Category: RC NASCAR Cup

[media-credit id=26 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Mark Martin captured the pole for Sunday’s FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway with a lap of 158.297 mph.

“I knew the conditions were looser than they were in our mock qualifying run yesterday and I didn’t want to ask him because I didn’t want to get concerned. I knew that I only had to make it one mile without wrecking and I was going to drive to the limit and slightly beyond and I felt like I did that.” Martin said.

This was Martin’s 54th career Sprint Cup pole and the third of the season in just 10 race starts.

“I can’t sit on these poles without the fastest race car and MWR and Rodney Childers in particular and the guys on our team are doing that. We won one little challenge today and that was to sit on the pole and that gives us a good starting position and a good pit stall, but the whole race is completely dictated by how your car handles in race setup.” Martin said.

Jimmie Johnson qualified second, Ryan Newman third, and Clint Bowyer qualified fourth.

“I got to the gas, I got through (turns) one and two so good that I got to the gas pretty early and three and four and just drove it pushing into it and kind of killed my lap.” Bowyer said.

Matt Kenseth qualified fifth.

“Our speed was okay but we just have kind of been struggling a little bit with it. We don’t have it quite right for balance. I feel like I got everything there was to get but we just have to keep looking to get our stuff improved a little bit here. I feel like this is one of our better tracks but we are just kind of missing something a little bit this weekend.” Kenseth said.

Series points leader Greg Biffle qualified 7th.

“The car was sliding up the track a little bit. It seemed real slick to me and then the 55 went and ran that kind of lap. I guess it is only a tenth. If he entered a little different or the car hooked the bottom and he went to the gas really early that would make a difference. Seventh isn’t bad and I feel good about tomorrow. I think we have a good car.” Biffle said.

Starting Lineup
FedEx 400, Dover International Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=13
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	158.297	22.742
2	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	158.263	22.747
3	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	158.235	22.751
4	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	158.047	22.778
5	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	157.985	22.787
6	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	157.867	22.804
7	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	157.839	22.808
8	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	157.839	22.808
9	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	157.611	22.841
10	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	157.549	22.85
11	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	157.542	22.851
12	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	157.494	22.858
13	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	157.418	22.869
14	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	157.405	22.871
15	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	157.363	22.877
16	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	157.343	22.88
17	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	157.329	22.882
18	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	157.178	22.904
19	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	157.061	22.921
20	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	156.822	22.956
21	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	156.822	22.956
22	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	156.781	22.962
23	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	156.637	22.983
24	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	156.563	22.994
25	179	Scott Speed	Ford	156.488	23.005
26	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	156.46	23.009
27	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	156.27	23.037
28	34	David Ragan	Ford	156.216	23.045
29	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	156.121	23.059
30	38	David Gilliland	Ford	155.723	23.118
31	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	155.676	23.125
32	30	David Stremme	Toyota	155.266	23.186
33	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	154.912	23.239
34	249	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	154.672	23.275
35	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	154.559	23.292
36	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	154.559	23.292
37	33	Stephen Leicht*	Chevrolet	154.48	23.304
38	32	Reed Sorenson	Ford	154.096	23.362
39	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	154.024	23.373
40	13	Casey Mears+	Ford	153.866	23.397
41	36	Dave Blaney+	Chevrolet	153.702	23.422
42	93	Travis Kvapil+	Toyota	153.584	23.44
43	23	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	154.48	23.304

[media-credit id=38 align=”alignright” width=”245″][/media-credit]Kasey Kahne held off Denny Hamlin on Sunday night to win NASCAR’s longest race, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“It felt really good to put the entire race together and have speed all night long. The Quaker State Chevrolet was really fast, the adjustments were great. It feels good to get a win for Hendrick Motorsports.” Kahne said.

This was Kahne’s 13th career, his first win of the season and the first since he joined Hendrick Motorsports. At Darlington teammate Jimmy Johnson gave Hendrick its 200th cup series win; now Kahne increases the total to 201.

“I said this back on our media tour, that I think we have the best balance and we were excited about the year, the way (crew chief) Kenny (Francis) fit in. We knew how Kasey would run. I’ve seem Kasey drive. Knowing that we gave him the equipment, and when we ran so good everywhere we’ve been, and he got in the car and did the same thing. He and Jeff (Gordon) have just had rotten luck.” Rick Hendrick said.

Kyle Busch finished third, Greg Biffle fourth and Brad Keselowski finished fifth.

“Felt like we were really good. Certain small adjustments can mean so much these days. The M&M’s guys did an awesome job. We had a really good race car. We just didn’t have quite enough there at the end.” Busch said.

After a miscue on his pit stop with 45 laps to go, Johnson had to serve a stop-n-go penalty after his gas man left the pit box. He cycled back into 13th place, one lap down and finished 11th.

“We had a couple little mistakes on pit road tonight. It happens. Last week things couldn’t have gone any better, and then this week we had a few little issues.” Johnson said.

Making her first 600 race, Danica Patrick started 40th and finished 30th, 5 laps down.

“We brought the GoDaddy car home and one of the goals was to finish. I would have liked to have been a little faster overall, but I think there were some times in there when it was decent.” Patrick said.

Unofficial Race Results
Coca-Cola 600, Charlotte Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=12
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	7	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	47
2	8	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	43
3	17	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	42
4	4	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	42
5	24	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	40
6	12	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	38
7	23	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	38
8	14	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	37
9	28	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	35
10	20	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	34
11	3	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	33
12	15	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	32
13	5	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	31
14	16	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	30
15	9	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	29
16	1	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	29
17	10	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	27
18	18	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	27
19	22	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	25
20	29	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	24
21	31	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	23
22	25	13	Casey Mears	Ford	22
23	19	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	21
24	13	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	0
25	21	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	19
26	39	38	David Gilliland	Ford	18
27	42	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	17
28	26	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	16
29	37	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	15
30	40	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	0
31	41	32	T.J. Bell	Ford	0
32	2	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	13
33	11	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	11
34	6	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	10
35	30	34	David Ragan	Ford	10
36	32	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	8
37	38	195	Scott Speed	Ford	7
38	35	30	David Stremme	Toyota	6
39	34	33	Stephen Leicht *	Chevrolet	5
40	36	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	4
41	43	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
42	27	74	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	0
43	33	26	Josh Wise *	Ford	1

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Aric Almirola captured the pole for Sundays Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a lap of 192.940 MPH, 27.988 seconds, giving Richard Petty Motorsports a front-row sweep.

“It’s been a huge honor for me from day one to come to this organization, not just to drive at Richard Petty Motorsports but to drive the No. 43 car, probably the most iconic car in the history of our sport.” Almirola said.

Teammate Marcos Ambrose qualified with a lap of 191.598 MPH, 28.184 seconds.

“It’s a great night for us. We’ll take a front row. If you’re going to get beat by anyone I guess you want to be beaten by your teammate. It’s a proud day for us.” Ambrose said.

All-Star winner Jimmie Johnson third, Greg Biffle fourth and Clint Bowyer qualified fifth.

“Just real proud of where our equipment is going. I have been able always race better than I qualify. Our qualifying effort this year has been improving week in and week out. I can’t express enough how important that is on pit road and late in the race.” Johnson said. “I’m just very proud of everybody on this Lowe’s Chevrolet. The cars have been very fast and really great couple of weeks for us and we hope to keep things rolling”

Last years winner, Kevin Harvick starts 14th.

“We had a terrible first lap then just kind of backed off the second lap and ran faster. They are doing a good job when you can make a mistake like that and still have a decent qualifying lap.” Harvick said.

Kurt Busch wrecked during qualifying and will start 42nd.

Danica Patrick qualified 40th for her first Coca-Cola 600.

“I was just a little loose. I was really loose getting up to speed and loose on the first timed lap. That is kind of where it’s at. I don’t know if maybe my line wasn’t perfect for those conditions or what I needed to do or what.” Patrick said. “Good news is we are in the 600, we just have to regroup and go out there and do a good job on Sunday night.”

Starting Lineup
Coca-Cola 600, Charlotte Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=12
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	192.94	27.988
2	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	191.598	28.184
3	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	191.374	28.217
4	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	191.259	28.234
5	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	191.198	28.243
6	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	191.171	28.247
7	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	191.13	28.253
8	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	190.887	28.289
9	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	190.597	28.332
10	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	190.456	28.353
11	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	190.329	28.372
12	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	190.302	28.376
13	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	190.268	28.381
14	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	190.201	28.391
15	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	190.194	28.392
16	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	190.054	28.413
17	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	190.034	28.416
18	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	189.987	28.423
19	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	189.707	28.465
20	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	189.607	28.48
21	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	189.574	28.485
22	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	189.52	28.493
23	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	189.076	28.56
24	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	188.871	28.591
25	13	Casey Mears	Ford	188.363	28.668
26	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	188.344	28.671
27	74	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	188.324	28.674
28	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	188.206	28.692
29	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	187.924	28.735
30	34	David Ragan	Ford	187.656	28.776
31	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	187.526	28.796
32	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	187.487	28.802
33	26	Josh Wise*	Ford	187.259	28.837
34	33	Stephen Leicht*	Chevrolet	187.169	28.851
35	30	David Stremme	Toyota	186.143	29.01
36	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	186.111	29.015
37	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	186.085	29.019
38	195	Scott Speed	Ford	185.976	29.036
39	38	David Gilliland	Ford	185.81	29.062
40	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	185.179	29.161
41	32	T.J. Bell	Ford	183.886	29.366
42	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	–	–
43	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	185.784	29.066

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ryan Newman starts second.

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

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

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

Last years winner Carl Edwards starts 13th.

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

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

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

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

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

 

Sprint Showdown

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

AJ Allmendinger starts first in the Sprint showdown.

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

Martin Truex Jr. starts second.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Johnson qualified second and Kahne qualified third.

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

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

Ryan Newman qualified fourth and Kyle Busch qualified fifth.

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

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

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

[media-credit name=”Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”256″][/media-credit]Brad Keselowski pulled away from Kyle Busch in the final turn on Sunday’s in the Sprint Cup Series Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway to win his sixth career race and his second at Talladega.

Matt Kenseth was the dominate car all day and elected to take the outside line with his teammate Greg Biffle on the final green-white-checkered restart. The two teammates quickly pulled out in front of Keselowski and Busch for the race lead. But Kenseth got too far out in front of Biffle, allowing the Keselowski/Busch duo to make a run on them and take over the lead.

“Our Best Buy Ford was really fast today and nobody could stay locked to it. Greg gave me a great push there on the last restart and we got over into turn two and by the time I realized we were separated we were separated by four car lengths. I should have just made sure that we stayed sealed up and had a chance.” Kenseth said.

“It was close at the end but I just wish I could have stayed on Matt’s bumper. He pulled away from me a little bit. If we could have stayed locked together it would have come down to him and me at the end but we just couldn’t stay locked up with him there at the end.” Biffle said.

Busch was in the cat bird seat running second heading to the finish. But Keselowski was able to get far enough in front of Busch coming out of turns 3 and 4 and easily cruised to victory.

“I had this whole plan if I ever got into that situation where I was leading. I thought about it and thought about it and dreamed about it, what to do. Sure enough going into 3 it was just me and Kyle. I knew the move I wanted to pull and it worked.” Keselowski  said.

Busch finished second, Kenseth third, Kasey Kahne fourth and Biffle finished fifth.

Ryan Newman had to come to the garage on lap 43 with an oil pump problem.

“I smelled oil off of (Turn) 2 and felt the motor tightening-up I lost oil pressure and gained a bunch of water pressure. I just pulled it out of gear. I knew it was blowing up, but just seeing if we had a chance to fix it and hoping we could make it or fix it or whatever. But I’m pretty sure it’s hurt.” Newman said.

Jimmie Johnson had a similar problem on lap 65 and was pushed to the garage.

“Or oil pressure situation we don’t know exactly what it is yet. They are in there working on it. The car still spins over so hopefully we can get things, find out what went wrong, get back out on the track and try to collect some points. It’s just a bummer; we had such a great race car, up there leading the race and had something happen there.” Johnson said.

On lap 141, several cars running out of gas and there was a pile pile up in turns 3 and 4 because of all of the slowing cars.  Landon Cassill, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Juan Montoya, Terry Labonte, Aric Almirola and Dave Blaney all were involved.

“It looked like guys were running out of fuel and going down in there in turn three the guys in front of me stopped and it was just over. We got wrecked. This is Talladega. You come here and you just hope you make it through all that stuff.” Edwards said. Edwards finished 31st.

Casey Mears got loose in turns 1 and 2 on lap 175. He spun up the track and then back down collecting Trevor Bayne.

Bayne was able to battle back and finish 8th.

“We will take that especially after all that mayhem out there. We ran out of fuel once, spun out once after getting hit. I slowed way down and I don’t know what happened. It was a good caution for us because we needed fuel to make it to the end. I think that is a great finish for us.” Bayne said.

With less than 10 laps to go, while running second, Kurt Busch, aka “Ricky Bobby” spun out from slight contact from Keselowski from behind. Busch came to rest after hitting the inside wall. Busch turned around and went the wrong way up the track and continued up pit road.

AJ Allmendinger put the block on Denny Hamlin as Hamlin tried to make a moved to the inside lane on the restart on lap 184. The two cars got together causing a chain reaction crash. Paul Menard, Greg Biffle, Michael Waltrip, Kevin Harvick, Robert Richardson Jr., Tony Stewart and Joey Logano all were caught up in the crash.

The Sprint Cup Series heads to Darlington next week for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at 6:30 pm.

Unofficial Race Results
Aaron’s 499, Talladega Superspeedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=10
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	13	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	47
2	21	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	43
3	10	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	43
4	5	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	41
5	6	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	40
6	24	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	38
7	32	34	David Ragan	Ford	37
8	11	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	0
9	18	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	36
10	29	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	35
11	23	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	33
12	4	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	32
13	26	38	David Gilliland	Ford	31
14	3	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	30
15	2	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	29
16	41	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	29
17	17	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	28
18	25	13	Casey Mears	Ford	27
19	9	55	Michael Waltrip	Toyota	26
20	33	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	25
21	42	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	23
22	34	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	22
23	22	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	22
24	8	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	21
25	20	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	20
26	30	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	18
27	39	23	Robert Richardson Jr.	Toyota	0
28	15	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	16
29	28	32	Terry Labonte	Ford	15
30	38	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	14
31	7	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	13
32	12	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	13
33	1	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	11
34	40	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	10
35	19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	10
36	14	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	8
37	36	97	Bill Elliott	Toyota	7
38	43	33	Tony Raines	Chevrolet	6
39	27	30	David Stremme	Toyota	5
40	31	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	4
41	37	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
42	16	26	Josh Wise *	Ford	2
43	35	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	1

[media-credit name=”Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”243″][/media-credit]Jeff Gordon captured the poll for Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway with a lap of 191.624 mph (49.973 secs).

“I’m just so proud of this DuPont Chevrolet team. We needed something to boost our morale and something positive because we’ve had a rough year so far. This is a surprise. We did not expect to be sitting here right now talking to you about a pole. I think it’s so ironic that we’ve got the DuPont paint scheme, which is celebrating 20 years together this year and here we sit on the pole for 20 straight years.” Gordon said.

This is Gordon’s 71st career pole and his first since this race last season.  This also makes the 20 consecutive years with a pole.

“Oh, thank you. We look forward to that and what’s going to happen tomorrow. It’s going to be fun.” Gordon said.

AJ Allmendinger qualified second.

“The Shell/Pennzoil Dodge qualifying run was a little surprising. I didn’t get to make a full-blown Q (qualifying) run yesterday, so we weren’t really sure what we had. It had nothing to do with me.” Allmendinger said.

Marcos Ambrose qualified third.

“We missed the pole by two-one hundredths. I am proud of Todd Parrott, he works really hard at these Superspeedway events. He really knows what to do. We just keep getting better and better at these race tracks for the King and for his whole Richard Petty Motorsports team.” Ambrose said.

Aric Almirola qualified fourth and Kasey Kahne qualified fifth.

The series points leader Greg Biffle qualified sixth.

“I am not sure if that will hold up on the front row. The pole speed was a tenth-and-a-half faster than what we went. We had cloud cover and the best conditions and I thought the car had a little more speed.” Biffle said.

Starting Lineup
Aaron’s 499, Talladega Superspeedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=10
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	191.624	49.973
2	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	191.111	50.107
3	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	191.039	50.126
4	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	190.981	50.141
5	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	190.772	50.196
6	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	190.586	50.245
7	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	190.586	50.245
8	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	190.476	50.274
9	55	Michael Waltrip	Toyota	190.245	50.335
10	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	190.2	50.347
11	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	190.17	50.355
12	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	190.14	50.363
13	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	190.072	50.381
14	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	190.064	50.383
15	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	189.958	50.411
16	26	Josh Wise*	Ford	189.958	50.411
17	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	189.906	50.425
18	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	189.864	50.436
19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	189.797	50.454
20	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	189.785	50.457
21	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	189.691	50.482
22	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	189.68	50.485
23	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	189.601	50.506
24	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	189.556	50.518
25	13	Casey Mears	Ford	189.477	50.539
26	38	David Gilliland	Ford	189.354	50.572
27	30	David Stremme	Toyota	189.331	50.578
28	32	Terry Labonte	Ford	189.182	50.618
29	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	189.1	50.64
30	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	189.073	50.647
31	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	189.051	50.653
32	34	David Ragan	Ford	189.021	50.661
33	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	188.984	50.671
34	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	188.902	50.693
35	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	188.63	50.766
36	97	Bill Elliott	Toyota	188.171	50.89
37	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	188.012	50.933
38	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	187.625	51.038
39	23	Robert Richardson Jr.	Toyota	186.71	51.288
40	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	186.293	51.403
41	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	186.206	51.427
42	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	185.79	51.542
43	33	Tony Raines	Chevrolet	186.529	51.338

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Kyle Busch held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final restart, ending his 20 race winless streak on Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.

Busch beat then leader Tony Stewart out of the pits during the final caution flag pit stops with 14 laps remaining.  On the restart, Stewart spun his tires again, giving Busch a 3-4 car length lead heading into turn-1. Earnhardt Jr. was able to make it around Stewart for second with eight laps to go.

With three laps to go, Earnhardt reports he is losing his brakes and Busch cruises to his 24th career win and the fourth consecutive spring race victory.

“We had some brake problems all race long. I had a great re-start and I ran really great for one lap and the pedal went back to the floor. I just had to pump it up all the way down the straightaway and I didn’t have any front brakes getting into the corner so I couldn’t get in real hard.” Earnhardt said.

Stewart dominated a lot of the race up until the final caution.  He finished third.

“Well, when the caution is for a plastic (water) bottle on the backstretch, it’s hard to feel good about losing that one, I mean. And we gave it away on pit road. So we did everything we could to throw it away; it got taken away from us. That’s the best car I’ve had a Richmond in a long time.” Stewart said.

Denny Hamlin fourth and Kasey Kahne finished fifth.

Greg Biffle finished 18th and has a 5-point lead over Earnhardt Jr. in the series standings

On Lap 320 Carl Edwards was black-flagged for jumping the restart. Stewart on the inside spun his tires, making it look like Edwards had a larger jump than he really did. Stewart was the leader, so Edwards had to do a drive-thru penalty. Stewart was able to stay on the lead lap until Stewart passed him with 28 laps remaining, putting him one lap down.

“This takes a minute to explain so bear with me. I was on the outside and thought Tony Stewart was the leader on the inside. NASCAR told my spotter about three seconds before the restart that the 99 was the leader. They put us on the scoreboard as the leader and I realized I was at a disadvantaged position on the outside land and NASCAR made a little mistake. I got the best start I could and Tony didn’t start or spun his tires and NASCAR black flagged us. I don’t know why they black flagged me. I don’t think it is right and I don’t agree with it. Before I say something stupid because I am real frustrated I would like to go talk to them.” Edwards said.

A caution flag came out with 13 laps to go, giving Edwards the “lucky dog” pass. Edwards was able to battle back to 10th place.

“I would give anything to be able to have that start again and be able to race to the end. That was going to be a heck of a race.” Edwards said.

Jeff Gordon’s disaster of a season continues. Gordon started sixth but had dropped back to mid pack by the 50-lap competition caution flag. On lap 57, Gordon got a little sideways, possible help from the no.43, went up the track got into Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch. Gordon had to pit for tires and repairs and came out 2-laps down in 31st position. Gordon was never able to overcome the laps down and finished 23rd and sits 17th in the series standings.

Kurt Busch also suffered damage but was able to continue on despite a tire rub. On lap 116 Busch spun out on the frontstretch, bringing out the caution flag and he looses a lap. Busch finished 28th.

The series heads to Talladega Superspeedway next week.

 

Unofficial Race Results
Capital City 400, Richmond International Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=9
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	–	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	47
2	–	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	42
3	–	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	42
4	–	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	40
5	–	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	39
6	–	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	39
7	–	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	37
8	–	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	37
9	–	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	35
10	–	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	36
11	–	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	33
12	–	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	32
13	–	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	31
14	–	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	30
15	–	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	29
16	–	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	28
17	–	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	27
18	–	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	26
19	–	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	26
20	–	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	24
21	–	13	Casey Mears	Ford	23
22	–	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	22
23	–	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	21
24	–	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	20
25	–	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	19
26	–	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	18
27	–	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	17
28	–	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	16
29	–	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	15
30	–	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	15
31	–	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	13
32	–	34	David Ragan	Ford	12
33	–	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	11
34	–	32	Reed Sorenson	Ford	0
35	–	33	Stephen Leicht	Chevrolet	9
36	–	38	David Gilliland	Ford	8
37	–	30	David Stremme	Toyota	7
38	–	26	Josh Wise *	Ford	6
39	–	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	5
40	–	74	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	0
41	–	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
42	–	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	0
43	–	195	Scott Speed	Ford	1