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  • Keselowski wins NNS race at Chicagoland

    Keselowski wins NNS race at Chicagoland

    Brad Keselowski dominated the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday and won his first NNS since race since returning to the series after he broke his ankle testing at Road Atlanta.

    [media-credit name=”Bill Gutweiler” align=”alignright” width=”259″][/media-credit]

    Keselowski led 158 of the 200 laps. He was only passed for the lead one time and that was by Edwards. Keselowski blamed lapped traffic at the time. Keselowski pitted under green flag conditions while Edwards stayed out. Eventually Edwards ran out of gas allowing Keselowski to go back to the front.

    Keselowski held off Carl Edwards by 8.568 seconds for his 15thcareer NNS win and his third of the season.

    “Today was a team victory. Good strategy. Good execution. Fast car. We didn’t make any mistakes and a lot of times that’s what this sport is about. It was a really strong showing here today. I’m glad to get the win. Obviously, when you can get extra track time before the Cup race it can be advantageous. I think today was one of those situations. Hopefully it will payoff for tomorrow. We’ll just have to see.” Keselowski said.

    Edwards ran out of gas while leading on pit road on lap 124.  Edwards came out nine seconds behind

    “Congrats to Brad. He was doing a really good job. I have to thank Fastenal, Ford and I hope folks tune in tomorrow. It is going to be a great race. The first race of the Chase and there couldn’t be a better race track to run at. It has multiple grooves and it is a really fun place. I just wish we had gotten a caution to get another chance at this one.” Edwards said.

    Brian Scott finished third, Aric Almirola fourth and Sam Hornish Jr. finished fifth.

    Scott earned his first career pole and led five laps en route to equaling his career best NNS finish (Chicagoland 2010).

    “I think there at the end we were a little faster than Carl (Edwards), but he was a little better in the traffic, and we just got a little too loose.  After some of the luck we’ve had and had a fifth-place run ruined at Montreal, to be able to finish third here is a pretty good day.” Scott said.

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished 8th and holds a 14-point lead over Elliott Sadler in the series standings.

    There were three caution periods for only eight laps in a relatively problem free event. There were eight lead changes between only five drivers.

     

    Unofficial Race Results
    Dollar General 300, Chicagoland Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=28
    =========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 – 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    2 – 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0
    3 – 11 Brian Scott Toyota 42
    4 – 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 40
    5 – 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 39
    6 – 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 38
    7 – 7 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 0
    8 – 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 36
    9 – 33 Paul Menard Chevrolet 0
    10 – 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 34
    11 – 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 33
    12 – 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 33
    13 – 20 Ryan Truex * Toyota 31
    14 – 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 30
    15 – 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 29
    16 – 62 Michael Annett Toyota 28
    17 – 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 27
    18 – 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 26
    19 – 18 Joey Logano Toyota 0
    20 – 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 25
    21 – 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 23
    22 – 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 22
    23 – 39 Joey Gase Ford 0
    24 – 87 Kevin Conway Toyota 0
    25 – 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 19
    26 – 70 David Stremme Chevrolet 0
    27 – 52 Blake Koch * Dodge 17
    28 – 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 16
    29 – 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 15
    30 – 81 Scott Wimmer Dodge 14
    31 – 40 Josh Wise Chevrolet 13
    32 – 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 12
    33 – 30 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0
    34 – 171 Matthew Carter Ford 10
    35 – 49 Mark Green Chevrolet 9
    36 – 103 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 8
    37 – 175 Carl Long Ford 7
    38 – 141 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 6
    39 – 104 Danny O’Quinn Jr. Ford 5
    40 – 146 Chase Miller Chevrolet 4
    41 – 248 Dennis Setzer Chevrolet 3
    42 – 127 J.J. Yeley Ford 0
    43 – 150 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 0
  • Dillon and RCR Closes in on Truck Championship with Win

    Dillon and RCR Closes in on Truck Championship with Win

    Richard Childress Racing’s of the No 3 truck of Austin Dillon crew only slid on two tires on the final pit stop and came out ahead of Sprint Cup regular Kevin Harvick who had led the most laps up until that point. Dillon took only two tires under green and while Harvick battled with others for  second place Dillon took off. The win at the Chicagoland Speedway in the Fast Five 225,

    [media-credit name=”Bill Gutweiler ” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]allowed the 21 year old grandson of Richard Childress to pull within 3 points of the series leader James Buescher who finished in 11th.

     

    “This is the biggest win of my career, I think,” Dillon, said in Victory Lane. “I’ve wanted to beat those guys and everybody asks ‘How do you feel about racing against Cup drivers?’ Every time they ask me the question, I say ‘I love it’ because that proves we can go out there and run with them. It proves we can get to the next level. I’m glad when they come into the series, they are very tough to beat, they are supposed to be, and when you beat them it makes it that much better.”

     

    “I ran up there, racing with Kyle (Busch) and Harvick. Harvick was great all night, but Stockman (Dillon’s crew chief) made the call at the end to put us out on two tires. He knows when I get out front it’s like smelling blood for a shark. When we got out there, we could just take off. The team … they kept gaining spots every time we came on pit road. I love coming on pit road when they’re like that. It’s awesome.”

     

    The win was Dillon’s second of the 2011 season and 4th of his young career. The last four races had been won by Kevin Harvick Incorporated race trucks, a team that announced just this week that they would no longer be fielding trucks in 2012.

     

    Harvick spoke to why he had to take four tires, “On the caution before earlier in the race around lap 85) we didn’t take any tires, so we had about 22 more laps on our tires. When you have a vibration like that, you want to win the race, but in the big picture…and the even bigger picture on Sunday (in the first Chase race) …we don’t need to blow a tire and have something happen. So when it got to the point of shaking bad enough to where I knew something was changing, I just came in and changed four tires. I knew at that point, they (the other drivers including Kyle Busch and Dillon) were going to do the opposite, but we had to change four.”  Harvick led 99 of 150 laps.

    Harvick, whose Nationwide Series team will move to RCR next year said, “As a driver you want to win the race, especially with a truck like that, but nine times out of 10 you don’t win ’em on days like that. But in the end, we kept it all in the family.”

    Kyle Busch said after the race clearly disappointed, “Yeah, it was the right call to get us the track position.  We just didn’t have the right truck tonight to keep it up front andkeep a fast truck that will hold those guys off.  Just Kyle Busch Motorsports is missing something.”

  • Kyle Busch Steals a Nationwide Win from Edwards in the Virginia 529 College Savings 250

    Kyle Busch Steals a Nationwide Win from Edwards in the Virginia 529 College Savings 250

    The Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway Friday night was pretty much Carl Edwards’ for the taking, after dominating most of the race. The fateful blow came when Edwards lost three positions during the final round of pit stops under caution.

    [media-credit name=”Ted Seminara” align=”alignright” width=”242″][/media-credit]Kyle Busch won his 51st Nationwide race of his career, his eighth this season in 19 starts by edging Edwards out at the finish line by just .696 seconds., followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Truex and Kenny Wallace rounding out the Top-five.

    “Carl was certainly really, really god there, and I thought at first we were probably a third- or fourth-place car, and then kind of worked on it and made it a second- or third-place car,” Busch said. “We were keeping up with Carl, and then, on that final pit stop, my guys really put the pressure on, knowing how quick they’d been on pit road all night — and they did it once again.

    “We were able to get off first, and I think Carl came off fourth, so when we had the restart there, he got mired up in traffic there, and that gave us some room to get out … [crew chief] Jason [Ratcliff] and these guys made some awesome adjustments all night, making the car a little bit better — just be able to make it a little more drivable. Every run we got closer, and then, there on that last run, we had track position and a good car.”

    The battle between Edwards and Busch started on lap three as the two battled for second place behind race leader Brad Keselowski. By lap seven Edwards took over the lead and left the other drivers in his dust.

    The first caution flew at lap 65 after Black Koch spun on the frontstretch after a nudge from Aric Amirola. Edwards resumed his lead on lap 79 as the green flag restarted the race. Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Trevor Bayne and Steve Wallace rolled out 2nd through fifth respectively.

    The second caution waved on the very same lap of the restart as Keselowski brushed the wall, followed by a crash in turns three and four between Kevin Harvick and Jason Leffler.

    Busch took the lead coming off pit road on lap 85 with Edwards behind in second place. Edwards took back his lead position on lap 87. Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne takes the second position from Busch on lap 114 and has his sights on Edwards.

    The yellow flag flew for the third time after Danica Patrick locked up her breaks heading into turn three and spinning Keselowski in the process. The race restarted on lap 143 only to have the caution flag thrown again on the same lap for the second time in the race after Brian Scott and Michael Annett crash in turns three and four. Scott’s car was turned by Amirola, who proved to be none to pleased and attempted to make his way towards Amirola’s car before being retained by a NASCAR official.

    Busch retook the lead off of pit road on lap 153, followed once again by a second place Edwards. Just six laps later the yellow flag flew for the fifth time after Eric McClure hot the wall. Busch reigned supreme by taking the lead from Edwards once again on lap 170 but Edwards would not go quietly and reclaimed his number one spot on lap 175.

    Kevin Harvick slammed Tevor Bayne, crashing him on the backstretch bring out the race’s sixth caution on lap 209. Busch once again exited pit road in the lead on lap 220, Edwards however exits fourth behind Stenhouse Jr. and Truex. With just 30 laps to go, Edwards would have to give it everything he got to try to regain his lead.

    Edwards’ hard charge looked promising as he moved into the top three by lap 226. By lap 235, he dove under Stenhouse Jr. in turn two to move into the second position. It looked as if Edwards would catch Busch as the margin between them whittled down to about eighth tenth of a second by lap 239, but in the end Edwards’ car would not sustain the power to propel him to the finish line first.

    Busch celebrated in victory lane, scoring his 51st Nationwide Series win, extending the driver’s own record for the most in the division’s history. All eyes should be on Busch for the Sprint Cup race Saturday night. He won it last year and is a favorite to sweep the weekend at RIR.

     

    Unofficial Race Results
    Virginia 529 College Savings 250, Richmond International Raceway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=27
    =========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 3 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    2 2 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0
    3 6 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 41
    4 10 20 Ryan Truex * Toyota 40
    5 5 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 39
    6 8 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 38
    7 16 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 37
    8 17 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 36
    9 22 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 35
    10 15 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 34
    11 26 62 Michael Annett Toyota 33
    12 18 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 32
    13 14 70 David Stremme Chevrolet 0
    14 28 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 31
    15 24 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 29
    16 7 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 28
    17 38 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 27
    18 32 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 26
    19 1 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    20 13 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0
    21 37 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 23
    22 39 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 22
    23 40 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 21
    24 41 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 20
    25 42 39 Luis Martinez Jr. Ford 19
    26 27 30 Ricky Carmichael Chevrolet 0
    27 35 81 Blake Koch * Dodge 17
    28 4 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 16
    29 11 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 15
    30 20 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 14
    31 9 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 0
    32 12 11 Brian Scott Toyota 12
    33 21 40 Josh Wise Chevrolet 11
    34 25 141 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 10
    35 30 171 Matthew Carter Ford 9
    36 23 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 8
    37 36 175 Carl Long Ford 7
    38 43 142 Tim Andrews Chevrolet 6
    39 34 248 Dennis Setzer Chevrolet 5
    40 19 49 Mark Green Chevrolet 4
    41 31 103 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 3
    42 33 146 Chase Miller Chevrolet 2
    43 29 147 Brian Keselowski Chevrolet 0
  • Kyle Busch Holds On To Win At Richmond, Again

    Kyle Busch Holds On To Win At Richmond, Again

    If I were to tell you Kyle Busch would go on to win at Richmond, out of all places, would you believe me? Probably the most dominant driver in the last five years at Richmond International Raceway, Busch went on to secure yet another NASCAR Nationwide Series win Friday night.

  • Gordon wins at Atlanta; Takes sole possession of third in the all-time win list

    Gordon wins at Atlanta; Takes sole possession of third in the all-time win list

    Jeff Gordon held off teammate Jimmie Johnson in the final 10 laps on Tuesday to win in the rain-delayed AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”204″][/media-credit]”We used it up there in the end and I was slipping and sliding. The track really changed a lot after that rain delay. Our car was real, real tight and we had to free it up. I tell you what, that was a lot of fun racing with him (Jimmie Johnson). I was slipping and he was slipping. The throttle control was very tough there at the end. There were a couple of moments where I really thought he got us. But what an incredible victory for this Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet.” Gordon said.

    “Man, that is what racing is all about. That was a lot of fun. I am grateful that I got to grow up racing off-road trucks and buggies because I was dead sideways those last probably 10 or 15 laps there trying to get by him. Just great hard racing.” Johnson said.

    This was Gordon’s third win of the season and 85th of his career, moving him into sole possession of third in the all-time win list behind David Pearson (105) and Richard Petty (200).

    “I totally forgot about that. Eighty-five, wow! That is un-believable. With the kind of day we had, the kind of year we’re having, I feel rejuvenated.” Gordon said.

    With this win, Gordon also became the Modern Era (1972-Present) wins leader, breaking a tie with Darrell Waltrip. NASCAR President Mike Helton presented Gordon with an “85” mosaic featuring images from each of the four-time champion’s victories and special commemorative “85” hats were worn by Gordon and his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team in Victory Lane.

    Tony Stewart finished third, Kurt Busch fourth and Carl Edwards finished fifth.

    Tony Stewart battled back for a third place finish and remains in 10th place in the series standings with only Richmond left before the chase begins.

    “The points are big going into next week, that’s for sure. I’m proud of the effort everybody gave this week. It may come down to one point. Having the strong finish we had here, maybe that will be the difference in making it or not making it next week.” Stewart said.

    Kurt Busch’s fourth place finish clinched a spot in the chase.

    “A great day for Penske and the Shell/Pennzoil Dodge team today. It was a great run, a Chase-type effort.” Busch said. “A great run for our Shell/Pennzoil Dodge. It’s great to be locked into the Chase. Just all of our sponsors, AAA, Lennox, Snap-On, and Coca-Cola. A good, solid season. Now it’s go time. We’ve got Richmond as a buffer, but we’ve got 10 weeks ahead of us that are the most important 10 weeks of the season.”

    Ryan Newman is also locked in and Brad Keselowski has at least wrapped up a wild card berth.

    “We’re not proud of our performance today, but we’re proud of what we accomplished. We got the Soldiers’ car in the Chase, a credit to our Stewart-Haas Racing organization. The opportunity to make the Chase is what we’ve been striving for all year long. This accomplishment is for our Army Strong Soldiers who give this No. 39 team an immense amount of pride and inspiration.” Newman said.

    Clint Bowyer saw his Chase hopes diminish when he got together with Juan Montoya on lap 241.

    “I was tight up off the corner,” Bowyer said. “You can’t race around a jackass. You just can’t. He dive-bombs the restarts, and before you know it, he’s in the way up there. I’m just tired of it.” Bowyer said.

    Dale Earnhardt finished 19th and is in ninth place, just two points ahead of Stewart heading into Richmond.

    “It was not a good day.” Earnhardt said. “We lost a little bit of ground (in the Chase standings) and it’s a little bit tighter going into Richmond but we still feel pretty good. But it doesn’t matter if we can’t figure out how to make the car run. It don’t matter where we are.”

    “I mean we are 26 ahead of Brad (Keselowski) I think. With all the start-and-parks and stuff it makes it a little bit easier on us but we should be able to go in there and make that happen.” Earnhardt added.

     

    Unofficial Race Results
    AdvoCare 500, Atlanta Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=25
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 5 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 48
    2 17 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 43
    3 20 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 41
    4 10 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 40
    5 7 99 Carl Edwards Ford 40
    6 14 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 39
    7 21 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 37
    8 13 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 37
    9 6 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 36
    10 11 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 34
    11 4 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 33
    12 15 16 Greg Biffle Ford 32
    13 27 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 31
    14 8 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 31
    15 12 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 29
    16 25 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 28
    17 32 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 27
    18 22 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 26
    19 29 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 25
    20 9 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 24
    21 18 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 23
    22 37 51 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 0
    23 3 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 22
    24 24 20 Joey Logano Toyota 20
    25 31 38 J.J. Yeley Ford 20
    26 40 32 Mike Bliss Ford 0
    27 39 36 Mike Skinner Chevrolet 0
    28 38 13 Casey Mears Toyota 16
    29 43 195 David Starr Ford 0
    30 42 71 Andy Lally * Ford 14
    31 16 0 David Reutimann Toyota 13
    32 30 46 Scott Speed Ford 0
    33 26 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 11
    34 1 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 11
    35 19 6 David Ragan Ford 9
    36 2 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 9
    37 36 34 David Gilliland Ford 7
    38 23 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 6
    39 33 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 5
    40 34 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    41 28 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 3
    42 41 55 Travis Kvapil Ford 0
    43 35 60 Dave Blaney Toyota 1
  • Jeff Gordon Nets Huge Win in Atlanta

    Jeff Gordon Nets Huge Win in Atlanta

    Jeff Gordon won his 85th Sprint Cup race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway by winning the AdvoCare 500. With the win Gordon becomes takes the third position in all-time wins behind David Pearson (105 wins) and Richard Petty (200 wins).  The race was delayed for two days due to Tropical Storm Lee which caused storms over the area both Sunday and Monday. The race was slowed a couple of times for drizzle including a short red flag but the day belonged to Gordon.

    [media-credit name=”NASCAR ” align=”alignright” width=”227″][/media-credit]Although Gordon dominated the race leading a race high 146 laps of the scheduled 325 but had to hold off a hard charger in Jimmie Johnson who closed the gap to under a car length as the laps wound down.  Gordon’s lead over his friend and team mate was over 2 seconds with about 20 laps left but both battled loose race cars and Gordon held him off.  It was an epic battle and Johnson came off turn four trying to catch Gordon almost sideways. Johnson said afterwards, “I’m sure glad I  had some dirt racing experience there because I  sure needed it to survive that. It was fun.”

    “I have always liked him as a driver,” said David Pearson, next on Gordon’s march up the wins list. “He is smart, takes care of his equipment and when it is time to go, he gets right up there with them. Reminds me some of the way I drove. … He has been the ‘head honcho’ for a long time in NASCAR. He was good out of the box and has been very good ever since.”

    Everyone recognizes how strong they are and you can never count them out, Gordon said in media center afterwards.  “In the last couple weeks we have been in battle with them. I’m excited we we’re on a half mile track last week and led so much and then came here and won.”  Gordon added, “It was so much fun, it was so slick. I have a lot of respect for Jimmie , he’s a five-time champion. We have great cars right now.”  Gordon spoke of how the race unfolded, “All of a sudden with 15 to go it got lose and here he comes.  We’re having a lot of fun right now and we can’t wait for the chase.”

    This was the culmination of the Sprint Summer Showdown that had Brad Keselowski, Marcos Ambrose and Paul Menard in a position to win $1 million for themselves,  a fan and the charity of their choice. The closest one was Keselowski who finished 6th. After the race Sprint announced that they would donate $10,000 to each driver’s charity of their choice.

    Tony Stewart, fighting for a place in the chase made up 8 seconds at the end of the race finishing in a surprising third place at the end. Stewart was excited with the performance but noted that there was still work that needed to be done.

  • Edwards dominates Great Clips 300

    Edwards dominates Great Clips 300

    It was a hot and humid night at Hampton, Georgia Saturday night as the NASCAR Nationwide Series stars invaded The Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Great Clips 300. Continuing his hot streak, Carl Edwards claimed his sixth Nationwide Series win in the 2011 season and the tenth win for the 2011 Ford Mustang.

    [media-credit name=”Joe Dunn” align=”alignright” width=”263″][/media-credit]Leading 101 of 195 laps, the closest competitor to Edwards was, to no one’s surprise Kyle Busch who led only 31 laps but managed to finish second., followed by Edward’s teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in third. Kevin Harvick finished fourth followed by Kasey Kahne. Justin Allgaier was sixth, with Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola, Jason Leffler and Elliott Sadler rounding out the top ten.

    As usual, half of the top ten finishers were Cup drivers and not eligible for the Series points. However, the points leader, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was the top Series finisher and maintained the points lead, extending his lead over Sadler by 8 points. Two regulars, Reed Sorenson and Trevor Bayne ran consistently up front until a lap 170 incident in turn two, that also involved Sorenson’s teammate Justin Allgaier ended both of their nights. Both driver’s expressed frustration with the incident.

    This was also a good night of racing for some of the struggling teams and driver’s in the series. Matt Carter, son of former Cup team owner Travis Carter, landed a one time ride that was scheduled to run the entire race, as opposed to the ‘start & park’ rides that he has settled for all season. The folks from Bennett Buildings and Carports USA gave Carter a chance in the #39 Ford. Carter showed a lot of promise as he kept the car intact and clean, finishing a respectable 17th two laps down, with all the fenders where they belonged.

    The series senior driver, Morgan Shepherd brought his #89 car home with a top 25 finish, and Jennifer Jo Cobb, another owner diver with very limited funding, again was on the track for the checkered flag, with a top 30 finish. It should be noted that Cobb also had a top 25 run the previous night in her NASCAR Camping World Truck Series entry.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Great Clips 300, Atlanta Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=26
    =========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 1 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0
    2 3 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    3 5 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 42
    4 8 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0
    5 7 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0
    6 14 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 39
    7 2 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    8 11 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 36
    9 16 30 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 35
    10 9 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 34
    11 4 20 Ryan Truex * Toyota 33
    12 19 11 Brian Scott Toyota 32
    13 13 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 31
    14 21 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 31
    15 15 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 29
    16 18 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 28
    17 23 39 Matthew Carter Ford 27
    18 17 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 26
    19 20 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 25
    20 24 62 Michael Annett Toyota 24
    21 10 7 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 0
    22 36 40 Josh Wise Chevrolet 22
    23 27 81 Blake Koch * Dodge 21
    24 42 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 20
    25 41 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 19
    26 35 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 18
    27 29 150 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 0
    28 26 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 16
    29 34 113 Jennifer Jo Cobb * Dodge 15
    30 39 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 14
    31 31 172 John Jackson Toyota 13
    32 12 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 12
    33 6 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 12
    34 40 70 Dennis Setzer Chevrolet 10
    35 43 171 Clay Greenfield Ford 9
    36 22 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 8
    37 28 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 7
    38 30 103 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 6
    39 33 142 Tim Andrews Chevrolet 5
    40 32 146 Chase Miller Chevrolet 4
    41 38 175 Carl Long Ford 3
    42 37 49 Mark Green Chevrolet 2
    43 25 141 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 1
  • No Surprise, Edwards Wins Great Clips 300

    No Surprise, Edwards Wins Great Clips 300

    With about 20 laps to go Carl Edwards made the pass for the lead by getting past Kevin Harvick but Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was coming up from behind at the same time making it to fourth by the time his Roush-Fenway team mate was in the lead. Stenhouse closed in a little but could never make it by him.  With less than ten laps remaining Stenhouse was challenged by Kyle Busch for second and got by Stenhouse as Edwards checked out.

     

    Edwards led 101 of the 195 laps on the steamy Atlanta night. It was his sixth Nationwide Series win of 2011. It almost wasn’t to be as Edwards was penalized for taking equipment out of the pit stall when he left with the air gun and hose. However, Edwards was fast and charged to the front.

     

    Edwards said in victory lane, It was a big week for Fastenal with the announcement we made.” He also psoke about a visit to a cancer camp,  “I was inspired by going to the Aflac cancer camp, he said. He then mentioned the racing,  “I’ve got a great team. We raced as hard as we could. It was a blast. We raced hard and we raced clean. I raced with Kyle (Busch), and Kevin (Harvick) and Kasey (Kahne) and it was all good racing.”

     

     

    Second place finisher Kyle Busch said, “We had a good car, just not good enough. Busch then spoke about their engine package saying,  Hated it that we didn’t have enough under the hood for those Fords.”

     

    The final restart was caused by the wreck that involved team mates Just Allgaier and Reed Sorenson that saw Sorenson get clipped in the left rear by the hard charging Allgaier sending Sorenson up into the side of Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne who was in the  back due to a pit stop after challenging for the win.

     

    Sorenson made it a point to say that he would find Allgaier after the race. Sorenson said, “It’s kind of uncalled for to wreck your teammate. I will find him after the race. It will be between me and him.”  He was clearly upset.  “I feel horrible, you don’t ever want to crash anyone, especially your team mate”, Allgaier said after the race, “No words can describe it, I want to talk to Reed, it was my fault. Took points way from them they didn’t deserve.”

     

    Ricky Stenhouse finished third followed by Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne. There were eight different leaders and six caution periods for 27 laps. The margin of victory was just under.7 of a second.

    [media-credit name=”Joe Dunn” align=”alignright” width=”220″][/media-credit]

  • Kahne grabs the AdvoCare 500 pole

    Kahne grabs the AdvoCare 500 pole

    Kasey Kahne won the pole for Sunday’s AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a lap of 29.775 seconds (186.196 mph). It was Kahne’s 22nd career pole and third at the speedway.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]“It was a good lap. I was a little on the tight side so I had to slow down more than I would have liked getting into the corner, but once it did turn I had tons of grip and was able to get off turn two really well and down the backstretch turns three and four was pretty good too. Just worked out and worked out well for us. Definitely wasn’t a perfect lap, but it must have just been a little better than anyone else’s.” Kahne said.

    Clint Bowyer will start outside the front row after turning a lap in 29.819 seconds.

    “That is a good start. Our Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet has been speed-wise all weekend long. We worried a little bit about our long runs today in practice. You can’t put too much emphasis on that, it was so hot today.” Bowyer said.

    Kyle Busch will start third with a lap of 29.832 seconds (185.841 mph).

    “Can’t say enough about all these guys on this Pedigree Camry. They did a great job this weekend. Done a real nice job. Hoping this is a little bit of an omen maybe for tomorrow night and we can go win one million bucks for some race fans with us.” Busch said.

    Brian Vickers will start fourth with a lap of 29.832 seconds (185.772 mph).

    “I thought we were better than that. It was a good run. The guys on the Red Bull Toyota did a good job — probably one of the best cars we’ve had in a while. Really proud of that. Think we’re going to be really good in the race tomorrow too. I guess I’m satisfied – pleased, but not satisfied.” Vickers said.

    Four time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon will start fifth.

    “For when we went and the conditions, I thought that was a good lap time. It was a big pickup from yesterday. I think with all these clouds, guys will beat us. Just happy with the improvements we’ve been able to make and the performance we’ve been having lately. I feel like we have a really good race car.” Gordon said.

    David Starr will represent race sponsor AdvoCare in the 43rd starting position.

    Starting Lineup
    AdvoCare 500, Atlanta Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=25
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 186.197 29.775
    2 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 185.922 29.819
    3 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 185.841 29.832
    4 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 185.772 29.843
    5 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 185.735 29.849
    6 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 185.71 29.853
    7 99 Carl Edwards Ford 185.561 29.877
    8 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 185.542 29.88
    9 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 185.486 29.889
    10 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 185.325 29.915
    11 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 185.288 29.921
    12 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 185.176 29.939
    13 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 185.127 29.947
    14 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 185.115 29.949
    15 16 Greg Biffle Ford 185.059 29.958
    16 0 David Reutimann Toyota 184.8 30
    17 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 184.462 30.055
    18 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 184.272 30.086
    19 6 David Ragan Ford 184.015 30.128
    20 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 183.899 30.147
    21 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 183.801 30.163
    22 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 183.68 30.183
    23 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 183.394 30.23
    24 20 Joey Logano Toyota 183.382 30.232
    25 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 183.339 30.239
    26 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 183.152 30.27
    27 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 183.121 30.275
    28 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 183.025 30.291
    29 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 182.898 30.312
    30 46 Scott Speed Ford 182.856 30.319
    31 38 J.J. Yeley Ford 182.501 30.378
    32 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 182.44 30.388
    33 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 181.759 30.502
    34 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 181.693 30.513
    35 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 181.437 30.556
    36 34 David Gilliland Ford 180.745 30.673
    37 51 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 180.575 30.702
    38 13 Casey Mears Toyota 180.252 30.757
    39 60 Mike Skinner Toyota 180.012 30.798
    40 32 Mike Bliss Ford 179.889 30.819
    41 55 Travis Kvapil Ford 179.872 30.822
    42 71 Andy Lally+* Ford 178.493 31.06
    43 195 David Starr Ford 179.737 30.845
  • Win no. 49 for Hornaday Jr. at Atlanta

    Win no. 49 for Hornaday Jr. at Atlanta

    Ron Hornaday Jr. stayed out on old tires while others pitted and won Friday nights NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Good Sam Club 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”247″][/media-credit]Clint Bowyer was catching Hornaday quickly in the closing laps, but Hornaday was able to lead the final 17 laps and win his record 49th NASCAR Truck Series by 1.596 seconds over Bowyer.

    “See that trophy? We stole it tonight, but I’ll take it any way we can get it. Jeff and all the guys worked hard. We got back up to sixth place after that pit stop, they did an awesome job in the pits.” Hornaday said.

    Bowyer led 97 of the 130 laps ran and was looking like his would win his second Truck Series race of the season, but he had to pit for tires and fuel.

    “Got beat by a guy that snookered me, played a better poker game than we did and we got beat. But you gotta hand it to those guys, man we had a great truck. Kevin’s always put me in a great truck. Love this Truck Series, it’s a lot of fun being able to race Kyle for the wins and give him a run for his money.” Bowyer said.

    Kyle Busch finished third, Blake Feese fourth and Ryan Newman finished fifth.

    “We had the second-best truck. For a few moments, we could get in front of Clint. But we didn’t have it on the long runs. We’d always get loose. We could never get it the way we needed it.” Busch said. “The 2 truck was definitely the best truck of the night. It’s fortunate for us he didn’t win given that we’re fighting for the owner’s championship.”

    Newman was racing in honor of his good friend Beau Slocumb, who succumbed to cancer in April. He was driving the No. 08 tribute paint scheme. Slocumb’s friends and family were also present.

    “We didn’t get the victory that we wanted, but a top-five, that’s all we had tonight.” Newman said. “(Tonight) my mind wandered a couple times. (Beau) would have had fun, been smiling, just like me. Probably thinking about where he could put up a tree stand tomorrow.”

    James Buescher finished 10th and took over the series lead by 12 points over Johnny Sauter. Sauter cut down two tires after a fender rub and finished 29th.

     

    Unofficial Race Results
    Good Sam Club 200, Atlanta Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=17
    ==============================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    ==============================================
    1 17 33 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 47
    2 2 2 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 0
    3 6 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    4 27 32 Blake Feese Chevrolet 40
    5 5 108 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 0
    6 8 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 39
    7 7 88 Matt Crafton Chevrolet 37
    8 1 4 Ricky Carmichael Chevrolet 36
    9 19 5 Todd Bodine Toyota 35
    10 3 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 34
    11 28 63 Jack Smith Ford 33
    12 4 29 Parker Kligerman * Dodge 32
    13 20 22 Joey Coulter * Chevrolet 31
    14 18 9 Max Papis Toyota 30
    15 26 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 29
    16 10 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 28
    17 21 81 David Starr Toyota 27
    18 25 62 Brendan Gaughan Toyota 26
    19 15 51 Colin Braun Ford 25
    20 16 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. * Chevrolet 24
    21 9 151 Josh Richards Toyota 23
    22 13 7 Miguel Paludo * Toyota 22
    23 31 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Ford 0
    24 35 66 Chris Cockrum Chevrolet 20
    25 23 23 Jason White Chevrolet 19
    26 22 6 Justin Lofton Toyota 18
    27 32 84 Chris Fontaine Chevrolet 0
    28 24 98 Justin Marks Chevrolet 16
    29 12 13 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 15
    30 29 178 B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 0
    31 14 20 Johanna Long * Toyota 13
    32 11 60 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 12
    33 36 109 Charles Vest Ford 11
    34 34 7 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 0
    35 30 138 Mike Garvey Chevrolet 0
    36 33 93 Dennis Setzer Chevrolet 0