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Race Central NASCAR XFINITY Series news and information

  • Straight From The Glen: Saturday Wrap-Up

    Straight From The Glen: Saturday Wrap-Up

    [media-credit name=”Matt LaFlair” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]It was a day for the Busch brothers today here at Watkins Glen International. Two track records were broke today here at The Glen, both by drivers with the last name Busch.

    Kurt Busch had no intentions of running the NASCAR Nationwide Series Zippo 200 today, but when the doctor told Brad Keselowski to take a rest, he listened. Kurt got the call up from his team owner Roger Penske Wednesday Morning, and after he was called upon he delivered.

    Nationwide Qualifying

    Starting with NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying this morning, the Busch brothers dominated all on-track activities here at Watkins Glen International today. Kurt’s speed of 123.241 was good enough to take the top starting spot for this afternoon’s and paved the foundations of his win in the Zippo 200 here at The Glen. His lap also shattered the NASCAR Nationwide Series track record held by Marcos Ambrose. One-upped by Kurt by just one spot, Kyle laid down a lap good enough for him to also start on the front row in second.

    Sprint Cup Qualifying

    Making the quick switch over to their Cup cars, the Busch brothers continued their domination of today’s racing. Kyle, (not to be outdone by older bother Kurt) would etch his name in the history books by breaking the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying record.

    Kyle Busch’s lap of 1:09.767, the fastest qualifying time ever here at The Glen, was good enough to take pole position for the 220-mile race slated to go tomorrow at 1PM. His pole here at Watkins Glen marks his 8th of his career, and the first for him this season. The weather is not looking very cooperative at this point, but should the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen go green tomorrow; Kyle Busch will bring the field to the green flag.

    Zippo 200 – NASCAR Nationwide Series Race

    Sweeping the front row for the 17th Annual Zippo 200 at The Glen, the Busch brothers were less than willing to share the spotlight on Saturday afternoon.

    Kurt wasted no time in flexing his muscles, jumping out to a two-second lead over his bother by lap 6. Kyle grabbed the lead for one lap after Todd Gordon made the call to bring in the #22 Ruby Tuesday/Discount Tire Dodge Challenger into the pits on lap 9. Kyle, in turn would have to pit, returning the lead to his big bother Kurt on lap 10.

    The Busch brothers swapped the lead a total of seven times throughout the course of the 85 laps Saturday afternoon, but fuel mileage ended up determining who took home the trophy today here at The Glen.

    Kyle Busch gained the lead on lap 56, and if the last quarter of the race played out the way the first three quarters did, he would have surely been short on fuel to make it the rest of the way. Kurt stalked his brother for about 20 laps, but never really had enough to pass him in the later part of the race. The Penske team knew the No. 18 car was running short on fuel down the stretch, and the word came through that Kyle was trying to conserve for the end. The No. 22 team in-turn put the heat on the leader Kyle Busch, forcing him to burn more fuel to keep the lead.

    Kyle Busch would eventually bring his car down pit road around lap 76, relinquishing the lead to brother Kurt. Had Crew Chief Jason Ratcliff known that the caution flag would fly just 5 laps later, there’s little to no doubt that Kyle Busch would have remained on the track as the race leader.

    The caution flag did fly on lap 81, forcing a Green-White-Checkered finish. Kurt Busch got away clean on the second and final restart, with his brother Kyle, Jimmie Johnson, and Carl Edwards all trying to gain position enough to dive-bomb the eventual race-winner in Turn 1.

    Kurt Busch had this to say about the Green-White-Checkered finish: “I knew that it was going to be a good finish. On the restart at the end, all heck could have broken loose. I actually drove it in a little too deep; that right-front tire was cold. I just have to thank this crew for allowing me to step in, they were starting to call me “Buschlowski” because I was wearing Brad’s fire suit. Todd Gordon (crew chief) did an excellent job. This was a fast Dodge Challenger. I’m proud to drive it. Thanks to Ruby Tuesday, Discount Tire and Shell and Pennzoil for allowing me to come over here and have fun. It’s really neat to come over here and sit on the pole and win.”

    Teammate and regular driver of the No. 22 Ruby Tuesday/Discount Tire Dodge Challenger, Brad Keselowski was enthusiastic for his replacement in Gatorade Victory Lane “We left our driver debrief and talked about the Cup weekend at Pocono, I walked up to Kurt and said, ‘Hey Kurt, I think it would be cool if you drove my car this weekend. I just don’t think that I can pull it off.’ He was like a kid in a candy store. His face lit up and I knew that he wanted to drive this car. I knew how bad he wanted to win and I’m glad to see his hard work and passion for the team pay off with a victory.”

    Jimmie Johnson, driving for JR Motorsports brought his Jimmie Johnson’s Anything With an Engine Chevrolet home second, Joey Logano edged Kyle Busch out for third, and Carl Edwards rounded out the Top 5.

    The No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota lead more than half the laps here today at The Glen, but driver Kyle Busch declined to comment following the pit strategy that did not play out in his favor. Brother Kurt’s win marked his third title in just twelve starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at The Glen. It is also the 19th Sprint Cup driver in the 23 Nationwide Races with a ‘Sprint Cup Regular’ winner.

    It was a fantastic day here at The Glen and everyone here is praying to the rain gods to hold off so we can get the race in tomorrow. Stay tuned for more from Watkins Glen International…

  • Kurt Busch Snags Pole For NASCAR Nationwide Series’ Zippo 200

    Kurt Busch Snags Pole For NASCAR Nationwide Series’ Zippo 200

    It will be an all Busch front row today for the NASCAR Nationwide Series Zippo 200 this afternoon. Kurt Busch, filling in for a sore Brad Keselowski, was 4th quick in the only practice session yesterday for the Nationwide cars, but broke the track record in NASCAR Nationwide Series.

    [media-credit name=”Matt LaFlair” align=”alignright” width=”100″][/media-credit]qualifying here at Watkins Glen International this morning.

    Busch’s speed of 123.241 was good enough to take the top starting spot for this afternoon’s Zippo 200 here at The Glen. The previous track record has only held up for one year as Macos Ambrose set fast lap last year in his NASCAR Nationwide Series Car with a speed of 122.410.

    The top three qualifiers for this year’s Zippo 200 all were faster that Ambrose’s qualifying lap last year. The Busch brothers claimed the front row, with Carl Edwards starting third this afternoon.

    The rest of the top 10 are Elliot Sadler 4th, road course specialist Ron Fellows in 5th, Jimme Johnson driving for JR Motorsports in 6th, Paul Menard in 7th, Joey Logano in 8th, Jason Leffler in 9th, and James Buescher in 19th. Points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr will start 12th.

    Stay tuned throughout the day for more live updates from The Glen including, Sprint Cup Qualifying and Zippo 200 results!

    Starting Lineup
    Zippo 200 at the Glen, Watkins Glen International
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/qual.php?race=23
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 123.241 71.567
    2 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 122.97 71.725
    3 60 Carl Edwards Ford 122.628 71.925
    4 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 122.354 72.086
    5 5 Ron Fellows Chevrolet 122.288 72.125
    6 7 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 122.183 72.187
    7 33 Paul Menard Chevrolet 121.85 72.384
    8 20 Joey Logano Toyota 121.426 72.637
    9 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 121.391 72.658
    10 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 121.305 72.709
    11 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 120.9 72.953
    12 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 120.665 73.095
    13 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 120.619 73.123
    14 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 120.599 73.135
    15 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 120.263 73.339
    16 11 Brian Scott Toyota 119.956 73.527
    17 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 119.684 73.694
    18 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 119.682 73.695
    19 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 119.519 73.796
    20 153 Andrew Ranger Dodge 119.511 73.901
    21 167 J.R. Fitzpatrick Ford 119.502 73.806
    22 21 Tim George Jr. Chevrolet 118.95 74.149
    23 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 118.922 74.166
    24 39 Casey Roderick Ford 118.905 74.177
    25 23 Alex Kennedy Chevrolet 118.603 74.366
    26 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 118.536 74.408
    27 62 Michael Annett Toyota 118.526 74.414
    28 164 Jason Bowles Toyota 118.396 74.496
    29 113 T.J. Bell Dodge 118.105 74.679
    30 182 J.J. Yeley Dodge 117.992 74.751
    31 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 117.941 74.783
    32 15 Timmy Hill* Ford 117.905 74.806
    33 97 Kyle Kelley Chevrolet 117.617 74.989
    34 175 Chris Cook Ford 117.594 75.004
    35 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 117.429 75.109
    36 49 Mark Green Chevrolet 116.984 75.395
    37 81 Blake Koch* Dodge 116.8 75.514
    38 52 Dan Clarke Chevrolet 116.362 75.798
    39 40 Josh Wise+ Chevrolet 113.934 77.413
    40 89 Morgan Shepherd+ Chevrolet 113.277 77.862
    41 70 Dennis Setzer+ Dodge 110.733 79.651
    42 28 Derrike Cope+ Chevrolet – –
    43 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 116.787 75.522
  • Teammates Having at It: Edwards and Stenhouse Jr. Feud to a Fantastic Finish

    Teammates Having at It: Edwards and Stenhouse Jr. Feud to a Fantastic Finish

    Both say they’re going to stand their ground, one says the other is too aggressive.  No, it isn’t two rival drivers trading barbs. It’s Roush- Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Saturday night in Iowa it was Stenhouse who got the best of Edwards in a fantastic finish that had both drivers wrecking across the finish line when Stenhouse blew his engine coming to the checkered flag and Edwards slammed into the back of him sending them both spinning across the line.

    [media-credit name=”Rusty Jarrett, CIA Stock Photos” align=”alignright” width=”281″][/media-credit]A fitting end to a race where team owner Jack Roush said he saw plenty of opportunities for things to go horribly wrong.

    “Happily the tempers didn’t rise above the boiling point and everything was OK,” said Roush. “Carl is exactly where he should be as an elderly statesmen right now in this business and Ricky’s where he should be as a young guy with a lot of enthusiasm, motivation and anxious to make a name for himself.”

    Roush continued saying, “Ricky races pretty hard and Carl I’m sure sometimes wishes Ricky wouldn’t race him so hard. In five years Ricky will be in the same place Carl is today and there will be somebody else pushing him harder than he wants to be pushed.”

    Early in the event while racing for the lead the two traded paint as Edwards got into Stenhouse Jr. The young driver came over the radio and told his team that Edwards was “done when I get to him.” Cooler heads eventually prevailed, Edwards said they were even but the RFR competitiveness wasn’t done.

    With less than 25 laps to go the two blew by leader Elliott Sadler and went after each other again. Stenhouse held onto the lead and went on to win for the second time in his career. He also sweeps the Iowa events for 2011.

    “We both race really hard, doesn’t matter who it is,” said Stenhouse about his teammate. “At the same token we probably raced a little too hard. I felt like he ran us up the race track in turn four and got into us and then after that I was going to drive as hard as I could to get back by him and that’s why I didn’t cut him any slack passing him for the lead.”

    After finishing second to Edwards on a few different occasions already this season and letting a win get away at Lucas Oil Raceway last weekend after dominating, Stenhouse wasn’t about to let it happen again. According to him, Edwards has won his fair share of races and he [Stenhouse] wants to win a little more right now.

    It won’t come easy when Edwards is in the field; the two teammates are not seeing eye-to-eye. They also had contact last weekend, which they had to end up talking about. This week they’ll do the same.

    “Ricky and I are fine,” said Edwards. “Jack came over said this is exactly what’s supposed to be happening. You’re supposed to have a young guy that’s fast, that’s frustrating everyone because he’s too aggressive. That’s all that’s going on with Ricky, he’s really, really fast.”

    Edwards says Stenhouse got a little excited on Saturday and that he’s being over aggressive. Stenhouse admits that he gets frustrated but says it’s because he wants to win and knows his team is capable.

    While sometimes they have to rein him in during parts of the race, it hasn’t been too detrimental to the No. 6 team’s season. They currently lead the points with two win – more than any other NNS driver competing for the championship – and the most top fives of any other driver. Teammate or not, Stenhouse isn’t going to back down.

    “This is a business where you have to race people the way they race you and you have to stand your ground,” said Edwards. “Whether it’s your teammate or not, sometimes it’s not all roses.”

    It doesn’t have to be roses if it results in more finishes like Saturday night. It was almost like they didn’t even realize they had two wrecked racecars in their one-two finish.

  • Brad Keselowski Captures Unexpected Win at Lucas Oil Raceway

    Brad Keselowski Captures Unexpected Win at Lucas Oil Raceway

    [media-credit name=”Adam Lovelace” align=”alignright” width=”245″][/media-credit]After starting on the pole and leading 189 laps of the Kroger 200 Nationwide Series race at Lucas Oil Raceway Saturday night, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. could almost taste the win. But with Brad Keselowski in the picture nothing is certain.

    After a green-white-checkered restart, Keselowski wasted no time in overtaking leader Stenhouse Jr. and blasted across the finish line for his second win this season in the Nationwide Series.

    “It’s a very special win being from Michigan,” Keselowski said. “I’ve been coming to this race track for years. I’ve been to victory lane as a team guy and a mechanic but never a driver. It’s so special to win here and win here in a Dodge.”

    The majority of the race was tame with Roush Fenway Racing teammates, Stehnouse Jr. Carl Edwards and Trevor Bayne leading the pack.  Elliot Sadler who started the race in last position and rookie Austin Dillon were also looking strong as the race began winding down.

    The action became more heated towards the end of the race. Things began to go badly for Carl Edwards after a caution on lap 175 for a wreck involving Steve Wallace, Michael Annett and Tim Andrews. Edwards was penalized for exiting too fast off of pit road. He slowly worked his way back towards the front but the penalty cost him a shot at the win.

    Dillon did not pit and restarted the race in first position, followed by Stenhouse Jr., Bayne, Sadler and McDowell. But Dillon didn’t keep the lead long and was quickly passed by Stehnouse Jr. and Bayne advanced to second place.

    But with only twelve laps to go, Bayne suffered a blown engine, bringing out another caution.

    More chaos ensued when Justin Allgaier, who had made his way into the second position, had a brake fire which forced him off the track.

    Because the drivers had already lined up for the restart, the NASCAR rule which states that drivers must stay in their lanes, went into effect.

    This moved Brad Keselowski, who had been behind Allagaier in fourth, up to the second position.

    Keselowski, who had been mid-pack for much of the race, was now in a position to make something happen.

    On the restart, Keselowski quickly made his move, forcing Stenhouse Jr. high and taking the lead.

    The race was under green for only two laps when Elliot Sadler spun out, collecting his teammate Austin Dillon, and ending their hopes for a top five finish.

    Finally, on lap 202, the race was underway again but Keselowski held onto the lead to capture the victory.

    After the race, Stenhouse Jr. was obviously disappointed saying, “It’s frustrating. I’ve been working on my restarts all year, but it got us tonight. Our car was pretty fast, but you couldn’t say it was dominant since we didn’t win the race.”

    However, Keselowski gave Stenhouse Jr. credit for having the car to beat.

    “I had a great short-run car that could give Ricky a run for his money.  If the race was two or three laps longer, I’m sure Ricky would have drove around us.”

    James Buescher finished in second place with Stenhouse Jr., Aric Almirola and Carl Edwards rounding out the top five.

    Stenhouse Jr. leads the points standings in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, followed by Reed Sorenson, Elliot Sadler, Justin Allgaier and Aric Almirola.

  • Keselowski wins final Nationwide race at Lucas Oil Raceway

    Keselowski wins final Nationwide race at Lucas Oil Raceway

    The last race for the NASCAR Nationwide Series at the Lucas Oil Raceway started off looking like Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was going to stink up the show and lead the entire race.

    [media-credit name=”Adam Lovelace” align=”alignright” width=”244″][/media-credit]Stenhouse Jr. started from the pole and lead 189 laps of the scheduled 200 lap race. In fact, a majority of the race was lead by the three Roush Fenway Racing cars of Stenhouse Jr, Trevor Bayne, and Carl Edwards as they all ran  in the top five most of the night.

    The first accident of the night occurred on lap 177 when the 40 car of Tim Andrews and the 62 of Michael Annett spun into the turn three and four wall. Steve Wallace entered turn three at full speed and hit his teammate, Annett hard. Wallace then slammed into the car of Andrews which was also stopped on the track.

    The caution flew again for Trevor Bayne’s blown motor on lap 190, setting up a 10 lap shootout to the finish. Keselowski took the lead from Stenhouse with seven laps to go in the race.

    The caution flew again a few laps later for a wreck involving Elliott Sadler after he and Stenhouse got together battling for second place.

    The ensuing caution set up a green, white, checker finish. Keselowski got his second win of the year in the Nationwide series.

    James Buescher finished second to Keselowski followed by Stenhouse, Aric Almirola, and Carl Edwards rounding out the top five.

    Stenhouse is the points leader followed by Reed Sorenson and Elliott Sadler.

  • Keselowski wins the NNS race at Lucas Oil Raceway

    Keselowski wins the NNS race at Lucas Oil Raceway

    Brad Keselowski won a side-by-side, bumping and grinding battle with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the final laps of Saturday nights NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Lucas Oil Raceway and made the pass with a handful of laps remaining.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]But a late spin by Elliott Sadler setup a green-white-checkers restart. Keselowski was able to hold off James Buescher and Stenhouse Jr. to win the final NNS race at the speedway.

    “We ended up restarting in second position on the outside lane and I knew that if I could get around the 6 car that we had a shot at the win. I had a great short-run car that could give Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) a run for his money. If the race was two of three laps longer, I’m sure Ricky would have drove around us. Our Discount Tire Dodge Challenger was great on the short run. It’s great to get back to victory lane again.” Keselowski said.

    Stenhouse Jr. led 188 laps and dominated the night until lap 188 after a yellow flag came out when Trevor Bayne blew an engine. Stenhouse Jr. took the inside on the restart which allowed Keselowski to first battle on the outside and then bump and grind his way by on the inside.

    “I just knew that I needed to get a good restart. He still beat me. We drove into 1 and 2 and he had a great run, he was clearing me. So I crossed back over, got back to the bottom and raced him into 3. The next thing I knew I was in the lead.” Keselowski said.

    On lap 175, Tim Andrews, Michael Annett and Steve Wallace were involved in a hard crash between turns three and four. Andrews and Annett both were stopped at the outside wall and Wallace spun coming out of four and hit teammate Annett with the back of his car, spinning it around in the air and then into Andrews’ car. This brought out a 12 minute red flag condition for track cleanup.

    “I got loose there underneath the 40 (Tim Andrews) — I think we were lapping him for about the 10th time tonight.” Annett said.  “I was probably over aggressive on my part, but it’s just a shame to tear up a good race car — actually two Rusty Wallace Racing cars. I heard Steven I guess got jacked up from behind slowing up for the wreck when the guy behind him didn’t see it and tore us both up. Just a shame, but we have Iowa next weekend and that’s a big one for us.”

    “I got in the brakes and the care got sideways. It just slid all the way through the corner and there was nothing I could do except try to nail it to accelerate away from Michael (Annett). It was just one of those racing deals. I hate it for both of our cars. Both of our cars were running good and we were getting better. It’s just one of those things.” Wallace said.

    On lap 193, Justin Allgaier’s car caught on fire while driving around under caution. Allgaier has to take his flaming car behind pit wall and Reed Sorenson’s crew quickly pulled him out. He finished 27th.

    Sadler started 42nd and worked his way through the field. But on lap 198 while battling for third spot be lost control and spun between turns three and four, collecting his Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate Austin Dillon. What could have been a top-5 finish for Sadler, ends up being 16th.

    Stenhouse Jr. moved into the series points lead by 4 points over Reed Sorenson.

    The series heads to Iowa Speedway for the U.S. Cellular 250 presented by the Enlist Weed Control System on August 6th.

  • Edwards wins at Nashville, Sorenson takes over series points lead

    Edwards wins at Nashville, Sorenson takes over series points lead

    Brad Keselowski started on the pole for the Federated Auto Parts 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the Nashville Superspeedway, with Steven Wallace alongside him. As they completed the first lap, Keselowski blasted away to a big lead over second place Carl Edwards. Keselowski would hold that lead for the first 58 laps until Edwards squeezed by.

    [media-credit name=”Joe Dunn” align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]Edwards would hold onto a strong lead through lap 82 as a caution flag flew for debris in turn 3. As the leaders headed down pit road Elliott Sadler and Austin Dillon would both opt for two tires as opposed to the leaders taking on four. Sadler would take the lead off pit road, just ahead of Edwards, but a speeding penalty entering pit road would send Edwards to the rear of the field. Sadler’s lead would be short lives as Keselowski took it back 2 laps later.

    As the laps wound down Keselowski radioed to his crew that there was a problem with the car. By lap 117 Dillon would overtake Keselowski for the lead, but Edwards had been charging forward fast and four laps later, the #60 Ford of Edwards would retake the lead. The second caution of the night would fly on lap 129 as Mikey Kyle (30) and Brian Scott (11) made contact on the backstretch, sending Kyle spinning through the infield. The race would go green again on lap 134 with Edwards holding onto the lead. That was until the third caution period of the night which came on lap 178 for debris on the backstretch.

    Coming off the third caution, Austin Dillon would take the lead away from Edwards. But Dillon’s reign would be short lived as just 5 laps later Edwards would slip by, retaking the lead for the final time. The win was Carl’s 34th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and his fifth win at Nashville Superspeedway. The win is also Edwards his fifth of the 2011 season.

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Edward’s teammate would finish second, followed by Austin Dillon, Justin Allgaier, Aric Almirola (5th), Sam Hornish Jr., Drew Herring, Reed Sorenson, Trevor Bayne and Kenny Wallace rounding out the top 10.

    Edwards led the most laps (124) followed by Keselowski (89) Dillon (9) and Elliott Sadler (3). Sadler fell out of the points lead after a reported broken axle sent the #2 Chevrolet to the garage for 15 laps, finishing 30th. Sorenson’s 8th place finish vaulted him to the points lead with Stenhouse second and Sadler falling back to third.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Federated Auto Parts 300, Nashville Superspeedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=20
    =========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 3 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0
    2 6 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 42
    3 4 33 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 0
    4 16 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 40
    5 12 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 39
    6 8 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 38
    7 17 18 Drew Herring Toyota 37
    8 11 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 36
    9 7 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 35
    10 9 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 34
    11 2 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 33
    12 1 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    13 14 87 Scott Wimmer Toyota 31
    14 15 62 Michael Annett Toyota 30
    15 19 30 Mikey Kile Chevrolet 29
    16 23 70 David Stremme Chevrolet 0
    17 10 11 Brian Scott Toyota 27
    18 13 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 26
    19 21 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 25
    20 20 7 Josh Wise Chevrolet 24
    21 27 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 23
    22 22 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 22
    23 32 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 21
    24 18 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 20
    25 24 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 19
    26 26 39 Danny Efland Ford 18
    27 29 81 Blake Koch * Dodge 17
    28 35 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 16
    29 40 113 Jennifer Jo Cobb * Dodge 15
    30 5 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 15
    31 28 40 Chase Miller Chevrolet 13
    32 42 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 12
    33 34 141 Carl Long Ford 11
    34 41 23 Dennis Setzer Dodge 10
    35 33 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 9
    36 31 175 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 8
    37 36 171 Matthew Carter Ford 7
    38 43 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 6
    39 25 142 Tim Andrews Chevrolet 5
    40 38 49 Mark Green Chevrolet 4
    41 30 147 Charles Lewandoski * Chevrolet 3
    42 37 104 Danny O’Quinn Jr. Ford 2
    43 39 103 Marc Davis Chevrolet 1
  • Kyle Busch Marks 100th Victory in All Three Series With 49th Nationwide Win

    Kyle Busch Marks 100th Victory in All Three Series With 49th Nationwide Win

    Kyle Busch not only won the New England 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but he also tied Mark Martin as the record holder for Nationwide wins at 49. And for good measure, Busch became just the third driver to score 100 NASCAR national series victories.

    [media-credit name=”Kirk Schroll” align=”alignright” width=”227″][/media-credit]The 26 year old driver from Las Vegas, Nevada has won 22 times in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, 49 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and 29 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Busch is now third in the ranking of NASCAR National Series wins, behind Richard Petty, with 200, and David Person with 106.

    Busch has won at 25 different tracks, including achieving an historic first three-race weekend sweep at Bristol. He is ranked 28th with Terry Labonte in NASCAR Sprint Cup victories.

    “It certainly feels good and it means a lot,” Busch said. “To come out here and win for Z-Line Designs and get the 49th win in their car, we couldn’t do it without their support.”

    “To tie Mark Martin’s win is pretty awesome as well.”

    Speaking of Mark Martin, he was one of the first to find Busch in Victory Lane and congratulate him.

    “It’s just incredible,” Martin said of Busch tying his record. “Everybody forgets that he’s 26 years old. There’s so many more out there for him.”

    Busch had to do battle with his nemesis and probation partner Kevin Harvick, behind the wheel of the No. 33 Rheem Heating, Cooling and Water Heating Chevrolet, at the end of the race. Harvick finished in the runner up position and attributed his not winning the race to being warned by NASCAR.

    “I was told a few weeks ago that if we touched the 18 car, we’d be parked,” Harvick said. “I just had to be really careful and that’s just the way NASCAR put it to me.”

    “It would have been a lot easier to win if you didn’t have handcuffs put on you.”

    Even though Harvick did not win the race, he, like Busch, achieved his own record when the checkered flag flew. Harvick scored his 199th top-10 finish, which is an all-time record in the Nationwide Series.

    “We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of fun in this Series since it first started,” Harvick said. “I just came up one short.”

    Kasey Kahne, driving the No. 7 GoDaddy.com/Verisign Chevrolet, followed closely behind Harvick, coming in third. This was Kahne’s third top-10 finish in four races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    “We were a seventh or eighth place car,” Kahne said. “My car was bouncing pretty bad throughout the race. But we were able to miss some of those wrecks and got up to third.”

    “It ended up being a pretty good result.”

    After spinning on Lap 33, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. recovered to come in fourth. The driver of the No. 6 Fenway Park 100 Years Ford admitted to having a pretty good run after his early error.

    “I made a mistake there early trying to get by the 31,” Stenhouse, Jr. said. “He was holding everybody up and I tried to push the issue too hard.”

    “We got in there and got too tight and spun the car around there,” Stenhouse, Jr. continued. “This Red Sox Fenway Park 100 Year’s edition is a cool looking car and I wish we could have gotten it into victory lane.”

    Aric Almirola, behind the wheel of No. 88 Grand Touring Vodka Chevrolet, rounded out the top five.

    “We were a top ten car off the truck so to come out with a top five has been good,” Almirola said. “Everybody at JR Motorsports has been working their guts out.”

    “So, it’s fun to come and have a good weekend and put it all together and show off some of the hard work the guys have been doing back at the shop.”

    There was plenty of action throughout the race, from Carl Edwards blowing an engine and returning to his seat in the broadcast booth to several on-track altercations involving Rusty Wallace’s son and driver Steve Wallace.

    The driver of the No. 60 Fastenal Ford Mustang blamed a broken value or broken valve spring on his falling out of the race.

    “Something just broke,” Edwards said. “You don’t really know until you get it apart but I did shut it off early so we should be able to troubleshoot and look at it to see what was actually broken.”

    Steve Wallace, driver of the No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry, also had an eventful race, but in a different way than Edwards. He was at the heart of several racing incidents and eventually spun out and wrecked at the end.

    “I really like Jason Leffler a lot – I get along with him really, really well,” Wallace said of one of his altercations. “He hit me about five or six different times today and he cut up in front of me and spun himself out.”

    “It’s as simple as that,” Wallace continued. “Got in the back of the 20 (Joey Logano) there and just a lot of things happened today – some were my fault and some were not.”

    Joey Logano, one of those who was caught up with Wallace in one of the incidents, had his own take on the on-track tussle.

    “The 66 (Steve Wallace) just drove in there a little too high and got us,” Logano said. “That was the end of our day.

     

    Unofficial Race Results
    New England 200, New Hampshire Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=19
    =========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 5 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    2 2 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0
    3 12 7 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0
    4 14 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 41
    5 4 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 39
    6 13 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 39
    7 18 62 Michael Annett Toyota 37
    8 1 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    9 17 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 35
    10 8 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 34
    11 16 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 33
    12 15 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 32
    13 7 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 32
    14 20 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 30
    15 6 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 29
    16 19 30 Mikey Kile Chevrolet 28
    17 9 11 Brian Scott Toyota 27
    18 25 81 Blake Koch * Dodge 26
    19 26 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 25
    20 23 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 24
    21 27 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 23
    22 28 40 Charles Lewandoski * Chevrolet 22
    23 24 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 21
    24 36 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 20
    25 39 44 Angela Cope Chevrolet 0
    26 35 39 Matt Frahm Ford 18
    27 22 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 17
    28 21 167 Andrew Ranger Ford 0
    29 3 20 Joey Logano Toyota 0
    30 11 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 14
    31 31 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 13
    32 34 70 Dennis Setzer Dodge 12
    33 30 23 David Green Chevrolet 11
    34 10 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0
    35 42 113 Jennifer Jo Cobb * Dodge 9
    36 40 141 Carl Long Ford 8
    37 29 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 7
    38 38 175 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 6
    39 33 146 Chase Miller Chevrolet 5
    40 41 104 Danny Efland Ford 4
    41 32 142 Tim Andrews Chevrolet 0
    42 37 147 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 2
  • Keselowski’s Fuel Outlasts Harvick’s

    Keselowski’s Fuel Outlasts Harvick’s

    Brad Keselowski dominated the Feed the Children 300 at the Kentucky Motor Speedway leading 132 of 200 laps. His closest challenger, Kevin Harvick had an apparent miscue from his crew chief that cost him valuable time as there was some confusion as to whether Harvick was stopping for fuel in the final 10 laps. As Harvick slowed, Keselowski pulled away further even though Harvick’s crew chief called off the stop. That allowed Keselowski to conserve fuel more. The final 61 laps were run under green flag conditions.

    Harvick finished second was said he thought that his car was great but there needed to be better communication from on top of the box. Kyle Busch finished in third after starting the field in 43rd as a result of him crashing during his qualifying effort.  Busch was followed by Kasey Kahne who drove the JR Motorsport No. 7 Go Daddy car, his first time in that Chevrolet. Pole-sitter Elliot Sadler finished 5th and left Kentucky with the points lead even though he struggled at times during the race to get into the top 10.

     

    Busch said about his night, ” I screwed up qualifying today and ‘fenced’ the NOS Energy Drink Camry.  But, we had another one in the truck.  The guys did a great job putting it together and getting it ready and just in time.  Probably didn’t have as much time as they would have liked to have spent on it, but all in all we gave it the best we had.  Probably was going to be about a fifth or sixth before all the fuel exchanges and everything going on there at the end.  Thank all the guys.  They did a great one for me tonight. ”

    The win was Keselowski’s 13th in the series. One thing that was overheard in the media center was Keselowski explaining that his beer was better than Harvick’s. Both run in Saturday’s 400 mile race .

    “This car was awesome. The boys at Penske Racing spent some extra hours on it and it feels good. I think we got more in the hopper. To see this team start coming along feels great.

     

    “The guys at Discount Tire have been behind me, supporting me. They made this program possible so we could win the championship last year. (We) got banned from it this year, so now we’re just out here having fun.

     

    “If you keep doing the right things long enough, you will be rewarded and today was a day of reward. I can’t wait to see a bunch of the Discount Tire guys this week bring them home a trophy,” Keselowski said.

    [media-credit id=12 align=”alignright” width=”240″][/media-credit]

  • Joey Logano Goes From Spinning to Winning the Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona

    Joey Logano Goes From Spinning to Winning the Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona

    Joey Logano finally found victory lane in a restrictor plate race after being the man who pushed the eventual winners the last few plate races. His victory in the 10th annual Subway Jalapeño 250 at Daytona International Speedway came after a wild race in which he had to start in the rear of the field.

    The green flag flew Friday night over four Kevin Harvick Inc. cars who qualified in the first four positions. The race though wasn’t about big packs as it quickly became a race of two-by-two with drivers finding partners and pairing up.

    It took only 27 laps for the first caution to come out as Logano spun in turn three following the first bump drafting gone bad incident of the night. He would restart at the rear of the field after pitting before pit road was open, Logano would also have to battle back from a loose wheel.

    Throughout the middle portion of the race an interesting leader emerged. Working with Tony Stewart the bright green No. 7 of Danica Patrick repeatedly found her way to the front of the field. Patrick led the field on five different occasions for 13 laps.

    The second caution

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”254″][/media-credit]of the night flew after Ricky Carmichael lost a left rear tire and hit the backstretch wall. Carmichael would be done for the evening but Danny Efland who also spun was able to continue on.

     

    In what is quickly becoming a trend this season, Kenny Wallace became the newest driver penalized for changing lanes before the start/finish line. Wallace would serve a pass through penalty but recovered for a seventh place finish.

    The third caution of the night came from a hard hit by Eric McClure. Drafting with his teammate Mike Bliss, McClure was hooked heading into turn one and hit the wall head on. McClure was taken to a local hospital for tests but is said to be doing fine.

    As drivers like Patrick, Stewart and others flexed their muscles, a driver who could have been a contender for the win wouldn’t be around to see it. With less than 25 laps to go Clint Bowyer was hooked by his team owner/teammate Kevin Harvick, sending him head on into the backstretch wall. His race was done for the evening.

    As the race for the win started to heat up the sixth and final caution of the night gave everyone a breather after teammates Joe Nemechek and Kevin Conway scraped the turn three wall. It would set up a seven-lap fight to the finish.

    Sadler and Stewart would lead on the restart but with five laps to go it was Patrick back out in front with her drafting partner Aric Almirola. Looking to pull off an improbable win, Patrick and Almirola started driving away but were swallowed up by the field with three laps to go.

    As the white flag flew though it would be the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Logano and Kyle Busch who charged through the field. Logano and Busch fought to the checkered flag with the Turner Motorsports teammates of Jason Leffler and Reed Sorenson jumping in between. Logano held off Leffler, Sorenson and Busch for his ninth career Nationwide Series win.

    But behind him carnage was breaking out. Patrick, Stewart, Steven Wallace, Mike Wallace and others wrecked coming to the finish line. All would be OK but lost their top five finishes.

    The night though, belonged to Joey Logano and the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Logano captured his first win of the 2011 season and his first at Daytona. He only led one lap. Reed Sorenson remains the point leader as his lead increased over Elliott Sadler. Sorenson also captured an extra $100,000 in the “Dash 4 Cash” program.