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Tag: Underdogs

  • Underdogs of the Tums Fast Relief 500

    Underdogs of the Tums Fast Relief 500

    Jeff Burton:  Burton was the top finishing non-chase driver at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday with his sixth place finish.  This is his second consecutive top-10 in a row after finishing second in the Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.  The first caution of the race occurred on Lap 7 when Dale Earnhardt Jr ran over a curb, spinning out and causing a pile up.  Burton received sheet metal damage to the left-rear corner of his race car, but his pit crew was able to fix the damage and keep him on the lead lap.  He quickly raced his way back to the front of the pack and ran as high as seventh in the first 100 laps of the race.

    Halfway through the race, Burton was running in ninth and ran in the top-15 for the next 150 laps.  On Lap 398 Burton was involved in a pile up involving Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch.  Burton backed his Chevy into the outside wall, resulting in minimal rear-end damage and restarting in 16th position.  Burton did not pit when the majority of the field pitted under caution on lap 457, moving him up to second place for the restart on lap 463.  Racing on old tires, Burton was eventually passed, but still came home with a top-10 finish.

    Martin Truex Jr:  Unlike a majority of the field on Sunday, Truex had a relatively uneventful day at Martinsville Speedway.  Due to qualifying being rained out, Truex started the race in 24th position.  By Lap 110, he had broken into the top-10 and remained near 10th place throughout the rest of the race.  In the final three laps, Martin raced from 11th to eighth position to secure his top-10 finish.  This is the No. 56 team’s second consecutive top-10 finish and tenth top-10 of the season.

    AJ Allmendinger:  AJ started the race in 16th position and wasted no time letting his team know that he was happy with his race car.  In fact, he was so happy with it that crew chief Greg Erwin elected not to bring the No. 43 Ford down pit road during the first three caution’s of the race.  Staying out under yellow, along with having a fast race car allowed Allmendinger to drive into the lead of the race on Lap 55.  Allmendinger continued to lead until Lap 66 when a caution came out, allowing him to pit for an air pressure adjustment, four tires and fuel.  Several teams did not to pit under this caution period, forcing Allmendinger to restart in 16th place.

    Still pleased with his car, Allmendinger was able to take the lead again on Lap 117.  As the race wore on, the No. 43 car started to lose grip and positions on the race track.  Lap 407 Allmendinger sustained left front fender damage due to a multi-car pile up.  He was forced to pit to repair damage on Lap 409 and restarted in 22nd position on Lap 413.  Being the last car on the lead lap, Allmendinger race his way through the field and was in the 14th spot by Lap 441.

    On Lap 444 Allmendinger made contact with the No. 78 car sending him sliding into the wall, causing minor right side damage.  He yet again found himself at the tail end of the lead lap with 50 laps to go.  Allmendinger once again raced his way to 15th position with six laps remaining in the race.  To Allmendinger’s benefit, caution came out for the final time on Lap 494.  This caution allowed AJ to gain four spots in the final three laps of the race, securing his 11th place finish.

  • Underdogs of the Good Sam Club 500

    Underdogs of the Good Sam Club 500

    The Red Bull Racing team of Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne need to be recognized for their effort on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. Kahne started 26th, Vickers 30th, and used the two-car tandem to push their way into the top-five within 10 laps. They had troubles with the two-car tandem on Lap 159, when Kahne spun across the nose of Vickers race car to bring out the caution.

    [media-credit name=”Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]However, with 50 laps to go, the pair had already hooked back up and was heading to the front. Unfortunately they just couldn’t catch the RCR duo of Clint Bowyer and RCR, but still came home with fifth (Vickers) and sixth (Kahne) place finishes.

    Red Bull will be leaving the team at season’s end, with no word yet on if the team will continue on. Kahne will be taking his business over to Hendrick Motorsports where he will drive the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet. Vickers has yet to announce what his plans are for the 2012 season.

    Dave Blaney’s third place finish at Talladega became Tommy Baldwin’s Racing’s best finish yet at the Cup level. This isn’t the first time Blaney has run well at restrictor plate tracks. He also was a front-runner in the Daytona 500 and the spring race at Talladega this year, but didn’t get the finishes he deserved. This is a big step for a small organization, with a short history in the sport. Team owner Tommy Baldwin hopes this is just the beginning for improvement in preparation of the 2012 season.

    Underdogs Landon Cassill and Casey Mears had strong race cars at Talladega and were front-runners all race long. Before the first lap of the race was even complete, Mear’s No. 13 GEICO Camry had moved from its 42nd starting position into 26th. On Lap 3, Mears paired up with Cassill, who qualified 38th, to race to the front. They spent most of the race in the Top 10 and eyed the lead on multiple occasions.  This continued until Lap 174 when Cassill was collected in a turn two crash involving Bobby Labonte and Kurt Busch. This separated the pair and forced Mears to find another dancing partner.  They eventually found each other at the end of the race to finish in 16th (Cassill) and 17th (Mears)position.