Fantasy Pick’Em: Air Guard 400
This is it – we’re down to the final race of the Sprint Cup Series regular season, the Air Guard 400 at Richmond International Raceway. For those of you who want to hang out during this weekend’s live blog at Bleacher Report, I’ll be in charge, so feel free to stop by and enjoy yourself.
There’s usually a bit of drama in this race every year as the final drivers to make it into the Chase settle in. But Greg Biffle needs only to finish 42nd to be guaranteed in, while Clint Bowyer’s magic number is 28th. Don’t expect a surprise move by Jamie McMurray to make it (even though it appears that every time we don’t expect him to perform well, he does).
So who looks good for this weekend’s race?
My pick for the weekend is Kyle Busch, because not picking him at Richmond is to bet on the snowball in hell. True, he only has two wins in 11 starts, but nine top five finishes? Zero finishes off the lead lap? Over ten percent of a possible 4410 laps spent in front? Come on.
I suppose Mark Martin, based on his recent performance and the unlikely chances of him making this year’s Chase, can be considered a dark horse, right? Martin’s got 27 top-10s in 49 Richmond starts. Ironically, a 46-point penalty accrued lone win at Richmond, in 1990, was the difference between winning and losing that year’s championship to Dale Earnhardt.
Three more, to substantiate the column and make your fantasy prospects that much more interesting:
Clint Bowyer’s never finished worse than 18th at Richmond, making his Chase prospects look pretty good (well, on a “making it in” basis). True, finishing 12th four times isn’t wildly impressive, with his spring 2008 win his only top five finish at the track. But he gets the job done, at the very least, and that makes him a solid pick.
If Bowyer stumbles, though, and Jamie McMurray can’t pull off a Chase shocker, look for Ryan Newman to do everything he can to play the spoiler. Newman’s got 11 top-10s in 17 Richmond starts, marked by a win in this race in 2003. Be wary, though – Newman has finished better in the spring Richmond race than the fall one in each of the past six years.
Finally, if you want a true left-field pick, have a look at Marcos Ambrose. He’s got two finishes of 11th or better at Richmond. In a way, Richmond is a lot like the V8 Supercar circuits that Ambrose conquered down in Australia, featuring sharp turns with a lot of heavy braking. He’s no championship threat, but he can surprise with a decent finish. (By the same token, so, too, might Mattias Ekstrom, the Red Bull driver who has made a name for himself as the DTM touring car champion in Germany.)
Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Irwin Tools Night Race
If NASCAR had to, for some strange reason, pare down the Sprint Cup season to only five races, this weekend’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway would be almost certain to make the cut.
The rough-and-tumble racing that Bristol is famous for, under the Saturday night lights in the dog days of summer, provides fans with a powder keg that’s ready to explode at any moment – and frequently does, claiming many contenders along the way. Many fans will never forget Dale Earnhardt punting Terry Labonte out of the way to win the 1999 edition, nor the post-race fireworks between Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch a couple years ago.
So who’s got a shot at surviving the event and driving into victory lane this year?
Bristol is one of Busch’s best tracks, and its tendency to produce interesting and exciting on-track action makes it a perfect fit for him. His 10.1 average finish trumps all other active drivers. Besides this spring’s aberration, Busch hadn’t failed to lead in a Bristol race since his 2005 rookie season. He has three wins at the track, and top-two finishes in three of the past four Bristol events. He’s my pick.
My dark horse pick for this weekend is Marcos Ambrose, who had finishes of 10th and 3rd at Bristol last year but a dismal 33rd this past spring. Now that he and JTG Daugherty Racing have both announced plans for 2011 that don’t involve one another, they might just mail it in until the end of the year. On the other hand, they could both step up their game, showing their new partners (Richard Petty Motorsports for Ambrose, Bobby Labonte for JTG) a commitment to a strong year next year.
Three more, because we can:
Greg Biffle, despite having never won at Bristol in a Sprint Cup car, has the second best average finish of active drivers at the track, a solid 11.0. He’s got six top fives and nine top-10s in 15 starts. His Roush Fenway Racing team is also peaking at the right time, finding victory lane and the front of the pack these past few weeks in the wake of owner Jack Roush’s plane crash. Roush cars won this race each year from 2005 to 2008, and there’s no reason to think they can’t again.
Kevin Harvick is the only driver to have a Chase berth right now. Coming off that clinch, his Michigan victory, and a lucrative sponsorship deal with Budweiser for 2011, Happy’s gotta be living up to his nickname right now, and the momentum can certainly carry into Bristol. Harvick can be Superman at Bristol – while the box score for his 2005 victory at the track says he started 13th, he actually started dead last due to unapproved impound work and passed every car in the field for the victory.
Finally, Kurt Busch has the second-best winning percentage at Bristol of active drivers, behind only brother Kyle. And while four of his five wins came in 2004 or earlier, he showed us all a thing or two about how to race at Bristol this spring, leading a race-high 278 laps and finishing third. While Jimmie Johnson may have used that race to get the Bristol monkey off his back, Busch showed the field that he had his old Bristol magic back.
Ambrose signs with RPM for next year, Stanley will sponsor
Concord, N.C. (August 17, 2010) – In preparation for the 2011 season, Richard Petty Motorsports announced today that driver Marcos Ambrose has signed a multiyear agreement with the organization to drive the No. 9 Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Long-time RPM sponsor Stanley Black & Decker will be the primary sponsor of the No. 9 team.
“I’m very excited to join Richard Petty Motorsports,” said Ambrose. “It’s an incredible honor to be able to race for a legend like The King and be a part of this organization. I’m also happy to be back with Ford Racing. The No. 9 team has been a very successful team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. With the support of Ford and everyone at RPM, I believe we can continue that tradition of success. I’m also excited to join forces with Stanley.”
“We are very happy to have Marcos Ambrose join our team,” said NASCAR Hall of Famer and team owner Richard Petty. “He’s a very talented and passionate driver and will be a great addition to our team.”
“We knew once Marcos became available that we wanted him to be a part of the RPM family,” said Foster Gillett, managing partner and team owner. “He’s a fan favorite and he’s proven to be a tough competitor on track. We’re thrilled to have Stanley continue their partnership with our team and believe that Marcos is a great fit for the Stanley Racing program.”
“Stanley is pleased to partner with Marcos,” said Scott Bannell, Vice President Brand Management and Licensing, Stanley Black & Decker. “We look forward to carrying the winning tradition of the No. 9 car into the 2011 season.”
The Tasmanian-born driver cut his racing teeth in V8 Supercar competition before making the shift to NASCAR in 2006. Through a partnership with Ford Racing, Ambrose made his American racing debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. In 2007, the driver made the jump to the NASCAR Nationwide Series where he competed for two seasons before his first full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2009.
“All of us at Ford are very happy to have Marcos ‘back home,’” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford North America Motorsport. “We helped Marcos come to America and become a NASCAR driver because we believed in his talent, and loved the way he connected with Ford fans here and in Australia. Already a Ford champion in Supercars, we believe his move to RPM will give him the car and equipment to win races and contend for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup going forward.”
Ambrose, 33, is in his second season in NASCAR’s premier racing series. He collected a third straight win at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in July.
RPM to announce 2011 drivers, sponsors Tuesday
Richard Petty Motorsports has called a Tuesday teleconference to announce the specifics of the organization’s 2010 Sprint Cup Series drivers and sponsor lineups.
The organization announced Aug. 6 that they had re-signed AJ Allmendinger to a multi-year deal to stay with the team. However, two drivers have confirmed that they will be leaving next year and another driver is on the fence.
Kasey Kahne announced earlier in the year that he would part-ways with RPM after this season. He announced last weekend that he would join Red Bull Racing in 2011 before he moved into his multi-year ride with Hendrick Motorsports in 2012.
Kahne’s sponsor Budweiser is also on the move next season, according to sources. Multiple internet reports say Budweiser will head to Kevin Harvick next season, with an announcement of the new sponsorship deal expected to come Tuesday.
Paul Menard also announced last weekend that he would join Richard Childress Racing next year as RCR gives a second attempt at a four car team. Menard will also take his primary sponsorship from his father’s company, Menard’s, with him.
Elliott Sadler was quoted earlier in the year as saying the team did not have him in their plans for the future. However, a team spokesperson has since denied those comments saying Sadler is one of about three drivers the team was looking at for next season.
Sadler said last weekend that he has had little talks with the organization and that he is even considering moving down to the Nationwide Series or Camping World Truck Series next season.
“If I have to go back to Nationwide or go back to the Truck (series) and get my chance and opportunity to win races, you’ll see Elliott Sadler do that instead of go somewhere where there’s a start-and-park (car) or ride around,” Sadler said. “That’s not me. I’m way too competitive for that. I don’t have a big enough ego to where I have to be labeled a Cup driver. I want to be a driver that’s competitive.”
Marcos Ambrose, who recently announced he would be leaving his Sprint Cup Series ride with JTG Daugherty Racing after this season, is rumored to be headed to RPM. This would give the RPM two drivers next season if Sadler does indeed leave.
Drivers are not the only issue for the team, however. Sponsorship is also a problem with the departure of Budweiser and Menard’s. Although, when the team announced a new deal with Allmendinger a few weeks ago, they also said they had some another announcements in their pocket.
“We have some announcements in our pocket,” team co-owner Richard Petty said. “We like to have press conferences, so we wanted to spread it out a little bit.”
Kahne is currently the highest RPM driver in the Sprint Cup Series driver points standings thru last weekend at Michigan International Speedway. He is 16th and trails the 12th place Chase for the Sprint Cup cutoff by 126 points.
Allmendinger is 22nd, Menard is 23rd and Sadler is 29th.
Back to the Real Racing
Well another road course is done and over. Thank Goodness. Road courses are without a doubt the biggest waste of time, money and equipment on the circuit. They are a direct result of NASCAR wanting to prove to the world they are just as good as IRL or F1, and they are. But, they are a different kind of car with a different kind of following. Stock cars and right hand turns are just well not a good match.
I wish that I could say that this one was better than the last 40. But it wasn’t. As a matter of fact it was a great nap opportunity but not much else. Between Road Course Ringers and teams scratching their heads over cars with broken pieces and just flat not performing, it was a joke. An IRL veteran won, followed closely by a regular who got lucky because the road course ringer developed severe handling issues.
We put the four time champ in a dangerous position because he spun and the other drivers couldn’t see him in the dust and dirt and so consequently hit him. We delayed a caution for a car pulled off in the run off because we didn’t want to mess up the pitting sequence because the teams were already dogged by having to do it backwards.
Frankly, if we are going to hand out second dates and first dates. Perhaps we should eliminate the two road courses from the schedule that would allow for 2 dates to either give to real race tracks or hey give the teams and drivers some much needed time off in the heat of the summer.
This would also cut the costs for small teams and big teams alike. No more building specially engineered cars for 2 races a year. Instead they would have 2 races at real race tracks that they already have cars for. Tracks like Rockingham could have a date back. Atlanta could have its second date back. Let’s even consider going back to the roots of the sport and rescuing a community that has struggled and suffered since losing its dates and go back to North Wilkesboro.
Both of the road course tracks are in areas where the cost of living and staying or visiting is higher than most of the areas the circuit visits. The prices of hotels and air fare to New York and California have virtually priced it out of the market for midwest or southern east coast fans. The tax on the merchandise and the price of food at the track in both places compounds that problem. For instance, a t-shirt purchased at a HMS trailer in Kansas will run you $30. The same t-shirt at Watkins Glen this weekend would have cost you $38. A hamburger and a coke at Texas Motor Speedway would run you right at $15. At California it would be more like about $20.
It’s time to embrace our roots. And although those roots did include running from the G men with a 100 gallon tank, the roots of our racing do not include road races. It’s time to do what we do best. Turn left and drive it like you stole it. It’s time to concentrate on drafting and making cars handle and run fast down straightaways that are longer than football fields. To dodge and dice and race from the green flag to the checkers. To let things like a glorified football playoff system go and run for straight points without having races within races. It’s time to make the sport something whose beauty lies in the simplicity of the object. Be the first to cross the finish line. Lead as many laps as possible and remembering that rubbing is racing. And if you are going to play you may get roughed up once in a while.
Yes it’s time to go back to what worked and worked consistently. Racers like Junior Johnson, Harry Gant, Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, and the Allison’s. They didn’t give away green stamps or cars at the track but you got what you paid for. All 500 laps of it.
* * * * * * * * * *
Congratulations to Todd Bodine on his Camping World Truck Series win, Marcos Ambrose on his Nationwide Series win and Juan Pablo Montoya on his Sprint Cup win.
To all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give you are our heroes. Most importantly though, thanks to all the families who share their loved ones with us each and every week so that we can cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.
Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and not necessarily Pit Road Scene and its staff.
Ambrose makes it three straight at the Glen
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.—Marcos Ambrose didn’t drive like a man in limbo.
Marcos Ambrose celebrates after his third straight victory at Watkins Glen in the Nationwide Series. (Tom Whitmore/Getty Images)Unofficial Race Results
| Fin | Str | Car | Driver | Team |
| 1 | 1 | 47 | Marcos Ambrose | Toyota |
| 2 | 2 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota |
| 3 | 3 | 33 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet |
| 4 | 8 | 22 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge |
| 5 | 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota |
| 6 | 12 | 88 | Ron Fellows | Chevrolet |
| 7 | 10 | 27 | Nelson Piquet | Ford |
| 8 | 6 | 32 | Jacques Villeneuve | Toyota |
| 9 | 17 | 66 | Steve Wallace | Toyota |
| 10 | 15 | 81 | Michael McDowell | Dodge |
Though his future is uncertain, with his announced departure from JTG/Daugherty Racing for parts—or team—unknown, Ambrose drove immaculately Saturday afternoon in picking up his third straight NASCAR Nationwide Series victory at Watkins Glen International, winning the Zippo 200 from the pole.
During a 16-lap run to the finish, Ambrose pulled away to win by 2.834 seconds over Joey Logano, who, for once, was happy to settle for second place.
“It was a wonderful day for us,” said Ambrose, who has not announced plans for next year, though the rumor mill says he’s likely to land in a Sprint Cup ride at Richard Petty Motorsports. “We’ve had our troubles at JTG this year, and we’re parting ways at the end of the season, and this is a really fitting way to finish this thing off.”
There’s also unfinished business. Ambrose will start 11th in Sunday’s Cup race at the Glen, hoping to become the first driver to sweep both races at the 2.45-mile road course.
“We’ve got another job to do (Sunday), so I won’t have too many beers tonight,” he said.
Ambrose passed eventual fifth-place finisher Kyle Busch for the lead on Lap 41, hanging Busch behind lapped traffic as the cars roared uphill through the esses. By the time Ambrose reached the Bus Stop chicane, he had pulled ahead of Busch and remained out front through a pair of caution periods in the final 30 laps.
Kevin Harvick finished third, followed by series points leader Brad Keselowski and Busch. Ron Fellows, Nelson Piquet Jr., Jacques Villeneuve, Steve Wallace and Michael McDowell completed the top 10.
Logano surprised himself with his strong performance on the road circuit.
“I was pretty pumped out about how the car ran today,” Logano said. “Road courses and me never got along before. It’s cool to see yourself improve every time you get to a place like this.”
Part of that improvement was attributable to following Ambrose for much of the race. Before a 10-car wreck in Turn 2 caused a stoppage of more than 25 minutes, Logano kept pace with the race winner.
“Marcos is pretty good through the Bus Stop—just watching the line, the curbs he hits, the way he hits ‘em, the speed he carries—I definitely learned a lot,” Logano said. “I feel like I picked up the most through there and was able to be pretty good by the end of the race.”
Note: Keselowski expanded his advantage in the series standings to 327 points over second-place Carl Edwards, who fell out of the race after 25 laps because of an engine failure and finished 33rd.
Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen
This week the Sprint Cup Series ends its 2010 road course sojourn with a trip to western New York and Watkins Glen International. Home of fine wines and fast cars, the track hosts this weekend’s Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen.
I attended the IZOD IndyCar Series race at the Glen earlier this year, and let me say that any traveling race fan that hasn’t experienced a weekend at the track doesn’t know what they’re missing. Watkins Glen is a quaint little town with all the amenities and brand names one could ask for, and the track provides fans with many prime spots from which to watch a race. And if you were impressed by the show that IndyCar put on, just imagine multiplying the crowds and fanfare by a significant number, and you have an American race fan’s dream.
So who’s going to take the checkers this weekend?
History (and a 5.3 average finish) suggest that Tony Stewart is the man to beat this weekend. Stewart has an incredible five wins in 11 Glen starts, and nine top-10s. Of his two worse finishes, one was an 11th place. He’s never failed to complete a lap there, much less accrue a DNF, making him the undisputed king of the track.
I’m not sure if you can call Marcos Ambrose a total dark horse at the Glen, seeing as his average finish is 2.5, but he’s never sealed the deal in a Cup race, and a killer mistake at Infineon robbed him of what should have been much closer to a victory, suggesting that he and his team still have a little way to go to pull it off. Ambrose has taken the checkers in Nationwide races at the Glen, though, and it will be interesting to see if his apparent mastery of the track will offset any doldrums that come with being a lame-duck driver at a midpack team with bad luck thus far.
Three more, because tradition says so:
Mark Martin’s got three Glen wins in 20 starts and hasn’t failed to complete a lap there since 1986 (excluding the 2007 and 2008 races, which he skipped). The wins came during an incredible three-year stretch from 1993 to 1995, where he won the pole and led 183 of a possible 270 laps. There are just as many knocks on him, though. First of all, this has been a tough year for the team; second, he hasn’t led a lap at the Glen in his past seven starts; finally, his last two Glen finishes have been 20th and 23rd, respectively. Pick carefully.
Robby Gordon is always a threat at the Glen, having scored seven top five finishes in 11 starts and a win in 2003. Normally the only knock against Gordon is failed alternate pit strategy that doesn’t work out in the end. Fans can always count on the independent to put on a good show, especially with the added data from a second, P.J. Jones-piloted car each time the series turns both ways.
Finally, A.J. Allmendinger is a decent pick that can be expected to exceed his previous finishes at the Glen – 11th and 13th in two career starts. The ex-Champ Car star’s future is now set at Richard Petty Motorsports, with a multi-year contract extension in place, and the confidence that comes with being the team’s new number one driver should allow him to open up a little this weekend and show off the road course talent that convinced Red Bull to bring him to stock cars in the first place a few years ago.
Ambrose leaving JTG, could land at Petty Motorsports
Marcos Ambrose has decided to leave JTG Daugherty Racing at the end of the season, the team announced Tuesday.
Ambrose, in his second full year of Sprint Cup racing for the team, is a disappointing 27th in the standings after finishing 18th last year in his first full season.
Ambrose has been with the team for five years—one season in trucks, two in Nationwide and then two in Cup. Ambrose has recorded five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in his Cup career, which includes 11 races in 2008.
“After five years, I personally felt it was time for a change,” Ambrose said. “I have no firm plans of what will come next for me and my career.
“I would like to continue in NASCAR and finish off what I started, but I have not discounted returning to Australia. I’m grateful to JTG Daugherty Racing for giving me an opportunity to become a NASCAR driver and I wish them the best in the future.”
Even though he has “no firm plans,” Ambrose is a candidate to replace Kasey Kahne in the No. 9 or Elliott Sadler in the No. 19 at Richard Petty Motorsports, sources close to the situation said. Kahne announced he would leave RPM in April and that he had signed to drive the No. 5 car for Hendrick Motorsports beginning in 2012. Sadler announced earlier this month he would not return to RPM. Neither has announced plans for 2011.
With a career-best second at Watkins Glen last year, Ambrose nearly pulled off his first career Cup win at Infineon Raceway last month but accidentally stalled his car while trying to save fuel late in the race.
Ambrose has two Nationwide victories, both at Watkins Glen, driving for JTG Daugherty Racing.
JTG Daugherty Racing is an affiliate of Michael Waltrip Racing and is based at the MWR shop. Team co-owner Tad Geschickter made the move to Cup with Ambrose after several years in the Nationwide Series.
“Marcos is a friend, and he is a great talent,” Geschickter said. “He will be an asset to his next team. While we hate to see him move on at the end of the season, we will remain focused on winning races with Marcos.”
JTG did not say who would replace Ambrose in its No. 47 Toyota but said it would make an announcement in the “near future” concerning its driver for 2011.
Marcos Ambrose: 10 things you don’t know about me
Did you know Sprint Cup driver Marcos Ambrose likes baseball and American history and politics? We didn’t, either, until we asked Ambrose to let us in on 10 things we don’t know about him.
1. I come from Tasmania, a state that has no racing. I’ve never raced in my home state in any local series—in a car, that is. Tasmania is a state of Australia, like Hawaii in the United States.
2. My childhood heroes were Ayrton Senna, from Formula 1, and Mick Doohan, a motorcycle rider from Australia. Doohan won about everything in 500cc Grand Prix. He was a dominant rider. He’s a great guy, a living legend and a good athlete.
3. If I’m in the right spot, I’ll drop a line and try to catch some trout. I fly fish—badly. When I really want to catch some fish, I’ll just use a spinner or a worm. I spend most of the day when I’m fly fishing getting myself untangled out of bushes.
4. I’m an alien—a legal alien, that is. I’ve come in on a visa, and I have to get it renewed every 12 months.
5. My father used to race cars himself before I was born. He founded a racecar manufacturing company in England that is still running today—Van Diemen. That’s actually the original name for Tasmania. It used to be called Van Diemen’s Land, but they thought that was a nasty name, so they changed it to Tasmania.
6. I love baseball. My favorite team is the Braves. Peter Moylan, one of their closing pitchers, is a bit of a friend of mine, and I kind of follow him and cheer for him when he has a good night.
7. It was a real shock to switch from Ford to Toyota. My whole professional career I’d been driving Fords, and to some degree they were instrumental in helping me get across to NASCAR in the first place. So it was a big move for me to make, but at the same time, it was a very straightforward decision because I had to keep moving forward in my racing.
8. I’ve raced in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, England, Belgium, the Netherlands, America, Scotland, Canada and Mexico. There are probably more that I’ve forgotten about. But Juan Pablo Montoya would probably top me.
9. My first race on an oval—ever—was 2006 at Martinsville in a truck. I jumped into the wrong side of the truck before the race started, and that didn’t help. I was used to driving on the other side of the car.
10. If I’m not watching the Speed Channel, I like to watch C-Span. I like the history of America and how it was formed, the political system. I’m a bit of a throwback, I guess, with all that stuff.
— As told to Reid Spencer
Notebook: Hamlin’s streak gets spoiled at Infineon
Coming into Infineon Raceway, Denny Hamlin was riding the high waves of NASCAR. Heading out of Infineon, however, the waves were quite calm.
Hamlin, who has won four of the last five races, pretty much hit anything there was to hit in Sonoma, Calif. on Sunday. In fact, he was at one time driving “blind folded” after the hood of his No. 11 FedEx Toyota had come up over the top of his windshield from an earlier incident.
By the time everything was said and done, Hamlin finished the race in the 34th position. He was involved in an accident on a lap 66 restart at the start/finish line, as well as being the target of some short-track style bumping and grinding throughout the race.
“Tough day, but it happens,” Hamlin said. “These guys worked really hard to get this car put back together and get back out there. It’s frustrating because we were pretty good with points, even with the damage. I definitely learned a few things for next year. All you can do is get back to it next week and we like going to New Hampshire. We’ll put this behind us.”
Despite the poor day, Hamlin stayed in the third points position, trailing points leader Kevin Harvick by 47 points heading into New Hampshire this weekend — the first of ten races in the Race to the Chase, a countdown to NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Hamlin has finished outside of the top-ten only three times since the spoiler was re-introduced at Martinsville earlier this year. During the same time period, Hamlin has accumulated all of his five wins on the season.
Earnhardt gets some luck; finishes 11th
Judging by past statistics and comments from Dale Earnhardt Jr. at road courses, finishing at all is a blessing. Finishing eleventh with a car that wasn’t the best is amazing.
It took some work to get there, however, as Earnhardt started 24th and ran in the latter half of the pack for a majority of the race. However, Lance McGrew kept Earnhardt out during the middle part of the 350 km event so he could make it on fuel without an additional pit stop and to give Earnhardt fresher tires than the leaders by pitting later in the race.
With 20 laps to go, Earnhardt said he “just kind of jumped in the fire and hoped for the best” and wound up tenth with a handful of laps remaining.
“We’re pretty happy with the AMP Energy/National Guard team,” Earnhardt said. “The car wasn’t that great for me all day. We ran a totally different setup than we had run in the past. Trying to learn and get better. Just think we might have taken a step backwards on the setup.
“But we saved the car and really saved the brakes and the sheet metal on the car until the end and then just threw it in the fire and try to come out on the good end. It worked out for us. You want to learn something every day. I just took care of my car the first half of the race and at the end, I just kind of jumped in the fire and hoped for the best and it worked out.”
Earnhardt isn’t ready to get pumped up about the finish, however. He is, although, just happy he isn’t going home angry.
“The thing about our car is that Lance (McGrew, crew chief) said that might help with our car is that it wouldn’t go after 20 laps so he didn’t want to finish the race with anything older than 20-lap tires,” Earnhardt said. “So we kind of did that. We had new tires about 20 (laps) to go on that last restart before the last caution. It worked out. It was good. I ate up the car a little bit, but not as bad as some people. We didn’t really get aggressive until the end. I took care of the car all day and the brakes were good. The car worked good at the end of the race. I don’t get that pumped up about it; I just get relief to be able to go home and not be ticked off. But that’s every week.”
Johnson feels for Ambrose
Moments after Marcos Ambrose made the biggest mistake of his career at one of the worst times possible to make a mistake; Jimmie Johnson said he felt sorry for the Australian driver.
“I feel bad for him and his team owners,” Johnson said. “His team owners gave me my chance in Nationwide in ’98 maybe it was. So I’m very familiar with the team.
“I think Marcos had a very fast car in the short runs. I had a try or two at him before that (but) couldn’t get by him. So I’m not sure I would have gotten by him. It was definitely a gift kind of handed to us, as Chad said on the radio to me. From that point on, I just needed to get a good restart and get away from those guys.”
The victory would not only have been the first for Ambrose in his Cup Series career, but it also would have been the first for team owners Tad Geschickter, Jodi Geschickter and Brad Daugherty. Ambrose would have also become the fourth foreign driver to win in NASCAR and the first Australian born driver to win in the Sprint Cup Series.
“We (were) so close today, we almost crossed that bridge,” Ambrose said. “Under the last caution, the team told me to save fuel, but unfortunately the car stalled and wouldn’t crank over. showed everyone out there today that we could win, we had the measure of Jimmie Johnson, it’s just a terrible way to finish. It is what it is, it’s a bitter pill to swallow, but we’ll go away and come back stronger next time.”
Ambrose is used to having races taken away from him. He was leading the Nationwide Series race at Montreal in 2007 when he was spun by Robby Gordon in the closing laps of the race. Last year at the same track, Ambrose lost the race when he was passed by Carl Edwards in the final turn.
Ambrose does have two Nationwide Series wins at Watkins Glen, but remains winless in the Cup Series.
Johnson wins, Ambrose doesn’t at Sonoma
After Marcos Ambrose made what turned out to be a mistake that could have cost him his first Sprint Cup Series victory during the final caution with seven laps to go, Jimmie Johnson took advantage of the mistake to win his first race at Sonoma and first road course race of his Cup Series career.
Ambrose restarted the race in the seventh position after he his engine would restart going up the hill to turn three when he shut his engine off to conserve fuel. However, NASCAR rules state that cars must maintain pace car speed during a caution; otherwise they will lose their position.
Johnson’s win came on a father’s day — a day that he will soon celebrate as he and his wife Chandra are expecting their first child in a month — and his mother’s birthday.
“I’ve been working really hard to get better as a road course driver,” Johnson said. “I have to thank Bob Stallings and Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty and Kyle Brannan and all the guys at GAINSCO Racing who have been working with me and letting me come and run their Grand Am car. It has been a big help. On top of that Hendrick Motorsports has been working so hard to get better at this stuff. We tested again and again and again and we are getting better. I’m getting better and we have all the tools here. Just an awesome day.”
Robby Gordon finished the race second after starting 16th.
“We came here to win the race,” Gordon said. “But second place is pretty darn close to winning it.
“My team needs a little bit of morale here and there. This will boost morale back at the workshop. I will say that we will come to Watkins Glen guns blazing. We’ll get a lot of confidence going into the Glen and spend a bunch of time getting more rear grip. At the end of the day, that’s what we struggled on with Jimmie.”
Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-five finishers at Sonoma. Ambrose wound up finishing sixth after his mistake.
“I had the motor turned off trying to save a bit of fuel and just had trouble getting it fired again,” Ambrose said. ” … I’m disappointed, but NASCAR calls the shots. I was leading the race and I just had trouble getting the motor cranked back up a little bit there.”
Greg Biffle, Boris Said, Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya were the rest of the top-ten finishers.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has publicly addressed his dislike for Sonoma in the past, finished 11th after starting the race 24th and racing in the latter half of the field for much of the race. With the finish, he gained some points on the 12th place cutoff for the Chase that is now ten weeks away. He remains in the 14th point position, trailing the cutoff line by 51 points.
Third place finisher Harvick continues to lead the Sprint Cup Series points standings by 140 points over Johnson.
NSCS: Talladega Practice 1
David Reutimann was the fastest in the opening Sprint Cup Series practice session at Talladega Superspeedway. Regan Smith, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton and Marcos Ambrose rounded out the top-five fastest drivers in the session.
NSCS Practice 1
Talladega Superspeedway
Aaron’s 499 (41st Running)
Provided by NASCAR Statistics – Fri, April 23, 2010 @ 01:50 PM Central
| Pos | Car | Driver | Team | Time | Speed | Lap # | # Laps | -Fastest | -Next |
| 1 | 00 | David Reutimann | Alabama National Champions / Aaron’s Toyota | 48.249 | 198.470 | 19 | 32 | —.— | —.— |
| 2 | 78 | Regan Smith | Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet | 48.250 | 198.466 | 11 | 18 | -0.001 | -0.001 |
| 3 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | DuPont Chevrolet | 48.807 | 196.201 | 25 | 25 | -0.558 | -0.557 |
| 4 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Caterpillar Chevrolet | 48.830 | 196.109 | 35 | 37 | -0.581 | -0.023 |
| 5 | 47 | Marcos Ambrose | Bush’s Best Baked Beans / Kingsford Toyota | 49.122 | 194.943 | 8 | 24 | -0.873 | -0.292 |
| 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Express Toyota | 49.139 | 194.876 | 12 | 26 | -0.890 | -0.017 |
| 7 | 20 | Joey Logano | The Home Depot Toyota | 49.160 | 194.793 | 10 | 23 | -0.911 | -0.021 |
| 8 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet | 49.164 | 194.777 | 9 | 18 | -0.915 | -0.004 |
| 9 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | NAPA Auto Parts Toyota | 49.204 | 194.618 | 16 | 21 | -0.955 | -0.040 |
| 10 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | National Guard / AMP Energy Chevrolet | 49.206 | 194.610 | 22 | 24 | -0.957 | -0.002 |
| 11 | 71 | Bobby Labonte | TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet | 49.228 | 194.523 | 20 | 24 | -0.979 | -0.022 |
| 12 | 43 | A J Allmendinger | Insignia / Best Buy Ford | 49.231 | 194.512 | 16 | 16 | -0.982 | -0.003 |
| 13 | 5 | Mark Martin | GoDaddy.com Chevrolet | 49.269 | 194.362 | 22 | 24 | -1.020 | -0.038 |
| 14 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Valvoline Ford | 49.275 | 194.338 | 14 | 14 | -1.026 | -0.006 |
| 15 | 12 | Brad Keselowski | Penske Dodge | 49.278 | 194.326 | 22 | 22 | -1.029 | -0.003 |
| 16 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet | 49.280 | 194.318 | 14 | 21 | -1.031 | -0.002 |
| 17 | 77 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Penske Truck Rental / AAA Dodge | 49.284 | 194.302 | 21 | 27 | -1.035 | -0.004 |
| 18 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Budweiser Ford | 49.300 | 194.239 | 15 | 18 | -1.051 | -0.016 |
| 19 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Miller Lite Dodge | 49.325 | 194.141 | 4 | 23 | -1.076 | -0.025 |
| 20 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Pedigree Toyota | 49.332 | 194.113 | 17 | 27 | -1.083 | -0.007 |
| 21 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Haas Automation / Office Depot Chevrolet | 49.356 | 194.019 | 12 | 15 | -1.107 | -0.024 |
| 22 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | TUMS Chevrolet | 49.367 | 193.976 | 15 | 18 | -1.118 | -0.011 |
| 23 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | BB&T Chevrolet | 49.465 | 193.591 | 16 | 20 | -1.216 | -0.098 |
| 24 | 19 | Elliott Sadler | Stanley / Bostitch Ford | 49.722 | 192.591 | 6 | 12 | -1.473 | -0.257 |
| 25 | 6 | David Ragan | UPS Ford | 49.729 | 192.564 | 6 | 18 | -1.480 | -0.007 |
| 26 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 3M Ford | 49.739 | 192.525 | 14 | 15 | -1.490 | -0.010 |
| 27 | 82 | Scott Speed | Red Bull Toyota | 49.750 | 192.482 | 12 | 13 | -1.501 | -0.011 |
| 28 | *7 | Robby Gordon | Monster Energy Toyota | 49.810 | 192.251 | 15 | 21 | -1.561 | -0.060 |
| 29 | 98 | Paul Menard | Turtle Wax / Menards Ford | 49.827 | 192.185 | 6 | 12 | -1.578 | -0.017 |
| 30 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Old Spice Matterhorn Chevrolet | 49.874 | 192.004 | 4 | 19 | -1.625 | -0.047 |
| 31 | 37 | Robert Richardson Jr. | Mahindra Tractors USA Ford | 49.893 | 191.931 | 20 | 23 | -1.644 | -0.019 |
| 32 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Red Bull Toyota | 49.921 | 191.823 | 12 | 14 | -1.672 | -0.028 |
| 33 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Lowe’s Chevrolet | 50.078 | 191.222 | 4 | 22 | -1.829 | -0.157 |
| 34 | 34 | Travis Kvapil | Long John Silver’s Ford | 50.480 | 189.699 | 11 | 12 | -2.231 | -0.402 |
| 35 | 38 | Kevin Conway # | Extenze Ford | 50.585 | 189.305 | 7 | 20 | -2.336 | -0.105 |
| 36 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Aflac Ford | 51.760 | 185.008 | 4 | 4 | -3.511 | -1.175 |
| 37 | *09 | Mike Bliss | Phoenix Construction / Graceway Chevrolet | 52.300 | 183.098 | 3 | 7 | -4.051 | -0.540 |
| 38 | *36 | Johnny Sauter | Baldwin Automotive Chevrolet | 52.375 | 182.835 | 3 | 3 | -4.126 | -0.075 |
| 39 | *13 | Max Papis | GEICO Toyota | 52.542 | 182.254 | 7 | 12 | -4.293 | -0.167 |
| 40 | *87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports Toyota | 52.580 | 182.122 | 3 | 5 | -4.331 | -0.038 |
| 41 | *46 | Terry Cook # | Whitney Motorsports Dodge | 52.722 | 181.632 | 7 | 7 | -4.473 | -0.142 |
| 42 | *55 | Michael Waltrip | Aaron’s 55th Anniversary Toyota | 52.756 | 181.515 | 3 | 3 | -4.507 | -0.034 |
| 43 | *66 | Dave Blaney | PRISM Motorsports Toyota | 52.927 | 180.928 | 3 | 3 | -4.678 | -0.171 |
| 44 | *26 | David Stremme | Air National Guard Ford | 52.934 | 180.905 | 12 | 16 | -4.685 | -0.007 |
| 45 | *35 | Aric Almirola | MOHAWK Northeast Inc. Chevrolet | 53.087 | 180.383 | 2 | 2 | -4.838 | -0.153 |
*Required to qualify on time
Four Sprint Cup Series crew chiefs receive penalties
NASCAR penalized four Sprint Cup Series teams on Wednesday for violations that were discovered at Texas Motor Speedway.
Both Frank Kerr, crew chief of the No. 47 Toyota, and Robert “Bootie” Barker, crew chief of the No. 13 Toyota, received a $75,000 fine for radiator pans that were found to be of excessive weight. Kerr and Barker were also fined an additional $25,000 for using mounting parts that had not yet been submitted to NASCAR for approval.
Team owners Tad Geschickter, owner of the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Toyota, and Bob Germain, owner of the No. 13 Germain Racing Toyota, were penalized 50 owner points each for the incidents.
The No. 47 Toyota, driven by Marcos Ambrose, now sits 29th in Sprint Cup Series owner points and the No. 13 Toyota, driven by Max Papis, sits in the 38th owner points position after the points penalties were accessed. Cars in the top-35 in Sprint Cup Series owner points are guaranteed a starting position. Papis was already outside of the top-35 before the penalties were announced.
“While the penalty feels excessive for an apparent misunderstanding on submitting a part, we also understand NASCAR has to police the sport and rule strictly to keep a level playing field among the teams,” Geschickter said in a statement released by JTG-Daugherty Racing on Wednesday. “We will work diligently to ensure that there are no misunderstandings in the future. We are focusing our energy on turning our season around and winning races with driver Marcos Ambrose.”
Rodney Childers, crew chief for the No. 00 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota and Pat Tryson, crew chief of the No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota, also received a $25,000 fine each for also using mounting brackets that had not been submitted to NASCAR for approval.
All crew chiefs were also placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31, 2010.
“We accept NASCAR’s ruling and will not appeal because we cannot debate whether the part was submitted, only whether or not the part needed submission,” MWR executive vice president Cal Wells said in a statement released by Michael Waltrip Racing on Wednesday. “This gives us a clear line of sight on how parts need to be submitted for approval. We will work diligently with NASCAR in the future on all new parts to ensure this does not happen to MWR again.”
Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Food City 500
With four races in the books, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will head to Bristol Motor Speedway for this weekend’s Food City 500. Kurt Busch will attempt to follow up his win at Atlanta two weeks ago by winning this race for the fifth time.
Hope everybody’s all rested up after the off weekend, but it’s high time that we get into the swing of things and kick this season into full gear. This will be the last race that 2009 owner’s points determine the cars locked into the starting field for this season, so expect some backmarkers to try and push towards the front.
My pick for the weekend stays in the Busch family – I’m picking Kyle to win. Easy, I know. But in his last three Bristol starts, he has accumulated an average finish of 1.3 while leading 861 of a possible 1503 laps. That’s over 57% of his past three Bristol starts. Also keep in mind that Rowdy has led a lap in every Bristol race dating back to the spring of 2006, and has led in double digits in five of those eight events.
My dark horse for the week has to be Marcos Ambrose. Still looking for his first top-10 of the season, mired at 28th in points due to DNFs at Daytona and California, Ambrose has finishes of 10th and 3rd at Bristol in Cup cars. Bristol is known as a track of heavy beating and banging, as are the V8 Supercars that Ambrose drove in Australia before coming stateside.
Three more, as per tradition:
Kurt Busch. I’ve discovered over the years that a solid projection of a driver’s skill at any once track is the amount of top-10s he accumulates. If, over a career of decent length, he finishes in the top 10 about half the time, he is usually judged as a star at that given track. That would be Busch at Bristol… oh, and the five career wins there help too.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been decent at Bristol since joining Hendrick Motorsports, though it was mostly his work with Dale Earnhardt Inc. that currently gives him the sixth best average finish at Bristol of all active drivers. He’s also been fast for much of the year, with an average start of 8.5. Qualifying up front at such a small track gives drivers an inherent advantage, not only because leaders can catch lapped traffic quickly, but also because of their better pit selection – though that mattered more when Bristol separated its backstretch pits from its frontstretch ones.
Finally, let’s not forget that Kevin Harvick has a strong Bristol record. While he only has one win, the current series points leader has 11 top-10s in 18 career starts. Happy’s also in the best equipment he’s had in years, and there’s no reason to expect things to drop off now.
Off the track … with Marcos Ambrose
Sporting News goes behind the scenes—and off the track—with Sprint Cup Series driver Marcos Ambrose.
My first car was … a small four-wheel drive.
My dream car is … Ferrari F40.
The best cruising music is … Kings of Leon.
My average freeway cruising speed is … 70 mph.
When I get a flat … I change it in 2 minutes.
The last time I used a GPS was … finding every track in the United States.
Hybrids are … cool.
I got my last speeding ticket for going … 65 mph in a 50-mph zone in Virginia.
My No. 1 car tip is … don’t drive tired.
My No. 1 pet peeve with fellow motorists is … tailgating.
On a scale of 1-10, my road rage rating is … a 1. I am laid-back.
The Sprint Cup driver who’d be the most maniacal on the road is … Greg Biffle.
I wouldn’t be caught dead in a … Mini Moke.
— As told to Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
