Tag: Tony Stewart

Jimmie Johnson Masters the Monster Mile; Monster Wreck Dominates Opening Laps

[media-credit id=26 align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]Jimmie Johnson, complete with his Madagascar No. 48 car and wig, mastered the Monster Mile for the seventh time, tying Bobby Allison and the King, Richard Petty, for the most career wins at Dover International Speedway.

This was Johnson’s 57^th victory in 376 Cup races and his second victory in 2012.

“I’m just proud of this hair,” Johnson said, still rocking his Madagascar wig. “It brought some speed to the team.”

“It was just a fun day,” Johnson continued. “We had a fast car and amazing pit stops.”

“When you lead the most laps, sometimes it can backfire on a dominant car,” Johnson said. “It was a brand new race car so I’m just proud of the effort.”

“The car was really good,” Chad Knaus, Johnson’s crew chief, said. “Jimmie’s the man here.”

“He understands this race track and enjoys coming here,” Knaus continued. “We enjoy it as well.”

Kevin Harvick, in the No. 29 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, was not able to live up to his ‘Closer’ moniker, but did finish in the runner up spot, maintaining his seventh position in the point standings. This was Harvick’s 18^th top-10 finish at the Monster Mile.

“The 48 just had us covered today,” Harvick said. “But all in all our Jimmy John’s guys did a good job.”

“I made a mistake on pit road, but we had a car capable of making up positions and drive back through the pack,” Harvick continued. “We were able to keep up with the race track and that was the key to get in position to at least give ourselves a chance.”

“We had a solid race.”

The driver of the No. 17 Best Buy Ford, Matt Kenseth, came in third in the FedEx 400 Benefitting Autism Speaks. He remains second in the point standings, just one point behind his Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle.

“We honestly struggled,” Kenseth said of his race. “But I’m happy to come home third in a car that didn’t drive the way we wanted it.”

“I feel good about our points position obviously,” Kenseth continued. “But certainly, we know we have some work to do.”

“I don’t think anyone could run with the 48 so we have some work to do.”

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., behind the wheel of the No. 88 AMP Energy/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet, and Clint Bowyer, driving the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, rounded out the top five.

“We needed a little more grip in the front end,” Junior said. “We had a good car though.”

“We had a good run and a good points day,” Junior continued, moving up one spot to third in points, just ten back from the leader. “I want to congratulate Jimmie my teammate.”

“It was a solid weekend,” Bowyer said. “I had a tough day on pit road, but we could battle back on restarts.”

“I’m proud of the effort and MWR had good cars all weekend long.”

The race was marred by a monstrous crash early in the race, in fact on Lap 9, involving thirteen cars. This was the most cars in a wreck to date in the 2012 season.

Drivers from Regan Smith to Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Landon Cassill, to name a few, were involved in the melee, which brought out the red flag for 19 min 54 seconds.

“I actually didn’t even feel him (Tony Stewart) touch me,” Landon Cassill, driver of the No. 83 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota, said. Cassill’s car bore the brunt of the multiple-car pileup.

“I was just passed by the No. 1 (Jamie McMurray) and I was trying to dime in the corner a little bit more,” Cassill continued. “He (Stewart) was just barely there.”

“Tony is one of the most patient drivers and especially in this part of the race,” Cassill said. “It’s just too bad that it tore up that many race cars.”

Regan Smith, behind the wheel of the No. 78 Furniture Row/CSX Play It Safe Chevrolet, took responsibility for the wreck.

“I know I got in the back of the 14 and spun him,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of wrecked race cars here and none of us like that, especially on Lap 9.”

For Tony Stewart’s part, the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, said that it was a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

“As far back as we were, I didn’t have the luxury of being patient,” Smoke said. “It’s just a crappy weekend all around.”

The mile was monstrous for the Busch brothers, with Kurt Busch, in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet, having two pit road penalties and ultimately blowing his engine, and Kyle Busch having engine woes as well, which put him out of the race.

Kurt Busch, who had had an altercation with Sporting News reporter Bob Pockrass after the Nationwide race again displayed his anger and frustration, asking his team at one point, “Anybody want to drive?”

Kyle Busch, driving the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota, said that dropping a valve ended their day early in at the Monster Mile.

“It’s real unfortunate,” Busch said. “We had a good car, we were running up front there. We were biding our time trying to see if we couldn’t keep up with the race track.”

“I hate it that we give a post-race interview this way rather than finishing.”

‘Concrete Carl’ also had difficulties at the Monster Mile. Edwards, in his No. 99 Subway Ford, blew a tire and hit the wall hard on Lap 165.

“Our front right tire went flat,” Edwards said. “It is so frustrating to have that good of a car.”

“We will come back and get them in the fall.”

The race at the Monster Mile also sported several engine failures, including Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, David Reutimann and Jeff Burton. This was more engine failures at Dover than in the last three races combined.

“First of all we had a good car today,” Burton said of his No. 31 BB&T Chevrolet, which was running in the ninth position prior to the engine failure. “That’s the good thing.”

“We broke an engine here, but the monkey is on us right now and it will get off one day,” Burton continued. “I’ve never quit anything in my life and I’m not going to quit this.”

The Cup Series next moves from the Monster Mile to the recently repaved ‘Tricky Triangle’ at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, June 10^th.

Unofficial Race Results
FedEx 400, Dover International Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=13
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	2	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	48
2	6	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	42
3	5	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	42
4	17	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	41
5	4	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	39
6	12	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	38
7	18	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	37
8	11	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	36
9	13	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	35
10	21	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	34
11	7	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	33
12	16	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	32
13	14	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	32
14	1	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	31
15	3	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	29
16	23	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	28
17	20	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	27
18	10	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	27
19	24	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	25
20	22	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	24
21	28	34	David Ragan	Ford	24
22	15	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	22
23	42	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	21
24	9	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	20
25	29	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	19
26	19	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	18
27	26	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	17
28	31	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	16
29	8	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	15
30	38	32	Reed Sorenson	Ford	0
31	39	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	13
32	41	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	12
33	32	30	David Stremme	Toyota	11
34	34	249	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	10
35	37	33	Stephen Leicht *	Chevrolet	9
36	36	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	0
37	43	23	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	7
38	27	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	6
39	35	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
40	30	38	David Gilliland	Ford	4
41	40	13	Casey Mears	Ford	3
42	33	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	2
43	25	179	Scott Speed	Ford	1

June 3, 2012

Surprising and Not Surprising: Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]In the NASCAR season’s longest race of the year, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 53^rd running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Surprising: Although billed as the sport’s longest race, usually known for the endurance factor moving from day to night, this year’s Coke 600 was the quickest one ever.

The race took a total of 3 hours, 51 minutes and 14 seconds.

Prior to 53^rd running of the Coca Cola 600, the longest race was in 1995 at 3 hours, 56 minutes and 55 seconds.

Not Surprising: After finally scoring his 200^th win for the company that bears his name, Rick Hendrick’s prediction of more wins to follow came true. Kasey Kahne, in the No. 5 Quaker State Chevrolet, secured his first win as a Hendrick Motorsport’s driver, which came on his 300^th career start.

The win was also Kahne’s first win of the season. The 32 year old driver has now won in a Dodge, Ford, Toyota and now a Chevrolet.

“It’s been an exciting three weeks for Hendrick Motorsports,” Kahne said. “It’s exciting to be a part of that.”

“It’s so special and awesome to drive for Rick and Linda Hendrick,” Kahne continued. “For them to make me a part of their company; this is unbelievable to drive for Hendrick Motorsports and be a part of everything they do.”

Surprising: After winning last weekend’s Sprint All-Star Race, it was surprising to see Jimmie Johnson have a rare pit road miscue, especially since he was running the top-5 at that time. Johnson received a stop-and-go penalty for leaving his pits with both the gas man and the gas can on Lap 354.

“We had a couple little mistakes on pit road tonight,” Johnson said. “It happens.”

“Last week things couldn’t have gone any better and then this week we had a few little issues.”

Not Surprising: As he has been all season, it was not surprising that Greg Biffle, in his No. 16 Fastenal Ford, was a contender all race long. In fact, Biff received the 3M Lap Leader award, leading 204 laps.

Biffle maintains the points lead, ten points ahead of Matt Kenseth.

“The car was really, really good,” Biffle said. “But there at the end when the speeds picked up, we would kind of slide across the track.”

“We gained a little in points, but we really wanted to win.”

Surprising: After a most abysmal start to the season, it was surprising to see Jeff Gordon finally get a top ten finish under his belt. Gordon, behind the wheel of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, ran strong, finishing seventh.

“We had an awesome race car and we showed it right from the drop of the green,” Gordon said. “We drove up through there.”

“This is a great effort for this team,” Gordon continued. “I’m so proud of them.”

Not Surprising: HMS teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. continued his consistent streak, scoring his seventh top-10 in eight races.

“It just says we are consistent and we want to win a race,” Junior said. “That’s all I can tell you.”

“It feels good to be competitive,” Junior continued. “I don’t want to take our consistency for granted but we would like to improve just a little bit more and we’ll get some wins.”

Surprising: It was surprising how badly the Petty Motorsports drivers finished, especially after securing the pole and outside pole respectively.

Aric Almirola, who started on the pole with his famed No. 43 US Air Force Ford Fusion, finished 16th. Outside pole sitter Marcos Ambrose finished 32^nd in his No. 9 Dewalt Ford.

“When you start on the front row or the pole, you know you’ve got a fast car,” Almirola said. “So, this is tough.”

“But I can’t reiterate enough that we’re making improvement,” Almirola continued. “We see light at the end of the tunnel and that’s what it’s all about.”

“I’m proud of everybody at Richard Petty Motorsports.”

Not Surprising: Despite the naysayers, Danica Patrick achieved her goal of completing every lap of the race. The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet finished 30^th, five laps down.

“We had a lot of green-flag running and for me as a driver in general in NASCAR but especially as a new driver in the Cup Series, that hurts me,” Patrick said. “I’m just not great at making the best out of a car that’s not perfect and those runs really show that.”

“We brought the GoDaddy car home and one of the goals was to finish,” Patrick continued. “I would have liked to have been a little faster overall but I think there were some times in there when it was decent.”

Surprising: It was a bit surprising to see Ryan Newman outshine his boss at a track where Tony Stewart is traditionally strong. Newman, driving the No. 39 US Army Chevrolet, finished 14^th and his boss and team owner in his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet finished 25th .

Smoke was moving forward after adjusting on his car throughout the race only to have a tussle with Brad Keselowski on pit road. Stewart spun as a result of that contact and had to turn around to reach his pits, putting him two laps down.

Teammate Danica Patrick acknowledged that her mentor had a tough evening.

“Tony is a fantastic driver and if he had a tough day, that’s just the way the season goes,” Patrick said. “So this is NASCAR and sometimes you do and sometimes you don’t.”

Not Surprising: While he may not have totally lived up to his ‘Closer’ moniker, Kevin Harvick brought his No. 29 Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet home in eighth place.

“We had a solid night,” Harvick said. “We snuck up there in the top-five and got our bonus point for leading a lap.”

“The pit crew was awesome and we were able to adjust our car,” Harvick continued. “This isn’t our strongest race track, but I feel like we had a solid package to build on.”

Surprising: Young Landon Cassill, in his No. 83 Burger King Real Fruit Smoothies Toyota, had a great run in the prestigious Coca Cola 600, finishing 18^th. It was his team’s best finish of the season to date and the first time that the team started and finished inside the top-20.

“Last’ week’s performance at Charlotte was a real confidence booster for us,” Cassill said. “I feel like we’re getting stronger each week and it gets me excited as a driver.”

Not Surprising: Two of the principals of Joe Gibbs Racing had a good run as they usually do. Denny Hamlin, in the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, finished in the runner up spot and teammate Kyle Busch, in his No. 18 M&Ms Red White and Blue Toyota, finished right behind him in third.

“It’s also good to finish like that,” Busch said. “We just need to carry on that momentum.”

“This is a good race for us so we can bring back some good notes for when we come back in October.”

May 31, 2012
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte

[media-credit id=38 align=”alignright” width=”228″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jimmie Johnson: One week after winning the All-Star Race, Johnson saw a top-5 finish in the Coca Cola 600 slip away after he drug his gas man down pit road. The subsequent stop-and-go penalty left him with an 11^th-place finish.

“Usually,” Johnson said, “when someone gets taken for a ride, it’s NASCAR rules officials, and Chad Knaus is driving. This time, though, it was my fueler. And people thought I was ‘tanking’ in the All-Star Race.”

2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished second at Charlotte, posting his second runner-up result in the last three races. He is up one spot to third in the Sprint Cup point standings, 16 behind Greg Biffle.

“There was no catching Kasey Kahne,” Hamlin said. “He took off like a bat out of hell. At least that’s what Red Bull Racing said when Kahne’s obligations with them were up.

“Now he’s in the No. 5 car at Hendrick Motorsports. I expect him to be there a long time. Only a fool would give up that ride. And I know fools. In fact, I work with one.”

3. Greg Biffle: Biffle led 204 of 400 laps in the Coca Cola 600, but slowed late as track conditions cooled and Kasey Kahne took over the race. Biffle still finished fourth, his seventh top 5 of the year, and remained atop the point standings with a 10-point lead over Matt Kenseth.

“I’ve held the lead in the point standings for months,” Biffle said. “Now, my supporters and my detractors are saying the same thing: ‘Biffle’s not going anywhere.’

“We were unstoppable in the early stages. Then, like Carl Edwards in last year’s Chase, we couldn’t get t he job done in ‘prime time.’”

4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished a solid sixth at Charlotte, earning his ninth top-10 result of the year. He is now fourth in the point standings, 18 behind points leader Greg Biffle.

“My winless streak has reached 141 races,” Earnhardt said. “That means it’s been almost four years since I’ve tasted champagne. Junior Nation fans are so loyal, they’re still impressed with my performance, despite my lack of wins. They’re amazed than anyone can go that long without alcohol.

“Regardless, I’m still the sport’s most popular driver. That makes me NASCAR’s ‘Mr. Congeniality.’ And, here at Hendrick Motorsports, home of ten championships and 201 victories, most of which aren’t mine, well, that makes me ‘Mr. Congratulatory.’”

5. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished 10^th at Charlotte, joining Roush Fenway teammates Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, who finished fourth and ninth, respectively, in the top 10. Kenseth remained second in the point standings, only 10 behind Biffle.

“I finished 10^th,” Kenseth said, “yet I was a lap down. I’ve been called a ‘non-factor’ before, usually in physical confrontations with other drivers, but this takes the cake.”

6. Kasey Kahne: Kahne won his third Coca Cola 600, taking charge late and besting his closest pursuers easily to grasp his first win for Hendrick Motorsports. With top-9 finishes in his last six points races, Kahne is arguably the hottest driver in NASCAR.

“That one win was a long-time coming,” Kahne said. “Mighty Kasey finally struck.

“The No. 5 team is hot now, with a win to go along with six consecutive top-10 finishes. I think it will behoove people at Hendrick to be a little more specific when they say ‘It’s 5-time.’”

7. Kyle Busch: Busch stayed hot with a third-place finish in the Coca Cola 600, and has now finished no worse than fourth in his last four points races. He improved one place to eighth in the Sprint Cup point standings, where he trails Greg Biffle by 62.

“You can talk about the ‘old’ Kyle Busch and the ‘new’ Kyle Busch,” Busch said. “But really, what’s changed? Competitors are still irritated by my driving—they just don’t want to punch me for it. I think marriage has calmed me. I think it could do the same for my brother Kurt—-if he had 12 wives.

“But a lot of people have noticed a difference, for the better, in me. Some of my rivals like to call it ‘chump change.’”

8. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex finished one lap down, in 12^th place, at Charlotte, as handling issues exacerbated by changing track conditions spelled trouble. He dropped one spot in the point standings to sixth, 49 out of first.

“This was the fastest 600 in history,” Truex said. “And that can’t be good for television ratings, because it was the ‘least-watched’ race in history.

“But it’s off to my favorite track,Dover, which is music to my ears, much like the sweet, soothing voice of Michael Waltrip.”

9. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished eighth in the Coca Cola 600, scoring his sixth top-10 result of the year and second in a row. He is now seventh in the point standings, 55 out of first.

“We’re by no means where we want to be,” Harvick said, “but that’s two-straight top-10 results. Slowly, but surely, we’re getting there. Even my wife DeLana keeps insisting, ‘Baby steps, Kevin. Baby steps.’”

10. Tony Stewart: Stewart was knocked off the lead lap when he collided with Brad Keselowski on pit road midway through Sunday’s race. Stewart eventually finished 25^th, three laps down.

“I’m in the pits,” Stewart said, “and the next thing I know, I’m pointed in the wrong direction. Keselowski had an explanation for it, all right—it’s called the ‘Polish Pit Stop.’

“But I’m not one to point fingers, unless they’re balled into a fist and hurled in the direction of an enemy.”

May 29, 2012
Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 12 Charlotte Motor Speedway – NASCAR Sprint All Star Race – May 19, 2012

[media-credit name=”charlottemotorspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”199″][/media-credit]The stars have come home to Charlotte for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint All Star Race, and this year brings new drivers, a new format, but the same old distinction. A million dollars rides on the driver able to cross the finish line first following 90 or so laps at The Beast of the Southeast. Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All Star Race will be run in 4-20 lap segments, with the four segment-winners staging at the front of the field for the final 10-lap shootout to the wire for the cool million. 90 or more laps will make up the All Star race this year, as only green flag laps count in the final 10-lap shootout.

Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race wins, with three under his belt already. Carl Edwards made his mark on Charlotte Motor Speedway last season when he practically ripped the front end of his Ford Fusion off from the rest of the car, following his turn through the front-stretch grass in celebration of his first NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race win.

Some big names still need to race (or be voted) into the big dance on Saturday Night, namely Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Burton, and Jamie McMurray. The way to earn a ticket to the big dance – finish in the top two of the Sprint Showdown is a surefire way, the other – be at the top of the Sprint Fan Vote. Much like Friday and Saturday night home-track races, there’s an A-main and a B-main tonight in Concord. The Sprint Showdown will be ran in two segments of 20 laps each, with the top two finishers moving onto tonight’s A-main.
With the absence of NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship points comes an extreme level of action and daring driving. Settling for second is never a thought in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race, making it one of my favorite race weekends of the entire Sprint Cup season.

Darlington Recap

The Lady in Black tamed my recent hot streak of winner picks last week, a result of the toughness Darlington Raceway brings to the sport.

I picked last week’s pole-sitter, Greg Biffle to win the Bojangles’ Southern 500, a move that looked fairly promising for 74 or so laps last Saturday Night. Biffle’s car seemed to go away as the laps ticked away, battling loose conditions through the latter of the laps at Darlington. He ran in the top-10 for the majority of the race, but the late-race caution set the field up for a green-white-checkered finsh. Biffle restarted 10th, but his 3M Ford Fusion was too much of a handful to muscle into the top-10, ultimately crossing the finish line in 12th.

My Dark Horse last week qualified for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 in the sixth spot, and ended the race one spot better in fifth. Martin Truex Jr. also battled a loose condition throughout the duration of the race and ran as high as first, but only faltered back to 11th last week. He lead a season high 25 laps and managed to hold his 5th place spot in the championship points standings.

All-Star Picks

There is so much to pick for tonight’s All-Star festivities, so I will try to keep my picks short and sweet this week…

Sprint Showdown

Kicking off tonight’s on-track activities is the B-main or LCQ (if you’re used to motorcycle racing), otherwise known as the Sprint Showdown. The Showdown is packed with guys eager to have a shot at racing for the cool million, but its Martin Truex Jr. and Jeff Burton that will punch their tickets to the big dance by racing their way into the A-main. Both will start in the top-5 for the Showdown and practiced well on Friday.

Fan Vote

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not race his way into the Sprint All-Star race, but will have a shot at the million via JR Nation. The will vote in droves following his third-place effort in the Sprint Showdown, but JR will start last on the grid for the NASCAR All-Star Race by receiving the 2012 fan vote for the second straight year.

NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
Here’s the segment winners first:
1- Kyle Busch
2- Jimmie Johnson
3- Jeff Gordon
4 – Tony Stewart

Starting in the top-4 spots of the 10-lap shootout for tonight’s million-dollar purse will be one Toyota and three Chevrolets. In the end, it will be Stewart claiming victory in the All-Star race. He was at Thursday night’s Pit Crew Challenge, and was disappointed when his Stewart-Haas Racing crew was knocked out of the competition in the semi-finals. The defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion is out for revenge tonight and will go home a million dollars richer when the checkered falls.

That’s all for this week, so until next week’s Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500, and Coke 600…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

May 19, 2012
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Darlington

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished sixth at Darlington, posting his seventh top 10 of the year. He is second in the Sprint Cup point standings, and now trails leader Greg Biffle by two points.

“Once again,” Kenseth said, “the cowardly actions of Kurt Busch have overshadowed an exciting and historic night at Darlington. Bojangles picked the right race to sponsor. They’re a lot like Kurt Busch—they both specialize in ‘chicken.’”

2. Greg Biffle: Biffle started on the pole at Darlington, and dominated the first third of the race before handling issues arose due to changing track conditions. He maintained the lead in the points position and leads Matt Kenseth by two.

“I’ve held the points lead for a long time,” Biffle said. “And I plan on battling to keep it. Say what you will about me, but don’t compare me to Kurt Busch, because I won’t go down without a fight.”

3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led 56 laps in the Southern 500, and sped by Tony Stewart on the final restart to claim the runner-up spot to Jimmie Johnson. Hamlin held on to fourth in the point standings and is 17 behind Greg Biffle.

“I had my firesuit signed by the great Cale Yarborough,” Hamlin said. “Now I can say I’m just like Jimmie Johnson: I’ve got the name of a Sprint Cup champion on my suit.”

4. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson led a race-high 134 laps in the Southern 500 and controlled the final third of the race. After speeding away on the final restart, Johnson had his first win of the season, as well as Hendrick Motorsports’ 200^th win.

“In addition to giving Rick Hendrick his 200^th win,” Johnson said, “I also broke a 16-race winless streak with the victory. That’s called ‘killing two birds with one stone.’ This year, it seems I’m the only driver at Hendrick capable of ‘throwing’ a stone.”

5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished 17^th at Darlington, his first finish outside the top 10 in seven races. He remained third in the Sprint Cup point standings, 14 out of first.

“Congratulations to all at Hendrick Motorsports on their 200^th win,” Earnhardt said. “I can call myself part of a winning team for the first time in years.”

6. Tony Stewart: Stewart battled back from clutch troubles to compete for the win at Darlington. But a sub par restart on the green-white-checkered finished relegated him to a solid third-place finish. He is seventh in the point standings, 42 out of first.

“Indeed,” Stewart said, “we had serious clutch problems. That pales in comparison to the plight of Carl Edwards. He experienced ‘clutch’ problems in all ten races of the Chase last year.

“I hear the teams of Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch had to be separated after the race. If I were feuding with Busch, everyone knows the only things needing separation would be my hand and Kurt’s face.”

7. Martin Truex, Jr.: After struggling at Richmond and Talladega, Truex rebounded with a fifth in the Bojangles’ Southern 500, posting his fourth top-5 result of the year. He is tied for fifth in the point standings, 39 out of first.

“Michael Waltrip said Darlington Raceway is probably the most intimidating track on the NASCAR circuit,” Truex said. “But hearing that said in Waltrip’s silky, effeminate voice quelled my trepidations. Michael puts the ‘lady’ in ‘Lady In Black.’

“’The Lady In Black’ wasn’t the only lady in Darlington. Danica Patrick was there. She’s ‘The Lady In Red,’ after finishing six laps in the hole.”

8. Kyle Busch: Busch recorded his third consecutive top-4 finish, posting a fourth at Darlington. After a slow start to the season, Busch is up to ninth in the point standings, where he trails Greg Biffle by 62.

“I may be the hottest driver in NASCAR right now,” Busch said, “but I doubt anyone’s aware of that. I know it seems impossible, but a Busch brother can do something quietly.

“My older and less-wiser brother Kurt was involved in a confrontation with Ryan Newman’s team after Kurt spun his tires through Newman’s pit stall.

Newman attributed Kurt’s actions to a ‘chemical imbalance.’ That’s an astute observation. Kurt often loses his balance, often after being slapped in the face.”

9. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished seventh in the Southern 500, earning his seventh top-10 result of the year. He is now 10^th in the point standings, 74 out of first.

“Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth are 1-2 in the point standings,” Edwards said, “while good old Cousin Carl well behind in seventh. I guess that makes me a ‘distant’ cousin.”

10. Kevin Harvick: Harvick was not a factor at Darlington, finishing 16^th in the Bojangles’ Southern 500. Harvick has only two top 10’s in the last five races, and hasn’t won since September of 2011.

“I don’t know who’s more ‘due,’” Harvick said. “Me or my wife. I just know I bitch less about it.

“In any case, Darlington is one tough track. Not only is it hard to drive there, it’s near impossible to get your hands on a Busch brother there as well. Whether they finish the race or not, the Kyle and Kurt are always classified in the race results as ‘running.’”

May 15, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Darlington Bojangles Southern 500

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]With the NASCAR moms getting the race started with the command, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 63^rd annual Bojangles’ Southern 500.

Surprising: Only one of three women to compete at historic Darlington, Danica Patrick achieved her goal of finishing the race.

And although the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet finished 31^st, she surprisingly finished better than at least one veteran driver, Jeff Gordon, whose bad luck, this time tire trouble and mechanical failure, continued to plague him yet again.

“I know I didn’t have a great result, but I accomplished all the things I wanted to accomplish,” Patrick said. “My goals were to be respectable out there and I think I held my own all right.”

“I earned my stripes anyway.”

Not Surprising: As he took in the moment of celebrating his 200^th win with his driver Jimmie Johnson, it was no surprise that Mr. Hendrick twice paid tribute to those that were lost in the plane crash and who helped build the team to have achieved that milestone.

“I had to get away,” Hendrick said. “They said that we were going to make it (on fuel), but I don’t believe them, you know?”

“I’m kind of numb, but I’m glad it’s over,” Hendrick continued. “I think we’re going to win a few more now.”

In fact, Hendrick whispered that plan to the driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet in Victory Lane as he bear hugged him several times.

“You’ve got to love that man,” Johnson said of his boss Mr. H. “He said,’ Two hundred is great, but let’s go get 250.’ So, that tells you where his head is.”

“Oh, man, what a day,” Johnson said simply.

The 200^th victory for Hendrick Motorsports makes them only the second team, next to Petty Enterprises with 268 wins, to accomplish such a milestone.

Surprising: It was certainly surprising to see so few cautions at the beginning of the race on a track whose moniker is ‘Too Tough to Tame.’

In fact, the yellow flag did not fly for the first 172 laps in Bojangles’ Southern 500, allowing the drivers to make three green-flag pit stop cycles in that run.

Not Surprising: As is so often the case, it was not surprising that the last caution, late in the race to set up the green-white-checkered finish, set off some sparks.

The melee started when Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the underfunded No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet hit the wall, which caused Ryan Newman, in the No. 39 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet, to not only check up but get turned into the wall by Aric Almirola, in his No. 43 Verifone Sail Ford.

After the race, Newman and Busch had a confrontation, as did some of their crew members. But all was resolved, especially after intervention by the NASCAR officials.

“It’s crazy,” Tony Gibson, Newman’s crew chief, said. “Things happen and everybody’s emotions run high.”

“It’s a hot night,” Gibson continued. “Everybody settled down and talked about it. We’re all good.”

Newman put it more simply, “It all went bad there at the end.”

Surprising: The Dodge team had a surprisingly rough night at the historic track, with both drivers encountering their own struggles. Brad Keselowski, in the Blue Deuce, battled back to score a 15^th place finish, while A.J. Allmendinger, in the battered No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, finished 33^rd.

“I think we had a top-15 Dodge; I just tore it up early in the run,” Keselowski said. “I got loose and hit the wall pretty good.”

“We just struggled all night going from one extreme to the other, from so tight to just wicked loose,” Allmendinger said. “We could never find a happy medium.”

“The car was just a handful all night.”

Not Surprising: The Toyota drivers had a surprisingly good evening with the ‘Lady in Black’, especially since the majority of them scored in the top-10 finishing order. Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota, finished second to earn the status of highest-finishing Toyota driver.

Kyle Busch, in the No. 18 Wrigley’s Doublemint Toyota, finished fourth with Martin Truex, Jr., in the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, in fifth. The driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, Joey Logano, rounded out the top-ten for the manufacturer.

“It was a good day for our Sport Clips Toyota,” Hamlin said. “We just didn’t have quite the winning car today.”

“We wanted to win the Southern 500, but second isn’t too bad.”

Surprising: Tony Stewart, reigning Champion, surprisingly still has not tamed that Darlington track, which is one of two where Smoke has not won. The driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet came close, however, scoring a hard-fought third place finish, his best ever at the storied 1.366 mile oval.

As with several drivers, Stewart battled fuel mileage at the end. But he had the added complexity of a clutch problem as well, making re-starts a challenge.

“I broke the clutch with about 85 (laps) to go there,” Stewart said. “And the fuel pressure light was blinking when we got the one-to-go signal.”

“We just got better as the night went on,” Smoke continued. “We weren’t good enough to win the race but I’m still pretty happy to come out of here with a third tonight.”

Not Surprising: The Fords ran steady and consistent at Darlington, to no one’s surprise especially with the Ford of Greg Biffle scoring the pole for the evening. Matt Kenseth’s No. 17 Zestfully Clean Ford, finished sixth, with Carl Edwards, in the No. 99 EcoBoost Ford, finishing 7^th.

Marcos Ambrose, in his No. 9 DeWalt Ford, overcame adversity and damage to finish 9^th and pole sitter Biffle brought his No. 16 Ford to the checkered flag in the 12^th spot.

Although the good run of team Blue Oval is not surprising, Marcos Ambrose’ post-race comments were most surprising. When asked where he came from after being two laps down to finish top-ten, the Aussie said, “I came from Mars.”

“At Lap 200, I was about ready to hang myself and by Lap 260, I was ready to go to the front and show the boys what I had.”

“I re-entered orbit around Lap 260 and the last 80 laps were a lot of fun.”

“Our team didn’t give up.” Ambrose said. “It was just a good night for us.”

May 13, 2012
Stewart ‘pretty pleased’ with third place after frustrating performance

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]Considering the two have won the last seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships, it was only fitting that it came down to the two of them to settle who would take home another one of NASCAR’s prestigious trophies on Saturday night.

The final 15 laps of the Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington saw a dominant Jimmie Johnson leading but a charging Tony Stewart behind him. On the line for Johnson was his first win of the season, No. 200 for Hendrick Motorsports. On the line for Stewart was his third win of the season but very first at Darlington.

Johnson was able to pull away on the green-white-checkered finish with Stewart falling to third. While he came ever so close again to crossing another track of his winless list, Stewart wasn’t about to complain about the finish he and his No. 14 Office Depot / Mobile 1 team had to fight for.

“I was pretty frustrated about halfway through because we just kept fighting the same issues on the respective ends of the track,” said Stewart afterwards. “We just kept fighting loose and couldn’t get it tightened up in one and two and couldn’t do anything. Because we were trying to tighten it up in one and two, we didn’t really have the opportunity to try to free up three and four.

“It’s hard and frustrating when you got two different conditions going on. We basically fought that loose condition in one and two since we unloaded [Friday]. It just kind of was frustrating that we couldn’t find anything and couldn’t hit on it. After the first couple of runs of the race, having two or three chances to take a stab at it didn’t seem like we were making the direction. It was frustrating.

“It’s why we won a championship last year, too. We never give up. Steve [Addington, crew chief] kept me positive. He was calm the whole time. He kept saying, I’ll work on it; I’ll get it fixed. It just kept me calm. Sure enough, we finally got it to do one thing and then we could work on it from there and try to get it the rest of the way.”

Stewart bounced between the top 15 and the top 10 for the first 100 laps. The defending NSCS champions only able to make adjustments on the car during a fast paced race and green flag pit stops.

Finally the first caution flew on lap 172 for debris and soon cautions were flying often. By the races 200-lap mark Stewart had climbed to the top five and started to make his presence known. When the fourth caution flew on lap 298 Stewart pitted with the leaders but had to give up his fifth place position as the team took a look at his clutch and transmission.

It didn’t take long for Stewart to rebound. He quickly climbed back into contention and into Johnson’s rearview mirror for the finish.

“It ended up really good, I was really proud of Steve Addington and all of our crew,” Stewart said, noting how difficult the car was in the first half of the race. “Really proud of Addington. He just kept throwing things at it to try and get a direction. Once he got on what it was like, it got a lot better at the end there. We got both ends at least to do the same thing and we could balance it out from there.

“I broke the clutch with about 85 to go, came into the pits, they jacked it up and looked at it and figured out we could keep going. But we came in because we looked at it, took the option to come back in and top it off with fuel, just basically got the opportunity the next caution. When everybody came in, we got up to eighth, had two really good restarts after that got us up to second.”

Before the restart however, Stewart suffered another scare. He told the team he had only 20 pounds of fuel pressure and he wasn’t sure what to do. Without hesitation he was told to stay on the flat of the racetrack and Stewart was able to tell the team the pressure was building back up.

In the end though he just didn’t have enough for Johnson who drove away on the restart, Hamlin then getting around Stewart for second. The 14 just got too tight when he was behind Johnson and Stewart was hoping Johnson would spin his tires on the restart so he could have a shot at the win.

But the track Too Tough To Tame now has Stewart sitting winless in 20 career attempts and he remains seventh in the NSCS points.

“Coming to the green, we actually lost fuel pressure, with one to go and that’s why we were on the apron trying to get it back to the pickups,” said Stewart. “Got it back, but then lost it again coming off four to the green. Coming down the front straightaway on the restart it kind of laid down a little bit, that dropped us back to third.

“Considering the hurdles of the day, I’m pretty happy with a third-place run.”

May 13, 2012

Jimmie Johnson Wins the Southern 500 and Claims the 200th Victory for Hendrick Motorsports

[media-credit id=9 align=”alignright” width=”199″][/media-credit]Jimmie Johnson held off Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart to take the checkered flag in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. He also gave Rick Hendrick his long anticipated 200^th win. Hendrick Motorsports is only the second team to accomplish this. The first to do so was Petty Enterprises with 268 wins.

It was Johnson’s 56th victory in 374 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. It was the 14^th victory at Darlington Raceway for the Hendrick Motorsports organization.

The two celebrated in Victory Lane with a hug. After the race Johnson said of Hendrick, “Without a doubt, you got to love that man. He just said ‘Let’s go get 250.’”

Johnson went on to say that he was “very proud of the effort that the whole 48 team put together. My mind goes back to the early days of Hendrick Motorsports, to the people that won the early races, worked on those early cars, helped Rick build Hendrick Motorsports to what it is today.”

“I think of Harry Hyde, Tim Richmond, Geoff Bodine and Kenny Schrader. There’s a lot of people over the years that put a lot of time and effort and commitment into this organization. So I think about all those people and I’m just so happy for Rick. His dedication to this sport and to performance and winning is second to none.”

Rick Hendrick also thanked those who helped him get to this point in his career as a team owner.

“I’m just proud of these guys and the whole organization. You want to thank everybody from Harry Hyde to Tim Richmond and Geoff Bodine, all the guys along the way that won races. You think you’re going to get there but then you think you’re never going to win another one when you get to 199. I’m real proud.”

Johnson also presented Rick Hendrick with a helmet celebrating their 200^th win in the media center after the race. It was signed by the drivers that contributed to this accomplishment. Family members signed for those drivers who are no longer with us.

Denny Hamlin finished the race in second place giving him his sixth top-ten finish in 2012.

When asked to talk about his run, Hamlin pointed to the last pit stop when he slid through his pit box. As a result, they lost several crucial seconds on the stop. It cost him the lead but he said he was “really proud of our effort” and “it’s definitely a good run for our team.”

Tony Stewart was the third place finisher posting his eleventh top-ten finish in 20 races at Darlington Raceway.

He talked about the adjustments during the race that helped his car but revealed that he had broken the clutch with about 85 laps remaining. His crew determined that he could continue with the broken clutch. Then, with one lap to go, he began losing fuel pressure which caused him to get a slow restart.

Stewart said, “Considering the hurdles of the day I’m pretty happy with a third place run.”

Kyle Busch finished in fourth place and Martin Truex Jr. finished in fifth.

The top five in the points standings after the finish of the Bojangles’ Southern 500 are Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson.

Unofficial Race Results
Bojangles’ Southern 500, Darlington Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=11
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	2	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	48
2	8	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	43
3	17	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	41
4	5	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	41
5	6	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	40
6	19	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	38
7	7	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	37
8	3	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	37
9	28	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	35
10	21	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	34
11	26	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	33
12	1	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	33
13	14	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	31
14	9	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	30
15	15	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	29
16	23	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	28
17	24	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	28
18	10	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	26
19	13	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	25
20	18	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	24
21	25	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	23
22	31	13	Casey Mears	Ford	22
23	4	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	22
24	27	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	20
25	36	38	David Gilliland	Ford	19
26	20	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	19
27	34	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	17
28	37	34	David Ragan	Ford	16
29	22	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	15
30	42	32	Reed Sorenson	Ford	0
31	38	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	0
32	33	173	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	12
33	16	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	11
34	11	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	10
35	12	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	9
36	41	93	David Reutimann	Toyota	8
37	43	249	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	7
38	39	74	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	0
39	32	30	David Stremme	Toyota	5
40	40	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
41	35	52	Mike Skinner	Toyota	0
42	29	179	Scott Speed	Ford	2
43	30	26	Josh Wise *	Ford	1

May 13, 2012

NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Talladega

[media-credit name=”Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth led with one lap to go at Talladega, but was passed by Brad Keselowski, benefitting from a huge push from Kyle Busch. Kenseth settled for third, and advanced one place in the point standings to second, seven behind Greg Biffle.

“My first thought was to say ‘Where’s the Biff?’” Kenseth said. “I didn’t mean to leave Biffle. Ask Carl Edwards. He’ll tell you that usually when I run away from a teammate, it’s on purpose.

“I just got too far out in front. That’s how it goes when you’re leading the field at Talladega. If you check out on the field, you better be ready to check up on the field. I was like my own debris caution.”

2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished ninth at Talladega, unable to muster the momentum needed for a late-race surge towards the front. He dropped one spot to third in the Sprint Cup point standings and trails Greg Biffle by nine. Earnhardt’s winless streak now stands at 139.

“The No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet was fast,” Earnhardt said, “but not fast enough to win. That’s been a familiar refrain for me lately. I hate to repeat myself, and that’s sad, because I’m getting pretty good at it.”

3. Greg Biffle: Biffle posted a solid fifth in the Aaron’s 499, leading 15 laps and running near the front for much of the day. On the green-white-checkered finish, Biffle pushed Matt Kenseth to a sizeable lead, but Biffle’s No. 16 couldn’t keep pace with Kenseth’s No. 17. With their draft connection lost, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch passed the Roush Fenway duo.

“Keselowski and Busch just blew us away,” Biffle said. “The ‘friends with benefits’ were outdone by the ‘enemies with benefits.’

“But I’m still on top of the Sprint Cup point standings. At least we know one Roush Fenway driver can hold a lead.”

4. Kyle Busch: With one lap to go in the Aaron’s 499, Busch was in the driver’s seat, in second place, trailing race leader Brad Keselowski. But Busch never got close enough to even attempt a race-winning move, and settled for the runner-up spot. Busch moved up two spots to ninth in the point standings, 70 out of first.

“I had Keselowski,” Busch said, “right where I wanted him. But he outsmarted me. In other words, he had me. But I’m not upset. This made me a complete driver. Now, I can say I’ve been ‘schooled’ for going too fast, and ‘schooled’ for going too slow.”

5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski, with a strong push from draft partner Kyle Busch, surged into the lead with a lap to go at Talladega, zooming past the Roush Fenway duo of Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle. Keselowski held off Busch and won for the second time this year, and second career victory in the Talladega spring race.

“I got a big push from Kyle,” Keselowski said. “I’ll reiterate what I said at Bristol some years back: ‘Kyle Busch is an ass…..et.’ I’m not sure if Kyle follows me on Twitter, but he definitely follows me on asphalt. That’s two second place finishes for Busch for the weekend. Apparently, M&M’s melt in your hands, and under pressure.

“It was an extremely satisfying win for me. Not only did I win the race, but I was able to tweet from Victory Lane for the second time this year. Call it a ‘re-Tweet.’”

6. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin was fast all day at Talladega, and was prepared to make a charge after a restart on lap 192. Hamlin’s dive to the middle lane was cut off by a block from A.J. Almendinger, and the contact knocked Hamlin out of the race. He finished 23^rd, and fell one place in the points to fourth, 27 out of first.

“I got dinged by the ‘Dinger,’” Hamlin said. “But that’s just the nature of racing at Talladega. You race all day, waiting for the ‘Big One.’ And, when it happens, you can usually blame the ‘Biggest One.’

“Trust me. I’d like nothing more than to seek revenge. But I can’t afford the penalty that is sure to follow. Therein lies the ‘Catch-22’ of catching 22.”

7. Tony Stewart: Stewart ended a frustrating day at Talladega with a 24^th in the Aaron’s 499, as Stewart-Haas teammate Ryan Newman finished 36^th. Newman suffered early engine trouble, while Stewart was KO’d in a nine-car wreck four laps from the finish.

“You probably heard about my tongue-in-cheek assessment of the racing at Talladega,” Stewart said. “That’s just my way of keeping my ‘tongue-in-check.’ For those too ignorant to understand sarcasm, call it Talladega Spites: The Ballyhoo Of Tony Stewart.”

8. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex was collected in a lap 142 pileup started when Dave Blaney and Aric Almirola made contact. Truex’s No. 55 Toyota slammed into Jeff Gordon’s No. 24, ending the day for both. Truex fell one spot to sixth in the points, and trails Greg Biffle by 46.

“The No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota was running well,” Truex said. “Then, it all came crashing down. NAPA ‘know how’ suddenly became NAPA ‘no how.’”

9. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson suffered a broken oil pump that sent him to the garage just 61 laps into the Aaron’s 499. He finished 35^th and fell two places in the Sprint Cup point standings, 54 out of first.

“We certainly don’t look like 5-time champions,” Johnson said. “Then again, who does?

“I watched the rest of the race from Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s pit box. It’s quite a view from up there. You can see for miles, and somewhere in the distance, there’s a win on the horizon.”

10. Kevin Harvick: Harvick was caught in a lap 184 wreck that left his No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet unable to continue. He finished a disappointing 25^th and is now fifth in the point standings, 45 out of first.

“We led one lap,” Harvick said, “so the car went from the front of the field to the back of the garage. Appropriately, with Rheem as our primary sponsor, we ran hot and cold.

“Brad Keselowski drove a heck of a race. He kept Kyle Busch behind him. Last year at Darlington, I couldn’t keep Busch in front of me.”

May 8, 2012
Aaron’s 499 Review: Talladega Puts On a Show

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”228″][/media-credit]When NASCAR comes to Talladega it’s almost like playing the lottery; you never know who is going to win, but it’s still fun to gamble. Jeff Gordon started on the pole with last year’s champion Tony Stewart on the outside pole. The race was delayed for about 30 minutes due to rain that flooded the track overnight, but once the race got started it was an entertaining show.

Overheating started out early on Lap 16 when Regan Smith blew an engine to bring out the caution flag. Tony Stewart, who was leading when the caution came out, got off pit road second to Matt Kenseth. Kenseth was able to hold the lead until Lap 26 when Michael Waltrip took his No. 55 Toyota to the lead.

The overheating woes continued on Lap 44 when Ryan Newman took his car to the garage when water began to pour out of his windshield. The top three drivers under this caution were Waltrip, Kenseth, and Stewart. At Talladega a driver can go from the rear of the field to the front instantly with the help of the two car tandem and that’s exactly what Jimmie Johnson did on Lap 46 with the help of his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch.

Kenseth took the lead in his Best Buy Ford on Lap 53 with Jeff Gordon in tow. Around this time is when Johnson reported to the team that his engine was blowing up due to overheating. After green-flag pit stops on Lap 58 Earnhardt took over the lead from Kenseth for about 20 laps, until Earnhardt lost the draft and dropped back to 15th position. Approximately 50 laps into the race Kasey Kahne was forced to make a spotter change. His interim spotter Kevin Hamlin was suffering from laryngitis at the time and eventually lost his voice. The No. 5 team replaced Hamlin with Joe Nemecheck’s spotter to finish the race.

From 80 laps to go on, the leader of the race changed almost every ten laps. The drivers exchanging the lead were Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne, Kenseth, Casey Mears, Brad Keselowski, and Kurt Busch. Busch caught a big break on Lap 141 when his car ran out of fuel just as caution flew on the race track. In Turns 3 and 4 the big one struck involving Landon Cassill, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Juan Montoya, Terry Labonte, Aric Almirola, and Dave Blaney. Under this caution Kenseth and Ambrose were penalized for pitting too soon. Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte also pitted too soon after running out of fuel.

Paul Menard led the restart with Keselowski on his outside. Keselowski took the lead with 39 to go. Mears spun his race car in Turn 3 to bring out a caution with 15 laps to go. During this caution Stewart brought his car down pit road for overheating issues. The cautions continued when former teammates Keselowski and Kurt Busch got together, sending Busch spinning through the infield.

As the field attempted to restart, another caution flew once again. Hamlin jumped out of line to try and make it three wide down the middle. Allmendinger blocked Hamlin and started another big wreck. Menard, Kevin Harvick, and Waltrip were also involved. Just before the restart Hamlin blew a tire causing the caution to be extended for debris on the track.

The race was settled by a green-white-checkered finish between Kenseth, Keselowski, and Kyle Busch. Keselowski pulled ahead by three car-lengths over the field to win his second race at Talladega.

[media-credit name=”articles.boston.com” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Kurt Busch, or Should I Say “Ricky Bobby”?

Kurt Busch’s paint scheme for Talladega looked very familiar to race fans, and even non-race fans. Busch ran the colors of “ME” from the popular movie “Talladega Nights”. Not only did he run Ricky Bobby’s paint scheme, his entire team took this role to a whole different level. The team referred to Busch as “Ricky” over the radio and quoted the movie throughout the entire race. The team even carried a stuffed animal cougar named “Karen” in the racecar with them.

Busch’s race was going very well until Lap 181 when Keselowski and Busch got together, sending Busch sliding across the start-finish line. With limited damage to his race car, it looked as if Busch would be able to get back on track and continue racing. However, when Busch drove his car down pit road backwards in attempt to get to his pit stall, he was forced to pit again. This is when the fun and games ended between the team and driver, and the No. 51 car finished in 20th place, one lap down.

Fresh Faces Finish in the Top-20

After losing his Cup ride at Roush Racing last season, it was nice to see David Ragan finish in 7th position. Ragan ran a clean race and was able to stay out of trouble to keep his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford in the Top-10. Trevor Bayne is running a part-time NASCAR schedule this season due to lack of sponsorship with Wood Brother’s Racing. Bayne is known for being a good plate-track racer and he finished in 8th position in the Aaron’s 499. Aric Almirola is another driver who we don’t normally see at the top of the field, but was able to finish in 12th position. David Gilliland, who is Ragan’s teammate at Front Row Motorsports, finished in 13th position. Travis Kvapil, who is running a par-time schedule, finished in 16th position.

May 8, 2012