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  • Hot 20 – Harvick hit by penalties heading to Phoenix, but they do not much matter

    Hot 20 – Harvick hit by penalties heading to Phoenix, but they do not much matter

    The damndest thing happened right after I submitted this for publication. The penalties came down after Las Vegas. Kevin Harvick’s team got hit. Hard. Talk about having to go back to the drawing..er..keyboard.

    So, what did they do? Well, according to NASCAR.com, “The team was found to have violated Sections 20.4.8.1 (dealing with rear window support) and 20.4.18 (rocker panel extensions), specifically. A brace that supports the rear window failed and did not meet specifications for keeping the rear window glass rigid in all directions, at all times. Additionally, the rocker panel extension was not aluminum.”

    So, though they no longer use the term, the win is encumbered. If you find the term too confusing, buy a dictionary. Crew chief Rodney Childers has been fined $50,000. Car chief Robert Smith has been suspended for the next two races, and the team and driver both lost 20 points. That means, they get to keep the other 40 they picked up on the day. In short, it matters little to Harvick, with that Atlanta win already in the bag.

    What does matter is that some good people stepped up when they heard that Matt DiBenedetto’s No. 32 entry was unsponsored going into this one. Harvick donated $5000 to the cause. So did Denny Hamlin. Darrell Waltrip matched them. Talk about good people helping look after their own.

    As for our Hot 20 heading to Phoenix…

    1. KEVIN HARVICK – 1 WIN – 1 E.W. – 115 Pts
    If the penalties in any way mean that Kevin is a bit of a brat, welcome to Harvickville.

    2. AUSTIN DILLON – 1 WIN – 94 Pts
    After Daytona, when will we next notice him on race day?

    3. JOEY LOGANO – 132 POINTS
    Three races. Three Top Tens.

    4. RYAN BLANEY – 131 POINTS
    Took the pole last week, which was about the only thing Harvick did not leave town with.

    5. MARTIN TRUEX, JR. – 115 POINTS
    Colorado also boasts Boulder, Crabtree, Dillon Dam, and the Great Divide Brewing Companies.

    6. KYLE BUSCH – 104 POINTS
    If he does not matter it is because he is in the garage.

    7. KYLE LARSON – 104 POINTS
    Chevrolet was not completely shut out of the Top Ten last week. Damn near, but not completely.

    8. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 99 POINTS
    Along with Logano and Blaney, Team Penske has done rather well thus far.

    9. DENNY HAMLIN – 97 POINTS
    The guy is a jerk…then he goes and gives DiBenedetto a helping hand. Still a jerk, but a nice jerk.

    10. PAUL MENARD – 96 POINTS
    While everyone is watching Harvick up front, Menard is quietly succeeding further back.

    11. CLINT BOWYER – 93 POINTS
    Some like Nickelback. Others are named Clint Bowyer.

    12. ARIC ALMIROLA – 93 POINTS
    Failed to stay on the lead lap, but 10th is 10th.

    13. KURT BUSCH – 77 POINTS
    Kurt + Chase = A bad day

    14. RYAN NEWMAN – 75 POINTS
    Ooh, and it’s alright and it’s coming on, Ryan’s gotta get right back to where he last won.

    15. DARRELL WALLACE, JR. – 68 POINTS
    In a seven-race Cup career, Bubba has not done too badly.

    16. CHRIS BUESCHER – 67 POINTS
    Average a 15th place finish (5th, 25th, 15th) and that gives you a Chase place…for the moment.

    17. ALEX BOWMAN – 67 POINTS
    How bad has Hendrick got it? Alex is the best of their stable at present.

    18. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 66 POINTS
    This week…he is going after the hot dog guy.

    19. ERIK JONES – 64 POINTS
    In 40 career Cup starts, 24 times he has finished in the Top 15. You can build on that.

    20. MICHAEL MCDOWELL – 53 POINTS
    Mechanical issue killed his day early, yet he keeps on hanging on.

  • Nicole Biffle Shares Passion for Work of Greg Biffle Foundation

    Nicole Biffle Shares Passion for Work of Greg Biffle Foundation

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”183″][/media-credit]Nicole Biffle is one busy young woman, as wife to Chase contender Greg and mom to 15 month old Emma. And while obviously completely committed to both of those roles, she is also passionate about her work with the Greg Biffle Foundation.

    Nicole started the Greg Biffle Foundation with her husband in 2005 with the mission of creating awareness and serving as advocates to improve the well-being of animals by engaging the power and passion of the motor sports industry.

    One of her ‘pet’ projects is the NASCAR Pets Calendar and she has just wrapped up work on the 2013 calendar, featuring many drivers including Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Joey Logano. It also features NASCAR media members Shannon Spake, Rutledge Wood, Jeff Hammond, John Roberts and Chris Myers.

    “So we just finished our 2013 calendar and it’s really cool,” Biffle said. “This year we have Danica Patrick, the King and Kyle Petty, and media and drivers of course.”

    “It’s fun because this year we have our daughter Emma in the calendar,” Biffle continued. “So, it’s completely different.”

    “It’s funny because when it comes out after taking the picture so long ago, she looks so different since then.”

    The NASCAR Pets Calendar has been the fundraising hallmark for the Greg Biffle Foundation. The response to the inaugural edition of the calendar made it the best selling item on NASCAR.com and in 2009, Greg’s sponsor 3M got on board to take it to the next level.

    The 2013 edition of the calendar is already on sale in various outlets, including 30 Petco stores, Mooresville, NC vet clinics, animal welfare organizations nationally and again on NASCAR.com.

    According to Nicole Biffle, the Foundation took another bold step to raise money recently by auctioning off a 2012 Ford Raptor truck designed by her husband. The truck sold for $80,000, with all of the proceeds benefitting the Foundation.

    “With that Barrett Jackson auction we just did, we also raised money as well,” Nicole Biffle said. “The truck was really cool.”

    “I was watching it on TV and I was so nervous,” Biffle continued. “I’m very thankful to the lady who bought it. That was very nice of her and that will help a lot of animals.”

    “The great thing is that the dog they had there in that rescue, there were a lot of inquires about adopting him,” Biffle said. “So, having him there brought some attention to not only him but his shelter too.”

    “People were really interested which was really cool.”

    Nicole Biffle is also passionate about another upcoming event to benefit the Foundation, their annual mountain retreat fundraiser.

    “We have our Foundation event, our mountain retreat event, after the Charlotte race,” Biffle said. “We do that at our mountain property.”

    “It’s an exclusive event and we invite about nine drivers and we make of teams,” Biffle said. “We invite them and they go on the dirt track and shoot skeet.”

    “We have an archery course set up and we do trail rides,” Biffle continued. “It’s really a lot of fun.”

    “We raise money through sponsorships and the participants pay to attend,” Biffle said. “It is a competition so the drivers are always competitive, especially on the dirt track, but we also give awards for the best shooter and things like that.”

    “We also added the night before a poker tournament and a casino night just for fun,” Biffle continued. “Of course, people are generous enough to donate their winnings back to us which is so nice.”

    While Nicole Biffle is passionate about all of the Foundation fundraisers, she is most passionate about the real reason for the Foundation, making all of the grants. And this year, she has had a record amount of applications to consider, from 93 grants made last year to 380 applications this year.

    “We go through them and it is so difficult because there is so many,” Biffle said. “We look at what we’ve got and we tend to give to those that have little so they can keep their doors open.”

    “I had to hire an assistant to help me with the grant requests because my brain wasn’t working with what my heart was saying and I would have given to everybody,” Biffle continued. “It’s just hard but that’s obviously what the Foundation is for.”

    Nicole Biffle is also passionate about another endeavor, serving on the Board of the Friends of the Animals organization, where she serves as President and Greg as Vice President.

    “Greg and I are involved with the Friends of the Animals,” Biffle said. “That’s to build an adoption center in Mooresville.”

    “That is really, really going well,” Biffle continued. “We are making progress and the community backing is astounding.”

    “I’m pretty excited,” Biffle continued. “I think it’s going to be a big thing for us.”

    As with every mom, however, Nicole Biffle’s passion must now be shared and spread around, from her Foundation work to her roles as wife and mother. And like every busy mom, she works hard at trying to balance it all.

    “It’s different now that I’ve got Emma because I can’t focus as much time as I did in the past,” Biffle said. “I love being with her.”

    “We just try to balance it out and I’m grateful for good help at the Foundation and good board members at the Friends of the Animals.”

    Oh and by the way and on one final note, Nicole Biffle is also passionate about her husband Greg, who is currently competing for NASCAR’s highest honor the Sprint Cup. And she is very passionate in supporting him, along with Emma, in that endeavor.

    “I would love for Greg to win the championship this year,” Nicole Biffle said.”Being the first to win in all three series would be amazing.”

    “It would be awesome to have our little family to celebrate that.”

    For more information about the Greg Biffle Foundation or to purchase a 2013 calendar, visit gregbifflefoundation.com.

  • U.S Army will end sponsorship with Stewart-Hass Racing

    [media-credit id=43 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]The U.S Army will not continue its sponsorship with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in the No.39 car driven by Ryan Newman in 2013, ending a 10 year relationship.

    “The U.S. Army has been a great partner of Stewart-Haas Racing since the team’s inception.” said Brett Frood, executive vice president of SHR.

    According to Stewart-Hass racing on Tuesday, the decision was made because of “a reallocation of [the Army’s] marketing budget that will not include a presence in NASCAR.”

    Earlier this year, the House Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment that would prohibit the military from sponsorship of sports events, a sum estimated at more than $135 million per year, with the majority going to NASCAR-related sponsorships.

    “The U.S. Army has worked with Stewart-Haas Racing in a mutually beneficial and highly successful relationship for the past four seasons.” said John Myers, Army marketing director. “And they’ve performed superbly as our partner on and off the track. The same can be said of other members of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series family we have sponsored during the past 10 seasons.”

    At one point the U.S Air Force, National Guard, Navy and Coast Guard all had full season sponsorship’s with a NASCAR team.

    SHR officials say they are now “actively pursuing” another brand for sponsorship.

    “We remain very proud of our representation of the U.S. Army and its brave soldiers who are 100 percent committed to our country. We will continue to activate on behalf of the U.S. Army for the rest of 2012, while also growing our other dynamic partnerships at Stewart-Haas Racing for the future.” said John Myers, Director, Marketing Support Element, Army Marketing and Research Group.

  • Kenseth captures the Coke Zero 400 pole at Daytona

    Kenseth captures the Coke Zero 400 pole at Daytona

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”236″][/media-credit]Daytona, FL. – Matt Kenseth captured the pole for Saturday nights Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway with a lap of 192.386 mph, 46.781 seconds.

    “Our lap was obviously a good one.  It was faster than the rest.  I had very little to do with it, so qualifying at the speedway races is all about the car and the engine and those guys did a spectacular job at Roush all year long really in preparing our speedway cars.” Hamlin said.

    The Daytona 500 winner is trying to become the first driver since Bobby Allison in 1982 to sweep the season races at Daytona.

    “Yeah, that would be pretty cool.  I never thought, especially early in my career with speedway racing I didn’t feel I was particularly good at it.” Kenseth said about tying Allison. “So certainly I think for our team and everything our confidence is high, but this race is still kind of a crapshoot. You’re never sure exactly what’s gonna happen.”

    Tony Stewart qualified second with a lap of lap was 192.361 mph but his time was disallowed.  NASCAR said an open cooling hose was found pointed inside the cockpit.  Stewart will start 42nd.

    “You asked me if I did anything different, I said ‘I held it wide open.’ You asked if they did anything special I said ‘yeah, they gave me full throttle this time.’ So my reward is I get a Coke Zero for this. That is well worth holding it wide open for.” Stewart said when he was asked what they did to his car.

    Ryan Newman qualified second, Kasey Kahne third, Greg Biffle fourth and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-5.

    Denny Hamlin, who is having back spasms, qualified his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota 24th and is not planning on having any driver stand-by.

    Starting Lineup
    Coke Zero 400, Daytona International Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=18
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 192.386 46.781
    2 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 192.353 46.789
    3 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 192.291 46.804
    4 16 Greg Biffle Ford 192.139 46.841
    5 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 192.061 46.86
    6 50 Bill Elliott Chevrolet 192.012 46.872
    7 13 Casey Mears Ford 191.934 46.891
    8 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 191.894 46.901
    9 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 191.857 46.91
    10 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 191.824 46.918
    11 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 191.799 46.924
    12 99 Carl Edwards Ford 191.71 46.946
    13 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 191.681 46.953
    14 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 191.579 46.978
    15 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 191.497 46.998
    16 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 191.477 47.003
    17 43 Aric Almirola Ford 191.27 47.054
    18 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 191.245 47.06
    19 20 Joey Logano Toyota 191.229 47.064
    20 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 191.095 47.097
    21 98 Mike Bliss Ford 190.986 47.124
    22 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 190.945 47.134
    23 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 190.921 47.14
    24 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 190.848 47.158
    25 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 190.718 47.19
    26 30 David Stremme Toyota 190.666 47.203
    27 34 David Ragan Ford 190.617 47.215
    28 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 190.597 47.22
    29 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 190.557 47.23
    30 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 190.553 47.231
    31 26 Josh Wise* Ford 190.174 47.325
    32 38 David Gilliland Ford 190.134 47.335
    33 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 190.118 47.339
    34 32 Terry Labonte Ford 190.046 47.357
    35 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 189.994 47.37
    36 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 189.673 47.45
    37 33 Stephen Leicht* Chevrolet 188.719 47.69
    38 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 188.683 47.699
    39 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 188.549 47.733
    40 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 187.939 47.888
    41 47 Bobby Labonte+ Toyota 186.505 48.256
    42 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet – –
    43 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 187.021 48.123
  • Back issues for Hamlin

    Back issues for Hamlin

    [media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”231″][/media-credit]Denny Hamlin started having back spasms shortly after the Kentucky race.  By the end of the next day it was real tight.  “I sat down for dinner and couldn’t get up.  I’ve had a history of back spasms now for probably four years and it just flared up again.  This is about as bad as it was at its worse in 2008 or so.” Hamlin said.

    Hamlin will not be driving the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Nationwide Series car this weekend due to his back issues.

    “There are some torn disks and there’s some bulging disks.  There’s a lot of different things that’s just happened over time, and it’s just gotten progressively worse.” Hamlin said.

    Clint Bowyer will be taking over the driving duties this weekend for the Nationwide Series race.

    “We’re looking forward to working with Clint and appreciate his willingness to step behind the wheel for us on such short notice.” said J.D. Gibbs, president of JGR.

    Hamlin did not practice in either of the two practice session that were held on Thursday for Sprint Cup Series race on Saturday night.

    “Lucky that we are at Daytona in the sense of as important as practices are for the Cup Series, at this track they’re not as important.  Basically, any other race track, I definitely would be on track at this point, but I’ve made such decent to good progress through this week, you don’t want to give that up by getting in a wreck and then jeopardizing being able to start the Cup race.  We decided to sit everything out until I’m absolutely needed and we’ll take it from there.” Hamlin said.

    Hamlin does plan on qualifying the No. 11 on Friday.  He rolls out 12th.

  • Brad Keselowski gets the win at Kentucky

    Brad Keselowski gets the win at Kentucky

    [media-credit name=”Chris Trotman/Getty Image” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Brad Keselowski gets his third win of the season at Kentucky Speedway. Keselowski also became the first Sprint Cup driver to get three wins this season.  Keselowski took the lead on a final pit stop and pulled away for the victory in Saturday night’s Quaker State 400.

    “Who’d have figured my best finish would have came in the hardest race but that just shows the importance of teamwork and the group of guys that I have on this Miller Lite Dodge, they’re just bad asses. They’ve put together a backup car from last year in the hundred degree heat in an hour’s time. Not even an hour; I think it was like 40 minutes.” Keselowski said.

    This win help him when it comes down to chase time. “What a weekend,” Keselowski beamed from victory lane.  “For those that didn’t see practice, we hit the wall on lap 1 of practice and brought out a backup car. This is my Martinsville car from the Chase last year, so this ain’t the newest car we got,  but it sure runs.”

    Following Keselowski in second was the No. 5 car of Kasey Kahne.  Kahne had rough night after falling two laps behind but pulled in with a top-5 finish . Kahne had to pass a lot of cars through the night to get there proving he’s got the talent and determination to drive for Hendrick Motorsports.

    “Yeah, it would have been great to win in the Quaker State car. But we had a really good Quaker State Chevy throughout the whole race.” Kahne said. “We’ve got to keep working on it and got to be a little stronger throughout. But my car was fast. And I think the longer the run went, the better we seemed to get. The better I could move around on the racetrack anyways.”

    Denny Hamlin led the field three times for 58 laps and finished third.  Dale Earnhardt Jr ended up fourth and Jeff Gordon rounded up the top-5 . Hendrick Motorsports had strong cars in the race.

    “I was pretty loose. I wasn’t having a whole lot of fun those last 30 laps. But it was a good night. We were fast and good all weekend. It was a good weekend for us.” Earnhardt Jr. said.

    Tony Stewart on lap 20 had engine problems, eventually he ended up getting them fixed and finished 32nd. Teammate Ryan Newman got into the wall after he blew an engine. Stewart-Haas Racing had a rough night.

    “Just something blew up. That was the bottom end of the motor. It was going to be a decent night, maybe not a great night points wise. Points wise maybe a good night, but not a great night for a top five.” Newman said.

    Kyle Busch led the most laps of the race and finished in 10th place

    RESULTS
    2012 Unofficial Race Results : Quaker State 400
    Quaker State 400 | June 30, 2012 | Race 17 of 36
    .1 8 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge Miller Lite 47/1 267 Running
    2 19 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet Quaker State 42/0 267 Running
    3 3 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Express 42/1 267 Running
    4 7 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Diet Mountain Dew / National Guard 40/0 267 Running
    5 9 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Drive to End Hunger 39/0 267 Running
    6 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s Dover White 39/1 267 Running
    7 20 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Fifth Third Bank 37/0 267 Running
    8 10 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 36/0 267 Running
    9 16 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge Shell / Pennzoil 35/0 267 Running
    10 2 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M’s Red, White & Blue 36/2 267 Running
    11 4 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Budweiser Folds of Honor 33/0 267 Running
    12 15 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet Menards / Sylvania 32/0 267 Running
    13 12 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford Mac Tools 31/0 267 Running
    14 31 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target 30/0 267 Running
    15 17 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet McDonald’s 29/0 267 Running
    16 6 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 5-hour Energy 28/0 267 Running
    17 34 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota Burger King 28/1 267 Running
    18 21 13 Casey Mears Ford Valvoline NextGen 27/1 267 Running
    19 14 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet Phoenix Construction Services 25/0 267 Running
    20 25 99 Carl Edwards Ford UPS 24/0 267 Running
    21 11 16 Greg Biffle Ford American Red Cross 23/0 267 Running
    22 18 20 Joey Logano Toyota Dollar General 22/0 267 Running
    23 38 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet Outsourcing in the USA@TMone 21/0 267 Running
    24 29 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 20/0 267 Running
    25 23 83 Landon Cassill Toyota Burger King 19/0 267 Running
    26 13 43 Aric Almirola Ford Eckrich 18/0 267 Running
    27 28 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota Scott Products 17/0 265 Running
    28 40 38 David Gilliland Ford Taco Bell 16/0 265 Running
    29 33 34 David Ragan Ford Front Row Motorsports 15/0 263 Running
    30 39 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine 14/0 262 Running
    31 41 32 Ken Schrader Ford Federated Auto Parts 13/0 262 Running
    32 22 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Office Depot / Mobil 1 12/0 231 Running
    33 26 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row 11/0 209 In Pit
    34 5 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Tornados 10/0 208 In Pit
    35 42 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet SealWrap 9/0 144 Out of Race
    36 32 30 David Stremme Toyota Inception Motorsports 8/0 71 In Pit
    37 30 26 Josh Wise * Ford MDS Transport 7/0 60 In Pit
    38 35 98 Michael McDowell Ford Presbyterian Healthcare System 6/0 58 In Pit
    39 24 195 Scott Speed Ford Leavine Family Racing 5/0 55 In Pit
    40 27 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves 0 52 In Pit
    41 43 33 Stephen Leicht * Chevrolet Little Joes
    Autos.com 3/0 47 In Pit
    42 37 119 Mike Bliss Toyota Humphrey Smith Racing 0 18 In Pit
    43 36 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet North Texas Pipe 1/0 12 Out of Race
    * Denotes Rookie

  • Hamlin Signs deal with Joe Gibbs Racing

    Hamlin Signs deal with Joe Gibbs Racing

    [media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”231″][/media-credit]Denny Hamlin signed a contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) on Saturday. Terms of his extension were not released.

    Hamlin announced the contract extension on Twitter before the race. “IT’S OFFICIAL. I’ve signed an extension with @JoeGibbsRacing. Happy to know where my future is. Excited for tonight and beyond with my team.”

    Hamlin has 19 wins in the No. 11 Toyota with JGR and has made the Chase all six of his full seasons.

    “Happy to know where my future is. Excited for tonight and beyond with my team.” Hamlin said.

    Now we just have to see what will happen with Joey Logano in the No. 20 Toyota since there are numerous rumors flying around that Logano may need to look for a new ride next season.

    Matt Kenseth, who announced earlier this week that he is leaving Roush Fenway Racing with a deal already in place for 2013. I think it may be with JGR in the No. 20, replacing Logano.

    Joe Gibbs said after the drivers meeting for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400, “We’re working real hard right now on extending him and his relationship with us. We’ve had a great relationship, signed him when he was 15. We’ve got a lot invested in Joey. I think right now he’s stepping up, and we want him to be with us.”

    The wait is on, the silly season continues……