Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Ryan Blaney

  • Ryan Blaney Survives Restart Mayhem to Score Second Career Truck Win at Pocono

    Ryan Blaney Survives Restart Mayhem to Score Second Career Truck Win at Pocono

    After two green-white-checkered restarts, rookie Ryan Blaney emerged victorious through the mayhem to score his second career NASCAR Camping World Truck victory in the 4th Annual Pocono Mountains 125.

    This was the first victory of the 2013 season for the nineteen year old driver of the No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford for Brad Keselowski Racing. This was also Blaney’s first win at the ‘Tricky Triangle.’

    “We were good all day,” Blaney said. “We started up toward the front and I was able to get the lead pretty early.”

    “We lost some on the pit stop but restarts were the only time you could make something happen,” Blaney continued. “Luckily, we were able to get some good restarts and get the lead.”

    “Overall a good day and a good turning point for this team.”

    Blaney also credited Ford motors for his trip to Victory Lane.

    “These Ford motors really gave us the pull we needed on restarts and that’s what it came down to,” Blaney said. “The leader is a sitting duck but I was fortunate enough to get a good restart at the end.”

    “This is cool and a lot of fun.”

    Although Blaney had not yet heard from team owner Brad Keselowski, who was en route to race in the Nationwide event at Iowa, he had heard from his dad Dave Blaney, both before and after the race.

    “I’ve been really lucky to have my dad at both of my truck wins,” Blaney said. “Having him give me advice, especially on restarts, I’ve been really fortunate.”

    “We actually talked about restarts and choosing the right lines,” Blaney continued. “That was pretty funny that that’s what it came down to.”

    “Very few dads can do that.”

    Doug Randolph, young Blaney’s crew chief, also has history with Dave Blaney, having started his crew chief career with the veteran driver.

    “My first crew chiefing job was with his dad so it’s come full circle for me,” Randolph said. “I have kids Ryan’s age myself so it’s been really fun.”

    “He will go a long way.”

    “Ryan did a great job and we did have a pretty good piece,” Randolph continued. “He does a great job when we have adversity and a great job keeping his composure.”

    “The restarts are always very hairy and the two Truck races he has won had multiple restarts.”

    “It’s a great day for everybody at BKR and Ford,” Randolph said. “To get this win, we hope this just starts the momentum rolling our way.”

    Miguel Paludo, driver of the No.32 AccuDoc Chevrolet, scored his career best finish in second place. This was his first top-10 finish in three races at Pocono Raceway and his seventh top-10 finish in 2013.

    “It was a really solid day for us starting yesterday,” Paludo said. “We were fastest in practice and started on the pole.”

    “I made a mistake choosing the outside for the start of the race and lost the lead,” Paludo continued. “And from that time on, I was just trying to get the lead back.”

    “By lap 42, I was getting closer and then we had the caution,” Paludo said. “And from that time on, it was just wild restarts trying to be aggressive but not put myself in a bad position.”

    “But it’s so hard here because of the long straightaway,” Paludo continued. “Even if you don’t have a good start, you have time to get to the guy in front of you.”

    “So, I think it’s a really good day for us,” Paludo said. “We had the fastest truck all day long.”

    “It’s a little frustrating to come second but I’ll take it.”

    Another driver, rookie driver German Quiroga, behind the wheel of the No. 77 Otter Box Toyota also matched his best career finish with a third place run. This was also Quiroga’s first top-10 finish in his solo Pocono race.

    “I’m very happy,” Quiroga said. “This is our second third place.”

    “I want to thank Miguel because he helped me in one of the restarts,” Quiroga continued. “We started fourth and lost a couple of positions.”

    “But then we came back and I’m very proud and happy about that,” Quiroga said. “We were very consistent and we were having fun.”

    “I love this track,” Quiroga continued. “It was my first time and I really, really like it.”

    “I like the Truck Series,” Quiroga said. “What else can I say?”

    “Hopefully I can bring that 77 truck to Victory Lane soon.”

    Joey Coulter, with his new No. 18 Fox Sports 1 Toyota Tundra, finished fourth and Ross Chastain, behind the wheel of the No. 2 Watermelon.org Ford, rounded out the top five.

    “It was just wild,” Coulter said. “That’s the fun part about Pocono.”

    “It turned out to be a pretty good day for us.”

    The race was not without controversy. Veteran Todd Bodine, driving the No. 30 Team Fox/Whelen Chevrolet, was not happy when the caution flew, taking away his lead and relegating him to an 11th place finish after spinning on one of the green-white-checkered restarts.

    Other unhappiness broke out between Ty Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Bass PRO Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet, and Johnny Sauter, behind the wheel of the No. 98 Carolina Nut Co. Curb Records Toyota, who tangled with one another in the melee.

    Matt Crafton not only maintained the points lead, currently at 52 points ahead of Jeb Burton, but he also continued his streak of top-10s. The driver of the No. 88 Rip-It/Menards Toyota finished in the eighth position.

  • Crunching The Numbers: Pocono & Iowa

    After a weekend of racing at the Brickyard for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series and a Wednesday night of dirt racing at Eldora for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, all three series head off to new destinations this week with the Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series heading to Pocono and the Nationwide Series heading back to Iowa Speedway for the second time this season.

    NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway

    From the rectangular shaped Indianapolis Motor Speedway last weekend to the triangular shaped Pocono Raceway this weekend, this section of the Sprint Cup Series schedule takes the drivers to tracks that are anything but your run-of-the-mill oval. Especially Pocono, with its three distinct turns all based off of turns from three different tracks. Turn 1 is based off of Trenton Speedway, Turn 2 is based off of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Turn 3 is based off of The Milwaukee Mile. Many say that drivers who run well at Indianapolis tend to run well at Pocono, so at the end of 400 miles on Sunday, we’ll see if that holds true.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Jimmie Johnson 23 3 10 16 2 690 9.0 8.7
    Jeff Gordon 41 6 18 28 2 965 11.4 10.2
    Denny Hamlin 15 4 8 10 2 663 6.3 10.5
    Tony Stewart 29 2 12 21 2 156 12.7 11.0
    Mark Martin 53 0 20 34 3 448 9.4 11.2
    Ryan Newman 23 1 8 11 2 182 10.3 12.0
    Carl Edwards 17 2 5 8 0 221 18.0 13.5
    Kevin Harvick 25 0 5 9 0 5 19.2 13.9
    Matt Kenseth 27 0 3 10 0 54 18.0 14.7
    Brad Keselowski 7 1 2 2 0 31 18.1 14.7

    Who To Watch: Five-time champion Jimmie Johnson seems to be having another one of those championship caliber seasons this year with his 75 point advantage heading into this weekend, so it’s no surprise that he leads all active drivers at Pocono. In 23 starts, Johnson has three wins, 10 top fives, 16 top tens, two poles, 690 laps led, and an average finish of 8.7. Let’s not forget just how dominant Johnson was during his June Pocono win. If anyone is going to win this race, Johnson will be the man to beat.

    Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, also has an impressive career at Pocono with six wins, 18 top fives, 28 top tens, two poles, 965 laps led, and an average finish of 10.2 in 41 starts.

    Others who run well at Pocono include: Denny Hamlin, with four wins, eight top fives, 10 top tens, two poles, 663 laps led, and an average finish of 10.5 in 15 starts; Tony Stewart, with two wins, 12 top fives, 21 top tens, two poles, 156 laps led, and an average finish of 11.0 in 29 starts; Mark Martin, with 20 top fives, 34 top tens, three poles, 448 laps led, and an average finish of 11.2 in 53 starts; and winner of last weekend’s race at Indianapolis, Ryan Newman, with one win, eight top fives, 11 top tens, two poles, 182 laps led, and an average finish of 12.0 in 23 starts.

    NASCAR Nationwide Series – U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa

    For the second time this season the Nationwide Series heads to Iowa Speedway for a standalone event on the short track. With the Sprint Cup Series in Pocono for the weekend, the Nationwide regulars will practically have the track to themselves, except for a Cup regular or two that will be making the double duty trip down to Iowa.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Brad Keselowski 3 1 3 3 0 151 8.3 2.7
    Elliott Sadler 5 1 5 5 3 100 3.2 2.8
    Kyle Larson 1 0 1 1 0 0 10.0 5.0
    Regan Smith 1 0 0 1 0 0 5.0 7.0
    Sam Hornish Jr. 4 0 2 2 0 91 3.5 10.8
    Justin Allgaier 7 0 1 5 0 150 6.6 10.9
    Parker Kligerman 2 0 0 1 0 0 11.0 11.0
    Austin Dillon 5 0 2 3 1 260 5.8 11.8
    Michael Annett 7 0 1 2 0 6 20.3 13.0
    Cole Whitt 3 0 0 1 0 4 14.3 14.0

    Who To Watch: As the only Cup regular in the field, Brad Keselowski also boasts the best statistics in the Nationwide Series at Iowa. In three starts, Keselowski has one win, three top fives, three top tens, 151 laps led, and an average start of 2.7. The No. 22 car that Keselowski will be driving has won three times previously this season, so Keselowski should be strong on Saturday night once again.

    Elliott Sadler is the top Nationwide regular at Iowa with one win, five top fives, five top tens, three poles, 100 laps led, and an average finish of 2.8 in five starts.

    Others who run well at Iowa include: Rookie Kyle Larson, who finished fifth in his lone start this season; Regan Smith, who had a top ten of his own earlier this season at Iowa with a seventh place finish; Austin Dillon, who was well on his way to a victory in the first race at Iowa this year before fading late, and has two top fives, three top tens, one pole, 260 laps led, and an average finish of 11.8 in five starts; Trevor Bayne will also be strong as he won the first race at the track this year by overtaking Dillon late in the race.

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – Pennsylvania Mountains 125 at Pocono

    After a historic night of dirt racing last Wednesday night at Eldora, the Camping World Truck Series heads back to the pavement to take on the Tricky Triangle at Pocono. The Trucks have only been racing at Pocono for the last three seasons as a companion to the second Cup Series date at the track. There will be no Cup regulars racing this weekend, so who wins this race is pretty much up in the air as to who can get the job done on Saturday.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Joey Coulter 2 1 1 2 0 7 8.0 2.5
    Matt Crafton 3 0 2 3 0 0 13.3 5.0
    James Buescher 3 0 2 2 0 6 7.3 5.3
    Ty Dillon 1 0 0 1 0 0 2.0 6.0
    John Wes Townley 1 0 0 1 0 0 11.0 8.0
    Ross Chastain 1 0 0 1 0 0 20.0 10.0
    Timothy Peters 3 0 0 2 0 2 10.7 13.3
    Johnny Sauter 3 0 1 1 0 0 13.7 15.0
    Miguel Paludo 2 0 0 0 0 0 8.5 16.0
    Ron Hornaday Jr. 3 0 0 1 0 0 8.3 19.0

    Who To Watch: Since the Truck Series has only run at Pocono for a few years now, the only winner at Pocono in the field is Joey Coulter, who has the one win, one top five, two top tens, seven laps led, and an average finish of 2.5 in two starts.

    Others who have raced at Pocono previously and run well there include: Series points leader, Matt Crafton, who has two top fives, three top tens, and an average finish of 5.0 in three starts; 2012 champion James Buescher, with two top fives, two top tens, six laps led, and an average finish of 5.3 in three starts; and Ty Dillon, with a sixth place finish in his first start at the track last year.

    Any conversation on who is likely to win a Truck Series race this season also has to include the rookies in the series who have been running strong all season long . So, Jeb Burton, Darrell Wallace Jr., and Ryan Blaney could find themselves in Victory Lane this weekend as well.

  • Crunching The Numbers: New Hampshire & Iowa

    Crunching The Numbers: New Hampshire & Iowa

    After celebrating the Fourth of July weekend on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway, the three national NASCAR series head to short, flat tracks in separate parts of the country this weekend. New Hampshire Motor Speedway will host the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series, while the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Iowa for a standalone weekend of their own.

    NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire

    For the first time this season, the Sprint Cup Series makes its way to the flat one mile oval in Loudon, N.H., the eighth of eight tracks that the series has already visited this year that will also be in the Chase for the Sprint Cup that starts in September. Drivers that have won the July race here have gone on to win the championship four times, with success in this race carrying over to the track’s Chase date in September. The track has also featured 10 different winners since 2008, so will we finally see a repeat winner or will this mark 11 different winners?

    Driver Races Wins Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Denny Hamlin 14 2 7 10 0 417 13.6 7.9
    Jimmie Johnson 22 3 8 15 0 321 11.1 9.5
    Jeff Gordon 36 3 16 21 4 1316 9.9 10.5
    Tony Stewart 28 3 14 17 1 1218 11.2 11.4
    Ryan Newman 22 3 6 15 6 720 8.0 12.7
    Kevin Harvick 24 1 5 12 1 319 14.1 13.7
    Jeff Burton 36 4 8 13 0 783 19.4 13.8
    Matt Kenseth 26 0 5 12 0 89 21.1 14.0
    Brad Keselowski 7 0 2 4 1 10 15.6 14.0
    Carl Edwards 17 0 2 3 0 70 15.2 14.5

    Who To Watch: As he mounts what may be his last stand to make the Chase, and his Chase hopes rapidly dwindling thanks to some unfortunate circumstances that have befallen him this season, Denny Hamlin has to be happy to be heading to a track where he tops the list statistically. Hamlin’s New Hampshire career has featured two wins, seven top fives, 10 top tens, 417 laps led, and an average finish of 7.9 in 14 races. Hamlin is also coming off of a stellar 2012 campaign at the track with a second place finish in the July race and a win in the September race.

    Winner of last weekend’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona and four-time winner on the season, Jimmie Johnson, comes in just behind Hamlin with three wins, eight top fives, 15 top tens, 321 laps led, and an average finish of 9.5 in 22 starts.

    Others who run well in the Granite State include: Jeff Gordon, with three wins, 16 top fives, 21 top tens, four poles, 1316 laps led, and an average finish of 10.5 in 36 starts; Tony Stewart, with three wins, 14 top fives, 17 top tens, one pole, 1218 laps led, and an average finish of 11.4 in 28 starts; Ryan Newman, with three wins, six top fives, 15 top tens, six poles, 720 laps led, and an average finish of 12.7 in 22 starts; and Kevin Harvick, who has one win, five top fives, 12 top tens, one pole, 319 laps led, and an average finish of 13.7 in 24 starts.

    Matt Kenseth, who is tied with Jimmie Johnson for most wins on the year, doesn’t have a stellar career at New Hampshire (0 wins, five top fives, 12 top tens, 89 laps led, and 14.0 average finish in 26 starts), but with the success that he has had in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Kenseth would be another to keep an eye on this weekend.

    NASCAR Nationwide Series – CNBC Prime’s “The Profit” 200 at New Hampshire

    As the Nationwide Series heads to New Hampshire to share in the companion weekend with the Sprint Cup Series, we have a couple of storylines that will be playing out this weekend. First, New Hampshire marks the second leg of the Nationwide Insurance “Dash 4 Cash”, in which the highest finisher out of eligible drivers will be able to win a $100,000 bonus. The eligible drivers for this weekend are Daytona “Dash 4 Cash” bonus winner Elliott Sadler, Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson, and Sam Hornish, Jr. The other storyline will be the Cup regulars who will be running on Saturday and when looking at the statistics for this track are evenly distributed among the Nationwide regulars. As is the case anytime there is a Sprint Cup/Nationwide companion weekend, it is the battle between the Cup regulars and the Nationwide regulars, who will come out on top this week?

    Driver Races Wins Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Sam Hornish, Jr. 1 0 1 1 0 0 6.0 4.0
    Kasey Kahne 5 0 2 4 0 53 9.6 6.8
    Brian Vickers 2 0 1 1 0 0 7.0 8.0
    Trevor Bayne 2 0 1 1 0 58 12.5 9.0
    Justin Allgaier 4 0 0 3 0 0 9.8 9.2
    Kyle Busch 7 3 4 4 1 273 5.4 10.7
    Matt Kenseth 7 1 3 5 0 55 17.9 11.4
    Joey Logano 3 0 2 2 1 111 3.7 11.7
    Reed Sorenson 5 0 0 2 0 0 10.8 12.6
    Austin Dillon 2 0 1 1 0 1 10.0 14.0

    Who To Watch: Currently sitting second in points, Sam Hornish, Jr., is tops statistically at New Hampshire with a sixth place start and a fourth place finish in his lone start at the track last year.

    Cup regular Kasey Kahne comes in right behind Hornish with two top fives, four top tens, 53 laps led, and an average finish of 6.8 in five starts. Nationwide regulars Brian Vickers, Trevor Bayne, and Justin Allgaier are next with average finishes of 8.0, 9.0, and 9.2 respectively.

    Cup regulars and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, are the only two in the top ten statistically at New Hampshire with a win. Busch has three wins, four top fives, four top tens, one pole, 273 laps led, and an average finish of 10.7 in seven starts. Kenseth, winner of last weekend’s race at Daytona, has one win, three top fives, five top tens, 55 laps led, and an average finish of 11.4 in seven starts

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – American Ethanol 200 at Iowa

    While the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series are enjoying New England this weekend, the young guns of the Camping World Truck Series will be in America’s Heartland taking on Iowa Speedway in a Saturday night showdown that is sure to be full of great racing, as the racing always is at this short track.

    Driver Races Wins Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Ryan Blaney 1 1 1 1 0 50 2.0 1.0
    Johnny Sauter 5 0 5 5 0 24 5.2 3.8
    Matt Crafton 5 1 3 5 0 56 8.6 4.4
    Ty Dillon 2 0 1 2 0 0 12.0 4.5
    Joey Coulter 3 0 1 2 0 0 9.3 8.7
    Miguel Paludo 3 0 0 1 0 0 10.0 12.7
    Timothy Peters 5 1 1 2 1 87 7.0 13.2
    Ross Chastain 2 0 0 0 0 0 21.0 13.5
    James Buescher 5 0 1 2 0 98 10.2 14.6
    Brendan Gaughan 1 0 0 0 0 0 19.0 16.0

    Who To Watch: Ryan Blaney surprised everyone last year at Iowa Speedway when he became the youngest winner in series history in only his third career start. Blaney, who now has a full time ride with Brad Keselowski Racing could very well make it two in a row this weekend and give Ford their first win of the season and first win since pulling factory support from the series some years back.

    Others who run well at Iowa are Johnny Sauter, with five top fives, five top tens, 24 laps led, and an average finish of 3.8 in five starts; Matt Crafton, with one win, three top fives, five top tens, 56 laps led and an average finish of 4.4 in five starts; Ty Dillon, with one top five, two top tens, and an average finish of 4.5 in two starts; and Joey Coulter, with one top five, two top tens, and an average finish of 8.7 in three starts.

    Of course, the rookies of the series Jeb Burton, Darrell Wallace, Jr., and Chase Elliott will be strong this weekend, as they have been all season long.

  • Crunching The Numbers: Pocono/Iowa/Texas

    Crunching The Numbers: Pocono/Iowa/Texas

    After last weekend’s triple-header at Dover International Speedway, the three national series go their separate ways this weekend with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series headlining at Pocono Raceway, the NASCAR Nationwide Series heading to the Midwest for a Saturday night showdown at Iowa Speedway, and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series kicking off the weekend in the Lone Star State with their race on Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. This marks the one and only time during the season that all three series are at three different tracks in three different states in one weekend.

    Sprint Cup Series – Party In The Poconos 400 Presented By Walmart

    The Sprint Cup Series makes its first of two trips to Pocono Raceway this weekend to take on one of the most unique tracks on the circuit. With only three turns instead of the usual four and all three of varying banking (14 degrees in Turn 1, 8 degrees in Turn 2, and 6 degrees in Turn 3), this 2.5 mile track is one of the hardest to perfect a setup for and several of the top drivers in the series have yet to master the “Tricky Triangle”.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Jimmie Johnson 22 2 9 15 2 562 9.3 9.0
    Jeff Gordon 40 6 18 28 2 965 11.4 10.2
    Denny Hamlin 14 4 8 9 2 663 5.6 10.7
    Mark Martin 52 0 20 34 3 448 9.3 11.1
    Tony Stewart 28 2 11 20 2 156 12.4 11.3
    Ryan Newman 22 1 7 10 2 163 9.8 12.4
    Carl Edwards 16 2 5 8 0 212 19.0 13.2
    Kevin Harvick 24 0 5 8 0 5 19.8 14.1
    Matt Kenseth 26 0 3 10 0 54 18.5 14.3
    Brad Keselowski 6 1 2 2 0 27 19.5 14.5

    Who To Watch: No surprise with who’s on top of the list this week. Five-time champion Jimmie Johnson heads up the list with the best stats at Pocono with two wins, nine top fives, 15 top tens, two poles, 562 laps led and an average finish of 9.0 in 22 starts.

    While Johnson has the best overall stats, the most wins goes to his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, who has six wins, 18 top fives, 28 top tens, two poles, 965 laps led and an average finish of 10.2 in 40 starts. Two of Gordon’s six wins have come in the last four races at the track, and Gordon is the most recent Pocono winner with his win in the rain shortened event last August.

    Many drivers don’t get their first win at a tricky track like Pocono, but Denny Hamlin did just that, sweeping both Pocono races in his rookie season of 2006 and adding two more wins since then to give him a total of four wins, eight top fives, nine top tens, two poles, 663 laps led, and an average finish of 10.7 in 14 races.

    Others to keep an eye on include: Mark Martin, who nearly won this race one year ago before fading late, with 20 top fives, 34 top tens, three poles, 448 laps led, and an average finish of 11.1 in 52 starts; and Tony Stewart, winner of last week’s race at Dover, who has two wins, 11 top fives, 20 top tens, two poles, 156 laps led, and an average finish of 11.3 in 28 starts.

    Nationwide Series – DuPont Pioneer 250 at Iowa

    With only one Sprint Cup Series regular scheduled to make the trip to Iowa from Pocono this weekend, this race will truly be a showcase of the Nationwide Series regulars in what is sure to be great racing at the .875 mile short track in Iowa. Several of the Nationwide regulars have never turned a lap at this track and who comes out on top after 250 miles is anyone’s guess.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Elliott Sadler 4 1 4 4 3 100 2.2 2.8
    Parker Kligerman 1 0 0 1 0 0 10.0 8.0
    Michael Annett 6 0 1 2 0 4 20.7 10.2
    Kenny Wallace 4 0 0 3 0 0 20.2 10.2
    Justin Allgaier 6 0 1 4 0 150 5.8 11.3
    Cole Whitt 2 0 0 1 0 4 12.0 13.0
    Sam Hornish, Jr. 3 0 1 1 0 69 4.0 13.0
    Austin Dillon 4 0 1 2 0 53 7.0 14.2
    Reed Sorenson 3 0 1 2 0 77 16.0 15.3
    Mike Bliss 6 0 0 0 0 3 19.2 17.0

    Who To Watch: As the only driver who will be racing on Saturday that has a win at Iowa, Elliott Sadler comes in far ahead of the other drivers in the field with his one win, four top fives, four top tens, three poles, 100 laps led, and an average finish of 2.8 in four starts.

    Others to keep an eye on that have raced at Iowa before include: Parker Kligerman, Michael Annett, Kenny Wallace, Justin Allgaier, Cole Whitt, Sam Hornish Jr., and Austin Dillon. All of these drivers have average finishes of 14.2 or better.

    While drivers like Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, and points leader Regan Smith have never raced at Iowa, look for these drivers to also be in the running for the win on Saturday night.

    Camping World Truck Series – Winstar World Casino 400 at Texas

    With the Camping World Truck Series race at Texas also being a standalone event, there will be no Sprint Cup regulars making the trip down for Friday night’s race. This means we will get to see a great battle between those that have been in the Truck Series for years and with the young guns that have infiltrated the series this year. Just as we saw a couple of weeks ago at Charlotte, this race should be more of the same with two and three wide racing throughout the field for the entirety of the event.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Ty Dillon 3 0 2 3 0 23 6.7 5.0
    Joey Coulter 4 0 2 4 0 9 8.0 5.2
    Johnny Sauter 9 2 4 7 1 213 11.8 6.4
    Todd Bodine 17 6 10 11 1 329 11.3 9.7
    Matt Crafton 24 0 6 13 2 42 15.6 11.0
    James Buescher 8 0 0 3 2 129 7.8 12.6
    Ron Hornaday, Jr. 20 3 6 11 0 681 9.2 12.9
    Brendan Gaughan 17 4 7 7 0 163 17.4 13.6
    David Starr 29 0 7 11 0 20 14.1 14.3
    Timothy Peters 10 0 0 2 0 1 16.4 15.4

    Who To Watch: As Truck Series mainstays, drivers to watch at Texas include: Ty Dillon, with two top fives, three top tens, and an average finish of 5.0 in three starts; Joey Coulter, with two top fives, four top tens, and an average finish of 5.2 in four starts; Johnny Sauter, with two wins, four top fives, seven top tens, one pole, 213 laps led, and an average finish of 6.4 in nine starts; and Todd Bodine, with six wins, 10 top fives, 11 top tens, one pole, 329 laps led, and an average finish of 9.7 in 17 starts.

    While the mainstays will have a leg up in Texas, the young guns of the series can’t be overlooked. Drivers who have shown they have real potential in this sport that are making noise in the Truck Series including Darrell Wallace, Jr., Jeb Burton, and Ryan Blaney. One of these rookies have a real shot at the win, especially with no Cup regulars in the field.

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Practice at Rockingham Speedway

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Practice at Rockingham Speedway

    Kyle Larson led the first practice session for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Rockingham Speedway with a top speed of 144.31. Ryan Blaney was a close second at 144.127. Ty Dillon, Timothy Peters and Ron Hornaday Jr. completed the top five.

    Larson will have to qualify his No. 30 Chevrolet on time tomorrow. Hornaday Jr. will also have to qualify on time in the No. 9 Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet.

    Joey Coulter, Max Gresham, Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter and Jeb Burton rounded out the top ten.

    Final practice was led by Chase Elliott. David Starr had the second best time followed by points leader Johnny Sauter in third place. Ryan Blaney and Matt Crafton were fourth and fifth respectively. Darrell Wallace Jr. was sixth in the afternoon session. Erik Jones, Jeb Burton, Kyle Larson and Todd Bodine completed practice in positions seven through ten.

    Sauter, who won the first two races of the season, will be going for a record three consecutive victories.

    “This is a great way to start the year off with two in a row and I couldn’t be prouder,” said Sauter.

    Burton claimed his first pole last week in Martinsville and captured a career best third place finish. He’s hoping to keep the momentum going with another single digit finish at The Rock.

    Qualifying will be held Sunday at 11:05 a.m. followed by the ‘North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at The Rock.’  Track president Andy Hillenburg will give the command, “Drivers, start your engines,” at 2:10 p.m. The green flag is set to drop at 2:18 p.m.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Kobalt Tools 500

    With NASCAR traveling to the ‘Valley of the Sun’ for the next to the last race of the season, it was no surprise that the reconfigured race track was soaked instead with liquid sunshine. Yet, the track dried, veteran racer Adrian Fernandez uttered the four most famous words in racing, and the green flag waved as scheduled.

    [media-credit id=40 align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 24th running of the Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

    Surprising:  While it was no surprise that PIR was new and improved, with brand new pavement as well as a new track layout, it was surprising to see the new faces that showed up in Victory Lane this weekend.

    From the Nationwide race with Sam Hornish Jr. scoring his first ever NASCAR win to young Ryan Blaney, son of Dave Blaney, notching the ‘W’ in the K&N Pro Series West finale, PIR definitely had some fresh-faced winners.

    But most surprising was Cup winner Kasey Kahne, scoring his first win since 2009, his first victory of the 2011 season, and his first victory ever at Phoenix International Raceway. Kahne’s victory came in his next to the last ride in his No. 4 Red Bull Toyota.

    “It feels great to get a win for Red Bull and get a win in the 4 car,” Kahne said. “To win a race at this level, as competitive as everything is right now, for myself, to see how happy all the pit crew guys were, the guys preparing the race cars at Red Bull, it was pretty cool.”

    “Makes you feel pretty good to be a part of that.”

    Not Surprising:  To no one’s surprise, Carl Edwards, behind the wheel of the No. 99 Aflac Ford, and his championship Chase nemesis Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, stalked each other all race long, finishing second and third respectively.

    And not surprisingly, thanks to that close finish, the championship will be decided at the final race of the season in Homestead, Florida. Edwards is currently just three points ahead of Smoke going into Ford Championship weekend, one of the closest margins between first and second in the Chase in NASCAR Sprint Cup history.

    “As far as I’m concerned, it’s a dead heat going in there,” Stewart said of the upcoming Homestead weekend. “We just got to do our job like we’ve been doing.”

    “I’m still pumped up,” Smoke continued. “I want to go to Homestead tomorrow and start. I want tomorrow to be Friday. I’m excited about it and ready to go.”

    “Yeah, Homestead is going to be a lot of fun,” Edwards said. “I really enjoy racing there.”

    “The cool thing about Homestead, you’re going to be able to move around, pass, and not get hung up as badly in traffic as you can at other racetracks,” Edwards continued. “I don’t think there’s a better place to go than Homestead to fight for this championship.”

    Surprising:  After Phoenix, with only those two drivers remaining in contention for the championship, it is indeed surprising that five-time champion Jimmie Johnson will not be six-time champ.

    Johnson, behind the wheel this weekend of a black No. 48 Lowe’s Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, finished 14th in the race and sits currently in the fifth position in points, 68 points out of first and officially out of contention.

    “Yeah, I’m definitely disappointed that we won’t be able to go to Homestead and race for our sixth, but that’s motorsports,” Johnson said. “It’s a very tough business.”

    “What we did over the last five years was absolutely spectacular,” Johnson continued. “What we did over the last five years is abnormal. Now we’ll get a taste of normalcy.”

    Also surprisingly, Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates, especially Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also had difficulty in the ‘Valley of the Sun.’ The driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet fared especially poorly, struggling with brake problems to finish 32nd.

    “We weren’t good when we got here,” Gordon said. “We were fighting and battling but then the brake problem happened and that pretty much ruined our day.”

    Dale Earnhardt, Jr., in the No. 88 Retro Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard, also struggled and finished 24th.

    “We pitted and got caught with the caution and lost a couple of laps and just never got a chance to get it back,” Junior said. “We missed it. We didn’t hit it.”

    Not Surprising:  As bad as Hendrick Motorsports team members fared, it was no surprise that the other half of the Stewart Haas Racing duo fared well. Ryan Newman, with his No. 39 US Army Veteran’s Day Tribute car covered with pictures of vets, finished top-five yet again.

    “The guys on the US Army Chevrolet, with the Veteran’s Day special paint scheme, that was an amazing comeback for us to come from 30th to fifth,” Newman said. “I’m really proud of that.”

    Surprising:  Although the two tangled at Martinsville, it was surprising to see the feud continue between Brian Vickers, soon to be out of work with his No. 83 Red Bull Toyota team exiting the sport next week, and Matt Kenseth, race pole sitter, who was looking for a good run in his No. 17 Crown Royal Ford.

    “My two year old could watch that and know it was intentional,” Kenseth said of his wreck with Vickers. “It was real pre-meditated.”

    “I don’t understand what happened,” Vickers said of his Kenseth encounter. “He just stopped on the straight-away.”

    “He wrecked me at Martinsville,” Vickers continued. “He got wrecked here. He just lifted halfway down the back stretch. I’ll count that one.”

    Kenseth finished a miserable34th, dropping two positions to sixth in the point standings. Vickers soldiered on for a 23rd place finish, languishing in the 25th position in the points.

    Not Surprising:  Having had the most miserable week leading up to the race, from being parked to losing his sponsor for the last two races, it was not surprising that Kyle Busch’s most miserable weekend continued.

    Busch had to start the race from the back of the field due to engine troubles caused by human error. He managed to work his way up through the pack, only to have the engine of his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota expire on Lap 214.

    “It’s just devastating,” Busch said. “To go through turmoil like this, all you can do is group together and pull through it and try to persevere and move on.”

    “Catastrophic engine failure,” Busch continued. “It’s terrible to have one in a weekend, let alone two in a weekend.”

    “It’s certainly a tough few weeks and all we can do is look forward to next week at Homestead.”

    Surprising:  It was surprising to see another crew swap during the race, this time for AJ Allmendinger, whose pit crew let him down during a stop, most likely costing the driver of the No. 43 Wix Filters Ford, a race win.

    Allmendinger’s crew was swapped out for the crew of David Ragan, another Ford driver who was not in the hunt, helping the Dinger to a top-five finish.

    “We were losing four or five spots on a stop,” Allmendinger said. “You can’t do that and win a race and those guys are pretty good.”

    “Thanks to the 6 guys, our Ford teammates coming over and pitting the last two stops,” Dinger said. “They did a good job.”

    Not Surprising:  To no one’s surprise, Allmendinger’s Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Marcos Ambrose also had a good run at PIR. The driver of the No. 9 DeWalt Ford finished a respectable eighth.

    “We had a good car today,” the Aussie said. “We were solid all day long. It bodes even better for the first half of next season.”

    Surprising:  Since Jeff Burton has had a fairly difficult 2011 season, it was a bit surprising to see the driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Global Mining Chevrolet end up with a fourth place finish. The top-five finishing driver hopes that the turnaround will continue right into the 2012 season.

    “The Caterpillar Chevrolet was good, really, all day,” Burton said. “When things are tough, you find out what people are made of. My group has just kept digging and kept their heads up.”

    “Nobody has quit on this team, not once,” Burton continued. “I’m real proud of that.”

    “We’ve run really well the last month and hopefully we will build some momentum going into next year.”

    Not Surprising:  With no ride secured for next year, it was not surprising to see David Reutimann, ousted driver of the No. 00 TUMS Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing, drive his guts out for a seventh place finish in the next to the last race of the season.

    “We qualified in the top-10 and we were able to stay up there all day long,” Rooty said. “I’m proud of the crew guys for the job they did today. They really stuck with me.”

    “This is a great group of guys, probably one of the best in the garage and they’ve been with me a long time,” Reutimann continued. “We have one more week together and I want to go out on a high note at Homestead.”

     

  • Dave Blaney’s Son Ryan Plans on Being NASCAR’s Next Generation Ambassador

    Dave Blaney’s Son Ryan Plans on Being NASCAR’s Next Generation Ambassador

    Ryan Blaney is not just NASCAR Cup driver Dave Blaney’s son. The seventeen year old up and coming driver hopes to be NASCAR’s ambassador to the next generation of stock car racing fans.

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Ryan Blaney Racing” align=”alignright” width=”216″][/media-credit]The young Blaney has gotten his career off to a pretty good start, scoring a second place finish in just his second ARCA start at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis this past weekend.

    Blaney, behind the wheel of the No. 15 Seal Wrap Chevrolet for Venturini Motorsports, was good as soon as he arrived at the track. He was also able to hold his own with some of the ARCA Series regulars, including Richard Childress talent and grandson Ty Dillon, who he battled for the win.

    “We were decent off the trailer,” Blaney said. “We qualified second into the race and in the early part of the race, I thought we had the best car.”

    “We would have had some rubbing going on for me to get by Ty,” Blaney said of his battle with eventual race winner, Ty Dillon. “So, I was happy to finish second and see that I can really run with those guys in the series.”

    “Overall it was a pretty good weekend for us.”

    Although still quite young, in fact so young that he cannot yet run many of the tracks on the ARCA Series schedule, Blaney has progressed steadily up the racing ranks. He started racing quarter midgets at the age of eight and then moved up to Bandeleros, Legends and Late Models.

    But this year, with his father’s advice and counsel, young Ryan decided to do something different and move to a heavier car in preparation for the next step in his career.

    “Me and my dad were talking and saying that we think it’s time to move up and try to get into heavier cars,” Blaney said. “He really wanted to prepare me.”

    “The worst thing that can happen is to jump in a car when you’re not ready and look bad,” Blaney continued. “We made sure that I had enough experience to really go out there and look good. I think we timed it just right.”

    “Next year I’m hoping to run a Truck and being full-time in a Truck would be awesome,” Blaney said. “If not, we will try some Truck and ARCA races to get as much experience as I can.

    “This is really what I want to do and what I have a passion for,” Blaney continued. “My dad has put so much time and money into me that I’d be disappointed in myself if I didn’t make it worth it.”

    “And I’m trying my very hardest to make it and pay him off some day.”

    Does the young driver feel pressure, especially in light of his father’s Cup career? Not on your life according to Ryan Blaney.

    “I don’t really feel pressure at all,” Blaney said. “If anything, it motivates me even more to be like him and actually try to be better than him.”

    “He’s never pushed me and he’s always making sure that I’m sure about it,” Blaney said. “I accept the challenge of trying to be like him and get where’s he’s at and what he’s accomplished.”

    Not only does Ryan Blaney strive to follow in his father’s footsteps, but he readily admits that his dad is indeed his racing hero.

    “He is my main racing hero,” Blaney said of his dad. “He grew up on dirt and that’s what he lived for over 30 years and made a career out of that.”

    “Then he jumped into NASCAR and had a career in that,” Blaney continued. “That’s what’s really special to me and impressive to me.”

    As proud as Ryan is of his dad, the feeling is more than reciprocated by his proud papa. But dad Dave said, with a chuckle, that his son probably said those things “because he’s scared of me.”

    “He’s been doing really well,” Dave Blaney said of son. “This year we’ve gotten him in a couple of K&N Series races and he ran well. And he’s run real well in his two ARCA starts.”

    “Ryan’s coming along real well,” Blaney continued. “He’s only seventeen years old so he’s got lots of time.”

    “He might actually be better than me now.”

    As much as he wants to follow in his dad’s tire tracks, Ryan Blaney has another real ambition of his own. He wants to also attract the next generation to the sport of NASCAR that he loves so much.

    “A lot of kids at school follow me and it’s cool how they’ve turned into race fans,” Blaney, who is going into his senior year in high school, said. “Last year, they didn’t know anything about racing and now they’re asking me how I did at the track.”

    “They even know more about my stats than I do,” Blaney continued. “It’s cool how I have friends that can relate to me and not talk just about football.”

    “I’m a seventeen year old that is trying to come up through the ranks,” Blaney said. “And I hope I am an ambassador for the next generation of NASCAR fans.”

  • ARCA Winchester News and Notes: Venturini Motorsports, Tom Hessert and More

    

    While the race was won by Dakoda Armstrong, a bunch of other drivers came home with solid finishes to be proud of.

    This year, Venturini Motorsports has made it a habit of finishing in the top 10 with a variety of drivers. The latest driver to add his name to the list is Ryan Blaney.

    Blaney drove the team’s No.25 Lauren Briant/Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet to a sixth place finish after suffering a flat right front tire on lap 162 in his ARCA debut.

    “We were trying to take it easy in the race, just trying to save our stuff,” Blaney said, after leading 154 of the first 161 laps. “I think if we could have had 10 more laps after we blew a tire, we could have passed Ty for the lead and then we would have been one lap down and got that caution and been in business. It just wasn’t meant to be.

    “I ran the same line I did 50 laps in a row. I was just taking it so easy, especially to help that right front and to keep it from doing what it did. I don’t know if our camber was off or what. But it was a great night. I’ve got to thank Venturini for letting me run this car and making it as good as it was. We’ll get ‘em next time.”

    The son of NASCAR veteran Dave Blaney is hoping that he can make some more starts this season.

    “It’s great to race in the ARCA (Racing) Series,” Blaney said. “There are really good guys racing, especially here, a place like Winchester.”

    Venturini Motorsports also debuted John Blankenship, who finished 10th in the No. 55 Chevrolet, meaning that so far this year Venturini has 11 top 10s with nine different drivers.

    Meanwhile, finishing fifth in front of Blaney was Tom Hessert, who was proud to impress numerous guests from Federated Auto Parts, who were on hand as the race’s sponsor.

    “The guys in the pits did a really good job of getting us back out,” he said. “We didn’t have the best car; we had a couple issues that were keeping us from being better, but it was a good top-five for the Federated car at a Federated race. It’s good to have a good showing for them. It’s too bad we couldn’t get a win, but in a couple weeks we’ll go to Berlin and we always run really well there.”

    For points leader Ty Dillon, it was also a solid day for him as he still finished fouth to pad his points lead despite bottoming out lap in the race.

    “It’s unfortunate,” Dillon said. “It doesn’t happen to us often, but it’s still a good points day. We qualified well and led a couple of laps. I’m happy. I just like winning, so it’s a little disappointing to lead laps there at the end of the race and fall off so bad. We saved our stuff all day and rode and were hoping for what happened to happen, for guys to wear their stuff out and us be patient as usual to let the race come to us, but something happened there and we just got too loose.”

    The next race for ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards is July 9th at Berlin Raceway.