Notebook: Fellow open-wheelers give Patrick support
LOUDON, N.H.—After winning the pole for Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Juan Pablo Montoya dropped by Danica Patrick’s motor coach on Friday.
Montoya, who was amazed at the spirit of cooperation he found in the NASCAR Sprint Cup garage as a rookie, is carrying on the tradition of helpfulness with Patrick, who returned to Nationwide Series racing in Saturday’s New England 200.
“Juan stopped over,” Patrick said after Saturday morning’s qualifying session. “He walked in, and I’d seen that he’d done a good job, and I was like, ‘Where’d you end up finishing in qualifying,’ and he was like, ‘Oh, pole.’ And I’m like ‘Oh, yeah. Whatever.’
“He’s a really nice guy, and I’m really lucky to have so many guys that want to help me out. I talked to Max Papis for a little bit last night, too. He’s obviously a fellow old open-wheel driver—so lots of good help.”
Montoya said Saturday after a post-practice debriefing in his transporter that he was there simply to lend his support.
“It was just chit-chat,” Montoya said, before stopping to sign autographs for a line of waiting fans.
Patrick said eliminating mistakes and trusting her instincts are the two most important keys to her progress in NASCAR racing.
“I think the most important thing for me to do is finish, and the worst thing that I could do would be to go out onto the track and make a mistake or lose it and put it in the wall,” Patrick said. “I mean, that doesn’t look good or help me in any way. It’s going to be really important for me to just make methodical steps forward. …
“I think the most important thing that I was reminded of this weekend is to just trust my instincts and trust what I’m feeling in the car and don’t try to make up a feeling that’s not there, really—I mean to not go out there my first run and say, ‘Maybe I’m not doing a good job; let me go again,’ and then you try a little harder, and then you make a mistake and do something silly.
“So it’s to come in and say, ‘Hey, look, I’m loose. I’m sorry.’ If I can’t brake into the corner, and if I can’t get on the power, I’m not comfortable. So it’s about trusting that instinct and, I mean, it’s been something that’s been groomed for 19 years, so I have to trust that.”
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
Ryan Truex, 18, won Friday’s K&N Pro Series East race at New Hampshire to become the third member of his family to win a race in the series at the Magic Mile.
Martin Truex Sr. won a race at Loudon in what was then the Busch North Series in 1994. Ryan’s brother, Martin Truex Jr., who now drives a Cup car for Michael Waltrip Racing, won twice at New Hampshire in Busch North (2000 and 2003) and once in the Nationwide Series (2005).
“It’s cool, and it’s a neat deal that we’re father, son and son to win here—all three of us,” Truex Jr. said after posting the sixth-fastest speed in Saturday’s final Cup practice. “It’s pretty special. I think it’s real special for my dad. He was pretty excited, and it was just fun to watch.”
JOHNSON TOPS SPEED CHART
The only driver to exceed 130 mph in Saturday’s final Cup practice, Jimmie Johnson ran 130.590 mph to outdistance the rest of the field in Happy Hour. Jeff Burton was second quickest at 129.121 mph as the drivers made their final preparations for Sunday’s race.
Polesitter Juan Pablo Montoya was eighth fastest in the hour-long session. Cup points leader Kevin Harvick, who will start 24th, posted the 16th-fastest speed.
Johnson won last Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway to break a winless streak that had reached 10 races.
Notebook: Gordon expecting retribution from Infineon
LOUDON, N.H.—Jeff Gordon said he expects drivers to line up for shots at him after his aggressive run last Sunday at Infineon Raceway.
First in line might be Martin Truex Jr., whom Gordon wrecked while racing hard against Juan Pablo Montoya. Gordon said he “made a mistake” in Truex’s case and left a phone message for the Toyota driver after the race.
Truex did not return the call.
“He left me a voice mail, but I still feel the same way,” Truex told a group of reporters outside the New Hampshire media center. “I’m in the same position I was in then, so why should I feel any different? I accept his apology, yes, but things are going to change between me and him. That’s the bottom line.”
Truex, whose promising run at Sonoma degenerated into a 42nd-place finish, stopped short of saying he would wreck Gordon but insisted he would race the four-time champion differently from here on out.
“Am I going to do what he did to me?—I’m not going to stand here and say I am,” Truex said. “I’m going to change the way I race him, yeah. I’ve always been very, very respectful. I just have never got that back. It’s just one of those deals where you race with a guy like Mark Martin, and you run him down from a straightaway, and he lets you go because he doesn’t want to hold himself up, but at the same time he’s doing you a favor.
“You run Jeff down—if I run Jeff down from a straightaway—he races me like we’re going for the win. When he catches me, I don’t do that to him. It’s little things like that that can make some people’s world a living hell sometimes. There’s been times when Jeff’s caught me and never even gave me a chance to get out of the way. He just started running into me and he’s the first guy to hang his middle finger out the window when he goes by you. Things are going to change, that’s all I’m saying.”
Gordon said he wasn’t surprised Truex didn’t call him back.
“I owed Martin that,” Gordon said. “I owed him at least an apology, a phone call—and then some. So I genuinely felt terrible about what happened. I knew he wasn’t going to call me back. I knew that it’s going to be a long time, if ever, for him to forget about that. So, I did my part. I felt like I did the right thing, but I didn’t expect anything in return.”
Another driver who might like a shot at Gordon is Kurt Busch, but the driver of the No. 2 Penske Dodge doesn’t consider himself a prime candidate.
“I would say that I’m in the line, but I’m not at the top of the list,” said Busch, who finished 32nd Sunday after cutting a tire during hard racing with Gordon late in the event. “There are a lot of guys in front of me that want to go talk to Jeff ‘Bulldozer’ Gordon.”
BURTON DECRIES ‘UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR’
Rather than singling out Gordon for the wild racing at Sonoma, Jeff Burton slammed the entire field.
“Well I thought last week was horrendous,” Burton said Friday before Sprint Cup practice. “I thought the behavior shown last week from driver to driver was completely unacceptable. If our sport is going to become that, then we need to change it from racing to demolition cars—because that wasn’t racing last week. …
“Ultimately, it’s the drivers’ responsibility to have some respect for each other. The last 10 laps of that race didn’t look like we were the best drivers in this country—it looked like we were some of the worst drivers in this country. Again, it’s just ridiculous.”
JOHNSON WINS $100K GRANT
Jimmie Johnson’s charitable project was the voters’ choice for a $100,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project. The grant, announced Friday at New Hampshire, will provide financial relief to pediatric bone marrow transplant patients and their families as part of a Be The Match Foundation initiative.
After more than 500,000 votes were cast online, Johnson’s project prevailed over ideas proposed by Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Gordon received $25,000 for the Jeff Gordon Children’s Hospital in Concord, N.C., to support victims of physical and sexual abuse. Earnhardt received $25,000 toward the building of a computer lab at Shepherd Elementary School near his home in Mooresville, N.C.
Asked whether he was surprised to beat Earnhardt in a contest that involved fan votes, Johnson laughed.
“Yeah, that’s the impressive underlying note in all this,” he said. “I’m shocked, excited, and thrilled and can’t thank my fans enough. I’ve been preaching that I have a strong fan base for a long time, and I’m glad to see the evidence.”
SMITH WITH A SPLINT
Regan Smith is driving with a broken wrist this weekend after fracturing the scaphoid bone at the base of his left thumb during a wreck on Lap 67 of last Sunday’s race. Smith has been fitted with a custom-molded splint.
Appellant board upholds Front Row penalties
The National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel has decided to uphold the penalties access to Front Row Motorsports’ No. 38 Sprint Cup Series team.
The team was handed a large penalty after using unapproved valve stem hardware at Pocono Raceway two weeks ago. In all, five penalties were accessed. Driver Travis Kvapil and team owner Doug Yates both lost 150 driver and owner points, respectively. Crew chief Steven Lane was assessed a $100,000 fine, suspended for 12 Sprint Cup Series races and placed on NASCAR probation under Dec. 31.
Car Chief Richard Bourgeois and tire specialist Michael Harrold were also suspended 12 races each.
In their appeal, Front Row Motorsports only questioned the suspensions of Bourgeois and Harrold.
The team argued that the valve stems were placed on the hauler and used during the race by mistake.
The caps had small holes drilled in them with a foam material placed on the inside, seemingly to create an air release system to let excess air pressure drain out of the tires during the race. The caps were attached to the left front and rear tires when they were found as the car was exciting pit road to begin the pace laps at Pocono.
The board has ruled that the penalties shall remain intact, with the suspensions of Bourgeois and Harrold to begin this week.
The team will have the opportunity to appeal the decision to the National Stock Car Racing Chief Appellate Officer. The team has yet to release a statement on the penalty and have not yet commuted to appealing the decision.
Shell/Pennzoil leaving RCR for Penske after season
Shell/Pennzoil is expected to leave Richard Childress Racing and driver Kevin Harvick at the end of the season and will sponsor a car at Penske Racing—likely for 2004 Sprint Cup champion Kurt Busch—beginning in 2011, SceneDaily.com reported Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the situation.
An announcement concerning the Shell/Pennzoil sponsorship is expected to come Wednesday.
According to sources, the leading candidate for the Pennzoil sponsorship is Busch, whose contract with Penske runs out at the end of this year but team owner Roger Penske has said he planned to pick up the option and just needed to negotiate terms with Busch.
Busch’s current sponsor, Miller Lite, could move to Brad Keselowski, whose car does not have sponsor logos but gets support from Verizon, which cannot be on the hood of a Sprint Cup car because of Sprint’s sponsorship of the series.
With Shell/Pennzoil as a sponsor, Mobil, sponsor of Penske Cup driver Sam Hornish Jr., likely is going away because Mobil and Shell are competitors.
Shell/Pennzoil has been with Harvick since 2007; Busch has been the Miller Lite driver since 2006.
The departure of Shell/Pennzoil from RCR leaves that organization, as well as Harvick, looking for a sponsor. Harvick’s contract expires at the end of this year.
Burton says Earnhardt being in top-12 good for sport, and Junior himself
What do NASCAR television ratings, merchandise sales and website traffic have in common? They’ve all been down since 2008.
Is the decline because of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s recent lack of success in NASCAR’s premier series? Possibly.
Jeff Burton said on Friday at a wet Martinsville Speedway during his weekly, top-12 media availability session that Earnhardt’s reappearance in the top-12 in Sprint Cup Series driver points is not only good for Earnhardt, but for the sport as well.
“Junior has a huge following in the sport,” Burton said. “There are so many people that watch what he’s doing. There is no way that having Dale Jr. doing well isn’t good for the sport, and to be honest, more importantly it’s good for him. I like Junior. I think he’s a good racecar driver that has had a lot of attention put on him over the past couple of years that wasn’t good attention. It’d be good to see Junior having fun again, because the way things have been going he hasn’t been having fun. Honestly, I think he’s fun to talk to and he has a lot of respect for the sport. He’s the kind of person that I like to see do well.”
If anyone knows about slumps, Burton does.
The South Boston, VA native finished 17th in Sprint Cup Series points last season—his worst finish in full-time Sprint Cup Series racing since his back-to-back 18th place points finishes in 2004 and 2005.
Once Burton was finally able to race full-time, he won 17 races from 1997-2001. However, Burton fell into a winless streak, going four years without a win in the Sprint Cup Series, despite posting final points rankings of 12th, 12th, 18th and 18th from 2002-2005, respectively.
Burton’s top-five finish number also took a significant cut, dropping from the 15-20 per year range during the years 1997-2001, to single digit amounts—which he has had ever since 2002.
Last year, the entire Richard Childress Racing organization, of which Burton is a part of and the team that had all three drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2008, went winless.
So far this season, Burton has only one top-five and two top-ten finishes. Although, Burton isn’t disappointed with his statistics. Instead, he is disappointed with he and his team’s execution—or lack thereof.
“I’m disappointed that we haven’t executed with some opportunities that we’ve had,” Burton said. “We’ve run well and had fast race cars at every race, and I don’t necessarily have the finishes to show for it. I’m disappointed with that. We had a great chance to win at California and we didn’t execute on that. A lot of people said, ‘Well the No. 48 got a lucky break.’ They did, but we restarted third with enough of laps to go win the race and we didn’t make it happen. Last week, we were running fifth on the last caution and ended up finishing tenth. At Atlanta, we had fast car and had a problem, and then I made the problem worse. We’ve got to do a better job of executing. If we do that we’ll win our races. I don’t want to sit up here and say that we’re good enough to be winning because if we were, we would have been winning. You are what your record says you are, and our record says that we haven’t been good enough to win yet. I’m disappointed with that, but my focus has been on why haven’t we been winning. We haven’t been winning because we haven’t executed on it, and in some other cases we weren’t fast enough to win. We need to get a little more speed and we have to execute better.”
Struggling former Chasers need big day in Atlanta
Spring is just beginning in the Northern Hemisphere, but for many of those people who race in NASCAR, the time of hope is rapidly giving way to the time of get the heck going.
Although it may be only three races into the season, shallow holes can become deep holes much easier than they can become level ground in auto racing.
When the Sprint Cup cars show up at Atlanta Motor Speedway for this weekend’s Kobalt Tools 500, some of the most hopeful of the preseason hopefuls know they had better be packing large, functioning shovels.
The News:
— Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Tornadoes Chevrolet, will be making his 300th career Sprint Cup Series start this weekend at Atlanta.
— With a win this weekend, Jimmie Johnson will move into a tie with Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson at 50 Sprint Cup Series wins. It would also be Johnson’s third consecutive win after he has won the last two races at Auto Club Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The Word:
— Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 56 NAPA Toyota: “I really enjoy this track. This is one of my favorites. I have had some great runs here. I came close to winning here. We won the pole here back in the fall. It is a place where I feel comfortable. I enjoy racing here. It is definitely one of my favorites.”
— Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota: “We are in need of a good run after last week in Vegas. I am confident in this team, and I can think of no better track in which to rebound and run up front. Atlanta’s been a good track for us. Daytona was good. California was good. We had good cars, but we didn’t have great finishes. Las Vegas was horrible, and we just want to get it behind us.”
The Info:
What: Kobalt Tools 500
Where: Atlanta Motor Speedway; Hampton, Ga.
When: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
TV: Fox, noon ET
Radio: PRN/Sirius Satellite Ch. 128
Track layout: 1.54-mile oval
Race distance: 325 laps/500.5 miles
Estimated pit window: 50-55 laps
Qualifying: Friday, 6:10 p.m. ET
2009 winner: Kurt Busch
2009 polesitter: Mark Martin
Drivers like 2009 Chase qualifiers Kurt Busch and Brian Vickers will be almost 200 points behind leader Kevin Harvick when they fire the engines on Sunday. Hip championship pick Denny Hamlin will be more than 200 points back, as will Kasey Kahne, another driver of whom much was expected this year.
A couple of other Chasers from last year, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ryan Newman, are in danger of falling out of the top 35 in points and being forced to qualify for races on speed beginning two races after Atlanta.
Yep, there is a large crowd of drivers who would love to pile up some points this weekend.
Newman said this week that doing well at Atlanta is not essential when it comes to saving his season. “I think every racetrack or every day is a new opportunity,” he said.
And he happily pointed out he and his team placed 22nd at Atlanta last season and headed out through the tunnel 32nd in points—but still made the Chase.
But he also tacitly acknowledged that at some point, digging upward must replace digging downward, saying, “It’s up to our team to go out there and make that happen.”
Busch said he would like to go out there and make it happen soon because, among other things, he misses his old neighbors.
“It’s just a bummer that you won’t be parked up front (in the garages) next to the compadres that we’ve been running with the last two years,” Busch said of being point poor. “It’s always good when you’re running with the front guys because you get to park next to them and see what’s going on and be in the ‘in’ crowd so to speak.”
And none of the hole-dwellers wants to head into the off-weekend that follows Atlanta thinking about how far they have to go rather than how far they advanced in Georgia.
Atlanta would seem to be a great place for several of the struggling drivers and teams to start reversing field; it has long been a driver favorite. This week, it was virtually impossible to find one who was not looking forward to racing there on Sunday.
“I like old, slick, wore out racetracks,” said Vickers, who is 18th in points. “They’re what I grew up racing, and I’ve always enjoyed those racetracks. I really like Atlanta, and I like running against the wall. Atlanta has all of the above.”
Montoya, 26th in points, said, “It’s the first track I learned to run on the high line. It’s a track that gives you options with multiple grooves, and the high line has worked for me. I can run the No. 42 Target Chevrolet right up against the fence. It’s exciting and pushes us as drivers and cars to the limit. It’s a driver’s track.”
Perhaps most important is the fact several of the drivers desperate for success have histories of success at the 1.5-mile oval, which is still the fastest on the schedule.
Busch (19th) and Kahne (23rd) are two-time winners at Atlanta. Busch won last year’s spring race; Kahne won the fall race. Busch thinks recent success can help produce current success.
“Confidence is up and on a high going into a race that you’ve won,” Busch said. “You hope that things come together just as smoothly as they did the year before. … A top-10 finish would be great, but we’re shooting for a win because we won last year.”
And, because he is one of that group that can ill-afford to fall further behind the leaders.
NASCAR Prankster Lee Roy Mercer Succombs To Liver Cancer On Jan. 21
After many reports that surfaced on March 1 that NASCAR prankster Lee Roy Mercer was deceased on Facebook, the news was finally confirmed on March 2. Lee Roy Mercer, who was best known for his prank calls to some of NASCAR’s most famous drivers, was called home to be with the Lord on Jan. 21, 2010 after losing a fight to liver cancer.
Mercer included drivers such as Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick, Bobby Labonte, and Roush Fenway team owner Jack Roush, along with a host of other NASCAR notables on a CD which was rightly named, “Gone Racin.”
Mercer also bottled his own brand of hot sauce, and had his own line of hats and t-shirts that he sold from his website.
It was just last season that Mercer also held a drawing for one lucky fan and his/her guest, to attend Tony Stewarts, “A Prelude to the Dream,“ which included a chance to meet the guest of honor before the race.
According to WARHEAD Records Vice President Jon Holtz, Mercer had kept the illness a secret from his family as well as his friends, and the death came as shock to all those that knew him.
Holtz first found out about Mercer’s death on Sunday Feb. 28, which happened to be the same day of the private memorial which was held at a local VFW hall. Mercer served in the US Army from Jan. 1968 until Jan. 1971 when he was given an honorable discharge.
Holtz also mentioned in his statement that he had just spoken with Mercer on Jan. 8, when he had asked Holtz to secure credentials for the March 21 Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway through his good friend Jack Roush.
Holtz said that on that day Mercer was in good spirits, and was looking forward to the upcoming 2010 season when he would begin another promotional tour to promote his CD and hot sauce.
According to Holtz, there were some common legalities caused by Lee Roy’s death happening out of his home state of Tennessee which caused an investigation and an autopsy to be preformed.
This caused a very lengthened delay to his family’s plans for his final arrangements.
Also included in the statement from WARHEAD Records and Jon Holtz was this request, “I am asking all of Lee Roy’s fans and friends to please send out their blessings and prayers to the family in this dark and tragic time of loss.”
The world of comedy will never be the same.
Jimmie Johnson scores 49th career victory at Las Vegas
Four time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson scored his second consecutive win Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after upsetting teammate Jeff Gordon to capture the 49th victory of his career.
“It came down to pit stops,” Johnson said. “I thought the race was going to come down to pit stops and who got a good restart. Kind of turned out that way, although the four tires I think helped us more than anything. I got a good start and got around Bowyer at one and two. Was behind Jeff, chasing him. I’d been chasing him all day. Wasn’t sure I’d get by him. Just kept putting a lot of pressure on him, hoping he’d make a mistake, hoping I could get him to overdrive his car and make it tight or do something wrong.
| Fin | Driver | Pts | Led |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson, #48 | 190 | 18 |
| 2 | Kevin Harvick, #29 | 175 | 2 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon, #24 | 175 | 219 |
| 4 | Mark Martin, #5 | 160 | |
| 5 | Matt Kenseth, #17 | 160 | 9 |
| 6 | Joey Logano, #20 | 150 | |
| 7 | Tony Stewart, #14 | 151 | 7 |
| 8 | Clint Bowyer, #33 | 147 | 3 |
| 9 | Kasey Kahne, #9 | 138 | |
| 10 | Greg Biffle, #16 | 139 | 4 |
“Finally I was able to get inside of him and committed to trying the slide job on him in three and four, was able to get by.
“Great day. Pit road, our guys had awesome stops. One issue with the lug nut falling off, and they still recovered from that issue very well. I think we’re pretty solid from a team standpoint from across the board.”
Chad Knaus, crew chief of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, called for a four-tire stop on lap 230—the final stop of the day—which would cause Johnson to move back to his fourth place restart position. Johnson would go on to begin his side-by-side battle for the lead with teammate Gordon on lap 235. Eventually, the El Cajon, Calif. native was able to pass Gordon for the lead on lap 251, staying far enough ahead of a hard charging Harvick, for the opportunity to visit victory lane Sunday night.
Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Shell Pennzoil Chevrolet, took two tires on the last stop of the race, but ran out of laps in his pursuit of Johnson to bring home a second place.
“It was a good day,” Harvick said. “For us, I put us behind on Friday when I smacked the wall there in practice. The guys did a great job fixing the car. We just got behind from that point and were able to make up ground today. That to me is the most promising thing we’ve been able to do the last two weeks, is go to the back and come to the front.
“It was tough to pass today. We were able to get the track position that we needed at the end of the race. Just came up one spot short.”
Gordon, who led 218 of 267 laps, finished the race third after dominating most of the race. The driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet took only two tires and made a chassis adjustment on the final, lap 230 stop, and saw his lap times and handling fall off at the end of the race before he forfeited the lead and second place in the closing laps.
Jeff Gordon dominated Sunday's Shelby American race in Las Vegas -- leading 210 laps of the 267-lap race. He finished third. Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images
“Well, obviously it was a great day for us, dominating performance,” Gordon said. “The car was awesome, everything was good. Very disappointed to get beat by a two- versus four-tire stop.
“You know, Steve and I talked about it all weekend long, going into today. We came here to win. You know, we knew we were going to have to take chances and risks, and we did throughout the day, and it paid off for us. I think we just thought more people would take two tires. It just didn’t work out.”
Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin finished the race in fourth while the Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-five finishers.
“It was pretty good,” Kenseth said. “The Crown Royal Ford handled pretty well all day. They made some really good adjustments all day, but we had that one run where we got off sequence. I thought we had a loose wheel or something and it turned out they couldn’t find anything, but I got really loose and had a real bad vibration so for safety sake, we went ahead and pitted. I was worried that if we didn’t get a caution it was gonna cost us, but at the end of the day it worked out.”
The Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Joey Logano finished sixth, joining the Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet of Tony Stewart, the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Clint Bowyer, the Richard Petty Motorsports Ford of Kasey Kahne and the Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Greg Biffle to round out the top-ten finishers.
Crew members work on the car of polesitter Kurt Busch, after he was involved in a three-car accident with Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya. Busch struggled throughout the rest of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Shelby American, finishing 35th. Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images
The two Las Vegas, Nev. natives in the race, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch, didn’t fare as well as they had hoped. Kurt, who qualified on the pole for today’s race, was involved in an early incident between the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing teammates of Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray on lap 93. Kurt received some front end damage but was able to return to the race to finish eight laps down in the 35th position.
“Certainly not the day that we anticipated with our Miller Lite Dodge,” Kurt said. “We had great expectations starting on the pole here at my home track and Lady Luck wasn’t on our side. We struggled a bit early with the slick track conditions, but I knew that Steve (Addington, crew chief) had the game plan to tighten us up during that first (pit) stop. We talked on the radio and we both knew that there was plenty of race left to get our Miller Lite Dodge back to the front. We got the car back underneath us, but then we got caught up in the wreck with the 1 (McMurray) and 42 (Montoya) on Lap 94 that basically ended our day. It was a bit confusing and I’m still not sure what happened. We were 11th on the board on the restart and the next thing I knew we’re positioned on the outside of Row 6 in 12th. I was a sitting duck for the wreck in front of us. Do we get collected if we’re on the inside lane? Who knows? It happened and we have to move on. The Miller Lite guys did all that they could to get the right side fixed so that I could go out, makes some laps and finish the race.”
Kyle ended up finishing 15th after a pit road speeding penalty brought him through pit road under the green flag on lap 223.
“Our M&M’s Camry wasn’t bad all day,” Kyle said. “We were a little tight early in the race and our balance wasn’t bad, it just didn’t seem like we had the speed. We ran a really patient race, but on our last stop there was too much rear brake and I slid across the line coming in. Totally my fault. I’m just sorry for the guys since we had a decent car but didn’t finish where we ran all day long.”
There were a total of seven cautions for 29 laps on Sunday, two of which were caused by a caution light malfunction. On lap 53, the malfunction reared its head for the first time, causing the third caution of the day, as the lights did not turn off once the race restarted after the second caution of the day just a few laps earlier. The issue occurred again on lap 107 to bring out the sixth caution of the race when some of the caution lights again turned on inadvertently.
Notes: Las Vegas Motor Speedway recorded their ninth consecutive sellout. The race also brought in the largest crowd so far in the 2010 Sprint Cup Series season. … Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 16th after qualifying fourth and suffering an ill-handling race car for much of the race. … Jimmie Johnson is now 12th on the all-time Sprint Cup Series wins list. … The margin of victory was 1.874 seconds.
Carl and Kate Edwards Give Birth To NASCAR’s Newest Sweetheart
Congratulations are in order for Carl Edwards, driver on the No. 99 Aflac sponsored Roush Fenway Ford Fusion, and his wife Kate on the birth of their daughter Anne Edwards.
Instead of a bouncing baby boy, Anne was born a back flipping baby girl, and the doctor rated the flip a perfect 10.
Anne was born February 24, 2010 in Columbia, Mo., at 12:44 p.m. (CT) weighing it at 8 lbs., 4oz. For anyone wanting to send flowers or gifts, Carl and Kate have requested that instead donations be made to the following charity.
Back 2 Back Ministries c/o Anne Edwards
P.O. Box 70
Mason, Ohio 45040
Donations will be used for an orphanage in Monterrey , Mexico .
Special thanks to Lori A. Halbeisen Roush Fenway Racing
Jamie McMurray wins the 52nd Daytona 500
In his first Sprint Cup Series points race with his new team at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, Jamie McMurray was able to hold off a hard-charging and determined Dale Earnhardt Jr. to capture the checkers in the 52nd Running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday night.
McMurray, who didn’t sign a contract with the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet team until November 11 last year, laid down and kissed the Daytona 500 signage on the infield grass at Daytona International Speedway after accomplishing something that only 33 other drivers had done in the history of the event.
As he came to the checkered flag, McMurray said he looked up in his rear-view mirror and saw Earnhardt Jr. charging hard and thought that it maybe wasn’t his turn yet.
“Biffle helped me out,” McMurray said. “I spun the tires on the restart. It is just a gamble on which line to get the biggest run. Greg gave me an unbelievable push down the backstretch. Then when I saw the No. 88 (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) behind me, I thought ‘Oh no’. He had a good car and Earnhardt at Daytona is just, I mean they win all the time it seems like. So you never know what to expect.
“I certainly thank the fans that stuck around. That was tough having to get in and out of the car but they stuck with us and it was cool to here the applause when I got back in car. Sprint for everything they do. I went to one of their parties the other night and Dan Hesson is just a great guy and it means a lot. Not only Sprint, but everybody that is a part of our sport. With the economy the way it is, we couldn’t be here to put this show without all these sponsors. I want to get with my team.”
Earnhardt Jr. started tenth on the green-white-checkered finish and worked all the way up to his eventual second place finish.
“It was a lot of fun,” Earnhardt said after the race, as he described his final laps. “It went by so fast, I couldn’t really tell you the process. But I just remember going down the back straightaway and getting in between Greg (Biffle), and I don’t remember who was on the outside of me. We all kind of wiggled through that whole deal. Jamie got away from us. I didn’t even know where I was. Then we got into three. I was counting in my head how many laps we ran. I knew we were coming to the checkered, I was running second, this is awesome, but it kind of sucks at the same time.
“It was frustrating to come that close. But, hell, we were running 22nd at the first ‘green-white-checkered’.”
Former teammate of McMurray at Roush Fenway Racing, Greg Biffle, finished the race second and was among the first to victory lane to congratulate McMurray.
“Yeah, I mean, we do stuff away from the racetrack quite a bit, Jamie and Christy and Matt and Katie,” said Biffle. “The three of us, you know, do different stuff. We go on ski trips, you know, out to dinner, (and) do different things. I probably hang out with him more than any other driver.
“So I was really excited. Plus I was his former teammate. … This is a big, big win for anybody’s career. You got to be happy for anybody that ever wins this race. I was especially happy, the four guys, I was up there beating and banging with, you know, I would rather see Jamie win than those guys for being a teammate. Now I can get him to take me out to dinner and pay for it.”
Clint Bowyer finished fourth after leading 36 laps during the day. Michael Waltrip Racing teammates David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr. finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Richard Childress Racing’s Kevin Harvick couldn’t get it done tonight even though he led 41 laps on his way to a seventh place finish. The Roush Fenway Racing duo of Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards joined McMurray’s teammate Juan Pablo Montoya in rounding out the top-ten finishers.
The race saw a total of nine cautions for 40 laps and two red flag stents that kept the action at ease for more than two hours and 20 minutes.
The first caution of the night involved Brad Keselowski, Max Papis, Boris Said, Sam Hornish Jr. and Regan Smith in turn two. All drivers were able to return to the track at some point during the event after this accident.
Joe Nemechek was involved in a single-car accident that ended his night and caused the second caution of the race on lap 67. He finished the race 43rd as the first car to exit the race.
Mike Bliss was the cause of the third caution of the night on the backstretch on lap 79, forcing him to exit the race early and finish 42nd.
From there, the action stopped—for a long time. John Andretti lost a tire in turn two, causing him to hit the wall and the caution to fly. Jimmie Johnson reported tire issues soon after and immediately came down pit road.
Once the commotion from the two tire issues with Andretti and Johnson settled down, NASCAR and track officials noticed a large hole in turns one and two. The red flag was thrown while track officials and engineers worked on the whole. The red flag lasted a total of an hour and 40 minutes .
AJ Allmendinger spun on the backstretch on lap 144 for the fifth caution of the night.
Some 40 laps later, on lap 161, NASCAR was once again forced to throw the red flag on the race for the hole in turns one and two. This red flag, however, lasted only 44 minutes as track officials repaired the whole with a different material that held on for the rest of the event.
On lap 195 the seventh caution of the race flew on the drivers as Elliott Sadler, Travis Kvapil and Ryan Newman crashed on the backstretch. This caution set up a two-lap dash to the finish.
As the leaders were coming around to the take the white flag, they got the yellow one instead. This time, for the eight caution of the night in turn three when Joe Logano, Bill Elliott and Boris Said crashed, setting up a green-white-checkered finish.
Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Robert Richardson wrecked on lap 204 for the ninth and final caution of the night, setting up the second, and final, green-white-checkered finish.
Notes: The Daytona 500 saw a race record among of leaders, 22, and fell just seven lead changes short of breaking the record amount of 59—set in 1974. … This is the ninth consecutive race that a different driver has won the Daytona 500. … McMurray led only two laps to capture his Daytona 500 victory, the least ever led by an eventual winner of the Great American Race.
Stewart wins at Daytona; Patrick victim of early wreck
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It was Tony Stewart’s good fortune to lead much of Saturday’s DRIVE4COPD 300 Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway — because all hell kept breaking loose behind him.
In a race widely trumpeted as Danica Patrick’s NASCAR debut, Stewart took the checkered flag .309 seconds ahead of 2008 series champion Carl Edwards.
In winning the season opener, Stewart achieved several milestones: he won the February Nationwide race at Daytona for the third straight time and fifth overall, and he claimed his sixth victory in the series on restrictor-plate superspeedways, tying Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the career lead in that category.
“There were some really good cars that got mangled up today,” Stewart said, referring to crashes that damaged the cars of Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski, among others. “We were just lucky to be in front when it happened.”
Stewart led the final 20 laps under green after a restart on Lap 101.
Kevin Harvick, who owns the No. 4 Chevrolet that Stewart was driving in his only scheduled Nationwide appearance of the year, finished third in his own No. 33 Chevy. Justin Allgaier came home fourth and Brian Vickers fifth.
Patrick lasted a little more than half the race. Just as she appeared to be getting comfortable while running with the lead draft, her No. 7 Chevrolet was damaged beyond repair on Lap 68 of 120 in a 12-car wreck off Turn 4 that began with contact between the No. 16 Ford of Colin Braun and the No. 61 Ford of Josh Wise.
“There’s nothing you can do — you can’t see anything,” Patrick radioed to crew chief Tony Eury Jr. after sliding into a pack of cars turned sideways in front of her. “I was just starting to get it, too, man.”
Patrick was credited with a 35th-place finish.
Earnhardt had a strong car, but his No. 88 Chevrolet was an innocent victim of a backstretch wreck on Lap 92, which started when Edwards tried to squeeze into a small space in the outside lane. Contact between Edwards’ Ford and Brad Keselowski’s Dodge sent Keselowski’s car spinning into Earnhardt’s Chevrolet, which turned upside-down and slid on its roof before righting itself in the infield.
“We were having a real good run, and I felt good about our chances,” said Earnhardt, whose company, JR Motorsports, also owns the car Patrick will drive in selected races this season. “I’ll have to go back and balance the books — it was an expensive day for JR Motorsports.”
Johnson, Kahne win Duels; Waltrip makes 500 field
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Kasey Kahne won a drag race off the final corner to beat Tony Stewart to the finish line by .014 seconds in the second of two Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying races Thursday at Daytona International Speedway—and that was the second-closest finish of the afternoon.
In the first Duel, Jimmie Johnson—driving a backup car and electing to stay out on old tires—edged Kevin Harvick by .005 seconds as the field was set for the Sunday’s Daytona 500, the season-opening points race for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series.
By virtue of his finish, Johnson will start from the third position in Sunday’s race, with Kahne beside him in the fourth position on the grid. Harvick nailed down the fifth starting spot with his runner-up finish in the first Duel, and Stewart will take the green flag in sixth position.
Polesitter Mark Martin (21st in the first Duel) and second-place starter Dale Earnhardt Jr. (21st in the second Duel, after damaging the body of his car) claimed their positions on the grid in last Saturday’s time trials.
For Johnson, the four-time defending Cup champion, fighting to hold the lead on old tires was an adventure. Even as he took the checkered flag at the end of a four-lap green-flag run to the finish, Johnson wasn’t sure the race was over.
“Really didn’t know how many laps we had left,” Johnson said, speaking in staccato sentences. “I was hopeful it was going to be done soon. My spotter wasn’t really sure. As I went by the start/finish line sideways, I looked up and hoped that it was the checkered, because I felt like I was going to spin out. I stayed on the gas, saved it. Everybody else let off around me. I knew the race was over.
“Certainly an exciting final few laps. With the car on older tires, the push I was getting from the RCR (Richard Childress Racing) cars and from the 18 (Kyle Busch), when they get close to the rear bumper of my car, literally would start turning the wheel to the right to save it. It stuck. Didn’t turn around on me.
“Thankful I made it back. I think we put on one heck of a race.”
With finishes in the first race of 14th and 15th, respectively, Michael McDowell and Max Papis grabbed the two transfer spots into the 500 available to drivers forced to race their way into NASCAR’s most prestigious event. A casualty of the first Duel at the 2.5-mile superspeedway was Michael Waltrip, who was in danger of seeing his streak of 23 straight Daytona 500 starts end after a hard crash into the inside wall on Lap 53.
Waltrip’s fortunes, however, took a major turn for the better when Scott Speed, the second-fastest qualifier in last Saturday’s time trials among drivers not locked into the field, passed Casey Mears for the second transfer position in the second Duel, thereby putting Waltrip into the 500 based on his fifth-best qualifying speed among go-or-go-home drivers.
Driving a backup car, Mike Bliss drove his way into Sunday’s field with a 13th-place run in the second Duel, putting owner Tommy Baldwin in the Great American Race for the second straight year.
Kahne led only three laps of the second Duel but held off Stewart as the drivers streaked toward the finish line.
“I enjoy racing Tony, because if you beat that guy, you’ve really done something on that day,” said Kahne, who rode a push from Kurt Busch’s Dodge to the front of the field.
Kyle Busch ran third in the first Duel, followed by Clint Bowyer and Regan Smith. Jamie McMurray, AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Newman, David Ragan and Jeff Gordon completed the top 10.
In the second 150-miler, Juan Pablo Montoya finished third, trailed by Kurt Busch and Elliott Sadler. Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Marcos Ambrose, David Reutimann and Brian Vickers (who scraped the Turn 4 wall while leading on Lap 55) filled out the top 10.
Danica Patrick Set to Make Nationwide Debut In Saturday’s Drive4COPD 300
Danica Patrick probably made the best decision of her young NASCAR career, by choosing to race in Saturday’s Drive4COPD 300 Nationwide race.
After hearing week after week the saga that followed her desire to race in the NASCAR Series, she held true to her words and the fans will finally get what they have been waiting for.
“I’ve got a lot to learn, but I have good people around me. We’re ready to go. I am here to drive a Sprint Cup Car in the Sprint Cup Series,” said Patrick.
The decision couldn’t have been an easy one, but when you think of the word competitor, why would any driver choose to sit out the biggest race of the season?
After all she did make it clear that her desire was to someday race in the cup series, and with a lot of the cup regulars entered into Saturdays race this is her best chance of the season to fulfill what she has set out to accomplish.
Timing in the NASCAR Series doesn’t always play into the drivers schedule, and sometime’s they have to go beyond the box and seize the moments as they come along.
Such was the case with Patrick, and her wanting to wait for the second Nationwide race of the season at Auto Club Speedway.
“Racing in the Nationwide Series race was my goal during this entire two-month preparation process, but we wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do,” Patrick said.
“The ARCA race was a blast, and I’m not ready for my first Daytona Speedweeks to end just yet. I want more racing.”
Now when you sit back and think about not only the experience that she will gain, but with the some of the cup regulars in the field at least she will be among some of the best drivers in the motorsports world who know how to handle a rookie driver.
Being the competitor that she is, it didn’t make much sense to skip the chance of a lifetime since there are no guarantees’ that an opportunity such as this will arise in the future.
In NASCAR racing as sad as it is, but we have seen the inevitable happen without giving some very good talent the chance to compete at this high level of racing.
Patrick has set a path that only she can walk down, and given the backing along with some of the best equipment in the series, it is up to her to take full advantage of what is being given to her.
Even though she finished sixth in her first official start in a stock car on Saturday in the Arca Series Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200, the trial and error phase has just begun along with a learning curve that is just as uncertain.
Its inevitable that whether she wins, loses, or doesn’t finish the race, the skeptics will be out in full force waiting to critique her every move.
Many fans around the various NASCAR social sites have already spoken saying that she has not earned the right to race in the NASCAR Series, all of that no longer matters because she is here and ready to make a go at it.
Basically when you come right down to it, we all have our opinions and now its up to her to prove that she does belong racing with the best stock cars drivers that the series has to offer, and get down to the task at hand.
Kelley Earnhardt said it the best, “She has worked extremely hard during the past two months for this opportunity. Her dedication and work ethic is infectious.”
Only time will tell how true these words really are.
Danica Patrick to enter 12-13 events in 2010
Nationwide Series part-timer Danica Patrick will race in 12-13 races this season, according to a release from JR Motorsports on Thursday. The season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 13 is still to be determined and whether or not she will drive in the event will depend on her performance in the ARCA ReMax Series race earlier that weekend. Regardless, the No. 7 Chevrolet will be entered into the Camping World 300.
“We want to give Danica the best opportunity to compete at Daytona, and that includes making sure she is 100 percent comfortable in that driver’s seat,” JR Motorsports co-owner and general manager Kelley Earnhardt Elledge said. “The Nationwide race there is perhaps the most competitive race of the year. Once the ARCA race is complete, we will get with Danica and make a decision based on the best interests of her, the team, and our sponsor Go Daddy. I’m extremely pleased with the working relationship between Danica and (crew chief) Tony Eury Jr. They are communicating well and working extremely hard in preparing for this season.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not be in the No. 7 car at Daytona as he will be driving the No. 88 Chevrolet instead of Kelly Bires, who won’t start his full season opportunity until the following race at Auto Club Speedway. According to the release, Bires could be the driver to take Patrick’s place in the Camping World 300.
If she doesn’t race in the Daytona Nationwide Series event, then she will make her NASCAR debut on Feb. 20 at Auto Club Speedway.
A four month break will occur after the Feb. 27 event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to allow her to focus on her IndyCar Series schedule with Andretti Autosport. The other ten races will then occur at Chicagoland Speedway (July 9), Michigan International Speedway (Aug. 14), Dover International Speedway (Sept. 25), Auto Club Speedway (Oct. 9), Charlotte Motor Speedway (Oct. 15), Gateway International Raceway (Oct. 23), Texas Motor Speedway (Nov. 6), Phoenix International Raceway (Nov. 13), and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 20).
“I’m thrilled to announce our 2010 Nationwide Series schedule,” Patrick said. “Like I’ve said before, we just want to be smart and calculative about this process. The tracks we’ve selected not only compliment the IndyCar schedule, but will give me quality seat time at a variety of facilities.”
Patrick’s IndyCar Series sponsor and longtime JR Motorsports partner, GoDaddy.com, will sponsor her No. 7 Chevrolet in all but two events on her 12 race schedule.
NASCAR announces several rule changes for 2010
The video boards at the NASCAR press conference on Thursday said “Great Racing … Great Stories.” NASCAR is already living up to that theme after they announced a series of rule changes in their pre-season press conference during the Sprint Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Quite possibly the most noted change will be the transformation from the wing to the spoiler later this season, marking the first major change to the new car since its inception in 2007. There will be an open test for all Sprint Cup Series teams on May 23-24 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Once the data is analyzed, NASCAR will once again turn to the teams to determine an official debut for the new piece.
“Over the last couple of years, there have been dozens of changes to this car, with this being the most visible change,” NASCAR’s vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said.
NASCAR will also be loosening up on the drivers even more this season. The bump-draft rules that gained a lot of attention at Daytona and Talladega last season are out the door this year. However, the yellow line rule is here to stay—for now—according to NASCAR.
Drivers will now be able to bump-draft anywhere, anytime at Daytona and Talladega. As NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France said, “NASCAR is a contact sport – our history is based on banging fenders.”
The bump-drafting rule, as a majority of the rules NASCAR has created or amended for this season, was brought on by the request of the fans and NASCAR’s drive to make the racing even more competitive.
Talladega Superspeedway President Rick Humphrey was in tune with what he says is the return of bump-drafting to Talladega.
“Words can hardly describe how excited I am about the return of bump-drafting,” Humphrey said. “NASCAR’s decision to put the racing back in the hands of the drivers is sure to have a positive impact on the competition and excitement race fans experience at Talladega Superspeedway.
“Certainly race fans have high expectations when they come to Talladega Superspeedway. They expect the tightest racing, the most lead changes, the most passes and the closest finishes. The return of bump-drafting certainly moves us toward meeting and exceeding each of those expectations.”
Also on tap for fellow restrictor-plate track, Daytona International Speedway, is the largest restrictor plate used in the Sprint Cup Series at Daytona since 1989 this year. The larger restrictor plate will give drivers more throttle response and horsepower at the high-banked superspeedway.
Rule changes for the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series were not absent from the announcements. Beginning this season, Nationwide Series teams will only be allowed 15 crew members. A scorer is no longer required of the teams.
Nationwide Series teams also cannot run in more than two events without using a sealed engine. This number is up from three races last season.
The Camping World Truck Series is finally being relieved of the unique pit stop rule implemented last season as a cost cutting measure that didn’t allow for fuel and tires to be taken at the same time. This rule cause trucks to come to pit road twice to get fresh tires and to re-fuel. The series will also begin using the double-file restart rule that was implemented in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series last season.
Finally, the Camping World Truck Series is allowed to begin using a new, vented fuel dump can that will eliminated the need for a catch can during a pit stop.
NASCAR also announced a few personnel changes. John Darby will move into the Managing Director of Competition, a role in which he will oversee directors, officials, inspection processes and race officiating from all three national touring series. Darby will continue working in his Cup Series director role until his replacement is found and trained.
“Probably no one is more qualified for this new job than John,” Pemberton said. “He knows and understands the officiating and inspection processes better than anyone and is the perfect fit.”
The research and development department also received some additions. Three members will join managing director of NASCAR’s Research and Development Center this season. Those being Brett Bodine as the director of racing R&D, Tom Gideon as director of safety, R&D, and Jamie DiPietro as manager of safety inspections R&D.
