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  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400

    From oil pan issues for the cars of Joe Gibbs Racing to the end of probation for driver rivals Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, the Irish hills of Michigan once again saw plenty of action for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”265″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 43rd annual Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

    Surprising: It was surprising that Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, did not win last weekend at Pocono Raceway, a place that he had ‘owned’ for so many races in the past. But it was also surprising the Hamlin, who has been battling engine failures and other bad luck so mightily this season, finally put that behind him and took the checkered flag.

    This was Hamlin’s first win of the 2011 season, although he has had six top-10 finishes to date. His previous win was sixteen races ago when Hamlin was the victor at Texas Motor Speedway in November 2010.

    “We finished,” Hamlin said. “We got it done. It’s a big Father’s Day.”

    Not Surprising:  Since it was Michigan, Jack Roush’s backyard and Ford’s playground, it was not at all surprising that two drivers from that racing stable did well, scoring top five finishes.

    Matt Kenseth, behind the wheel of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford, driving as hard as his car would go while not wrecking on the final lap, finished in the runner up spot. His RFR teammate Carl Edwards, piloting the No. 99 Aflac ‘Now Hiring’ Ford and winner of the Nationwide race the day before, finished fifth.

    This was Kenseth’s 15th top-10 finish in 24 races at Michigan International Speedway.  This was also Kenseth’s eighth top-10 finish in 2011.

    “We had a really fast car and thought we were going to have a chance to win,” Kenseth said. “I got back to Denny (Hamlin), but I could not get back around him. I tried everything I could, but I just could not figure out how to do it.”

    For Edwards’ part, he just really wanted to win the Cup race, vowing to head all the way to the top of the grandstands just as he had in the Nationwide race, if he did. While he scored fifth instead of first, Edwards did extend his Chase points lead to 20 points over second place.

    Surprising:  Continuing with the Carl Edwards theme, it was most surprising to see the driver, who is usually most professional and an excellent spokesperson for the sport, call NASCAR out after the race.

    “Track position is so important,” Edwards said. “Sadly, down force is such a big factor in these cars and I am really hoping that NASCAR will take the opportunity in 2013 to take down force away so the fans can see the guys race race cars and not race down force. That would be cool.”

    Not Surprising: Neither oil pan troubles nor physical ailments could stop Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Snickers Toyota, from his appointed rounds. After complaining of nausea and pain in the center of his chest, Busch drove forward from his 24th place starting spot to finish third.

    “He just had a little stomach ache,” Dave Rogers, crew chief, said. “We gave him some Tums in a bottle of water and it took care of it.”

    Busch’s crew did have Scott Riggs standing by if needed, but when Busch was leading at the half-way mark of the race, there was no way he was ever going to get out of his car, not matter how poorly he felt.

    “Kyle is pretty dedicated to this race team,” Rogers said. “He’s a pretty tough kid so I didn’t think he would get out.”

    “I didn’t feel that bad,” Busch said. “It felt like I was running a 400 mile marathon running on my feet instead of in a race car.”

    Although Busch has never won at Michigan International Speedway, this was his fourth top-10 finish in 13 races in the Irish hills. Busch’s third place finish mirrored his third place finish the previous week in the Pocono race.

    “It wasn’t going to be a great day but we turned it into a good one,” Busch said. “Overall I’m happy with today; happy with the finish. If you finish third in the last 10 races every single race, you might win this thing, so we’ll take it.”

    Surprising: The primarily poor performance of the Hendrick Motorsports team was fairly surprising. Five-time champion Jimmie Johnson spun on lap 8, bringing out the first caution of the race.

    Johnson, driving the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, finished 27th and lost the second spot in the Chase standings, falling to the fifth position.

    Johnson’s teammate, four-time champion and winner of last weekend’s race, Jeff Gordon, also did not fare very well in the Irish hills. Gordon, this week driving the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, started 31st and finished 17th, falling one spot in the points to the 12th and final potential Chase spot.

    What was most surprising, however, were the harsh words HMS driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had for his teammate Mark Martin. The driver of the No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet made perfectly clear that he was not happy with being squeezed into the wall by the driver of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet.

    “He just come on up and drove us into the fence,” Junior said of his teammate Martin. “He ran us flat in the wall.”

    “I think we will get it sorted out,” Martin said in rebuttal. “I made a mistake.”

    Dale Jr. finished 21st, his first finish out of the top-10 this season. Junior was, however, able to hold on to his third place in the points standings.

    Mark Martin actually finished top-10, the best of all of the Hendrick Motorsports cars. He climbed one position in the points to 14th, just 20 points behind his teammate Jeff Gordon in the last Chase position.

    Not Surprising:  The majority of the Richard Childress Racing entries had a very good day at Michigan. Paul Menard, who has been struggling of late, had a terrific run, bringing his No. 27 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet home in the fourth position.

    Clint Bowyer also had a good day in the Irish hills. The No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet finished in the eighth spot.

    Finally, ‘the Closer’ Kevin Harvick overcame adversity and a brush with the wall to finish 14th in his No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet. Harvick leapfrogged over Dale Junior to lay claim to the second spot in the point standings.

    Surprising:  One of the best surprises of the day was the terrific run by young Landon Cassill, piloting the No. 51 Security Benefit/Thank a Teacher Today Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing. Cassill finished 12th, the best finish ever in his Cup career, tying the best finish for Phoenix Racing this season.

    “That was a great day all around,” Cassill said. “We lost some track position early but fought back all day. We had a good break at the end.”

    Not Surprising:  With Hall of Fame inductee Bud Moore on his race car in celebration of the US Army’s 236th Birthday, Ryan Newman had an ‘Army Strong’ day, finishing sixth.

    “It was a good finish for us,” Newman said. “We fought back hard.”

    Newman’s teammate and owner Tony Stewart also had a favorable race result. The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet finished the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 in seventh.

     

  • Monster Crash in Dover Nationwide Race Leaves Carl Edwards as Survivor in Victory Lane

    Monster Crash in Dover Nationwide Race Leaves Carl Edwards as Survivor in Victory Lane

    The Monster Mile lived up to its reputation, from a rain delayed start and a rain-induced red flag to one of the wildest endings ever during the second attempt at a green, white checkered finish.

    [media-credit id=26 align=”alignright” width=”201″][/media-credit]After Joey Logano, who was running in the second spot during the overtime session, hit the wall, sending Clint Bowyer airborne and Steve Wallace hard into the wall as well, Carl Edwards, in the No. 60 Fastenal Ford, remained the survivor, claiming the checkered flag in the 5-Hour Energy 200.

    In deference to the carnage on the track, Edwards declined to do his traditional celebratory back flip. He instead went to hoist the ‘Miles the Monster’ trophy in a subdued victory lane.

    This was Edwards’ 32nd career NASCAR Nationwide Series win, breaking the tie with NASCAR Hall of Fame Nominee Jack Ingram. Edwards now is fourth alone in that ranking for career Nationwide wins.

    “It was an amazing race from my seat,” Edwards said. “A lot was going on. We were playing a strategy with the rain, our pit stops were really good. I thought that rain was going to finish us.”

    “When we were coming to the white flag, Joey had a little advantage being on the outside,” Edwards said. “I thought I touched him but I saw the replay and it looked like he got loose and smacked the fence and the bottom fell out of it.”

    “It was a very different feeling than what you should have in a race car when you win a race,” Edwards said. “It’s just very fortunate that nobody was hurt.”

    “That’s why they call it the Monster Mile.”

    Although involved in the wreck himself, Kyle Busch managed to navigate his way through the pile up, claiming the second place for his No. 18 MAC Tools Toyota.

    “Well overall the weekend for us just wasn’t quite what we expected,” Busch said. “We unloaded and we weren’t very good off the hauler.”

    “The guys dug in and did a great job,” Busch continued. “We caught on some damage on pit road and mashed in the front end, which made it even worse. We passed a lot of cars but then we stalled out.”

    “The last lap got awfully crazy there,” Busch said. “I’m not sure if Carl touched him or not but Joey got a little loose and then tried to correct it and at that speed and at this kind of place, there’s not much you’re going to do besides spin out.”

    “Joey took a hell of a hit and I’m hoping he’s alright and not too sore for tomorrow,” Busch continued. “There with Clint climbing over him, it just got ugly. That was pretty crazy.”

    Reed Sorenson, behind the wheel of the No. 32 Dollar General Chevrolet, finished third in spite of a damaged race car. This was Sorenson’s ninth top-10 finish in ten races at the Monster Mile.

    “We were in fifth before the caution came out,” Sorenson said. “It usually gets dicey on green, white checkereds. I saw the 20 get into the wall and I was able to get up high and fortunately miss it for a good finish.”

    Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., in the No. 6 Mississippi Flood Relief-NASCAR Unites Ford, finished fourth and David Reutimann, driving for Rusty Wallace Racing, rounded out the top five in his No. 63 5-Hour Energy Grape Toyota.

    The final wreck of the race was not the only craziness that occurred in this Nationwide event at the Monster Mile. There was another melee that occurred on Lap 88 when Alex Kennedy, driving the No. 23 St. Baldrick’s/Funny Dan Racecar Man Dodge, spun and hit the wall, bringing out the fifth caution of the day.

    During the caution, however, Kennedy, trying to get his car re-fired and into pit road, drove back up the race track, slamming into the No. 16 Roush Fenway Ford. Kevin Swindell was called at the last minute by the team to substitute for the ailing Trevor Bayne, giving him the chance of a lifetime behind the wheel.

    “I don’t know what happened,” Swindell said. “We were just talking on the radio and whoever was wrecked just drove straight up the hill.”

    “This may have been my only opportunity,” Swindell continued. “And it gets ruined by somebody being an idiot.”

    Kennedy, when interviewed after coming out of the infield care center, explained that he was unable to turn the wheel.

    “All of a sudden, it stopped turning,” Kennedy said. “I just tried to stop. I feel horrible for Kevin and I ruined his day. I can’t apologize enough for that.”

    Points leader coming into this race, Justin Allgaier also had a monster of a day at Dover. He blew a right front tire and hit hard into turns three and four, causing his first DNF in 21 starts.

    “This was just a rough day,” Allgaier said. “Definitely not the way we wanted to leave Dover. Hopefully this is just a speed bump on the way to the championship.”

    Elliott Sadler, by virtue of his sixth place finish in his No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet, assumed the points lead from Allgaier. Sadler is currently ten points ahead of Reed Sorenson, with Allgaier falling to fifth in the point standings.

    “Our goal was to lead the points and be competitive and consistent,” Sadler said. “At Daytona, we started in a hole but that shows how good our race team is.”

    Sadler’s day at Dover, however, was not without its challenges. On lap 141, Sadler was penalized for speeding entering the pits and remanded to the tail end of the lead pack.

    “We did get the pit road speeding penalty and we fought our way back to the finish,” Sadler said. “It’s special to leave here with the points lead.”

    Unofficial Race Results
    5-Hour Energy 200, Dover International Speedway
    May 14, 2011 – Race 11 of 35
    ====================================
    Pos. Driver
    ====================================
    1 Carl Edwards
    2 Kyle Busch
    3 Reed Sorenson
    4 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    5 David Reutimann
    6 Elliott Sadler
    7 Kenny Wallace
    8 James Buescher
    9 Aric Almirola
    10 Mike Wallace
    11 Jason Leffler
    12 Brad Keselowski
    13 Joey Logano
    14 Clint Bowyer
    15 Mike Bliss
    16 Steve Wallace
    17 Josh Wise
    18 Ryan Truex *
    19 Joe Nemechek
    20 Michael Annett
    21 J.R. Fitzpatrick
    22 Timmy Hill *
    23 Danny Efland
    24 Jeremy Clements
    25 Eric McClure
    26 Morgan Shepherd
    27 Derrike Cope
    28 Dennis Setzer
    29 Justin Allgaier
    30 Brian Scott
    31 Tim George Jr.
    32 Alex Kennedy
    33 Donnie Neuenberger
    34 Carl Long
    35 Scott Wimmer
    36 Tim Andrews
    37 Jennifer Jo Cobb *
    38 Kevin Lepage
    39 Brad Teague
    40 Brett Rowe
    41 Jeff Green
    42 Charles Lewandoski *
    43 Blake Koch *

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: PIR Subway Fresh Fit 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: PIR Subway Fresh Fit 500

    After one of the most exciting Daytona 500 finishes, the Cup Series promptly headed west to Phoenix International Raceway. Although it actually rained a bit in the Valley of the Sun, the second race of the NASCAR season, the Subway Fresh Fit 500, was filled with its own share of surprises.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”292″][/media-credit]Surprising:  In contrast to the youngest winner, 20 year old Trevor Bayne, celebrating in Victory Lane after his Daytona 500 win last week, a 39 year old veteran driver was finally able to celebrate a victory, ending a 66 race winless streak.  After receiving a big bear hug from team owner Rick Hendrick, the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, stood relieved and overwhelmed with emotion in Victory Lane.

    What seemed to mean the most to Gordon, in addition to beating Kyle Busch of course, was how the fans embraced his win.

    “Man, we just beat Kyle Busch!” Gordon said after getting out of his race car. “Are you kidding me? Pinch me, pinch me.”

    “I don’t really care how we do it because we just wanted to get to Victory Lane,” Gordon said. “But to do it that way, leading the most laps, and to see the fans’ reaction. What an awesome feeling it is.”

    “God, it feels so amazing,” Gordon said. “I’ve got to say thanks to the fans.”

    With the win at PIR, his 83rd, Gordon officially tied Cale Yarborough for fifth in NASCAR’s all-time win list. Gordon also catapulted up 21 spots in the points, now in the fifth position.

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that Kyle Busch, who had won both the Truck and Nationwide Series races at PIR, was right there nipping at Gordon’s heels in the final laps. Busch battled back from an early incident to give Gordon a run for his money, just coming short of the sweep by finishing as the runner up.

    After paying homage to Gordon, Busch then apologized for getting into Carl Edwards, whose pole sitting race car was totally wrecked as a result of the contact.

    “It was unintentional,” Busch said. “All that aside, we came through a lot of adversity and kept battling through everything that was thrown at us. There at the end, Jeff just had a better car than us and flat out passed me.”

    Surprising: In a flashback moment to Daytona, there was actually a ‘big one’ at Phoenix International Raceway.  Thirteen cars were involved, including the likes of Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, David Ragan, Regan Smith and David Reutimann to name a few.  The race actually had to be red-flagged in order to allow for the extensive clean up needed.

    Clint Bowyer summed up his take on the ‘big one’ up best. “I’m pretty disgusted with the whole thing,” Bowyer said. “Our day is done.”

    Not Surprising:  Whether as a result of the big one or smaller skirmishes on the track, there were several drivers who were unhappy with one another, sparking the first rivalries of the season. One of the biggest differences of opinion occurred between Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch, who clashed in an early incident.

    “In my opinion, this was the car to win,” Edwards said after his tussle with Busch. “That’s too bold a move to make early in the race.  We had been in the running for the race win.”

    Other cross words were exchanged between Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth after getting into one another.

    “Matt wrecked us,” Vickers said simply. “It’s coming back to him.”

    Surprising: One of the most surprising finishes was for NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. After receiving a penalty for entering too fast into his pit, sliding through his pit stall, and breaking a wheel off the jack, Junior rallied back for a top ten finish.

    Not Surprising: Rick Hendrick’s wisdom in making his giant crew chief swap amongst the Hendrick drivers, sans Jimmie Johnson, certainly became evident at this race. Thanks to his pairing of Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the new duo was able to rally back from adversity, with Letarte serving as head cheerleader. And of course, the driver in Victory Lane, Jeff Gordon, credited his new crew chief pairing with Alan Gustafson, with getting him back to winning ways.

    Surprising and Not Surprising: It was surprising, yet not surprising, that last week’s winner Trevor Bayne had such a difficult time at Phoenix. He wrecked his primary car in practice and had the same experience in his back up car in the race. Bayne hit the wall hard, bringing out the third caution in the race and totally destroying the rear end of his No. 21 Wood Brothers race car.

    “I don’t know what happened,” Bayne said after the wreck. “That’s tough coming off of our high at Daytona to come to this, but we’ve got a great race team behind us.”

    “We’ll be back at Vegas,” Bayne continued. “I hate it ended this way this weekend, but we’ll be back.”

    Indeed all of the Sprint Cup drivers will be back and this time they will try their luck on the track in Sin City. The Kobalt Tools 400 will run at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 6th at 3:00 PM and will be broadcast on FOX and PRN.

  • They’re Back!!!!!!

    They’re Back!!!!!!

    Somehow at the end of the race in Phoenix, I understood how the little girl in Poltergeist felt when she looked at the TV and said, “They’re back!” Because that is exactly how this race felt. The power horses of NASCAR are finally back. After a painfully long and drawn out Speed weeks, we are finally back to racing and just let me say it felt good.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”294″][/media-credit]This week in Phoenix had to be difficult at best for the teams. The two day turn around to get the cars to Phoenix is a well orchestrated ballet to say the least. Everyone from the tandems of truck drivers to the paint and body guys are up against the clock. Two days to get the fastest and most well groomed fleet of race cars to the track is a fete that would exhaust the most dedicated of workers. Add to that, most teams were not taking one pair of cars, they were taking two pairs of cars because the trip back to Vegas is just too far to go home and come back.

    The ballet was only the beginning of two of the hardest weeks in the NASCAR season. Once the cars arrived many teams found that were just a little off. The search for speed and handling began in earnest.

    The power horses of HMS were seemingly the slowest of the field with practice times showing promise and qualifying times showing disappointment.

    They were not alone; many of the dominant teams who got awesome starts in Daytona struggled with either handling or speed. Red Bull and Jack Roush struggled heavily with Vickers and Ambrose and Kenseth and Biffle qualifying mid pack or worse.

    The new qualifying system was a dud. It lacked the crisp pace of the old system. And made for a long day with two qualifying sessions taking up most of Saturday although the new procedure and the moving qualifying to Saturday was great for ticket sales it proved a long and boring TV broadcast.

    That would be rectified when the cars took the track. Although the NNS race was barely watch able Kyle Busch proved himself to be the dominant horse in what turned out to be a one horse race until the last 20 laps. Try as he might Carl Edwards simply didn’t have the power to get around the Interstate Batteries Camry. But he did make it a great end of race battle that even with its drama could not rescue the rest of the race.

    But the big dogs of the Sprint Cup made up for it in spades. The race was all racing and action from the drop of the green flag. The best of the best used up what was left of the old pavement in Phoenix in a big way. With 8 laps to go Jeff Gordon slipped to the inside of Kyle Busch and took the lead for the final time. He stretched it out and never looked back. Breaking his 66 race losing streak, the 4 time Champion proved why and how he got those 4 championships.

    The stories of perseverance were numerous in the field from Kevin Harvick coming to finish 4thafter a lap 59 incident that involved Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin as well as the 29 Jimmy Johns car of Harvick.

    Mark Martin showed his grace under pressure in his Go Daddy Chevrolet that featured messages from his fan base to come back with a right front corner that was more bearer bond than sheet metal to finish 13th.

    The Lowes Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson struggled on pit road and on the race track relying on the skills of the 5 time champion to garner them a 3rd place finishing position.

    The National Guard Chevrolet showed great improvement for another week, coming back from a speeding penalty, a broken wheel on the jack and a loose wheel that put them a lap down, perseverance and steady progression put Earnhardt Jr in a position to regain his lap and ultimately scoring a 10th place finish.

    But the real heroes of this race were the crews of the 99 Subway Ford Fusion of Carl Edwards and the 33 Cheerios Chevrolet Impala of Clint Bowyer. With the front ends of those cars totally destroyed, they put them back together with new nose pieces and put their drivers back on the track to get those ever valuable points.

    This race had its feel good story of the race as well, with Jeff Gordon snapping a long losing streak that had his confidence suffering at a low point. Gordon showed that the new match up with crew chief Alan Gustafson was indeed a match made in heaven. Both crew chief and driver showed the poise that made the 24 and its driver 4 time series champions.

    The raw emotion in victory lane from the driver to the fans, his team and his car owner were palpable even from the couch thousands of miles away. You had to share his excitement and his relief. You had to respect the ability he had shown. And you had to cheer the humility of a man who could have easily said finally I knew it wasn’t me. Instead he was gracious and professional and showed the class that is essential for a champion of the sport.

    This race is the closest we have had in a long time to the exciting sport of NASCAR that we grew up with. It was hard driving and refusing to lose attitudes against a track surface that in the words of Phoenix International Raceway president, Bryan R. Sperber was “used up”. Sperber stated that “Our goal for this project was to not radically change a track that’s celebrated by fans and drivers alike, but to utilize new technology to ensure great moments in the next chapter of racing history at PIR.” To orchestrate his point and commitment to racing the project began with the removal of asphalt before the Victory Lane celebration even ended.

    The static has cleared on the television set and the cheers have died down. But the realization of the fact that they are indeed back will stay with us for a long long time.

    ~~~~~ *** ~~~~~

    Congratulations to Kyle Busch and his Kyle Busch Motorsports team on their win of the truck series race, and to he and his Joe Gibbs Racing Team for a dominating win in the Nationwide Series Race. Congratulations to Jeff Gordon, Alan Gustafson and everyone at HMS for the victory in the Sprint Cup Series.

    That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

  • Tony Stewart Edges Clint Bowyer for One, Two KHI Nationwide Punch at Daytona

    Tony Stewart Edges Clint Bowyer for One, Two KHI Nationwide Punch at Daytona

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”246″][/media-credit]In the third closest finish in Nationwide racing history at Daytona, Tony Stewart edged out Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate Clint Bowyer by .007 seconds to win the DRIVE4COPD 300.

    This is Stewart’s 10th NASCAR Nationwide victory in 91 races and his sixth victory at Daytona International Speedway.

    “Wow is the first thing,” Stewart said simply when asked about his win. “We got to the front pretty early and once we got to Clint (Bowyer), we knew we would be a pretty potent combination.”

    “We knew it was going to be between the KHI cars and the Gibbs cars,” Stewart continued. “We were sacrificing the speed to get air in the grille. You didn’t really know which strategy was best”

    “We had the caution and the flat tire,” Stewart said. “I didn’t realize we had as many cars a lap down, but that is what saved us.”

    Clint Bowyer, behind the wheel of the No. 33 Rheem Heating Cooling Chevrolet, came up just short of accomplishing the victory. Bowyer, who posted his 10th top-10 finish at Daytona, started the race from the pole.

    “A lot of work goes into these race cars for this place,” Bowyer said. “Hats off to these guys for sitting on the pole and I had a car capable of being up front and winning the race.”

    “The race was a little bit slow,” Bowyer said. “But then I found my dancing partner and we were able to make some ground and have some fun with the No. 18 and the No. 20.”

    Bowyer said that he was glad to see Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at the front in his Chevrolet and the two were able to work their way toward the front. Earnhardt, Jr. finished in the fourth position.

    “What do you do?” Bowyer said, reliving the end of the race. “I tried to block and then all hell broke loose. Awesome ending and that’s the thing that’s so much fun about this place. No matter what the race is, the ending is always great.”

    Bowyer also worked with JR Motorsports driver Danica Patrick during the race, at one point pushing her to the front. Patrick finished the race in her No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet in the 14th position.

    “Why not put her in the show?” Bowyer said of his push. “She did a good job today.”

    One of the best finishes was for young driver Landon Cassill, piloting the No. 1 Phoenix Construction Chevy. Cassill managed to finish in the third position right behind both of the KHI teammates.

    “It was just a crazy day,” Cassill said. “We didn’t draft at all in practice today, so it was a learn on the fly deal.”

    “Towards the end there Tony got lined up behind me on the restart and pushed me through,” Cassill continued. “I just followed directions and when we had to swap with two to go, I was just glad to push him.”

    “James Finch gave me this race as a gift pretty much for running his Cup car last year,” Cassill said.  “I wouldn’t be here without James Finch. He got me back in the sport.”

    NASCAR confirmed that Cassill is now the official points leader, by just two points over Reed Sorenson,in the Nationwide Series. Ironically, the driver shared that he does not even have a ride lined up for the next race of the season.

    “I don’t have a ride next week, so I’m just going to bask in this for the next seven days,” Cassill said of his points lead. “But if I don’t get a ride, Reed (Sorenson) will be back in the lead.”

    The potential points leader, Reed Sorenson, driver of the No. 32 Dollar General Chevy, scored a top five finish. Sorenson thought this was “pretty good”, especially since he was racing against so many Cup drivers.

    “The 4 and the 1 came down and we had to check up,” Sorenson said of the last lap of his race. “That pretty much ended our run. We were coming and we were going to have a shot to at least finish second or third or fourth there.”

    “This is my first time racing and it’s pretty much what I expected,” Sorenson said of the new racing style. “I guess we’re going to have to get used to it.”

    Jason Leffler, Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Michael Waltrip, and Trevor Bayne rounded out the top ten for the DRIVE4COPD 300.

    Unofficial Race Results

    DRIVE4COPD 300, Daytona Int’l Speedway

    February 19, 2011 – Race 1 of 34

    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status
    1 – 4 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 0 0 120 Running
    2 – 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 0 0 120 Running
    3 – 1 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 41 0 120 Running
    4 – 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 0 0 120 Running
    5 – 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 39 0 120 Running
    6 – 30 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 38 0 120 Running
    7 – 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0 0 120 Running
    8 – 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 36 0 120 Running
    9 – 99 Michael Waltrip Toyota 0 0 120 Running
    10 – 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 35 1 120 Running
    11 – 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0 0 120 Running
    12 – 20 Joey Logano Toyota 0 0 120 Running
    13 – 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 31 0 120 Running
    14 – 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 31 1 120 Running
    15 – 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 29 0 120 Running
    16 – 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 28 0 120 Running
    17 – 52 Bobby Santos Chevrolet 27 0 120 Running
    18 – 15 Todd Bodine Toyota 0 0 120 Running
    19 – 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 25 0 120 Running
    20 – 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 24 0 118 Running
    21 – 5 David Starr Chevrolet 0 0 118 Running
    22 – 70 Shelby Howard Chevrolet 22 0 118 Running
    23 – 81 Donnie Neuenberger Dodge 21 0 118 Running
    24 – 141 Patrick Sheltra Ford 20 0 118 Running
    25 – 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 19 0 118 Running
    26 – 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 18 0 117 Running
    27 – 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 17 0 116 Running
    28 – 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 16 0 115 Running
    29 – 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0 0 107 Running
    30 – 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0 0 105 Running
    31 – 39 Josh Wise Ford 13 0 103 Running
    32 – 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Dodge 12 0 103 In Pit
    33 – 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 11 0 95 Running
    34 – 11 Brian Scott Toyota 10 0 70 In Pit
    35 – 40 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 9 0 57 Out
    36 – 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 8 0 53 In Pit
    37 – 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 8 1 51 Running
    38 – 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 6 0 45 Running
    39 – 62 Michael Annett Toyota 5 0 26 In Pit
    40 – 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 4 0 18 In Pit
    41 – 24 Kevin Lepage Ford 3 0 12 In Pit
    42 – 27 J.R. Fitzpatrick Ford 2 0 10 In Pit
    43 – 25 Kelly Bires Ford 1 0 5 In Pit
  • Jeff Burton Claims Second Duel Victory; Brian Keselowski Makes the Show

    Jeff Burton Claims Second Duel Victory; Brian Keselowski Makes the Show

    The second Gatorade Duel race was all about teamwork and brotherly love.  Clint Bowyer pushed his Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton to the checkered flag and victory, while Brad Keselowski pushed his brother Brian into a place in the Daytona 500.

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]”It’s a shame two cars can’t fit in here,” Burton said in Victory Lane.  “Clint and I decided that we would find each other early and it worked out well.  For us, this is a good start and being in Victory Lane means a great deal.”

    “I learned a lot of things,” Bowyer said for his part, acknowledging the pusher role.  “I don’t know if there will be another rule change.  It was fun out there.”

    While Bowyer and Burton were high fiving one another after taking the checkered flag, Brad Keselowski was leaning in to congratulate his brother Brian, newly announced Rookie of the Year candidate, who made the biggest race of his life.

    “I owe my brother in a thousand ways,” Brian Keselowski said.  “We wouldn’t have made it here without him.”

    Keselowski, racing an old Ray Evernham car built in 2006, seemed almost in shock that he had raced his way in to the Daytona 500.  “I owe everything to eveybody right now,” Keselowski said.

    “I didn’t get to start driving until I was 18 years old,” Keselowski said.  “But I had to do it all on my own.  If I didn’t put it together, I wouldn’t be racing right now.”

    Michael Waltrip, former Daytona 500 winner, also made it in on time, thanks to his third place finish.  While he felt “blessed to be here,” Waltrip also admitted that he was really “tired”, particularly mentally after that challenging race.

    “You wouldn’t believe how relieving it is to get in no matter how you get in,” Waltrip said.

    Thanks to Waltrip’s finish, Travis Kvapil secured his place in the race on his time.  This was his first time to really experience the two car tango in race conditions.

    “Well it feels great,” Kvapil said about racing his way into the show.  “Last year, we missed this race and we have worked really hard over the wintertime.  It paid off for us and it’s great for our team.”

    The second duel race had a record 22 lead changes and also had a few more cautions than the first race.  One of the first drivers to get involved in a wreck was Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota.

    “Sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield,” Logano said.  “Today I was the windshield. Wrong place, wrong time.”

    Denny Hamlin also had a less than stellar day.  The driver of the No. 11 Toyota  for Joe Gibbs Racing had a tire go down and then was involved in a single car spin.

    “I have to have a sense of humor I’ve learned this weekend,” Hamlin said.  “What’s so crazy is the fact that we were spun out and three laps later we go from deal last to second or something like that.”

    “This has been an amazing ride and hopefully our weekend is steadily improving,” Hamlin continued.  “We finally did finish.  It’s going to be interesting to see what happens from this day forward.”

    One of the most heartbreaking wrecks occurred late in the race, when Trevor Bayne, who had been stellar all race long, tussled with Jeff Gordon, causing a multi-car accident.  David Ragan was also a significant victim in this wreck as well.

    “I really  had a blast working with Trevor Bayne,” Gordon said.  “He’s a good kid.  He’s a heck of a race car driver.”

    For his part, Bayne was thrilled to have been working with his boyhood hero, Jeff Gordon.

    “Gordon and I worked awesome together and it was just down there at the end,” Bayne said.  “I hate it for all these guys because we were doing awesome, but that’s part of it.  That’s racing.  We’ll get there.”

    In addition to the two car tandem of Jeff Burton, winner, and runner up Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip, Kyle Busch and Brian Keselowski rounded out the top five finishers.  Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex, Jr. and Carl Edwards completed the top ten in the second Gatorade duel.