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  • Kyle Busch Sweeps Bristol Again!

    Kyle Busch Sweeps Bristol Again!

    [media-credit id=5 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]
    Kyle Busch celebrates 5th straight win at BMS
    For the second time in as many visits to Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch managed to win every race. Last August it was a triple with the NASCAR Camping World Truck, the Nationwide and the Sprint Cup, returning this weekend he captured the checkered flag for both the Nationwide and the Sprint Cup races.

    The win for Busch was his 20th in 226 NASCAR Sprint Cup starts, and his first win and his third top 10 in 4 Cup starts in 2011. This win is Kyle’s fifth at Bristol and ties him with his brother Kurt and Jeff Gordon for wins among active drivers. Carl Edwards finished second, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Paul Menard in fifth.
    After the race Edwards commented, “ It was exciting. I thought I could get to him (Busch) at the end and rough him up a little bit, and maybe get by him, but his car took off. I should have hit him harder when I got to his bumper the first time, but we were really racing hard. His car was better there at the end. Kyle did a good job, our team did a good job and we’ve just got to thank all the fans and let them know we appreciate them coming out and supporting us.”
    In a post race interview Johnson talked about his car being really good and his team working hard, but at the end it was all about track position. “On the pit stop, the rear tire changer slipped and that lost us valuable track position. We just could never get that back.” Kenseth was also happy with his fourth place finish, “We had a lot of fun out there racing today and got lucky and got the right lane on the restarts a few times. We were able to make up some positions. It took all day, but we finally were able to make some adjustments that had the Crown Royal Black Fusion pretty decent.” Rounding out the top 10 for the Jeff Byrd 500 was Kevin Harvick 6th, followed by Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman in 10th.

    Kyle Busch took a few minutes after celebrating in Victory Lane to talk about the race. “It was a lot harder today, that’s for sure. Carl Edwards kept me honest there. I was making a couple of mistakes, but nothing we couldn’t rebound from. This M&M’s Camry was awesome today. I can’t thank the guys at Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing, M&M’s, thanks for signing up for another infinite years.”

    As the series heads for Fontana next week for the fifth race of the season, there was little movement in the top 10 in points other than Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson moving IN and A J Allmendinger and Denny Hamlin moving OUT. The new leader after Bristol is Kurt Busch, with Carl Edwards on point behind in second, as Tony Stewart slips to third. Ryan Newman and Paul Menard round out the top five. Kyle Busch moved up to sixth, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Martin Truex in tenth. The top ten are now separated by 27 points as a result of the new point system in place this year.

  • Kyle Busch Victorious Again at Bristol

    Kyle Busch Victorious Again at Bristol

    [media-credit id=5 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]
    Busch celebrates Bristol NNS win
    The last time NASCAR was at the Bristol Motor Speedway, back in August of 2010, it was the Kyle Busch show as he swept all three top series races in the same weekend. The spring race at Bristol does not include a Truck series event, so the Nationwide race is the first event. Could this win could be the start of another sweep?

    Following Busch across the line was Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Elliott Sadler (the highest finishing series regular) and Joey Logano in fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Jason Leffler, Brad Keselowski and Aric Almirola.

    The 29th annual Scott’s EZ Seed 300 proved to be another event- filled race after what looked to be a smooth start. Other than a competition caution ordered by NASCAR on lap 25 to change to the new tires provided by Goodyear Saturday morning, the race remained green for 68 laps. It was lap 68 when Robert Richardson Jr. made contact with the outside wall in turn three. The damage to Richardson’s  No. 23 car resulted in lots of fluid across the track which Trevor Bayne found and it forced him into the outside wall. That spelled trouble for his day, as he finished 3 laps down in 19th place.

    The beginning of the race was not without it’s own drama as Jennifer Jo Cobb refused to start the race after being ordered by car owner Rick Russell to ‘start and park’ the car. The car eventually started and parked after 4 laps, but not before the race had reached the 100 lap marker, with the third announced driver for the car.

    The third caution for the day came on lap 183 as reigning Series Champion, Brad Keselowski cut a tire and made contact with the wall in turn 3. The last 100 laps of the race would bring out five more cautions, slowing the pace of the race. The fourth caution came on lap 201 as Aric Almirola spun the 388 car down the front stretch, while just 8 laps later the No. 05 of Willie Allen would crash on the front stretch. Lap 236 saw Bayne and Michael Annett wrecking in turn 2 while on lap 249, Danica Patrick would run into the left rear fender of Ryan Truex. Although Truex would keep control of his car and drive safely away, Patrick went into a spin and collected the outside wall ending her day with a 33rd place finish.

    The win was Busch’s second of 2011 and his third top 10 finish this year. He also lead the most laps with 268, which set an all time record for the Series with 10,045 laps led. This is also Busch’s 45th win in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

    Heading to California, Jason Leffler leads the series 2 point ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr, with Justin Allgaier, Reed Sorenson and Aric Almirola rounding out the top 5 in points.

  • Roush Fenway Front Row at Bristol

    Roush Fenway Front Row at Bristol

    Carl Edwards was fastest in the  first practice session on Friday and backup it up by capturing the pole for Sunday’s Jeff Byrd 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway with a lap of 128.014mph (14.989secs).

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]“It’s unreal. I sure hope it keeps going. This is a lot of fun. The guys at the shop have done a great job on this Scotts EZ Seed Ford Fusion. Greg (Biffle) motivated me, as I didn’t think he would get that fast of a lap. I could not hear (crew chief) Bob (Osborne) on the radio so I thought I must be slow on the first lap and I drove my guts out on the second lap. Finally I saw the board. Just really happy, this is really cool.” Edwards said.

    Alongside Edwards is teammate Greg Biffle, then Regan Smith starts third, Paul Menard fourth and teammate David Ragan qualified fifth.

    “My car was really fast. I probably should have got the gas down a little bit sooner, but woulda, shoulda, coulda. I’ve got a really fast car and I’m really happy. The guys worked hard. It looks like we’ve come back from our incident at Las Vegas and we’re gonna have a good run.” Biffle said of his qualifying run.

    “We’ve had really fast cars. I can’t say enough about our UPS team and Ford Racing and Roush Fenway. We’ve had great cars the first three or four races and circumstances have kind of gotten us, but we’ve got a lot of momentum on our side. I feel like our cars are fast and Bristol is so much fun. When we can come here, unload and have a decent car on Friday, that certainly makes for a lot more fun weekend.” Regan said.

    Qualifying Results
    Jeff Byrd 500, Bristol Motor Speedway
    March 20, 2011 – Race 4 of 36
    ================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ================================
    1 99 Carl Edwards Ford 128.014 14.989
    2 16 Greg Biffle Ford 127.622 15.035
    3 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 127.58 15.04
    4 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 127.537 15.045
    5 6 David Ragan Ford 127.453 15.055
    6 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 127.419 15.059
    7 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 127.275 15.076
    8 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 127.039 15.104
    9 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 127.006 15.108
    10 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 126.947 15.115
    11 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 126.896 15.121
    12 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 126.88 15.123
    13 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 126.829 15.129
    14 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 126.812 15.131
    15 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 126.654 15.15
    16 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 126.637 15.152
    17 20 Joey Logano Toyota 126.478 15.171
    18 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 126.478 15.171
    19 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 126.453 15.174
    20 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 126.395 15.181
    21 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 126.395 15.181
    22 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 126.312 15.191
    23 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 126.112 15.215
    24 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 126.104 15.216
    25 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 126.079 15.219
    26 0 David Reutimann Toyota 126.005 15.228
    27 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 125.963 15.233
    28 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 125.765 15.257
    29 34 David Gilliland Ford 125.757 15.258
    30 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 125.609 15.276
    31 9 Bill Elliott Chevrolet 125.207 15.325
    32 60 Landon Cassill Toyota 125.117 15.33
    33 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 124.832 15.371
    34 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 124.484 15.414
    35 38 Travis Kvapil Ford 124.307 15.436
    36 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 124.299 15.437
    37 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 124.098 15.462
    38 46 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 124.01 15.473
    39 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 123.993 15.475
    40 192 Dennis Setzer Dodge 123.277 15.565
    41 13 Casey Mears Toyota 122.921 15.61
    42 37 Tony Raines Ford 122.874 15.616
    43 71 Andy Lally* Chevrolet 120.915 15.869
    44 32 Ken Schrader Ford 122.529 15.66

  • Lady Tamer: Kasey Kahne Wins Too Tough To Tame 200 at Darlington

    Lady Tamer: Kasey Kahne Wins Too Tough To Tame 200 at Darlington

    A race at Darlington is normally one of attrition and Saturday night’s Too Tough To Tame 200 was no different.

    The Camping World Truck Series was the only show in town and on tap for the weekend. They didn’t disappoint. It started with ROY candidate Cole Whitt capturing from the pole, the first of his career, with a new track record.

    [media-credit name=”Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”247″][/media-credit]The action started on lap one when the field charged down into turn one and never made it to turn two. Travis Kvapil, Miguel Paludo, Max Papis, Ryan Sieg, Norm Benning, Justin Lofton and David Starr all had trouble to bring the first caution out.

    There were two more yellow flags within the first 30 laps.

    Once things settled down, Kasey Kahne quickly asserted himself as the man to beat. While others found there way to the front through pit stops and strategy, Kahne was always lurking and once he took the lead he had no problem driving away from the field.

    One of the scarier incidents of the night came after Ricky Carmichael spun on the front stretch and was t-boned by Johanna Long. The caution, eighth one of the night, also brought the action to a halt as the red flag.

    Both drivers were evaluated and released from the infield care center.

    With 29 laps to go Timothy Peters came down pit road to get his final set of tires, while the leaders stayed out. It didn’t help the battle was up front between Kahne and the defending winner of the event, Todd Bodine.

    Even with a restart with less than five laps to go, no one could catch the 18 of Kahne and he would go on to capture the win. It was the third straight race that a driver not running for points in the CWTS has won.

    The win was Kahne’s third in his last four starts and second at Darlington. He won back in 2004. It was also the second straight win for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

    Ron Hornaday finished second and Bodine finished third. The polesitter, Whitt, who thought he had lost a cylinder and dropped to 26th, came home in the eighth position. He was the highest finishing rookie and moved to second in the CWTS points.

    Matt Crafton hangs onto the point lead as the trucks will have a few weeks off before heading to Martinsville on April 2nd.

    Unofficial Race Results

    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status
    1 2 18 Kasey Kahne  Toyota 0 0 147 Running
    2 6 33 Ron Hornaday  Chevrolet 42 0 147 Running
    3 12 30 Todd Bodine  Toyota 41 0 147 Running
    4 4 88 Matt Crafton  Chevrolet 40 0 147 Running
    5 7 31 James Buescher  Chevrolet 40 1 147 Running
    6 11 17 Timothy Peters  Toyota 38 0 147 Running
    7 8 2 Elliott Sadler  Chevrolet 0 0 147 Running
    8 1 60 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 37 1 147 Running
    9 3 13 Johnny Sauter  Chevrolet 35 0 147 Running
    10 13 81 David Starr  Toyota 34 0 147 Running
    11 26 92 Clay Rogers  Chevrolet 33 0 147 Running
    12 31 93 Shane Sieg  Chevrolet 32 0 147 Running
    13 17 77 Justin Lofton  Toyota 31 0 147 Running
    14 18 29 Parker Kligerman * Dodge 30 0 147 Running
    15 5 3 Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 29 0 147 Running
    16 19 39 Ryan Sieg  Chevrolet 28 0 147 Running
    17 24 5 Travis Kvapil  Toyota 27 0 147 Running
    18 16 9 Max Papis  Toyota 26 0 147 Running
    19 27 46 Craig Goess * Toyota 25 0 147 Running
    20 35 1 Jeffrey Earnhardt * Chevrolet 24 0 147 Running
    21 15 15 Dusty Davis * Toyota 23 0 147 Running
    22 29 50 T.J. Bell  Chevrolet 22 0 146 Running
    23 33 7 Jamie Dick  Chevrolet 21 0 146 Running
    24 28 66 Justin Marks  Chevrolet 20 0 145 Running
    25 23 62 Brendan Gaughan  Toyota 19 0 144 Running
    26 34 57 Norm Benning  Chevrolet 18 0 143 Running
    27 14 7 Miguel Paludo * Toyota 17 0 135 Running
    28 30 22 Joey Coulter * Chevrolet 16 0 111 Running
    29 36 25 Tayler Malsam  Toyota 15 0 103 Engine
    30 22 4 Ricky Carmichael  Chevrolet 14 0 96 Accident
    31 32 20 Johanna Long * Toyota 13 0 96 Accident
    32 9 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. * Chevrolet 12 0 93 Accident
    33 10 23 Jason White  Chevrolet 11 0 72 Accident
    34 25 10 Chase Mattioli * Ford 10 0 55 Accident
    35 20 51 Justin Johnson * Toyota 9 0 41 Accident
    36 21 32 Brad Sweet  Chevrolet 8 0 13 Accident
  • Lap by Lap: Too Tough To Tame 200 won by Kasey Kahne

    Lap by Lap: Too Tough To Tame 200 won by Kasey Kahne

    Rookie Cole Whitt took the pole for the Too Tough To Tame 200 with a new track record, followed by Kasey Kahne, Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton and Austin Dillon.
    Chad McCumbee, Chris Fontaine and Chris Lafferty were the trucks that did not make the field.

    “Turn 1 racing just brought this awesome truck, I want to keep this red bull truck at the front and keep it there. These guys built an awesome truck….We’ve come back a long ways since missing the race at Daytona. I’m proud of this team.” – Cole Whitt, pole sitter

    [media-credit name=”NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”240″][/media-credit]Crafton leads Clay Rogers by 1 point in the points standings, followed by Witt and Sauter

    “Charlotte was special, but Darlington would be bigger. So much history here, so hard to win, it’d be awesome to win here.” – Matt Crafton

    Cole Whitt leads the field to the green

    Caution lap 1 Paludo, Papis and Kravil all spin as people slow in front

    Restart on lap 4

    Lap 5 – Cole Whitt leads Kahne, Timothy Peters, Crafton and Ron Hornaday

    Lap 7 – Chase Mattioli spins, no caution

    Lap 14 Caution – Brad Sweet hits the wall. He had issues in qualifying as he spun on his second lap. Norm Benning gets the lucky dog.

    Restart Lap 19

    Lap 21 – Whitt Kahne Buescher Sauter Hornaday Crafton Sadler Peters Dillon Kligermann

    Lap 25 – Whitt Kahne Buescher Hornaday Sauter Sadler Crafton Peters Dillon Bodine

    Caution Lap 26 Brendan Guaghan goes for a spin
    PIT STOPS
    Lots of people are saying the visibility are terrible as some take two tires, some take four tires.�
    Race off pit road: Sadler, Dillon, Busch, Buescher, Hornaday, Kligermann, Bodine and Peters. Leader Cole Whitt had a long pit stop as his team had lug nut issues.

    Restart lap 30

    Caution lap 35 Dustin Johnson plows the wall after getting loose underneath Jeffrey Earnhardt.

    Restart Lap 40 – Sadler leads

    Lap 41 Kahne to the lead, Sadler drops back to fourth with Buescher second and Dillon third. Sadler says he got a bad start, thanks to his teammate Ron Hornaday getting up under him

    Lap 50 – Kahne Buescher Sadler Bodine Hornaday Dillon Sauter Peters Whitt Carmichael

    Lap 53 – Chase Mattiolli into the wall again – no caution

    Lap 54 – Sauter and Peters have both passed Dillon, putting Dillon back to eighth. Dillon says the truck is tight and then loose late in the corner. Dillon only took two tires while most of the leaders took four. Sadler was the other one with two tires.

    Lap 58 – Caution for debris

    Restart Lap 62 Cole Whitt leads the field to the green after taking two tires

    Lap 63 – Kasey Kahne takes the lead from Cole Whitt in turn 1

    Lap 64 – James Buescher to the lead

    Lap 69 – Pole Sitter Cole Whitt drops through the field with his two tires – now back to seventh

    Lap 70 – Kahne back to the lead.

    Lap 72 – Kahne Buescher Bodine Hornaday Sauter Dillon Sadler Crafton Peters and Whitt

    Lap 74 Caution – Nelson Piquet Jr into the wall, Joey Coulter and Jason White wreck behind them. Looks as though Piquet had a flat tire, which caused him to get into the wall. Coulter and White looked to try to slow behind them, both getting hit from behind and then hitting near the inside wall.

    “Just somebody spun out in front of us and with the sun going over the wall, it got hard to see and I just got run into from behind. I’m sure it was nobody’s fault, just a blind spot on the track. It was just starting to get fun as I was just starting to learn this place.” – Joey Coulter

    David Starr gets the Lucky Dog

    Restart lap 79

    Lap 82 – Kahne Hornaday Bodine Buescher Sauter Dillon Crafton Sadler Peters Gaughan

    Lap 87 – Pole Sitter and Rookie Cole Whitt has dropped a cylinder

    Lap 88 Caution – Chase Mattoilli into the wall for the third time

    Sadler first off pit road with two tires while most take four tires. Crafton had to come back down pit road as he had a loose lugnut. Johanna Long gets the lucky dog.

    Restart lap 96 with Sadler leading, though Kahne gets the lead from him before the end of the lap.

    Caution Lap 97 – Ricky Carmichael wrecks as Nelson Piquet Jr. and Johanna Long wreck behind him. Carmichael wrecked first and then behind him, Piquet and Long made contact, which cut both their tires. Piquet went up into the outside wall while Long plowed into Carmichael as she couldn’t steer the truck around him. There was a sevne-minute red flag to clean up the wreck.

    “Yeah, I’m alright. We were fast in race trim all day long. Coming from behind, we qualified horrible – you put yourself in a hole and we never got caught up from there. Finally I think I know what I am doing and having to come from behind makes it tough.” Carmichael, who said he either got loose or someone hit him.

    Max Papis gets the lucky dog

    “We had a really good truck and we finally got our lap back. Our team worked hard on the truck and hopefully we can get the truck fixed for Nashville as sponsorship is low…..I think another truck hit the wall and I think I hit him as he came down a little bit.” Johanna Long

    Restart 45 to go

    43 to go Tayler Malsam down pit road for unscheduled stop. He was slow down the backstretch. He said on twitter that they blew the motor.

    41 to go Joey Coulter brings truck back on track to make laps after earlier incident.

    39 to go Cole Whitt must have fixed motor issue on pit road as he has moved his way back up to 11th. The problem he was having was the throttle stop.

    33 to go Kahne leads followed by Hornaday, Bodine, Sadler and Peters

    29 to go Caution for Debris as some of the leaders pit while most stay out, including leader Kasey Kahne. The record for cautions is 10, which was set in 2004 when Kahne won then.

    Restart with 25 to go

    24 to go Todd Bodine passes Ron Hornaday for second

    22 to go Kahne Bodine Hornaday Buescher Whitt Sadler Dillon Crafton Goess and Sauter make up the top 10.

    21 to go Crafton passes Dillon for seventh

    19 to go Sauter passes Goess for ninth
    Kahne Bodine Hornaday Buescher Whitt Crafton Sadler Dillon Sauter and Goess

    17 to go Peters passes Goess for 10th. Peters took four tires under the previous caution while most of the leaders stayed out.

    11 to go Crafton has passed Sadler for sixth

    9 to go Kahne Bodine Hornaday Buescher Whitt Crafton Sadler Dillon Sauter and Peters

    8 to go Ron Hornaday reported a bad vibration a couple of laps ago.
    CAUTION 8 to go as Jeffrey Earnhardt makes contact with the outside wall – This ties the record for the most cautions in a Camping World Truck Series race at Darlington at 10. The record was set in 2004 when Kahne won.

    “That’s our last chance right here. He’s got a little vibration. We’ve overcome some adversity as we had to go to the back after that wreck at the beginning. I just want to thank the guys at the shop as we’ve had to overcome a lot of adversity. We’ll take a shot at the 18 truck this start.” – Todd Bodine’s crew chief Mike Hilman Jr.

    Bodine says his right front tire feels like its bouncing up the track.
    “We’ll see what we got for him. The main thing is we got to get to that checkered flag…..Espically on these old tires, it’s really easy to spin the tires and that’s where the difference comes in. If you don’t spin them and he does, then you got him down there. If I don’t make any mistakes, which I’ve been known to make, then we’ll be in good shape.” – Todd Bodine

    “Yeah, it just seems that helps in one and two and down the backstretch.” – Kasey Kahne on choosing the outside lane.
    “We just got to get through the gears and get out there…..We’ll see what we can do as these guys at Kyle Busch Motorsports build awesome trucks.” – Kasey Kahne
    Kyle Busch is watching from Cancun, Mexico while on vacation, and is watching it in Spanish, despite not being able to understand a thing.

    Restart with 4 to go

    3 to go Dillon falls back through the field as he gets loose, Bodine gets loose and falls back, allowing Hornaday to pass him

    2 to go Kahne starts to stretch out his lead

    Checkered Flag: Kasey Kahne wins the Too Tough To Tame 200. In his four truck starts, he has three wins a second place finish.

    Ron Hornaday finished second, followed by Todd Bodine, Matt Crafton, and James Buescher rounding out the top five. Peters was sixth, followed by Sadler, Whitt, Sauter and Starr.

    “I mean, I came into this weekend wanting to win as that was the plan. This is a tough series to win in and on the restart with Todd, he drove me all the way up to the wall and I think he got himself loose there. I want to thank Kyle Busch for letting me drive this truck and all of Kyle Busch Motorsports for working so hard on this truck. Eric Phillips was great to work with…..I will buy them vacationing time to drive this truck, again.” – Kasey Kahne

    “I owe everything to Jeff Hensley and this entire team working so hard on this truck. I got into the wall in practice causing them to work harder and then got into somebody on pit road. Your brother (Elliott Sadler) spun his tires and I got into the back of him. Kahne was pretty tough; we got to figure out what he does.”

    “Kasey was going to be tough and we both spun the heck out of tires. I drove into one and about wrecked. These trucks are so aerodependent as I don’t know how I didn’t wreck with that truck on my tail. Ron did what any veteran would do and legged back there. I am loving the Truck Series. We didn’t want third, second would’ve been better but we’re back.” – Todd Bodine

    “We had a problem on pit road and to come from shotgun where we were with 46 to go to here is pretty good.” – Matt Crafton

    Crafton leads Whitt by 6 points in the standings, followed by Peters, Rogers and Sauter.

    FINISHING ORDER
    1 Kasey Kahne

    2 Ron Hornaday Jr.

    3 Todd Bodine

    4 Matt Crafton

    5 James Buescher

    6 Timothy Peters

    7 Elliott Sadler

    8 Cole Whitt

    9 Johnny Sauter

    10 David Starr

    11 Clay Rogers

    12 Shane Sieg

    13 Justin Lofton

    14 Parker Kligerman

    15 Austin Dillon

    16 Ryan Sieg

    17 Travis Kvapil

    18 Max Papis

    19 Craig Goess

    20 Jeffrey Earnhardt

    21 Dusty Davis

    22 T.J. Bell

    23 Jamie Dick

    24 Justin Marks

    25 Brendan Gaughan

    26 Norm Benning

    27 Miguel Paludo

    28 Joey Coulter

    29 Tayler Malsam

    30 Ricky Carmichael

    31 Johanna Long

    32 Nelson Piquet

    33 Jason White

    34 Chase Mattioli

    35 Justin Johnson

    36 Brad Sweet

  • Carl Edwards Wins The Kobalt Tools 400 For Third Win in Five Races

    Carl Edwards Wins The Kobalt Tools 400 For Third Win in Five Races

    On the final round of pit stops under green, Carl Edwards took two tires and that was the call of the race as he went on to win Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    “The key to winning today is my team,” Edwards said. “This Ford team is unbelievable. Everybody at Roush Fenway is great. It’s unreal. When you’re a kid, you think it’d be great to fly a bunch of woman and drive a racecar and I did. I flew my mother, my wife and my little girl out here and here we are.”

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”288″][/media-credit]Tony Stewart looked to have the win in the bag before a pit road penalty for leaving with equipment on lap 150 set him back. Stewart then took two tires on the next round of stops to get him back out front. However, that forced him to take four tires on the last round of stops while Edwards only took two. As a result, Stewart finished second.

    “Yeah, we just gave one away today,” Stewart said. “I just don’t what to say – we just gave one away. The Mobil Chevy was the best thing on the West Coast today. Second sucks.”

    Juan Pablo Montoya finished third, after having bad luck at Las Vegas the last couple of years.

    “It was a good day,” Montoya said. “We were a little bit off the pace. I thought we were closer. To get a top five at Vegas after what has happened the last few years here is amazing. This is amazing. We changed some guys on the pit crew and they did an amazing job.”

    Marcos Ambrose got his first top five for Richard Petty Motorsports as he finished fourth after running up front consistantly all day.

    ‎”Well, I think I can keep my jobs for a couple more weeks,” Ambrose siad. “Was real tight all day – first top five for RPM. Just got to thank Richard Petty for believing in me and giving me a shot. Todd Parrot is awesome on the pit box. Pit crew was good with pit stops.”

    Ryan Newman rounded out the top five. He was followed by Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Brian Vickers.

    Hometown hero Kurt Busch was hoping to get a win, though found himself spinning around on lap 102 and fighting back the rest of the race.

    “Yeah, we gave it all we had and the crew chief made a real good call to get us upfront there,” Busch said. “I wanted to get up there a little more than I should to lead for the hometown crowd, but you can’t do it. You got to race these races smart. We got in there and had Montoya on the outside and just spun around.”

    The finish has Kurt Busch tied for the points lead with Tony Stewart.

    His brother Kyle Busch had a rougher day as he had a flat tire on lap 95 and then blew up on lap 108.

    “Its really unfortunate,” Busch said. “We had a really good racecar. Unfortunately, you get within a five car length cushion and can’t close anymore. The car was running awesome before that and we had that tire go down and go us behind. Lucky for us we got the lucky dog and we were going to work our way through traffic and kablewy, it just broke.”

    The marks the third engine problem for Joe Gibbs Racing in two weeks as Joey Logano blew  up last week while Denny Hamlin changed engines before the race.

    Busch wasn’t the only one with a motor issue as Regan Smith blew his motor on lap 86.

    Motors weren’t the only issue during the race as a lot of drivers suffered flat right front tires. Last week’s winner Jeff Gordon was one of those as he blew a right front with 74 laps to go.

    “There was no sign whatsoever,” Gordon said. “We needed to free the car up and nothing we seemed to be doing was helping it. The day started off pretty good, way better than I thought we were going to be considering practice. Those last few runs we started to lose the handle and fall back and when I went in there, no warning. I was just glad that I had a safer barrier to hit.”

    David Gilliland blew his right front on lap 150.

    “Its tough,” Gilliland said. “We were running good today. We had a good car. We learned a lot of stuff with the mile and a half stuff. We’re still going to take a positive out of this and head to Bristol as we ran good there.”

    The Sprint Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway in two weeks.
    FINISHING ORDER
    1. Carl Edwards
    2. Tony Stewart
    3. Juan Pablo Montoya
    4. Marcos Ambrose
    5. Ryan Newman
    6. Martin Truex Jr.
    7. Denny Hamlin
    8. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
    9. Kurt Busch
    10. Brian Vickers
    11. Matt Kenseth
    12. Paul Menard
    13. David Reuitmann
    14. Kasey Kahne
    15. Clint Bowyer
    16. Jimmie Johnson
    17. Kevin Harvick
    18. Mark Martin
    19. A.J. Allmendinger
    20. Trevor Bayne
    21. Jeff Burton
    22. David Ragan
    23. Joey Logano
    24. Bobby Labonte
    25. Casey Mears
    26. Brad Keselowski
    27. Jamie McMurray
    28. Greg Biffle
    29. Mike Skinner
    30. Bill Elliott
    31. Robby Gordon
    32. Andy Lally
    33. Travis Kravil
    34. Dave Blaney
    35. Tony Raines
    36. Jeff Gordon
    37. David Gilliland
    38. Kyle Busch
    39. Regan Smith
    40. J.J. Yeley
    41. Michael McDowell
    42. Joe Nemechek
    43. Landon Cassill

  • Lap-By-Lap the Kobalt Tools 400

    Lap-By-Lap the Kobalt Tools 400

    GREEN FLAG is in the air as Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle will lead the field around for the first lap on the track.

    Lap 3 last week’s winner at Phoenix, Jeff Gordon powers past teammate Jimmie Johnson to take 13th. Biffle takes the lead.

    Lap 5 we see that two race lines are forming on the track. Biffle leads Kenseth by almost one second.

    YELLOW FLAG lap 9 as Robby Gordon who has been in the hot seat with NASCAR with an incident with another driver and on probation for the rest of the season, solo spins out in turn four but no contact.

    Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kurt Busch, David Reutimann and Dale Earnhardt Jr. remain on track while the majority of the leaders head down pit road. Kenseth is out first followed by Biffle, Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose and Joey Logano.

    GREEN FLAG lap 13 as Gordon leads the field back up to speed. Kenseth is off pace for some reason and has to head to pit road. Tony Stewart takes the lead by turn three.

    YELLOW FLAG lap 15 as Andy Lally is lightly tapped from behind by David Gilliland in turn two causing a solo spin. Robby Gordon is the lucky dog. Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray and a few others head to pit road.

    GREEN FLAG lap 18 as Stewart and Kurt Busch bring the field back up to speed. Jeff Gordon tries a three wide move for the lead heading into turn one. Gordon slips back to 6th as he has to lift.

    Lap 22 Stewart pulls away from Kurt Busch by 8/10th’s. An early mover on the field is David Ragan currently 22nd from his start of 42nd. Clint Bowyer is on the move as well up 12 spots to 16th.

    Lap 25 your top ten drivers are Stewart, Kurt Busch, Montoya, Biffle, Ambrose, Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. Reutimann has been moving up in the field from his start of 25th.

    Lap 29 Jeff Gordon challenges Reutimann, or should we say the other way around as Reutimann passes Gordon. Kyle Busch follows Reutimann to take 7th.

    Lap 33 Matt Kenseth is down a lap in 41st. Kenseth is not the lucky dog though. Michael McDowell and Landon Cassill take their cars to the garage.

    Lap 36 Stewart leads the field by 3 seconds. Joe Nemechek takes his car to the garage.

    Lap 38 Carl Edwards takes 8th from Jeff Gordon.

    Lap 43 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne is currently 14th. Stewart increases his lead over 2nd place Kurt Busch to 3.7 seconds, 3rd place Biffle by 4.8 seconds, 4th place Montoya by 5.4 seconds and 5th place Ambrose by 6.5 seconds. J.J. Yeley takes his car to the garage.

    Lap 46 Kurt Busch heads to pit road. Lap 49 Reutimann is in for his stop. Those who made the first stop can go an extra 20 laps. Lap 51 Montoya and Jeff Gordon are in. Lap 52 Stewart is in, leaving Biffle to lead.

    Lap 53 Kasey Kahne is in for his stop along with Robby Gordon, McMurray, Regan Smith. Lap 54 Kyle Busch, A.J. Allmendinger, Edwards are in.

    Lap 55 many others head into pit road. Lap 58 as Kevin Harvick heads to pit road, Bayne’s tough racing hits him again as he is busted for speeding.

    Lap 61 pit stops for the leaders have completed out. Stewart is back in the lead followed by Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Biffle, Bill Elliott, Montoya, Reutimann, Edwards, Ambrose, Truex Jr., Logano, Gordon, Allmendinger, Paul Menard, Harvick, Brian Vickers, Kahne, Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer round out the top twenty.

    Lap 72 currently there are 29 drivers on the lead lap. We have had 10 lead changes among 8 leaders. Stewart so far has led the most laps with 51.

    Lap 75 “5-Time” Johnson has slipped back to 24th and just a few cars separate him from leader Stewart. We hear that the #48 team might be trying a new setup like they did in Phoenix.

    Lap 81 Smith takes his car to the garage.

    Lap 83 in the garage we see Cassill, Nemechek, McDowell, Yeley and Smith. Down laps we see Lally, Tony Raines, Travis Kvapil, Elliott, Mike Skinner, Dave Blaney more than 2 laps down along with 1 lap down drivers of Kenseth, Robby Gordon, Bayne, Casey Mears, Brad Keselowski, Gilliland, Bobby Labonte and McMurray.

    Lap 90 Johnson has leader Stewart on his heels. Lap 91 Johnson falls a lap down.

    Yellow Flag lap 95 for debris after Kyle Busch tags the outside turn one wall with a flat tire. Kyle Busch is the first driver a lap down and the lucky dog. The caution was for debris. The leaders head to pit road. The race back is Stewart, Montoya, Kurt Busch, Biffle, Edwards and Jeff Gordon.

    Lap 100 the rest of the top twenty is Ambrose, Logano, Harvick, Truex Jr., Menard, Vickers, Allmendinger, Martin, Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Bowyer, Burton, Newman and Kahne. So far there have been 3 cautions. Stewart has led 77 laps so far among the 12 lead changes in the race so far.

    GREEN FLAG lap 101 as Stewart and Montoya get the show going again.

    YELLOW FLAG lap 102 as Kurt Busch was way loose in turn three and solo spins. It looked like Kahne was tapped from behind who spins as well and both drivers make it through without issues. Johnson is the lucky dog.

    GREEN FLAG lap 106 with Stewart along with Edwards, Biffle and Montoya in tow.

    CAUTION lap 108 as Kyle Busch’s car blows up and the inside fills with smoke. Ragan is the lucky dog. Bayne might have picked up some oil on the track as he bounces off of McMurray in turn two.

    Lap 114 we get to putt around the track for several laps to clean up the major oil on the track.

    GREEN FLAG lap 116 as Stewart and Biffle bring the field back up to speed. Stewart is off like a rocket and he is more than a half second in front of the field within two laps.

    Lap 119 we see that Johnson is not having a good handling day as he slips back to 17th. Lap 120 teammate Earnhardt Jr. is looking good at the time though as he runs up to the 9th position.

    Lap 125 your top ten drivers are Stewart, Edwards, Biffle, Montoya, Truex Jr., Harvick, Menard, Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Logano.

    Lap 130 Earnhardt Jr. takes 7th from Menard. Lap 135 Earnhardt Jr. is currently the biggest mover is Earnhardt Jr. up 26 from his race start of 33rd. Stewart runs 2 seconds in front of Edwards.

    Lap 140 it looks like Edwards is closing in on Stewart. The gap is down to 1.4 seconds. Biffle is 3.1 seconds back in 3rd. Green flag stops are coming soon.

    Lap 145 Harvick takes 5th place from Truex Jr. Earnhardt Jr. to 6th. Looks like an issue for Biffle as he is on fumes as his gas was not filled all the way. A bad break for Biffle as the team struggles to get the car started back up to get gas back into the engine.

    YELLOW FLAG lap 149 as Gilliland’s car shoots flames from the bottom of the car after his car slams into the outside turn two wall from a flat right side tire. Bayne is the lucky dog. The field heads to pit road. Stewart, Edwards, Harvick, Truex Jr. and Montoya are the top five out.

    Lap 150 we are up to 6 cautions, 13 lead changes among 10 leaders and 25 drivers on the lead lap. The top twenty drivers are Stewart, Edwards, Harvick, Truex Jr., Montoya, Earnhardt Jr., Menard, Logano, Vickers, Ambrose, Reutimann, Jeff Gordon, Johnson, Newman, Hamlin, Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Burton, Martin and Bowyer.

    Big trouble for Stewart as NASCAR busts the team as he left with the air hose getting hung up on the back of the car and he will go to the back of the pack. Big heart ache for his team and Edwards will be on point.

    GREEN FLAG lap 156 as Edwards and Truex Jr. lead the field into turn one. Lap 165 Stewart has moved up into the top 20 in 9 laps, he is on a mission.

    Lap 167 (100 laps to go) as Edwards runs 2 seconds in front of Truex Jr.

    Lap 175 your top ten drivers are Edwards, Truex Jr., Montoya, Earnhardt Jr., Menard, Logano, Ambrose, Vickers, Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

    Lap 181 (86 to go) Stewart is up to 17th, no change in the top ten.

    80 to go as Edwards leads Truex Jr. by 2.6 seconds, 3rd place Montoya is 3.3 seconds back, Earnhardt Jr. 4.7 seconds back and 5th place Ambrose 7.3 seconds back. The last round of pit stops should be in about 15 laps.

    75 to go as pit stops begin and Biffle is on pit road.

    YELLOW FLAG lap 194 as Jeff Gordon will not win two weeks in a row as his right front tire and slams the outside turn four wall. Kenseth is the lucky dog. Bad break for Biffle as he is three laps down.

    A big swing on pit road as Stewart and his team take two tires to jump back into the lead position followed by Montoya, Truex Jr., Edwards and Earnhardt Jr.

    Lap 200 your top twenty drivers are Stewart, Montoya, Truex Jr., Edwards, Earnhardt Jr., Ambrose, Menard, Logano, Newman, Hamlin, Vickers, Johnson, Allmendinger, Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Harvick, Martin, Kahne, Bayne and Ragan. So far there have been 7 cautions, 17 lead change among 11 leaders and 23 drivers on the lead lap.

    Bowyer has the top speed of the day at this track with 205 mph. Stewart has led the most laps so far with 133. Earnhardt Jr. remains the biggest mover on the track.

    GREEN FLAG lap 203 as Earnhardt places some pressure on Edwards and Truex Jr. as they fight for 3rd place.

    Lap 204 (63 to go) as Hamlin is on the bounce back up to 8th. Earnhardt Jr. takes 4th from Edwards.

    60 to go as Earnhardt Jr. races on the inside of Truex Jr. for third place. 59 to go Earnhardt Jr. cannot complete the pass which allows Edwards to retake 4th from Earnhardt Jr.

    58 to go a Stewart drops the hammer to leave 2nd place Montoya and the field behind by 2.2 seconds.

    55 to go and the biggest mover changes to Hamlin who started from the back holds at 8th place.

    50 to go and your top ten drivers are Stewart leading Montoya by 2.8 seconds, 3rd place Truex Jr. runs 3.8 seconds back, 4th place Edwards is 4 seconds behind, 5th place Earnhardt Jr. 5.4 seconds, 6th place Ambrose 5.7 seconds, 7th place Newman 7.2 seconds back, 8th place Hamlin 7.9, 9th place Logano 9.2 and Menard 9.8 back.

    45 to go and we are in the window for last pit stops of the race. Edwards took 3rd from Truex Jr. a few laps ago.

    44 to go Hamlin passes Newman for 7th.

    40 to go Stewart leads by 3.6 seconds over Montoya who will be soon challenged by Edwards.

    35 to go with Stewart is 4.3 seconds in front of the field.

    32 to go as Stewart heads to pit road for the last stop. A four tire stop and he is off and going but could the pit stop be too long?

    31 to go Harvick, Martin, Johnson, Burton, Biffle. It looks like the others took four tires and minimal fuel. We see that Biffle’s team may have not got all the gas he needs.

    28 to go as Earnhardt Jr. is in followed by Newman.

    26 to go with Edwards, Logano, Truex Jr. Montoya coming in. Logano is busted for letting a tire go out of the box. Logano was having a good day too.

    23 to go as Reutimann heads to pit road, Edwards is the new leader with Montoya and Stewart 1.1 and 1.4 seconds back.

    20 to go Edwards holds his lead over Montoya by 1.5 and Stewart 2 seconds back.

    We have Edwards, Montoya, Stewart, Ambrose, Newman, Hamlin, Truex Jr., Earnhardt Jr., Vickers and Kurt Busch as the top ten.

    15 to go Edwards took a two tire stop and continues his lead and no closure from Montoya and Stewart.

    10 to go as Stewart closes in on Montoya for second. Both drivers are two seconds back.

    8 to go as Stewart begins to setup Montoya for the pass.

    7 to go Truex Jr. passes Hamlin for 6th. Ambrose is closing in on Stewart and Montoya.

    5 to go as Stewart takes 2nd place.

    4 to go Edwards leads Stewart by 1.5 seconds.

    3 to go Ambrose is on Montoya for 3rd place. Kenseth versus Vickers for 10th.

    2 to go as there is not enough time for Stewart to catch Edwards.

    WHITE FLAG for Edwards. Four clean corners for Edwards and…

    CHECKERED FLAG for Edwards.

    Your unofficial top ten drivers are Edwards, Stewart, Montoya, Ambrose, Newman, Truex Jr., Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Vickers.

    The race lasted for three hours. We saw 22 lead changes among 15 leaders. 22 drivers finished on the lead lap.

    Unofficial Race Results

    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status
    1 3 99 Carl Edwards Ford 47 1 267 Running
    2 15 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 44 2 267 Running
    3 23 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 42 1 267 Running
    4 2 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 41 1 267 Running
    5 8 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 39 0 267 Running
    6 9 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 39 1 267 Running
    7 17 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 37 0 267 Running
    8 33 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 36 0 267 Running
    9 22 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 36 1 267 Running
    10 19 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 34 0 267 Running
    11 1 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 34 1 267 Running
    12 18 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 33 1 267 Running
    13 25 0 David Reutimann Toyota 32 1 267 Running
    14 30 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 30 0 267 Running
    15 28 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 30 1 267 Running
    16 14 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 28 0 267 Running
    17 26 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 28 1 267 Running
    18 10 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 26 0 267 Running
    19 7 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 25 0 267 Running
    20 16 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 0 0 267 Running
    21 21 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 23 0 267 Running
    22 42 6 David Ragan Ford 22 0 267 Running
    23 6 20 Joey Logano Toyota 21 0 267 Running
    24 24 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 20 0 267 Running
    25 27 13 Casey Mears Toyota 19 0 267 Running
    26 20 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 18 0 265 Running
    27 11 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 17 0 264 Running
    28 4 16 Greg Biffle Ford 17 1 264 Running
    29 29 32 Mike Skinner Ford 0 0 262 Running
    30 37 9 Bill Elliott Chevrolet 14 0 262 Running
    31 38 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 13 0 261 Running
    32 40 71 Andy Lally * Chevrolet 12 0 261 Running
    33 39 38 Travis Kvapil Ford 0 0 261 Running
    34 34 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 11 1 260 Running
    35 41 37 Tony Raines Ford 9 0 258 Running
    36 13 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 9 1 193 Running
    37 35 34 David Gilliland Ford 7 0 147 Running
    38 5 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 6 0 107 Out
    39 12 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 5 0 77 Out
    40 32 46 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 4 0 45 In Pit
    41 43 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 3 0 41 In Pit
    42 31 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0 0 34 In Pit
    43 36 60 Landon Cassill Toyota 0 0 32 In Pit
  • Mark Martin Lucky in Vegas While Danica Patrick Makes History

    Mark Martin Lucky in Vegas While Danica Patrick Makes History

    Mark Martin, driving the No. 32 Dollar General for Turner Motorsports for the first time, not only was lucky with his fuel mileage but also took advantage of the bad luck of Brad Keselowski to win the 15th Annual Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    [media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”239″][/media-credit]This was Martin’s 49th Nationwide win Series win, making him the seventh oldest driver to win a Nationwide race.

    “We only had one chance to win the race and that was to win it on fuel,” Martin said in the media center after celebrating his win in Victory Lane. “When I caught Brad, I realized that it was going to take all the gas I had to get past him.”

    “Trent (Owens) gave me great information,” Martin said of his crew chief, who scored his first win ever. “I managed to back off the throttle and wait to see if Brad (Keselowski) would make it or not.”

    “It worked out for us today,” Martin continued. “It was a great team effort. Turner Motorsports is doing such good work and I wanted to get in there and be a part of it.”

    “It was a real special win for us,” Martin said. “We got us another trophy and that’s all I care about.”

    Martin’s Turner Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier also had good luck in Vegas, scoring a second place win in the No. 31. This was Allgaier’s third top-10 finish in three races at Las Vegas and his second top-10 finish in 2011.

    “This was a really good finish for us because we battled through a lot of adversity,” Allgaier said. “To be able to come out of here one, two and to be able to be beat by Mark Martin, as much as I wanted to win the race there is only one person in the garage that I’d rather have beat me and it would be Mark.”

    “Mark is really cool.”

    While luck was on the side of Martin and Allgaier, Brad Keselowski had some of the worst luck of the Vegas Nationwide race weekend. According to Keselowski, the weekend started bad and ended even worse.

    “We started off this weekend and we were atrociously bad,” Keselowski said. “My team worked all weekend long and found speed in my car.”

    “From there we used great strategy and smarts to get in position to win the race,” Keselowski said. “I was trying to conserve my stuff and felt we had it, but obviously didn’t.”

    “I just ran over something because it went down pretty quick,” Keselowski said of his blown tire. “It was just one of those days where you do everything right and don’t win. That’s why they call it racing.”

    “I just feel bad for my guys,” Keselowski continued. “We’ve had three great cars in the last three races and something has happened. It just has to come back around. We’re on the down side of the roller coaster and I’m ready for it to come back up.”

    While Martin took the checkered flag, Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 7 GoDaddy.com for JR Motorsports crossed the finish line in the fourth position, making her own brand of history as the highest finishing female ever in a NASCAR national series. With Patrick’s fourth place finish, she topped the record of Sara Christian, who finished fifth in 1949.

    “I guess that’s something I don’t think about,” Patrick said when asked about her history-making run. “I don’t think about trying to be the highest finishing female. I just think about trying to win the race.”

    “It was a good day,” Patrick, running in just her 16th race, said. “We just had a good car. I knew it from the beginning of the race.”

    “We worked so hard on the car this weekend and we did have a lot of practice time, which was good,” Patrick said. “I missed those lucky dogs like three more times and we finally got it.”

    “It allowed me to be consistent at the end, cautious and not over drive,” Patrick said. “It was a good day for GoDaddy and JR Motorsports.”

    Trevor Bayne, the Daytona 500 winner, rounded out the top five for the Sam’s Town 300. After a fairly chaotic run last weekend at Phoenix, Bayne felt most fortunate to have been so close to the front of the field.

    “It was cool to get a top-five out of that,” Bayne said. “You take them how you get them.”

    “It is awesome for these guys to get a top-five and we probably didn’t deserve it,” Bayne continued. “But we saved gas and put ourselves in that position. I can’t wait to watch the tape on this one.”

    Carl Edwards, who had been so dominant in the early part of the race, finished in the sixth position. Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Jason Leffler and Kenny Wallace rounded out the top ten.

    Reed Sorenson maintains the Nationwide Series points lead, with Ricky Stenhouse and Jason Leffler following closely behind in second and third respectively. Danica Patrick and Justin Allgaier round out the top five in the point standings.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Sam’s Town 300, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
    March 5, 2011 – Race 3 of 34

    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status

    1 – 32 Mark Martin Chevrolet 0 0 200 Running

    2 – 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 42 0 200 Running

    3 – 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0 0 200 Running

    4 – 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 40 0 200 Running

    5 – 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 39 0 200 Running

    6 – 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0 0 200 Running

    7 – 20 Denny Hamlin Toyota 0 0 200 Running

    8 – 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 36 0 200 Running

    9 – 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 35 0 200 Running

    10 – 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 34 0 200 Running

    11 – 30 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 33 0 200 Running

    12 – 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 32 0 200 Running

    13 – 62 Michael Annett Toyota 31 0 200 Running

    14 – 11 Brian Scott Toyota 30 0 200 Running

    15 – 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 29 0 198 Running

    16 – 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 28 0 198 Running

    17 – 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 27 0 197 Running

    18 – 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 26 0 196 Running

    19 – 99 Ryan Truex * Toyota 25 0 195 Running

    20 – 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 24 0 194 Running

    21 – 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 23 0 193 Running

    22 – 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Dodge 22 0 193 Running

    23 – 97 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 21 0 193 Running

    24 – 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 20 0 193 Running

    25 – 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 19 0 190 Running

    26 – 81 Donnie Neuenberger Dodge 18 0 189 Running

    27 – 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 17 0 181 In Pit

    28 – 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0 0 168 Running

    29 – 70 Shelby Howard Chevrolet 15 0 165 Running

    30 – 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0 0 130 In Pit

    31 – 79 Jennifer Jo Cobb * Ford 13 0 127 Running

    32 – 141 Carl Long Ford 12 0 83 In Pit

    33 – 40 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 11 0 72 Out

    34 – 27 J.J. Yeley Ford 0 0 25 Out

    35 – 25 Kelly Bires Ford 9 0 14 In Pit

    36 – 55 Brett Rowe Chevrolet 8 0 12 In Pit

    37 – 24 Kevin Lepage Ford 7 0 11 In Pit

    38 – 39 Josh Wise Ford 6 0 10 In Pit

    39 – 52 Daryl Harr Chevrolet 0 0 8 In Pit

    40 – 103 Charles Lewandoski * Dodge 4 0 6 In Pit

    41 – 168 Tim Andrews Ford 0 0 4 In Pit

    42 – 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 2 0 2 In Pit

    43 – 87 Kevin Conway Chevrolet 0 0 2 In Pit

  • Gordon finally ends winless streak at Phoenix

    Gordon finally ends winless streak at Phoenix

    Jeff Gordon dominated Sunday’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway leading 138 of the 312 laps run.  This was Gordon’s first Sprint Cup Series win since April 5, 2009 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    “Are you kidding me? Pinch me man, pinch me.” Gordon said.

     

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”282″][/media-credit]Gordon passed Kyle Busch with eight laps remaining and stretched his lead from there, ending his winless streak at 66 races.

     

    “I drove in deep into (Turn) 1 and got to him and I could tell he was having to really get after it right then; and then I got underneath him and got off of (Turn) 4 and I knew coming down the front straightaway that he was going to kind of pinch me down into (Turn) 1 and he did and I got a little loose. Then I just drifted up the track and I didn’t know what was going to happen at that moment but when they said we were ‘clear’ then I just went.” Gordon said of the pass for the lead.

    “I don’t really care how we do it, we just want to get to victory lane. But to do it that way and to see the fans reaction. I mean we beat Kyle Busch. We were the only one’s to beat Kyle Busch this weekend and he’s so tough to beat. What a race car. Just so thankful.” Gordon said.

    Gordon also ties Cale Yarborough with 83 wins, fifth on the all-time list.

    “Oh, my gosh. I’m such a huge fan of Cale’s. And one of the first conversations I ever had with anybody when they came to the Cup series was Cale Yarborough. He wanted me to drive his car and I actually tested his car. A lot of people don’t realize way, way, way back. He’s just an amazing race car driver. I’ll be honest. I didn’t know if we were ever going to get past 82 (wins).” Gordon said.

    Busch finished second, Jimmie Johnson third, Kevin Harvick fourth and Ryan Newman finished fifth.

    “I think he was on a mission today, that’s for sure and when Jeff Gordon has a good car and he has the opportunity to beat you, he’s going to beat you so.  There’s no doubt about that.  He’s my hero and I’ve always watched him and what he’s been able to accomplish over the years.  It’s no surprise that he beat us.” Busch said.

    On lap 50, the Daytona 500 champ Trevor Bayne gets into the wall. Bayne’s no. 21 car suffers a lot of damage to the rear and headed to the garage.  Bayne finished 40th.

    “I don’t know what happened.  We were battling with the 13 car a little bit and I don’t know if it was the 38 car behind us or who, but something happened.  Either I came up or he poked his nose in there at the last second on the top of us getting into one.  After that, there was nothing we could do.  I tried to stay in the gas and keep it turning, but it just backed into the wall.” Bayne said.

    On lap 59, Carl Edwards gets into the wall after contact with the No. 18 and also collects Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon.

    “I’m not exactly sure what happened.  I’ll have to talk to Kyle about it.  I thought at first he was just frustrated and he turned left to get back in line and he didn’t know I was there, but I watched the tape and I think he really did get loose.  He hit me hard and I was left with nothing.  I got rammed to the infield.” Edwards said.

    On lap 67, a huge wreck broke out on the backstretch, bringing out the red flag.  Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton where some of the drivers involved in the 13-car accident.

    “17 just wrecked us.  Door-slammed us coming out of the corner of Turn 2, 67 laps into a very, very long race. Felt like it was unnecessary and sure it will come back to haunt him.” Vickers said.

    “Just stupid.  Driving like it’s the last lap, it looked to me like. Man, we keep this up we’re going to have about four cars at the end of all these races.” Bowyer said.

    “I didn’t know there was an incident.  I was surprised when I got out of the car and everybody said he was mad at me.  I’m not sure for what.  Maybe I’ll watch the replay and see something different, but from where I was he kind of held me close to the middle of the corner on the restart, which you should, and I came off the corner and I never even felt us touch.” Kenseth said.

    The series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Kobalt Tools 400 on March 6th.

    Unofficial Race Results

    Subway Fresh Fit 500, Phoenix In’tl Raceway

    February 27, 2011 – Race 2 of 36

    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status
    1 20 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 48 2 312 Running
    2 4 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 43 1 312 Running
    3 28 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 42 1 312 Running
    4 17 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 41 1 312 Running
    5 14 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 40 1 312 Running
    6 3 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 38 0 312 Running
    7 18 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 38 1 312 Running
    8 2 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 37 1 312 Running
    9 15 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 35 0 312 Running
    10 35 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 34 0 312 Running
    11 12 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 34 1 312 Running
    12 24 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 33 1 312 Running
    13 23 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 31 0 312 Running
    14 7 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 30 0 312 Running
    15 9 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 29 0 312 Running
    16 30 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 28 0 312 Running
    17 13 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 27 0 312 Running
    18 27 13 Casey Mears Toyota 26 0 312 Running
    19 22 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 25 0 312 Running
    20 10 16 Greg Biffle Ford 24 0 312 Running
    21 21 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 23 0 310 Running
    22 29 34 David Gilliland Ford 22 0 310 Running
    23 39 9 Bill Elliott Chevrolet 21 0 309 Running
    24 36 32 Mike Skinner Ford 0 0 308 Running
    25 42 37 Tony Raines Ford 19 0 306 Running
    26 25 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 18 0 276 Running
    27 16 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 17 0 260 Running
    28 1 99 Carl Edwards Ford 17 1 252 Running
    29 26 0 David Reutimann Toyota 15 0 246 Running
    30 19 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 14 0 238 Running
    31 41 71 Andy Lally * Chevrolet 14 1 237 Running
    32 31 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 12 0 236 Running
    33 6 20 Joey Logano Toyota 11 0 213 In Pit
    34 5 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 10 0 213 Running
    35 8 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 9 0 126 In Pit
    36 11 6 David Ragan Ford 8 0 125 In Pit
    37 38 46 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 7 0 72 Out
    38 37 60 Landon Cassill Toyota 0 0 68 In Pit
    39 40 38 Travis Kvapil Ford 0 0 66 Running
    40 33 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 0 0 49 Running
    41 34 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 4 1 43 In Pit
    42 43 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 2 0 27 Out
    43 32 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0 0 22 Out
  • Busch dominates the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix

    Busch dominates the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix

    Kyle Busch dominated from the pole to the finish in Saturday’s Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. Busch lead all of the 200 laps run.

    It wasn’t all easy though. Busch was battling a loose car in the closing laps and had to hold off Carl Edwards to capture his 44th Nationwide Series victory and became the first driver to win wire-to-wire in nearly eight years. It was last done by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a Nationwide Series race at Daytona in 2003.

    “It came down to the end of the race and Carl was alongside of me and we were racing really hard trying to beat each other, and I was like, ‘Man, just beat him back to the start-finish line, man, just beat back to the start-finish line.”’ Busch said.

    “We made a run. I did everything but move him out of the way and I thought about that, but he did a great job. Those guys did well. He drove that car. It was loose and he did a good job of hanging onto it.” Edwards said.

    Busch also won the truck series race on Friday night and it looking for the Phoenix sweep on Sunday.

    Kevin Harvick finished third, Ryan Newman fourth and Reed Sorenson finished fifth.

    Unofficial Race Results

    Bashas’ Supermarkets 200

    February 26, 2011 | Race 2 of 34

    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status
    1 1 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0 0 200 Running
    2 2 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0 0 200 Running
    3 9 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0 0 200 Running
    4 6 30 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 0 0 200 Running
    5 10 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 39 0 200 Running
    6 3 20 Joey Logano Toyota 0 0 200 Running
    7 15 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 37 0 200 Running
    8 16 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 36 0 200 Running
    9 5 11 Brian Scott Toyota 35 0 200 Running
    10 18 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 34 0 200 Running
    11 13 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 33 0 200 Running
    12 11 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 32 0 200 Running
    13 25 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 31 0 199 Running
    14 14 99 Ryan Truex * Toyota 30 0 199 Running
    15 12 87 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 29 0 198 Running
    16 26 40 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 28 0 198 Running
    17 20 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 27 0 197 Running
    18 24 39 Josh Wise Ford 26 0 197 Running
    19 17 62 Michael Annett Toyota 25 0 197 Running
    20 19 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 24 0 197 Running
    21 23 44 Charles Lewandoski * Chevrolet 23 0 196 Running
    22 22 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 22 0 196 Running
    23 35 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 21 0 195 Running
    24 31 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Dodge 20 0 194 Running
    25 27 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 19 0 193 Running
    26 21 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 18 0 193 Running
    27 32 81 Blake Koch * Dodge 17 0 193 Running
    28 29 70 Shelby Howard Chevrolet 16 0 191 Running
    29 30 15 Timmy Hill* Ford 15 0 191 Running
    30 8 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 14 0 190 Running
    31 7 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 13 0 164 Accident
    32 40 79 Jennifer Jo Cobb * Ford 12 0 162 Running
    33 28 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 11 0 108 Handling
    34 4 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0 0 105 Accident
    35 34 52 Daryl Harr Chevrolet 9 0 101 Radiator
    36 38 141 Carl Long Ford 8 0 19 Brakes
    37 37 24 Kevin Lepage Ford 7 0 17 Overheat
    38 33 25 Kelly Bires Ford 6 0 10 Brakes
    39 39 55 Brett Rowe Chevrolet 5 0 8 Handling
    40 36 27 Justin Marks Ford 0 0 7 Brakes