Tag: Jimmie Johnson

Surprising and Not Surprising: Charlotte Bank of America 500

After Jacquelyn Butler, David Ragan’s girlfriend won the ‘Better Half Dash’ and Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne shared a heartfelt invocation, the engines fired under the lights at NASCAR’S home track, Charlotte Motor Speedway.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”237″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 52^nd Annual running of the Bank of America 500.

Surprising: With a surprising show of emotion and his dry sense of humor emerging, the driver of the No. 17 Fluidmaster Ford took the checkered flag with whoops of joy, saying in Victory Lane that it was not too late for departing sponsor Crown Royal to reconsider staying on the car.

Kenseth scored his victory from the outside pole position, qualifying surprising well for a driver not known for the most successful time trial efforts. This was Matt Kenseth’s 21^st career victory and his third win of the year.

“It was an awesome win for us,” Kenseth said. “It was a good race.”

“Track position was really important, so qualifying helped,” Kenseth continued. “It made a big difference.”

Kenseth was also surprisingly appreciative of the win, especially after not having been to the winner’s circle for twenty races.

“I’m always thankful to get to victory lane,” Kenseth said. “You never know if you’re ever gonna win another race or when your last win is.”

“I’m thankful for them all and I greatly appreciate being in a position to be able to win races and these guys giving me the cars and the crew and the opportunity to do that.”

Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, the two drivers finishing second and third had some intense conversation with one another right after the race.

Carl Edwards, who finished third in his No. 99 Aflac ‘Now Hiring’ Ford, almost immediately jumped out his car at the finish to lean into the bridesmaid-yet-again Kyle Busch’s second place No. 18 M&Ms Toyota for a chat.

“We were just talking about the way we were racing there,” Edwards said. “We’re fine. We’ve talked about it and we’ll move on.”

“Hey, this is NASCAR and we’re racing as hard as we can,” Edwards continued. “And we didn’t wreck each other.”

“He just said he didn’t like the way I raced him off Turn Two that one time when he got under me,” Busch said. “He made me loose and it was steering me down the track and I was just trying to hold on.”

“Great run by the M&Ms Camry,” Busch, who not only rebounded from starting last to leading a race high 111 laps, continued. “Best run we’ve had here in a while but still coming up short.”

With his finish, Edwards maintained the points lead by five, with Kyle Busch improving his position by four spots, up to the fourth position, just 18 points behind the leader.

“Overall it was a really good day for our Aflac Fusion,” Edwards said. “We’re trying to have a championship year here and we dodged some bullets.”

“We’ve got to keep finishing like this,” Busch said. “That’s all it takes. If we can finish second here on out, we might win this thing.”

Surprising: At a track often known for Chevy domination, particularly of the Hendrick Motorsports kind, it was surprising to see the Ford brand, primarily the Roushketeers, not only in victory lane but dominating the front of the field. There were four Fords to Chevrolets three in the top ten for this season’s Charlotte fall running.

The win was also significant for Ford team Roush Fenway, marking their 298^th overall victory and their 20^th NASCAR victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was the first Cup win for owner Jack Roush at Charlotte since 2002.

“All of the Ford cars ran well tonight,” Jack Roush, team owner said. “It was just a matter of time until Matt broke loose from his obscurity in the back and middle of the pack and worked his way to the front.”

As surprising as the Ford dominance was, particularly of Roush Fenway Racing, it was equally surprising to see how poorly the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team ran. The HMS highest finisher was Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the 19^th position.

“I was not the faster car,” the driver of the No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard/Chevy 100^th Anniversary Chevrolet said. “We got a couple wave-arounds and had a loose wheel that cost us another lap.”

“We just have to correct some of those mistakes,” Junior continued. “We just had a couple of little circumstances that cost us a shot at finishing in the top ten.”

Hendrick Chevrolet teammates Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin also had surprisingly, and uncharacteristically, difficult runs at Charlotte. Their poor finishes, 34^th, 21^st and 37^th respectively, was surprisingly poignant for the teams sporting the Chevy 100^th anniversary emblems.

Jeff Gordon, in the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger/Chevy 100^th Anniversary Chevrolet, went for a wild ride at one point in the race and struggled the rest. Mark Martin in the No. 5 GoDaddy.com/Chevy 100^th Anniversary Chevrolet, suffered mechanical problems that left him in the garage for many laps making repairs.

Probably the toughest of the Hendrick finishers was five-time champ Jimmie Johnson, whose No. 48 Lowes/Chevy 100^th Anniversary Chevrolet hit hard into the wall, taking his breath away.

“That one stung for sure,” Johnson said of his hit. “Just thankful to have safe race cars, safe walls, softer walls and everything did its job.”

With the wreck and the DNF, Johnson was also the biggest loser in the point standings, dropping five positions to eighth.

“This is not going to help us win a sixth championship,” Johnson conceded. “We will go for every point we can from here on out and hopefully we are still champions at the end of the year.”

Not Surprising: It was not surprising to see the infamous grin of the driver from down under after finishing fifth. Marcos Ambrose, behind the wheel of the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion, could not have been more pleased with his Charlotte run, scoring his third consecutive top-10.

“I ran great,” Ambrose said simply. “I just really appreciate that opportunity.”

RPM teammate AJ Allmendinger, behind the wheel of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion, also continued his solid runs, finish seventh.

“It’s not what I wanted, but the end result is good,” Dinger said. “I’m happy there were so many Fords in the top 10.”

Surprising: As surprisingly strong as Brad Keselowski has been, surging forward in race finishes as well as in the points, the driver of the No. 2 ‘Blue Deuce’ had an equally surprisingly tough day at Charlotte.

Keselowski finished 16^th, falling two positions to sixth in the point standings. He currently sits 25 points behind points leader Carl Edwards.

“I feel frustratingly fortunate,” Keselowskis said. “The yellows really hurt us. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

Not Surprising: Tony Stewart, who scored his first pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway, overcame tight conditions as well as some damage to his No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, to rally back for a top-10 finish.

“We were good off the front there, just when we got back in traffic, we got really tight,” Smoke said. “We just kind of rallied back.”

Not surprisingly, teammate Ryan Newman also scored a top-10 finish in his No. 39 Cookies for Kid’s Cancer/Gene Haas Foundation Chevrolet.

“We needed to get at least that much tonight,” Newman said after the race. “We’ll take a top-10 here tonight and now it’s on to the next one.”

With their finishes, Stewart advanced two positions to the fifth spot in the Chase, while Newman moved up one position in the points to tenth.

Surprising: With the image of Hall of Famer Glenn Wood on the famed No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion, it looked like the young driver Trevor Bayne had a fast car and would have a good run. Surprisingly, the car ran out of gas on Lap 238.

“That’s a bad feeling to run out of gas, especially when you’re not expecting it,” Bayne said. “The 21 was just fast.”

“It must have been sucking up more fuel than we thought being that fast, but I think something just had to be funky in the fuel cell or something messed up on the can.”

Not Surprising: Call him ‘Closer’ or ‘Lurker’ but it was not surprising to see Kevin Harvick have yet another solid race, finishing sixth and maintaining his second place position in the point standings. With that, the driver of the No. 29 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet confirmed that he was just happy to be at the half-way in the Chase race.

“We made it through the first five Chase races this year,” Harvick said. “We had had a lot of goals that we wanted to achieve this year and that was one of them.”

“IF you would have told me we would come out of Charlotte with only a five point deficit going into the next five races, I would be really happy.”

October 16, 2011

Matt Kenseth Wins the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

At a track where passing is difficult, his second place starting position was pivotal. While other drivers had problems, Kenseth kept himself in a position to capitalize on their misfortune.

Tony Stewart was competitive at the beginning of the race but lost the handling on his car about halfway through the race. Stewart wasn’t able to contend for the win but was still able to salvage an eight place finish. He also gained two spots in the points and is now in fifth place.

Greg Biffle was also fast early in the race but a missing lug nut during a pit stop put him one lap down. Although he regained the lap, a late race scuffle with Stewart and a subsequent cut tire left Biffle with a fifteenth place finish.

Trevor Bayne had a strong top ten car throughout the race but a problem with a fuel cell caused him to run out of gas and go three laps down.

Five-time champion Jimmie Johnson provided the biggest surprise of the night. Johnson, who was racing for seventh position, crashed into the wall on lap 317 and destroyed the No. 48 Chevy, ending his night. Johnson dropped five positions in the points standings to eighth place, 35 points behind leader Carl Edwards.

When asked about the impact this would have on his quest for a sixth championship, Johnson said, “We just have to keep racing. That’s all there is to it. There’s five races left and a lot can happen in five races.”

Matt Kenseth has been steadily gaining ground and now sits third in the points standings. He was all smiles after the race.

“I’m happy to have won, obviously.” Kenseth continued, “I’m always thankful to get to victory lane. You never know if you’re ever gonna win another race or when your last win is, and I’m certainly thankful for them all and I greatly appreciate being in a position to be able to win races and these guys giving me the cars and the crew and the opportunity to do that.”

Unofficial Race Results
Bank of America 500, Charlotte Motor Speedway

=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	2	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	47
2	25	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	44
3	3	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	42
4	8	4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	40
5	12	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	39
6	14	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	38
7	4	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	37
8	1	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	37
9	17	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	35
10	6	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	35
11	11	6	David Ragan	Ford	34
12	16	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	32
13	20	22	Kurt Busch	Dodge	31
14	32	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	31
15	5	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	30
16	26	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	28
17	7	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	27
18	28	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	26
19	15	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	25
20	31	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	24
21	23	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	23
22	38	38	J.J. Yeley	Ford	23
23	18	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	21
24	19	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	20
25	21	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	19
26	29	0	David Reutimann	Toyota	18
27	27	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	17
28	30	51	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	0
29	22	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	15
30	42	32	Mike Bliss	Ford	0
31	10	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	0
32	24	13	Casey Mears	Toyota	12
33	41	71	Hermie Sadler	Ford	0
34	9	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	11
35	35	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	9
36	33	34	David Gilliland	Ford	8
37	13	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	7
38	43	7	Robby Gordon	Dodge	6
39	37	66	Michael McDowell	Toyota	5
40	34	55	Travis Kvapil	Ford	0
41	36	30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	3
42	40	277	Andy Lally *	Ford	2
43	39	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0

October 16, 2011

Matty’s Picks: ‘Straight from The Beast of the Southeast!’ Vol. 22 – Kansas – Charlotte – October 15, 2011

This weekend marks my first trip to Charlotte Motor Speedway for a race weekend. I had the privilege of touring the track three years ago as a part of my trip to the Tar Heel State to watch my beloved Mountaineers take down the North Carolina Tar Heels in a thrilling 31-30 shootout in the 2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl. Since my tour of the track in December 2008, I have been itching to make it to a race weekend at the historic 1.5-mile quad oval, and it’s almost a dream come true for me this weekend.

[media-credit name=”charlottemotorspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”254″][/media-credit]This Saturday’s Bank of America 500 will be run under the lights in front of 140,000+ fans at the first modern superspeedway to install and host night racing. Until 1998, when lights were installed at Daytona International Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway was the largest track in the world to host night racing.

It may be the history behind the track, or the battle for the Sprint Cup that has begun to heat up ever so slightly, or it may be the 4-day “vacation” I get by heading to Charlotte this weekend that has me so amped up for this weekend’s race. It might be the fact that this will be the first race this fall that I will watch with undivided attention, but I really think I might be most excited to see the monstrosity that is the HD video board that stretches 200 feet down the backstretch at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After following all the tweets this spring about the video board, I am overly excited to see how massive this thing is.

It was announced in September of last year that CMS would partner with Panasonic to install the World’s largest HD video board at the track. The 9 million LED’s that make up the video board measures 200 feet by 80 feet, probably the best place in the World for a Call of Duty: Black Ops match.

I had mixed results following this spring’s trip to The Beast of the Southeast, but I did manage pick the winner of May’s Sprint Cup All-Star Race, as well as the runner-up in the Coke 600. I look forward to seeing the cars in action this week, and hope that my keen eye will help me make some power picks this week for my first trip to Charlotte.

Kansas Recap

I won’t spend too much time this week recapping my finishes in Kansas, due to my eagerness to get to some racetracks that do not encourage three-hour naps on Sunday afternoon. The Bank of America 500 this Saturday marks the start of my amplified interest-level in The Chase schedule.

My Winner Pick for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 was the driver of NASCAR’s “Blue Deuce”. Brad Keselowski had won the June race at Kansas Speedway, he won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Saturday at Kansas, and he was a shoe-in for the race win on Sunday.

He started the race 15th, and made his way into the top-10 early. Fast forwarding through the 200 laps of napping, Keselowski hit the point at lap 207. He also was shown on top of the leaderboard at lap 241, but was passed for the lead by eventual race-winner, Jimmie Johnson on lap 245. Bad Brad brought his No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger home in third and spoke on pit road after the race: “Everybody was a little close; we were just closer, but the Miller Lite Dodge was good. Proud of the effort. Kind of an up-and-down day. We got up to be a second- or third-place car mid part of the race, then kind of fell off a little bit, but came back. Third-place day, that’s good, that’s what you’ve got to do. Really, we want to win races like Jimmie (Johnson), but we’re making the best we can out of it. If he stumbles, we’ll be there.”

Despite being second-fastest in Sprint Cup Final Practice at Kansas Speedway, David Ragan brought me no help as a Dark Horse pick last week.

Ragan started 13th on Sunday, but quickly fell through the field ending up a lap down to the leaders for the majority of the 267 lap race. The long green-flag runs that occurred at Kansas last week, allowed little time for adjustments throughout the race. Track-position was as good as gold last week, and Ragan couldn’t find any to improve his finish.

“We just weren’t lucky today. We missed getting the lucky dog a couple of times and the chips just didn’t fall our way. When you’re back there 10th to 20th you need a couple lucky breaks and we just didn’t get them. We could have gotten a top 10 out of it, but it just wasn’t our day.”

When it was all said and done, Ragan finished 20th and lent me no help in improving my average finish for my Dark Horse picks.

Charlotte Picks

Despite a busy day of media availabilities, Nationwide Series qualifying, two Sprint Cup practice sessions, and even a car wash, I’ve found a bit of time to make a couple picks this Friday Afternoon. My winner pick in the other points race this year at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Carl Edwards did not fare too well in his attempt to sweep the SpeedWeeks races this May.

After winning the Sprint Cup All-Star race here in May, Carl decided to give his Ford Fusion little bodywork on the infield grass. Let’s just say the car was fast enough the way it was and it really had an affect on the 16th place finish he picked up in the Coke 600.

As for my Dark Horse for the Coke 600, David Ragan scored me my highest finish for any of my 21 Dark Horse picks this season – not too shabby.

Dark Horse Pick

I will start with my Dark Horse this week because there should be no other guy in anyone’s discussions of which non-Chase driver could win the Bank of America 500 tomorrow night. Kasey Kahne is fourth among all active drivers with a driver rating of 94.5, behind Jimmie Johnson (112.8), Kyle Busch (106.5), and Joey Logano (96.5) at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Kahne became the first driver to be “Voted-Into” the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star Race in May of 2008, and come home a winner. He then went on to win the Coke 600 the following week, successfully sweeping the May races here at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2008.

Kahne was the fastest car on the track after his 31 practice laps yesterday, and is shown second on the speed charts in this first of two practice sessions as I look out the window of the Media Center here on the infield. He has three wins here at The Beast of the Southeast, but hasn’t won here since his 2088 Coke 600 Victory.

Kahne felt good about his car following his qualifying lap last night during Bojangle’s Pole Night: “We were really good in practice today in qualifying and in race trim. We didn’t go quite as fast tonight as we would have liked to. I think in the race it should be really good. We just need to keep up with the track and keep up with keeping the track position and things throughout the race. We’ll have a good shot.”

Kasey Kahne is eager to leave Red Bull Racing on a high note, and a win in the Bank of America 500 Saturday Night would do just that. Be ready for some fireworks centered around the No. 4 car tomorrow night.

Winner Pick

One of the keys to victory here at Charlotte Motor Speedway is keeping up with the ever changing track conditions as the sun settles behind the grandstands and the lights come on. The track temperature can really plummet when the sun goes down, and crew chiefs and drivers must be ready to go for when night falls.

One crew chief that will always put his driver in the best possible equipment to cross the Finish Line (the pink colored one this week here at Charlotte) first is Chad Knaus. Across his nine seasons as Crew Chief for the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, Knaus has scooped up 52 victories with Ole’ Five-Time, six of them coming right here at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

He is the best amongst all drivers in the Driver’s Rating category at 112.8, and averages a finish of 10.8 here at Charlotte. He hasn’t won here since the fall race of the 2009 season, but he is coming of a big win last week at Kansas.

I think the comment before the race two weeks ago at Dover International Speedway really put a fire in the belly’s of the No. 48 team, and that is not the guy you want to piss off. With an average finish of 3.7 in the last 5 races of the Sprint Cup Series’ schedule, Johnson is about to come alive.

Johnson sits 10th on the speed charts here after the first practice session of the day and spoke earlier this week about his feelings about Charlotte: “I think we’re going to be a threat (at Charlotte Motor Speedway). When I look back to Chicago, Kentucky, and Kansas obviously, our 1.5-mile stuff has been coming along pretty good over the last two or three months. So I feel good about it. Charlotte, with that asphalt that’s down, it is its own environment and it’s really tough to get your car right from the start of the race to the end of the race. So I feel like directionally we’re going the right way; but until I get on the track this week and understand where the grip level is and what our issues are, it’s hard to build too much confidence.”

That’s all for this week, be sure to follow me on Twitter all night tonight and tomorrow for up to the minute action @ML_B_Lo and OnPitRoad.com for the long story.

Until Next Week….You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!!!!

October 14, 2011
Chad Knaus proves that behind every competent driver, is a crew chief just as competent

The year was 1985, and school was just about to let out for summer vacation, a time of the year that all young people have always looked forward to. Summer to most of them meant going to visit distant relatives, maybe some camping, going to the movies with some of your friends or even an amusement park or two.

[media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”216″][/media-credit]Summer can also be a time when teenagers look for a job to put extra some cash in their pockets, but to a 14-year-old native of Rockford, Illinois, it meant spending his weekends, helping his dad win his first Great Northern Series championship.

What a joy it must have been for a father to not only see, but also hear his son in the box during his championship season. Who is this crew chief that started winning championships at an age when most young boys were busy chasing girls, and worried more about staying away from their own parents, then spending all weekend with them?

Chad Anthony Knaus has exemplified in today’s racing world, what crew chiefs for years have tried to master by putting their drivers in victory lane and winning multiple championships. Knaus grew up around the racetracks helping his father race against the likes of Mark Martin, Alan Kulwicki, Rusty Wallace and Dick Trickle, while never realizing that someday his son might be named amongst some of the best crew chiefs that NASCAR has ever seen.

Twenty-six years later as the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship is only six races away from crowning the 2011 champion, the No. 48 team could very well be adding another page to the NASCAR history books, which was rewritten after last year’s record-breaking season. This young man from Rockford, Illinois carried with him 26 years of experience, dating back to a time when most teenagers were still having trouble doing their everyday chores, yet his biggest chore was helping his dad try to win championships.

Winning championships or even getting a driver into victory lane, requires a vast knowledge of the sport, as well as keen sense of when to execute the right moves, and split-second decision making under some of the most extreme and pressure sensitive situations. Knaus has taken the job of a crew chief to whole new level by executing an effective formula that gets the most out of his driver Jimmie Johnson, with the humbleness of allowing his driver to be the center of attention.

Knaus got his first start as a Winston cup crew chief back in 2001, working for Mark Melling’s driver Stacey Compton, and since has shown the racing world that he belongs among some of the best in the business. Looking further back beyond the 2001 season, Knaus started his Winston cup career with the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team, which was led by then crew Chief Ray Evernham.

Knaus was the team fabricator, but then quickly moved up to the chassis and body manager and eventually would move into the role of a tire changer on the “Rainbow warriors” pit crew, helping to lead the team to championships in 1995 and 1997. The Illinois native felt that his calling was more than just working on a pit team, so he left HMS and had a short stint with D.E.I. working as a car chief for Steve Park.

From there Knaus would once again get teamed up with Ray Evernham, after Evernham bought his own race team in 2000. Knaus knew that his heart was still with the Hendricks organization and in 2002; he was offered the job of crew chief for Rick Hendricks up and coming driver…Jimmie Johnson. In his first season with the No. 48 team, Knaus earned, “The Crew Chief of the Year” award, even though Johnson lost the “Rookie of the Year” award to Penske driver Ryan Newman.

Controversy is no stranger to Knaus and company, when back in 2007 during the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Speedway, he and Steve Letarte were both found in violation of a pair of out of shape fenders by NASCAR, and were both fined and suspended a total of six races each. Ever since Knaus was caught stretching the rules a bit, he has been tabbed by a lot of today’s NASCAR fans, as a crew chief that will go to any length to bend the rules to his liking.

Knaus and Johnson have had more than their share of success, by winning races using pit strategy, fuel mileage and an occasional bump here and there, and of course the most important tool that any winning team must have…communication. Knaus has shown throughout his NASCAR career that he does belong beside some of the great crew chiefs of the past.

In today’s modern racing era, he has taken a front row seat to greatness, and has set a new standard that all young crew chiefs could learn from. With six races left in the chase for the 2011 Sprint Cup championship, Johnson has six wins, 10 top-five, and 14 top-10 finishes in 20 starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway, along with a win and a second place finish in his last two races during the chase.

Fate could once again play into the hands of this dynamic-duo, and five-time could very well become six-time with another good run at a track that Johnson feels is one his strengths. “I think we’re going to be a threat (at Charlotte Motor Speedway). When I look back to Chicago, Kentucky, and Kansas obviously, our 1.5-mile stuff has been coming along pretty good over the last two or three months,” Johnson said during his weekly press conference.

Johnson has amassed a very respectable 96.7% of laps completed at this 1.5 mile layout, and an average finish of fourth in a seven chase races, which could be a momentum builder as well as a confidence booster going into the second half of the chase.

Johnson also added that, “I definitely feel that our groove is here, and it’s been slowly building. We had some good momentum in the three or four races coming into the start of the Chase.”

October 14, 2011

Tony Stewart Wins Pole for the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte

Tony Stewart captured his thirteenth career pole Thursday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a qualifying speed of 191.959 mph.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”206″][/media-credit]Stewart was happy with his effort but a little surprised that the speeds did not noticeably increase from what they had experienced during practice.

“That was a pretty cool lap, obviously,” he said. But, Stewart continued, “Typically we see the pace pick up a little more in qualifying than what we saw tonight.”

Five of the top ten positions were claimed by drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Matt Kenseth will start beside Stewart in the second position followed by Carl Edwards in third. Ryan Newman qualified sixth and Jimmie Johnson secured the ninth starting spot.

The remaining Chase contenders qualified as follows:

Kevin Harvick – 14^th

Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 15^th

Denny Hamlin – 17^th

Kurt Busch – 20^th

Jeff Gordon – 23^rd

Kyle Busch – 25^th

Brad Keselowski – 26th.

Drivers Josh Wise, Scott Speed and Geoffrey Bodine failed to make the field.

The Bank of America 500 this Saturday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway is the fifth race in the fight for the Sprint Cup championship.

Starting Lineup
Bank of America 500, Charlotte Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=31
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	191.959	28.131
2	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	191.918	28.137
3	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	191.87	28.144
4	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	191.768	28.159
5	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	191.741	28.163
6	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	191.585	28.186
7	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	191.462	28.204
8	4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	191.394	28.214
9	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	191.34	28.222
10	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	191.259	28.234
11	6	David Ragan	Ford	191.002	28.272
12	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	191.002	28.272
13	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	190.9	28.287
14	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	190.894	28.288
15	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	190.833	28.297
16	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	190.82	28.299
17	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	190.799	28.302
18	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	190.638	28.326
19	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	190.611	28.33
20	22	Kurt Busch	Dodge	190.57	28.336
21	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	190.429	28.357
22	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	190.255	28.383
23	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	190.007	28.42
24	13	Casey Mears	Toyota	189.727	28.462
25	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	189.54	28.49
26	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	189.52	28.493
27	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	189.401	28.511
28	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	189.082	28.559
29	0	David Reutimann	Toyota	188.923	28.583
30	51	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	188.851	28.594
31	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	188.772	28.606
32	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	188.725	28.613
33	34	David Gilliland	Ford	188.6	28.632
34	55	Travis Kvapil	Ford	188.271	28.682
35	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	188.239	28.687
36	30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	187.918	28.736
37	66	Michael McDowell	Toyota	187.454	28.807
38	38	J.J. Yeley	Ford	187.383	28.818
39	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	187.311	28.829
40	71	Andy Lally*	Ford	186.657	28.93
41	71	Hermie Sadler+	Ford	185.676	29.083
42	32	Mike Bliss+	Ford	185.44	29.12
43	7	Robby Gordon	Dodge	186.303	28.985

October 14, 2011

NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson dominated at Kansas, leading 197 of 272 laps, and easily pulled away from the challenge of Kasey Kahne to win the Hollywood Casino 400. It was Johnson’s second win of the year, and vaulted him to within four of the Sprint Cup points lead.

[media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]“I’m not ‘done,’” Johnson said. “I’m just getting started. If you’re looking for volunteers to say ‘You were wrong’ to those people who counted me out, well, count me in.

“A win in Kansas means I’ll celebrate with Kansas. The band, not the state. I led nearly every lap, and won handily, leaving 42 cars as ‘Dust In My Wind.’ I struggled early in the Chase, but Chad Knaus told me to keep digging and things would turn around. He was right, and his suggestions to ‘Carry On Wayward ‘Son’ proved prescient.”

2. Carl Edwards: Edwards overcame race-long handling issues, falling a lap down at one point, and stormed back to finish fifth at Kansas. He maintained the Sprint Cup points lead, and holds a one-point lead over Kevin Harvick, with Jimmie Johnson only four back.

“We really came back from the brink,” Edwards said. “The car was junk for most of the day, but with a lot of adjustments and tweaks, we were able to pull one out of our Aflac.

“Harvick finished sixth, so he could just as easily be in the points lead had I not held him off. It was a great battle for fifth, but in light of Johnson’s dominance, Harvick and I might as well be battling for second.”

3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski raced to a third-place finish at Kansas, his ninth top-5 result of the year. He improved two places in the point standings to fourth, and trails Carl Edwards by 11.

“I’m by far the youngest Chase competitor,” Keselowski said. “And of all the twenty-something’s in the Chase, I’m the only one making a mark. So, you describe our impact on the Chase as ‘youth is served,’ but you can describe my impact on the Chase as one ‘serving of youth.’”

4. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished sixth in the Hollywood Casino 400, earning his 16^th top-10 finish of the year. Harvick fell out of a tie in the points lead, and now trails Carl Edwards, who finished fifth, by one.

“I’m only one point out of the lead,” Harvick said, “yet everyone seems ready to hand Jimmie Johnson his sixth Sprint Cup title, even though he’s four behind the lead. Well, it’s way too early for me to concede the title to Johnson. I have no qualms about making a ‘concession stand.’”

5. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth led 26 laps and posted a solid fourth at Kansas, his ninth top-5 result of the year. He jumped two spots in the point standings to fifth, and trails Carl Edwards by 12.

“I trail Edwards by 12?” Kenseth asked. “Is that in ‘cool points? Anyway, I’m the driver that’s been hovering around, waiting to make a move. Unfortunately, if all you do is hover, then your championship hopes just won’t float.”

6. Kyle Busch: Busch just missed a top-10 finish at Kansas, coming home 11^th in the Hollywood Casino 400. With four races down in the Chase, Busch is now eighth in the point standings, 20 out of first.

“I’m not worried about ‘insurmountable leads,’” Busch said. “It’s ‘insurmountable deficits’ that concern me.”

7. Tony Stewart: Stewart let a certain top-10 finish slip away when he slid past his pit stall during the race’s final caution. The lengthy pit stop cost him several positions, and he restarted 17^th before finishing 15^th. Stewart tumbled four spots in the point standings to 7^th, 19 out of first.

“A mere two races ago,” Stewart said, “I was leading the Sprint Cup point standings. Now, I’m in seventh. So, my pit mishap at Kansas is no big deal, considering I’ve had longer ‘slides’ before.”

8. Kurt Busch: Busch, last week’s winner at Dover, finished 13^th in the Hollywood Casino 400 after a losing ground on the race’s final restart. Busch dropped two places to sixth in the point standings, and is now 16 out of first.

“One week after I smoked him for the win at Dover,” Busch said, “Jimmie Johnson goes out and wins at Kansas, and wins so handily that he’s practically anointed champion. What does Johnson hate more? Losing to me, or losing in general?”

9. Jeff Gordon: Gordon’s engine blew with four laps to go at Kansas and he finished 34^th, which could prove to be fatal to his championship hopes. He is now 47 points out of the lead with six races remaining in the Chase.

“They call Jimmie Johnson ‘5-time,’” Gordon said. “It’s a nickname I’ve longed to possess. The bad news: they won’t be calling me that this year. The good news: the nickname will likely be available next year.”

10. Dale Earnhart, Jr.: Earnhardt finished 14^th in the Hollywood Casino 400, and moved up one spot in the point standings to ninth, 43 out of first.

“Jimmie Johnson looks like a solid bet to win his sixth Sprint Cup championship,” Earnhardt said. “If that happens, then it’s a perfect example of ‘deJJa vu.’”

October 11, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: Kansas Hollywood Casino 400

With the wind whipping as is so typical in the land of Toto and Aunty Em, the fourth race in the Chase, the 11^th Annual Hollywood Casino 400, was run at the 1.5 mile paved tri-oval that is Kansas Speedway. Here is what was surprising and not so surprising from the 267 laps, 400.5 mile race.

[media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”231″][/media-credit]Surprising: It has been a bit surprising just how much the race winner has seemingly been toying with not only the media, but the race fans. At the beginning of the Chase, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson had fallen from eighth to tenth in the point standings, particularly due to his 18^th place finish at Loudon.

At that point, many media pundits had begun to write off the chances for a sixth consecutive championship, especially since the tension seemed to be mounting between the driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet and his crew chief Chad Knaus.

Yet Jimmie Johnson again proved that he still has what it takes by scoring his 55^th career victory and his 20^th career victory in the Chase, the latter being the most ever, tying him with Rusty Wallace for eighth on the all-time wins list.

And, yes, ‘old five time’ has yet again made his way toward the top of the leader board, up two positions to third, just four points out of the coveted top spot.

“I told you not to count him out,” Hendrick Motorsport teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said. “I think the media made a big deal out of the runs he was having and they were a long ways out of the lead in the points.”

“But that’s a great race team,” Junior continued. “You don’t win five in a row on luck, you know? You don’t just trip over the championship trophy; you do it because you’re great.”

“And they’ll win the championship this year if anybody doesn’t get going.”

Not Surprising: Although most often it is the female fan base flirting with this driver, Kasey Kahne, behind the wheel of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota for the remaining races of the season before heading to Hendrick Motorsports next year, continues to flirt with a race win.

To no one’s surprise, Kahne finished second, scoring his third top-10 finish in nine races at Kansas, as well as his 10^th top-10 finish in 2011.

“The biggest thing to me would be to leave on a good note,” Kahne said. “There are a lot of people there working really hard and unsure about maybe their future and where they’re going to work next year, and they’re still putting everything they have into our race cars each week.”

“That’s pretty awesome on their part.”

Surprising: In addition to the wind, there was also a good deal of smoke, of all sorts, in Kansas City. The driver known as ‘Smoke’, was instead the cause of some, smoking his tires on a pit stop, causing him to not only slide wildly through his box but also lose eight positions on the track.

Tony Stewart, piloting his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, finished the race in the 15^th position and fell four positions to seventh in the Chase standings.

‘Smoke’ immediately admitted his error, telling his team that his foot had accidentally hit the accelerator when he was trying to brake. But the uncharacteristic error caused the driver to come out as the last car on the lead lap, relegating him to a less-than-stellar finish.

Another surprising bit of smoke at Kansas was the one that erupted on lap 265 when four-time champ Jeff Gordon’s engine expired. The driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, who looked strong all race long, finished 34^th, dropping him to tenth in the point standings, 47 points out of first.

“I started seeing smoke inside the car,” Gordon said. “We had a really bad restart and got shuffled back.”

“Our day was pretty much over and we were going to finish maybe 15^th or something,” Gordon continued. “I started to smell burning oil and saw the oil temp start to come up.”

“I felt like it was just a matter of time before it blew up.”

Not Surprising: Although actually gaining one position in the point standings, from tenth to ninth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the HMS No. 88 National Guard/Amp Energy Chevrolet, to no one’s surprise now seems to be focusing more on race wins than a championship.

“I just want to win a race,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s a goal of mine right now to just go out there and win.”

“Man, if we could do that, that would really, no matter what happened in the Chase, I think we’d be real happy with our season.”

Surprising: While loose and tight are most often descriptors for action on the track, it is surprising that those words also apply to Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch.

On one hand, the driver of the No. 2 Blue Deuce seems to be looser than loose, finishing third in the Kansas race. This was Keselowski’s second top-10 finish in four races at Kansas Speedway.

And that top-5 finish moved the driver up two spots to fourth in the Chase, just eleven points behind the leader.

“This year, it seems like as a group, we’re just clicking,” Keselowski said. “We’re doing a good job of maximizing our day and taking care of everything that’s in our control.”

“I’m really proud of our team for doing that.”

On the flip side, Keselowski’s teammate Kurt Busch just seems tight, tight, tight behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge. Busch managed to finish 13^th, but still lost two spots in the Chase standings to the sixth position.

“We got behind in qualifying and had to start 17^th,” Busch said. “We ran from 15^th to 20^th most of the day and caught a break; we got the lucky dog to get back on the lead lap.”

“We were still a top-10 car when the green-white-checker came out but just couldn’t hold on to a top 10,” Busch continued. “The fresher tires got us.”

Not Surprising: There were at least two ‘come back kids’ that surprised no one. The first was the driver of the No. 99 Alfac Ford, Carl Edwards, who rallied from a too-aggressive set up prior to the race, relegating him to needing to be the ‘lucky dog’ to finish fifth.

With that top-five finish, Edwards scored the points lead, just one point over second place Kevin Harvick.

“I cannot believe we finished fifth,” Edwards said. “It feels like a win.”

“That’s the best we’ve done with the worst,” Edwards continued. “I just cannot believe from the way the day started to finish like that is spectacular.”

The other ‘comeback kid’ was Greg Biffle. Although not in the Chase, the driver of the No. 16 Sherwin-Williams Ford and pole sitter for the race, rallied back from a pit road speeding penalty to finish eighth.

“Our car wasn’t that good,” Biffle said. “I don’t know what happened with the speeding on pit road.”

“That was stupid,” Biffle said. “My car just wasn’t that good in traffic, which is where I got hurt there at the end.”

Surprising: There was a surprising rash of drivers missing driver introductions prior to the Hollywood Casino 400. A.J. Allmendinger, David Reutimann and Reed Sorenson all had to move to the back of the field for the start of the race due to their absence at the pre-race intros.

Allmendinger, driver of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford, finished the best of the group at 25^th. Reutimann, behind the wheel of the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, finished 35^th and Sorenson, who had lost his Turner Motorsports Nationwide ride, finished 38^th in his No. 7 SPEED Energy/MAPEI/Menards Dodge Cup ride.

Not Surprising: With his career decided, it was not surprising that the driver of the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing finished top-10. Prior to the race festivities, Bowyer confirmed that he will move in 2012 to the Michael Waltrip Racing stables.

“All in all, it wasn’t a bad day,” Bowyer said. “That’s the last time I’ll be able to run here with these cars.”

“Hopefully, we’ll get one next time.”

Surprising: Hendrick Motorsports is surprisingly close to scoring a record of its own thanks to driver Johnson taking the checkered flag. HMS is just shy of their 200^th win, which would put them squarely behind Richard Petty Motorsports with 268 all-time wins.

Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, again thanks to Johnson’s win, Chevrolet clinched their 35^th Cup manufacturer’s championship, assuming a Chevrolet will start each of the final six races.

October 10, 2011
Kahne Continues Momentum as Non-Chase Driver

Kasey Kahne has been the highest finishing non-chase driver for the second week in a row. He finished fourth at Dover International Speedway and kept his momentum going heading to Kansas. Kahne finished second to future teammate Jimmie Johnson in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, giving Red Bull Racing their best finish of the season.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”208″][/media-credit]An incident on pit road on lap 21 set Kahne back from his fifth-place starting position. Under the first caution, Kahne pitted for two tires, only to have the jack break. Then as he was attempting to leave his pit, he was blocked in by the No. 48 car. The No. 4 team decided last minute to take four tires, restarting back in 40^th position.

From there, Kahne raced his way from 40^th position to sixth position, getting himself back into contention late in the race. Kahne gave up his position to pit when the fifth caution came out with 28 laps to go. Crew chief Kenny Francis made the call to pit for four tires and a splash of fuel, to restart the race in 12^th position. Kahne quickly raced to fifth after the restart and found himself in second place with 10 laps to go.

With two laps to go the final caution came out, eliminating Johnson’s two second lead. Kahne was able to clear a group of cars on the green-white-checkered restart, but came up short finishing the race in second position.

On the restart Brad gave me a good push, and I had a shot at Jimmie,” said Kahne. “I just couldn’t really get to him. I thought maybe getting to (Turn) 3 I would go high, and he kind of entered into the middle and then just crept his way to the top and just really didn’t have a shot there at him. But I think we had a good Red Bull car. The guys did a nice job today.”

At the end of the season, Red Bull will be leaving the team with no word yet whether they will continue as a one car operation. Kahne will be leaving the team to start his new ride with Hendrick Motorsports, extending through the 2015 season.

October 10, 2011
Danica Is Not NASCAR’s Savior

All you have to say is her name and most fans have an opinion. In fact, at this point, she’s pretty much beloved by all. A lot of that has a lot to do with her performance which so far has been mid-pack at best. She qualified 15th and finished 15th on Saturday at Kansas Speedway, which is acceptable, She didn’t challenge for the win, but finished in front of 28 other drivers. I imagine she felt like it was a successful day and it probably was.

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”218″][/media-credit]Of course I’m talking about Danica Patrick. Patrick, with first class Hendrick Motorsports equipment, has not been awesome in her first year on the Nationwide Series circuit, but making the move from the lightweight Indy Series cars to the heavy NASCAR cars has to be challenging. That said the theory behind why NASCAR so desperately wants her in their camp is flawed. Danica Patrick is not NASCAR’s savior.

When NASCAR’s popularity began to wane a few years ago, it was widely hinted that the death of the sport’s icon, Dale Earnhardt, had pushed many fans away. I don’t doubt that. You can still go to tracks and see the No. 3 flags and listen to fans fondly talk about the man they called “The Intimidator.” But it’s been a decade since Dale left us, and I see his fans everywhere at tracks. Maybe some gave up on the sport, but that wasn’t the reason for the decline.

Later on, the story was that the elder Earnhardt’s son, Dale, Jr., wasn’t winning and only if he could get to victory lane, things would fall into place. Earnhardt, Jr. left his father’s team and headed to the greener pastures of Hendrick Motorsports where success was bound to happen. After all, this was the team that had the fastest cars in the sport. Earnhardt has one victory since joining HMS and usually finishes well out of the running. He has shown improvement lately, but that isn’t the reason for the decline, either.

Finally, the Great Recession hit in the fall of 2007. That was blamed for the lack of butts in the seats, but no one to this day will ever blame the product that is put on the track week after week. That’s the problem. The fact that everyone is in denial means that other methods are examined to boost the sport, and that starts with one Danica Patrick.

The decline of NASCAR started with the development of the Car of Tomorrow. Yes, the old “twisted sister” that was used for years didn’t look like the showroom car, and the new car was much safer to NASCAR’s credit, but it took most teams, with the notable exception of Hendrick Motorsports, a couple of years to figure it out because it was so different. In the meantime, it was the same thing every week. Which Hendrick car would win or which Joe Gibbs Racing car would win (after they switched to Toyota). Richard Childress Racing, the home of Dale Earnhardt, and Roush-Fenway Racing were out to lunch. It also started the reign of five-time champion Jimmie Johnson. Over and over, Johnson won and won again. He will probably win again this year. The suspense is gone. It’s just a matter of time until Johnson wins again. Today, he sits four points out of the points lead with six races to go. Why? The creation of the NFL playoff clone called The Chase. The barrage of intermediate tracks in the “championship run” is tailor made for Johnson and the COT, but that’s not the problem according to many. It has to be something else, like new faces in the series. Enter Danica Patrick.

The theory is that Danica will bring in men. Lord knows she is a nice looking lady. Women want someone to root for and Danica is perfect. But will she get people to come out to see her race? Will TV ratings go up when she participates?

Ignoring the obvious problems with the product cannot be cured with the entrance of an attractive woman who is a media expert and a good driver. Until the day that the powers that be can figure out that flaws exist in the product they have given fans, nothing will turn around. NASCAR needs more Darlington’s and Bristol’s that offered slam-bang racing. That was what made the sport so exciting to the fans. Instead, NASCAR became, and has become, a sport where the usual happens on cookie-cutter tracks that all look the same. So don’t expect that little lovely lady to save us. It will be nice to have her around, but it isn’t the answer.

October 10, 2011

Johnson wins at Kansas

Jimmie Johnson won one of the longest races of the year. The excitement level of this race was very similar to waiting in the waiting room at the dentist office. This race was a long drawn out ordeal. It was painful to watch. The most important thing to remember and the biggest area of concern is the fact that this is the 4th race of the Chase and not a single one of them has been a good race.

[media-credit name=”Kyle Ocker” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]We need to remember that people paid for tickets to see these races. We are concerned about our ticket sales in the sport and races like this are very illustrative as to why. The long drawn out follow the leader racing does not make for good racing. It does not make for good entertainment. It’s simply in a word boring. The entire broadcast for TV centers much like a vulture circling the 12 chase contenders. Who will have a problem? Will they rebound? Are they out?

The points changes are broadcast on every 30 minutes, even though the points do not change until the checkered flag waves. Three of the four races have had an exciting ending. But an exciting final 25 to 30 laps doesn’t make a good race it makes a good ending.

A good race is constant racing throughout the distance. Nascar has yet to manage to produce that with the current car used in competition. Now we are looking at a new COT for 2013. As fans we have to be concerned about our dollars spent on tickets. As members of the media we have to be concerned about our futures in trying to paint a plain white wall with a decorative brush and make it exciting. Simply it’s going to be very difficult to continue to draw fans to the track or the TV with this kind of competition. But ratings are up. They are up because the new points system paints the chase as exciting and close competition. While the points are close the competition simply isn’t there. Drivers struggle to give entertaining comments and gently avoid talking about the fact that is painfully obvious to even them, the event was boring.

Jimmie Johnson lead the most laps and he lead the last lap. His domination was slowed only six times. Only three times for other car incidents. The longer they ran the stronger he got and the further his lead became. At one point he led by 14 seconds. He showed without a shadow of a doubt why they have dominated the Chase for the last five years.

With his victory Johnson moved to within four points of leader Carl Edwards. By history the points leader leaving Kansas has won the Championship since the Chase’s inception.

Edwards who struggled all day to stay on the lead lap found himself finishing in the 5th position and taking over the points lead from Kevin Harvick. “What a fun race that was. There was certainly a lot of luck involved there. Man I wanted to win for these home fans at Kansas but this is like getting a win considering how it looked like it could have been. I have to thank my AFLAC team. They did a great job today, they never stopped and we were able to work out way back up there. We were just way off in the beginning but they worked hard all day and it paid off at the end.” Edwards said of his day.

Second Place Kasey Kahne was a steady occupant in the top ten all day. Staying within striking distance and making the Red Bull Toyota better with ever stop.

Brad Keselowski finished his Kansas weekend with a third place finish to follow up his win in the Nationwide Series on Saturday. “The Miller Dodge was good. I am proud of the effort. Kind of an up and down day. We got up to be a second or third place car mid part of the race, then kind of fell off a little bit, but came back. Third place day, that’s good. That’s what you’ve got to do. Really we want to win races like Jimmie, but we;re making the est we can out of it. If he stumbles, we’ll be there.”

This win was the 199th victory for Hendrick Motorsports and clinched the manufacturers Championship for Chevrolet.

“You know, when I look through all the pictures, since the beginning of Hendrick Motorsports, and I look at the wins, and I remember the celebrations, I can remember vividly that I didn’t know if I’d ever win one race. I know there were some years where I thought, ‘Are we going to win a race this year?’ When you say you’ve won a race in the Cup Series, you’ve accomplished something; but when you think about 200 wins – it’s unbelievable.” Hendrick said.

“This sport is so tough, look at all the second places we have this year, we have been close but just have not got the job done. We were glad to get the win done today. Big win for Mr. Hendrick, 199 and also Chevrolet winning the Manufacturing Championship, couldn’t do without all them and all the great people at Lowes’, they have been behind us since day one. We did our job today and hopefully we can do it six or seven more times.” Johnson said.

Unofficial Race Results
Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=30
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	48
2	5	4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	42
3	12	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	42
4	4	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	41
5	2	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	39
6	14	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	38
7	24	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	37
8	1	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	37
9	21	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	35
10	9	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	34
11	3	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	34
12	6	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	32
13	17	22	Kurt Busch	Dodge	32
14	18	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	30
15	23	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	29
16	7	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	28
17	41	51	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	0
18	11	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	26
19	15	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	25
20	13	6	David Ragan	Ford	24
21	31	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	23
22	29	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	22
23	34	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	21
24	16	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	20
25	22	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	19
26	26	198	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	0
27	36	38	Travis Kvapil	Ford	0
28	42	32	Mike Bliss	Ford	0
29	20	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	15
30	33	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	14
31	38	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	13
32	30	34	David Gilliland	Ford	12
33	25	46	Scott Speed	Ford	0
34	10	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	11
35	27	0	David Reutimann	Toyota	9
36	8	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	8
37	35	71	Andy Lally *	Ford	7
38	39	7	Reed Sorenson	Dodge	0
39	40	66	Michael McDowell	Toyota	5
40	32	30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	4
41	43	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
42	37	13	Casey Mears	Toyota	2
43	28	55	J.J. Yeley	Ford	1

October 9, 2011