Tag: Ricky Stenhouse

Kenseth captures the STP 400 pole at Kansas; Breaks up Ford front row

On a very difficult day that was cold and windy the boys of summer came to play at Kansas.

Cars of every make and every team carried a remembrance of those injured or lost in the Boston Marathon Bombings. From Swan Racing and Stewart Haas to Hendrick Motorsports the decals varied from ribbons to the logo of Boston Red Sox. Missouri driver, Carl Edwards reflected on the tragedy, “I know I can speak for all of Roush Fenway Racing in saying that our thoughts are with everyone there that’s not only suffered, but all the confusion that’s going on. I don’t think anyone really understands exactly what’s happened yet, and without sounding cliché what Roush is doing is trying to do something to help. Steve Newmark and Jack Roush put together a program where Jack is gonna donate some money to a cause up there to try and help with whatever they need help with, and then we also pledged $100 for every lap that one of the Roush Fenway leads at the race track this weekend.”

The sentiments were echoed by Jimmie Johnson whose Hendrick Motorsports team has a close tie to the tragedy, “I would assume everybody has seen the press release, but last night the shooting that took place unfortunately has some attachment to Hendrick Motorsports. Someone in the engine shop it was his brother, Andrew Collier’s brother, Sean was tragically killed last night. Still a lot of questions going on obviously if anybody has had a chance to watch the new today there still is a lot of chaos taking place in Boston. Trying to gather all that is going on, but a very sad time. My thoughts and prayers are with the Collier family. I certainly know that it is the same thing for all of Hendrick Motorsports. We are one big family and it’s sad and unfortunate to see a fellow teammate and his family going through such a tough time.”

The qualifying for the Sprint Cup cars went off with only one casualty. That casualty was Jeff Gordon. Gordon lost the rear of the car coming out of two and hit the wall with both ends of the car. The No.24 team immediately pulled down the backup car. Gordon, would take the champions provisional to start tail end of the field.

“I was committed. We have been tight, and I wasn’t tight. It felt great coming to the green and I was pretty happy with it through (turns) three and four and I got down into (turns) one and two and I arced it in there just the way I wanted to and got to the yellow line and started picking up the throttle and it just slowly came around. For a second I thought I was going to save it. I lit the tires up to keep it from hitting too hard and now we have a car and an engine that are pretty much done and it’s been a while since I wrecked qualifying.” Gordon said.

The pole was won by Matt Kenseth with a time of 28.145 seconds/191.864 mph around the 1.5 track. This was Kenseth’s ninth career pole and the first of the 2013 season.

The outside front row belongs to Columbia, Missouri native Carl Edwards with a time of 28.162 seconds/191.748 mph.

The top-4 qualifiers broke the track record in qualifying.

Joe Nemecheck was the lone car to not qualify for the race.

Starting Lineup
STP 400, Kansas Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/qual.php?race=8
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	191.864	28.145
2	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	191.748	28.162
3	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #	Ford	191.734	28.164
4	12	Sam Hornish, Jr.(i)	Ford	191.401	28.213
5	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	190.853	28.294
6	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	190.779	28.305
7	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	190.651	28.324
8	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	190.282	28.379
9	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	190.221	28.388
10	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	190.134	28.401
11	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	190.067	28.411
12	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	189.78	28.454
13	78	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	189.534	28.491
14	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	189.221	28.538
15	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	189.195	28.542
16	11	Brian Vickers(i)	Toyota	189.182	28.544
17	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	189.155	28.548
18	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	189.023	28.568
19	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Chevrolet	188.758	28.608
20	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	188.679	28.62
21	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	188.442	28.656
22	22	Joey Logano	Ford	188.317	28.675
23	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	188.311	28.676
24	81	Elliott Sadler(i)	Toyota	187.996	28.724
25	10	Danica Patrick #	Chevrolet	187.774	28.758
26	34	David Ragan	Ford	187.441	28.809
27	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	187.37	28.82
28	38	David Gilliland	Ford	187.279	28.834
29	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	187.272	28.835
30	13	Casey Mears	Ford	186.922	28.889
31	83	David Reutimann	Toyota	186.909	28.891
32	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	186.728	28.919
33	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	186.657	28.93
34	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	186.561	28.945
35	19	Mike Bliss(i)	Toyota	186.528	28.95
36	35	Josh Wise(i)	Ford	186.419	28.967
37	32	Timmy Hill #	Ford	185.688	Owner Points
38	30	David Stremme	Toyota	185.65	Owner Points
39	33	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	185.274	Owner Points
40	36	JJ Yeley	Chevrolet	185.185	Owner Points
41	51	Regan Smith(i)	Chevrolet	184.818	Owner Points
42	7	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	183.811	Owner Points
43	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	0	Owner Points

April 19, 2013

Matty’s Picks 2012 – Race No. 3 – March 4, 2012 Subway Fresh Fit 500 – Phoenix International Raceway

[media-credit name=”www.phoenixraceway.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Enter Clint Eastwood; I recon so…

After the fiasco in Florida last week, I am happy we’re heading to a place that averages just 12 days of rain the entire year. Not counting my chickens before they hatch here, March, historically has been the wettest out of any month. Between the historical rainfall data, and the absolutely perfect weather forecast for Phoenix this weekend, I am confident we’ll be seeing a race on Sunday afternoon.

This will be the second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on the freshly face-lifted Phoenix International Raceway, and I am hoping a bit of new rubber will have worked its way into the 1-mile tri-oval’ish track in the desert. With the track being re-paved in the summer of 2011, PIR worked its tail off to try and give the cup drivers the absolute best racing conditions possible for the 2011 Kobalt Tools 500. PIR made numerous attempts to foster passing on the new surface including “tons of laps” by driving schools on soft tires.

Before this weekend’s Subway Fresh Fit 500, PIR has taken strides again to foster passing and work in their new racing surface’s upper groove. Phoenix International Raceway hired Colorado-based Bandimere Speedway to have a tire rotator machine work additional rubber into PIR’s upper groove. The program was conducted Feb. 25-27, one week before this weekend’s big event.

“The goal was to present the best possible racing surface to NASCAR and the drivers for this weekend’s races,” said Phoenix International Raceway President, Bryan R. Sperber. “This is a very important race in the NASCAR season and we wanted to make sure that the track was ready to perform.”

I like the races at Phoenix, and am looking forward to what Sunday will bring…

Daytona 500 Recap

Where do I start? Despite Mother Nature not cooperating on my Quarter-Century Birthday last week, I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. Between the hype of Danica’s debut in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the re-birth of “the pack”, and simply the fact that it was the Daytona 500, last weekend’s race had a lot of hoopla surrounding it. The fact that last week’s Daytona 500 would be run in primetime on Monday night, Danica’s crash on lap number two, Brad Keselowski picking up 100,000 followers on Twitter, and the “fire heard round the world” all took the place of FOX’s regularly scheduled dramas on Monday night.

By now, everyone has heard the stories of the fire, Danica’s troubles, Twitter followers and everything other than racing, so I will skip to the recap of my picks. As you may recall, because Daytona tends to be a craps-shoot to pick drivers, my picks last week were determined by the random draw of playing cards.

My Dark Horse pick last week was a rookie in the Great American Race, however he looked like a seasoned veteran as he dodged accidents and hung around the top 15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. remained patient in the pack for the majority of the laps on Monday night, but my quest to start the season off with a strong Dark Horse finish came to a halt with just four laps to go in the Daytona 500. Stenhouse was caught up in a multi-car accident with just four laps to go. The No. 6 EcoBoost Ford came home 20th.

Two NASCAR Series Champions got the start last week for Matty’s picks, and two series champions were caught up in the same racing accident.

Tony Stewart was picked via my random card draw last week, and was on pace for a strong finish just like Stenhouse, but couldn’t avoid the final incident of the marathon weekend. I was happy when the cards fell last Friday and I ended up with Smoke as a starter, but again Stewart will come out of Speedweeks without the Harley J. Earl trophy. Smoke found the front of the pack for laps 59 and 60 gaining confidence in his Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, and with a move of an experienced veteran, slipped back into safer waters for the remainder of the laps on Monday night.

It was just that move that may have caused Stewart his troubles at the end of the 500, as he was collected in the mid-pack accident with just three laps to go. Smoke brought his battered Chevy home 16th, and sent me home crying with no points last week.

Phoenix Picks

Winner Pick

Kasey Khane wanted nothing more than sending Red Bull Racing on its way with a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win last fall. When the Chase came down to the wire, Khane was in the hunt in a handful of the last 10 races, just lacked that last extra nudge to put him in Victory Lane. That extra nudge came at Phoenix International Raceway in November when he sent Red Bull Racing out of NASCAR with a victory.

Kasey Khane has this new racing surface at PIR figured out, and his speeds have been great all weekend. If it wasn’t for Khane pushing his Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet just a bit too hard entering turn number 3 on his qualifying lap earlier today, he would be starting P1 tomorrow afternoon. He was 5th fastest in the first practice on Friday and followed up his mishap on his first qualifying lap with a time quick enough for 10th on the starting grid for tomorrow. 10th just happens to be where he started last fall when he claimed victory on the new configuration.

Khane has been under a microscope since his announcement that he would be moving to Hendrick Motorsports last season, and the time has come for him to shine. The No.5 car has to be the favorite for Sunday, so if you’re able to give him a start, DO IT!

Dark Horse Pick

I hate to call a guy with an average finish of 12.0 at PIR a Dark Horse, but with just 312 laps to do business on Sunday, starting positions are critical. He was my Dark Horse for the race in November and he did not let me down, finishing 4th after starting 14th.

Jeff Burton was one of 36 drivers that tested Goodyear tires on PIR’s new racing surface, and he was the fastest driver on the track over the two-day test. He laid down a lap good enough for the 11th spot on the grid earlier today in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying. Its been a while since Burton has visited Victory Lane at PIR (2001), but watch for the No.31 to be close to the front when the dust settles in the desert tomorrow afternoon.

That’s all for this week so until next time, you stay classy NASCAR NATION!

March 3, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Charlotte Coca Cola 600

After exceptionally exciting finishes in the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the day, all signs pointed to a stellar finish in one of NASCAR’s biggest races of the season. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”260″][/media-credit]Surprising: With several of the sport’s biggest races won by first-timers this season, including Trevor Bayne’s story book win at the Daytona 500 and Regan Smith’s unpredicted win at Darlington, it was a bit surprising that no first time winner stood in Victory Lane after the Coke 600.

One driver, however, came mighty close. David Ragan, who had snagged the Showdown win to make it into the All-Star Race the weekend before, almost pulled off his own Cinderella-like story, falling short of the win by just one position.

Ragan, in his No. 6 UPS “We Love Logistics” Ford, finished second, scoring his highest career finish in the Coca Cola 600.

“We had a strong car all day,” Ragan said. “That’s a finish that we deserved, but we just went about doing it the hard way.”

Not Surprising: After all those laps and all those miles, it was not surprising to see the Coca Cola 600 come down to a green, white checkered finish. And it was equally unsurprising to see one driver that is becoming well-known for his stealth finishes to come from nowhere and snag another victory.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Armed Forces Tribute Chevrolet, did just that to lead the last 400 feet of the race and take the checkered flag for his fifth top 10 and second top five in 21 starts at Charlotte.

“We were lucky,” Harvick said. “It’s nothing against the race track, I just don’t like racing here. But to be in Victory Lane, it says a lot about this Budweiser team.”

“This is a huge accomplishment for us,” Harvick continued, admitting that he had struggled with his car and team throughout the race. “This is a hell of a race to win. We’re going to celebrate it like it’s our last one.”

Surprising: After leading the race on the final lap, seeing the checkered flag, and then running out of gas, it was surprising how positive Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was after the race. Junior limped to the finish line on fumes to finish seventh in his No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet.

Echoing his ever upbeat crew chief Steve Letarte, Earnhardt, Jr. said, “I’m disappointed we didn’t win, but if we would’ve won, it would have been a gift.”

“We ran good tonight,” Junior continued. “I’m proud.”

Not Surprising: In contrast to the positive, proud vibes in the Dale Jr. camp, it was not surprising that there was a whole lot of swearing going on in his teammate Jimmie Johnson’s camp. In fact, crew chief Chad Knaus dropped the F-bomb on national television when Johnson’s engine expired with just five laps to go in the race.

This was the first engine failure for Hendrick Motorsports this season and it forced Johnson to a 28^th place finish in his No. 48 Lowes Summer Salutes Chevrolet. Johnson also fell one spot, from second to third, in the point standings.

Surprising: Although the Coca Cola 600 is the longest race of the season, it was surprising to see the number of engine failures that occurred. In addition to Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart all experienced engine issues.

For Jamie McMurray, behind the wheel of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shop/Convoy of Hope for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, this engine failure signified the sixth of the season for the ECR engine builders.

“It started shaking and one second later, it was ‘boom,’” McMurray said.

Hamlin, on the other hand, was able to recover after his engine issues, with his No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota team doing a yeoman’s job of changing out the carburetor. Hamlin managed a top ten finish, which boosted him into the top twelve Chase contenders.

Stewart also suffered engine woes in the waning laps of the race, radioing crew chief Darian Grubb that something was amiss with less than 20 laps to go. Stewart, in his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, finished 17^th, scoring his 10^th top-20 finish to date.

Not Surprising: In addition to engine woes, it was not surprising that many other teams were plagued with other types of mechanical problems, from overheating to radio problems.

Greg Biffle, behind the wheel of the No. 16 3M Ford, seemed ready to implode from overheating issues in his car early in the race. Biffle was, however, able to overcome, rallying back to lead laps at the end. Unfortunately, he too succumbed to not having enough gas, having to make a splash and go stop at the end, which relegated him to a 13^th place finish.

Jeff Gordon, piloting the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, also struggled and battled radio issues early in the race. Gordon too looked strong at the end of the show, only to have to pit for gas as well. Gordon finished 20^th, falling two positions to 16^th in the point standings.

Surprising: Serving as a substitute driver for Trevor Bayne and making his Cup debut, it was surprising how well Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. did in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford. Stenhouse, Jr. managed to bring his car home in the 11^th position even after having several close encounters with the wall.

“That was interesting,” Stenhouse, Jr. said. “I hit the wall a couple of times, the caution came back out and it worked great for us.”

“I’m just glad I got this opportunity.”

Not Surprising: It was not surprising that after Stenhouse, Jr. and Bayne prayed together before the race, Bayne playfully pushed his friend out of the way and tried to get behind the wheel of his race car. After five weeks of being out of his car due to a mystery illness, Bayne was most certainly chomping at the bit to get back to racing.

Bayne reinforced that desire by tweeting after the race, “This was by far the hardest weekend to sit back and watch! Can’t wait to be back in action!!”

Surprising: In the battle of the Busch brothers, it was surprising that this weekend Kurt Busch prevailed, finishing fourth in his Shell/Pennzoil No. 22 Dodge, while baby brother Kyle took a wild ride through the grass and then another spin, finishing 32^nd in his No. 18 M&Ms Toyota.

“The race was 600 miles and it felt like 800,” Dave Rogers, Busch’s crew chief, said. “Kyle was trying to make something out of nothing and it got away from him. We ended our day a little early.”

Not Surprising: Not surprisingly, one driver who never expected to even make the show captured the true spirit of the Memorial Day race weekend. David Starr, behind the wheel of the No. 95 Jordan Truck Sales.com Ford Fusion crashed early in the race, finishing 36^th. Yet this is what he had to say.

“This was a great weekend,” Starr said. “I’m just honored and blessed to be driving this Ford Fusion.”

“It was awesome out there,” Starr continued. “It was a big honor to race in the Coca Cola 600 even though it ended up like this. I’m really blessed.”

May 30, 2011
Trevor Bayne Emerges from Cone of Silence; Kyle Busch Sticks to His Story

After five weeks of being out of sight due to an undisclosed illness, Trevor Bayne emerged from the cone of silence that had been surrounding him and his condition. Although Bayne will not race this weekend, he will return to his Nationwide ride at Chicago and his Cup ride in a few weeks at Michigan.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Kyle Busch, on the other hand, who has been in the spotlight all week due to an excessive speeding citation, is sticking to his story, as well as showing great remorse and contrition. Busch was ticketed for driving 128 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone at 1:52 PM this past Tuesday in a residential section of Mooresville, North Carolina.

Both drivers faced the media today as part of the racing weekend activities at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Yet the two could not have been more opposite in their reactions on entering the media center, with Bayne ebullient to be back at the track while Busch appeared polite but subdued.

“I missed you guys,” Bayne, driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford in the Cup Series and the No. 16 Roush Fenway Ford in the Nationwide Series, as he took to the media stage. “It has been bad being away.”

“I have been fine for over a week now,” Bayne continued. “Last weekend I took it off as a caution and this week they made me take it off as a caution.”

The caution was also out for Kyle Busch, but for a very different reason. Busch’s caution resulted from a very speedy shake down behind the wheel of a Lexus sports car that had been loaned to him by the manufacturer.

“Obviously I had a lack of judgment and just made a mistake,” Busch said as he told his story to the sport’s media corps.

“And I’m sorry for making that mistake,” Busch continued. “Fortunately there was no one hurt, but that doesn’t make any kind of any excuse for what happened and for my lack in judgment for what I did.”

In contrast to Busch, Bayne was so anxious to be back on the track and back in a race car that he was even more irrepressibly happy and excited than usual. The 20 year old driver, however, still had no explanation for the double vision, fatigue and general malaise that had kept him sidelined.

“The cause isn’t exactly sure yet,” Bayne said. “Their biggest hope is that it was an isolated event that is temporary and is gone now.”

“The diagnosis, I don’t have it yet,” Bayne continued. “It could be just a series of events where you get a bug bite and your immune system is down. Whether that is it or not, only time will tell that.”

“I still don’t have an official diagnosis but they treated everything they thought it could be and since then everything has gone away,” Bayne said. “To me, they hit something.

Just as Bayne cannot explain his physical ailments, Busch had no real explanation for his unlawful behavior.

“I’m certainly sorry that it happened and my actions led me to speed,” Busch said. “It was a lack of judgment and all I can do is apologize to the public, my friends, my fans, my sponsors and everybody.”

“All I can do is say me piece here and let it be.”

While both Busch and Bayne could not explain their behavior and illness respectively, the two certainly have one thing in common. They both are taking away ‘lessons learned’ from their experiences.

“I look at this experience as a learning experience,” Busch said.

Busch’s team owner, Joe Gibbs, echoed the fact that Busch had much to learn from his offense. In fact, the team owner is even considering possible sanctions.

“Any disciplinary action is something we’re going through (deciding),” Gibbs said. “That’s things we talk about and discuss.”

“Obviously we didn’t think suspending him was something we were going to do,” Gibbs continued. “We’re going through a process to try and make sure we do the right thing and treat this as a serious issue.”

“I’m hoping that somehow out of this something positive will come out of it.”

Bayne has also learned quite a few life lessons from his time away from the sport being poked, prodded, and tested.

“I think the biggest thing I have learned through all of this is how supportive everyone in our sport is,” Bayne said. “It has been incredible to me and a real eye opener.”

“Carl Edwards flew up and saw me in Minnesota and Tony Stewart was using his plane to fly my family back and forth,” Bayne continued. “Everybody in the garage texted me at least once to see how I was doing and that means a lot to me.”

“Another thing that has sometimes been put into perspective for me is how blessed we are to be race car drivers,” Bayne said. “You get wrapped up sometimes and go through the motions, but when you have to sit there for four or five weeks and watch races you realize how cool it is that you get to be the one driving.”

“I am actually in a sense thankful for this eye opener.”

While Bayne has indeed been cleared to return to the track, Busch on the other hand has not been cleared of his charges, with a court date instead of a return to the track date in his future.

“I leave that to the court system,” Busch said. “This matter will be handled through that as best we can handle it and as best the authorities decide to handle it.”

Ironically, the young driver Bayne, who has spent so much time recently away from the sport he loves, had this sage advice to share with the more veteran driver Busch.

“We all need to be responsible and I think we are all young or whatever,” Bayne said. “Hopefully I learn from everybody else and don’t do anything like that.”

“I am blessed and happy to be a race car driver.”

Bayne will be on hand at Charlotte to cheer his good friend and teammate Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who will not only substitute for Bayne in the Coca Cola 600 but also make his own Cup debut. Stenhouse Jr. qualified the No. 21 race car in on time and will start in the ninth position.

“I think he will do a great job in the Cup car,” Bayne said. “I told him to just enjoy it a little bit and not stress out too much about it.”

Busch will also be busy during the Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He will be running the Top Gear 300 Nationwide race as well as the Coca Cola 600 Cup race.

May 26, 2011
Monster Crash in Dover Nationwide Race Leaves Carl Edwards as Survivor in Victory Lane

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

May 14, 2011
Mark Martin Lucky in Vegas While Danica Patrick Makes History

Mark Martin, driving the No. 32 Dollar General for Turner Motorsports for the first time, not only was lucky with his fuel mileage but also took advantage of the bad luck of Brad Keselowski to win the 15th Annual Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”239″][/media-credit]This was Martin’s 49th Nationwide win Series win, making him the seventh oldest driver to win a Nationwide race.

“We only had one chance to win the race and that was to win it on fuel,” Martin said in the media center after celebrating his win in Victory Lane. “When I caught Brad, I realized that it was going to take all the gas I had to get past him.”

“Trent (Owens) gave me great information,” Martin said of his crew chief, who scored his first win ever. “I managed to back off the throttle and wait to see if Brad (Keselowski) would make it or not.”

“It worked out for us today,” Martin continued. “It was a great team effort. Turner Motorsports is doing such good work and I wanted to get in there and be a part of it.”

“It was a real special win for us,” Martin said. “We got us another trophy and that’s all I care about.”

Martin’s Turner Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier also had good luck in Vegas, scoring a second place win in the No. 31. This was Allgaier’s third top-10 finish in three races at Las Vegas and his second top-10 finish in 2011.

“This was a really good finish for us because we battled through a lot of adversity,” Allgaier said. “To be able to come out of here one, two and to be able to be beat by Mark Martin, as much as I wanted to win the race there is only one person in the garage that I’d rather have beat me and it would be Mark.”

“Mark is really cool.”

While luck was on the side of Martin and Allgaier, Brad Keselowski had some of the worst luck of the Vegas Nationwide race weekend. According to Keselowski, the weekend started bad and ended even worse.

“We started off this weekend and we were atrociously bad,” Keselowski said. “My team worked all weekend long and found speed in my car.”

“From there we used great strategy and smarts to get in position to win the race,” Keselowski said. “I was trying to conserve my stuff and felt we had it, but obviously didn’t.”

“I just ran over something because it went down pretty quick,” Keselowski said of his blown tire. “It was just one of those days where you do everything right and don’t win. That’s why they call it racing.”

“I just feel bad for my guys,” Keselowski continued. “We’ve had three great cars in the last three races and something has happened. It just has to come back around. We’re on the down side of the roller coaster and I’m ready for it to come back up.”

While Martin took the checkered flag, Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 7 GoDaddy.com for JR Motorsports crossed the finish line in the fourth position, making her own brand of history as the highest finishing female ever in a NASCAR national series. With Patrick’s fourth place finish, she topped the record of Sara Christian, who finished fifth in 1949.

“I guess that’s something I don’t think about,” Patrick said when asked about her history-making run. “I don’t think about trying to be the highest finishing female. I just think about trying to win the race.”

“It was a good day,” Patrick, running in just her 16th race, said. “We just had a good car. I knew it from the beginning of the race.”

“We worked so hard on the car this weekend and we did have a lot of practice time, which was good,” Patrick said. “I missed those lucky dogs like three more times and we finally got it.”

“It allowed me to be consistent at the end, cautious and not over drive,” Patrick said. “It was a good day for GoDaddy and JR Motorsports.”

Trevor Bayne, the Daytona 500 winner, rounded out the top five for the Sam’s Town 300. After a fairly chaotic run last weekend at Phoenix, Bayne felt most fortunate to have been so close to the front of the field.

“It was cool to get a top-five out of that,” Bayne said. “You take them how you get them.”

“It is awesome for these guys to get a top-five and we probably didn’t deserve it,” Bayne continued. “But we saved gas and put ourselves in that position. I can’t wait to watch the tape on this one.”

Carl Edwards, who had been so dominant in the early part of the race, finished in the sixth position. Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Jason Leffler and Kenny Wallace rounded out the top ten.

Reed Sorenson maintains the Nationwide Series points lead, with Ricky Stenhouse and Jason Leffler following closely behind in second and third respectively. Danica Patrick and Justin Allgaier round out the top five in the point standings.

Unofficial Race Results
Sam’s Town 300, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 5, 2011 – Race 3 of 34

Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status

1 – 32 Mark Martin Chevrolet 0 0 200 Running

2 – 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 42 0 200 Running

3 – 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0 0 200 Running

4 – 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 40 0 200 Running

5 – 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 39 0 200 Running

6 – 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0 0 200 Running

7 – 20 Denny Hamlin Toyota 0 0 200 Running

8 – 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 36 0 200 Running

9 – 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 35 0 200 Running

10 – 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 34 0 200 Running

11 – 30 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 33 0 200 Running

12 – 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 32 0 200 Running

13 – 62 Michael Annett Toyota 31 0 200 Running

14 – 11 Brian Scott Toyota 30 0 200 Running

15 – 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 29 0 198 Running

16 – 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 28 0 198 Running

17 – 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 27 0 197 Running

18 – 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 26 0 196 Running

19 – 99 Ryan Truex * Toyota 25 0 195 Running

20 – 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 24 0 194 Running

21 – 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 23 0 193 Running

22 – 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Dodge 22 0 193 Running

23 – 97 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 21 0 193 Running

24 – 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 20 0 193 Running

25 – 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 19 0 190 Running

26 – 81 Donnie Neuenberger Dodge 18 0 189 Running

27 – 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 17 0 181 In Pit

28 – 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0 0 168 Running

29 – 70 Shelby Howard Chevrolet 15 0 165 Running

30 – 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0 0 130 In Pit

31 – 79 Jennifer Jo Cobb * Ford 13 0 127 Running

32 – 141 Carl Long Ford 12 0 83 In Pit

33 – 40 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 11 0 72 Out

34 – 27 J.J. Yeley Ford 0 0 25 Out

35 – 25 Kelly Bires Ford 9 0 14 In Pit

36 – 55 Brett Rowe Chevrolet 8 0 12 In Pit

37 – 24 Kevin Lepage Ford 7 0 11 In Pit

38 – 39 Josh Wise Ford 6 0 10 In Pit

39 – 52 Daryl Harr Chevrolet 0 0 8 In Pit

40 – 103 Charles Lewandoski * Dodge 4 0 6 In Pit

41 – 168 Tim Andrews Ford 0 0 4 In Pit

42 – 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 2 0 2 In Pit

43 – 87 Kevin Conway Chevrolet 0 0 2 In Pit

March 5, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Unofficial Race Results

DRIVE4COPD 300, Daytona Int’l Speedway

February 19, 2011 – Race 1 of 34

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

February 19, 2011