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  • Carl Edwards And The AFLAC Duck Win At Sonoma

    Carl Edwards And The AFLAC Duck Win At Sonoma

  • McMurray Wins Coors Light Pole Award for Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway

    McMurray Wins Coors Light Pole Award for Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway

    Jamie McMurray won his second consecutive pole at Sonoma Raceway after a final run in the closing minutes of Knockout Qualifying with a track record qualifying speed of 96.350 mph. This is his third pole at Sonoma and his tenth series career pole.

    McMurray is the eleventh different pole winner this season and his qualifying speed set the eleventh track record this year.

    He spoke about the challenges of the new qualifying procedure, saying, “This Knockout Qualifying is just an emotional roller coaster, from not making it into the top twelve and then having to go out and bump your way in, to then being on the pole. There’s a lot of highs and lows that go into it.”

    McMurray hopes to translate this pole into a better finish than his previous two poles that resulted in disappointing finishes of 37th and 25th.

    “This race is about having good strategy and having a little bit of luck,” he explained. “It’s about not getting run into in Turn 4 or Turn 7 on a restart.  I’ve run enough races here that I’ve had every issue you could have.”

    He concluded by stating, “You have to put it all together. You have to have good strategy, you have to have a good car and you have to make good decisions as a driver.”

    AJ Allmendinger will start on the outside pole in second place. “

    I felt like I put in two good laps out there. You can nitpick and say I lost a little bit here and there but Jamie put in a hell of a lap, congrats to him,” Allmendinger said.

    McMurray’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, rookie Kyle Larson, qualified third. Larson was happy with his starting position but realizes that the race will provide an opportunity to improve and gain valuable experience.

    “I’ve still got a lot more to learn, especially when I get a few laps on the tires,’’ Larson said. “I struggle with that. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot throughout the race. I’ve just got to try to stay out of trouble.’’

    Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch round out the top five for Sunday’s starting lineup. Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Brian Vickers, Paul Menard and Joey Logano complete the top ten starting positions. Danica Patrick and Casey Mears will start in eleventh and twelfth, respectively.

    The teams were unsure what to expect with the new qualifying format at Sonoma but the two sessions ran smoothly with no on-track incidents. Surprisingly, no Hendrick Motorsports Cars advanced to the final round of top twelve drivers.

    Other notables who did not advance to the last session include Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle and Brad Keselowski.

    Television pre-race coverage for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race will begin at 2 p.m. ET on TNT.  The green flag start is scheduled for approximately 3:19 ET.

    Complete Starting Lineup for Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway

    1 1 Jamie McMurray 96.350 74.354
    2 47 AJ Allmendinger 96.088 74.557
    3 42 Kyle Larson # 95.942 74.670
    4 99 Carl Edwards 95.857 74.736
    5 41 Kurt Busch 95.704 74.856
    6 4 Kevin Harvick 95.655 74.894
    7 31 Ryan Newman 95.616 74.925
    8 55 Brian Vickers 95.574 74.958
    9 27 Paul Menard 95.528 74.994
    10 22 Joey Logano 95.417 75.081
    11 10 Danica Patrick 95.414 75.083
    12 13 Casey Mears 95.327 75.152
    13 2 Brad Keselowski 95.617 74.924
    14 20 Matt Kenseth 95.605 74.933
    15 24 Jeff Gordon 95.552 74.975
    16 11 Denny Hamlin 95.479 75.032
    17 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 95.461 75.046
    18 78 Martin Truex Jr. 95.451 75.054
    19 16 Greg Biffle 95.432 75.069
    20 18 Kyle Busch 95.378 75.112
    21 14 Tony Stewart 95.308 75.167
    22 48 Jimmie Johnson 95.296 75.176
    23 9 Marcos Ambrose 95.247 75.215
    24 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 95.136 75.303
    25 15 Clint Bowyer 95.044 75.376
    26 3 Austin Dillon # 95.028 75.388
    27 38 David Gilliland 94.992 75.417
    28 95 Michael McDowell 94.972 75.433
    29 43 Aric Almirola 94.897 75.492
    30 5 Kasey Kahne 94.865 75.518
    31 34 David Ragan 94.793 75.575
    32 26 Cole Whitt # 94.734 75.622
    33 98 Josh Wise 94.568 75.755
    34 83 Ryan Truex # 94.562 75.760
    35 51 Justin Allgaier # 94.491 75.817
    36 33 Alex Kennedy 94.147 76.094
    37 40 Timmy Hill – DC1 94.012 76.203
    38 23 Alex Bowman # 93.867 76.321
    39 44 David Mayhew – DC2 93.741 76.423
    40 36 Reed Sorenson 93.498 76.622
    41 32 Boris Said 93.377 76.721
    42 7 Michael Annett # 92.282 77.632
    43 66 Tomy Drissi 91.115 78.626

     

     

  • Johnson Finally Scores Michigan Victory

    Johnson Finally Scores Michigan Victory

  • Harvick Claims Pole at MIS with New Track Record.

    Harvick Claims Pole at MIS with New Track Record.

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. Scores First Ever Pocono Win and Chase Berth to Boot

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. Scores First Ever Pocono Win and Chase Berth to Boot

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. may not have dominated the Pocono 400 race, but he was the one who took his No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet to Victory Lane after Brad Keselowski succumbed to trash on his grille and overheating issues.

    This was Junior’s first win at Pocono Raceway and the first time that he has scored multiple wins in one season since 2004, when he won six times. Now that he has two wins, Earnhardt Jr. is guaranteed a spot in the Chase for the Championship for 2014.

    “I’ve lost some in some strange ways, so it feels good to win one,” Dale Jr. said from Victory Lane. “We won the race and it goes in the books and helps us toward the Chase.”

    “I’ve never won here,” Junior continued. “I can mark this one off.”

    Steve Letarte, crew chief, shared his driver’s sentiments in the media center after the race.

    “It means the world to win races,” Letarte said. “We talk a lot about the Chase and points and they are important but when you’re little you just want to win.”

    “You appreciate the wins when they come,” Letarte continued. “I don’t think we had the best car, but Dale drove a great race and we had a little luck on our side at the end.”

    “This one fell our way and we’ll take it.”

    After running so well and leading 95 laps, Brad Keselowski was visibly disappointed with his runner up finish, for the most part blaming himself for the decision to try to get the trash off his grille.

    “First off, I’m really proud of the speed we had today,” Keselowski said. “But this one’s kind of on me and the circumstances.”

    “I was trying to do something for me and to help the car out, the driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Ford continued. “I knew it was going to break and I was going to get passed. So, I was trying to make whatever move I could do to help clean it off.”

    “I’m not sure I did enough to make a difference,” Keselowski said. “But I made enough of a difference to lose the lead in the process. I thought I had enough of a cushion. When I got down in the corner, the car got sideways and I realized I had made a mistake. It was too little too late.”

    “The team did a heck of a job; I just messed up a little bit there. We had a really, really good car. It was really a flawless day other than my mess-up there.”

    Kurt Busch, who started the race on the outside pole, finished third in his No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet. He was the highest finishing Stewart-Haas Racing driver as Tony Stewart finished 13th; Kevin Harvick finished 14th; and Danica Patrick finished 37th.

    “Nice solid day. Top five car and we cashed in on a top five finish,” Busch said. “We were able to hold the track position and it was a solid execution. It was a nice turning of the page so to speak and a congratulations for shedding that new team skin.”

    Kyle Larson, winner of the ARCA race the day before, finished fifth and was once again the top finishing rookie.

    “It was a lot better finish than I thought that we were going to get,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “I knew from the drop of the green that we were going to be pretty good. Today I had a lot of grip and I knew that was a good sign.”

    “We tried to put ourselves into position to get a better finish on that last restart and it all worked out,” Larson continued. “I’ll take a top five here at Pocono.”

    Denny Hamlin, who started from the pole position, ended up taking the checkered flag in fourth in his No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota.

    “We had great strategy, great pit stops,” Hamlin said. “Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and the guys really put a great FedEx Ground Toyota underneath me this evening. It’s a good run for us — two top-fives in a row for us this year all year and that’s not bad.”

    “We had great strategy and I’m proud of the Camry our FedEx Ground crew put under me this week.”

    While several of the cautions were due to debris on the track, as well as one bizarre caution for a grass fire in the infield in Turn 3, there was one very vicious wreck that occurred, involving the No. 5 of Kasey Kahne, the No. 18 of Kyle Busch and the No. 99 of Carl Edwards.

    “Well I had just passed Kyle (Busch) and I caught (Ryan) Newman I was passing him off Turn 3,” Kahne advised. “We were side-by-side so Kyle was able to get a good draft down the straightaway. We got to Turn 1 and I was on the outside and then he knew if he didn’t clear me there then I would pass him back because I just had.”

    “He just floored it and didn’t care there was someone out there and ran me right in the wall,” Kahne continued. “We both ended up wrecking. I think he wrecked a little bit, but I hit a good bit harder once we hit my car just went hard right.”

    “I’m not sure what happened,” Edwards said. “Somehow Kasey hit the wall.”

    “It’s just tough to run the whole race and miss the best part.”

    Thanks to Jeff Gordon’s eighth place finish and the trouble of Matt Kenseth, who ran into Jamie McMurray early, damaging his nose and finishing 25th, Gordon re-assumed the points lead which he had lost after the Dover race.

    The driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet is now sixteen points to the good of the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota.

    “It was just kind of chaos,” Gordon said of his race. “I thought that we were consistent all day long and the pits tops were fantastic.”

    “It was a great effort, great race car again.”

    The full race results for the 33rd annual Pocono 400 are as follows:

    Fin Str Car Driver Team Lap Pts BPts Status TLd LLd
    1 8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 160 47 4 Running 3 11
    2 3 2 Brad Keselowski Redd’s Ford 160 44 2 Running 4 95
    3 2 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 160 42 1 Running 1 5
    4 1 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 160 41 1 Running 2 4
    5 14 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet 160 40 1 Running 1 7
    6 20 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 160 39 1 Running 2 5
    7 15 31 Ryan Newman Wix Filters Chevrolet 160 37 Running
    8 5 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 160 37 1 Running 2 2
    9 17 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 160 35 Running
    10 18 1 Jamie McMurray Cushman/Cessna Chevrolet 160 34 Running
    11 19 15 Clint Bowyer RK Motors Charlotte Toyota 160 33 Running
    12 6 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Peanut Butter Toyota 160 32 Running
    13 12 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 160 32 1 Running 4 24
    14 4 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 160 30 Runnng
    15 28 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Zest Ford 160 29 Running
    16 13 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 160 28 Running
    17 11 3 Austin Dillon # Dow Chevrolet 160 27 Running
    18 32 34 David Ragan Taco Bell Ford 160 26 Running
    19 9 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 160 26 1 Running 1 1
    20 30 7 Michael Annett # Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 160 24 Running
    21 21 47 AJ Allmendinger Clorox Chevrolet 160 23 Running
    22 22 43 Aric Almirola Nathan’s Famous Ford 160 22 Running
    23 25 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 160 21 Running
    24 29 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford 160 20 Running
    25 26 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 160 19 Running
    26 23 27 Paul Menard Moen/Menards Chevrolet 160 18 Running
    27 24 51 Justin Allgaier # BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 160 18 1 Running 1 6
    28 35 38 David Gilliland Long John Silver’s Ford 160 16 Running
    29 33 32 Travis Kvapil Corvetteparts.net Ford 160 15 Running
    30 40 26 Cole Whitt # Burger King Toyota 159 14 Running
    31 34 23 Alex Bowman # Dr.Pepper Toyota 159 13 Running
    32 41 83 Ryan Truex # Burger King Toyota 159 12 Running
    33 31 40 Landon Cassill(i) Newtown Building Supplies Inc. Chevrolet 158 0 Running
    34 36 36 Reed Sorenson Theme Park Connection Chevrolet 158 10 Running
    35 37 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 158 9 Running
    36 39 66 Timmy Hill Land Castle Title Toyota 158 8 Running
    37 16 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 158 7 Running
    38 38 44 JJ Yeley(i) All City Leasing & Warehousing Chevrolet 157 0 Running
    39 42 33 Alex Kennedy Dream Factory Chevrolet 156 5 Running
    40 7 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 150 4 Engine
    41 10 99 Carl Edwards Kelloggs/Cheez-It Ford 143 3 Accident
    42 27 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet 142 2 Accident
    43 43 77 Dave Blaney AmyRFochlerVtrnsLawAttrnyLLC/valor4vets.com Ford 142 1 Running

    # = Rookie, Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led. (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

     

  • Denny Hamlin Looking Forward to Race Day with Pocono Pole Run

    Denny Hamlin Looking Forward to Race Day with Pocono Pole Run

    Denny Hamlin, four-time winner at the ‘Tricky Triangle’, scored the pole for the 33rd annual Pocono 400 with a fast lap of 181. 415 mph and a time of 49.610 seconds. Hamlin broke Jimmie Johnson’s previous track record of 180.654 mph and 49.819 seconds set in August 2013.

    This is Hamlin’s 19th pole in 304 Cup races, his second pole of the season and his third pole at Pocono Raceway. Hamlin’s previous two Pocono poles resulted in victories.

    “It was really good throughout each session,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota said. “We were not a pole winning car after practice or really I didn’t think throughout the first round. We just kept getting our car three to four tenths better every time we ran it. A little bit of that was repetition and me getting better and Darian (Grubb, crew chief) made good adjustments throughout each session.”

    “Really it all worked out for us for a pole run. I’m very proud to have that especially at a race track here where track position is going to be premium,” Hamlin continued. “I’m looking forward to Sunday now.”

    As at most tracks, Hamlin acknowledged that the first pit stall was one of the most important perks of having that pole run, however, shared a caveat that the first pit stall was better under the yellow flag than the green at Pocono.

    “The number one pit stop is really good on yellow flag stops but it hurts you a little bit on the green flag stops simply because you don’t have the momentum exiting pit road,” Hamlin said. “But we’ll take it as most of the stops we will be doing will be on yellow flag positions. As tough as passing is, it’s better to be up front than battle through the traffic.”

    Hamlin also credited his qualifying success with the fact that he felt the track was beginning to age a bit, thanks to the temperature changes and the weather. And for Hamlin, that edge could be just the ticket to another ‘w’ under his belt.

    “As the track is wearing in, we’re starting to get our edge back,” Hamlin said. “Typically when you have a car that can get the pole, it tells me we have all the parts and pieces in the car to be successful here.”

    Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, qualified in the runner up spot by just two one thousandths of a second. Busch qualified second with a speed of 181.408 mph and a time of 49.612 seconds and scored his fifth top ten start of the season.

    “It was a great run for our Haas Automation Chevy,” Busch said. “We came here with a new approach and to try to get our front ends to settle into the race track a little better. This track can lead to finding some comfort with how smooth it is from the repave.”

    “I was really surprised we had the speed for the pole,” Busch continued. “It’s great to be able to cash in on our first attempt to try a little something different.”

    “It’s just nice to confirm a change on the car and see it go in the right direction.”

    The third position in qualifying was secured by Brad Keselowski, with a speed of 181.316 mph and a time of 49.637 seconds. This was Keselowski’s second top-10 start at Pocono and the thirteenth pole for Team Penske in 2014.

    “We were just all really close on speed,” the driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Ford said. “I didn’t think Denny was that quick but I knew by the second round that Kurt was. We put up a decent lap but just a tiny bit short. On a two and a half mile track, that’s pretty dang close.”

    “I’m proud of the efforts qualifying each and every week,” Keselowski said. “It’s certainly helpful and I’m sure we will get a great pit stall which is always important to us.”

    Kevin Harvick, in the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet, and Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet rounded out the top five in qualifying, with speeds of 180.832 and 180.513 mph respectively.

    All of the manufacturers were well represented in Pocono qualifying, with Kyle Busch’s Toyota in the sixth spot and then the Ford of Logano, the Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the Toyota of Brian Vickers and the Ford of Carl Edwards completing the top ten.

    With just 0.562 seconds separating the tenth place qualifier, Carl Edwards, in that tenth spot in his No. 99 Kellogg’s/Cheez-It Ford, summed it up best.

    “That was some pretty tight competition there,” Edwards said. “The track, the cars run really well here so if you make one small mistake it is really amplified because there is so much time on the throttle.”

    “That is a tough qualifying session.”

    2014 NSCS Pocono 400 Starting Lineup

    Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
    1 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 49.61 181.415
    2 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 49.612 181.408
    3 2 Brad Keselowski Redd’s Ford 49.637 181.316
    4 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 49.77 180.832
    5 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 49.858 180.513
    6 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Peanut Butter Toyota 49.873 180.458
    7 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 50.048 179.827
    8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 50.121 179.565
    9 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 50.126 179.548
    10 99 Carl Edwards Kelloggs/Cheez-It Ford 50.172 179.383
    11 3 Austin Dillon # Dow Chevrolet 50.188 179.326
    12 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 50.244 179.126
    13 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 50.207 179.258
    14 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet 50.215 179.229
    15 31 Ryan Newman Wix Filters Chevrolet 50.259 179.072
    16 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 50.265 179.051
    17 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 50.286 178.976
    18 1 Jamie McMurray Cushman/Cessna Chevrolet 50.302 178.919
    19 15 Clint Bowyer RK Motors Charlotte Toyota 50.342 178.777
    20 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 50.37 178.678
    21 47 AJ Allmendinger Clorox Chevrolet 50.48 178.288
    22 43 Aric Almirola Nathan’s Famous Ford 50.521 178.144
    23 27 Paul Menard Moen/Menards Chevrolet 50.553 178.031
    24 51 Justin Allgaier # BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 50.765 177.288
    25 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 50.549 178.045
    26 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 50.571 177.968
    27 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet 50.588 177.908
    28 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Zest Ford 50.61 177.83
    29 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford 50.801 177.162
    30 7 Michael Annett # Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 51.047 176.308
    31 40 Landon Cassill(i) Newtown Building Supplies Inc. Chevrolet 51.129 176.025
    32 34 David Ragan Taco Bell Ford 51.159 175.922
    33 32 Travis Kvapil Corvetteparts.net Ford 51.175 175.867
    34 23 Alex Bowman # Dr.Pepper Toyota 51.231 175.675
    35 38 David Gilliland Long John Silver’s Ford 51.249 175.613
    36 36 Reed Sorenson Theme Park Connection Chevrolet 51.441 174.958
    37 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford Owner Points
    38 44 JJ Yeley(i) All City Leasing & Warehousing Chevrolet Owner Points
    39 66 Timmy Hill Land Castle Title Toyota Owner Points
    40 26 Cole Whitt # Burger King Toyota Owner Points
    41 83 Ryan Truex # Burger King Toyota Owner Points
    42 33 Alex Kennedy Dream Factory Chevrolet Owner Points
    43 77 Dave Blaney AmyFchlrVtrnsLwAttrnyLLC/valor4vets.cm Frd Owner Points

    (i) Ineligible for Driver Points in this Series, # Denotes Rookie

    Source: Timing and Scoring provided by NASCAR Media/NASCAR Statistics

    – See more at: http://www.catchfence.com/2014/sprintcup/06/06/2014-nscs-pocono-400-starting-lineup/#sthash.GStwOJND.dpuf

     

  • Jimmie Johnson Stole the Monster Mile Show to Make it Two in a Row

    Jimmie Johnson Stole the Monster Mile Show to Make it Two in a Row

    For the ninth time, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet stole the show at the Monster Mile, making it two race wins in a row and virtually guaranteeing himself a place in the Chase for the tenth consecutive year.

    “It was an awesome race car,” Johnson said. “The first run I wasn’t sure we were really going to have the normal Dover magic here. Once the track ‘rubbered’ in our car came to life and it was so good.”

    “It’s amazing that we can stay on top of things here with the different generation car, different rules, different tires,” Johnson continued. “This place just fits my style and Chad Knaus’ style.”

    “I don’t even know where to begin,” Chad Knaus, winning crew chief, said. “We came in here with high expectations and things went really well for us right out of the gate. We were pretty optimistic at that point. Qualifying went well and we were excited to get into the event today.”

    “At that point, we tried to manage the race and it turned out to be a pretty good day.”

    Both Brad Keselowski, who started from the pole, and Matt Kenseth, who remains winless for the season, attempted to hang with the six-time champ, but finished second and third instead.

    “We just had an up and down day,” the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford said. “We started up front and went to the back early in the race.”

    “Then we took back off and had some strong runs,” Keselowski continued. “We were probably going to get a crack at Jimmie and then that last caution came out. We drove back up to second with the help of the restart and we were pretty even with Jimmie but it was just a matter of being out front.”

    “It was a solid day for us,” the third place finishing driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota said. “I did a poor job qualifying and so good adjustments and pit stops moved us forward. There was just that one group of cars that we couldn’t quite run with. We just need to be a little bit faster.”

    Kenseth, who looked like he had a shot to win, actually struggled on the final restart with six laps to go, spinning his tires and then getting into the wall.

    “The 48 spun them and I spun them a little bit,” Kenseth said. “I just need to do a better job and let the rear tires quit screaming so I could get going. And then Clint (Bowyer) hit me I guess trying to give me a push there.”

    In addition to being a factor in the final restart with Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer was a factor in another incident early in the race with Kyle Busch, who looked strong as he tried to achieve the sweep of the race weekend after winning both the Truck and Nationwide races.

    Bowyer and Busch tangled on Lap 126, putting Busch out of the race. Bowyer went on to salvage a good finish, bringing home his No. 15 Cherry 5-Hour Energy Special Ops Warrior Foundation Toyota home in the fourth position.

    “I hated to be in that position with the 18,” Bowyer said. “I thought I was clear, obviously I wasn’t. Ruined his day.”

    One of the other major incidents of the race involved AJ Allmendinger, Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., the latter of whom sustained hard hits on Lap 135.

    “Inside of the car I didn’t really know what happened,” the driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion said. “I just knew that the 47 got into us pretty hard and turned us into the fence. After watching the replay I see what happened.”

    “They were racing hard back there and he stuck it into a hole that maybe there wasn’t room for,” Biffle continued. “There definitely wasn’t room come three-quarters of the way around the corner I guess and he slid off the bottom and got his right-rear caught by the 17 and up into us. It was a chain reaction. This place is tight and fast and when you get racing that hard back there on a restart stuff like that is going to happen.”

    “We were really loose,” Ricky Stenhouse Jr. said. “The 47 jumped to the inside of us there and I tried to stay out of his way and he got me. We met right-rear to left-front and it got him sideways and everything else happened after that.”

    “Our Nationwide Insurance Ford was really, really loose all race long and we were trying to hang on with it,” the driver of the No. 17 Nationwide Ford Fusion said. “We didn’t want it to end that way and we got our teammate caught up in it and tore up a lot of cars.”

    “That is now what we wanted to do. It is a tough end to our day,” Stenhouse Jr. continued. “It is a bummer.”

    In one of the more bizarre incidents and for just the third time in the last few years, once in April 2004 at Martinsville and once in 2010 at the Daytona 500, the red flag was displayed after a piece of concrete dislodged from the race track and hit Jamie McMurray’s car.

    The red flag lasted six minutes and 39 seconds and while McMurray could not work on his car during that time, repairs were made when the red flag was lifted and the driver of the No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet got the ‘lucky dog’ break, soldiering on to a respectable 13th place finish.

    Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president for competition, addressed the media after the race, advising that NASCAR was not aware of the concrete hole prior to the race and then addressed it immediately after the issue occurred with materials that are utilized regularly for repair work.

    “We do a track walk after every race and in the morning and at the time, that had been a previous patch, but our staff did not see anything wrong with it,” Pemberton said. “The hole was two or three inches deep and six or eight inches by ten inches, so it was pretty substantial.”

    “Our team has equipment and product at every facility in case there is a need for it. It’s an epoxy type filler that we use and is the same material we use whether it be asphalt or concrete.”

    Many of the drivers praised NASCAR’s handling of the concrete repair, including Brad Keselowski.

    “I think NASCAR did a good job or whoever fixed it did a good job of repairing it,” Keselowski said. “It’s hard to come back up there at the end and it was definitely an issue when it happened. You knew it was going to get worse if it wasn’t repaired and a small hole was going to turn into a big hole. I give NASCAR credit to realize that, stop, and fix it.”

    Kyle Larson, behind the wheel of the No. 42 Cottonelle Chevrolet, was the highest finishing rookie yet again. With the third place finish of Matt Kenseth and the 15th place finish by the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet Jeff Gordon, Kenseth gained the points lead over Gordon and is now in P1 by two points.

    The full race results are as follows:

    2014 NSCS FedEx 400 Race Results

    Fin Str Car Driver Team Lap Pts BPts Status TLd LLd
    1 4 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 400 48 5 Running 7 272
    2 1 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 400 43 1 Running 1 1
    3 21 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 400 42 1 Running 5 17
    4 10 15 Clint Bowyer Cherry5-hrEnergySpecialOpsWarriorFnd Toyota 400 41 1 Running 2 5
    5 7 11 Denny Hamlin Autism Speaks/FedEx Freight Toyota 400 39 Running
    6 16 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 400 38 Running
    7 20 14 Tony Stewart Code 3/Mobil 1 Chevrolet 400 37 Running
    8 3 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 400 36 Running
    9 13 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 400 35 Running
    10 15 27 Paul Menard Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet 400 34 Running
    11 5 42 Kyle Larson # Cottonelle Chevrolet 400 33 Running
    12 25 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 400 32 Running
    13 19 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet 400 31 Running
    14 29 99 Carl Edwards Subway Ford 400 30 Running
    15 6 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 400 29 Running
    16 27 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford 400 28 Running
    17 8 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 399 28 1 Running 2 24
    18 24 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 399 26 Running
    19 17 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet 399 25 Running
    20 23 3 Austin Dillon # American Ethanol Chevrolet 398 24 Running
    21 11 47 AJ Allmendinger Scott Products Chevrolet 397 23 Running
    22 18 66 Brett Moffitt Land Castle Title Toyota 396 22 Running
    23 28 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 396 21 Running
    24 38 36 Reed Sorenson Click It or Ticket Chevrolet 396 20 Running
    25 22 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 395 19 Running
    26 30 51 Justin Allgaier # AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet 395 18 Running
    27 31 26 Cole Whitt # Burger King Toyota 394 17 Running
    28 33 98 Josh Wise iRacing.com/Reddit.com Chevrolet 390 16 Running
    29 32 38 David Gilliland The Pete Store Ford 388 15 Running
    30 43 32 Blake Koch(i) supportmilitary.org Ford 388 0 Running
    31 14 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 387 13 Running
    32 41 83 Ryan Truex # Burger King Toyota 387 12 Running
    33 42 77 Dave Blaney Ford 383 11 Running
    34 36 40 Landon Cassill(i) Newtown Building Supplies Chevrolet 382 0 Running
    35 39 7 Michael Annett # Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 378 9 Running
    36 34 34 David Ragan Dockside Logistics Ford 350 8 Running
    37 40 33 David Stremme Little Joe’s Autos Chevrolet 297 7 Overheating
    38 12 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 292 6 Running
    39 37 44 JJ Yeley(i) Phoenix Warehouse Chevrolet 232 0 Engine
    40 35 23 Alex Bowman # Dr.Pepper Toyota 208 4 Accident
    41 26 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Nationwide Ford 131 3 Accident
    42 2 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Peanut Butter Toyota 125 3 1 Accident 1 81
    43 9 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 73 1 Engine

     

  • Johnson Two-for-Two and Nine at Dover

    Johnson Two-for-Two and Nine at Dover

    Jimmie Johnson pulled away from Brad Keselowski on the final restart with four laps remaining and won Sunday’s FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway.

    Johnson led 272 laps en route to his ninth win at Dover and his second straight win of the season.

    “It was an awesome race car. The first run I wasn’t sure we were really going to have the normal Dover magic here. Once the track ‘rubbered’ in our car came to life and it was so good. It’s amazing that we can stay on top of things here with the different generation car, different rules, different tires,” Johnson said.

    Keselowski finished second, Matt Kenseth finished third, Clint Bowyer fourth and Denny Hamlin finished fifth.

    “The car was really strong the second half of the race. My guys made great adjustments on it and we drove up to second there. We were pretty equal to Jimmie there but never got a crack at him. I would have liked a shot,” Keselowski said.

    “We had a good top-five car. I did an awful job on that last restart. Just got spinning the tires too much and the best car won. We just need to be a little bit better,” Kenseth said of his final restart.

    A pothole in the race track red flagged the race for a little over 20 minutes for repairs. A chunk of concrete took out the front splitter of Jamie McMurray’s car. The crew was able to make repairs and McMurray finished 13th.

    “Initially I thought I’d blown a tire out. When I hit it, it actually pushed the car to the right and I got into the fence a little bit. And as I slowed down, I couldn’t figure out first off, why I didn’t hit the fence harder, and then what happened. I didn’t see anything. It just hit the front end and ripped the splitter off and it pushed the car to the right. So, I’m not real sure,” McMurray said.

    Polesitter Kyle Busch hit the wall after some contact from Clint Bowyer on lap 125. His hopes of doing the entire weekend sweep ended early in the garage.

    “I hated to be in that situation with the 18 (Kyle Busch). It’s one of those deals where I thought I was clear obviously and wasn’t and ruined his day and certainly didn’t help mine,” Bowyer said.

    Busch also led the first 81 laps and became the 15th driver in NASCAR history to lead 10,000 career laps in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series competition.

    Jeff Gordon finished 15th and Kenseth takes the series points lead by two points.

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Pocono Raceway next Sunday for the Pocono 400.

    UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS
    NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
    FEDEX 400 BENEFITING AUTISM SPEAKS,
    DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
    JUNE 1, 2014
    =========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make
    =========================================
    1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet
    2 2 Brad Keselowski Ford
    3 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota
    4 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota
    5 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota
    6 78 Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet
    7 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet
    8 22 Joey Logano Ford
    9 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet
    10 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet
    11 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet
    12 43 Aric Almirola Ford
    13 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet
    14 99 Carl Edwards Ford
    15 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet
    16 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford
    17 4 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet
    18 41 Kurt Busch Chevrolet
    19 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet
    20 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet
    21 47 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet
    22 66 Brett Moffitt Toyota
    23 10 Danica Patrick Chevrolet
    24 36 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet
    25 13 Casey Mears Chevrolet
    26 51 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet
    27 26 Cole Whitt Toyota
    28 98 Josh Wise Chevrolet
    29 38 David Gilliland Ford
    30 32 Blake Koch Ford
    31 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet
    32 83 Ryan Truex Toyota
    33 77 Dave Blaney Ford
    34 40 Landon Cassill Chevrolet
    35 7 Michael Annett Chevrolet
    36 34 David Ragan Ford
    37 33 David Stremme Chevrolet
    38 16 Greg Biffle Ford
    39 44 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet
    40 23 Alex Bowman Toyota
    41 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Ford
    42 18 Kyle Busch Toyota
    43 55 Brian Vickers Toyota

  • Johnson Reclaims Charlotte Glory with Superb Coca-Cola 600 Performance

    Johnson Reclaims Charlotte Glory with Superb Coca-Cola 600 Performance

    From lap one to lap 400, Sunday Night at Charlotte belonged solely to Jimmie Johnson. Johnson and his No. 48 team dominated as they perfectly executed a game plan en route to their first victory of the year.

    The victory was Johnson’s 67th career series win which places him eighth on the all-time wins list. It was his seventh points win at Charlotte Motor Speedway, breaking a tie with Bobby Allison for most wins at the track and his fourth Coca-Cola 600 victory. Only Darrell Waltrip has won more 600s, with a total of five wins.

    Rarely does this team go too far into the season without scoring a victory. However, the team wasn’t fazed by the somewhat slow start. This was demonstrated in the race as Johnson once again proved why he’s a six-time champion.

    After the race, Johnson was asked about the significance of the win.

    “It means a lot,” he said. “Through the years a lot of references (have been made) to this race as one of our majors. I certainly agree with that. 600 miles around here is no easy task. To deal with all the things that are thrown at a race team through the evening with the track changing, the mechanical obstacles that you have to overcome, keeping an engine alive, tires alive, all of it; it’s a serious team effort to finish 600 miles. And then win here, especially as hard as we had to run throughout the night, the pace we had to keep up, certainly proud of that.”

    Throughout the race, it was typically one of three drivers leading the field. Johnson, Kevin Harvick, and Matt Kenseth all had fast cars and found themselves leading for large portions of the event.

    Harvick was first to take the top spot away from Johnson on lap 76. He maintained the lead until the ensuing restart after the second caution when Johnson soared back by.

    Brad Keselowski was another driver who stuck his nose out front at different points in the race as he and Paul Wolfe worked out a different pit strategy. The strategy was successful in getting the No. 2 car out front; however it did not work out in their favor at the end as they placed tenth at the end of the night.

    Unlike last year’s Coca-Cola 600, only one multi-car incident occurred throughout the race. On Lap 235, Marcos Ambrose spun off turn four. As drivers attempted to slow and avoid the accident, Josh Wise came in hot and hit the back of Landon Cassill which started a chain reaction. Brian Scott and Danica Patrick were also involved.

    Kenseth made his way to the top spot on Lap 271. He was able to hold the position for a majority of the race’s second half.

    Kurt Busch’s attempt at the Indianapolis-Charlotte double was going fine until Lap 273. Busch had placed sixth in the Indianapolis 500 earlier, but would finish 40th in Charlotte after blowing his engine 906 miles into his attempt at completing 1,100 throughout the day.

    Despite the disappointing end, Busch was upbeat and satisfied about the day as a whole. “A day I’ll never forget,” was how Busch described his attempt at the double to FOX.

    The eighth and final caution of the night came with 22 laps remaining. Jeff Gordon was the leader on the ensuing restart; however Kenseth would quickly regain the spot.

    Johnson made the winning move with eight laps to go when he passed Kenseth. He then cruised to victory as he frequently did prior to the repave of the track in 2006.

    Harvick came home second after being a threat early on and cited issues on pit road that thwarted their efforts.

    “We had a fast car all night,” he said, “just kind of fumbled again on pit road, got behind, got a lap down.  We needed a 700-mile race to get back to where we needed to be. All in all, they’re doing a great job of putting cars up on the track; we just have to clean up on pit road.”

    Kenseth couldn’t get the job done and ended up third. He still has yet to score a victory in 2014. He was generally satisfied with the team’s efforts but said the car lacked the necessary speed.

    “Overall for the weekend, I thought it was a step in the right direction,” he said. “I thought we were more competitive tonight. I didn’t think we were quick enough to win unless everything fell exactly our way. Even then I couldn’t quite hang on. Overall I thought it was a step in the right direction. I thought we had a top-five car all night. Great pit stops, great adjustments, just couldn’t hang on to it at the end.”

    Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top five, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively. Brian Vickers, Jeff Gordon, Paul Menard, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski complete the top 10.

    Jeff Gordon, who finished seventh, retains the series points lead followed by Matt Kenseth who is 11 points behind in second place. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are tied at 24 points behind the leader for third and fourth in the standings and Dale Earnhardt Jr. fell one spot to fifth place.

    NASCAR’s two home weeks concluded with the waving of the checkered flag. Now, all three series head to Delaware for a battle with the Monster Mile at Dover next weekend.

     

     

  • Jimmie Johnson scores Coca Cola 600 pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway

    Jimmie Johnson scores Coca Cola 600 pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway

    While everybody is focused on when Jimmie Johnson will score his first victory of the season to attempt to lock himself in the 2014 Chase for the Championship, Johnson is showing speed on the track as he won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The lap of 27.705 seconds, 194.911 mph gives six-time his 33rd career pole award.

    “We’ve watched other cars get faster through qualifying sessions,’’ Johnson said. “That’s something the (Hendrick Motorsports) cars really haven’t had a lot. We did that tonight. We’re hitting on some things that should help us run faster longer.’’

    As the critics continue to express their comments about the zero in the win-column, Johnson’s confidence remains high in his race team.

    “We don’t care what anybody says about this race team, we know what we’re capable of,” Johnson said. “We knew we had a great race car today and wanted to take advantage of it. We executed and we did our jobs.

    “Qualifying days usually aren’t our best, but when we qualify well, we know we’re going to race well, so I’m real optimistic about Sunday. I look forward to giving it a good run Sunday night.”

    Brad Keselowski would qualify second for his seventh front row start of the season.

    “We’ve qualified second a lot this year,” Keselowski said. “Doggone it, it’s like kissing your sister. We’re running where we want to run up front, we just have to get a little better finishes.”

    Kasey Kahne qualified third for his fourth top-10 start of the season while Danica Patrick surprised everyone with a fourth place qualifying effort. Clint Bowyer would round out the top-five.

    “Great day, great starting spot … let’s hope we can do more of what we did at Kansas,’’ Patrick said.

    Denny Hamlin qualified sixth, followed by Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Marcos Ambrose and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top 12 after failing to post a time in the final five-minute session. Both drivers both failed to cross the start-finish line and start their lap before the clock ran out as they tried to wait it out as long as possible.

    “I’m surprised,’’ Kahne said of Harvick and Kenseth. “That would not go over well if we missed it.’’

    Harvick’s crew chief, Rodney Childers, apologized on Twitter for the mistake.

     

     

     

     

    All-Star Race winner Jamie McMurray will start 26th, with points leader Jeff Gordon starting 27th. Gordon spoke after that he was disappointed in his qualifying effort and the lack of speed that he had compared to his Hendrick Motorsports teammmates.

    Unfortunately, Dave Blaney and J.J. Yeley would both miss the show.

     

    Starting Lineup
    Charlotte Motor Speedway
    55th Annual Coca-Cola 600

    Pos Driver Team Time Speed #
    1 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet 27.705 194.911 48
    2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 27.754 194.567 2
    3 Kasey Kahne FrmrsInsrnce Chev 27.890 193.618 5
    4 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 27.931 193.334 10
    5 Clint Bowyer 5-Hour ENERGY Toyota 27.944 193.244 15
    6 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 27.962 193.119 11
    7 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 27.966 193.092 18
    8 Joey Logano Pennzoil Platinum Ford 28.056 192.472 22
    9 Marcos Ambrose Twisted Tea Ford 28.173 191.673 9
    10 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard/Superman Chevrolet 28.232 191.272 88
    11 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet 27.841 193.959 4
    12 Matt Kenseth Home Depot Husky Toyota 27.994 192.898 20
    13 Aric Almirola United States Air Force Ford 28.024 192.692 43
    14 Trevor Bayne(i) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 28.054 192.486 21
    15 Martin Truex Furniture Row Chevrolet 28.061 192.438 78
    16 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 28.121 192.027 55
    17 Justin Allgaier # Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet 28.133 191.945 51
    18 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet 28.136 191.925 14
    19 Brian Scott(i) Shore Lodge Chevrolet 28.142 191.884 33
    20 AJ Allmendinger Bush’s Beans Chevrolet 28.150 191.829 47
    21 Paul Menard Serta/Menards Chevrolet 28.168 191.707 27
    22 Carl Edwards Fastenal Ford 28.424 189.980 99
    23 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 28.540 189.208 17
    24 Greg Biffle Fastenal Ford 29.293 184.344 16
    25 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet 28.296 190.840 42
    26 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet 28.383 190.255 1
    27 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 28.470 189.673 24
    28 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 28.488 189.553 41
    29 Alex Bowman # Dr.Pepper Toyota 28.494 189.514 23
    30 Michael McDowell JPO Absorbents Ford 28.549 189.148 95
    31 Cole Whitt # Speed Stick Toyota 28.554 189.115 26
    32 Austin Dillon # Cheerios Chevrolet 28.562 189.062 3
    33 David Gilliland Love’s Travel Stops Ford 28.612 188.732 38
    34 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 28.642 188.534 13
    35 David Ragan Taco Bell Ford 28.654 188.455 34
    36 Ryan Truex # Burger King Toyota 28.659 188.422 83
    37 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet OP 188.258 98
    38 Joe Nemechek(i) Testoril Toyota OP 187.963 66
    39 Michael Annett # Pilot Flying J Chevrolet OP 187.806 7
    40 Landon Cassill(i) Hillman Racing Chevrolet OP 187.559 40
    41 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet OP 187.207 36
    42 Ryan Newman Quicken Loans Chevrolet OP 186.890 31
    43 Blake Koch(i) Supportmilitary.org Ford OP 185.931 32