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  • Carl Edwards Conquers Concrete Monster for Nationwide Win

    Carl Edwards could now be dubbed ‘King of the Concrete’ after a conquering win at the Monster Mile in the 26th Annual OneMain Financial 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]The driver of the No. 60 Fastenal Ford even did his trademark victory back flip, although not quite sticking the landing due to the high banking at Dover International Speedway.

    “My back flip was terrible,” Edwards said. “I was nervous doing it on the banking. I’m not going to do it tomorrow if I win because there is too much banking.”

    Edwards also made his traditional foray into the crowds to celebrate his victory. On the way, he signed one fan’s Subway car and received plenty of congratulations.

    “There was one guy up there that had all my gear on and he was just pumped,” Edwards said. “It’s just neat up there and all the drivers should try it.”

    This was Edwards’ seventh win of the season. But more important, this was Edwards’ ninth win on the concrete, scoring him a perfect driver rating.

    “That was a great race,” Edwards said. “It all starts at the shop because these Ford Mustangs are spectacular.”

    “That was a very fast car,” Edwards continued. “Pit stops were great. Strategy was great. And we hung on for the win.”

    Mike Beam, Edwards’ crew chief, echoed his driver’s sentiments.

    “We really worked hard on the car,” Beam said. “Carl’s feedback was perfect. It worked out well.”

    Team owner Jack Roush praised the chemistry of the team, as well as all of the members of the group that works on the car.

    “It’s been a great team,” Roush said on the one year anniversary of the team coming together. “We put our Nationwide shop in the same location as the Cup shop. So, the help that Ford was giving would help all of the teams.”

    “Thankfully, Carl didn’t crack his noggin on his back flip.”

    Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge, finished second.

    “I almost felt like we were first in class until the restarts,” Keselowski said. “We did a great job with our Ruby Tuesday Dodge Challenger.”

    “Carl was just way faster than anyone else,” Keselowski continued. “We weren’t as good as Carl was.”

    “I thought we were going to steal one with strategy but it wasn’t meant to be,” Keselowski said. “We just didn’t have enough for him today.”

    Clint Bowyer, behind the wheel of the No. 33 Rheem Heating Cooling and Water Heating Chevrolet, scored the third spot in the finishing order.

    “I was pretty sure we weren’t first in class,” Bowyer said with a chuckle. “The caution came out and took two tires and then we had to take four and lost a lot of track position.”

    “We just got beat up on pretty bad,” Bowyer continued. “Carl was fast and he was the class of the field.”

    Ryan Truex, driving the No. 20 Heinz 57 Sauce Toyota, was the race’s top finishing rookie, bringing his race car home in eighth position. Not to be confused with his brother, Cup driver Martin Truex, Jr., Ryan still showed the same affinity for his local, home track.

    “I don’t appreciate being called Martin,” Truex said in the media center when he was incorrectly introduced. “But we had a great day.”

    “The caution got us off sequence,” Truex continued. “We deserved to be top five.”

    “It’s great when you can have good cars and run like that but it’s disappointing when you don’t get the finish you thought you should.”

    Probably the luckiest driver on the track for this Nationwide race was Reed Sorenson, driver of the No. Dollar General Chevrolet, who finished seventh.

    Sorenson benefitted from a NASCAR error where he should have gone to the rear of the field due to pitting too early, however, NASCAR failed to get the information to him in a timely manner.

    “I didn’t know what was going on,” Sorenson said. “I knew a lot of cars had to do the wave around. I don’t think it would have affected where we finished.”

    “I don’t know what the problem was but all in all it was a top-10 day for the Dollar General car.”

    Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., driving the No. 6 Blackwell Angus Ford, scored a top five finish. But more important, he came out of the Monster Mile with the points lead, 22 points over Elliott Sadler.

    “I wish I would have been a little bit better,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “We just never had the car the way we needed it.”

    “We stayed tight the whole day,” Stenhouse continued. “We didn’t make any mistakes and that’s what we need to do each and every week.”

    “A top five is definitely a good result for us.”

    Stenhouse Jr. now sees himself and his team as in control of the championship competition.

    “I think we’re in control for sure but we have to control what we do,” Stenhouse, Jr. said. “I’ve got to keep it out of the fence and keep the fenders on it.”

    “We’ve got a real good shot at this thing,” Stenhouse said. “We have a race team that’s pretty determined to win this thing.”

    No doubt, Elliott Sadler, who had started from the pole position in his No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet, was the most disappointed driver coming out of the Monster Mile. Sadler finished fourteenth, trailing Stenhouse Jr. in the point standings.

    “We were a little bit too loose with the cloud cover,” Sadler said. “My car would get too free. As soon as we pitted, the caution came out and it put us in a bigger hole.”

    Sadler, however, is still hopeful about his championship hopes.

    “We got five races left and anything can happen,” Sadler said. “I got to do a better job in practice for how I like it in practice to be able to get into Victory Lane.”

    “We just have to find that next level and we will have to win a race or two to get back into this.”

    ——–

    Unofficial Race Results
    OneMain Financial 200, Dover International Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=29
    =========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 2 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0
    2 8 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    3 4 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 0
    4 7 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0
    5 6 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 39
    6 9 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 38
    7 19 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 37
    8 5 20 Ryan Truex * Toyota 36
    9 13 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 35
    10 14 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 34
    11 11 11 Brian Scott Toyota 33
    12 18 62 Michael Annett Toyota 32
    13 3 18 Joey Logano Toyota 0
    14 1 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 31
    15 16 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 29
    16 10 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 28
    17 15 7 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 0
    18 23 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 26
    19 17 30 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 25
    20 12 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 24
    21 22 81 Blake Koch * Dodge 23
    22 42 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 22
    23 31 39 Fain Skinner Ford 21
    24 27 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 20
    25 39 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 19
    26 41 28 Derrike Cope Dodge 18
    27 37 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 17
    28 36 70 Casey Roderick Chevrolet 16
    29 21 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 16
    30 24 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 14
    31 25 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 13
    32 33 171 Matthew Carter Ford 12
    33 40 40 Josh Wise Chevrolet 11
    34 34 175 Carl Long Ford 10
    35 35 141 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 9
    36 38 49 Mark Green Chevrolet 8
    37 26 104 Kelly Bires Ford 7
    38 20 147 Charles Lewandoski * Chevrolet 6
    39 43 146 Chase Miller Chevrolet 5
    40 30 142 Tim Andrews Chevrolet 0
    41 28 182 Scott Wimmer Dodge 3
    42 32 150 T.J. Bell Chevrolet 0
    43 29 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 1

  • Mark Martin Ever Humble, Always Blessed

    Mark Martin, currently behind the wheel of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, has had one of the most storied careers in NASCAR, including 40 wins, 266 top-fives, 437 top-tens, and 50 poles to date.

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”241″][/media-credit]And yet, the driver whose career has spanned almost thirty years racing a stock car at the Cup level, remains ever humble, as well as considering himself very blessed.

    Martin, as one would expect, humbly credits one person, team owner Jack Roush, as being the most influential person throughout his racing career.

    “I spent nineteen years with him,” Martin said of his mentor and team owner Roush. “He was someone that was wiser and more experienced in many ways than I was.”

    “He was more experienced in life,” Martin continued. “So, that one is easy to answer.”

    In fact, Martin’s most memorable car, one that he hopes may one day accompany him to the Hall of Fame, is that No. 6 car that he drove for his mentor Jack Roush.

    “The No. 6 car is most representative of my career,” Martin said. “That and my time with Jack Roush.”

    “That’s the core and foundation of my career.”

    In addition to Jack Roush, Martin credits having chemistry with his various teams over the years as another key to his success. And according to Martin, it all starts with the relationship between driver and crew chief.

    “I believe in team chemistry,” Martin said emphatically. “It’s sort of intangible. But it does help spawn better results.”

    “It’s the whole team but it really starts with the crew chief,” Martin said. “It’s like a number of other things in life, like a relationship or a marriage or anything else.”

    “There are good ones and there are bad ones and there’s all in between,” Martin continued. “You have to work hard on it but the very best ones require no effort.”

    As effortless as it might seem, Martin said that team chemistry cannot be forced, an experience that he has had several times throughout his career.

    “It’s not something that you can force to happen,” Martin said. “It just does.”

    “It happens or it doesn’t or it falls somewhere in between,” Martin continued. “I’ve had a lot of that.”

    “I’ve been very fortunate to have been in very few poor situations, “Martin said. “I’ve been in a lot of great situations and I’ve been really, really blessed.”

    Although Martin has been credited as a mentor to many throughout his racing tenure, he humbly declines to discuss even one of those that he has helped in their career development.

    “I haven’t had the kind of influence on young people that people give me credit for,” Martin said humbly. “I certainly don’t take credit for that.”

    While Martin has seen competitors come and go throughout his years on the track, he acknowledged only one change in competition as the most significant in the sport.

    “The number of competitive cars and the discrepancy between the slow and the fast cars is the most competitive change I have seen,” Martin said. “This has changed the face of NASCAR racing forever.”

    Is the veteran driver bothered by all the talk of late of fuel mileage and its place in the competition of the sport? For Martin, the fuel mileage discussion is all about ‘been there, done that.’

    “It’s not new by any means,” Martin said. “I feel like I’ve lost probably forty races to fuel mileage in my career. So, certainly, it’s not new.”

    “We might have went through a spell where we had less of it then we used to and now we’re having more than we used to,” Martin continued. “Some of that is just coincidence.”

    “I don’t think it’s bad for the sport because you don’t know who is going to win until the leader comes off Turn Four,” Martin said. “Isn’t that the whole appeal of racing?”

    “I wouldn’t want to see it ever leave because I think it brings drama to our sport.”

    Martin himself is no stranger to the drama that stock car racing often entails. While he has experienced his share of the low points, he also has had many memorable moments.

    “Winning Phoenix in the No. 5 car was my most memorable moment,” Martin said. “It was pretty incredible.”

    Martin, 50 years old at the time, started the 2009 Phoenix Subway Fresh Fit 500 from the pole and never looked back. With that win, Martin became the fourth driver to win a Cup race after turning 50, joining the ranks of Bobby Allison, Morgan Shepherd and Harry Gant.

    That victory snapped a 97-race winless streak that went all the way back to 2005. After the win, Martin paid tribute to one of his dear friends Alan Kulwicki by doing the ‘Polish Victory Lap’.

    “I don’t have words to describe it because I never thought I’d win again,” Martin said humbly. “And I think most of the competitors thought so too. They all seemed to receive it really well.”

    “It was a big win,” Martin continued. “I didn’t know if I’d ever get to experience that feeling again.”

    One of the feelings that Martin experiences over and over again is the adoration of his large fan base. And without a doubt, his most memorable moments with his fan posse are the interactions he has with them during his annual fan appreciation event in Batesville, Arkansas.

    “I’ve been incredibly blessed with support and a lot of fans with a lot of love,” Martin said.

    “My favorite part of my fan event is the Q&A,” Martin continued. “That’s the part when you get the one and one and the personalities come out. The people get to ask what they really want to know.”

    “And they get answers from somebody in a peaceful setting so there is no pressure, time pressures or limitations.”

    That peaceful setting is another one of the goals that Martin has been continually seeking, both on and off the track. He also has been practicing the art of trying more diligently to balance his career with his home and family life.

    “I’ve got some experience at it,” Martin said of his work/life balancing act. “Through the middle stages of my NASCAR career, I didn’t manage it as well as I needed to.”

    “I worked really, really hard and gave everything that I had and the problem I had was that I brought home my frustrations, disappointments and pressures,” Martin continued. “That affected the vibe around me.”

    “And I hated that,” Martin said. “I thought it was just because I was extremely intense.”

    “But I’m still extremely intense and I do a better job of isolating my personal life.”

    Of all of the many experiences throughout his career, the ever humble Martin struggles to single out one that he would like to do over.

    “I don’t do those things,” Martin said. “I’m not into it. It’s not me.”

    “There are too many great experiences in life to say one tops it all.”

     

  • David Ragan Under Pressure In Spite of Daytona Redemption Win

    David Ragan, driver of the No. 6 UPS ‘We Love Logistics’ Ford for Roush Fenway Racing, finally achieved his goal of being a NASCAR Sprint Cup winner, redeeming himself with a victory at Daytona International Speedway.

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”233″][/media-credit]Even with that win, however, the 25 year old driver is still feeling pressure all around him as he readies for the New Hampshire Motor Speedway race weekend. And that pressure has been with him since his first day at Roush Fenway Racing.

    “I’ve said it a lot that I’ve had pressure from day one being at Roush Fenway, being a young guy, not having a lot of experience coming in, having a good year my rookie year and an even better year my sophomore year and then really struggling,” Ragan said.

    “Coming into this season, we knew we’d have a lot of pressure to run well,” Ragan continued. “We knew we had to win.”

    While Ragan has definitely gotten one monkey off his back with his Daytona race win, he acknowledged that the pressure to now make the Chase is even more heavily on his mind.

    “Honestly, that win was big,” Ragan said. “And following it up with a top-10 and leading some laps at Kentucky was a Chase caliber run for our team.”

    “Wins are very important to us still and that’s what we come to the race track every weekend to do,” Ragan continued. “But top tens, top fives, and leading laps are what’s going to get us to that top ten in points.”

    “We’ve put ourselves in a position to make the Chase and I think that brings up more pressure,” Ragan said. “Now we’re so close to capitalizing on the progress that we’ve made.”

    “Being right outside that top-10 with the win, it’s like ‘hey, we’ve got to do something with it’,” Ragan continued. “We can’t turn back now.”

    Another major looming pressure for the young driver is his future with Roush Fenway Racing, as well as the team’s continued sponsorship relationship with UPS. And for Ragan, he would like nothing better than to have that pressure relieved with the finalization of both of those deals.

    “I’m really happy at Roush and the Fords are running great,” Ragan said. “I think Jack’s happy with the performance of the 6 team in comparison to his other teams.”

    “A lot of it depends on what UPS does,” Ragan continued. “So, it’s just a matter of the negotiations between Roush and UPS and working out all the details.”

    “I still think we’re four to six weeks out from really having some announcements and look forward to some good runs in between them,” Ragan said. “But you can’t stop with what you’ve done. You’ve got to keep going and that’s what’s important.”

    “I’m encouraged by some of the recent conversations we’ve had,” Ragan continued. “Things look to be on the good side.”

    For this race weekend, Ragan is also feeling the pressure of being good at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a place where he has admittedly struggled at times. Ragan’s best finish in eight appearances at NHMS was 15th during his first ever start at the track in the summer of 2007.

    The driver, however, is hoping to take some of the pressure off as he is bringing the same UPS Ford race car that he raced last at Richmond, earning him his first top-five finish of the season.

    “Coming off our recent success at Martinsville and Richmond, I’m looking forward to another short track.” Ragan said of NHMS. “Our Fords have improved a lot at the flatter short tracks, so I think we’ve got a good shot.”

    “Our Fenway tie to the Boston area means a lot to our team,” Ragan continued. “That gives us extra motivation to get a good finish this weekend in Loudon.”

    One way that Ragan has relieved his sense of pressure is by racing his Legends car. He even had a win this past week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    “I raced my Legends car at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Tuesday and won,” Ragan said. “This was in preparation for a big race coming up the first week in August.”

    “It’s always fun,” Ragan continued. “I get out there and race three or four times a year and we really enjoy ourselves. So, that win was a good omen for things to come this weekend.”

    Although he has had a bit of a pressure release with his Legends win, Ragan knows full well that the pressure will return in force when he gets behind the wheel of his Cup car for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 this Sunday.

    “There’s a lot of pressure at this Sprint Cup Series level but that’s what we thrive on,” Ragan sad. “So, it affects us in a good way.”

  • David Ragan – Another Freak Winner at Daytona?

    David Ragan – Another Freak Winner at Daytona?

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”226″][/media-credit]At Daytona in February, Trevor Bayne, barely out of his teens won NASCAR’s biggest race, the Daytona 500. As the circuit moved back there just last night, it was another surprise winner, David Ragan. Or was it such a big surprise?

    The big money was on Dale, Jr. this weekend. We’ve been told by every media outlet and anyone who follows this series that Junior was going to win soon. His record at Daytona and Talladega bear this out. Nowhere is Junior better than at the restrictor plate races. Call it inherited from the family. Yet, I didn’t feel that way. Somehow, it always seems to be a surprise. Oh, I could go into details of all the surprises at those two tracks, but you all know that . Many of us saw David Ragan’s rise from bumbling kid to someone who could drive a racecar. I’ll still remember that debut at Martinsville when he hit everything but the pace car. Jack Roush had faith in him, though, and gave his a primo ride in the fabled No. 6. That was Jack’s first car he seriously ran in the Cup series and the former ride of Mark Martin, Roush’s most successful driver.

    Many thought Roush was crazy. The skinny kid from Georgia and the son of Ken Ragan, just didn’t have it. The statistics proved it out. He had only won one Nationwide Series race and had never won a Cup race. He nearly won the Daytona 500 this year, but jumping the start proved to be his downfall and the guy who was pushing him in that weird two-car tandem nonsense went on to win.

    UPS is a big sponsor in this series and the talk was Ragan was in trouble. He just hadn’t done the job and UPS was going to demand another driver for 2012 if they were to stay with Roush-Fenway. The pressure was on and Ragan knew it. After the debacle that was the Daytona 500, he looked forward to this race more than any other. He had to win.

    There is an opinion that what happens at Daytona and Talladega has little to do with the worth of a driver. Many consider restrictor plate racing a freak of nature in NASCAR terms. Drivers have won here that have won nowhere else in cars that can’t compete in “normal” races. Since the 1987 regulation that required restrictor plates, we’ve seen drivers like Derrike Cope, john Andretti, Michael Waltrip, and Jamie McMurray win. Not that this is a bad list, but they were all surprises. In fact, may drivers have lived on wins at Daytona and Talladega. All four of his victories have been at those two race tracks. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has won 18 times, but 7 of those have come at Daytona and Talladega. Some drivers and teams are just better at those races, but the record shows that a large number of long-time stars have won, not only at the restrictor plates tracks, but lots of other places, too.

    So, what does this all mean? Should David Ragan now be considered as a driver who has “made it’ and continue a staple of the Roush-Fenway stable? I do not know. I do know that RFR is in frantic negotiations with Carlo Edwards and Matt Kenseth’s sponsor just announced they were not coming back. Couple that with rising drivers like Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Trevor Bayne and Ragan’s mid=pack finishes most everywhere else, and his job security is less than optimistic. Time will tell, but they can’t take the thrill of a Daytona win away from him. Just like Trevor Bayne, he is king for a day, but will it last?

  • 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.

     

  • Finally First: Carl Edwards Takes Home One of NASCAR’s Biggest Races

    Finally First: Carl Edwards Takes Home One of NASCAR’s Biggest Races

    Prior to Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star race, Carl Edwards had finished second in NASCAR’s two biggest races. At Daytona his furious charge on the final lap was only good enough to follow Cinderella story Trevor Bayne across the finish line. In Darlington two weeks ago Edwards again followed another first time winner across the line in the Southern 500, Regan Smith.

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]At Charlotte, the No. 99 Aflac team was not about to let another big one slip through their fingers. Right from the green flag it was clear that the man to beat would be Edwards as he quickly marched to the top three were he would remain the rest of the night. Kyle Busch, who finished second, knew that once Edwards got out front there was no catching him.

    “We got beat tonight on speed and unfortunately were second best,” he said. “When he [Edwards] passed me for the lead there in the third segment, he just drove it five car lengths further than I could drive it into turn three. It stuck. His car would turn and roll the bottom. He slid up off the bottom maybe a foot. If I would have done that, it would have been a lot more than a foot, it would have been a few lanes. His car just had a lot of front grip in it tonight. They did a good job with it.”

    Edwards took home a $1.2 million dollar payday. It was his first All-Star win but he became the third driver to win the All-Star race for team owner Jack Roush. It came after what will be described as domination. Edwards won the second and third segments and then went on to lead all 10 laps in the fourth and final segment.

    “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” said Edwards who then went on to thank his crew for winning the race off pit road. “My pit crew stepped up tonight, they did an unreal job on that last stop. If we wouldn’t have come off pit road first it would have been a very difficult race. It took me about 10 laps to get around Kyle [Busch] and those guys, so it would have been a very tough race. Those guys get a lot of credit for this win.”

    After the third segment all teams came down pit road for a mandatory four tire stop. The race off pit road would determine the restart order for the final segment. The Aflac team beat Busch’s team and his teammates of Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth off pit road. From there it was about a clean restart and clear sailing as Busch never mounted a challenge and held off David Reutimann as Edwards drove away.

    “The restart was good. Man, that thing really runs,” said Edwards of the final segment and his car. “That was a great restart and it could have gone either way. Kyle could have really hung in there and it would have been really tough race, so I’m glad we were able to get him.”

    Edwards made it look easy as he won and didn’t make a mistake all night. Until it came time to do a victory celebration where he spun the car into the infield and the front end dug down into the grass. In doing so it got ripped apart as he went airborne but it didn’t put a damper on the team’s celebration.

    “You never know what comes from misfortunes,” he said. “It was definitely unfortunate that I tore up that racecar. Like Bob [Osborne] said, we got another one at the shop. It might be the difference in winning the race at the Coke 600. I’m going to have confidence that something good will come out of it.

    Edwards would continue to explain later, “I usually pull down there, do a back flip. I thought, ‘Hey, I’m going to do a slide to the grass. This will be great.’ As soon as I turned to the grass, I found the drainage cover there, I guess. It just dug in the splitter. I didn’t expect that.”

    What Edwards does expect is another repeat performance in one week. He’ll enter the Coca-Cola 600 next weekend looking to do the double. Last season Kurt Busch won the All-Star race and backed it up by winning the 600 the following week. The race is another NASCAR crown jewel that Edwards has never won.

    “We really have struggled at this racetrack,” said Edwards. “Jack has had a ton of success here. It’s fair to say that we have been not very good here and sometimes terrible. I think that we figured some things out. Bob and the guys have done a really good job. I think it bodes well for the 600, for sure. I would hope we can come back here next week with as good or better a car and definitely a lot more confidence than we had before we got here this weekend.”

    While Edwards did acknowledged he learned a few things that could be applied later in the season, “This is the first time I’ve come here and run like this, so it’s huge for me. If you look at our whole season, we’ve run really well at almost every racetrack. It’s been a really good season. That’s because of Jack, Robbie Reiser, all the guys at the shop working to get everything in order.”

    In order to make sure that like Saturday, he’s no longer the man finishing second on NASCAR’s biggest nights.

  • Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle Share Baby, Contract and Texting Talk

    Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle Share Baby, Contract and Texting Talk

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]NASCAR drivers Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle are not only Roush Fenway Racing teammates, but also have some important upcoming events to talk about, from new baby talk to contract talks to talking about the dangers of texting and driving.

    The teammates were both outed by owner Jack Roush as to their upcoming baby talk.  Roush announced during the recent NASCAR media tour that both Edwards, who just had a baby with wife Kate last year, and Greg and Nicole Biffle are expecting.

    Edwards’ second child is due in May while the Biffle’s first child, a girl, is due in July.

    “I couldn’t hold back,” Roush said after announcing the upcoming additions. “Maybe I wasn’t supposed to do that.”

    While having a new addition might be old hat for Edwards, this is all new to the Biffles.  Biffle, at age 41,  is also somewhat nervous about the possibility that the birth of his first child will conflict with one of his race dates.

    “I don’t have any children, and there is a lot to be said for being there when your child is born,” Biffle said. “But we can’t control everything.”

    While both racers await their bundles of joy, their team owner Jack Roush seems to take a more pragmatic approach to it all.  For him, these new mouths to feed might just ensure that both of his drivers remain in the Roush fold.

    “One of the things that it’s going to do for a driver that’s having a baby when he’s 40 years old, with the idea of having even more than that after he has the first one, there’s a necessity there for an income stream that’s going to make the livelihood of them staying in this business driving a race car longer than it might if they were on their own,” Roush said.

    Both Edwards’ and Biffle’s contracts with Roush Fenway Racing are up at the end of 2011.  While both drivers may keep their options open, there is no doubt that the powers that be at Roush Fenway will be trying to talk turkey with both drivers, with the hopes of wrapping up both deals as quickly as possible.

    “I’d like to be able to get it done, so that we can just keep focused on winning, and that’s the most important thing,” Edwards said about his contract negotiation talks.

    In addition to the contract talk, as well as the baby talk, both Edwards and Biffle share some talk about texting as well.  The two drivers will be featured on the television program “Extreme Makeover:  Home Edition” discussing the dangers of texting while driving.

    The drivers will be supporting the Brown family, who lost their daughter in a texting while driving accident. Emma Roberts and Justin Beiber are also participating in this episode.

    “Texting while driving is incredibly dangerous and I think it’s an extremely important message to get out to everyone right now but especially teenage drivers,” Biffle said.

    “While Carl and I had a lot of fun taping the segment for ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,’ it is a very serious issue,” Biffle continued.  “Being a part of the show really opened my eyes to the dangers of texting while driving and I’m sure it will do the same for all of the viewers.”

    For more information about the dangers of texting and driving, as well as educating teens about safe driving, both Biffle and Edwards recommend a visit to their Ford team website  at www.drivingskillsforlife.com.”

  • NASCAR Beginnings Featuring ‘Suitcase’ Jake Elder

    NASCAR Beginnings Featuring ‘Suitcase’ Jake Elder

    J. C. Elder only had a third grade education. He never learned to read and write but he was a natural born genius when it came to working on cars.

    Elder was a man of few words but he knew exactly what he wanted in a race car. If someone disagreed or questioned his decisions, more often than not, he would just pick up and leave. He soon became known throughout the racing community simply as “Suitcase.”

    Despite his cantankerous disposition, Elder was one of the most popular men in the garage. Some said he could just watch a car take a lap around the track and know what was wrong with it. People will put up with a lot for that kind of brilliance.

    “I have a problem getting people to understand how I want things done,” he once said. “Usually, I can get it done myself quicker than I can explain to them how I want it done.”

    Jake Elder began his NASCAR career as a fabricator for Richard Petty Enterprises around 1960.

    Jake came to work for us in Level Cross in the ‘60s, down from the Hickory area, and he was a fabricator,” Richard Petty said. “Jake was old school. There was no engineering; it was all off the cuff. He’d put something on the car and say, ‘OK, now it’s right. Here, you go drive it. And don’t come back in complaining to me, because I got the car fixed. You go learn how to drive it.’”

    He later went on to partner with the Holman-Moody Ford factory team. While there, Elder worked with Mario Andretti and led him to a 1967 victory of the Daytona 500.

    Elder also crew chiefed for David Pearson. Together they won 27 races and two championships in 1968 and 1969.

    He later helped Dale Earnhardt get his first Cup victory in 1979 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Earnhardt went on to win Rookie of the Year that season. Suitcase started out the 1980 season with Earnhardt but quit before the season was over. Even so, part of the credit for Earnhardt’s first Cup championship rightly belongs to Elder.

    His brief partnership with Earnhardt also produced one of the most colorful quotes in NASCAR history. After Earnhardt’s first win, Elder told the rookie, “Stick with me kid and we’ll have diamonds as big as horse turds.”

    Ironically it was Elder who left Earnhardt.

    Dale Earnhardt never forgot Elder. When jobs were scarce, Earnhardt hired Elder to crew chief for his Busch team.

    Elder helped mold the careers of some of NASCAR’s most legendary drivers including Darrell Waltrip, Fred Lorenzen, Terry Labonte, Fireball Roberts and Benny Parsons.

    During the 1970s and 1980s, he probably worked with almost every driver on the track, moving on whenever his mood or circumstances called for a change.

    Elder worked with Darrell Waltrip many times over the years and was with Waltrip for his first and last Cup victories.

    “He was my crew chief about 10 different times,” Waltrip said. “I fired him a lot, and he’d go on and work with Dale, or somebody else, and then he’d be back with me.

    “He helped me, he helped Dale Earnhardt, he helped Terry Labonte — every young driver that came along, Jake made winners out of them because he gave you a car and taught you what a car is supposed to feel like.”

    Jack Roush entered the Cup series as an owner in 1988 and describes Elder as having an almost supernatural ability to diagnose problems.

    “If you had a demon, if your team was beset by bad luck, he would bring his little bag of templates and stuff to check out a car with,” says Roush. “And he would go in and the guys would get out of his way, and he would make his adjustments, and when he was done, if there was a demon in there, he’d have it chased off.

    In the 1990s, more and more teams began using engineers and specialists. Jake Elder and his kind were becoming obsolete.

    But at one time, Jake Elder was the man to call whenever someone had a problem that needed fixing.

    Jeff Hammond described Elder as unique.

    “Jake was into precision before we knew what precision was. Think about the people he worked with: Fireball Roberts, Dale Earnhardt, and David Pearson. He had a huge influence. A lot of the time, if people needed their car fixed, they called Jake Elder.  He wasn’t a people person and he was as rough as a corn cob, but if you got to know him, there wasn’t a better guy to know in that garage area. There is not another Jake Elder. That is one thing we do not have anymore.”

    Winston Kelley, the executive director of the NASCAR Hall of fame, called Elder “one of the true pioneers and classic personalities of our sport.”

    “One of my most vivid memories of Jake is asking him what happened to one of his meticulously prepared cars and Jake putting it so succinctly and simply in saying, ‘It blowed up.’”

    In 2006 “Suitcase Jake” Elder suffered a stroke and his health slowly began to deteriorate. He battled dementia and ended up in an assisted living facility in Statesville, North Carolina. On February 24, 2010, Jake Elder passed away.

    Some called him a miracle worker. Others said he had a magic touch. One thing is certain. Suitcase Jake Elder was one of a kind and his influence on NASCAR should never be forgotten.

    Achievements:

    1968 Cup Championship with David Pearson

    1969 Cup Championship with David Pearson

    1980 Cup Championship with Dale Earnhardt

    Quotes courtesy of The Associated Press, Mike Hembree, Speed TV, Sports Illustrated, Scene Daily and NASCAR.