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  • NASCAR BTS: Kevin Hamlin is Calling All the Shots

    NASCAR BTS: Kevin Hamlin is Calling All the Shots

    While many in the garage area are busy juggling a multitude of responsibilities, this week’s NASCAR Behind the Scenes (BTS) focuses on Kevin Hamlin, who is calling all the shots from the spotter’s stand to watching over young drivers starting out in their careers.

    Hamlin currently spots for NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kasey Kahne, as well as up and coming drivers Jeb Burton and Brad Sweet. He has also taken over responsibilities for guiding the career of Cole Whitt, who has recently progressed through the ranks to the Cup level.

    Hamlin, however, did not start out in these roles until after having his own career as a driver himself, honing his craft in the Pacific Northwest. And for Hamlin, racing indeed has been in his blood.

    “It is a family thing,” Hamlin said. “Both my parents drove, so I was born into it.”

    “My mom and dad met at a speedway way back when, so I spent my weekends there growing up as a kid,” Hamlin continued. “I raced quarter midgets and then late models and had some success doing that.”

    “I won two championships in the NASCAR Northwest Series and then married my high school sweetheart, conned her into moving to North Carolina six months later, and we chased the dream.”

    Hamlin continued to pursue his racing career in North Carolina, from an ARCA deal arranged by Brendan Gaughan to a driver development deal with Chip Ganassi Racing. It was then his career took an interesting turn.

    “By the time I knew my contract was up and I was doing a lot of start and parks and test driving (I’ve got more laps in a Cup car than I do a Nationwide car or Truck), I decided I wanted to be more involved in a team aspect than race,” Hamlin said. “While I was racing I was also spotting for John Andretti and Travis Kvapil and getting my feet wet at this higher level.”

    “That turned into a deal with Clint Bowyer and then Ty Dillon,” Hamlin continued. “And then I went over to Kasey (Kahne) when he was looking for a guy and it has been a good year and a half so far.”

    Spotting for Kasey Kahne has led to a whole additional level of calling the shots in his career as Hamlin has developed his relationship with the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports driver. In fact, he said that the chemistry between them came about almost immediately based on the type of spotting he had done previously for Clint Bowyer.

    “I think Clint Bowyer, when I spotted for him, made me into the way I spot now,” Hamlin said. “Clint wanted a lot of information, where other guys are running, where he is getting beat, etc.”

    “So, when I did those first few races for Kasey, I just spotted the way I did for Clint and I told him if he needed anything different that we would figure it out as we go,” Hamlin continued. “But he liked what I gave him and it clicked right away.”

    “We’ve developed a lingo to where even if I feel like I’m not on my ‘A’ game for whatever reason, he still knows enough the way I do it to know where other cars are around him at all times,” Hamlin said. “Honestly with Kasey it’s been really easy and for whatever reason we hit the ground running.”

    Hamlin, like all spotters, has had to learn a different way to call the shots for his driver as a result of what happened at Richmond prior to the Chase. And for Hamlin, life became more complicated but also a bit quieter as well.

    “The spotter’s role has changed,” Hamlin said. “The spotter’s role isn’t clear high, clear low and wreck in turn two anymore.”

    “Maybe that’s the way it used to be but the role has really developed into letting the driver know where other guys are at, when they are pitting, and trying to work out strategy,” Hamlin continued. “There was a lot of talking back and forth on the digital radio about what you wanted to do with that.”

    “It’s a lot quieter for me now that I don’t have the digital because of what happened in Richmond. “

    Thankfully, Hamlin’s worst experience calling the shots was not with current driver Kasey Kahne. But it was so bad, however, that it actually became a You Tube video of how not to react on the spotter’s stand.

    “My worst spotting experience was at Bristol with Clint,” Hamlin said. “There was a big wreck getting into (turn) three and I got him through the wreck but stupid me said we’re clear, clear, whew and they were wrecking again right in front of him and Clint ran right into that.”

    “So, he chewed me quite heavily for that and guys on the No. 33 team were a rough group back then and they were jabbing me about that too,” Hamlin continued. “I learned until your driver gets with that pace car, your head is still on a swivel trying to watch what is happening.”

    “So, that is one of my most memorable not so fun experiences.”

    Although spotting for Kahne and others keeps Hamlin very busy, he also is calling the shots in a whole new area of the sport, helping to look after the social and digital properties of several drivers, as well as the careers of several upstarts.

    “While I work for Hendrick spotting, my day job is working for Fuel Sports Management group, which is Kasey’s agent and they represent a bunch of different drivers,” Hamlin said. “And I also look after young drivers since I’ve had experience looking out for drivers like the next Kyle Larson.”

    “I’m the competition end guy where there are others who are better at the contracts and business aspect,” Hamlin continued. “So, it’s a good little mixture of what we’ve got going.”

    “My role there has also progressed into working with Cole Whitt’s day to day stuff.”

    “I helped put together the deal with TriStar Motorsports for him and with Swan Racing,” Hamlin said. “So, I’m trying to grow as a day-to-day manager for a Cup driver and trying to learn the business side of the sport as well.”

    “As much as I love spotting, am I going to be doing it in fifteen years? I don’t know,” Hamlin continued. “So, you have to have something to do during the week to help support the family.”

    “That’s where that new role came in.”

    Hamlin is most excited about calling the shots in one other area, that of his family and being with his wife, daughter and son.

    “There is a lot going on but it’s nice because if I’m done at three o’clock on Tuesday, I’ll pack up my computer and head home and I can work at home,” Hamlin said. “I have that option so I can see my kids and hang out with my wife and still do that family time thing that is so important.”

    “We travel so much that it can really wear on you being away from the family.”

    And where would race fans be most surprised to see Hamlin ultimately calling the shots?

    “I’m really good at coloring,” Hamlin said with a sly grin. “My daughter Grace, who is five, and my son who is three, like to color.”

    “My wife is a stay-at-home mom and works her tail off,” Hamlin continued. “So, for me to just come home and hang out and color is fun.”

    “You get me a ‘My Little Pony’ picture and Grace and I can hammer that bad boy out.”

    For more information about how Kevin Hamlin is calling the shots behind the scenes or for any expert coloring advice, follow him on Twitter @KevinHamlin.

  • Saldana survives Friday the 13th to win at Eldora

    Saldana survives Friday the 13th to win at Eldora

    [media-credit id=30 align=”alignright” width=”265″][/media-credit]Forty eight 410 sprint cars showed up to compete in the Knight before the Royal with the World of Outlaws at Eldora. From the very beginning it was obvious this wasn’t going to be a typical night of racing. The first oddity occurred when the internet connection for the sanctioning body went down about an hour before the event was to begin. It left them for the most part without communication and the ability to update fans not in attendance. The strangeness would continue on into the evening with Sammy Swindell losing his steering wheel in his hands while lining up for a restart. Cody Darrah’s belts coming loose during a caution. Jac Haudenschild losing his steering and turning hard left into Tony Stewart and eliminating both cars from the event. Friday the 13th effected the night in many ways and none of them superstitions.

    The quick time of the evening was set by David Gravel with a lap of 13.343 seconds around the high banked oval. Three competitors, Brad Sweet, Dale Blaney, Justin Henderson, would turn the exact same lap time of 13.512 and their order would be determined by the speed of their first lap. The top ten qualifiers were only separated by .169 seconds and the entire field was only separated by 2.252 seconds and the slowest times posted came from competitors making their first trip to Eldora Speedway.

    The heat races were literally stacked with talent on top of talent. Just to advance from the heat race was a feat of extreme skill and patience. The first heat race was won by Dale Blaney with Tim Kaeding literally sitting on his back bumper to advance to the dash. David Gravel, Greg Wilson and Paul McMahan would advance to the A Main as well.

    Heat number 2 would see Sammy Swindell dominate over Justin Henderson, Cody Darrah, Stevie Smith and Kerry Madsen. It would also offer the first foreshadowing of the evening with co owner of first in the points, Tony Stewart Racing’s Donny Schatz finishing outside the transfer spot in 6th. The 4 time series champion was relegated to the B Main but he wouldn’t be alone.

    Danny Lasoski would literally walk the dog on the field in his new Zemco racing 1Z ride beating Brian Brown, Kraig Kinser, Steve Kinser, Bill Rose. But it would send 2 more big names to the B Main in Tony Stewart and Daryn Pittman.

    The final heat race was a hard charging and heavily contested race between Joey Saldana and Craig Dollansky with Saldana finishing on top, also transferring would be Jim Nier, Jason Sides, and Brad Sweet. But 3 more big names were sent to the B Main, Lucas Wolfe, Jac Haudenschild, and Chad Kemenah.

    The C Main was clearly a race of desperation transferring only 2 to the Last Chance Showdown of the B Main. The original lineup called for the C to be a 12 car show but when Cap Henry and Rick Fraley were forced to scratch for the evening, the 10 car field that took the green was clearly geared up and ready to do whatever they needed to do to make the big show. Brian Paulus and Dustin Daggett would easily transfer to the Last Chance Showdown.

    The B Main was as tough a field as you will ever see on a dirt track in any series anywhere in the country. When Randy Hannagan and Tony Stewart lead them to the green they didn’t even make a lap before there was a three car tangle between Logan Schuchart, Chad Blonde, and Sam Hafertepe Jr. The heavy damage to Hafertepe’s car would relegate him to a back up for the Kings Royal if he has one to pull. Blonde was questionable as to whether he had frame damage as well and he stated, “We don’t have a back up so if we can’t fix it we are headed home.” 5 laps in Randy Hannagan dropped a rod through the bottom of the motor and went up in a cloud of blue smoke his evening officially over. The engine damage he reported after winning the 360 feature later in the evening would run him right about $15,000. From that point on it was Seek and Slide around the high banks of Eldora and when the dust settled it would be the Steel City Outlaw, Tim Shaffer leading the Rushville Rocket, Tony Stewart to the line. Also transferring to the A Main was The Wild Child, Jac Haudenschild and The Rough Rider, Tyler Walker. Needing a provisional to get into the A Main if they were to run it were, Donny Schatz, Lucas Wolfe, Daryn Pittman, and Chad Kemenah.

    When the A Main took the track the only provisional in the field belonged to Donny Schatz who would be slated in the 25th spot but would actually start the race in the 24th spot when Tony Stewart choose to start at the rear of the field. Joey Saldana jumped out to an early lead at the green and was pulling away from the field when Tim Kaeding spun on lap 9 to bring out the caution. After a quickie yellow the race resumed but only briefly because on Lap 11 a 5 car pile up with Tyler Walker, Kerry Madsen, Jim Nier, Brad Sweet and Bill Rose would bring out the red flag. The only car able to return to the race was Bill Rose. The other 4 were damaged beyond repair in the 2 minute allotted work time. Madsen will need to go to a back up car as will Brad Sweet for the Kings Royal on Saturday night. As the red was lifted and the yellow came out. Sammy Swindell spun on the front stretch. Upon investigation by the series officials his steering wheel had come off in his hands as he attempted to line up. The strange incident relegated Sammy to the back of the pack. At the same time Kraig Kinser entered the work area with a flat Right Rear tire and Cody Darrah stopped in front of a track official to get assistance because his safety belts had come loose in the car. When the green finally flew again it wouldn’t fly for long. Jac Haudenschild would break something in the steering of his car and turn left right into the path of an at speed Tony Stewart causing a very hard impact and ending both of their nights at lap 13. The race would go green again and remain green this time until the final lap. Joey Saldana would lead all the way with serious challenges from Greg Wilson who started the night in 20th and ended up 2nd. On lap 30 the yellow would come out after the first 4 cars had taken the checkered flag when Jason Sides blew a Left rear tire and Kraig Kinser would blow a Left Rear tire and turn the car sideways at the line. The rest of the top 5 would be Dale Blaney, Craig Dollansky, and Brian Brown in his first time at Eldora in a 410 Sprint car. The KSE Hard Charger would go to Greg Wilson. And Steve Kinser would take over the point lead going into the Kings Royal.

    Through all it’s bizarre twists and turns and it’s even stranger occurrences. Eldora lived up to her reputation of being hard core and unforgiving. She has her favorite sons. And winning there once doesn’t make you one of them as Chad Kemenah found out. But she is loyal to a fault. Loyal to her fans. She treated the near sell out crowd to one of the best nights of Outlaw racing in the season thus far. She was fast. She was challenging and she was demanding. But when Joey Saldana’s small sons stepped up to the podium to share in their dad’s excitement you could feel her smile. For all of his struggles this year and all of the struggles he has had at Eldora in the past tonight she gifted him with a memory that won’t soon fade. Joey Saldana went home the champion of the Knight before the Royal. And he went home a hero in the only eyes that truly matter, the eyes that never see him as anything else, his sons.

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    Heat Race 1 Results: ‎1) Dale Blaney 2) Tim Kaeding 3) David Gravel 4) Greg Wilson 5) Paul McMahan 6) Tyler Walker 7) Randy Hannagan 8) Trey Starks 9) Dustin Daggett 10) Chad Blonde 11) Cap Henry 12) Kory Crabtree

     

    Heat Race 2 Results: ‎1) Sammy Swindell 2) Justin Henderson 3) Cody Darrah 4) Stevie Smith 5) Kerry Madsen 6) Donny Schatz 7) Tim Shaffer 8) Sam Hafertepe Jr 9) Bryan Sebbetto 10) Wes Glumphy 12) Dallas Hewitt

     

    Heat Race 3 Results: ‎1) Danny Lasoski 2) Brian Brown 3) Kraig Kinser 4) Steve Kinser 5) Bill Rose 6) Daryn Pittman 7) Tony Stewart 8) Sheldon Haudenschild 9) Logan Schuchart 10) Scott Hall 11) Adam Wilt 12) Chuck Waddell

     

    Heat Race 4 Results: ‎1) Joey Saldana 2) Craig Dollansky 3) Jim Nier 4) Jason Sides 5) Brad Sweet 6) Jac Haudenschild 7) Chad Kemenah 8) Lucas Wolfe 9) Todd Kane 10) Joey McGarah 11) Randy Meyers 12) Rick Fraley (DNS)

     

    C Main Results: ‎1) Brian Paulus 2) Dustin Daggett 3) Adam Wilt 4) Kory Crabtree 5) Joey McGaruh 6) Wes McGlumphy 7) Chuck Waddell 8) Dallas Hewitt 9) Scott Hall 10) Randy Meyers Cap Henry and Rick Fraley scratched from the event but were scheduled to start 11th and 12th respectatively.

     

    Dash Results: Inversion was an 8. ‎1) Joey Saldana 2) Dale Blaney 3) Sammy Swindell 4) Craig Dollansky 5) Justin Henderson 6) Brian Brown 7) Tim Kaeding 8) Danny Lasoski 9) Stevie Smith 10) David Gravel

     

    B Main Results: ‎1) Tim Shaffer 2) Tony Stewart 3) Jac Haudenschild 4) Tyler Walker 5) Trey Starks 6) Bryan Sebbetto 7) Donny Schatz 8) Lucas Wolfe 9) Brian Paulus 10) Daryn Pittman 11) Chad Kemenah 12) Sheldon Haudenschild 13) Dustin Daggett 14) Todd Kane 15) Randy Hannagan 16) Sam Hafertepe Jr 17) Chad Blonde 18) Logan Schuchart

     

    A Main Results: ‎1) Joey Saldana 2) Greg Wilson 3) Dale Blaney 4) Craig Dollansky 5) Brian Brown 6) Tim Shaffer 7) Justin Henderson 8) Stevie Smith 9) Tim Kaeding 10) Steve Kinser 11) Sammy Swindell 12) Donny Schatz 13) David Gravel 14) Kraig Kinser 15) Jason Sides 16) Cody Darrah 17) Bill Rose 18) Paul McMahan 19) Jac Haudenschild 20) Tony Stewart 21) Brad Sweet 22) Kerry Madsen 23) Tyler Walker 24) Jim Nier 25) Danny Lasoski.

  • Kraig Kinser Notches First Win of Season at Kokomo

    Kraig Kinser Notches First Win of Season at Kokomo

    [media-credit id=30 align=”alignright” width=”211″][/media-credit]Tonight the World of Outlaw Sprints were back in Kokomo, Indiana for the third round of the Kasey Kahne Challenge. The Outlaws are returning to Kokomo for the first time since 2007.

    Steve Kinser, who leads the current championship standings, has claimed a series-best six feature wins at the quarter-mile oval. However, there has been a different winner in each of the past six World of Outlaws events at Kokomo Speedway dating back to 1993.

    Kokomo Speedway is a fast, 1/4 mile semi-banked clay oval. Over the years the track has played host to virtually a who’s who in racing history. A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Lloyd Ruby, Troy Ruttman, Johnny Parsons, Parnelli Jones, Bill Vuckovich, Pancho Carter, John Andretti, Steve Butler, J.J. Yeley, Steve Kinser, Jack Hewitt, Rich Vogler, Tom Bigelow, Tony Stewart and Mike Groff are among those who have both raced at the track as well as in the Indianapolis 500.

    Sprint Cup standouts like Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Ken Schrader, Kasey Kahne, Yeley, Stewart and Dave Blaney are just a few who have visited the track over the years.

    A record setting crowd for Kokomo Speedway would see a new track record set by Sammy Swindell in qualifying, with a lap of 10.950 or 82.192 mph shattering the old record of 11.021 set in September of 2006 by Jeremy Campbell.

    The 31 car field ran 3 heat races that each transferred 6 to the A Main and 2 to the Dash. The first heat was red flagged for repairs to the catch fence in turns 1 and 2 when Geoff Dodge got up into the wall and damaged the catch fence with his right rear tire. Dodge would retire until the B Main. The first heat would be won by Joey Saldana with Sammy Swindell coming home second. Kyle Larson, Brad Sweet, Brady Bacon and Brian Paulus would also transfer to the A Main.

    The second heat race would see Daryn Pittman coming home first with Lucas Wolfe a very close 2nd. Craig Dollansky, Dale Blaney, Cap Henry and Steve Kinser would round out the transfer list.

    The third heat would see 4 time champion Donny Schatz leading the way across the stripe with Kerry Madsen close behind. Bill Rose had a great night coming home third. Kraig Kinser, Cody Darrah and Sheldon Haudenschild would round out the transfer list.

    The Dash inversion was drawn by fast time holder Sammy Swindell. The inversion was a 6 putting Swindell on the outside of the 3rd row to start the 10 lap dash. In the end, it would be Joey Saldana on the pole of the A Main with team mate, Brad Sweet to the outside.

    The B Main was a fast moving highly contested event that would see Chad Kemenah come home in the lead. Transfering the top 6 with the top 4 getting their time back and the last 2 starting tail of the A Main, Kody Kinser, Austen Wheatly, Randy Hannagan, Logan Schuchart and Danny Smith would transfer to the A.

    With the field set it was time to determine the king of Kokomo. The A Main took 3 tries to get going. Red Flagged on the first lap for Brian Paulus’ wild roll in turn 3 and then under yellow for a 3 car spin out of 4 that would collect Brady Bacon, Sheldon Haudenschild and Cody Darrah. The 40 lap feature proved to be one of the most exciting of the year with Kraig Kinser taking the lead just before lap 20 and holding off a hard charging Craig Dollansky in tight traffic for his first win of the 2012 season. Dale Blaney would advance from 17th to 4th to win the KSE Hard Charger award. Points leader Steve Kinser would come home 7th and second place points man Donny Schatz would finish in 6th.

    Kokomo proved to be another difficult night for Sammy Swindell who ended up on his roof before half way in the A Main while racing with Brad Sweet for 4th.

    Kokomo reassured us that big things do indeed come in small packages and small packages should never be under estimated. The mighty wings of the outlaws once again put on a show that was second to none. And although the king of Kokomo remains the King of the Outlaws it obviously runs in the blood. Congratulations to Kraig Kinser and everyone at Steve Kinser Racing on their first win of the season.

    Qualifying Results. 1) Sammy Swindell with a New Track Record of 10.950 or 82.192 mph. 2) Craig Dollansky 3) Kraig Kinser 4) Brad Sweet 5) Kody Kinser 6) Bill Rose 7) Joey Saldana 8) Daryn Pittman 9) Kerry Madsen 10) Geoff Dodge 11) Lucas Wolfe 12) Donny Schatz 13) Chad Kemenah 14) Cole Duncan 15) Cody Darrah 16) Kyle Larson 17) Dale Blaney 18) Shane Stewat 19) Brian Paulus 20) Steve Kinser 21) Sheldon Haudenschild 22) Brady Bacon 23) Cap Henry 24) Randy Hannagan 25) Austen Wheatly 26) Greg Wilson 27) Logan Schuchart 28) Danny Smith 29) Justin Grant 30) Stuart Willaims 31) Wes McIntrye.

    Heat Race #1 Results: ‎1)Joey Saldana 2) Sammy Swindell transfer to the dash 3) Kyle Larson 4) Brad Sweet 5) Brady Bacon 6) Brian Paulus 7) Austen Wheatly 8) Chad Kemenah 9) Wes McIntyre 10) Geoff Dodge.

    Heat Race #2 Results: ‎1) Daryn Pittman 2) Lucas Wolfe transfer to dash 3) Craig Dollansky 4) Dale Blaney 5) Cap Henry 6) Steve Kinser transfer to A Main 7) Kody Kinser 8) Greg Wilson 9) Justin Grant 10) Cole Duncan

    ‎Heat Race #3 Results: 1) Donny Schatz 2) Kerry Madsen 3) Bill Rose 4) Kraig Kinser 5) Cody Darrah 6) Sheldon Haudenschild 7) Shane Stewart 8) Randy Hannagan 9) Logan Schuchart 10) Stuart Willaims

    Dash Results: ‎1) Joey Saldana 2) Brad Sweet 3) Kraig Kinser 4) Bill Rose 5) Sammy Swindell 6) Craig Dollansky 7) Daryn Pittman 8) Donny Schatz 9) Kerry Madsen 10) Lucas Wolfe

    B Main Results: ‎1) Chad Kemenah 2) Kody Kinser 3) Austen Wheatly 4) Randy Hannagan 5) Logan Schuchart 6) Danny Smith 7) Geoff Dodge 8) Justin Grant 9) Cole Duncan 10) Wes McIntyre 11) Stuart Willaims 12) Greg Wilson 13) Shane Stewart DNS

    A Main Results: 1) Kraig Kinser 2) Craig Dollansky 3) Joey Saldana 4) Dale Blaney (KSE Hard Charger) 5) Brad Sweet 6) Donny Schatz 7) Steve Kinser 8) Daryn Pittman 9) Kerry Madsen 10) Cody Darrah 11) Kyle Larson 12) Lucas Wolfe 13) Austen Wheatly 14) Danny Smith 15) Chad Kemenah 16) Bill Rose 17) Logan Schuchart 18) Kody Kinser 19) Randy Harragan 20) Sammy Swindell 21) Brady Bacon 22) Sheldon Haudenschild 23) Cap Henry 24) Brian Paulus.

    Top 10 in Outlaw Point Standings:
    Steve Kinser- 3409
    Donny Schatz- -28
    Craig Dollansky- -57
    Sammy Swindell- -67
    Joey Saldana- -69
    Kraig Kinser- -114
    Chad Kemenah- -281
    Cody Darrah- -310
    Kerry Madsen- -413
    Lucas Wolf- -487

  • Nelson Piquet Jr. Wins the Camping World Truck Series Pole at Rockingham Speedway

    Nelson Piquet Jr. Wins the Camping World Truck Series Pole at Rockingham Speedway

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]After four practice sessions, the trucks took to the track Saturday afternoon to qualify at ‘The Rock.’ Nelson Piquet Jr. captured the pole driving his No. 30 Chevrolet Silverado. It was his first pole in 33 career starts.

    He described the track as difficult and said the last couple of days have been tough. He doesn’t necessarily expect the pole position to translate into a win because of the unpredictability of tire wear at the track.

    Paulie Harraka qualified in the second position, calling it a “solid” run. Timothy Peters will start the race in third position after fighting “a tight condition.”

    Jason Leffler and Brad Sweet (qualifying for Kasey Kahne) round out the top five.  Kahne, who will compete in the Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday, will start the truck race from the back of the field Sunday afternoon.

    The Good Sam Roadside Assistance 200 begins at 1:00 pm Sunday and will be televised live on Speed. Speed coverage will begin at 12:30pm with ‘NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Setup.’  It will mark NASCAR’s first return to the track since 2004.

     

    Starting Lineup
    Good Sam Roadside Assistance 200, Rockingham Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=3
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. Chevrolet 144.387 24.933
    2 5 Paulie Harraka* Ford 144.381 24.934
    3 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 143.937 25.011
    4 18 Jason Leffler Toyota 143.73 25.047
    5 4 Brad Sweet Chevrolet 143.392 25.106
    6 29 Parker Kligerman Ram 143.147 25.149
    7 11 Todd Bodine Toyota 143.033 25.169
    8 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 142.976 25.179
    9 60 Grant Enfinger Chevrolet 142.885 25.195
    10 13 Johnny Sauter Toyota 142.693 25.229
    11 98 Dakoda Armstrong* Toyota 142.642 25.238
    12 3 Ty Dillon* Chevrolet 142.535 25.257
    13 33 Cale Gale* Chevrolet 142.349 25.29
    14 8 Ross Chastain* Toyota 142.298 25.299
    15 24 Max Gresham* Chevrolet 142.259 25.306
    16 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 142.158 25.324
    17 22 Joey Coulter Chevrolet 142.034 25.346
    18 92 Chad McCumbee Chevrolet 141.989 25.354
    19 6 Justin Lofton Chevrolet 141.766 25.394
    20 9 John Wes Townley* Toyota 141.682 25.409
    21 81 David Starr Toyota 141.06 25.521
    22 9 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 140.658 25.594
    23 32 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 140.488 25.625
    24 275 Caleb Holman* Chevrolet 140.455 25.631
    25 7 John King* Toyota 140.384 25.644
    26 202 Tyler Young Chevrolet 140.362 25.648
    27 27 Jeb Burton* Chevrolet 140.203 25.677
    28 23 Jason White Ford 139.969 25.72
    29 2 Tim George Jr. Chevrolet 139.654 25.778
    30 214 Brennan Newberry Chevrolet 139.373 25.83
    31 99 Bryan Silas* Ford 138.648 25.965
    32 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 138.206 26.048
    33 93 Chris Cockrum+ Chevrolet 134.133 26.839
    34 7 Johnny Chapman+ Toyota 131.536 27.369
    35 57 Norm Benning+ Chevrolet 131.411 27.395
    36 170 Jeff Agnew Chevrolet 139.346 25.835
  • Kevin Swindell Dominates Day 3 of the Chili Bowl

    Kevin Swindell Dominates Day 3 of the Chili Bowl

    [media-credit id=30 align=”alignright” width=”200″][/media-credit]Night 3 of the Chili Bowl was a rough and ragged night of racing. Caution Flag followed caution flag and there were 3 different races that it required multiple attempts to even get a single lap of competition in. But when the dust settled it was a familiar name in victory lane. That name was Swindell. Not Sammy but Kevin. Following in his father’s footsteps the younger Swindell dominated the evening when he was on the track. The major difference one runs the top one runs the bottom. It makes it very easy to imagine a Swindell road block in the Chili Bowl on Saturday.

    The third night of the Chili Bowl was pushing hard to beat its 11:00 PM curfew. The competitors managed to pull it out with 8 minutes to spare. But not before a very scary crash involving J.J. Yeley.

    Yeley who bobbled early in the A main and was shuffled back to 10th was charging back up thru the field and had made it back to 6th and was battling for 5th when the 4th and 5th place cars tangled leaving Yeley no where to go. Yeley ended up hard on his roof and then had contact with another car. Yeley who escaped without injury was unable to return to the race and finished a very disappointing 22nd.

    There was some question in regards to the track maintenance that was done between the C-mains and the B-mains. The track became very wet and very slick making the surface a dirt covered skating rink. The drivers though concerned put on a terrific show in the B Mains with Tracy Hines showing a number of brilliant top to bottom slide moves to move up to the A main. He was never a factor however in the race starting on the next to last row.

    Brad Sweet, driving for Kasey Kahne Racing, had a quietly dominant night leading the points all night and into the A main. Sweet would challenge Swindell the entire race and would run 2nd all night until a late race restart would allow Shane Cottle to slide around him out of 3 to take second. Cottle however was unable to cut into Swindell’s straight away lead in the 3 laps remaining and took home second place with Sweet coming home in 3rd.

    The Chili Bowl line up is up to 9 going into the 4th night of qualifying tomorrow. But the closer it gets the more apparent it becomes that if you are going to win the Chili Bowl you are going to have to beat a Swindell. With the father and son team having won 4 of the last 5 it would appear that it will take more than speed and talent. It would appear that if you are to beat the Swindells for the Golden Driller it will take a great deal of luck.

    Your 9 lock ins so far are: Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael Pickens, Sammy Swindell, Danny Stratton, Tony Stewart, Kevin Swindell, Shane Cottle, Brad Sweet. We will add three more lock ins tomorrow evening as the Chili Bowl approaches.

    Shame Hmiel was in attendance tonight along with his driver for tomorrow’s qualifying action Levi Jones. Hmiel showed great humor and great spirit in an interview conducted in the pit area. It was certainly a wonderful thing to see Shane back at the track and still pushing to improve his ability and status. Hmiel who suffered a severe spinal cord injury last summer that left him a quadriplegic said he has a work out routine that is 6 to 8 hours a day. His goal he says is to be able to take his self out of the wheel chair and put his self in his bed so that his parents don’t have to do it.

    Also in attendance tonight were Gary Bettenhausen and Bobby Unser.

    The Chili Bowl will resume at 5:30 PM CSTtomorrow at the QT Expo in TulsaOklahoma. The event is a sell out. There is no video available until the tentative Jan 28 2012air date with Speed but you can listen to a live radio stream from .