeks, and fifth top-10 start in 2012, by capturing the top spot in today’s qualifying session at the .586-mile Virginia short track.   It was Kasey’s 24th career Coors Light Pole Award but was his first career NSCS pole at Martinsville Speedway in 17 races.

    A total of 46 cars took turns at the front row for Sunday’s race and when the 43-car field was set, Chevy drivers took the front row and three of the top-5 starting spots for the 500-lap race.  Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Budweiser is Back Chevrolet, held the top spot until being bumped by Kahne by a mere 0.016 seconds.  It is the best qualifying effort (barring events where the race was set by points) since Phoenix International Raceway in November of 2006 for Harvick. It was also his fourth top-10 start of 2012.

    In addition to Kahne and Harvick, the other Team Chevy driver starting in the top-5 will be Ryan Newman, No. 39 Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet – 5th.  Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet was the only other Team Chevy driver to qualify inside the top-10 in a tightly stacked field.

    Other Chevrolet drivers of note were: Paul Menard, No. 27 Menards/LIBMAN Chevrolet – 11th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.  No. 88 AMP Energy/Diet Mtn. Dew/National Guard Chevrolet – 14th; Tony Stewart, No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet -15th, Regan Smith No. 78 Furniture Row/CSX Play it Safe Chevrolet – 17th; Jeff Burton No. 31 BB&T Chevrolet – 18th; Jaime McMurray No. 1 Belkin Chevrolet – 20th; and Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 myLowe’s Chevrolet – 22nd.

    Rounding out the top-5 were Denny Hamlin (Toyota) third, followed by Clint Bowyer (Toyota) in fourth.

    The Goody’s 500 is scheduled to begin on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m., ET with coverage on FOX, MRN Radio and Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 9.

    QUALIFYING QUOTES

    KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET – POLE WINNER

    THAT WAS A GREAT QUALIFYING EFFORT FOR YOU.  WE KNOW YOU WANT TO FOLLOW THAT UP WITH A VICTORY AND GET THAT 200TH WIN FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS:

    “It was a really solid lap.  The team did a good job yesterday.  We didn’t have the most speed yesterday but I felt like the car was balanced really well.  I felt pretty stable going around the track. It was the same in qualifying today.  It was a good lap.  First pole here for myself.  It’s a tough track to qualify.  It’s a tough track to race, always has been one of my tougher ones over the years.  I’m glad we can start up front and have a great pit stall in that number one stall.  I think that helps throughout the whole race with track position.  Hopefully we will have a solid day tomorrow.  That is what we need to do.  We have had great Friday and Saturday’s and just haven’t put together a Sunday yet.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a nice start to a really good season.

    IS THERE A POINT WHERE YOU START TO GET A LITTLE CAUTIOUS AND GET A GOOD FINISH AND NOT WORRY ABOUT GETTING TO VICTORY LANE SO MUCH? “When I started out basically a year and a half of waiting to get in the No. 5 car and knew my cars would be really fast and would have a great team behind me and all that.  I was really excited.  In Phoenix I felt like every lap there I just wanted to go so hard and I was doing that on the 20 some lap when I hit the wall.  That was an eye opener and since then I have tried to be more like I was last year. Just know I have a good car but take my time and do things the way I need to.  In Vegas we went backwards early because we were loose. We come back to the front late and probably going to run third or fourth and got in that wreck at the end and other things have happened since then.  I feel like I have been definitely cautious enough and still as aggressive and as ‘after it’ as I can be so far this year minus Phoenix.  Last week at California I knew we had to finish and that was on my mind but we were still just doing all we could.  It has just been kind of a tough start but I think it is turning.”

    WITH THE TRACK CHANGING EXPLAIN TO ME HOW YOU CAN STAY UP FRONT AND CONTINUALLY ADJUST TO THE TRACK THROUGHOUT THE RACE WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF RAIN LATER TODAY AND TOMORROW: “It doesn’t matter if it does rain or if it doesn’t rain whatever it may be.  When you come to Martinsville until about lap 250 you really don’t know what you have.  You can lead the race early, you can slide around and be slow early and after about lap 250/300 that is when you finally realize how good your car is or how bad it is.  So it doesn’t really matter we will find out tomorrow when we get through the race. What I did yesterday and as a team we tried to get the car as balanced as we could to where it was comfortable.  We will work on it tomorrow. If it’s comfortable you can make adjustments that will help.  If it is off pretty bad like I have been here before trying to do too much then it’s hard to get your car right.  I think we will be in a good spot tomorrow and just have to wait until the middle part of the race and see where we really stand once the rubber gets on the track. Because it will build an inch of rubber on the race track and it will do that until 200 laps into the race.  You don’t know what you have until that happens.”

    WITH ALL THE BAD LUCK YOU HAVE HAD, HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO GET THE BALL ROLLING HERE AT MARTINSVILLE? “It’s good we have qualified well all year.  We have had really fast Chevrolet’s this whole Hendrick Motorsports team has done a great job. I’m happy where we are at right now.  I think there is a couple of guys, the sun is gone, I think there is a few that can beat us.  It was still a solid lap and it will get us in the front two or three rows.”

    HOW MUCH DOES THE CHANGE IN AMBIENT TEMPERATURE AFFECT THIS TRACK? “I think it is pretty sensitive.  I didn’t have a bad one by no means, Clint (Bowyer) went before me and he had shade.  The sun came out during my lap but it was during the lap so I don’t think it hurt us. Definitely a complete shaded track will help right now.”

    KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER IS BACK CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 2ND

    KEVIN YOU ARE THE DEFENDING RACE WINNER AND STARTNG UP FRONT – PRETTY GOOD DEAL

    “Yeah, the guys have done a great job this weekend.  The track conditions have changed a lot since the beginning of practice until where we are now.  Obviously the race conditions are where we will have to take a little bit of a guess like we did for qualifying based on the rubber being on the track from yesterday.  They have done a good job and I just slipped the tires off both corners a little bit but all-in-all they have stepped the program up this year.”

    DOES SHANE (CREW CHIEF SHANE WILSON) PUT AN EXTRA EMPHASIS ON QUALIFYING BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY FOR YOU STARTING UP FRONT IS A BONUS

    “Yeah, it’s been a great start to the season as far as the speed in the cars, qualifying, we have raced well at different types of race tracks so its been good and has made our jobs a lot easier on Sunday to have better pit stalls and as far as calling the races from the front of the field instead of trying to gamble in the middle of the field.  They have put a lot of effort into it and it pays off.”

    TELL US ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING LAP:

    “We were a little bit too loose.  All in all, the car turned really well and that is really what we’ve been fighting so we fixed that problem.  I don’t believe that I had to let out of the gas much but it was still spinning the tires.  It’s definitely beatable for sure.”

    DOES THIS PLACE JUST SUIT YOUR STYLE?

    “For many years I couldn’t finish in the top-10. It has just taken a while to get to this point.  All in all, we have had a good couple year run.  You never know when it will end, but all in all it has been pretty good for us lately.”

    Ryan Newman, No. 39 Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet – Qualified 5th

    “I had a good first lap, but I didn’t think that it was as good as it could be. So I tried to shine everything up, and I kind of overachieved and ended up getting loose in three and four. But we’ll take fifth. I think we have a good Outback Chevy for tomorrow’s race. Hopefully, we’ll have some luck go our way too and come out of here with a top 10 so that everyone can go to Outback on Monday for a free Bloomin’ Onion.”

    JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 9TH

    TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR LAP:

    “It was a solid lap.  We were a little bit tighter than what we needed to be to run that fast lap like Kasey (Kahne) did.  That is great for Kasey and those guys they needed a big boost there.  I thought the second lap was going to be real close and everything is close here, still wasn’t enough.  I still think a good top-10 qualifying run is a big plus for us here at Martinsville.  Got us in a good position to have a great race on Sunday.”

    TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 15TH

    HOW WAS YOUR LAP? “It was ok, nothing special, but just a little bit tight in the center.  We will work on it for tomorrow.”

    PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 MENARDS/LIBMAN CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 11TH

    HOW WAS YOUR LAP?

    “We picked up quite a bit from practice yesterday.  We just did a couple of mock runs in the first session, didn’t bother with it second session.  The car drove really good.  It’s pretty uneventful lap.  It drove smooth almost real slow which is a good thing for here because it’s so easy to overdrive the car.  Obviously, you struggle getting the brakes up to temperature that is probably the hardest part.  You do your mock runs in practice and everything is hot.  Then you come out here, everything has been sitting overnight so it’s cold.  I think that is why my second lap was quicker just getting confidence in the brakes.”

    JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 BB&T CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 18TH

    TELL US ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING LAP:

    “It was a good lap.  We struggled yesterday in practice.  To have a solid lap, that is not going to sit on the pole, but it’s going to be a solid lap.  It will hopefully be top-15. If that is the case we are pretty happy with that.”

    DID YOU LEAVE SOMETHING OUT THERE?

    “No, I didn’t really think I left anything.  I know we needed to be better in some areas.  I thought I got all I could get.  We just dug us a hole yesterday and we had to dig out of it.  We did a nice job digging out of that hole.”

    JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO 1 BELKIN CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 20TH

    HOW WAS YOUR LAP?

    “Yeah we struggled a little bit yesterday.  I was pretty happy with that lap.  I would like to do better because I think that will be 15th or so.  From where we were yesterday it’s a pretty good run.  We have to get a little bit better but the track is quite a bit different today.  You kind of expect it to get faster and I really don’t know it seems like the sun is out now and it feels pretty warm out to me.”

    JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 MYLOWE’S CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 22ND

    HOW WAS YOUR LAP? “We didn’t think that the qualifying order was going to be all that important today.  Then we had the rain last night.  We had a little concern but then they dried the track and the clouds moved out of the way and gave us something to go out on the track with.  I’m happy about that we will be better than where we were.  I’m not sure I felt like maybe I should have been a tenth faster to be up in the top-10 we will just have to see how it all shakes out.”

    WHAT ABOUT THE OIL? DID THAT AFFECT YOU AT ALL? “No, this new speedy dry they use is amazing.  Even when it still looks like it’s down and wet it’s not.  I knew when the No. 51 went out that something wasn’t right because he was so fast yesterday. It’s good that they

    did give him a chance to go back on the race track so it would be a fair outing for him the track came around pretty quick.”

    WHERE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR LAP? DID YOU THINK YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN MORE AT ANY PARTICULAR POINT? “It felt good. I just lack a little pace on new tires.  Hopefully that leads to a great long run race car.  I feel like we will race really well.”

    KURT BUSCH, NO. 51 PHOENIX CONSTRUCTION SERVICES INC. CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 40TH

    THERE WAS OIL ON THE TRACK WE UNDERSTAND HOW WAS YOUR FIRST RUN? “Holy smokes it was slick! The No. 19 car is leaking a lot of oil.  I was just trying to do what I could and build heat in the tires, but you can’t build heat in the tires when there is oil underneath them. NASCAR is talking about a re-run right now.  We will put tires on it and give it our best shot and stay cool here.”

    HOW DO YOU GET YOUR MENTAL FOCUS BACK? YOU’VE ALREADY DONE ONE RUN NOW YOU HAVE TO DO ANOTHER. “It is just hard to trust the car with the right front grip knowing how hard to lean on it getting into the corner. The car had good traction coming off.  It’s done it’s over with it’s like a bad pit stop on the first stop tomorrow.  You just come from the back and work your way up through it.”

    About Chevrolet

    Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

  • Smoke Wins 2nd at California

    [media-credit id=40 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]This weekend it was a race against Mother Nature. The rain was coming. They could see it coming on radar and they could feel it coming as the temperatures began to drop. But the on track action at California Speedway never cooled off. Not until the rain was falling hard enough that the cars were circling on a track that was already lost. The rain was relentless and it only took 30 minutes for NASCAR to say “Lets Go Home Boys.” That left the series champion and the fastest car on the track to win the race while sitting on pit road.

    California has long been known as a fuel mileage race. Its reputation of being a snoozer of a race cost it ticket sales and eventually a date on the schedule. But today, it was anything but. The racing was dynamic with cars running side by side daring passes and speed. Many teams were racing for half way feeling sure the rains would come. Come they did but a little later than most had planned.

    Kyle Busch would lead the most laps in a dominating style. He took the lead from team mate Denny Hamlin on lap number two and held it until Tony Stewart made a gutsy pass in traffic as Juan Pablo Montoya held up the leader. A kiss with the wall a few laps later would drop Busch back in the running order and leave Stewart to dominate the rest of the race.

    By the end of the green flag run Hamlin had made it to Smoke’s rear bumper but the rain began to fall on the back stretch and the yellow flew. Hamlin’s crew chief felt that there was a clearing in the radar and they would get the race restarted and called Hamlin to pit road. Smoke pulled the fake and then back on to the track but said later, “I doubt very seriously that we suckered him onto pit road, so to speak. I’m sure him and Darian had their mind before they got there,” stated Stewart. Hamlin would finish 11th.

    Stewart’s second win in 5 races gives him his 7th win in the last 15 Sprint Cup Races an impressive statistic. More impressive when you realize that it is his 46th career win tying him with Buddy Baker on the all time win list. Stewart doesn’t usually show strong this early in the year however. He is normally a summer bloomer. When asked about his early success Smoke said, “It’s been nice to get off to a good start this year the way we have. Like you said, the history shows in the last 13 years we have not had the strongest starts the first third of the year. I’m really, really excited about the start that we’ve got going. “

    Kyle Busch would finish the day in second place after his brief encounter with the wall and dominating early. But he wasn’t sad to see the race called for rain. “Had a great car. The Interstate Batteries Camry was fast. Can’t say enough about those guys, Dave and everybody, for putting together a really good car this weekend. Wish we would have been able to race the whole thing on one hand, but on the other hand I’m kind of glad we’re not because we kind of have a little bit of damage that slowed us down there about 20 laps ago,” said Busch.

    Perhaps the most impressive run of the day came from Dale Earnhardt Jr who put together a flawless day. Flawless on the track. Flawless in the pits. And it garnered him a 3rd place finish. Earnhardt Jr seemed pleased with the result saying, “We had a really good car. The car was really quick in practice at the end of the day yesterday. We carried the same car into the race. I was real happy about that. We started off moving forward. Had some really good pit strategies, pitting a little bit earlier than most guys. Steve brought us down pit road and we gained a little bit of time, passed some guys on pit road.

    We drove the car up to fifth before the weather came. We had been watching the weather all day. We felt certain if it started to rain it wasn’t going to stop. We made the right choice by staying out and building ourselves into the top three.”

    All in all, it was a great race. Great action all around the track no cautions, the cars ran pretty much together allowing for lots of passes and the display of many skill sets. Yes it was shortened by rain but the pace of the race didn’t show any signs of dropping off. Maybe that is the answer for California. Shorter races with more intensity instead of long fuel managed races. It would certainly improve the strength of the competition for an already challenged venue.

    Team Chevy had an incredible weekend as well. Winning at Chico in the World of Outlaws with Donny Schatz, Sprint Cup with Tony Stewart and IndyCar with Helio Castroneves.

    Another item this weekend from the social media of NASCAR was the call from Jennifer Jo Cobb for tire money for Talladega. This irks me. It also irks me when Kenny Wallace begs for sponsor support on Social Media. Why you ask? Because I can’t help but think that the least endorsed and the man with the least money in NASCAR never takes to the social media waves or fan sites and begs. Not one time have you ever seen Morgan Shepard ask a fan for money or to help him find a sponsor. Instead Morgan leans on his faith and offers help to his fans and any fan that asks him for help. Whether that is a few moments of his time or a prayer to guide them through a difficulty. Morgan Shepard races with a dignity and professionalism that we seldom see anymore. But then if we take the sponsor that is on his hood to heart we find the reason he does what he does. I would highly encourage you to look beyond the celebrity and notoriety and ask yourself before giving money or working to help a team find a sponsor how will they manage next week? If I give them $10,000 for tires this week who will give them $10,000 for tires next week? Will they even finish the race or will they have the same mechanical issues that keep them from finishing the race every week?

    Congratulations to this weeks winners. Donny Schatz in Outlaws, Joey Logano in Nationwide, Helio Castroneves in IndyCar and Tony Stewart in Sprint Cup the competition was awesome and enjoyed. And somehow even though Mother Nature cut short the Sprint Cup race one has to feel that for a change Motorsports beat Nature.

    That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

  • Smoke wins rain shortened race at Auto Club Speedway

    Smoke wins rain shortened race at Auto Club Speedway

    [media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Tony Stewart won the rain shortened Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday for his second win of the season, 46th of his Sprint Cup career and seven wins of the past 15 races.

    Stewart led twice for 42 laps, including the final 22. He took the lead on lap 85 and held on until the race was red flagged on lap 129.

    “I’m definitely not losing anything with age.  I’ve had some really great race cars.” Stewart said about recently turning 40.  “I’m really proud of Steve Addington (crew chief) and all of our guys. This Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevy is bad fast.”

    Kyle Busch finished second, Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third, Kevin Harvick fourth and Carl Edwards finished fifth.

    “We had a great race car there from the beginning of the race. Got the lead from Denny (Hamlin) after the first lap, led a lot of laps. I just wish we led 30 more and we’d be in a different position right now. Had a great car. The Interstate Batteries Camry was fast.” Busch said. “Wish we would have been able to race the whole thing on one hand, but on the other hand I’m kind of glad we’re not because we kind of have a little bit of damage that slowed us down there about 20 laps ago.”

    Greg Biffle finished sixth and holds a seven point lead over Harvick in the series standings.

    “I thought we were getting closer at the end because we started closing in on the 29, and then he got his car going. If they would have gotten the track cleaned off and going again, I think we would have had a chance because we’re good on a cold, green track. When it gets hot and slick, we’re not as good as they are.” Biffle said.

    Jeff Gordon had another disappointing day. Gordon had to serve a stop-and-go penalty for dragging his fuel can and gasman out of his pits on lap 108. He lost one lap and then the race was red flagged with no change to make up the mistake. Gordon finished 26th and now sits 25th in the series standings.

    Jimmie Johnson was the beneficiary of the rain. While running around under caution, smoke started coming from the front of the car. He was able to keep pace with the race was red-flagged and the field was brought to pit road. Johnson finished 10th.

    “We are not exactly sure. Either a piece of debris hit an oil line and knocked the fitting off or split the line and snagged a line. We clipped an artery bottom line it’s losing blood fast, it’s either that or possibly an oil cooler. I really don’t know what had happened, I was just idling along and my friends pulled up alongside of me and were pointing.” Johnson said.

    With his third place finish, Earnhardt Jr. sits in third place, 17 points out of the lead in the series standings.

    “We didn’t have an opportunity to do anything other than what we had planned from the start. I like how our season is going so far. If we keep going like this, maybe we can get some opportunities and seal the deal.” Earnhardt Jr. said.  “Our car was fast we had a great car in practice right at the end of practice I told the guys ‘this thing is really good’. The Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet was great from the drop of the green and we moved forward all day long. We had great pit strategy stopping a little earlier than most people gaining some track position that way too.”

     

    Unofficial Race Results
    Auto Club 400, Auto Club Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=5
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 9 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 47
    2 2 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 44
    3 14 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 41
    4 7 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 40
    5 12 99 Carl Edwards Ford 39
    6 4 16 Greg Biffle Ford 38
    7 6 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 37
    8 13 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 36
    9 23 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 35
    10 10 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 35
    11 1 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 34
    12 3 55 Mark Martin Toyota 32
    13 15 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 31
    14 11 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 30
    15 5 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 29
    16 25 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 28
    17 24 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 27
    18 17 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 26
    19 27 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 25
    20 22 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 24
    21 29 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 23
    22 19 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 22
    23 33 13 Casey Mears Ford 21
    24 8 20 Joey Logano Toyota 20
    25 28 43 Aric Almirola Ford 19
    26 21 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 19
    27 18 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 17
    28 26 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 16
    29 40 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 15
    30 41 38 David Gilliland Ford 14
    31 38 34 David Ragan Ford 13
    32 16 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 12
    33 34 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 11
    34 42 32 Ken Schrader Ford 10
    35 36 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 9
    36 31 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 8
    37 30 26 Josh Wise * Ford 7
    38 32 98 Michael McDowell Ford 6
    39 20 30 David Stremme Toyota 5
    40 39 119 Mike Bliss Toyota 0
    41 35 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 3
    42 43 74 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 0
    43 37 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 1
  • Logano wins the Royal Purple 300 at Auto Club Speedway

    Logano wins the Royal Purple 300 at Auto Club Speedway

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]Polesitter Joey Logano regained the race lead with 12 laps remaining in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Auto Club Speedway and held off Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for his first NNS win of the season.

    “It’s good to be finally back in Victory Lane.  This is awesome to win here again.  We gave a couple away here lately and today we were able to capitalize on a car capable of winning.” Logano said.  “I forgot how much fun it was to do burnouts. It’s a lot of fun.”

    This was Logano’s 10th career NNS win and also extended Joe Gibbs Racing’s streak of eight consecutive Nationwide Series victories at the speedway.

    “It was a great day. It was a fun day. The race track was really racy. It’s just a bummer that we ended up two spots short, but I’ve got to thank all the guys for working hard on this.” Stenhouse Jr.said.

    Brad Keselowski finished third, Brian Scott fourth and Austin Dillon finished fifth.

    “On the last restart, it was just good racing. Joey and the guys just closed the deal out. I had a strong run all day, just needed a little more.” Keselowski said.

    Series points leader Elliott Sadler finished ninth and now holds a 18 point lead in the standings over Stenhouse Jr.

    Danica Patrick’s car picked up debris in the front grill, apparently puncturing her radiator and later causing the engine to seize. The team pushed her car to the garage and she finished 35th.

    “It’s not a Chevy issue. It’s not a team issue. It’s just a bad luck issue, and unfortunately, I feel like we’ve been catching a fair amount of it at the beginning of the season.” Patrick said.

    Starting Lineup
    Royal Purple 300, Auto Club Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=5
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 18 Joey Logano Toyota 178.984 40.227
    2 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 177.196 40.633
    3 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 177.109 40.653
    4 3 Austin Dillon* Chevrolet 176.926 40.695
    5 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 176.904 40.7
    6 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 176.255 40.85
    7 11 Brian Scott Toyota 176.108 40.884
    8 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 176.091 40.888
    9 60 Trevor Bayne Ford 175.919 40.928
    10 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 175.473 41.032
    11 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 175.229 41.089
    12 88 Cole Whitt* Chevrolet 174.575 41.243
    13 81 Jason Bowles* Toyota 174.533 41.253
    14 38 Brad Sweet Chevrolet 174.419 41.28
    15 54 Kyle Busch Toyota 174.389 41.287
    16 43 Michael Annett Ford 173.934 41.395
    17 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 173.728 41.444
    18 44 Mike Bliss Toyota 173.444 41.512
    19 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 173.348 41.535
    20 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 173.243 41.56
    21 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 172.981 41.623
    22 19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 172.331 41.78
    23 47 Scott Speed Chevrolet 172.171 41.819
    24 41 Blake Koch Chevrolet 171.973 41.867
    25 14 Eric McClure Toyota 171.371 42.014
    26 10 Jeff Green Toyota 171.306 42.03
    27 50 T.J. Bell Ford 171.274 42.038
    28 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 170.94 42.12
    29 108 Tim Andrews Ford 170.887 42.133
    30 42 Josh Wise Chevrolet 170.394 42.255
    31 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 170.112 42.325
    32 39 Joey Gase* Ford 169.157 42.564
    33 124 Benny Gordon* Chevrolet 168.867 42.637
    34 52 Tim Schendel Chevrolet 167.011 43.111
    35 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 166.995 43.115
    36 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet 166.767 43.174
    37 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 166.694 43.193
    38 28 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 165.983 43.378
    39 4 Daryl Harr Chevrolet 165.453 43.517
    40 70 David Green Dodge 163.51 44.034
    41 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 163.35 44.077
    42 172 John Jackson Toyota 163.188 44.121
    43 15 Scott Riggs Chevrolet – –
  • Keselowski wins the Food City 500 while Earnhardt and Gordon trade paint

    Keselowski wins the Food City 500 while Earnhardt and Gordon trade paint

    [media-credit name=”Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]Brad Keselowski led 231 laps in route to his first victory of the season in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    “What can I say? I love Bristol and Bristol loves me.” said Keselowski. “The goal at Penske Racing is to win a Sprint Cup championship, and one win certainly doesn’t achieve that, but it’s a great step.”

    Keselowski choose the outside line on the final restart and held off Matt Kenseth, who had beat him on the previous restart.

    “I knew as long as I could beat him on the first lap, I knew I had a good enough car and I’m a good enough driver to win.” Keselowski said.

    Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) teammates Martin Truex Jr. finished third, Clint Bowyer fourth and Brian Vickers finished fifth. Vickers led 125 laps in his first race of the season and will run five more races for MWR.

    “This was pretty good and it felt really good when we were out there leading. It would have been awesome to hold onto that, but it’s the first time back so I can’t complain about that. What an organization.” Vickers said.

    “So proud of the team.  All the guys on the NAPA team and everybody at MWR.  Clint and Brian  were up front all day long and this just says a lot about everything that everybody at MWR has done over the off season — working hard, giving us good race cars.” Truex Jr. said.

    Kasey Kahne had another dismal finish after contact with Regan Smith. He finished 37th and sits 32nd in the series standings.

    “We were going forward, just taking our time. Regan Smith was pretty slow. I was under him for a couple of laps. When my spotter cleared me in the center, I just took off, and he was there on exit. It is disappointing to have that good of a car and be out this early. Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports is doing such an awesome job. I’ve had awesome race cars, and I have nothing to show for it.” Kahne said.

    On lap 359, teammates Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were racing hard. While Earnhardt Jr. was making the pass, they got together. The contact cut the left rear, sending Gordon into the outside wall.

    “I think we bumped more than we should have is the way it looks like. We definitely didn’t hit in the right location, because I think the tailpipe or something just cut the left-rear (tire) immediately. We didn’t hit that hard. We were a little bit too tight and he was pretty good on the restart there and we were racing hard. I know that it wasn’t intentional, but it certainly ruined our day. I hate it for Drive To End Hunger.” Gordon said.

    Gordon finished 35th and now sits 23rd in the series standings.

    “I got into his door a little bit. We were racing and having a good time, to be honest with you. I put the pipes up against the left rear tire of his car, and knocked the side wall out of it. I hate…I feel bad about that. I’m going to have to do some damage control this week. I know Jeff understands what was going on out there, but his boys work real hard on their car, and they had a good run going. They had a potential win, or good finish going too; and they deserve it.” Earnhardt Jr. said.

    Earnhardt Jr. finished 15th after a late-race pit road speeding penalty.

    “I got busted for speeding on pit road. I really hate that happened. I don’t think I was; but I don’t (think) any driver ever thinks he was speeding.” Earnhardt Jr. said.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Food City 500, Bristol Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=4
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 5 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 48
    2 21 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 43
    3 15 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 41
    4 16 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 40
    5 25 55 Brian Vickers Toyota 40
    6 33 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 38
    7 17 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 37
    8 30 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 36
    9 22 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 35
    10 11 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 34
    11 14 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 33
    12 3 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 32
    13 1 16 Greg Biffle Ford 32
    14 23 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 30
    15 18 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 30
    16 9 20 Joey Logano Toyota 28
    17 2 22 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge 28
    18 27 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 26
    19 7 43 Aric Almirola Ford 25
    20 20 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 24
    21 19 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 23
    22 32 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 22
    23 31 34 David Ragan Ford 21
    24 6 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 20
    25 24 13 Casey Mears Ford 19
    26 26 38 David Gilliland Ford 18
    27 34 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 17
    28 36 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 16
    29 29 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 15
    30 40 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 14
    31 39 98 Michael McDowell Ford 13
    32 13 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 12
    33 42 32 Ken Schrader Ford 11
    34 35 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 10
    35 4 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 10
    36 12 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 8
    37 10 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 7
    38 28 30 David Stremme Toyota 6
    39 8 99 Carl Edwards Ford 5
    40 41 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    41 43 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 3
    42 38 74 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 0
    43 37 26 Josh Wise * Ford 1
  • Elliot Sadler Wins 30th Annual FORD EcoBoost 300

    Elliot Sadler Wins 30th Annual FORD EcoBoost 300

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]60% Chance of rain?…No way. On an absolutely beautiful March day here in Bristol, Tennessee, Elliot Sadler has claimed his second victory in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in Thunder Valley.

    It looked like a Joe Gibbs Racing day early but a late-race call by Crew Chief Lucas Lambert that was the call of the day to score the win for the OneMain Financial team. After taking the pole earlier this morning in NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying, Joey Logano flexed his muscles early in the 300-lap stanza, leading the first 66 laps. His No. 18 Game Stop/Turtle Beach Toyota was lightning fast early, but it was Owner/Driver Kyle Busch that was able to climb through the front-runners to knock off his Sprint Cup teammate for the point position.

    Another 40 laps went by before Logano again set the pace for the Ford EcoBoost 300 when he again found the front for the second time of the day. It was all Logano for 119 laps today…the challengers, Roush Fenway’s Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. that would mix things up late in the race. Bayne found the front on lap 160 and participated in one of the best battles of the day with teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The battle for the lead lasted around 20 laps between the two teammates with Stenhouse coming up victorious for the point position on lap 224.

    It was a late-race caution that left Crew Chiefs with the biggest decisions of the day. It was Luke Lambert that made the right call to stay out with less than 30 laps to go in the Ford EcoBoost300. The majority of the leaders chose to come to Pit Road for fresh tires for the 27 lap dash to the checkered flag.  His driver, Elliott Sadler was able to hold off the likes of Kasey Kahne and Brad Keselowski following the race’s final restart on lap 273 of 300 to earn his second victory here at the high-banks in Thunder Valley.

    Sadler recalled his win here in 2001 by taking the same strategy today; ” He (Lambert) reminded me that I won a race here in 2001 by doing the same thing,” said Sadler. The driver of the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevy was joined in victory lane by his parents whom had never been in attendance for one of his NASCAR victories. “Luke made a great call to stay out,” elaborated Sadler.

    Lambert was in attendance here at Bristol for Sadler’s previous win at the .533 mile short track, although he was just a Senior in High School. “I was here, and i watched it, but i was definitely a spectator,” commented Lambert. ” I do study all the history of our driver and what track we’re going to and everything else — but I was here for that one. And I was pretty young.”

    The win marks Sadler’s second of the season, and fourth straight top-10 finish this season.

    Despite having a strong car all day, Kasey Kahne took the runner-up spot to Sadler. Veteran driver and former Bristol race-winner Brad Keselowski took the third spot. Pole-sitter and lap leader Joey Logano ended up fourth with Dale Earnhardt Jr, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Justin Allgaier, Trevor Bayne, Kevin Harvick, and Ryan Truex rounding out the top 10.

    Danica Patrick brought her No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevy home two laps down to the leaders in 19th despite starting 27th here in Thunder Valley.

  • Greg Biffle Claims Coors Light Pole for Sunday’s Food City 500 Bristol Motor Speedway

    Greg Biffle Claims Coors Light Pole for Sunday’s Food City 500 Bristol Motor Speedway

    [media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]Carl Edwards was fastest in NASCAR Sprint Cup practice, but it was another Roush Fenway driver that claimed his first pole here at Bristol Motor Speedway. Greg Biffle came from 11th in practice to claim the pole for Sunday’s 52nd Annual Food City 500.

    “I just couldn’t be more proud of how hard my team is working. I know a lot of people say that but we got in line with about nine minutes to go to make our bonsai run with sticker tires. Puccia called it the money lap but I still wasn’t happy with where the car was and I wanted one more change. My guys got me out with about two and a half minutes left. I got one more run in and that made the difference today of being on the front row. This is a team effort. They are working super hard and I am happy to have 811 and 3M and all the partners and Ford and everybody working hard to get our team up front.” Biffle said.

    With the help of a bit of cloud cover over The World’s Fastest Half Mile, the 42 year old Roush Fenway driver was able to lay down a lap time of 15.324 seconds to take the top starting spot for the mayhem that will unfold around the bull ring in Northeast Tennessee. Biffle’s lap was good enough for his 10th pole in 334 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, and his fourth top-10 start this season. With his pole position here at Bristol, Biffle is now locked into next year’s Shootout at Daytona. The 3M Ford is no stranger to the front row here at Bristol however, as Biffle has started second three other times, most recently in March of 2011.

    Biffle enters Sunday’s stanza as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader and commented on the positive vibes around the Roush Fenway camp thus far; “The team is really excited about how the season started out. We have gone from Superspeedway to a one mile track to a mile-and-a-half which is Roush Fenway flagship kind of race track. We have run very respectable at all those places and last week I would have thought that a third is nothing to shake a stick at…Practice today started off pretty decent. We were a little tight in the center of the corner, typical Bristol…We were 11th there (in NSCS Practice) and I think we have a great chance to be top-10 in qualifying.”

    It doesn’t get any better than the pole here at Bristol, and a top-10 qualifying effort was exactly what Biffle got out of his 3M Ford Fusion.

    AJ Allmendinger will start on the outside of the front row on Sunday with his qualifying effort earlier this afternoon here at Bristol Motor Speedway. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Newman will start third for the fourth time this season.

    Jeff Gordon’s Drive to End Hunger Chevy will start fourth and defending Bristol winner Brad Keselowski will start fifth.

    “Obviously you’ve got to pick up a little bit to be in the top five or six. I think we can be in that top five. I hope so. I think it was a good lap. Just a few little tweaks here and there to be a little bit better, but all in all, it was a great effort all day for our Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet and a great effort right there in qualifying.” Gordon said.

    Fastest in practice today, Carl Edwards will start 8th after he climbed the hill on his qualifying run.

    Other notables include Kyle Busch (13th), Kevin Harvick (14th), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (18th), Jimmie Johnson (22nd), and defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, Tony Stewart will start 23rd.

    Be sure to follow me on Twitter @ML_B_Lo for all of this weekend’s racing action here at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Starting Lineup
    Food City 500, Bristol Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=4+—————–
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 16 Greg Biffle Ford 125.215 15.324
    2 22 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge 125.207 15.325
    3 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 125.158 15.331
    4 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 125.085 15.34
    5 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 124.865 15.367
    6 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 124.816 15.373
    7 43 Aric Almirola Ford 124.719 15.385
    8 99 Carl Edwards Ford 124.687 15.389
    9 20 Joey Logano Toyota 124.662 15.392
    10 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 124.355 15.43
    11 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 124.339 15.432
    12 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 124.331 15.433
    13 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 124.178 15.452
    14 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 124.106 15.461
    15 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 124.106 15.461
    16 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 124.002 15.474
    17 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 123.953 15.48
    18 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 123.866 15.491
    19 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 123.866 15.491
    20 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 123.834 15.495
    21 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 123.666 15.516
    22 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 123.538 15.532
    23 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 123.467 15.541
    24 13 Casey Mears Ford 123.419 15.547
    25 55 Brian Vickers Toyota 123.419 15.547
    26 38 David Gilliland Ford 123.269 15.566
    27 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 123.182 15.577
    28 30 David Stremme Toyota 123.087 15.589
    29 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 123.047 15.594
    30 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 122.992 15.601
    31 34 David Ragan Ford 122.968 15.604
    32 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 122.866 15.617
    33 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 122.78 15.628
    34 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 122.701 15.638
    35 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 122.638 15.646
    36 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 122.623 15.648
    37 26 Josh Wise* Ford 122.38 15.679
    38 74 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 122.287 15.691
    39 98 Michael McDowell Ford 121.968 15.732
    40 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 121.829 15.75
    41 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 121.713 15.765
    42 32 Ken Schrader+ Ford 120.626 15.907
    43 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 121.374 15.809
  • Tony Stewart Smokes The Competition in Las Vegas

    Tony Stewart Smokes The Competition in Las Vegas

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”200″][/media-credit]Last year, Stewart dominated and came close to winning, but found himself at the bad end of a penalty late in the race. This year, he dominated once again and was able to close the deal, holding Jimmie Johnson off coming to the checkered flag.

    “I don’t know if we had the dominate car today, but we were so strong on the restarts,” he says. “I had to go. I knew that when Matt and Greg had better tires than us, I knew we’d be able to hold them off for a little bit. I didn’t know we could hold them off till the end.”

    The win marks the first for Stewart at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, now leaving him with only two tracks on NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule he hasn’t won at – Darlington and Kentucky. It also marks the first win for Stewart with new crew chief Steve Addington.

    “We talked three times before the race,” Stewart says of Addington. “He is very thorough with us, he explains the changes, he wants your input. He’s been very good at getting to know these guys.”

    Addington says that for him, it allowed him to take a lot of pressure off of himself.

    “He kept telling me to relax and have fun and we’re going to win our races,” he says. “But I take it very personal every time that race goes on the track. I put more on than I thought I would with them winning the championship, for me. Everybody at Stewart-Haas has been great, doing what I asked, asking me what I wanted done. It’s just been about me putting pressure on myself.”

    With 34 laps to go, Stewart made a daring three-wide pass on the restart to get by Brad Keselowski and take the lead. Stewart would lose the lead after coming down pit road for a splash of gas, but was able to get the lead back with on a later restart with 17 laps to go. He never looked back, holding on to the lead through the final two restarts.

    “That’s what made today special,” he says. “We didn’t have to hold off the challenge once; we had to hold them off multiple times. It makes me feel like I’ve earned my keep.”

    Jimmie Johnson came home second after having to start at the back of the field with a back-up car due to a wreck in practice.

    “With everything we went through this weekend, we’ll take it,” he says. “But man, I want to win. We had a little more speed, but tony could get away on the restarts and through the gears. We’ll have to see what we’re doing, what I’m doing wrong.”

    Greg Biffle would score a third place finish after making his way through the Roush-Fenway scramble on the backstretch after the restart. On the restart, Matt Kenseth spun the tires, which caused Carl Edwards to make a move on the inside of Matt on the apron to make it three wide. The group made it through turn one, before Kenseth made contact with Kasey Kahne, causing him to get into the wall.

    “I just got down in there, Carl was on the top digging,” Biffle says. “I was just trying to ease up, giving him room – I didn’t see what happened back there.”

    “Matt spun his tires just a little bit on the restart,” Edwards explains. “I went down on the apron, he gave us a lot of room. We just got all bunched up back there.”

    “Carl just laid back and got by me three-wide,” Kenseth says. “They got by me through the middle of the corner and then they just got up in front of me and stopped.”

    Ryan Newman finished fourth, followed by Edwards. Clint Bowyer finished sixth, followed by Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray and Trevor Bayne. Dale Earnhardt Jr. would round out of top 10 after leading the first 40 laps of the race.

    “The racecar was really tight,” Earnhardt Jr. says. “I knew by the end of the race, it was going to be a really, really tight race track and we needed to free the car up. I didn’t give Stevie enough information throughout the day to tell him how tight it was. I didn’t keep up my end and gave up a lot of spots at the end of the race.”

    Pole sitter Kasey Kahne finished 19th after struggling with the handling of the car during the second half of the race.

    Greg Biffle now leads the points, 10 points over Kevin Harvick. Denny Hamlin sits third in points, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Kobalt Tools 400, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=3
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 – 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 48
    2 – 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 43
    3 – 16 Greg Biffle Ford 42
    4 – 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 40
    5 – 99 Carl Edwards Ford 39
    6 – 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 39
    7 – 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 37
    8 – 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 36
    9 – 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 0
    10 – 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 35
    11 – 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 34
    12 – 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 33
    13 – 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 31
    14 – 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 30
    15 – 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 29
    16 – 20 Joey Logano Toyota 28
    17 – 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 27
    18 – 55 Mark Martin Toyota 26
    19 – 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 25
    20 – 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 24
    21 – 34 David Ragan Ford 24
    22 – 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 23
    23 – 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 21
    24 – 43 Aric Almirola Ford 20
    25 – 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 19
    26 – 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 18
    27 – 13 Casey Mears Ford 17
    28 – 30 David Stremme Toyota 16
    29 – 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 15
    30 – 32 Ken Schrader Ford 14
    31 – 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 13
    32 – 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 13
    33 – 38 David Gilliland Ford 11
    34 – 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 10
    35 – 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 9
    36 – 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 8
    37 – 22 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge 8
    38 – 98 Michael McDowell Ford 6
    39 – 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 5
    40 – 26 Josh Wise * Ford 4
    41 – 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    42 – 37 Timmy Hill* Ford 2
    43 – 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 1
  • Stenhouse wins the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

    Stenhouse wins the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”276″][/media-credit]Ricky Stenhouse Jr. held off veteran driver Mark Martin by 4.785 seconds to win Saturday’s Nationwide Series Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    Stenhouse Jr. led the final 54 laps in route to his first victory of the season.

    “It was really cool. Looking at all the fans in the stands that came out was pretty cool before the race and to win here was fun. I got here Sunday, so I’ve been here a while and it paid off.” Stenhouse Jr. said.

    Martin, making his first Nationwide Series race for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 18 Toyota led 44 laps and finished second.

    “That was one serious beatdown he put on me that last run. I mean just a beatdown. I kept up with for a while and about wrecked five times, and that’s it. I’m not ashamed to say, it wasn’t even close.” Martin said.  “Thanks to Joe Gibbs and everybody at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Interstate Batteries. This Toyota was awesome and they were awesome. I needed to run a race to see if I could find a few things that maybe we could work on to improve.”

    Polesitter and series points leader Elliott Sadler finished third after pitting for a vibration problem.

    “We showed a lot of guts and effort today. We had a good race car and anytime you can go through what we did today and get a third-place finish, we’ve very happy with that.” Sadler said.

    Sadler has a 15 point lead in the series standings over Austin Dillon.

    Trevor Bayne finished fourth and Brendan Gaughan finished fifth.

    “It’s good when you can say a top five is disappointing. We want to be in Victory Lane every week and there for a while I thought we had a shot at it. We just got too tight at the end when the sun went down, so it’s a decent run.” Bayne said.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Sam’s Town 300, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=3
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 – 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 48
    2 – 18 Mark Martin Toyota 0
    3 – 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 42
    4 – 60 Trevor Bayne Ford 40
    5 – 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 0
    6 – 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 38
    7 – 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 37
    8 – 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 36
    9 – 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 35
    10 – 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0
    11 – 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 33
    12 – 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 32
    13 – 43 Michael Annett Ford 31
    14 – 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 0
    15 – 44 Mike Bliss Toyota 29
    16 – 19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 28
    17 – 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 28
    18 – 41 Blake Koch Ford 26
    19 – 70 Johanna Long * Chevrolet 25
    20 – 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 24
    21 – 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 23
    22 – 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 22
    23 – 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    24 – 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 20
    25 – 14 Eric McClure Toyota 19
    26 – 4 Daryl Harr Chevrolet 18
    27 – 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota 17
    28 – 108 Kyle Fowler Ford 16
    29 – 52 Tim Schendel Chevrolet 15
    30 – 124 Benny Gordon Chevrolet 14
    31 – 50 T.J. Bell Ford 13
    32 – 28 Derrike Cope Dodge 12
    33 – 54 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    34 – 11 Brian Scott Toyota 11
    35 – 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 9
    36 – 113 Jennifer Jo Cobb Dodge 0
    37 – 39 Joey Gase * Ford 7
    38 – 27 J.J. Yeley Ford 0
    39 – 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet 5
    40 – 10 Jeff Green Toyota 4
    41 – 42 Josh Wise Chevrolet 0
    42 – 47 Scott Speed Chevrolet 0
    43 – 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 1