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  • Byron, Hendrick Motorsports scheduled for final Xfinity start of 2024 at Watkins Glen

    Byron, Hendrick Motorsports scheduled for final Xfinity start of 2024 at Watkins Glen

    The No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry from Hendrick Motorsports is scheduled to make its 10th and final appearance of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season this upcoming weekend at Watkins Glen International for the Mission 200 at The Glen with the reigning Daytona 500 champion William Byron at the helm of the wheel for the event.

    This past February, Hendrick Motorsports revealed its 10-race Xfinity Series schedule for its No. 17 “all-star” entry, which marked an increase to the organization’s third part-time campaign in the series after campaigning in four events in 2022 before returning for six in 2023. The 10-race schedule to the 2024 season featured all four of Hendrick’s Cup Series stars (Alex Bowman, William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson) and road-course ringer Boris Said each taking turns pilot the No. 17 car at least once. Throughout the schedule, Brandon McSwain, the lead engineer of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry in the Cup Series piloted by Byron, worked as the No. 17 entry’s crew chief in four events Byron competed in while former Xfinity championship-winning crew chief Greg Ives returned to work with the rest of the organization’s “all-star” lineup in the remaining six events.

    Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro entry commenced the 2024 season at Phoenix Raceway in early March, where Byron finished in 23rd place after he scraped the backstretch’s outside wall while trying to dodge a late multi-car wreck.

    Then two weeks later, Kyle Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion, capitalized on a last-lap tussle involving rookie Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill amid two overtime shootouts to steer the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet entry to its first victory in the Xfinity Series at Circuit of the Americas. The victory occurred after Larson had pitted for fresh tires during a late-caution period prior to the overtime shootouts and was able to quickly weave his way to the front after restarting in 21st place. It also occurred after the Elk Grove, California, native started at the rear of the field due to his crew replacing a cracked brake rotor to the entry. With the victory, Larson recorded Hendrick Motorsports’ first Xfinity victory since Tony Stewart made the last accomplishment at Daytona International Speedway in 2009 and the organization’s first on a road course venue in the series.

    Two months later, Byron would finish in 11th place in his second start of the 2024 season at Darlington Raceway before Chase Elliott drove the No. 17 entry to his first Xfinity victory of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway during Memorial Day weekend. Elliott’s Charlotte victory occurred after the 2020 Cup Series champion methodically drove his way from his 30th-starting spot and utilized pit strategy to lead the final 18 laps and beating runner-up Brandon Jones by half a second to notch his sixth career victory in the series and his first since winning the 2016 opener at Daytona. The victory marked a special moment for both Elliott and crew chief Greg Ives, both of whom won the Xfinity title with JR Motorsports in 2014, as the duo notched Hendrick Motorsports’ fifth series’ victory at Charlotte and the first since Kyle Busch made the last accomplishment in 2005. To date, Elliott also notched the 25th Xfinity career victory for Hendrick Motorsports.

    Two races later, Boris Said settled in 28th place at Sonoma Raceway after he started at the rear of the field in a backup car and was collected in a late multi-car wreck. Alex Bowman would then make his only Xfinity start of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway two races later, where he finished ninth, before Larson recorded a strong third-place run at the Chicago Street Course in early July after leading 12 laps. The Chicago event would mark Larson’s second and final Xfinity start of the 2024 season.

    A week later, Byron steered the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet entry to a third-place result at Pocono Raceway. Recently, Elliott finished fourth in his second and final Xfinity start of the 2024 season at Darlington Raceway.

    Through nine starts this season, Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 17 Chevrolet entry notched two victories, five top-five results and six top-10 results. To go along with the pair of victories at Circuit of the Americas and Charlotte, the top-five and top-10 results recorded for the entry are more than the entry’s previous recordings over the previous two seasons with an expanded schedule. In total, Hendrick Motorsports has notched 11 top-five results, including the two victories, and 13 top-10 results in 19 on-track appearances.

    For Byron, this upcoming weekend will mark his third Xfinity career start at Watkins Glen International, with his best series’ result being a 10th place run during his championship season in 2017. The Charlotte native will also strive for redemption at this course after he nearly won at The Glen in 2022, where he started on pole position, led a race-high 35 of 82 laps and was battling for the victory during a five-lap shootout until contact with Ty Gibbs sent both spinning through the Inner Loop turn. Byron would continue and settle in 25th place as Larson, who was piloting a HendrickCars.com-sponsored entry for JR Motorsports, would proceed to win the race.

    Byron and the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro team from Hendrick Motorsports are scheduled to compete in the upcoming Mission 200 at The Glen for a final pursuit of a checkered flag in 2024. The event is scheduled to occur this upcoming Saturday, September 14, and air at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Hendrick Motorsports returns the No. 17 entry for an expanded Xfinity schedule in 2024

    Hendrick Motorsports returns the No. 17 entry for an expanded Xfinity schedule in 2024

    Hendrick Motorsports will be fielding the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro entry sponsored by HendrickCars.com for 10 NASCAR Xfinity Series events, an increase from the previous two seasons, featuring five accomplished competitors throughout the 2024 season.

    William Byron, the 2024 Daytona 500 champion, will first field the HMS No. 17 “all-star” entry at Phoenix Raceway on March 9. He will also compete at Darlington Raceway on May 11, Pocono Raceway on July 13 and conclude the entry’s 10-race program by competing at Watkins Glen International on September 14.

    During Byron’s four-race Xfinity slate, Brandon McSwain, a lead engineer for Byron and the No. 24 HMS team in the Cup Series who graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a mechanical engineering degree, will also serve as Byron’s Xfinity crew chief.

    Kyle Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion, will return to pilot the No. 17 HendrickCars.com entry at Circuit of the Americas on March 23 and at the Chicago Street Course on July 6 while Chase Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion, will compete at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 25 and at Darlington Raceway on August 31.

    Lastly, Alex Bowman, a three-time Daytona 500 pole winner, will make his lone Xfinity start of the season in the No. 17 entry at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 22 while Boris Said, an accomplished road-course ringer with victories in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, will return to compete at Sonoma Raceway on June 8. Said, a former champion of the Rolex Sports Car Series GT Class, with a single victory across the Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series, is also a partner at Hendrick Automotive Group’s BMW of Murrieta in Murrieta, California.

    For the events where Bowman, Elliott, Larson and Said pilot the No. 17 entry (six races total), Greg Ives, the 2014 Xfinity Series championship-winning crew chief with 10 Cup Series victories, will return to call the shots atop the No. 17 pit box.

    “The No. 17 is a big part of our story, and it would be special to see it win – and win often – during our 40th anniversary season,” Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports and chairman and CEO of Hendrick Automotive Group, said. “The sponsorship has been a big success for HendrickCars.com and our dealerships, and we’re pleased to add more races and take it to another level in 2024. It’s victory lane or bust.”

    Hendrick Motorsports first fielded the No. 17 HendrickCars.com entry in four Xfinity events in 2022, where Bowman, Byron and Larson contributed to a combined two poles, three top-five results and 71 laps led. The entry returned for six events in 2023, where Bowman, Byron, Rajah Caruth, Elliott and Larson contributed to a single pole, three top-three results, four top-10 results and 68 laps led.

    Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry is set to make its first start of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season with William Byron at Phoenix Raceway for the Call 811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200 on March 9. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to commence at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Hendrick Motorsports adds Boris Said, Rajah Caruth to Xfinity Series lineup for Charlotte Roval, Phoenix

    Hendrick Motorsports adds Boris Said, Rajah Caruth to Xfinity Series lineup for Charlotte Roval, Phoenix

    Hendrick Motorsports will be fielding the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry for two additional NASCAR Xfinity Series events in the closing stretches of the 2023 season as Boris Said and Rajah Caruth will be taking turns piloting the entry.

    As part of the entry’s two-race feature, Said will be piloting HMS’ No. 17 entry at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on October 7 while Caruth will be driving the car at Phoenix Raceway on November 4 to cap off the 2023 Xfinity Series season.

    The news comes as Hendrick Motorsports is coming off its milestone 300th career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series after Playoff contender William Byron won at Texas Motor Speedway, which also locks him and the No. 24 HMS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team a spot into the Round of 8 as they pursue their quest to win the 2023 Cup title.

    Said, a 61-year-old veteran from New York City, is a well-accomplished sports car racer, having achieved two-time 24 Hours of Daytona class winner along with being the 1998 12 Hours of Sebring class winner and the 2004 Rolex Sports Car Series GT Class champion. He also became the first American to win the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 2005.

    In addition to his sports car accomplishments, Said has made a total of 149 career starts across NASCAR’s top three national touring series, 29 of which occurred in the Xfinity Series. He achieved his first and only recorded Xfinity victory to date at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2010 after edging road-ringer Max Papis in a photo finish while driving for RAB Racing. Coupled with a total of two poles, seven top-five results and nine top-10 results, Said’s latest Xfinity start occurred at Circuit of the Americas for MBM Motorsports in 2021.

    Meanwhile, Caruth, a 21-year-old native from Atlanta, Georgia, is currently competing as a full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor for GMS Racing, which marks his first full-time campaign within NASCAR’s top three national touring series. Through 20-scheduled starts, Caruth has achieved three top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 19.3 as he is ranked in 17th place in the driver’s standings.

    In addition to his full-time Truck campaign and previous full-time stint in the ARCA Menards Series for Rev Racing in 2022, Caruth has also made a total of 15 Xfinity Series starts to date, eight of which occurred this season but all with Alpha Prime Racing. His best on-track result to date is a 12th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway last October. He has also recorded a total of five top-20 results in the series.

    The addition of Said and Caruth to Hendrick Motorsports’ Xfinity Series program will make them the fifth and sixth competitors, respectively, to pilot the team’s No. 17 entry throughout the 2023 season.

    The No. 17 HendrickCars.com entry made a total of five appearances this season with HMS’ Cup Series drivers Alex Bowman, William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson piloting the entry while Greg Ives and Kevin Meendering served as crew chiefs. The entry’s best on-track result this season is a runner-up result at Circuit of the Americas in March with Byron driving. The entry proceeded to finish third at Sonoma Raceway with Larson, third at Pocono Raceway with Elliott, ninth at Watkins Glen International with Bowman and 38th at Darlington with Larson, respectively.

    Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 17 entry debuted last season and appeared in four events as Larson, Bowman and Byron took turns driving the entry. The entry achieved a pair of runner-up results at Road America with Larson and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course with Bowman.

    To date, Hendrick Motorsports has achieved one championship (Brian Vickers in 2003) and 26 career victories in the Xfinity Series. The team’s latest Xfinity victory occurred at Daytona International Speedway in 2009 with three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart.

    With the team’s Xfinity Series plans for the remainder of this season set, Said will make his lone Xfinity start for Hendrick Motorsports at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on October 7 at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC. Meanwhile, Caruth’s Xfinity start for HMS will occur in the championship event at Phoenix Raceway on November 4 at 7 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Chris Gayle to call 150th Xfinity race as crew chief at Atlanta

    Chris Gayle to call 150th Xfinity race as crew chief at Atlanta

    A significant milestone start is in the making for Chris Gayle, crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota Supra team piloted by multiple competitors in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. By participating in this weekend’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Gayle will call his 150th Xfinity career race as a crew chief.

    A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Gayle spent two years as a student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville before transferring to the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering in 2002. Not long after, he joined Joe Gibbs Racing to work as a race engineer.

    Eleven years later, Gayle, who was a senior engineer for Kyle Busch in the NASCAR Cup Series, was promoted to the crew chief role, where he was paired with veteran Elliott Sadler and JGR’s No. 11 Toyota Camry team for the 2013 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. Throughout the 33-race Xfinity schedule, Gayle and Sadler earned nine top-five results and 20 top-10 results before finishing in fourth place in the final standings.

    Eight races into the 2014 Xfinity season, Gayle earned his first NASCAR career victory as a crew chief at Talladega Superspeedway in April, where Sadler held off the field in a three-lap shootout to return to Victory Lane following a one-year winless season. They went on to earn a pole, seven top-five results and 25 top-10 results before settling in third place in the final standings.

    Prior to the 2015 season, Sadler departed JGR and the team shuffled its crew chief lineup, placing Gayle as crew chief for the team’s No. 54 Toyota Camry piloted by multiple competitors, starting with Kyle Busch for the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in February. The season, however, started off on a harrowing note when Busch was involved in a late multi-car accident that saw his car make head-on contact into a concrete wall installed with no SAFER barriers and the driver being transported to a local hospital, where he suffered a massive compound fracture to his right leg and a fractured left foot.

    With Busch absent and recovering from his injuries, Gayle spent the following 11 Xfinity events working with Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin and Boris Said. When Busch returned at Michigan International Speedway in June, he and Gayle went to Victory Lane after Busch completed a late pass on Chase Elliott en route to his first win of the season and in his first Xfinity start since the Daytona accident. A week later, Gayle went to Victory Lane with Erik Jones at Chicagoland Speedway. 

    In total, Gayle achieved seven Xfinity victories in 2015, six with Kyle Busch and one with Erik Jones. In addition, he notched five poles, 17 top-five results and 23 top-10 results throughout the 33-race schedule for JGR’s No. 54 Toyota team, which settled in the runner-up position behind Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford Mustang team in the final Xfinity owners’ standings.

    Gayle remained as JGR’s Xfinity “all-star” crew chief in 2016, where he worked with Dakoda Armstrong, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Drew Herring, Sam Hornish Jr., Owen Kelly, Bobby Labonte, David Ragan and Matt Tifft, all of whom took turns piloting the No. 18 Toyota Camry throughout the season. Throughout the 33-race schedule, Gayle earned 11 victories (10 with Kyle Busch and one with Hornish), 11 poles (nine with Kyle Busch, one with Ragan and one with Tifft), 19 top-five results and 23 top-10 results. When the final checkered flag of the season flew, JGR’s No. 18 Toyota team ended up in fourth place in the owners’ standings.

    Following the 2016 Xfinity season, Gayle moved up to the NASCAR Cup Series, where he worked as a crew chief for Erik Jones and the No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota Camry team. After a four-year run in the Cup Series, where Gayle earned two career victories between 2018 and 2019 with Erik Jones, Gayle returned to the Xfinity Series for the 2021 season, where he was assigned to JGR’s No. 54 Toyota Supra team piloted by multiple competitors, starting with Ty Dillon for the season-opening event at Daytona in February. 

    Following a 14th-place result with Dillon at Daytona, Gayle returned to Victory Lane the following weekend at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course with Ty Gibbs, grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, winning his first Xfinity race in his series’ debut. Since then, Gayle has achieved four additional victories this season, three with Kyle Busch and another with Ty Gibbs. Currently, with seventeen races of the 2021 season complete, JGR’s No. 54 team led by Gayle is ranked in second place in the owners’ standings.

    Through 149 previous Xfinity appearances, Gayle has achieved 25 victories, 20 poles, 63 top-five results and 102 top-10 results while working with 15 different competitors.

    Gayle is primed to call his 150th Xfinity race as a crew chief at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 10, with Kyle Busch scheduled to drive the No. 54 JGR Toyota Supra and with the race scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Timmy Hill: Doing the Rookie of the Year His Own Way

    Timmy Hill: Doing the Rookie of the Year His Own Way

    While all of the attention for this season’s Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Cup Series has focused on the battle between Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., another rookie, Timmy Hill, has been quietly competing in his own way and on his terms.

    “Going into this year, I’ve had two years of Nationwide experience and in those two years, I’ve been able to learn the race track multiple times,” Hill, driver of the No. 32 FAS Lane Racing Ford, said. “Starting the year off running for Rookie of the Year in the Cup Series, I knew it was going to be tough, as a driver and as an underdog race team with a lower budget.”

    “I knew going in that my schedule was going to consist of 18 to 20 races, with Kenny Schrader and Terry Labonte and Boris Said at the wheel for some of the other races.” Hill continued. “Our goals were to finish all the races, run as many laps as we can and along the way try to beat Danica (Patrick) and Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) for Rookie of the Year in the races I ran.”

    “Knowing that I wasn’t going to run the full schedule, I was going to make the best of the races that I was going to run,” Hill said. “All season long, it’s been tough at some times but we feel like we’ve done a great job.”

    Although Hill has been very proud of his performance to date, he did have a tough run in last weekend’s race at Phoenix International Raceway.

    “I was kind of bragging about how we haven’t torn up any equipment and wouldn’t you know we tore one up at Phoenix, which I wasn’t very happy about,” Hill continued. “So, we’ve just had that one issue all year long and I’ve been happy with that and so has the race team.”

    “But all in all, as a team and as a driver, I’m very happy,” Hill said. “It’s been a great learning experience and I’d say we have done a good job all year long.”

    While Hill has been very pleased with his team’s performance in his rookie season, he has been a bit disappointed in not getting the recognition of the media, fans and the sport as far as running for ROTY honors.

    “I do feel forgotten sometimes when the reporters do articles about the Rookie of the Year battle without mentioning me,” Hill said. “We knew it would be a long shot for us to have a shot at it but we ran every bit of the races that would qualify us for the Rookie of the Year.”

    “It’s kind of a letdown, to myself, the race team and the sponsors just because a smaller team like us could have used the attention, press and publicity to try to build our program,” Hill continued. “To not be mentioned and forgotten about is kind of a letdown.”

    While Hill may have been disappointed as far as the ROTY mention, he has felt completely fortunate and blessed to have learned many lessons in his rookie season, on the track and from his fellow competitors.

    “I’ve learned so much,” Hill said. “Running in the lower divisions and then the Nationwide Series, I’ve learned how long these races are and how you really have to be there at the end of the race.”

    “Those extra laps really teach you patience.”

    “You have to gain the respect of the other drivers on the race track,” Hill continued. “You have to run around them for 400 to 500 laps every weekend and when you are racing that close you really have to trust because any small movement can lead to ultimately changing someone’s race.”

    “I was the new kid on the block,” Hill said. “Running with these guys, I’ve learned that they are all really great drivers and there is a lot of talent there.”

    “It made it a heck of a lot tougher racing-wise because they are all at the Cup level for a reason,” Hill continued. “You just have to realize that you are among some great drivers and you really have to be on it each weekend.”

    “You always have to keep working on your race car because they are very smart and always pick up the pace,” Hill said. “It’s almost like a big chess match and you just have to keep after it.”

    Hill has also had to learn how to compete in his own way through effective communication with his crew chief, as well as how to best relate what was happening on the track to his team.

    “I have a rare situation where my crew chief is actually the owner of the race team,” Hill said. “Frankie Stoddard has been around the sport for years and has had a lot of success.”

    “I’ve had to talk about the car and he’s been able to change the way I’ve been saying thing,” Hill continued. “The first race is always tough with the crew chief/driver relationship in just defining how we talk about the car.”

    “As soon as we got on the same page as far as the adjustment levels, it is easy after that,” Hill said. “We learned that pretty quick and we worked well this whole season.”

    Hill has also learned a great deal from the drivers off track, especially those veterans that he has looked up to his whole racing life. And he also credits his family for teaching him the life lessons that he has found so important as he competed for the Rookie of the Year honors for his sponsors and his team.

    “Being young, I didn’t know a lot, but there are veterans I can lean on,” Hill said. “Being at this level, you have to make appearances and conduct yourself well all the time.”

    “I like to base my actions off some of the veteran drivers like Carl Edwards and Mark Martin,” Hill continued. “I like the path that they have taken themselves on and use them as a role model.”

    “I’d also like to thank my family for raising me the right way.”

    Unfortunately, Hill’s last race in his rookie season was at Phoenix as Kenny Schrader will be taking the wheel of the No. 32 for the Homestead Cup finale. Hill will, however, be competing in the Nationwide race for one last time in 2013.

    “I got an opportunity to drive the No. 23 car for Rick Ware Racing, who used to be the team owner for me in Nationwide,” Hill said. “He’s given me a lot of chances which I cannot thank him enough for.”

    “So, I’m very happy and very blessed to run the final race of the year, even if it is Nationwide and not Cup, on a track I really like.”

    So, after completing his rookie season in the Cup Series, what does Hill have planned for 2014?

    “As far as my 2014 plans, we’re working up to that,” Hill said. “It is only a few months away but it seems like awhile before the plans will come together.”

    “It’s a lengthy process but I have plans to hopefully be able to achieve even more.”

    While Hill finalizes his plans for the next season, he also has interesting plans for his off season.

    “Last off season I went to flight school,” Hill said.” I got my pilot’s license last year.”

    “There are different types of pilot certificates and right now I have what’s called a visual flight certificate, meaning I can fly based off of visual,” Hill continued. “I want to go for IFR, or instrument rating, so I can fly into weather and into clouds.”

    “So, I’ll be able to fly more often and not be as limited,” Hill said. “That’s what I want to look into for this off season.”

    For more information about Timmy Hill’s rookie season and his future plans, follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @timmyhillracer.

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen

    Not to be outdone by the weather at Pocono last weekend, Watkins Glen International took it one step further with a full course, one day rain delay. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Monday matinee Cup race at the Glen.

    [media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”245″][/media-credit]Surprising:  In a race in which he started from the pole position and clearly dominated, leading three times for a record-high 49 laps, it was surprising that Kyle Busch was not in Victory Lane yet again. The driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota took the checkered flag in the third position, one back from his runner up position at Pocono the weekend before.

    Busch lost the lead on the final restart, a green-white-checkered one at that, of the race. Known for his usually stout re-starts, Busch made a surprising mistake in Turn One, taking it just a bit wide enough to allow both Brad Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose through to the lead.

    “Just knew exactly what not to do and did it anyway,” Busch said. “I just screwed up.”

    “I felt like we were right there and had a shot to win,” Busch continued. “I knew it was going to come down to one corner and I messed it up.”

    Surprisingly, although Busch did not score the win, he did re-emerge as the co-leader in the point standings. Busch climbed two spots to tie with Carl Edwards, both atop the Chase leader board with 752 points each.

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising to see road course redemption collide with another first time winner, resulting in Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion, being in Victory Lane.  With his loss of the win at Sonoma due to his own error firmly behind him, Ambrose redeemed himself to become NASCAR’s fifth first-time winner of the season.

    “I’ve fought so much to get here, to finally win and be in Victory Lane is a dream come true,” Ambrose said. “To win in the Cup Series is an incredible feeling and I’m very, very proud.”

    Ambrose’s win was Richard Petty Motorsports first since 2009 when Kasey Kahne won on the road course at Infineon. Ambrose’s win officially came on his 105th Cup start.

    “It’s just a dream day,” Ambrose continued. “The sacrifices you make to be a contender in the Cup Series, to finally get to Victory Lane is a dream come true for me.”

    Surprising:  As surprising as Brad Keselowski’s ‘Iron Man’ performance was at Pocono, with his win there in spite of his broken ankle, the driver of the No. 2 ‘Blue Deuce’ pulled off an ‘Iron Man Redux’, with a runner up score at the Glen.

    “I wouldn’t say it got easier,” Keselowski said of racing with his injured ankle. “But when your car is fast, you can put a lot of stuff behind you and make it work.”

    “I think that’s about as good as the racing gets right there,” Keselowski continued. “I’m proud to be a part of it. Life is good when you have fast race cars.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that the stars of several other traditionally good road racers shone at the Glen. Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished seventh and AJ Allmendinger, who started outside pole in his No. 43 Best Buy Ford, finished eighth.

    Allmendinger was particularly proud to not only see his Richard Petty Motorsports teammate in Victory Lane, but also took great pride in his comeback after an altercation with Kurt Busch early in the race.

    “It’s great to see Marcos in Victory Lane and it’s great for the team,” Allmendinger said. “I’m proud of my guys and proud of the way we fought back all day. The car was fast.”

    “Our Target Chevy was really good,” Juan Pablo Montoya said. “I thought we had a winning car. We were really close but it was all okay. It was a good day for us.”

    Surprising:  It was most surprising to see Boris Said and Greg Biffle channeling the fighting spirits of two other competitors, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch. This week, instead of Johnson and Busch feuding, it was Said and Biffle who were trading paint on the track and harsh words in the garage as well.

    Said, standing in for Landon Cassill in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction/Thank A Teacher Today Security Benefit Chevrolet, was furious with the way Biffle, in his No. 16 Valvoline Ford, raced him in the waning laps, especially since Biffle was a lap down at the time.

    Said accused Biffle of ‘flipping him off’ and Biffle countered by accusing Said of causing the last race crash that sent two cars hard into the wall. After the race, the disagreement really heated up into not only harsh words but also some attempted punches.

    “He wouldn’t even let me get out of the car and he comes over and throws a few little baby punches,” Said said of Biffle. “Then when I get out, he runs away and hides behind some big guys.”

    “But he won’t hide from me long,” Said continued. “I won’t settle it out on the track. It’s not right to wreck cars.”

    “But he’ll show up at a race with a black eye one of these days.”

    Biffle, for his part, had equally strong reactions.

    “Let me tell you something,” Biffle said. “Boris, the ‘road course ringer’ caused that wreck. He did the same thing to me earlier in the race.”

    “Then ‘Mr. Class’ pulls in behind my truck after the race today,” Biffle continued. “How unprofessional and disrespectful.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that the aforementioned feud between Johnson and Busch did not continue to percolate at the Glen, especially since the two drivers were nowhere near each other on the race track.

    The driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge spun early in the race and then lost his brakes on Lap 49 after a tire failure sent him hard into the wall. Busch did not finish the race, scored in the 38th position, causing him to fall two positions to sixth in the point standings.

    “I had a big problem getting into the braking zones today,” Busch said. “I had to crank eight rounds of front brake into our car just to survive.”

    “All that does is generate brake heat and I blew out the left-front tire,” Busch continued. “It was a bummer of a day.”

    Johnson, on the other hand, had a top-ten finish in his No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet. The five-time champ currently sits just six points behind Chase co-leaders Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.

    “We had a great day,” Johnson said. “To have the pace that we did all day long, even though we weren’t up there leading, we had a very fast race car and that’s what we wanted to have here.”

    Surprising:  It was a bit surprising that a 15th place finish left NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his crew chief Steve Letarte feeling so very optimistic. Both agreed that they ‘did what they had to do’ to solidify their place in the Chase, a place where Junior has not been for the past three years.

    Dale Junior, admittedly not a lover of road course racing, scored his first top-15 in six years of racing at the Glen. The driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Amp Energy Chevrolet now sits solidly in the ninth spot in the Chase standings.

    “I think we’re a good enough team to make the Chase bar none,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “We should be able to get in there no problem.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising at all that the calls for safer barriers at Watkins Glen International have intensified after several very hard hits at the road course in the midst of the Finger Lakes.

    Not only did Kurt Busch hit hard into the wall, but Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, also lost his brakes and took a nasty lick head on into the tire barrels.

    “Something blew out in the left front,” Hamlin said after being checked and released from the infield care center after his hit. “I had no brakes. There was nothing you could do.”

    The worst of the hard hits, however, came in the final lap of the race where David Ragan, driver of the No. 6 UPS “We Love Logistics” Ford, wrecked hard himself and then spun into David Reutimann, behind the wheel of the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, sending him into the air and into the wall as well.

    Both Davids were rattled but escaped major injuries, exiting gingerly from their mangled race cars as they attempted to catch their collective breaths.

    “It’s just a product of close quarters racing at the end,” Ragan said. “I’m sore. That was a hard hit.”

    “I looked down at my feet and my pedals and my leg rests were all pushed over,” Ragan continued. “It’s a shame that a race track we go to in 2011 doesn’t have a better wall design all the way around the race track.”

    “Hopefully they’ll look at that,” Ragan said. “I’ve been to some dirt tracks that have better walls than that.”

    “This is one of the bigger hits I would say, but it’s part of the gig,” Reutimann said. “You sign up to do this stuff every once and awhile and you’re going to hit something.”

    “Overall I’m okay,” Reutimann continued. “I’m thinking where I hit would probably be a good place for SAFER barriers.”

    “I’m good and will be ready for Michigan next week.”

  • Boris Said Says ‘I’m Back’

    Boris Said Says ‘I’m Back’

    Boris Said has just two words to share with his fans, dubbed ‘Said heads’ in honor of the curly wigs they wear to mimic their driver’s mane. “I’m back,” Said said to his fans. “And I hope you didn’t forget me.”

    [media-credit name=”Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”217″][/media-credit]After being absent since August of last year, Said will be taking over for young up-and-coming driver Landon Cassill in the No. 51 Security Benefit/Thank A Teacher Today Chevrolet. Said will be proudly representing one of his favorite people, James Finch, and his team Phoenix Racing on the road course in Sonoma.

    Cassill who had his career best finish in the 12th position last weekend in the Irish hills of Michigan, will return to the helm of his race car the following weekend at Daytona.

    “I’m pretty excited about it,” Said said. “Landon is not a road course guy and they’re not running for points so they decided to put me in.”

    “I’m in a Hendrick car owned by James Finch,” Said continued. “I ran for him in Mexico City in the Nationwide Series and had a blast with him.”

    “I haven’t been in a car since last August so I’m chomping at the bit to get in and drive one.”

    Although off the NASCAR Cup circuit for some time, Said has been keeping busy in other areas of racing. He also has entered a whole new phase of his life, with a ‘real job’ as he terms it, as well as a new partner to boot.

    “The biggest thing I’ve been doing is the Grand Am Rolex Series,” Said said. “My other big thing is that I was awarded a BMW franchise, the first one in ten years that BMW has awarded.”

    “We’ve been open two weeks and one day,” Said continued. “And my partner is Rick Hendrick, so that’s really exciting working with him.”

    “Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d be a partner with Rick Hendrick,” Said advised. “So, I’ve been working a real job which has been pretty fun.”

    “I guess they’ll let me out of the dealership for the race,” Said said.

    What has Said missed most about being behind the wheel?  Simply the roar of the engines according to this road course racer, as well as the thrill of the competition.

    “It’s a blast feeling the horsepower,” Said shared. “It’s a blast racing with those guys.”

    “They are a bunch of animals and it’s so much fun,” Said continued. “I’ve always wished I could do it full-time but I’ve always cherished every race I get to do.”

    “I can’t wait to go out and start driving.”

    Said has been keeping up with the action on the track throughout the time that he has been away. And he realizes that at Sonoma, there will be plenty of action, especially with the double file restarts.

    “Especially at Infineon, I don’t think there’s a more exciting track to have those double file restarts,” Said advised. “The first couple of times that I did it, I had to be cautious and I just got run over. So, there’s no other way but to be aggressive.”

    “I always hear that ‘you only run one race and you shouldn’t mess with the regulars, blah, blah blah’,” Said continued. “But the fact is that James Finch is a regular and he pays me to do a job. I want to be as aggressive as I can no matter who I’m racing with.”

    While Said knows that the competition will be fierce, he is hoping that the final outcome will not be decided on fuel mileage, as so many races have recently.

    “I hope it doesn’t come down to fuel mileage,” Said said. “That’s not my style. But I would take it any way I could.”

    “I’ve been there and I’ve been the fastest car and then have had really bad luck,” Said continued. “It just takes so much to get a good finish in one of those races, whether it’s pit stops or knowing when to pit or not to pit, or getting involved with somebody. There’s so much that can go wrong.”

    Said is most grateful that he will not have to qualify in on time. Finch’s Phoenix Racing car is firmly locked into the show.

    “The last time we had that opportunity, I was in the Army car and I sat on the pole,” Said advised. “To not have that pressure feels so good.”

    Does Said see himself as that ‘road course ringer’?

    “You know I don’t like that term,” Said shared. “But I think it’s good because at least people are talking about us.”

    “The thing is that no part-time guy has ever won a Cup race,” Said continued. “But it’s still possible. Is it likely? No. It’s a long shot but it’s a long shot for lots of guys.”

    “I’m hoping that I can be competitive and I’m going to try my hardest to be competitive,” Said advised. “We’ve always run in the top-10 there and when that happens, you never know.”

    “You can always get lucky,” Said continued. “And I hope I can put on a good show.”