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Tag: Brendan Gaughan

  • Crunching The Numbers: Michigan

    Crunching The Numbers: Michigan

    After a wild weekend of turning left and right at the fast road course at Watkins Glen, the three national NASCAR series head their separate ways this weekend with the Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series heading to Michigan to take on the 2 mile Michigan International Speedway and the Nationwide Series heading to their second road course race in a row for their inaugural race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

    NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway

    With only four races left until the cutoff for the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins at Chicago, the battle between those fighting for a spot in the 12 driver playoff keeps ratcheting up with only 31 points separating the drivers between 10th and 17th in the standings. From this point on every race, every position, and every point matters that much more. Drivers at Michigan will have a balancing act between playing it safe for points or gambling for a win and putting themselves in position for a Wild Card Chase berth.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Carl Edwards 18 2 9 14 1 291 19.9 8.2
    Matt Kenseth 28 2 12 18 0 284 17.9 9.4
    Greg Biffle 21 4 10 13 1 565 13.5 11.3
    Jeff Gordon 41 2 18 25 5 954 11.5 12.4
    Danica Patrick 1 0 0 0 0 0 37.0 13.0
    Mark Martin 55 5 18 31 1 965 11.9 14.2
    Kevin Harvick 25 1 4 9 0 149 18.2 14.3
    Denny Hamlin 15 2 5 7 0 149 14.3 14.7
    Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 28 2 6 10 2 327 14.9 15.6
    Kyle Busch 17 1 4 6 0 169 14.6 15.6

    Who To Watch: Coming off of an eighth place finish in the first race at Michigan in June, Carl Edwards boasts the best statistics in the Sprint Cup Series at the track with two wins, nine top fives, 14 top tens, one pole, 291 laps led, and an average finish of 8.2 in 18 races.

    Matt Kenseth comes up next with two wins, 12 top fives, 18 top tens, 284 laps led, and an average finish of 9.4 in 28 starts. Kenseth finished in sixth in June in his first race at Michigan for new car owner Joe Gibbs.

    Others who run well at the track include: Greg Biffle, who won in June and has a total of four wins at the track, along with 10 top fives, 13 top tens, one pole, 565 laps led, and an average finish of 11.3 in 21 starts; Jeff Gordon, with two wins, 18 top fives, 25 top tens, five poles, 954 laps led, and an average finish of 12.4 in 41 starts; and Danica Patrick, who finished in 13th in her first start at the track in June.

    The remainder of the top ten statistically (Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Kyle Busch) also run well at Michigan and have a total of 11 wins between them.

    NASCAR Nationwide Series – Inaugural Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio

    Since there have been no Nationwide Series races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, there are obviously no statistics to pull from to see who will run well at the track. So, the best bet for Saturday’s race will be to go with drivers who run well on road courses. Drivers such as Ron Fellows in the JR Motorsports No. 5, Marcos Ambrose in the No. 9 for Richard Petty Motorsports, A.J. Allmendinger in the No. 22 for Penske Racing, and Max Papis in the No. 33 for Richard Childress Racing should find themselves up front along with Nationwide regulars Sam Hornish Jr. and Justin Allgaier.

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – Michigan National Guard 200 at Michigan

    After a few weeks off since last racing at Pocono, the Camping World Truck Series makes their return at Michigan with points leader Matt Crafton holding onto a commanding 52 point lead over rookie Jeb Burton in the standings. The race also marks the return of the Truck Series for consecutive weekends and the debut of Fox Sports 1 for the broadcast of the Truck Series race on Saturday.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Ty Dillon 1 0 0 1 0 3 5.0 6.0
    Miguel Paludo 2 0 1 2 0 3 6.0 6.5
    Kyle Busch 6 0 4 5 1 149 5.8 6.8
    Brendan Gaughan 7 1 3 4 0 48 18.4 8.9
    Joey Coulter 2 0 0 1 1 7 10.5 12.5
    Ron Hornaday, Jr. 9 0 1 6 0 15 10.3 12.7
    Dakoda Armstrong 2 0 1 1 0 0 20.5 13.5
    Johnny Sauter 4 0 0 0 0 1 8.0 13.5
    James Buescher 4 0 2 2 0 5 7.8 14.5
    Timothy Peters 6 0 1 3 0 0 16.7 14.8

    Who To Watch: Championship contender Ty Dillon leads all active drivers at Michigan with three laps led and a sixth place finish in his lone start at the track last season.

    A driver who has been running strong as of late is Miguel Paludo and he falls in second statistically at Michigan. Paludo has two starts at the track and in the two starts has one top five, two top tens, 3 laps led and an average finish of 6.5.

    Others who could find their way to Victory Lane include: Kyle Busch, who has six starts at the track, and in those six starts has four top fives, five top tens, one pole, 149 laps led and an average finish of 6.8; Brendan Gaughan, who has one win, three top fives, four top tens, 48 laps led and an average finish of 8.9 in seven starts; and Joey Coulter, who has one top ten, one pole, seven laps led and an average finish of 12.5 in two starts.

    Last, but certainly not least would be the promising crop of rookies in the series this year (Jeb Burton, Ryan Blaney, Darrell Wallace, Jr.), who are giving the veterans a run for their money. It certainly would not be a surprise to see one of those drivers win either.

  • Brendan Gaughan Is Living Long and Prospering

    Brendan Gaughan Is Living Long and Prospering

    While Brendan Gaughan, driver of the No. 62 South Point Chevrolet, is pretty much an open book thanks to his regular appearances on the Sirius NASCAR radio channel, one thing that fans may not know about the charismatic driver is that he is an admitted Star Trek nerd.

    Given that, the lanyard around his neck with the ‘Live Long and Prosper’ motto suits him perfectly and is exactly what the driver is experiencing this season with team Richard Childress Racing.

    “All I’ve cared about in my career, whether Truck, Nationwide or Cup, is having good equipment,” Gaughan said. “If you have great equipment in this sport, life is easy.”

    “I spent my career in decent equipment but at RCR, this is the first time that I’ve had great equipment and great people,” Gaughan continued. “So, for me, I don’t care what series, all that I have wanted is sitting here.”

    “It just took me eight years of my career to find it.”

    “So, I’m happy whether it is Truck or Nationwide and I am running Nationwide next week,” Gaughan said. “Every time you touch a car at RCR, you are going to be fast.”

    “So when you come to the track, you smile,” Gaughan continued. “And when you come to the track, you have a sigh of relief because even when you come to the track experimenting and it doesn’t work, you just chuckle and say ‘Put the other stuff in and we will be fine.’

    “I’m just so happy with the equipment.”

    Gaughan is also living large and prospering thanks to his success at Eldora, with a top-five finish, and his hopeful success at Pocono Raceway this weekend.

    “We all went to Eldora with cautious optimism,” Gaughan said. “We went into it not knowing formats and worrying that guys were going to spin every two laps and that it might end up being a bad show, but Eldora ended up being the coup of the 21st century so far for NASCAR.”

    “It was a phenomenal event,” Gaughan continued. “The fans showed up.”

    “The fifty-fifty drawing was $17,000 to a fan so that was amazing,” Gaughan said. “I told Tony Stewart right before the race that I wanted a couple of raffle tickets because it was more than I would win for winning the race.”

    “On TV, it showed great,” Gaughan continued. “The format worked out really well for NASCAR.”

    “You had passing and slide jobs and from inside the race car, it was a ton of fun.”

    Gaughan is also hoping to live large and prosper at Pocono Raceway, which will be relatively new to him since he has never raced on the re-pave.

    “I ran Cup here and then it was off the schedule,” Gaughan said of the ‘Tricky Triangle.’ “When they added it, I raced with Germain Racing in 2011 but this is my first time on the new asphalt.”

    “The track is unique,” Gaughan continued. “Some people say this race sometimes gets boring but as a driver, it’s fun because you have three completely different corners.”

    “That makes for a difficult day as a driver.”

    “You’re working hard, your spotter can’t see a damn thing because he is a mile and half away with binoculars,” Gaughan said. “My favorite is when my spotter says ‘clear’ on a close call in turn one and you’re like, you are so full of crap.”

    “You know he has got no clue and is just guessing.”

    “It’s a fun race when you understand all of it,” Gaughan continued. “It’s a really neat race from a strategy perspective because you can almost run it backwards like a road course.”

    Gaughan is also fond of the area around the race track and is especially effusive when it comes to the Pocono Raceway family ownership.

    “I like the area,” Gaughan said. “I’m an outdoorsy type guy and this is just a really pretty area when it comes to that.”

    “There’s four ski mountains here and Pocono is a pretty famous place.”

    “And when you talk the track you can’t say anything but talking about the Mattioli family, who are one of the greatest all time owners in the sport,” Gaughan continued. “You have to like a place that has such great family history.”

    Gaughan is also living large and prospering in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, where he currently sits seventh in the point standings, with his sights still set on a championship run.

    So, what does Gaughan value the most about competing in the Truck Series?

    “First, we had Eldora,” Gaughan said. “This is a series that NASCAR can get away experimenting with.”

    “The trucks put on some of the best racing,” Gaughan continued. “The races are shorter and that fits into the shorter attention spans of the fans.”

    “And because it is shorter, there is no room to ride.” Gaughan said. “You have to go and you have to make your moves early.”

    “And then you beat and bang more than the Cup guys,” Gaughan continued. “You have a little less to lose so to speak and you can kind of get a little more aggressive.”

    Gaughan also appreciates the battles between the veterans, of which he considers himself one, and the young up and comers in the Truck Series, which he feels makes the Series most unique.

    “It’s fun watching the teenagers versus the Hornadays and the Todd Bodines,” Gaughan said. “In this series you have such a big age gap.”

    “In Cup, you get the phenom and he gets the big ride and there is a ton of pressure and he doesn’t get to be himself,” Gaughan continued. “You come down here and oh my goodness, you get to see who the person really is.”

    “You start in the Truck Series and you see great kids like a Ross Chastain, who is really trying to make it in the sport and you’ve got kids like James Buescher, who is finding his own way,” Gaughan said. “And you’ve got my teammates Ty and Austin (Dillon), who both have learned what they want to be without the pressure of being a Sprint Cup star.”

    “It’s a fun series and NASCAR has done a great job of making it that home for those who want to have careers and start careers.”

    Gaughan also is living large and prospering because he knows just how to balance having fun with the sport and putting on his game face when it is time to race. And even he admits that he still gets just a little bit nervous when it comes time to cinch his belts tight.

    “I don’t like to use Bobby Knight much for quotes because I’m a John Thompson guy, but I like his famous quote of what is a game face and he may a bunch of goofy faces illustrating that,” Gaughan said. “Everybody has a different way that they take their competitiveness.”

    “We all have our different rituals as to how we prepare and how we balance having our own personalities and putting the game face on when we are behind the wheel of our race trucks,” Gaughan continued. “But if you don’t have butterflies before every race, like I do, then it is time to hang it up because you are not getting excited anymore about your sport.”

    “I still get butterflies every time and when I quit getting them, then I will know it’s time for me to think about moving on.”

    But most of all, Gaughan is living large and prospering thanks to his family including his wife Tatum and two young sons.

    “That is one of the most difficult things to do is to find that balance between racing and family life,” Gaughan said. “I try to bring the family along as much as I can but so much of it falls to my wife to make those arrangements and pack everybody up.”

    “I’ve been lucky this year that I have a motor coach available to me and I try to bring my family to the track as much as possible,” Gaughan continued. “And that’s how I try to maintain my balance.”

    So, does Brendan Gaughan think that he will continue to live long and prosper for the remainder of the 2013 season?

    “I’ve been pleased with the season so far,” Gaughan said. “We have the most top-five finishes so far and we are definitely fast and we are not out of the championship hunt yet.”

    “But overall, I just love my scuba diving and my family and I am just that every day nerd that hopes to ‘Live Long and Prosper.’

     

  • Crunching The Numbers: Sonoma & Road America

    Crunching The Numbers: Sonoma & Road America

    That time of the year has come again when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series head for the first road courses of the season in Sonoma, CA and Elkhart Lake, WI, respectively. Many of the road course races in recent memory have turned into races that resemble short track races than the follow the leader races of old and this weekend’s events should be more of the same beating and banging all the way to the finish. Add in the addition of so called “road course ringers” and the road courses make for very entertaining races.

    NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma

    This weekend marks the annual trip to California Wine Country and Sonoma Raceway’s lone Sprint Cup date. With the advent of double file restarts, this race has become a must see event due to the narrow course that these drivers are trying to navigate while running two wide. That factor often leads to cars being spun off course and tempers flaring among the drivers. In addition to that, the Sprint Cup Series will debut group based qualifying this weekend and this will also be the Sonoma debut for the Gen6 car, which throws more uncertainty into this race that has not seen a repeat winner in the past eight races.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Jeff Gordon 20 5 12 16 5 450 7.4 8.6
    Clint Bowyer 7 1 4 5 0 73 17.1 9.7
    Tony Stewart 14 2 5 9 1 82 11.1 10.9
    Marcos Ambrose 5 0 2 4 1 46 5.0 12.8
    Ryan Newman 11 0 2 5 0 11 10.8 12.9
    Juan Pablo Montoya 6 1 1 4 0 9 18.8 13.2
    Jimmie Johnson 11 1 4 6 0 85 16.0 13.8
    Greg Biffle 10 0 2 4 0 9 16.4 14.9
    Kevin Harvick 12 0 3 4 0 10 16.7 16.1
    Joey Logano 4 0 0 2 1 5 11.8 17.0

    Who To Watch: Four-time Sprint Cup champion, Jeff Gordon, has proven himself to be one of the best on road courses, especially at Sonoma, with five wins, 12 top fives, 16 top tens, five poles, 450 laps led, and an average finish of 8.6 in 20 races.

    2012 winner, Clint Bowyer, has also proven his mettle at Sonoma with one win, four top fives, five top tens, 73 laps led, and an average finish of 9.7 in seven races.

    Others who run well on the road course include: Tony Stewart, with two wins, five top fives, nine top tens, one pole, 82 laps led, and an average finish of 10.9 in 14 races; Road course ace Marcos Ambrose who has yet to win at Sonoma, but has two top fives, four top tens, one pole, 46 laps led, and an average finish of 12.8 in five races; Ryan Newman, with two top fives, five top tens, 11 laps led, and an average finish of 12.9 in 11 races; 2007 winner, Juan Pablo Montoya, with one win, one top five, four top tens, nine laps led, and an average finish of 13.2 in six races; and Jimmie Johnson, with one win, four top fives, six top tens, 85 laps led, and an average finish of 13.8 in 11 starts.

    NASCAR Nationwide Series – Johnsonville Sausage 200 at Road America

    For just the fourth time, the Nationwide Series will be making the trek to Wisconsin to take on the daunting 4.048 mile road course, the longest on the circuit. The field will be full of drivers who have never raced at the track or only have one start, leaving the field wide open for a new winner. With none of the Sprint Cup regulars attempting the double and a few “ringers” joining the field, the odds are high that one of the Nationwide regulars will find themselves in Victory Lane for the third race in a row.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Nelson Piquet, Jr. 1 1 1 1 1 19 1.0 1.0
    Reed Sorenson 1 1 1 1 0 1 12.0 1.0
    Brendan Gaughan 1 0 1 1 0 0 6.0 3.0
    Owen Kelly 1 0 1 1 0 0 9.0 5.0
    Sam Hornish, Jr. 1 0 1 1 0 3 8.0 5.0
    Cole Whitt 1 0 0 1 0 0 14.0 9.0
    Elliott Sadler 2 0 1 1 0 0 10.0 9.5
    Brian Scott 3 0 0 1 0 10 13.3 12.0
    Max Papis 2 0 1 1 0 1 3.5 13.5
    Blake Koch 1 0 0 0 0 0 24.0 14.0

    Who To Watch: With a win and a pole in his only race at the track last season, Nelson Piquet, Jr. is at the top of the list statistically of the drivers who have competed at Road America. Piquet led 19 laps en route to victory last season and is looking to become the first repeat winner at the track in the short history that the Nationwide Series has there.

    The only other driver in the field with a win is Reed Sorenson, who along with his one win has one top five, one top ten, one lap led and an average finish of 1.0 in one start.

    Others who run well at Road America, but have yet to win include: Brendan Gaughan, with a third place finish in his lone start; Owen Kelly, piloting Kyle Busch’s No. 54, with a fifth place finish in one start; Sam Hornish, Jr., currently sitting second in points, with a fifth place finish in one start; Cole Whitt, who recently returned to the Nationwide Series, with a ninth place finish in one start; and Elliott Sadler, who is the highest ranking driver with more than one start and has one top five and one top ten in his two starts at the track.

  • Brendan Gaughan knows he beat himself out of Truck Series win in Chicago

    Brendan Gaughan knows he beat himself out of Truck Series win in Chicago

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”244″][/media-credit]Had the suggestion or opportunity arisen for Brendan Gaughan to run a limited schedule the last few years, he would have shrugged it off.

    Attempting to win races and contend for the championship was his main focus. Regardless of which team he was driving for or what series he was competing in. Then last December, after Gaughan finished 12th in the Camping World Truck Series points but only had one top five, a deal to run a limited schedule was presented again.

    This time Gaughan wisely accepted the offer. Richard Childress Racing was willing to put him behind the wheel of both a truck and Nationwide Series car. Looking to be competitive again and instead of driving for teams who bought equipment from RCR, the best option was just to drive for them.

    Saturday night in Chicago that decision nearly paid off. Gaughan dominated the American Ethanol 225 only to come up short on a green-white-checkered finish. He had been leading the restart previous before spinning his tires and handing the win to James Buescher.

    Afterwards Gaughan understood how teammate Kevin Harvick and other drivers felt after a bitter defeat. Watching Harvick with a mad and angry look on his face after finishing second, something Gaughan would normally have been ecstatic about. Not Saturday night.

    “Tonight Richard Childress, Gere Kennon [crew chief] and all the guys at the RCR shop gave me a South Point Chevrolet that was capable of taking us to Victory Lane,” said Gaughan. “There was no truck out there that was going to beat it, unless we beat ourselves. And I did. I spun my tires on the second to last restart, I gave an opening and that’s what you can’t do.

    “I got lucky that we had one more restart and I got to restart in fourth on the outside which is where I wanted to be. Was able to get back to second on the last lap. I’m still just very upset, Richard Childress has given me a great opportunity and second place looks like it would be fantastic but not when you have a truck that good.”

    Sitting in the lead on a restart with nine laps to go, Gaughan’s mistake took him from first to fifth. The final caution, on lap 145, set up a green-white-checkered finish but he was only able to grab two more spots. Buescher, who led just six laps, won the race after going two laps down early.

    During that time Gaughan led 83 of the events 150 laps. The fastest truck doesn’t always win and Gaughan, who hasn’t won since 2003, had the field covered and looked headed for what would have been an emotional win. The 2012 season is his second chance, an opportunity to get back on top and show that he can compete full-time given the right circumstances.

    “The only opportunity to get in equipment this good was to do that,” said Gaughan of his limited schedule. “I had five weeks off, this is after a five week layoff, I haven’t been in a racecar and it’s very odd for me when you spend your whole racing every week and the only layoff you have is the winter before you get to Daytona.”

    Gaughan found himself watching the races at home and going to the shop to see someone else’s seat in a car that he drives too. Everything about the decision Gaughan made, even knowing it was the best one, leaves him with an odd feeling from time to time. His performance though, was anything but odd as he reminded everyone he still knows how to dominate races.

    “In order to get in this caliber equipment, as great caliber as Richard Childress builds, the only way to do it was to take it part time,” he said. “He’s always said if I can show we can do, he’s going to try to give me an opportunity to go full-time if I can show it.

    “Second place may be able to show it, when the trucks that good I still sit here and got to kick myself. Now I remember why you get that sourpuss look on your face when you finish second. I’d be up here in tears for second place the last bunch of years with Bryan Berry and all. Now with these guys it’s like, man, being second place and being that good you just kind of shake your head.”

    But he says, “It was a great decision. I’ve run every race in the top five, top 10 except two. I can’t knock that, we’ve just to keep doing that and I’ll keep putting myself in this position and we’ll finish it off.”

    Following the NNS at Chicago on Sunday, Gaughan will again sit at home and watch as the series heads to Indianapolis. He’ll be back behind the wheel at Iowa the first week of August, then Montreal two weeks after that. The next time he’s in a truck will be at Bristol on August 22.

  • RCR Brings Force to Reckon With in Nationwide Series

    RCR Brings Force to Reckon With in Nationwide Series

    [media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]The headlines were going crazy last season when Kevin Harvick Incorporated (KHI) announced that it was closing its doors at the conclusion of 2011. The result of that closure saw KHI’s Nationwide Series program be put under Richard Childress Racing.

    The merger was met with some questions, however, they have been quickly answered this far into the season. After the second race of the season, Elliott Sadler leads the point standings, 10 points over rookie teammate Austin Dillon. Sadler won the last race at Phoenix International Speedway while Dillon and Kevin Harvick finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

    The win marked a special win for Sadler as he hadn’t been to victory lane in one of NASCAR’s top three divisions since 2010 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The win also marked a bit of revenge for last year as despite finishing second in points, the season was considered disappointing due to no victories.

    One of the first moves that was made when Sadler made the shift from KHI to RCR was a change in his crew chief. Richard Childress partnered Sadler with Luke Lambert, who was the crew chief for Clint Bowyer last year in the Sprint Cup Series. Childress felt the partnership was perfect based on what he saw Sadler needed in a crew chief and how Lambert could benefit from a couple seasons spent in Nationwide.

    Sadler now hopes to carry the momentum from the win into Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    “Momentum is huge in this sport,” he said. “Our team is so strong and so focused that I know the win last week at Phoenix will just add to our drive. We have one goal, and that is to win the championship, and I think this week we will continue to go along with our game plan. It was such a great feeling to be in Victory Lane, and I am so proud of our team and excited to home a win for OneMain Financial and Richard Childress Richard Childress.”

    The win marked some reassurance for Sadler as he was at first concerned when Harvick told him of the switch.

    “When Kevin first came to me and said, ‘Look, I’m going to sell my team to Richard. We’re going to run the team out of his shop’. I said, ‘Where is that going to leave me?’,” Sadler explained. “He said, ‘Elliott, the last time I ran for RCR, we won 13 races. You’re going to be okay.’

    “When you’re affiliated with the Cup teams and the simulation programs that they have and when you’re on the same campus, you feed off of it. We race against the Cup affiliated teams all the time – Roush and Gibbs – so it just puts us on an even playing field.”

    In the past couple of years, the Nationwide Series has been dominated by Roush Racing, Penske Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing – all three teams having a cup affiliation.

    “I think Kevin and Delana did a great job with the Nationwide,” Childress commented after Phoenix. “But running against what Jack, Gibbs, Penske have, they weren’t quite there and that was the difference. I think Kevin once he saw that, wanted to come back. I think the difference is having a cup affiliation. I had the Cup crew chiefs scanning the three radios telling me what was going on. Now that we’re back in Nationwide, I think it helps back to the Cup due to the cars being so similar except for the motor.”

    The success now puts pressure on the team to keep it going, as stated by Brendan Gaughan, who will run his first Nationwide race of the season.

    “I’m really excited to race for such a great organization,” he said in the team preview. “The only downside, if there is one, is that now it’s my turn to keep the hot streak going that RCR has started off the season with.”

    As the season continues, there’s no question there will be a continued battle between Joe Gibbs Racing, Jack Roush, Roger Penske and Richard Childress for the championships. It’ll all be about who can put the best package together, and right now, Childress looks to have the upper hand. It’s also known that this isn’t his first rodeo as he has won five championships in the Nationwide Series.

  • Kyle Busch Wins Monster of a Truck Race; Nemesis Kevin Harvick Finishes Fifth

    Kyle Busch, behind the wheel of No. 18 Traxxas Toyota, put the controversy and trash talking with Kevin Harvick from last week’s Darlington race behind him to win the Lucas Oil 200 Truck Series race at the Monster Mile in Dover, Delaware.

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”264″][/media-credit]Busch’s win also tied him with Mark Martin for the most wins in all three series, with both drivers now at 96 victories. He is also the first two-time winner in the Camping World Truck Series at Dover International Speedway.

    This was Busch’s 27th victory in 90 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races. The win also was his third victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2011.

    “It was a really good truck,” Busch said. “I can’t say enough about this Toyota.”

    While Busch seemed to dominate most of the race, he affirmed that it was not as easy as it seemed.

    “Overall the race went pretty well for us,” Busch said. “It wasn’t quite the walk in the park it seemed.  This place is so difficult and so challenging and you feel like you’re always on edge.”

    Busch said that he and his nemesis Harvick managed to race each other clean and without issues.

    “I thought today’s race was good,” Busch said of his competition with Harvick. “We had some close moments and we raced each other hard but it was fine. All is good as far as I know.”

    For his part, Kevin Harvick finished fifth after an eventful race. Harvick, piloting the No. 2 Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet, had to rebound from a speeding penalty to work his way back through the field to score that top five finish.

    Red Bull rookie Cole Whitt had almost as good a race as winner Kyle Busch, finishing in the runner up position. The driver of the No. 60 Red Bull/Fuel Doctor Chevrolet posted his first top-10 finish, his first top five and his career best finish.

    “It’s crazy,” Whitt said. “I’m happy to be here in the first place. Trying to live the dream and chase it and drive door to door with half these guys, let alone Kyle Busch, is pretty cool.”

    “We had a great truck all weekend and this thing’s been pretty spot on,” Whitt said. “We’ve just been turning things around from the way the season started.”

    “Early in the race, we were good on long runs and our truck just couldn’t do it on short runs,” Whitt said, crediting that issue to his runner up status. “That’s what it just turned in to be. It was all short runs after that.”

    Whitt also acknowledged that he went to school at the feet of Kyle Busch, especially on those late race restarts.

    “Kyle is one of the best in the business on restarts,” Whitt said. “He definitely schooled me a few times and then I felt like I got a good one there at the end but it wasn’t good enough.”

    “We’re all small team trying to make it big.”

    Matt Crafton, driver of the No. 88 Menards/Certain Teed Chevrolet, came in third but that was good enough for him to claim the points lead in the Truck Series.

    “At the beginning of the race, I couldn’t fire off and I was really, really loose,” Crafton said. “But at the end of the run, we’d be one of the best trucks on the race track.”

    This was Crafton’s sixth top-10 finish in 11 races at the Monster Mile. He is now leading the points by five over teammate Johnny Sauter.

    “It’s great to be the points leader,” Crafton continued. “We just need to keeping doing what we’re doing and running top five every week and having these top three finishes and throw a couple of wins off and see where we are at Homestead.”

    Austin Dillon, behind the wheel of the No. 3 BassProShops/Remington/Tracker Boats Chevrolet, finished in the fourth spot. Harvick rounded out the top five.

    Another notable in the race finishing order was rookie Joey Coulter, who qualified fifth and finished sixth in his No. 22 RCR/Rip-It Chevrolet. This was Coulter’s first trip to the Monster Mile and the driver and his family were thrilled with the result.

    Brendan Gaughan, James Buescher, Ron Hornaday, Jr. and Justin Marks, the pole sitter rounded out the top ten.