Category: RC XFINITY

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”232″][/media-credit]With 27 laps to go, Brad Keselowski peeled down pit road, handing the lead over to Kurt Busch. Busch looked to have the win in his sights, before Denny Hamlin began to close in his rear view mirror.

For the final two laps, Busch and Hamlin ran side-by-side, before making slight contact coming off of the final corner.

Across the finish line, it was Busch slightly ahead of Hamlin to win the Virginia 529 College Savings 250  while Hamlin came across sideways.

“I slipped up going into three coming to the white flag,” Busch says. “I thought back to an IROC race where I lost the race running the inside. I knew I had to hold him down. It’s great to race that close, rub fenders and yet still be able to finish the race one-two.”

This marks Busch’s fourth Nationwide Series career victory in 15 starts and his first of the 2012 season. It also marks the first win for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Nationwide Series.

“It was an amazing run for us tonight to be in this position with how we’ve run,” Busch says. “To get this first win for Kyle Busch Motorsports and for my little brother, it’s a great feeling. Rick Ren and the guys have worked hard. I’ve won for Roush and Penske, but it’s just a different special feeling when it’s for your brother.”

Kyle Busch made the decision to move his team up to the Nationwide Series this season after the success they had in the Sprint Cup Series. The first five races this season, it’s been a struggle as they had only had one top 10, which was an eighth last weekend at Fontana by Kyle.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignleft” width=”245″][/media-credit]“To have Kurt do it, doesn’t bother me one bit,” Kyle says. “It’s just an awesome feeling for myself, for (wife) Samantha, for grandma, for my dad. This is really cool. All of these guys at Kyle Busch Motorsports – great job. This is the most emotional I have been for a win. This is cool.

“It’s great watching Kurt run side-by-side with Denny. He ran us clean. I don’t know how many races Joe Gibbs Racing has won there, but this is the first one for Kyle Busch Motorsports, this is amazing. This is cool. I’m not sure how we’re going to run past this, but this is the night. We’re going to celebrate indeed.”

The second place finish for Denny Hamlin marked his third top 10 finish in 2012. Hamlin had to make his way back to the front after missing pit road during a lap 115 pit stop and pitting late on the last pit sequence.

“I don’t know what I could have done,” Hamlin says. “I could’ve washed, moved him out of the groove. But you know, Kyle is a teammate and Rick Ren and those guys have worked hard. I wanted it to be clean. That was a great race.”

Pole sitter Kevin Harvick finished third for his 17^th top 10 in 22 races at Richmond. He led a race high 158 laps.

“We would fall off too fast and I kind of hinted towards that when Dale Jarrett was talking to me earlier,” Harvick says. “I’d have to slow down to make it roll the center and then when the center would go, I’d have to use the apron. We didn’t hit on it tonight, but we’ll keep working on it.”

Last year’s series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished fourth.

“We were on both sides of it there,” he says. “Our car was good on some parts of the run, not every part. we need to merge it together and get it running the whole run. We’ll look over some notes and I think we’ve had some better cars here. To battle back to a top five is a good points day.”

Sam Hornish Jr. rounded out the top five while current points leader Elliott Sadler finished sixth. Ryan Blaney, who was making his first ever series start, finished seventh.

“We lacked on the initial green flag runs after we made green flag pit stops and got back in dirty air,” Blaney says. “After 40 laps, we could start mowing guys down. We’ll go on to Darlington and see what we get from them.”

Michael Annett finished eight, followed by Austin Dillon and Kasey Kahne.

Meanwhile, two-wheel star Travis Pastrana finished 22^nd in his first ever start after starting 25^th.

“Passing (Brad) Keselowski was the highlight; probably getting beat by both the girls was the low-light,” Pastrana says. “Actually, it was great racing Danica (Patrick). I think the low-light was actually the pit road penalty. I think we could’ve run in the top 20 before that problem. I know I shot myself in the foot last year, but we’re getting there, hopefully we’ll be running in the top 10 by the end of this year and top fives next year.”

Danica Patrick, who is running her first full season in Nationwide, finished just ahead Pastrana in 21^st and thought he did a good job.

“Well first off, Travis did a really great job,” she says. “For me, I think I had higher hopes as we were top 10 in practice. I was hoping that we’d have a better finish, but in the race, we were just really loose. Earned my pay today, everybody hanged in there and wished I could’ve got a better finish, but we’ll learn.”

As the series heads to Talladega for the next race of the season, Sadler leads Stenhouse Jr. by two points.

Unofficial Race Results
Virginia 529 College Savings 250, Richmond Int’l Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=7
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	10	54	Kurt Busch	Toyota	0
2	2	18	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	0
3	1	33	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	0
4	6	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	40
5	12	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	39
6	7	2	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	38
7	8	136	Ryan Blaney	Chevrolet	37
8	19	43	Michael Annett	Ford	37
9	3	3	Austin Dillon *	Chevrolet	35
10	5	38	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	0
11	11	4	Steve Wallace	Ford	33
12	21	30	James Buescher	Chevrolet	0
13	17	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	31
14	15	11	Brian Scott	Toyota	30
15	13	31	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	29
16	9	22	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	0
17	20	44	Mike Bliss	Toyota	27
18	14	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	0
19	4	88	Cole Whitt *	Chevrolet	25
20	24	70	Johanna Long *	Chevrolet	24
21	16	7	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	23
22	25	199	Travis Pastrana	Toyota	22
23	18	108	Casey Roderick *	Ford	21
24	26	1	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	20
25	27	19	Tayler Malsam	Toyota	19
26	33	41	Timmy Hill	Ford	0
27	40	52	Kevin Lepage	Chevrolet	17
28	43	50	T.J. Bell	Chevrolet	16
29	31	124	Tanner Berryhill	Chevrolet	15
30	28	81	Jason Bowles *	Toyota	14
31	34	14	Eric McClure	Toyota	13
32	38	39	Matt Frahm	Ford	12
33	29	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	11
34	37	23	Robert Richardson Jr.	Chevrolet	10
35	30	40	Erik Darnell	Chevrolet	9
36	32	89	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	9
37	22	117	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	0
38	23	42	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	0
39	42	15	Scott Riggs	Ford	0
40	36	47	Scott Speed	Chevrolet	0
41	39	174	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	3
42	35	46	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	2
43	41	10	Jeff Green	Toyota	1

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Kurt Busch wins the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 for the first win for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

 

Lap 1 Denny Hamlin leads

Lap 2 Kevin Harvick to the lead past Hamlin

Lap 6 Harvick leads Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, Kurt Busch, Sam Hornish Jr., Cole Whitt and Ryan Blaney

Lap 12 Stenhouse Jr. and Kahne pass Dillon for third and fourth

Lap 13 Sadler passes Dillon for fifth

Lap 21 Harvick leads Hamlin, Stenhouse Jr., Kahne, Sadler, Busch, Hornish, Dillon, Blaney and Whitt

Caution Lap 23 debris…..leaders stay out as some in the back pit

Restart Lap 29 and Harvick keeps the lead off the restart

Lap 33 Harvick leads Hamlin, Stenhouse Jr., Sadler, Kahne, Hornish, Busch, Blaney, Dillon and Whitt

Lap 38 Busch and Blaney pass Hornish for sixth and seventh

Lap 56 Harvick leads Hamlin, Busch, Stenhouse, Blaney, Kahne, Dillon, Hornish Jr., Sadler and Joey Logano

Lap 61 Busch passes Hamlin for second

Lap 62 Blaney passes Stenhouse for fourth

Caution Lap 68 J.J Yeley into the wall with a flat tire…..most of the leaders make pit stops…….Harvick leads Busch, Hamlin, Hornish, Dillon, Logano and Scott off pit road.

Restart Lap 77 as Kurt Busch passes Harvick on the restart for the lead

Lap 79 Busch leads Harvick, Hamlin, Dillon, Hornish, Logano, Kahne, Sadler, Whitt and Brian Scott.

Lap 80 Harvick passes Busch for the lead

Lap 84 Stenhouse and Annett both pass Scott for 10^th and 11^th

Lap 87 Sadler passes Logano

Lap 88 Kahne passes Logano

Lap 89 Harvick leads Busch, Hamlin, Dillon, Hornish, Sadler, Kahne, Logano, Whitt and Stenhouse

Lap 98 Harvick leads Busch, Hamlin, Dillon, Hornish, Sadler, Kahne, Logano, Stenhouse Jr., Whitt

Lap 106 Stenhouse passes Logano for eighth

Lap 115 Caution as Jason Bowles spins off of turn two after contact from Robert Richardson. Danica Patrick gets the lucky dog……leaders pit…….Hamlin misses hit pit stall…..Harvick leads Busch off pit road

Lap 125 Restart as Harvick gets a good restart

Lap 129 Harvick leads Busch, Hornish, Sadler, Kahne, Dillon, Logano, Stenhouse, Whitt and Michael Annett

Lap 130 Sadler passes Hornish for third

Lap 131 Annett passes Whitt for ninth

Lap 138 Harvick leads Busch, Sadler, Hornish, Kahne, Stenhouse, Logano, Annett, Whitt and Dillon

Lap 140 Stenhouse passes Kahne for fifth

97 laps to go Harvick leads Busch, Sadler, Hornish, Stenhouse, Logano, Hamlin, Annett, Kahne and Blaney

96 to go Hamlin passes Logano for sixth

93 to go Annett passes Logano for seventh

91 to go Stenhouse passes Hornish for fourth

88 to go Harvick leads Busch, Sadler, Stenhouse, Hornish, Hamlin, Annett, Logano, Kahne and Blaney

84 to go Busch passes Harvick for the lead

71 to go Busch leads Harvick, Sadler, Stenhouse, Hamlin, Hornish, Annett, Blaney, Dillon and Steven Wallace

60 to go Allgaier hits pit road

54 to go Harvick pits

51 to go Sadler and Dillon pit

49 to go Travis Pastrana and James Buescher pits while Richardson takes her car behind the wall.

47 to go Busch pits, handing the lead over to Hamlin

44 to go Hamlin and Stenhouse pit, handing the lead to Annett.

42 to go Annett pits, handing over to Logano

36 to go Logano leads Keselowski, Harvick, Busch, Sadler, Hornish, Hamlin, Stenhouse, Dillon and Blaney

27 to go Keselowski pits

24 to go Busch leads Harvick, Sadler, Hamlin, Hornish, Stenhouse, Logano

12 to go Busch leads Hamlin, Harvick, Sadler, Hornish, Stenhouse, Blaney, Dillon, Annett, Kahne

9 to go Annett passes Dillon

6 to go Hornish and Stenhouse pass Sadler

Final Lap – Busch and Hamlin are side-by-side for the lead. They make contact but it’s Kurt Busch coming across the finish line first with Hamlin second, sliding sideways behind him.

[media-credit name=”Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”255″][/media-credit]Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won for the second time in 2012 on Friday night in Texas but in doing so he had to overcome everything Friday the 13th could throw at him.

From radio problems, to his tachometer acting up, even the lights going out on multiple occasions. Yet it wasn’t enough to slow him from leading 69 laps and capturing a cowboy hat to go with the cowboy personality, and boots, that he already has.

“It was back and forth,” said Stenhouse of his night. “The race started we were very strong, our Pure Michigan Mustang was doing everything that I needed it to do. Then we lost a little track position there on that restart and seemed like we really struggled, wasn’t sure if it wanted to be loose, tight, we were battling with it.”

Stenhouse credited crew chief Mike Kelley for making all the right changes, as well as keeping him calm. Knowing they had a fast car but unable to overtake Paul Menard during a stint of the race, Stenhouse was told to relax and they would continue working on it.

“Mike decided to go with no changes on that last pit stop, which I wasn’t fond of. But he knows what he’s doing, that’s why he gets paid to do that. That last restart, it was crazy man. I think I spent the whole five laps we had under caution just praying for a good restart and everything worked out for us.

“It was fun racing those guys. I had to drive in to turn three wide open Denny [Hamlin] was on the left rear of us and got us a little bit loose but we managed to hang on and pull it off.”

It’s the first win for Stenhouse at Texas, his fourth career and the ninth win for Roush Fenway at Texas. He’s only won at three tracks: sweeping Iowa last season, Las Vegas earlier this season and now Texas. He only won twice all of 2011.

Team owner Jack Roush said he felt it was harder to defend the championship than it was to win it for the first time. But the defending champions continue to improve and have become a force to be reckoned with at every track on any given weekend.

Friday night Stenhouse showed everyone that all the talk about Elliott Sadler being in the drivers seat for the championship was premature. And he did so by also showing everyone that even his weakest link, restarts, wasn’t enough to keep him down.

On nearly every restart Stenhouse started off slow, seemingly spinning the tires. But then after a lap or two he had his No. 6 wound up on the high side and he quickly reeled the leaders back in.

On the race’s last restart with six laps to go, Stenhouse was able to keep Hamlin side-by-side with him before once again pulling away as his car came to life. He went on to win by 1.4 seconds over Paul Menard.

“I feel like we have,” said Stenhouse about improving his restarts. “I think a big thing last year was confidence in restarts. If I had a bad one I would spend whole run and the whole next caution trying to think about what I needed to do different.

“I just go into it with a little bit more confidence this year about it. They seem to be a lot better. There’s still some things I need to work on as a racecar driver and I think restarts, the initial takeoff can be improved on. Once we get going I don’t know if there’s anybody that drives it harder than we do. So getting up through the gears, we’re getting a lot better at it.”

It wasn’t all hard work for Stenhouse and company on Friday. There were plenty of light moments on the radio as they battled with the likes of Menard and Hamlin. Spotter Mike Calinoff had Stenhouse look to the right during one caution period and wave because he was watching him on NASCAR’s FanVision.

Throughout the course of the event he and Calinoff also traded barbs about Sadler constantly being on the track’s big screen TV.

Stenhouse joking, “They must love Elliott Sadler, he’s always on that big screen over there. I hate looking at that.” Later on saying Sadler should have a desk set up in his car so he can be a TV analysis or a permanent in-race reporter.

Then after taking the lead for the final time with less than 20 laps to go Calinoff told Stenhouse, “clear by six [car lengths] and the 2 [Sadler], is not on TV.”

It was all in good fun though. Sadler and Stenhouse have set themselves up for a great championship battle over the course of the season. Each have won twice in the seasons first six races and sit first and second in points heading to Richmond in two weeks.

“I think we look at it,” said Stenhouse of the points. “Obviously ours was a very close race up until Phoenix there last year. We sat down this offseason and looked at how many points we gave up at the beginning of the year not finishing off the races as strong as we should. Or some pit calls that didn’t go our way and things like that.

“So we definitely have started looking at it and you just need to try to stay consistent. When you have those bad days at this point you got to keep the 2 [Sadler] in sight as much as you can and try to give up minimal points to him.

“We definitely look at it. That’s our main goal this year, to go back and defend that championship and I think you got to start looking at it as early as the first race.”

Unofficial Race Results
O’Reilly Auto Parts 300, Texas Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=6
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	3	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	47
2	1	33	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	0
3	8	38	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	0
4	2	18	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	0
5	4	3	Austin Dillon *	Chevrolet	40
6	30	27	David Ragan	Ford	0
7	16	31	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	37
8	17	7	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	36
9	18	43	Michael Annett	Ford	35
10	9	30	Steve Arpin	Chevrolet	34
11	14	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	33
12	5	2	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	33
13	7	88	Cole Whitt *	Chevrolet	31
14	20	5	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	0
15	12	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	0
16	10	44	Mike Bliss	Toyota	28
17	33	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	27
18	23	81	Jason Bowles *	Toyota	26
19	24	1	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	25
20	15	70	Johanna Long *	Chevrolet	24
21	21	108	Kyle Fowler	Ford	23
22	31	39	Kelly Bires	Ford	22
23	27	40	Erik Darnell	Chevrolet	21
24	42	14	Eric McClure	Toyota	20
25	28	19	Tayler Malsam	Toyota	19
26	40	50	T.J. Bell	Ford	18
27	38	52	Tim Schendel	Chevrolet	17
28	26	41	Timmy Hill	Ford	16
29	37	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	15
30	6	54	Kurt Busch	Toyota	0
31	25	4	Danny Efland	Chevrolet	13
32	19	9	Ryan Truex	Toyota	12
33	41	124	Benny Gordon *	Chevrolet	11
34	39	23	Robert Richardson Jr.	Chevrolet	10
35	13	22	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	0
36	29	15	Blake Koch	Chevrolet	8
37	11	11	Brian Scott	Toyota	7
38	34	175	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	0
39	36	46	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	5
40	32	42	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	0
41	35	47	Scott Speed	Chevrolet	0
42	43	174	Kevin Lepage	Chevrolet	2
43	22	10	Jeff Green	Toyota	1

[media-credit name=”Credit: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]Polesitter Joey Logano regained the race lead with 12 laps remaining in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Auto Club Speedway and held off Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for his first NNS win of the season.

“It’s good to be finally back in Victory Lane.  This is awesome to win here again.  We gave a couple away here lately and today we were able to capitalize on a car capable of winning.” Logano said.  “I forgot how much fun it was to do burnouts. It’s a lot of fun.”

This was Logano’s 10th career NNS win and also extended Joe Gibbs Racing’s streak of eight consecutive Nationwide Series victories at the speedway.

“It was a great day. It was a fun day. The race track was really racy. It’s just a bummer that we ended up two spots short, but I’ve got to thank all the guys for working hard on this.” Stenhouse Jr.said.

Brad Keselowski finished third, Brian Scott fourth and Austin Dillon finished fifth.

“On the last restart, it was just good racing. Joey and the guys just closed the deal out. I had a strong run all day, just needed a little more.” Keselowski said.

Series points leader Elliott Sadler finished ninth and now holds a 18 point lead in the standings over Stenhouse Jr.

Danica Patrick’s car picked up debris in the front grill, apparently puncturing her radiator and later causing the engine to seize. The team pushed her car to the garage and she finished 35th.

“It’s not a Chevy issue. It’s not a team issue. It’s just a bad luck issue, and unfortunately, I feel like we’ve been catching a fair amount of it at the beginning of the season.” Patrick said.

Starting Lineup
Royal Purple 300, Auto Club Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=5
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	18	Joey Logano	Toyota	178.984	40.227
2	31	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	177.196	40.633
3	22	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	177.109	40.653
4	3	Austin Dillon*	Chevrolet	176.926	40.695
5	2	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	176.904	40.7
6	9	Kenny Wallace	Toyota	176.255	40.85
7	11	Brian Scott	Toyota	176.108	40.884
8	33	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	176.091	40.888
9	60	Trevor Bayne	Ford	175.919	40.928
10	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	175.473	41.032
11	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	175.229	41.089
12	88	Cole Whitt*	Chevrolet	174.575	41.243
13	81	Jason Bowles*	Toyota	174.533	41.253
14	38	Brad Sweet	Chevrolet	174.419	41.28
15	54	Kyle Busch	Toyota	174.389	41.287
16	43	Michael Annett	Ford	173.934	41.395
17	30	James Buescher	Chevrolet	173.728	41.444
18	44	Mike Bliss	Toyota	173.444	41.512
19	1	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	173.348	41.535
20	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	173.243	41.56
21	7	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	172.981	41.623
22	19	Tayler Malsam	Toyota	172.331	41.78
23	47	Scott Speed	Chevrolet	172.171	41.819
24	41	Blake Koch	Chevrolet	171.973	41.867
25	14	Eric McClure	Toyota	171.371	42.014
26	10	Jeff Green	Toyota	171.306	42.03
27	50	T.J. Bell	Ford	171.274	42.038
28	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	170.94	42.12
29	108	Tim Andrews	Ford	170.887	42.133
30	42	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	170.394	42.255
31	40	Erik Darnell	Chevrolet	170.112	42.325
32	39	Joey Gase*	Ford	169.157	42.564
33	124	Benny Gordon*	Chevrolet	168.867	42.637
34	52	Tim Schendel	Chevrolet	167.011	43.111
35	23	Robert Richardson Jr.	Chevrolet	166.995	43.115
36	46	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	166.767	43.174
37	89	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	166.694	43.193
38	28	Kevin Lepage	Chevrolet	165.983	43.378
39	4	Daryl Harr	Chevrolet	165.453	43.517
40	70	David Green	Dodge	163.51	44.034
41	174	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	163.35	44.077
42	172	John Jackson	Toyota	163.188	44.121
43	15	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	–	–

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”276″][/media-credit]Ricky Stenhouse Jr. held off veteran driver Mark Martin by 4.785 seconds to win Saturday’s Nationwide Series Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Stenhouse Jr. led the final 54 laps in route to his first victory of the season.

“It was really cool. Looking at all the fans in the stands that came out was pretty cool before the race and to win here was fun. I got here Sunday, so I’ve been here a while and it paid off.” Stenhouse Jr. said.

Martin, making his first Nationwide Series race for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 18 Toyota led 44 laps and finished second.

“That was one serious beatdown he put on me that last run. I mean just a beatdown. I kept up with for a while and about wrecked five times, and that’s it. I’m not ashamed to say, it wasn’t even close.” Martin said.  “Thanks to Joe Gibbs and everybody at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Interstate Batteries. This Toyota was awesome and they were awesome. I needed to run a race to see if I could find a few things that maybe we could work on to improve.”

Polesitter and series points leader Elliott Sadler finished third after pitting for a vibration problem.

“We showed a lot of guts and effort today. We had a good race car and anytime you can go through what we did today and get a third-place finish, we’ve very happy with that.” Sadler said.

Sadler has a 15 point lead in the series standings over Austin Dillon.

Trevor Bayne finished fourth and Brendan Gaughan finished fifth.

“It’s good when you can say a top five is disappointing. We want to be in Victory Lane every week and there for a while I thought we had a shot at it. We just got too tight at the end when the sun went down, so it’s a decent run.” Bayne said.

Unofficial Race Results
Sam’s Town 300, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=3
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	–	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	48
2	–	18	Mark Martin	Toyota	0
3	–	2	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	42
4	–	60	Trevor Bayne	Ford	40
5	–	33	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	0
6	–	88	Cole Whitt *	Chevrolet	38
7	–	3	Austin Dillon *	Chevrolet	37
8	–	31	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	36
9	–	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	35
10	–	38	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	0
11	–	9	Kenny Wallace	Toyota	33
12	–	7	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	32
13	–	43	Michael Annett	Ford	31
14	–	30	James Buescher	Chevrolet	0
15	–	44	Mike Bliss	Toyota	29
16	–	19	Tayler Malsam	Toyota	28
17	–	1	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	28
18	–	41	Blake Koch	Ford	26
19	–	70	Johanna Long *	Chevrolet	25
20	–	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	24
21	–	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	23
22	–	89	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	22
23	–	22	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	0
24	–	23	Robert Richardson Jr.	Chevrolet	20
25	–	14	Eric McClure	Toyota	19
26	–	4	Daryl Harr	Chevrolet	18
27	–	81	Jason Bowles *	Toyota	17
28	–	108	Kyle Fowler	Ford	16
29	–	52	Tim Schendel	Chevrolet	15
30	–	124	Benny Gordon	Chevrolet	14
31	–	50	T.J. Bell	Ford	13
32	–	28	Derrike Cope	Dodge	12
33	–	54	Kyle Busch	Toyota	0
34	–	11	Brian Scott	Toyota	11
35	–	40	Erik Darnell	Chevrolet	9
36	–	113	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Dodge	0
37	–	39	Joey Gase *	Ford	7
38	–	27	J.J. Yeley	Ford	0
39	–	46	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	5
40	–	10	Jeff Green	Toyota	4
41	–	42	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	0
42	–	47	Scott Speed	Chevrolet	0
43	–	174	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	1

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”231″][/media-credit]Elliott Sadler played pit strategy on the final yellow flag of the day, thwarting a potential blowout victory for Kevin Harvick.

Harvick led the most laps, but decided to go with four tires on the final pit stop and was never able to get up and challenge the front contenders.

This is Sadler’s first NASCAR victory since winning the Pop Secret 500 back in 2004 when he drove the #38 M&M’s Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the Sprint Cup Series.  This is Sadler’s first Nationwide Series victory since the 1998 AcDelco 200 at Rockingham.

Brad Keselowski finished second, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished  third, Austin Dillon edged Kevin Harvick at the line to take the fourth position, so that rounded out the top-5.

“We just came up short there. Elliott was able to get by us there early in the run. Our car would kind of level back off to his after a few laps, but the first few laps we just couldn’t keep pace with him. They did a great job and my team did a great job.” Keselowski said.

“We just couldn’t get going on restarts. We would get down to turn one and it felt like we were on ice for 15 laps and then once we got going we were really fast. We have to get back to the shop and do our homework. It is pretty disappointing. We wanted to come here and win and felt this was a track we always have run well at, we just couldn’t get it done today.” Stenhouse said.

Sam Hornish Jr. failed to defend his win from last fall, he finished sixth. Hornish admitted later during the race that he struggled with brake issues all race long.

Trevor Bayne, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, and Michael Annett rounded out the top-10.

Hamlin started the race on pole and led some of the early laps, but spent most of the latter stages of the race following Kevin Harvick before Kasey Kahne took the second position. Kahne on the other hand got shuffled back during all of the pit strategy and unfortunately hit the wall off turn 2. He later fell down a lap and finished in 18th despite running in the top-5 for a majority of the event.

During a long green flag run, Kenny Wallace cut a right-front tire and ended his day on the 102nd lap. Wallace, who started the race in the third spot was looking to break his winless streak that dates back to the 2001 Sam’s Club 200 at Rockingham.

“Man, I tell you what — the right front tire blew out like a bomb. It started pushing about four laps before that and I was telling my guys it was starting to push bad.” Wallace said.

Danica Patrick finished the race 3 laps down in the 21st spot.

Congratulations to Elliott Sadler on an awesome win and we hope to see you guys tomorrow for the Subway Fresh Fit 500!

Unofficial Race Results
Bashas’ Supermarkets 200, Phoenix International Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=2
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	8	2	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	47
2	7	22	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	0
3	2	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	41
4	9	3	Austin Dillon *	Chevrolet	40
5	12	33	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	0
6	6	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	38
7	5	60	Trevor Bayne	Ford	38
8	10	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	0
9	1	18	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	0
10	21	43	Michael Annett	Ford	34
11	14	54	Kyle Busch	Toyota	0
12	25	30	James Buescher	Chevrolet	0
13	17	88	Cole Whitt *	Chevrolet	31
14	11	11	Brian Scott	Toyota	30
15	13	31	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	29
16	19	44	Mike Bliss	Toyota	28
17	22	108	Casey Roderick *	Ford	27
18	4	38	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	0
19	18	81	Jason Bowles *	Dodge	25
20	24	19	Tayler Malsam	Toyota	24
21	30	7	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	23
22	28	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	22
23	32	23	Jamie Dick	Chevrolet	21
24	15	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	20
25	31	39	Joey Gase *	Ford	19
26	36	40	Erik Darnell	Chevrolet	18
27	39	124	Benny Gordon	Chevrolet	17
28	37	14	Eric McClure	Toyota	16
29	41	50	T.J. Bell	Ford	15
30	38	52	Tim Schendel	Chevrolet	14
31	34	41	Blake Koch	Ford	13
32	23	1	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	12
33	40	4	Daryl Harr	Chevrolet	11
34	42	70	Charles Lewandoski	Chevrolet	10
35	35	28	David Green	Dodge	9
36	3	9	Kenny Wallace	Toyota	8
37	16	27	J.J. Yeley	Ford	0
38	29	89	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	6
39	43	174	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	5
40	33	42	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	0
41	26	46	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	3
42	20	47	Scott Speed	Chevrolet	0
43	27	10	Jeff Green	Toyota	1

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”245″][/media-credit]Denny Hamlin scored his third career pole here at the Phoenix International Raceway in the Nationwide Series and his fourth career front row start. He will start alongside defending NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Kenny Wallace shocked everyone and put his #09 car in the third place followed by the favorite to win the event, the #38 of Kasey Kahne. Trevor Bayne rounded out the Top 5 in fifth.

Sam Hornish Jr. looks to defend his Phoenix title from the 6th position. Brad Keselowski, Elliott Sadler, Austin Dillon, and Joey Logano rounded out the Top 10. Who is your favorite to win the race? I’m pulling for Sam Hornish Jr. I’ve been a fan of his since he began his career as an IRL racer.

Other notables include: Harvick (12th), Kyle Busch (14th), Yeley (16th), Buescher (25th), Danica (30th), Jennifer Jo Cobb (43rd).

Starting Lineup
Bashas’ Supermarkets 200, Phoenix International Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=2
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	18	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	132.979	27.072
2	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	132.92	27.084
3	9	Kenny Wallace	Toyota	132.885	27.091
4	38	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	132.768	27.115
5	60	Trevor Bayne	Ford	132.548	27.16
6	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	132.406	27.189
7	22	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	131.994	27.274
8	2	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	131.941	27.285
9	3	Austin Dillon*	Chevrolet	131.921	27.289
10	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	131.863	27.301
11	11	Brian Scott	Toyota	131.372	27.403
12	33	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	131.253	27.428
13	31	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	131.047	27.471
14	54	Kyle Busch	Toyota	130.544	27.577
15	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	130.473	27.592
16	27	J.J. Yeley	Ford	130.35	27.618
17	88	Cole Whitt*	Chevrolet	130.331	27.622
18	81	Jason Bowles*	Dodge	129.814	27.732
19	44	Mike Bliss	Toyota	129.613	27.775
20	47	Scott Speed	Chevrolet	129.52	27.795
21	43	Michael Annett	Ford	129.171	27.87
22	108	Casey Roderick*	Ford	128.935	27.921
23	1	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	128.843	27.941
24	19	Tayler Malsam	Toyota	128.797	27.951
25	30	James Buescher	Chevrolet	128.361	28.046
26	46	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	128.342	28.05
27	10	Jeff Green	Toyota	127.977	28.13
28	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	127.669	28.198
29	89	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	127.056	28.334
30	7	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	126.998	28.347
31	39	Joey Gase*	Ford	126.859	28.378
32	23	Jamie Dick	Chevrolet	126.725	28.408
33	42	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	126.712	28.411
34	41	Blake Koch	Ford	124.395	28.94
35	28	David Green	Dodge	123.809	29.077
36	40	Erik Darnell	Chevrolet	123.635	29.118
37	14	Eric McClure	Toyota	123.085	29.248
38	52	Tim Schendel	Chevrolet	121.155	29.714
39	124	Benny Gordon	Chevrolet	121	29.752
40	4	Daryl Harr	Chevrolet	118.839	30.293
41	50	T.J. Bell	Ford	118.033	30.5
42	70	Charles Lewandoski+	Chevrolet	115.972	31.042
43	174	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	120.886	29.78

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying will take place in about 15 minutes followed by the Nationwide race at 4PM ET. Stay tuned on ESPN2 or follow me on Twitter. http://www.twitter.com/SirRyanTheOHara