Category: RC NASCAR Cup

Race Central NASCAR Cup Series news and information

Matt Kenseth Wins the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

At a track where passing is difficult, his second place starting position was pivotal. While other drivers had problems, Kenseth kept himself in a position to capitalize on their misfortune.

Tony Stewart was competitive at the beginning of the race but lost the handling on his car about halfway through the race. Stewart wasn’t able to contend for the win but was still able to salvage an eight place finish. He also gained two spots in the points and is now in fifth place.

Greg Biffle was also fast early in the race but a missing lug nut during a pit stop put him one lap down. Although he regained the lap, a late race scuffle with Stewart and a subsequent cut tire left Biffle with a fifteenth place finish.

Trevor Bayne had a strong top ten car throughout the race but a problem with a fuel cell caused him to run out of gas and go three laps down.

Five-time champion Jimmie Johnson provided the biggest surprise of the night. Johnson, who was racing for seventh position, crashed into the wall on lap 317 and destroyed the No. 48 Chevy, ending his night. Johnson dropped five positions in the points standings to eighth place, 35 points behind leader Carl Edwards.

When asked about the impact this would have on his quest for a sixth championship, Johnson said, “We just have to keep racing. That’s all there is to it. There’s five races left and a lot can happen in five races.”

Matt Kenseth has been steadily gaining ground and now sits third in the points standings. He was all smiles after the race.

“I’m happy to have won, obviously.” Kenseth continued, “I’m always thankful to get to victory lane. You never know if you’re ever gonna win another race or when your last win is, and I’m certainly thankful for them all and I greatly appreciate being in a position to be able to win races and these guys giving me the cars and the crew and the opportunity to do that.”

Unofficial Race Results
Bank of America 500, Charlotte Motor Speedway

=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	2	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	47
2	25	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	44
3	3	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	42
4	8	4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	40
5	12	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	39
6	14	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	38
7	4	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	37
8	1	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	37
9	17	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	35
10	6	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	35
11	11	6	David Ragan	Ford	34
12	16	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	32
13	20	22	Kurt Busch	Dodge	31
14	32	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	31
15	5	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	30
16	26	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	28
17	7	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	27
18	28	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	26
19	15	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	25
20	31	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	24
21	23	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	23
22	38	38	J.J. Yeley	Ford	23
23	18	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	21
24	19	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	20
25	21	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	19
26	29	0	David Reutimann	Toyota	18
27	27	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	17
28	30	51	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	0
29	22	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	15
30	42	32	Mike Bliss	Ford	0
31	10	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	0
32	24	13	Casey Mears	Toyota	12
33	41	71	Hermie Sadler	Ford	0
34	9	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	11
35	35	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	9
36	33	34	David Gilliland	Ford	8
37	13	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	7
38	43	7	Robby Gordon	Dodge	6
39	37	66	Michael McDowell	Toyota	5
40	34	55	Travis Kvapil	Ford	0
41	36	30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	3
42	40	277	Andy Lally *	Ford	2
43	39	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0

October 16, 2011

Tony Stewart Wins Pole for the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte

Tony Stewart captured his thirteenth career pole Thursday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a qualifying speed of 191.959 mph.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”206″][/media-credit]Stewart was happy with his effort but a little surprised that the speeds did not noticeably increase from what they had experienced during practice.

“That was a pretty cool lap, obviously,” he said. But, Stewart continued, “Typically we see the pace pick up a little more in qualifying than what we saw tonight.”

Five of the top ten positions were claimed by drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Matt Kenseth will start beside Stewart in the second position followed by Carl Edwards in third. Ryan Newman qualified sixth and Jimmie Johnson secured the ninth starting spot.

The remaining Chase contenders qualified as follows:

Kevin Harvick – 14^th

Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 15^th

Denny Hamlin – 17^th

Kurt Busch – 20^th

Jeff Gordon – 23^rd

Kyle Busch – 25^th

Brad Keselowski – 26th.

Drivers Josh Wise, Scott Speed and Geoffrey Bodine failed to make the field.

The Bank of America 500 this Saturday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway is the fifth race in the fight for the Sprint Cup championship.

Starting Lineup
Bank of America 500, Charlotte Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=31
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	191.959	28.131
2	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	191.918	28.137
3	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	191.87	28.144
4	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	191.768	28.159
5	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	191.741	28.163
6	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	191.585	28.186
7	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	191.462	28.204
8	4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	191.394	28.214
9	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	191.34	28.222
10	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	191.259	28.234
11	6	David Ragan	Ford	191.002	28.272
12	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	191.002	28.272
13	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	190.9	28.287
14	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	190.894	28.288
15	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	190.833	28.297
16	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	190.82	28.299
17	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	190.799	28.302
18	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	190.638	28.326
19	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	190.611	28.33
20	22	Kurt Busch	Dodge	190.57	28.336
21	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	190.429	28.357
22	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	190.255	28.383
23	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	190.007	28.42
24	13	Casey Mears	Toyota	189.727	28.462
25	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	189.54	28.49
26	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	189.52	28.493
27	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	189.401	28.511
28	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	189.082	28.559
29	0	David Reutimann	Toyota	188.923	28.583
30	51	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	188.851	28.594
31	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	188.772	28.606
32	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	188.725	28.613
33	34	David Gilliland	Ford	188.6	28.632
34	55	Travis Kvapil	Ford	188.271	28.682
35	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	188.239	28.687
36	30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	187.918	28.736
37	66	Michael McDowell	Toyota	187.454	28.807
38	38	J.J. Yeley	Ford	187.383	28.818
39	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	187.311	28.829
40	71	Andy Lally*	Ford	186.657	28.93
41	71	Hermie Sadler+	Ford	185.676	29.083
42	32	Mike Bliss+	Ford	185.44	29.12
43	7	Robby Gordon	Dodge	186.303	28.985

October 14, 2011

Johnson wins at Kansas

Jimmie Johnson won one of the longest races of the year. The excitement level of this race was very similar to waiting in the waiting room at the dentist office. This race was a long drawn out ordeal. It was painful to watch. The most important thing to remember and the biggest area of concern is the fact that this is the 4th race of the Chase and not a single one of them has been a good race.

[media-credit name=”Kyle Ocker” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]We need to remember that people paid for tickets to see these races. We are concerned about our ticket sales in the sport and races like this are very illustrative as to why. The long drawn out follow the leader racing does not make for good racing. It does not make for good entertainment. It’s simply in a word boring. The entire broadcast for TV centers much like a vulture circling the 12 chase contenders. Who will have a problem? Will they rebound? Are they out?

The points changes are broadcast on every 30 minutes, even though the points do not change until the checkered flag waves. Three of the four races have had an exciting ending. But an exciting final 25 to 30 laps doesn’t make a good race it makes a good ending.

A good race is constant racing throughout the distance. Nascar has yet to manage to produce that with the current car used in competition. Now we are looking at a new COT for 2013. As fans we have to be concerned about our dollars spent on tickets. As members of the media we have to be concerned about our futures in trying to paint a plain white wall with a decorative brush and make it exciting. Simply it’s going to be very difficult to continue to draw fans to the track or the TV with this kind of competition. But ratings are up. They are up because the new points system paints the chase as exciting and close competition. While the points are close the competition simply isn’t there. Drivers struggle to give entertaining comments and gently avoid talking about the fact that is painfully obvious to even them, the event was boring.

Jimmie Johnson lead the most laps and he lead the last lap. His domination was slowed only six times. Only three times for other car incidents. The longer they ran the stronger he got and the further his lead became. At one point he led by 14 seconds. He showed without a shadow of a doubt why they have dominated the Chase for the last five years.

With his victory Johnson moved to within four points of leader Carl Edwards. By history the points leader leaving Kansas has won the Championship since the Chase’s inception.

Edwards who struggled all day to stay on the lead lap found himself finishing in the 5th position and taking over the points lead from Kevin Harvick. “What a fun race that was. There was certainly a lot of luck involved there. Man I wanted to win for these home fans at Kansas but this is like getting a win considering how it looked like it could have been. I have to thank my AFLAC team. They did a great job today, they never stopped and we were able to work out way back up there. We were just way off in the beginning but they worked hard all day and it paid off at the end.” Edwards said of his day.

Second Place Kasey Kahne was a steady occupant in the top ten all day. Staying within striking distance and making the Red Bull Toyota better with ever stop.

Brad Keselowski finished his Kansas weekend with a third place finish to follow up his win in the Nationwide Series on Saturday. “The Miller Dodge was good. I am proud of the effort. Kind of an up and down day. We got up to be a second or third place car mid part of the race, then kind of fell off a little bit, but came back. Third place day, that’s good. That’s what you’ve got to do. Really we want to win races like Jimmie, but we;re making the est we can out of it. If he stumbles, we’ll be there.”

This win was the 199th victory for Hendrick Motorsports and clinched the manufacturers Championship for Chevrolet.

“You know, when I look through all the pictures, since the beginning of Hendrick Motorsports, and I look at the wins, and I remember the celebrations, I can remember vividly that I didn’t know if I’d ever win one race. I know there were some years where I thought, ‘Are we going to win a race this year?’ When you say you’ve won a race in the Cup Series, you’ve accomplished something; but when you think about 200 wins – it’s unbelievable.” Hendrick said.

“This sport is so tough, look at all the second places we have this year, we have been close but just have not got the job done. We were glad to get the win done today. Big win for Mr. Hendrick, 199 and also Chevrolet winning the Manufacturing Championship, couldn’t do without all them and all the great people at Lowes’, they have been behind us since day one. We did our job today and hopefully we can do it six or seven more times.” Johnson said.

Unofficial Race Results
Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=30
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	48
2	5	4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	42
3	12	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	42
4	4	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	41
5	2	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	39
6	14	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	38
7	24	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	37
8	1	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	37
9	21	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	35
10	9	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	34
11	3	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	34
12	6	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	32
13	17	22	Kurt Busch	Dodge	32
14	18	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	30
15	23	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	29
16	7	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	28
17	41	51	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	0
18	11	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	26
19	15	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	25
20	13	6	David Ragan	Ford	24
21	31	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	23
22	29	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	22
23	34	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	21
24	16	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	20
25	22	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	19
26	26	198	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	0
27	36	38	Travis Kvapil	Ford	0
28	42	32	Mike Bliss	Ford	0
29	20	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	15
30	33	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	14
31	38	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	13
32	30	34	David Gilliland	Ford	12
33	25	46	Scott Speed	Ford	0
34	10	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	11
35	27	0	David Reutimann	Toyota	9
36	8	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	8
37	35	71	Andy Lally *	Ford	7
38	39	7	Reed Sorenson	Dodge	0
39	40	66	Michael McDowell	Toyota	5
40	32	30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	4
41	43	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
42	37	13	Casey Mears	Toyota	2
43	28	55	J.J. Yeley	Ford	1

October 9, 2011

Biffle takes the Hollywood Casino 400 pole at Kansas

Qualifying at Kansas took place under cool and cloudy conditions with wind gusts that reached up to 25 mph. At the end of qualifying, Greg Biffle’s Sherwin Williams Ford from Roush Fenway Racing was sitting on the pole with a lap of 174.887 MPH. His teammate Carl Edwards will start outside the front row in the Aflac Ford.

[media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]“Well, it was a really good lap. I think what I really would rather talk about is how slow we were when we unloaded off the truck. It was quite amazing. We were 35th or 37th when we unloaded off the truck today.” Biffle said. “We made about six qualifying runs and the last one was pretty dang good and they changed a bunch more stuff on it for the real one. The car was really good.”

The pole for the Hollywood Casino 400 was the 8th of Biffle’s career and his best start in 11 tries at the mile and a half track.

Edwards commented he had never started this far up at Kansas so he was excited. Edwards said “How you qualify is not indicative of how you are going to run in the race.” But he stated that he was excited to be starting so far up in the field.

It is Roush Fenway’s eighth Sprint Cup pole in 2011, with all four of the team’s Cup drivers having won multiple poles this season. It also marked Roush Fenway’s second Sprint Cup pole at Kansas and its first since 2005.

Kyle Busch who starts 3rd tomorrow stated that he hoped to have a much better race than he had last time here at Kansas. He also stated that he was happy to see Clint Bowyer added to the Toyota family.

“We were looking for a little bit more than that, but certainly the pace is a little bit slower than we expected qualifying to be. So far so good. We’ve dodged a couple bullets. The M&M’s Camry unloaded good.” Busch said.

Austin Dillon qualified 26th to make his first start in the Sprint Cup Series.

“Thinking about it going up there, I wasn’t nervous all the way up until it was time to go. And then it’s just like you think of every little thing that could go wrong. We were fast enough in practice to get in really fast. That time we actually picked up some more speed, but I think if I would have calmed down a little bit it would have helped my lap.” Dillon said.

The field is separated by only 0.86 of a second.

Starting Lineup
Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=30
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	174.887	30.877
2	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	174.571	30.933
3	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	174.447	30.955
4	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	174.436	30.957
5	4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	174.413	30.961
6	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	174.317	30.978
7	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	174.222	30.995
8	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	174.126	31.012
9	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	174.092	31.018
10	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	174.048	31.026
11	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	174.031	31.029
12	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	174.02	31.031
13	6	David Ragan	Ford	173.863	31.059
14	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	173.617	31.103
15	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	173.605	31.105
16	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	173.527	31.119
17	22	Kurt Busch	Dodge	173.327	31.155
18	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	173.238	31.171
19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	173.182	31.181
20	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	173.171	31.183
21	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	173.066	31.202
22	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	172.944	31.224
23	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	172.933	31.226
24	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	172.889	31.234
25	46	Scott Speed	Ford	172.866	31.238
26	198	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	172.723	31.264
27	0	David Reutimann	Toyota	172.607	31.285
28	55	J.J. Yeley	Ford	172.568	31.292
29	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	172.535	31.298
30	34	David Gilliland	Ford	172.43	31.317
31	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	172.397	31.323
32	30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	172.177	31.363
33	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	172.161	31.366
34	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	171.936	31.407
35	71	Andy Lally*	Ford	171.86	31.421
36	38	Travis Kvapil	Ford	171.521	31.483
37	13	Casey Mears	Toyota	171.429	31.5
38	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	170.989	31.581
39	7	Reed Sorenson	Dodge	170.837	31.609
40	66	Michael McDowell	Toyota	170.53	31.666
41	51	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	170.482	31.675
42	32	Mike Bliss+	Ford	170.132	31.74
43	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	170.148	31.737

October 7, 2011

Kurt Busch King of the Concrete with Win at Monster Mile

Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge, conquered the concrete track at Dover for the first time ever to score his second win of the season. This was his 24^th victory in 393 Cup Series races.

[media-credit id=26 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]“It was just a perfect execution today with making the car better during the race,” Busch said. “I can’t be happier right now.”

“To win a Sprint Cup race in the Chase, that’s what it’s all about,” Busch said. “We had everything go wrong last week and everything go right this week.”

Busch’s race win puts him firmly in fourth place in the point standings.

“This is the playoffs,” Busch said. “I feel like we’re right in the mix. You just have to cover up those bad days.”

Busch’s crew chief echoed his driver’s sentiments, making the right calls at the right time. And Penske Racing’s team leadership, including the Director of Competition, could not have been more pleased.

“We had to put a good bit of wedge in it and finally found a direction with the tire pressure,” Steve Addington, Busch’s crew chief said. “Then it came to life. We finally got us another win with this No. 22 car.”

“This is definitely awesome,” Travis Geisler, Director of Competition for Penske Racing, said. “We knew that the No. 22 was a good car. To win in the Chase is awesome.”

Busch was trailed by two other Chase contenders, Jimmie Johnson, in the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, who finished as runner up and Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford, who overcame a pit road speeding penalty to finish third.

Johnson scored his 14^th top-10 finish in 20 races at the Monster Mile. It was his 19^th top-10 finish of the season.

“Obviously it was a great day for us to lead that many laps and having great stops on pit road,” Johnson said of his runner up finish. “I wish that we could be one stop better.”

“But all in all, it was exactly what we needed,” Johnson continued. “Mission accomplished.”

With his second place finish, Johnson is now fifth in the point standings, just 13 points out of the lead. With that, Johnson couldn’t help but poke a little fun in the media center, especially since many had pronounced him out of contention for the championship.

“Are we out of this?” Johnson asked coyly. “Last week we were considered done.”

Edwards posted his 11^th top-10 finish in 15 races at Dover International Speedway. For Edwards, however, who won the Nationwide race at Dover the day before the Cup race, this was a hard fought battle back to the front after his mistake on pit road.

“It was a great day other than that feeling I had when I ruined it on pit road,” Edwards said. “That’s about as small as you can feel in a race car.”

“We talked about it before the race on pit road but I just blasted right through it,” Edwards continued. “As frustrated as I am with myself, I’m grateful for the gift I was given, especially with my guys sticking beside me.”

“That was fun.”

After Busch, Johnson and Edwards, Matt Kenseth was the next highest Chase finisher. The driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford, finished fifth.

“We got lucky,” Kenseth said. “The last restart was good but the one before that was no good.”

“As good as everybody is these days and as equal as everybody is, it’s important to get a good finish every week,” Kenseth continued. “You need to be in the top five to be able to stay in the hunt.”

Kevin Harvick, this week sporting a pink No. 29 Rheem Chasing the Cure Chevrolet, assumed the points lead with his top-10 finish. He is, however, tied with Carl Edwards, but has a higher number of wins so is the highest seed.

“Obviously, we circled this one as a place to come to overcome some things,” Harvick said. “We had to put two tires on there at the end to protect the track position side of it.”

Harvick admitted that the competition is so equal. In fact, only 15 points currently separate the top eight in the point standings.

“The competition level is so even,” Harvick said. “You’re going to have to be consistent and solid and keeping yourself in contention until the last couple of races.”

There were four non-Chasers who finished in the top ten at the Monster Mile. Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, finished fourth; A.J. Allmendinger, behind the wheel of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford, finished seventh; Clint Bowyer, in the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet, finished eighth; and Marcos Ambrose, in the No. 9 Stanley Ford, finished ninth.

“We weren’t quite good enough to win,” Allmendinger said. “It was a solid day. Obviously, we want to try to win, but at least we were there all day.”

“We’ve been bashed up pretty good the last month so it’s just good to come back with a solid day,” Ambrose said. “I’m proud of my team. They’ve stood by me after a tough month and I’m looking forward to getting to Kansas.”

Unofficial Race Results
AAA 400, Dover International Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=29
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	2	22	Kurt Busch	Dodge	47
2	6	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	44
3	4	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	42
4	9	4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	40
5	18	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	40
6	5	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	39
7	7	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	38
8	27	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	36
9	12	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	35
10	22	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	35
11	13	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	34
12	34	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	32
13	14	0	David Reutimann	Toyota	31
14	30	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	30
15	23	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	29
16	3	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	28
17	16	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	27
18	11	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	26
19	17	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	25
20	15	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	25
21	19	6	David Ragan	Ford	23
22	24	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	22
23	20	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	21
24	21	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	20
25	28	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	19
26	8	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	18
27	10	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	17
28	36	34	David Gilliland	Ford	16
29	33	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	15
30	1	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	15
31	25	51	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	0
32	41	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	12
33	37	71	Andy Lally *	Ford	11
34	43	38	J.J. Yeley	Ford	10
35	39	13	Casey Mears	Toyota	9
36	40	32	Mike Bliss	Ford	0
37	26	37	Josh Wise	Ford	0
38	38	7	Reed Sorenson	Dodge	0
39	42	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
40	35	66	Michael McDowell	Toyota	5
41	31	30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	3
42	29	46	Scott Speed	Ford	0
43	32	55	Travis Kvapil	Ford	0

October 2, 2011

Martin Truex Jr. Scores Monstrous Pole at Track He Owes

At a track that he considers home, as well as the one to whom he owes the launching of his Cup career, Martin Truex, Jr., driver of the No. 56 Napa Auto Parts Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, scored his first pole of the season.

[media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]This was Truex’s sixth pole in his Cup career but his second in 12 races at Dover International Speedway. Truex conquered the concrete mile for the fastest lap at a time of 22.641 seconds and a speed of 159.004 mph.

“It was a good lap,” Truex Jr. said. “I knew it was good coming off of (Turn) Four but you never know exactly what kind of time you have to run, especially today with the track being so much faster than in practice yesterday.”

Truex Jr. also affirmed his affection and affinity for the Monster Mile, which is just two hours away from Mayetta, New Jersey where he grew up.

“It’s always nice to come here to Dover,” Truex Jr. said. “I love this place.”

“I feel like I understand what it takes to get around the place,” Truex said. “It’s a really challenging and difficult race track and if you don’t like it, it’s one of those places that you’re never going to figure out.”

“I really enjoy the place and I’ve had good race cars too.”

Truex Jr. also hopes that being on the pole can catapult his team back to Victory Lane, a place where he has not been in awhile.

“I feel good we can get back there this weekend,” Truex said. “Certainly our team has done a phenomenal job the second half of the year.

“We’ve had some really strong runs lately,” Truex continued. “This is a great thing for us. It would be nice to get back to Victory Lane before the season is out.”

Truex Jr. was also proud that he was able to outrun the Chase competitors for the pole position. Having said that, however, he still lamented that he was not chasing the Cup championship this year.

“It doesn’t feel good to not be in it,” Truex Jr. said. “But this is what we come to the race track to do every weekend.”

“Today we were the best out of the cars out of the race track,” Truex continued. “If we do this next year, we will be in the Chase.”

Truex, Jr. was just 0.003 seconds ahead of second place qualifier Kurt Busch, driving the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge. This was Busch’s 17^th top-10 start of 2011 and his 15^th in 23 races at the Monster Mile.

“This has always been a fun track to qualify on and one you have to get really amped up for,” Busch said. “It was a nice lap for us but I left a little bit on the table.”

“Sure enough Martin Truex Jr. got us by three thousandth of a second.”

Busch acknowledged that qualifying was a challenge after a night of rain led to a ‘green’ race track.

“It’s difficult,” Busch said. “I remember in years past when the track would be fresh from rain and it would be on the looser side. But when you are on the tight side at the Monster Mile, you don’t have the speed.”

Busch also said that he was not worried in the least about being the only car in the Chase to qualify in the front of the pack.

“It won’t be scary,” Busch said. “We’re qualified on the front row so you have to trust the guys around you.”

“That’s only lap one of the race,” Busch continued. “You race your own race and let it all pan out.”

“When you get to the final two pit stops, that’s when you look for the other Chase guys.”

Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet, qualified in the third spot. This was Menard’s third top-10 start at Dover and his 14^th in 29 races in the 2011 season to date.

“It was a good run for us,” Menard said. “Obviously, I wanted that pole.”

“I’m still shaking a little bit from the run,” Menard continued. “It takes a lot to get up on the wheel after not practicing. Starting P3 is pretty good for us.”

Carl Edwards, behind the wheel of the No. 99 Aflac Ford, and Kyle Busch, this week in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota rounded out the top five in qualifying for the AAA 400.

October 1, 2011

Two in a row; Stewart wins and takes over points lead

For the second week in a row, Tony Stewart stretches his fuel and finds victory lane, this time at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, becoming the second driver to win the first two races of the Chase (Greg Biffle – 2008). This was Stewart’s 41st career and eighth victory with Stewart-Haas Racing.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Clint Bowyer ran out of gas with two laps remaining, giving the lead and win to Stewart. The ending was similar to last fall when Stewart ran out of fuel on the final lap and Bowyer passed him for the lead and win.

“If that’s not a flip-flop from last year, I don’t know what is.” Stewart said. “I know exactly what that feels like. I know exactly how he feels right now. I saw him slowing down the back and I thought, ‘Oh, no, you’re kidding me’. That’s not the way you want to win it.”

Along with last weeks Chase opening win at Chicagoland Speedway, Stewart now finds himself in the series points lead for the first time during the ‘Chase’ since he won the title in 2005. He leads by 7 points over Kevin Harvick.

“It’s way too early to start counting chickens.” Stewart said.

Brad Keselowski finished second, Biffle third, Jeff Gordon fourth and Brian Vickers finished fifth.

Keselowski had his best career finish at the mile long flat track.

“I hate these fuel mileage races. We like to run hard and go. We had a really fast car that could have been second or third no matter what, but I just wish it didn’t come down to that. I would have liked to see how hard we could have run and see if we could have caught them.” Biffle said.

“I’m proud just to get through what looked to be a rough weekend with an awesome finish. I’m proud of my Miller Lite Dodge team. Getting the right adjustments in the car all race and doing all those things that it takes. It’s been a good roll.” Keselowski said of his second place finish.

Chase drivers Matt Kenseth finished sixth, Carl Edwards eighth, Kyle Busch 11th, Harvick 12th, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 17th, Jimmie Johnson 18th, Kurt Busch 22nd and Ryan Newman finished 25th.

“We had a fast car all day. I was real happy with the car. Real competitive. Got to race up front. We had a real good car.” Earnhard Jr. said. “We had a flat tire that cost us a lot more track position and I had another flat in the last couple laps there. Just didn’t hit nobody or nothing; just had too much camber or something in the front right.”

Gordon he led a race high of 79 laps but had to conserve fuel to make it to the finish.

“I’m just glad we finished fourth. It is tough conditions to race in (saving fuel). I don’t think that we wanted to see back-to-back fuel mileage races like this, but, it is kind of the name of the game these days.” Gordon said. “There at the end, conserved fuel. It is something that we need to be better at. We did it and we made it and we finished fourth so we’ll take that. We made some gains in points. But, not necessarily overall to the leader.”

The series heads to Dover International Speedway next weekend for the third of ten ‘Chase’ races.

Unofficial Race Results
Sylvania 300, New Hampshire Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=28
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	20	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	47
2	16	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	43
3	4	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	41
4	7	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	42
5	3	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	40
6	27	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	38
7	26	6	David Ragan	Ford	38
8	23	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	36
9	31	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	36
10	17	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	35
11	8	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	33
12	6	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	33
13	18	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	31
14	24	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	30
15	2	4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	30
16	9	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	29
17	12	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	27
18	10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	27
19	15	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	25
20	14	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	24
21	13	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	23
22	5	22	Kurt Busch	Dodge	23
23	25	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	21
24	21	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	21
25	1	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	20
26	11	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	19
27	32	38	J.J. Yeley	Ford	17
28	19	0	David Reutimann	Toyota	16
29	28	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	15
30	29	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	14
31	40	32	Mike Bliss	Ford	0
32	33	34	David Gilliland	Ford	12
33	30	51	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	0
34	42	71	Andy Lally *	Ford	10
35	22	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	9
36	39	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
37	35	66	Michael McDowell	Toyota	7
38	34	30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	6
39	41	37	Josh Wise	Ford	0
40	36	7	Robby Gordon	Dodge	4
41	43	46	Scott Speed	Ford	0
42	37	13	Casey Mears	Toyota	2
43	38	55	Travis Kvapil	Ford	0

September 25, 2011

Ryan Newman’s Loudon Love Affair Continues with Pole Run

In spite of the rain drops that yet again delayed action on the track, Ryan Newman continued his love affair with the ‘Magic Mile’, scoring a record-setting sixth pole.

[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Newman, behind the wheel of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet, turned a lap of 28.213 seconds and a speed of 135.002 mph.

This was Newman’s third pole in 2011 and his 59^th career pole, tying him for ninth all-time with Bobby Isaac, Hall of Fame Nominee. In spite of it being a personal career pole best, it was the drama of it all that most impressed Newman.

“In general, I don’t think I’ve seen that kind of drama going into the last five cars qualifying in my ten or eleven years of experience,” Newman said. “It’s kind of a tough situation, one hand you’re thinking other guys had to qualify in the sprinkles.”

“My track was dry,” Newman continued. “I don’t know if it was any faster. I think we picked up the same speed as the other guys did earlier in qualifying.”

The drama particularly played out with five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, who started his qualifying run but then pulled off the track, only to be resoundly booed and heckled by the crowd, who were desperate for the completion of qualifying.

“Some of them did and some of them didn’t go out, but in the end we’re supposed to have dry track conditions or at least not be raining when we go out on the race track,” Newman said. “So, I understand where Jimmie (Johnson) came from when he pulled in.”

“I’m just really proud of my team,” Newman said. “We backed up what we did here at least on Friday from the spring race and give the Haas Automation a good starting spot.”

The Red Bull teammates of Kasey Kahne, behind the wheel of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, and Brian Vickers, driving the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, were also part of the drama that played out in Loudon qualifying.

Vickers went out prior to the rain drops falling, where Kahne had to cool his heels with the five remaining cars awaiting the drying of the track. In the end, Kahne still scored the outside pole, while Vickers lost the provisional pole, falling to the third spot.

“Obviously the conditions were tough,” Vickers said. “I would have liked to have seen it play out just running straight through.”

“It is what it is,” Vickers continued. “Either way we started out better than we would have.”

“We ended up with a top-three start,” Vickers said. “So, that’s great and both Red Bull cars are up front.”

“But again, I would have liked to have seen our laps hold if we were heads up in the same position.”

Outside pole sitter Kasey Kahne was second quickest when he finally got to qualify, with a lap of 28.263 seconds and a speed of 134.763 mph.

“It was a good effort,” Kahne said. “We ended up right where we would have been if it would have ended up if it hadn’t rained.”

“The track was definitely slicker,” Kahne continued. “The way my car handled, we were definitely quicker in practice. But I’m glad we got qualifying in.”

Greg Biffle, driving the No. 16 Ford40MPG.com Ford, and Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge, rounded out the top five for the 15^th annual Sylvania 300. The remainder of the top ten qualifiers were Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex, Jr. and Jimmie Johnson.

Starting Lineup
Sylvania 300, New Hampshire Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=28
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	135.002	28.213
2	4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	134.763	28.263
3	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	134.648	28.287
4	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	134.587	28.3
5	22	Kurt Busch	Dodge	134.382	28.343
6	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	134.354	28.349
7	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	134.16	28.39
8	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	134.146	28.393
9	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	134.146	28.393
10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	134.075	28.408
11	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	134.056	28.412
12	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	133.981	28.428
13	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	133.82	28.462
14	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	133.816	28.463
15	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	133.792	28.468
16	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	133.769	28.473
17	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	133.755	28.476
18	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	133.595	28.51
19	0	David Reutimann	Toyota	133.572	28.515
20	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	133.445	28.542
21	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	133.357	28.561
22	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	133.245	28.585
23	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	133.203	28.594
24	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	133.114	28.613
25	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	132.905	28.658
26	6	David Ragan	Ford	132.896	28.66
27	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	132.665	28.71
28	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	132.591	28.726
29	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	132.572	28.73
30	51	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	132.429	28.761
31	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	132.232	28.804
32	38	J.J. Yeley	Ford	132.213	28.808
33	34	David Gilliland	Ford	132.048	28.844
34	30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	131.856	28.886
35	66	Michael McDowell	Toyota	131.797	28.899
36	7	Robby Gordon	Dodge	131.352	28.997
37	13	Casey Mears	Toyota	131.293	29.01
38	55	Travis Kvapil	Ford	131.058	29.062
39	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	130.833	29.112
40	32	Mike Bliss	Ford	130.613	29.161
41	37	Josh Wise	Ford	130.55	29.175
42	71	Andy Lally+*	Ford	128.784	29.575
43	46	Scott Speed	Ford	130.305	29.23

September 23, 2011

Tony Stewart Wins Geico 400 Vaults to Second in Points

For a guy who did not think heading into the this race weekend that he had a chance at winning the championship Tony Stewart found himself leaving the Windy City only 7 points behind the new leader, Kevin Harvick. Stewart had enough gas while many of the stronger cars of the day and fellow chase participants were running out on the white flag lap. Harvick was behind by almost a second and Dale Earnhardt Jr. followed Stewart with Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski rounding out the top five. Eight of the top ten finishers were chase participants with Clint Bowyer and Mark Martin finishing seventh and ninth respectively.

Defending champion Jimmie Johnson and Kenseth, both who led part of the race today ran out of fuel.

Stewart said, “It is huge; I had a migraine all day yesterday so I am kinda glad we didn’t race. Man, this Office Depot/ Mobil One Chevy was awesome! All of our partners … we have had a rough year so this is a good way to start off the Chase.”

Stewart, who was winless up to today is headed to New Hampshire where he and his teammate had their best showing of the season earlier when they finished 1-2 with Newman taking the checkered flag. Stewart said, “The way we ran there in the spring, I am real excited about going to New Hampshire. So I am just excited and proud of everyone on our Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevy team and they did an awesome job all weekend and Darien and these guys made some awesome calls and great pit stops by the crew. We just had a good day today.”

Stewart’s crew chief Darian Grubb said, “Boy does champagne feel good right now. It’s pretty sweet. It’s the way to start the Chase off, especially with the year we’ve had. We’ve had some really good cars, really fast cars and some bad luck and circumstances that kept us from winning races. To get our first win leading into the Chase feels really good.”

The new points leader and second place finisher Kevin Harvick said,”We worked real hard all weekend trying to be smart. The car was a bit of a struggle in the middle part of the race but in that last run we were one of the best cars on the track. My guys had great pit stops and worked really hard trying to get better so I really have to thank those guys for what they got us today and we had a good car and we were just real smart all weekend and did a good job and I am real happy with the team.”

Jeff Gordon ran out of fuel and dug himself a hole dropping from third to eleventh in points. Gordon said, “We were just off. We didn’t qualify good. That got us behind right there. It was just one of those days. You know. We had a right front tear apart. We actually got the car halfway decent there at the end. Then it came down to saving fuel and we obviously didn’t save enough fuel.”

Gordon noted that they need to have some improvements saying, “We have to qualify better; we can’t have days like we had today. That’s for sure.”

Official Race Results
Geico 400, Chicagoland Speedway

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

September 19, 2011

Jeff Gordon Nets Huge Win in Atlanta

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

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

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

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

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

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

September 6, 2011