Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: brian scott

  • Logano Puts on Monstrous Nationwide Show; Stenhouse Jr. Wrecks Out of Points Lead

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”223″][/media-credit]Joey Logano put a whipping on the Monster Mile, dominating most of the race and leading laps to score his first Nationwide win ever at the Dover track, as well as the coveted Miles the Monster trophy.

    Although strong throughout much of the race, Logano pitted under caution and had to battle back against teammate Ryan Truex in the last twenty laps to score the checkered flag.

    “I was frustrated as soon as the caution came out and we lost our track position,” Logano said. “Once we got to second and he (Truex) got caught in lapped traffic, I was able to pass cars, take the lead and get the win.”

    “When you lead it, think you gave it away, and then get the win, it’s good.”

    “It’s been four or five years and I have never gotten a win here,” Logano said. “It’s the coolest trophy you can win. It’s awesome to finally get it.”

    The driver of the No. 18 Dollar General Toyota led the parade of Joe Gibbs Racing drivers with teammates Ryan Truex and Brian Scott in second and third respectively.

    Although Truex gave a very gutsy performance to finish second, especially after just having had surgery for appendicitis, he was not a happy camper.

    He was particularly upset with lapped traffic, which slowed his run and allowed Logano to pass him.

    “I’m not happy,” the driver of the No. 20 Grime Boss Toyota said. “It’s second and I’m not happy with it.”

    “We had a winning car,” Truex said. “I hate to blame it on someone else, but it’s just stupid.”

    “I probably could have picked a better lane around them,” Truex said of the lapped traffic. “It’s just frustrating.”

    “I wish I could have got a win,” Truex said. “It was too close to come in second.”

    As unhappy as Truex was, the third member of the Joe Gibbs Racing triumvirate, Brian Scott was most pleased with his third place finish. Scott did admit, however, that he probably could learn some lessons from his younger teammates.

    “We had a really good Dollar General Toyota all day,” Scott said. “This one’s for JGR with a one, two, three finish.”

    “It’s fun to be up there and racing our teammates for the win,” Scott continued. “I’m a young kid myself at 24, but Ryan and Joey, who are younger than me, can show me a few things.”

    “Really happy to bring back a top-5 finish after all we’ve been through this year,” Scott said. “Hopefully, it’s a huge confidence booster for the team.”

    Kurt Busch, in the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports, finished fourth and Justin Allgaier, in the No. 31 Brandt Chevrolet, rounded out the top five. These two drivers, however, were none too happy with one other, having some words after the race on pit road.

    “We just agreed to disagree on a few things at the race track,” Allgaier said of the incident with Busch. “Great day for the Brandt Chevrolet.”

    “Glad we finished in the top-five; that was the first one for us this season,” Allgaier continued. “It was definitely a good day.”

    Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 American Ethanol/New Holland Chevrolet, was the highest finishing rookie, scoring the sixth spot.

    “It was a good run,” Dillon said. “We made sure our car was good for the race and it was.”

    “It was just way too tight in traffic,” Dillon continued. “We didn’t have the car to get up there like Joey did.”

    Troubles abounded, however, for points leader Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. when he lost control of the No. 6 Cargill Beef Ford Mustang and hit the wall hard on lap 27. The young driver took full responsibility for the wreck.

    “I just lost it,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “I wasn’t up on the wheel and just kind of riding around until that competition caution and just got behind on the steering.”

    “It was driver error, totally my fault,” Stenhouse continued. “We will have to go back take a weekend off and get ‘em at Michigan.”

    Stenhouse, Jr. was able to get back out onto the track but his car looked more like a modified car than a Nationwide car. He finished a disappointing 32nd and fell to second in the point standings, twelve behind Elliott Sadler.

    Yet in spite of being the new points leader, Elliott Sadler was also not amongst the happy camper drivers as far as his finish.

    “Our run today was not what we were looking for,” Sadler said. “To finish seventh is kind of disappointing.”

    “We had to fight back from a lucky dog but definitely not the day we wanted at Dover,” Sadler said. “We have homework to do before we come back in the fall.”

    “We are the points leader and we’re very happy to be back in the points race,” Sadler continued. “But we know as a team that the 6 car is going to run good every week and is not going to have problems every week.”

    “But it does feel good to be back in the middle of this thing,” Sadler said. “As a team, we just have to keep fighting and keep improving.”

    Unofficial Race Results
    5-hour Energy 200, Dover International Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=12
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 2 18 Joey Logano Toyota 0
    2 1 20 Ryan Truex Toyota 43
    3 5 11 Brian Scott Toyota 41
    4 9 54 Kurt Busch Toyota 0
    5 7 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 40
    6 11 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 38
    7 6 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 37
    8 3 33 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 0
    9 14 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 0
    10 15 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 34
    11 23 43 Michael Annett Ford 33
    12 12 22 Parker Kligerman Dodge 0
    13 10 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 31
    14 19 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 30
    15 30 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota 29
    16 20 19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 28
    17 28 14 Jeff Green Toyota 27
    18 27 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 26
    19 21 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 25
    20 13 199 John Wes Townley Toyota 0
    21 34 23 Jamie Dick Chevrolet 23
    22 18 39 Josh Richards Ford 22
    23 22 38 Brad Sweet * Chevrolet 21
    24 32 50 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 20
    25 – 4 Brad Teague Chevrolet 19
    26 36 52 Joey Gase * Chevrolet 18
    27 29 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 17
    28 – 124 Tim Bainey Jr. Chevrolet 0
    29 35 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 15
    30 17 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 14
    31 26 41 Timmy Hill Ford 0
    32 4 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 12
    33 8 44 Mike Bliss Toyota 11
    34 – 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 10
    35 37 171 Matt Carter Chevrolet 9
    36 – 175 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 0
    37 24 42 Josh Wise Chevrolet 0
    38 16 47 Scott Speed Chevrolet 0
    39 25 10 Kevin Lepage Toyota 5
    40 31 108 Tim Andrews Ford 4
    41 – 15 Blake Koch Chevrolet 3
    42 33 46 Matt DiBenedetto Chevrolet 0
    43 – – – – 0
  • Carl Edwards Scores Victory at the Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage at Charlotte

    Carl Edwards Scores Victory at the Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage at Charlotte

    Carl Edwards only led five laps in Friday’s race but they were the ones that mattered. On lap 195, with a little help from teammate Trevor Bayne, Edwards took the lead from Kyle Busch and never looked back, bringing his Roush Fenway Ford into Victory Lane.

    “If Trevor hadn’t given me that push,” said Edwards, “we would have had a really hard time. So [it was] just a really, really good team effort.” This was his 37th victory in the Nationwide Series.

    Kyle Busch finished second followed by Trevor Bayne in third, who scored his first top-five finish in three races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Elliot Sadler in fourth and Brian Scott rounded out the top five.

    Elliot Sadler also claimed the Nationwide Insurance Dash4Cash $100,000 bonus and won $100,000 for NASCAR fan Joe Thornton of New Port riche, Fla.

    “It’s a thrill just to come to the races, but to win the $100,000 I’m speechless,” Thornton said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do with it — my wife wants to pay the house off, we’ll see. It’s just unbelievable, you know.”

    Sadler is now only 15 points behind points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Paul Menard, winner of the Coors Light Pole Award, brought the field to green Friday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway but only led the first 26 laps.

    Brad Keselowski seemed to have the most dominant car of the night, leading 119 laps. But on lap 170 he suddenly slowed due to a tire going down.

    In the end, it was a battle between Edwards and Kyle Busch with Trevor Bayne making a late charge in the final five laps. But Edwards was able to hold off Busch and the remainder of the field for the win.

    Jack Roush, car owner of the No. 60 Fastenal Ford, was ecstatic and a little amazed after the race.

    “I think I’m gonna lose my mind here,” he said. He continued, “Carl wrecked his car today and the car decided it wouldn’t give up. I’m going to talk to that car and I’m going to give that car a kiss tonight.”

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr retains the points lead followed by Elliot Sadler, Aric Almirola, Justin Allgaier and Reed Sorenson in fifth.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage, Charlotte Motor Speedway
    =========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 5 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0
    2 6 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    3 11 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 41
    4 12 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 41
    5 8 11 Brian Scott Toyota 39
    6 3 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    7 10 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 37
    8 1 33 Paul Menard Chevrolet 0
    9 2 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 36
    10 9 32 Brian Vickers Chevrolet 0
    11 17 30 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 33
    12 7 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 32
    13 19 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 31
    14 13 7 Josh Wise Chevrolet 30
    15 14 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 29
    16 20 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 28
    17 22 62 Michael Annett Toyota 27
    18 27 81 Blake Koch * Dodge 26
    19 4 20 Joey Logano Toyota 0
    20 23 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 24
    21 32 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 24
    22 36 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 22
    23 31 150 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 0
    24 41 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 20
    25 39 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 19
    26 33 39 Joey Gase Ford 18
    27 37 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 17
    28 18 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0
    29 24 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 15
    30 35 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 14
    31 34 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 13
    32 15 182 Reed Sorenson Dodge 12
    33 38 40 Charles Lewandoski * Chevrolet 11
    34 16 99 Ryan Truex * Toyota 0
    35 42 70 Angela Cope Chevrolet 9
    36 40 87 Kevin Conway Toyota 8
    37 28 97 Joe Nemechek Toyota 7
    38 25 104 Tim Andrews Ford 6
    39 26 103 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 5
    40 30 141 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 4
    41 21 147 Scott Speed Chevrolet 3
    42 29 142 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 0
    43 43 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 1
  • Joe Gibbs Racing 2011 Nationwide Series Lineup Raises Questions

    Joe Gibbs Racing 2011 Nationwide Series Lineup Raises Questions

    Joe Gibbs Racing made the announcement last month that they’d have three teams next year in the Nationwide Series.

    The first team will include Brian Scott running the No. 11 car full-time with crew chief Kevin Kidd.

    The second will include Adam Stevens, previously an engineer on the Cup side, as crew chief on the No. 20 with Joey Logano running the majority of the races. Denny Hamlin is also expected to run some of the races.

    The last team will include Jason Ratcliff with Kyle Busch driving the majority of the races as they try to defend their Owner’s Championship title.

    This all looks good on the surface, though it begs questions. Joe Gibbs Racing has drivers in development, including Brad Coleman and Matt DiBenedetto, so why not give them the chance behind the wheel full-time? Both have proved that they are talented and are worthy of being champions if given the equipment.

    Why let drivers like Busch, Logano and Hamlin compete in a series and win just to look good? All the fans know they are just winning due to competing against smaller teams and less talented drivers?

    By allowing DiBenedetto and Coleman full-time shots, you are allowing the talent pool to expand, which is why the Nationwide Series was built. It was built to give drivers a shot and get them ready for the Sprint Cup Series. Numerous drivers have come through that ladder and it has worked successfully. Why delete that system now and have drivers behind the wheel who have succeeded the ladder?

    It’s simple—Gibbs wants the publicity and knows the sponsors will pay the big bucks if he goes down this road.

    This is something you see with numerous of teams as you saw Penske Racing (Brad Keselowski) and Roush Racing (Carl Edwards) do it last year, just for a start. Though at least they stepped it up and put drivers full-time behind the wheel to give them a chance (Justin Allgaier and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.), but they still add to the problem.

    Till somebody, like NASCAR, stands up and puts an end to this, you are going to see the problem grow and the series lose fans. NASCAR has spoken about getting back to their roots and it’s about time they start doing it by starting with the Nationwide Series.