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  • Ron Silk Makes Whelen Modified Magic with Third Win

    Ron Silk, driver of the No. 6 TS Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet, made three times a charm with a win in the New Hampshire 100 on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Silk, from Norwalk, Connecticut, started the race from the pole.

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”239″][/media-credit]This was Silk’s second career victory at the ‘Magic Mile’, his third win of the season and his seventh career win.

    “The car was really great right from the beginning,” Silk said. “After we didn’t make any adjustments at the pit stop, I was happy with the car. It got a little bit better throughout the race and I was able to get up there to the lead.”

    Silk said that pit strategy was important throughout the race, especially with the green flag runs, as well as the red flag rain delay.

    “It was definitely the right time to pit,” Silk said. “It went green for awhile. It would have been pretty tough to wait longer to take tires and get back through the field.”

    “I was confident,” Silk continued. “We’ve had a good car here all year.”

    Todd Szegedy, behind the wheel of the No. 2 Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Construction Ford, finished second. This was Szegedy’s second win at New Hampshire and his 14th top-10 in 19 starts at New Hampshire.

    “Second is a phenomenal finish for us,” Szegedy said. “But we certainly didn’t have a second place car.”

    “We’ve got our homework to do,” Szegedy continued. “It’s fortunate we got second place but why were we so far off and basically struggled. It was a struggle for me to stay in the top five.”

    “That green-white-checkered, we started fourth,” Szegedy continued. “I had momentum and I knew I could push Ronnie. But I had absolutely zero for him.”

    The third place finisher was Justin Bonsignore, from Holtsville, New York. The driver of the No. 51 M3 Technology Chevrolet scored his best finish ever at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    Bonsignore was the 2010 Sunoco Rookie of the Year on the Whelen Modified Tour. He finished fourth in August, so this third place finish was also his career best.

    “It was pretty eventful,” Bonsignore said. “The air cleaner came off about 20 laps in and we rode around until the yellow came out for the rain.”

    “We replace that and took tires then and that put us a little bit behind,” Bonsignore continued. “We stayed out and the car was good.”

    “Luckily that last restart, we mixed it up on that last lap and came home third.”

    “We’re only a second year team,” Bonsignore said. “I’m really proud of what we’ve built.”

    “To be contending for wins is really cool to do.”

    As is tradition at New Hampshire, the race had its share of drama. One source of drama was the weather, with sprinkles breaking out on the track, delaying the race.

    The other source of drama was for the only Cup driver in the competition. After his win disqualification at the last Modified race, Ryan Newman, who qualified fourth, blew the engine of his No. 77 Aggressive Hydraulics/Menards Chevrolet.

    Newman finished a disappointing 28th out of 29 spots, after the tell-tale smoke flowed from his race car on lap 60 of the race.

    The final drama of the race had to do with the points battle for the Whelen Modified Series championship. Szegedy came into the race leading the points by 12 points over Silk.

    “It’s a lot of fun, especially battling with a guy like Todd Szegedy,” Silk said. “He’s a good friend of mine.”

    “I kind of kept tabs on him throughout the race today and when I saw he was second, I said ‘Damn, I’m not going to gain too many points today.’

    “It’s going to go right down to the wire it looks like,” Silk continued. “It will go right down to the world series there at Thompson (International Speedway).”

    “This is how you win a championship,” Szegedy, the other points challenger, said. “You’ve got to use your head, stay out of trouble, and I’m being a nice guy because I want to win that championship.”

    After Silk, Szegedy and Bonsignore, rounding out the top five were Ted Christopher, driver of the No. 36 Al-Lee Installations, and Eric Beers, behind the wheel of the No. 45 Horwith Freightliner/John Blewett, Inc.

    Erick Rudolph, Zane Zeiner, Mike Stefanik, Matt Hirschman and Eric Goodale rounded out the top ten. Stefanik, who finished eighth, was the ‘comeback kid’ after spinning and going a lap down early in the race.

  • Marcos Ambrose Reflects on Life, Loudon and Spewing

    Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 DEWALT Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports, may not be in the Chase for the Cup championship but he still has an agenda for Loudon, the rest of the season and for next year. And he even has time to explain his Australian word of the week, spewing.

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”228″][/media-credit]As far as the ‘Magic Mile’, Ambrose has made five career Cup Series starts at the ‘Magic Mile’. His best finish, ninth, came in last year’s spring race.

    “No doubt it’s going to be challenging,” Ambrose said of this weekend’s race. “Qualifying becomes very important. It sets the grid.”

    “You have to practice fast but you also have to go out in qualifying trim,” Ambrose continued. “So you really have to juggle and take your chances on your set ups.”

    Ambrose also acknowledged that track position reigns, especially for the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Passing is another challenge at the track, as, according to Ambrose, each spot requires the perfect set up prior to the pass.

    “If you’ve got a fast car, you can pass,” Ambrose said. “But it just takes a little longer here.”

    “If you’ve got a fast car, you have to set up each pass individually and pick them up one by one, which takes time.”

    Along with every other driver in the race, Ambrose is also consumed with the fuel mileage question. But for the Aussie, fuel mileage racing is just the price of doing business.

    “I wouldn’t say it’s frustrating,” Ambrose said. “It’s just part of the business.”

    “It’s another facet to racing that is unusual,” Ambrose continued. “It’s hard to save fuel because you don’t know. There’s no fuel gauge in the car.”

    “So, it’s a challenging thing,” Ambrose continued. “Some guys are good at it and some aren’t. I like it when races come down to different strategies.”

    Does Ambrose’s vast experience in other racing series help with saving fuel? Not necessarily as far as Ambrose is concerned.

    “No, generally speaking if the motor’s shut off or the gas pedal is off, you’re going to save fuel,” Ambrose said. “You’ve got to work out the best way to do it.”

    “It’s definitely an art,” Ambrose continued. “It’s a skill you acquire over time.”

    “The penalty for making a mistake is huge,” Ambrose said. “If you come up short, you can lose ten, twenty spots very quickly.”

    In addition to having a good run at Loudon this weekend, Ambrose has an agenda for the remainder of the 2011 race season, especially since he is not a Chase participant.

    “It’s pretty simple,” Ambrose said. “We’re just going to go and try and win races.”

    “We’re building momentum for next year,” Ambrose continued. “We want to be the best.”

    “We’ve run well this year but we want to be better,” Ambrose said. “It’s going to take some serious effort to win a race.”

    “If you can do that in one of those big ten races, you know you’re ready for next year.”

    While Ambrose may be planning for the next season, he still has some fond, as well as not so fond, memories for the 2011 season. One of his best memories is his win, as well as how he started off this year.

    “It was just such a sense of relief,” Ambrose said. “There are not many moments in your life when you can pick a moment in time where you say, ‘You know what, it all worked out.’

    “The sacrifices to come here and the quest to win at the Cup level was a massive challenge,” Ambrose continued. “On that day, at that time, we were the champion for the day and won the race. It means a lot.”

    “Winning the race was awesome,” Ambrose said. “We came out of the gate really showing on the one and a half mile race tracks.”

    “Charlotte and Texas stood out,” Ambrose continued. “At that point, there was a lot of concern about what kind of team we were going to be together.”

    “The first good race for us was Las Vegas where we finished fourth,” Ambrose said. “And that was a good moment for us.”

    In spite of the win and his good early start, Ambrose pronounced that he would still give his overall season to date a ‘B’ grade.

    “Learning new people and a new team is tough,” Ambrose said. “I’d give it a B. We want to be A+ so we’ve got a ways to go.”

    Ambrose is absolutely convinced, however, that the familiarity and lessons learned throughout this race season will serve him and his team well going forward.

    “If I knew what I know now and I knew the people the way I do now and the systems and the stuff we got, we would have had a different year,” Ambrose said. “I think it’s continuity, experience and just familiarity.”

    “You start to know your people,” Ambrose continued. “We’ve got a much deeper notebook than we did at the start of the year. We’ve got better set ups at all these tracks we’re starting to hit a second time. It makes a difference.”

    According to Ambrose, the people with whom he surrounds himself are the most important factor in his racing career.

    “Racing is all about the people,” Ambrose said. “At this level, we’ve all got good equipment. It’s about how you work with each other.”

    “It’s the team,” Ambrose continued. “It makes all the difference in the world.”

    “If you have a team that you can rely on that pays you back and you’ve got their back and if you’ve got the trust and respect of each other, it’s important.”

    In addition to his racing family, the other most important people in Ambrose’s life are his family, including his wife and two children. And balancing his professional gig with his family time is one of Ambrose’s most important priorities.

    “It’s a constant struggle,” Ambrose said. “I’ve got a great wife and two beautiful kids.”

    “Racing is going to end one day but family should last forever,” Ambrose continued. “You’ve got to keep your priorities in life. And definitely my family is my number one priority.”

    “But racing’s been good too,” Ambrose said. “The racing community and the racing family have been good to me too.”

    With all that good will, from his own family as well as his racing family, hopefully Ambrose will not be using his Australian word of the week, spewing.

    “You really don’t spew at somebody, you’re really spewing at some thing,” Ambrose explained. “If you’re annoyed by something and you want to throw up at it, it’s spewing.”

    “I’m not spewing today, but I may be after qualifying.”

  • Matty’s Picks Vol. 19 – New Hampshire – Sylvania 300 – September 25, 2011

    Matty’s Picks Vol. 19 – New Hampshire – Sylvania 300 – September 25, 2011

    Race No. 2 of the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup brings us back to Loudon, New Hampshire. On April 12, 1934 the highest wind speed recorded at ground level was recorded at Mount Washington, NH. The wind speeds were three times as fast as those in most hurricanes.

    [media-credit name=”nhms.com” align=”alignright” width=”254″][/media-credit]The 750 horsepower engines of the NASCAR Sprint Cup racecars will not reach speeds nearly as fast as those at Mount Washington in 1934, but they will be going as fast as the wind speeds of most hurricanes, Sunday Afternoon.

    I didn’t fare extremely well with my Dark Horse pick after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ first stop this season in New Hampshire, but I did manage to pick the Runner-up in the July race. I thought I had nailed my Dark Horse pick in the July race (even after submitting my picks before any on-track activities) after finding out Regan Smith would start in 11th for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301, but knew a Top-10 finish would be too good to be true.

    My Winner Pick for the July race, Tony Stewart started outside pole and would finish exactly there. I had a 2nd and a 33rd place finish earlier this year, with Regan Smith giving me my first pick to finish outside the Top-30 cars.

    Chicago Recap

    Well, if you’re my winner pick, plan on finishing 22nd…

    Two weeks ago, I picked Clint Bowyer to win the Wonderful Pistachios 400 at Richmond International Raceway; his result, a 22nd place finish.

    Last week, I picked Kyle Busch to win the Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway; his result, a 22nd place finish.

    I used up my mandatory once-a-month Kyle Busch pick last week only because it was the second-to-last race of the month, and I probably should have held out and picked the Las Vegas native this week. It was my mistake in thinking that the race at Chicagoland would not turn out to be another once of these fuel-mileage fiascos we see each race at these 1.5-mile cookie-cutter style racetracks.

    As we all know, its checkers or wreckers for Kyle Busch each time he straps up his helmet to go racing. And that mentality really puts you at a huge disadvantage when you are trying to conserve fuel at the end of the race. Sometimes I feel like Rowdy’s right foot is made of lead, and he really cannot resist the temptation to jam his foot through the floorboards of his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry. He reached the point position early in the race on Monday, but when the race shook out (as it has historically); it was the guy with the most mustard left in the bottle that took the checkered.

    Kyle explained his day after the 400 mile stanza: “We had a good car today and kept fighting back all day long. But, once we hit that debris it made the car really loose and I was doing the best I can. I still hoped we could finish in the top-10. I saved as much fuel as I could but I guess it just wasn’t enough and we ran out with two to go. Just really disappointing day.”

    As for my Dark Horse pick last week, he was one of the 7-Chevrolets that finished in the Top-10 on Monday.

    Mark Martin’s 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season has been one filled with questions, disappointments, and very few triumphs. Martin’s starting spot in Monday’s race wasn’t anything to write home about either.

    I had made my decision on Martin early in the week last week and was put to ease after the first practice session on Friday, after he posted the 3rd best speed of the practice session. I knew all along that winning one of the final 10 races this season would be quite an achievement for the 52-year old whose career seems to be coming to its final chapter.

    Many frustrations have plagued Mark Martin’s final season at Hendrick Motorsports, which in the early stages of the race I thought would be the case yet-again for my Dark Horse pick. After starting 25th in the Geico 400, Martin battled through potential damage on the front spoiler on his No. 5 Chevrolet to eventually lay down lap times that were as fast as the race leaders.

    With all the fast cars running out of gas at the end, Martin had enough fuel left in the tanks to pass the wounded on the apron and bring home a Top-10 Dark Horse pick for me. Martin finished one-spot better than teammate Jimmie Johnson in 9th place, certainly a respectable finish after qualifying so poorly.

    New Hampshire Picks

    As I watch the practice speeds roll across my phone today, I can’t help but to notice the fire power the Chevrolets seem to be packing this weekend at New Hampshire. Eight of the Top-10 drivers in practice today have been piloting Chevrolets; I’m going with Chevy for Sunday…

    Winner Pick

    I’m really going out on a whim here this week and picking July’s race winner to take the checkered flag in Loudon, Sunday Afternoon (or Monday as it looks right now). He’s atop the leaderboard following Sprint Cup practice earlier today, and with that will do all he can to secure a favorable starting position for Sunday’s 3-hour nap window.

    Ryan Newman won July’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after starting from the pole. Since there is little-to-no passing opportunity at New Hampshire, starting up-front is key in a successful finish. No other driver has more poles than Newman at the 1-mile flat track in New England and he hasn’t finished outside the Top-8 in his past three trips to Loudon.

    Newman loves racing at New Hampshire, and I would too if I had an average finish of 12.4 in 19 races. “New Hampshire has always been a good place for me. I’m not a hundred percent sure why. It’s the place of my first win, when I hadn’t won in a long while, 70 some races. I won again there. This past July we were able to qualify and finish 1-2 at Stewart-Haas. It’s a fun race; it’s a very finesse racetrack. You can’t overdrive the car there very much because it’s so flat”, said Newman just yesterday before he arrived at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    Ryan Newman seems to have a rocket ship of a car this weekend, watch for him to lead the pack for the majority of the 300 laps on Sunday (or Monday).

    Dark Horse Pick

    As I said last week, I will finish the season by picking a driver that sits outside The Chase for the Sprint Cup as my Dark Horse each week.

    Unlike my Winner Pick, whom I have yet to pick this year, I’ve spoke about my Dark Horse pick 4 times this season, second only to Kyle Busch in number of picks this season. His results for me have been like his results at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, really good or really bad, nothing in the middle.

    Clint Bowyer has given me two Top-5 picks this year, but the other two times I’ve picked him in my column, he has given me a 36th and a 22nd-place finish. Bowyer is coming off the disappointment of missing The Chase for the Sprint Cup just two weeks ago, and has rebounded nicely from such disappointment by netting a 7th place finish last week at Chicago.

    Bowyer’s stats at New Hampshire Motor Speedway are just as I described, really good or really bad. He won this race just a year ago, but finished 17th at Loudon in July. He has visited Victory Lane in New England twice in his Sprint Cup career, finishing in the Top-10 a total of four times in eleven tries.

    Bowyer also described enjoying his trips to New Hampshire earlier this week: “Flat tracks like New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Richmond International Raceway always fit my driving style. I love racing up there. It is a lot of fun. Nothing in particular, it just fits my driving style.”

    I picked Clint Bowyer to win the race just two weeks ago at Richmond, and he let me down. He will rebound for me this weekend and stick his nose in the mix for the win.

    That’s all for this week as I set my sights on the two most important football games this season, my West Virginia Mountaineers hosting the Tigers from Louisiana State University tomorrow night in primetime, and my hometown Buffalo Bills take on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots here in Buffalo on Sunday Afternoon.

    Until next time…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

  • Kevin Harvick Proves Pithy Points Leader

    Kevin Harvick Proves Pithy Points Leader

    Kevin Harvick, this weekend driving the No. 29 Designate a Driver Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, waxed poetic, throwing out several pithy phrases during his media availability at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    [media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”241″][/media-credit]The pithy phrases flowed from the beginning of the interview session when the point’s leader addressed his position in the Chase pack, which is at the top of the heap by seven points over last week’s race winner Tony Stewart.

    “Now, it’s like us against ourselves,” the point’s leader said simply.

    “Anything that you can do that’s better than everyone else is a good thing,” Harvick said. “You don’t want to beat yourself the first week. And you don’t want to do anything to take yourself out of the hunt.”

    “It was a good start,” Harvick said. “We feel good about the way it all shook out.”

    Harvick then discussed his special paint scheme, calling attention to the Global Be(er) Responsibility Day observed by all 1500 Anheuser-Busch employees across the country to encourage the use of designated drivers. For this promotion, Harvick’s pithy phrase was simple, “Designate a Driver.”

    “All the Anheuser Busch employees will be going to restaurants and bars to spread the importance of everybody being responsible when they’re having a good time,” Harvick said. “Designate a driver to take care of the people on our roads and ourselves.”

    “It’s a great initiative and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

    Harvick then turned his attention to his team owner’s comments about dethroning five-time champion Jimmie Johnson.

    On that subject, Harvick said simply, “Sometimes he gets excited.”

    “I don’t know that that was the absolute right thing to say in public,” Harvick continued. “All in all, Richard is very confident in us as drivers and feels like he spends the money to be competitive in a championship.”

    “He just wants to win,” Harvick continued. “With Richard, it’s all about winning. He wants to be up on that stage again and we want to be right there with him.”

    As with the many drivers that followed in the media center, Harvick was asked about his fuel mileage saving techniques, especially at last weekend’s race.  Would he mind sharing his tips for saving fuel?

    “Yeah…..right,” Harvick said, followed by a moment of silence and then some chuckles, as the media moved quickly on to a follow up question.

    “I can’t speak for everybody else because I don’t know what they do,” Harvick finally shared about the fuel mileage question. “A lot of what we do is preparation. A lot of it is the crew chief telling you soon enough to make a difference.”

    “It all matters.”

    When the fuel mileage talk continued, Harvick shared this pithy recommendation for the benefit of all of his fellow competitors.

    “Save gas,” Harvick said simply. “That’s the strategy.”

    “That’s the hard part about our sport,” Harvick explained. “It’s not like you have a fuel gauge.”

    “You have to do what you think is right as far as the amount of gas you save and the techniques you use,” Harvick continued. “I felt like I had done an OK job of saving gas but you’re never really confident. It’s just one of those things that you have to go by feel and hope it works out.”

    When asked why Harvick seemed so calm this year during the Chase championship, Harvick again said simply, “It’s easier.”

    “That’s really the bottom line,” Harvick continued. “Gil (Martin, crew chief) and the team have a lot to do with that.”

    “He handles it,” Harvick said. “When we’re screwed up, he has an answer as to what we’re doing.”

    “He lets me be myself,” Harvick continued. “When I get mad and get frustrated in the car, he lets me yell on the radio. Then it’s over with and we move on.”

    “When you have people around you doing their job, I can be a lot calmer.”

    While Harvick and company are all doing a great job, at least in this early stage in the Chase race, the Bakersfield, CA native acknowledges that every track in the remainder of the Chase is a potential land mine.

    “As you go to every race track, you never know if you’re going to run good or bad,” Harvick said. “They can all be land mines.”

    “There’s not a specific race track that sticks out and says this is going to be a disaster,” Harvick continued. “So, I don’t have any specific concerns.”

    “You have to see what the weekend brings,” Harvick said. “So, we can run really well and along with everybody in the garage we can run really bad too.  You just have to make the best out of whatever the weekend brings you.”

    So, what is Harvick’s approach to this weekend’s race at Loudon, where he has earned one pole, five top-fives and 11 top-10 finishes in 21 starts?

    “I’m not trying to be an ass, but to us it’s just another race,” Harvick said. “They all pay the same points.”

    “This is just another track on the schedule,” Harvick continued. “It’s just another race.”

    “Our first goal is to win,” Harvick said. “Our second goal is to get everything we can. When we come here, we expect to win.”

    Harvick acknowledges, however, that the ‘Magic Mile’ is a track that can be just plain tricky in its approach.

    “It’s just one of those deals where there are so many things that can bite you,” Harvick said. “This place if you get behind late, you’re not going to make it up.”

    “There’s definitely a track position game here that comes into play,” Harvick continued. “But all in all, we come with a car that’s won on two flat tracks this year.”

    “We don’t expect any less than that every week.”

  • Todd Szegedy Lucky in Lime Rock and Hopefully in Loudon

    Todd Szegedy Lucky in Lime Rock and Hopefully in Loudon

    Todd Szegedy, driver of the No. 2 Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Construction Ford in the Whelen Modified Series, was given a penny that brought such good luck at this past weekend’s race at Lime Rock Park that he not only started on the pole but also ended up in Victory Lane.

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: hometracks.nascar.com” align=”alignright” width=”262″][/media-credit]Without a doubt, Szegedy is hoping that his precious penny will continue to bring good luck at this weekend’s race at the ‘Magic Mile’ in Loudon, New Hampshire.

    Szegedy got lucky at Lime Rock when he met Mrs. Griffin, a fan participating in a hospitality event prior to the running of the Whelen Modified 66/99 Presented by Town Fair Tire at Lime Rock Park.

    “We went to a meet and greet and they asked me and my crew chief questions,” Szegedy said. “At the end of the meet and greet, she came up to me and gave me a penny.”

    “She said this was a lucky penny and she had given it to another driver and he won the race and won many more after that.”

    “I’m a superstitious guy so it’s tough for me to accept those kinds of things,” Szegedy continued. “But I took it and put it in my pocket and left it there for the race.”

    “Maybe it brought me good luck, I don’t know,” Szegedy said. “But I still have that lucky penny and I’m going to hold onto it.”

    It actually took more than just luck to pull off this race win, from an uneventful start to a crazy late race restart.

    “The first half was somewhat uneventful and I just got into the early lead and that set a nice pace,” Szegedy said. “Basically we knew that we were going to have a fuel stop at Lap 20. So, I just hit my marks and tried not to make any mistakes until we had that first caution.”

    “When we had a late caution, that’s when a lot of the action began,” Szegedy continued. “We had a great pit stop and came out in fourth.”

    “Some guys took two tires but we took four,” Szegedy said. “So, on the restart, a lot of the mayhem happened.”

    “There were a lot of cars going through the dirt and I went through the dirt a few times,” Szegedy continued. “It was pretty exciting and I’m sure it was fun for the fans to watch.”

    “Eventually we went on to win, but it was a tough effort,” Szegedy said. “We definitely overcame a lot in that race.”

    Szegedy said of all of his races this season, this was his toughest, especially since it was on a road course where discipline is king. Yet in spite of worrying about his fuel pressure, which was dropping at the end, his luck held out to that checkered flag.

    “In road racing, it’s very easy to make mistakes,” Szegedy said. “I went off the track twice.”

    “When I put new tires on the car, it was really tight and when I tried to take a turn, I just went straight like I had a flat tire,” Szegedy continued. “I had to keep my cool and pass these guys when I could.”

    “At the end, we started losing fuel pressure so I was thinking ‘Oh my God, we’re going to run out of fuel,’ Szegedy said. “I didn’t know if I was going to win until I took that checkered flag.”

    “It was a very nerve-wracking race for sure,” Szegedy continued. “Without a doubt it was quite a release when I crossed that finish line. It was a well-earned win for sure.”

    With Lime Rock behind him, Szegedy now turns his attention to racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. And he has his work cut out for him and his team, changing out his road race car to one that can tackle an oval so he can take on the ‘Magic Mile’  mayhem.

    “First of all, it’s a lot of work to turn the car around, from a road course to an oval track,” Szegedy said. “So, we’ll be working pretty hard until Wednesday.”

    “Loudon is another nail-biting race because you never know who is going to win until that last lap,” Szegedy continued. “In every race, I’ve ever been in at Loudon, there are always late race passes and last lap crashes and exciting finishes.”

    Szegedy actually won at the last Loudon race, however, it came at the expense of Ryan Newman, who was disqualified after a ‘flagrant foul’ was called by NASCAR for illegal engine issues in the car.

    “The first Loudon I ran this year, I finished second but I ended up winning because Newman was disqualified,” Szegedy said. “We got the trophy and we got the cash.”

    “Everybody runs in the grey area but if it’s blatant, it should have been definite disqualification,” Szegedy continued. “NASCAR made the right call on that.”

    “I felt bad for Ryan though as he didn’t know,” Szegedy said. “But, hey if it’s blatant, then disqualification fits the crime. I think it should be that way with anybody.”

    Will Newman be Szegedy’s biggest competition this week at the New Hampshire 100 at Loudon this weekend? Szegedy actually thinks that there many who can give him a run for his money, including Newman, as well as some of the other Whelen Modified Series regulars.

    “There are quite a few guys that are my competition,” Szegedy said. “I cannot even name them all.”

    “I couldn’t even tell you who will be the top dog because it’s always different,” Szegedy continued. “You just never know at Loudon.”

    “I’m excited to go there.”

    With his luck at Lime Rock and hopefully more of the same at Loudon, Szegedy acknowledged that he has had one of his luckiest seasons ever.

    “Without a doubt, we’ve accomplished what we wanted to accomplish and more,” Szegedy said. “We’ve won races. We’re now in the points lead.”

    “It’s been an absolutely amazing season,” Szegedy continued. “Whatever happens from here on out, happens. We’re happy with what we’ve got right now and we’re going to continue to do what we’re doing.”

    In spite of that confidence, will Szegedy have his lucky Lime Rock penny with him at Loudon?

    “I definitely will have it in my pocket,” Szegedy said. “Without a doubt.”

  • NASCAR in Perspective Thanks to Hurricane Irene

    NASCAR in Perspective Thanks to Hurricane Irene

    This past weekend, while the stars of NASCAR battled in the Coliseum at Bristol, many on the east coast battled the effects of Hurricane Irene.  And for many NASCAR fans, from the Jersey Shore to New England, this weekend’s race was the first one missed in many years because of being in the eye of the storm.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”229″][/media-credit]While NASCAR traditionally is the focal point of every weekend for hardcore fans, this past weekend for many was consumed instead by long lines at the gas station, even longer lines at the grocery store, and securing as much as possible so that it would not become a flying weapon in the howling wind.

    When the storm began in earnest, roaring up the east coast, the race coverage was overpowered instead by hurricane coverage, taking shelter, and hunkering down for safety. The power of Hurricane Irene pre-empted all, putting the real meaning of racing in its proper perspective.

    For so many, the driver introduction song of Cup driver Scott Speed, ‘Power’ by Kayne West, took on a whole new meaning thanks to Hurricane Irene. For those in the storm, the loss of power consumed many, not only during the height of the storm but also in its wake.

    While Second Lieutenant Trint R. Callison from the Tennessee Army National Guard led the Bristol race crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Guard and other law enforcement personnel all along the path of the hurricane gave the command instead to evacuate and seek safety in local shelters.

    The beating and banging that traditionally happens at Bristol was replaced by the beating down of the rain and the banging of the tree limbs and trees themselves as they fell as a result of the hurricane strength wind.

    While the Irwin Tools Night Race at the ‘World’s Fastest Half Mile’ had relatively few cautions, the yellow flag was out all over the east coast for roadways that had eroded, dams that did not hold, and bridges that literally washed away from the force of the storm.

    NASCAR four-time champion Jeff Gordon may have thought he had challenges on pit road during his run at Bristol, but he faced nothing like the challenges that folks who had to ride buses on the congested roads leading out of Atlantic City to seek shelter in schools and arenas further inland in New Jersey.

    And in spite of the many decisions that every crew chief made atop their respective pit boxes, those paled in comparison to the life and death decisions that were made every second on the fly during the storm by the staff of the Office of Emergency Management as they coordinated the critical response to the constantly changing weather conditions.

    At the end of the Bristol race, Brad Keselowski was not the only one turning in another ‘Iron Man’ performance yet again. There were countless men and women throughout the hurricane affected area who turned in courageous efforts, saving lives and pulling people from the rising flood waters and the raging streams and rivers.

    Unlike NASCAR, which is now in the throes of setting the Chase field to run for the coveted Cup championship, the majority of those impacted by Hurricane Irene are in the throes of trying to clean up, shoveling out their basements filled with muck and mud as they try to pick up the pieces of their lives.

    And while the top ten drivers from last year determine if their schedules will allow them to be honored by the President at the White House, those who lived through the storm instead await a visit from the President, in hopes of learning more about the federal assistance from FEMA and help from other entities that may be available to them.

    Thankfully, no NASCAR tracks were severely impacted by Hurricane Irene. Richmond International Raceway did lose power, as well as having some trees down, with leaves and debris littering the track.

    “Our operations guys were so busy, trying to get generators up and running,” Aimee Turner, RIR director of public relations, said. “We fared well compared to what the State has fared.”

    Similar situations occurred at both New Hampshire Motor Speedway and the ‘Monster Mile’ at Dover, however, again the damage was minimal.

    “Unfortunately, many of our fans within the New England area were hit worse and our thoughts are with them,” Kristen Costa, NHMS director of communications said.

    One nearby race track took matters into its own hands, providing hope to many affected by Hurricane Irene. Pocono Raceway, in cooperation with the American Red Cross of the Poconos, raised over $8,000 through their Hurricane Irene Disaster Relief Ride.

    “Hurricane Irene was the latest natural disaster to have taxed the resources of the Red Cross and Pocono Raceway was proud to help in the disaster relief effort,” Brandon Igdalsky, Pocono Raceway President and CEO, said. “Pocono Raceway would like to thank everyone who participated in the ride for their time and generosity, even though some individuals suffered property damage and were still without electricity days after the storm.”

    That perhaps is the best perspective on the Bristol race weekend that was pre-empted for many by Hurricane Irene. For truly it is about NASCAR fans helping fellow fans and neighbors helping neighbors in need.

    And while setting the field for the Chase may seem all-consuming and important, all should remember that helping those recover from this storm warrant their continued attention, prayer and support.

  • Gustavo Yacaman Leads First Practice For New Hampshire 100

    In practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Firestone Indy Lights New Hampshire 100, Gustavo Yacaman topped the charts with a lap of 25.0034 seconds.

    “The car felt good today and the track is a lot of fun and it reminds me of Milwaukee,” he said. “I really hope that qualifying doesn’t look like it did in Milwaukee after I topped both practice sessions, I qualified fourth. I hope that this weekend we have the speed to keep our pace up during qualifying and the race. Hopefully we can get a pole and maybe a win. I wouldn’t mind having a perfect weekend. It isn’t easy to pass at this track. It really depends on when you come up on a car that is slower than you, you lose all of your front grip. This is why I feel that qualifying will be so crucial. Whoever is on the pole, unless their car is really off, they will keep the lead. We can still make our car better and go faster so we will see what happens Saturday when everyone puts their little tricks on.”

    Sam Schmidt Motorsports trio Josef Newgarden (25.0242), Bryan Clauson (25.3175) and Esteban Guerrieri (25.4634) followed while Anders Krohn was fifth.

    “It was OK,” Newgarden said. “Obviously it was our first day here and it’s new for everybody like a couple of places on the calendar this year. I think we had a good day. It was definitely productive for what we needed to get done and tested on the car for qualifying and race day. I think we’re looking good here for Saturday and hopefully  we qualify well here because I think that it’s going to be very difficult to pass here with the track configuration and the areo push you pick up here. It’s almost worse than Milwaukee. Qualifying could be crucial for the race and hopefully we can put it together for that session.”

    “It’s (NHMS) a lot of fun,” Clauson said. “It’s a tricky little one mile with a lot of grip and a lot of speed. With the progressive banking, you can use multiple lanes to help your car in several different ways. The Sam Schmidt Motorsports guys gave me a great Mazda Road to Indy/NOS Energy Drink No. 77. It’s been a good day of practice here, and I feel really good about the car we have going into this weekend’s race. When you’re fast right off the trailer, it gives you a lot of confidence. It allows you to start working on the little details that are probably going to win you the race. These guys unloaded a great race car for me today, and we’ve just been fine-tuning it all day long.”

    “I think it was a good learning process coming back to the ovals,” Guerrieri said. “The track is a bit tricky, so my approach was to gradually be more aggressive. I think it was a good day. We found the pace and worked on the car. We have good information to analyze Friday. Overall it was good and I’m confident.”

  • Dario Franchitti Leads First Practice For MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225

    In the first practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225 on Thursday, Dario Franchitti led the way with a lap of 21.5665 seconds (171.099mph).

    “My first order of business today was to learn the track and the first run felt good,” Franchitti said. “It is definitely a lot easier to learn a place when the car is doing what you want it to. I think we are in good shape now and we will be chasing the track a little bit. We’ll see if we can continue this form into the weekend.”

    His lap is only a tenth off of the record at New Hampshire, which was set by Andrew Riberio in 1995 at a lap of 21.466 seconds. Ribeiro is now the manager for series driver Ana Beatriz.

    Franchitti’s Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon was in second (21.6204 seconds), followed by Graham Rahal (21.6644).

    “The car felt good today,” Dixon said. “We struggled at the beginning of the day with a few set-up changes we had to go through. Traffic is chaotic here because it seems like some cars are very slow and you catch them fast. So must of the challenge is dealing with that. We spent a lot of time on working on the race car and I feel pretty comfortable now. The Target cars were quick today and so was Graham (Rahal) so we are in good shape for now but we will see what happens Saturday and Sunday.”

    KV Racing Technology-Lotus teammates Tony Kanaan (21.7368) and Taku Sato (21.7713) rounded out the top five. The top 10 in the 27-car lineup were separated by less than four-tenths of a second.

    “We had a pretty solid day today,” Kanaan said. “We took our time to go out in the morning practice, but we were fast right away and kept improving the car during the afternoon run. I think that there are some minor tweaks that we can try on Saturday before qualifying to see if we can get the car a little bit faster, but overall I’m happy with how the day went.”

    “It was a good first day,” Sato said. “We ran a lot of miles and I learned a lot.  This track is quite unique, but we were up to speed very quickly and worked on various things.  It was a very productive day.”

    During the session, Pippa Mann made significant contact with the wall, however was cleared to drive for the rest of the weekend by medical staff.

    “We worked very hard throughout the morning on making the car better and the RLL guys made some really good changes to the car that felt like they were going to help us,” she said. “We found some grip and some stability and were working on gathering speed over the bumps when we had our incident. I am disappointed but I know that the whole team will work very hard to get everything where we need it to be for Saturday’s qualifying!”

    The race on Sunday August 14th marks Team Penske’s 1,300 start in open-wheel racing and Helio Castroneves is set make his 200th career Indy car start for the team.

    “Our Guidepoint Systems Team Penske car still needs a little something,” he said. “We me made a lot of changes today and we learned a few things. Now we just have to sort through the data and take the next step. We will be ready to go on Saturday.”

    There are two practice sessions Aug. 13 prior to two-lap qualifications with no practice planned for Friday August 12th.

  • Ryan Newman Makes Magic with New Hampshire Win

    [media-credit id=43 align=”alignright” width=”213″][/media-credit]Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, went from ‘Rocket Man’, qualifying on the pole for the start of the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 to ‘Magic Man’, scoring his first win of the season at the Magic Mile.

    This was Newman’s 15th victory in 351 NASCAR Cup races and with the win, the 33 year old driver became the 13th different race winner this season. This is, however, Newman’s second win of the weekend, as he also scored the victory in the Whelen Modified Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    Ryan Newman also made magic for his team, Stewart-Haas Racing, as his teammate and owner, Tony Stewart finished right behind him in second. This was the first time ever that Stewart-Haas Racing, which started first and second in the race, took the checkered flag in the first and second position as well.

    Newman dedicated the race not only to the soldiers but also to his grandfather. In fact, he became very emotional in victory lane as he acknowledged both in celebration of his win.

    “This one is for the soldiers and the U.S. Army,” Newman said. “Thank you guys.”

    “I want to dedicate this to a good friend of mine who we lost 14 years ago this weekend,” Newman said. “That was my grandfather. It’s sentimental for many reasons.”

    “It was a great day for Stewart-Haas Racing.”

    It was all about family in Victory Lane for the Newman family, with his dad, wife Krissie and daughter Brooklyn joining him in Victory Lane. Newman’s daughter was definitely celebrating with both of her parents on the impressive win.

    “We’re really lucky and blessed with a good baby,” Krissie Newman said. “And to have the ARMY on the car and for SHR as a whole to finish one, two was a great day for the entire organization.”

    Tony Stewart, behind the wheel of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, scored his 15th top-10 finish in 25 races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2011.

    “One hell of a day boys — one hell of a day,” Stewart said to his team after the race. He finished just .773 seconds behind teammate Newman.

    “I just needed a weekend where we didn’t do anything stupid,” Stewart said succinctly.

    Denny Hamlin, piloting the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, took the checkered flag in the third position.  Hamlin had to battle his way back through the field to recover from a lap 171 spin after A.J. Allmendinger got into his bumper, turning him.

    “We got caught mid pack and we weren’t good on short runs,” Mike Ford, Denny Hamlin’s crew chief said after the race. “We ended up getting spun and were in the back.”

    “We made adjustments and the car came to life,” Ford continued. “Denny did a good job staying calm in the car and it just worked out.”

    “You always have to give back some track position during the day to be in the sequence to have track position at the end of the day.”

    This was Hamlin’s eighth top-10 finish in 11 races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, finished fourth and five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, behind the wheel of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, made an amazing recovery from a spin on lap 240, where he hit the wall on turn two, as well as a lug nut issue on pit road to finish fifth.

    Several drivers, including Kyle Busch, who went into the Loudon race as the points leader, had tire issues. Because of the tire issue, the driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, finished a miserable 36th and fell to fourth in the point standings.

    “Blew a tire,” Busch said. “There was too much brake heat.”

    “I had a pretty fast car and we were getting there,” Busch continued. “But the tire wouldn’t take it.”

     

  • Kyle Busch Marks 100th Victory in All Three Series With 49th Nationwide Win

    Kyle Busch Marks 100th Victory in All Three Series With 49th Nationwide Win

    Kyle Busch not only won the New England 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but he also tied Mark Martin as the record holder for Nationwide wins at 49. And for good measure, Busch became just the third driver to score 100 NASCAR national series victories.

    [media-credit name=”Kirk Schroll” align=”alignright” width=”227″][/media-credit]The 26 year old driver from Las Vegas, Nevada has won 22 times in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, 49 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and 29 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Busch is now third in the ranking of NASCAR National Series wins, behind Richard Petty, with 200, and David Person with 106.

    Busch has won at 25 different tracks, including achieving an historic first three-race weekend sweep at Bristol. He is ranked 28th with Terry Labonte in NASCAR Sprint Cup victories.

    “It certainly feels good and it means a lot,” Busch said. “To come out here and win for Z-Line Designs and get the 49th win in their car, we couldn’t do it without their support.”

    “To tie Mark Martin’s win is pretty awesome as well.”

    Speaking of Mark Martin, he was one of the first to find Busch in Victory Lane and congratulate him.

    “It’s just incredible,” Martin said of Busch tying his record. “Everybody forgets that he’s 26 years old. There’s so many more out there for him.”

    Busch had to do battle with his nemesis and probation partner Kevin Harvick, behind the wheel of the No. 33 Rheem Heating, Cooling and Water Heating Chevrolet, at the end of the race. Harvick finished in the runner up position and attributed his not winning the race to being warned by NASCAR.

    “I was told a few weeks ago that if we touched the 18 car, we’d be parked,” Harvick said. “I just had to be really careful and that’s just the way NASCAR put it to me.”

    “It would have been a lot easier to win if you didn’t have handcuffs put on you.”

    Even though Harvick did not win the race, he, like Busch, achieved his own record when the checkered flag flew. Harvick scored his 199th top-10 finish, which is an all-time record in the Nationwide Series.

    “We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of fun in this Series since it first started,” Harvick said. “I just came up one short.”

    Kasey Kahne, driving the No. 7 GoDaddy.com/Verisign Chevrolet, followed closely behind Harvick, coming in third. This was Kahne’s third top-10 finish in four races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    “We were a seventh or eighth place car,” Kahne said. “My car was bouncing pretty bad throughout the race. But we were able to miss some of those wrecks and got up to third.”

    “It ended up being a pretty good result.”

    After spinning on Lap 33, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. recovered to come in fourth. The driver of the No. 6 Fenway Park 100 Years Ford admitted to having a pretty good run after his early error.

    “I made a mistake there early trying to get by the 31,” Stenhouse, Jr. said. “He was holding everybody up and I tried to push the issue too hard.”

    “We got in there and got too tight and spun the car around there,” Stenhouse, Jr. continued. “This Red Sox Fenway Park 100 Year’s edition is a cool looking car and I wish we could have gotten it into victory lane.”

    Aric Almirola, behind the wheel of No. 88 Grand Touring Vodka Chevrolet, rounded out the top five.

    “We were a top ten car off the truck so to come out with a top five has been good,” Almirola said. “Everybody at JR Motorsports has been working their guts out.”

    “So, it’s fun to come and have a good weekend and put it all together and show off some of the hard work the guys have been doing back at the shop.”

    There was plenty of action throughout the race, from Carl Edwards blowing an engine and returning to his seat in the broadcast booth to several on-track altercations involving Rusty Wallace’s son and driver Steve Wallace.

    The driver of the No. 60 Fastenal Ford Mustang blamed a broken value or broken valve spring on his falling out of the race.

    “Something just broke,” Edwards said. “You don’t really know until you get it apart but I did shut it off early so we should be able to troubleshoot and look at it to see what was actually broken.”

    Steve Wallace, driver of the No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry, also had an eventful race, but in a different way than Edwards. He was at the heart of several racing incidents and eventually spun out and wrecked at the end.

    “I really like Jason Leffler a lot – I get along with him really, really well,” Wallace said of one of his altercations. “He hit me about five or six different times today and he cut up in front of me and spun himself out.”

    “It’s as simple as that,” Wallace continued. “Got in the back of the 20 (Joey Logano) there and just a lot of things happened today – some were my fault and some were not.”

    Joey Logano, one of those who was caught up with Wallace in one of the incidents, had his own take on the on-track tussle.

    “The 66 (Steve Wallace) just drove in there a little too high and got us,” Logano said. “That was the end of our day.

     

    Unofficial Race Results
    New England 200, New Hampshire Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=19
    =========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 5 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    2 2 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0
    3 12 7 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0
    4 14 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 41
    5 4 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 39
    6 13 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 39
    7 18 62 Michael Annett Toyota 37
    8 1 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    9 17 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 35
    10 8 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 34
    11 16 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 33
    12 15 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 32
    13 7 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 32
    14 20 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 30
    15 6 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 29
    16 19 30 Mikey Kile Chevrolet 28
    17 9 11 Brian Scott Toyota 27
    18 25 81 Blake Koch * Dodge 26
    19 26 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 25
    20 23 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 24
    21 27 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 23
    22 28 40 Charles Lewandoski * Chevrolet 22
    23 24 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 21
    24 36 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 20
    25 39 44 Angela Cope Chevrolet 0
    26 35 39 Matt Frahm Ford 18
    27 22 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 17
    28 21 167 Andrew Ranger Ford 0
    29 3 20 Joey Logano Toyota 0
    30 11 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 14
    31 31 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 13
    32 34 70 Dennis Setzer Dodge 12
    33 30 23 David Green Chevrolet 11
    34 10 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0
    35 42 113 Jennifer Jo Cobb * Dodge 9
    36 40 141 Carl Long Ford 8
    37 29 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 7
    38 38 175 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 6
    39 33 146 Chase Miller Chevrolet 5
    40 41 104 Danny Efland Ford 4
    41 32 142 Tim Andrews Chevrolet 0
    42 37 147 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 2