Army, Revolution Racing ride wave of Wallace’s victory
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 30, 2011)
RICHMOND, Va.—The backdrop for the announcement of the U.S. Army’s sponsorship of Revolution Racing couldn’t have been more different from the circumstances of the news conference that was scheduled—and canceled—more than two months ago.
On Thursday night, Darrell Wallace Jr., drove his Revolution Racing Toyota to victory in the K&N Pro Series East race at Richmond International Raceway.
In mid-February at Daytona, the Army had to postpone its announcement of support for Revolution Racing—the flagship organization of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program—after Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) introduced an amendment that would have blocked the armed forces from using taxpayer money to fund NASCAR sponsorships.
The amendment was voted down 281-148, largely along party lines.
Lt. General Benjamin C. Freakley of the Army Accessions Command, the branch of the Army that oversees recruiting, said Friday that racing sponsorships are enormously valuable in counteracting a declining awareness of the Army among young potential recruits.
Freakley also believes the Revolution Racing sponsorship dovetails perfectly with the Army’s goals.
“It is critical for our Army to be diverse. We have to represent America, its geographic diversity. We’ve got to come from all of America and our territories. We have to have gender diversity in our Army, because women bring great, great strength to our force. We have to have racial diversity, because, again, that same strength comes from all the great minds and the great leaders that come into our Army, and we also have to have educational diversity, because we want critical minds thinking about tough problems that soldiers get thrust into.
“The second point’s that we’re values-based. We focus our Army on the values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. The third point is that what the Army offers young people today is an opportunity, education and leadership. And we’re also hugely about teamwork. If we’re not a team, we don’t win. And we’re also all about winning.
“I’ve known (Revolution Racing owner) Max Siegel since 2007, and he represents exactly those same values, those same ideas about diversity, opportunity, values and winning. Young Darrell here proved last night that, by investing in people who take an opportunity, they pay out by being winners. This is such a match for the Army.”
Siegel is thankful the Army recognizes value in promoting the careers of young drivers, both male and female, from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds“The financial support is a tremendous help,” Siegel told Sporting News. “We’re in a constant battle, like everyone else, to find resources, to financing our programs, focusing on technology and reinvesting in the team.
“It really means a lot to us that someone would really see value in investing and creating opportunities for the young people, and also, candidly, to get a return on their investment from a marketing standpoint. So for us, the financial resources help, the association helps, the manpower and all the values the Army brings to our organization really help move us forward.”
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Hamlin dominates Nationwide race at Richmond
Hamlin dominates Nationwide race at Richmond
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 29, 2011)
RICHMOND, Va.—With a dominant car that led 199 laps Friday night, Denny Hamlin won the Bubba Burger 250 Nationwide Series race when the third caution of the race slowed the action after Hamlin had taken the white flag to start Lap 251.
A day after winning his own late-model charity race at his hometown .75-mile short track, Hamlin covered the field in his No. 20 Toyota and picked up his first Nationwide Series victory in his second start of the season. The win was the 11th of Hamlin’s career.
With seven laps left, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ran out of gas while running second to bring out the second caution of the evening. That enabled Hamlin to pit for fuel and tires. It also set up a two-lap sprint to the finish that took the race one lap pasted its posted distance.
Paul Menard finished second, followed series points leader Justin Allgaier, Elliott Sadler and Brad Keselowski. Those were the only cars scored on the lead lap.
“Obviously, we knew that this was a big weekend for us, to try to get things back on track on the Cup side,” said Hamlin, who is 17th in the Sprint Cup standings through eight races after finishing second in the series last year. “I needed a few good nights before the Cup race to kind of get the ball rolling.
“It’s been good so far this week. Obviously, the win last night … and then tonight was a little bit bigger. So, hopefully, we just continue that ladder.”
On the final restart on Lap 250, Menard said stayed with Hamlin until he hit fourth gear and lost ground.
“The last restart was wild, for sure,” Menard said. “I figured if I could have gotten a fender on him, I might have been able to roll around to the outside, but he got a better restart than me.”
Hamlin, who started 11th, took the lead from Carl Edwards, the pole winner, on Lap 44 and expanded it through a cycle of green-flag pit stops. By the time Kelly Bires’ spin in Turn 3 caused the first caution of the race on Lap 124, Hamlin held a nine-second lead over Aric Almirola.
Seven cars were on the lead lap at that point. That number doubled for a restart on Lap 131, thanks to a free pass for Keselowski (as the highest-scored lapped car) and wave-arounds for six other drivers who skipped pit stops in exchange for passage back to the lead lap.
Almirola took a short-lived lead on Lap 132, but Hamlin got back by the No. 88 Chevrolet five laps later and stayed out front as Stenhouse and Menard passed Almirola for second and third, respectively.
Notes: Subbing for Trevor Bayne, still hospitalized as doctors diagnose the effects of an apparent insect or tick bite, Chris Buescher finished 17th in his Nationwide Series debut. … Allgaier leads the Nationwide standings by six points over Sadler. … Adam Stevens picked up his first victory as a Nationwide crew chief.
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 29, 2011)
RICHMOND, Va.—With a dominant car that led 199 laps Friday night, Denny Hamlin won the Bubba Burger 250 Nationwide Series race when the third caution of the race slowed the action after Hamlin had taken the white flag to start Lap 251.
A day after winning his own late-model charity race at his hometown .75-mile short track, Hamlin covered the field in his No. 20 Toyota and picked up his first Nationwide Series victory in his second start of the season. The win was the 11th of Hamlin’s career.
With seven laps left, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ran out of gas while running second to bring out the second caution of the evening. That enabled Hamlin to pit for fuel and tires. It also set up a two-lap sprint to the finish that took the race one lap pasted its posted distance.
Paul Menard finished second, followed series points leader Justin Allgaier, Elliott Sadler and Brad Keselowski. Those were the only cars scored on the lead lap.
“Obviously, we knew that this was a big weekend for us, to try to get things back on track on the Cup side,” said Hamlin, who is 17th in the Sprint Cup standings through eight races after finishing second in the series last year. “I needed a few good nights before the Cup race to kind of get the ball rolling.
“It’s been good so far this week. Obviously, the win last night … and then tonight was a little bit bigger. So, hopefully, we just continue that ladder.”
On the final restart on Lap 250, Menard said stayed with Hamlin until he hit fourth gear and lost ground.
“The last restart was wild, for sure,” Menard said. “I figured if I could have gotten a fender on him, I might have been able to roll around to the outside, but he got a better restart than me.”
Hamlin, who started 11th, took the lead from Carl Edwards, the pole winner, on Lap 44 and expanded it through a cycle of green-flag pit stops. By the time Kelly Bires’ spin in Turn 3 caused the first caution of the race on Lap 124, Hamlin held a nine-second lead over Aric Almirola.
Seven cars were on the lead lap at that point. That number doubled for a restart on Lap 131, thanks to a free pass for Keselowski (as the highest-scored lapped car) and wave-arounds for six other drivers who skipped pit stops in exchange for passage back to the lead lap.
Almirola took a short-lived lead on Lap 132, but Hamlin got back by the No. 88 Chevrolet five laps later and stayed out front as Stenhouse and Menard passed Almirola for second and third, respectively.
Notes: Subbing for Trevor Bayne, still hospitalized as doctors diagnose the effects of an apparent insect or tick bite, Chris Buescher finished 17th in his Nationwide Series debut. … Allgaier leads the Nationwide standings by six points over Sadler. … Adam Stevens picked up his first victory as a Nationwide crew chief.
Friday, April 29, 2011
BUBBA burger 250 Pole Winner: Carl Edwards(i)
Qualifying Fast Facts
Richmond International Raceway
24th Annual BUBBA burger 250
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, April 29, 2011 @ 04:55 PM Eastern
Coors Light Pole Winner: Carl Edwards(i)
Age: 31
Team : No. 60 - Fastenal Ford
Owner: Jack Roush
Crew Chief: Mike Beam
Carl Edwards(i) won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 24th Annual BUBBA burger 250 with a lap of 21.592 seconds, 125.046 mph.
This is his 25th pole in 220 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
This is his fourth pole and ninth top-10 start in 2011.
This is his first pole in 13 races at Richmond International Raceway.
Sam Hornish Jr. (second) posted his first top-10 start of 2011 and his first in three races at Richmond International Raceway.
Brian Scott (third) posted his second top-10 start at Richmond International Raceway. It is his third in nine races this season.
Ryan Truex (20th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Richmond International Raceway
24th Annual BUBBA burger 250
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, April 29, 2011 @ 04:55 PM Eastern
Coors Light Pole Winner: Carl Edwards(i)
Age: 31
Team : No. 60 - Fastenal Ford
Owner: Jack Roush
Crew Chief: Mike Beam
Carl Edwards(i) won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 24th Annual BUBBA burger 250 with a lap of 21.592 seconds, 125.046 mph.
This is his 25th pole in 220 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
This is his fourth pole and ninth top-10 start in 2011.
This is his first pole in 13 races at Richmond International Raceway.
Sam Hornish Jr. (second) posted his first top-10 start of 2011 and his first in three races at Richmond International Raceway.
Brian Scott (third) posted his second top-10 start at Richmond International Raceway. It is his third in nine races this season.
Ryan Truex (20th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
NASCAR Nationwide Series News
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Quiet No More – Allgaier Next Up At No. 1
If you don’t know him, you might mistake Justin Allgaier for a young fan instead of a top young driver. His boyish looks certainly belie even his young age – 24. He’s pretty unassuming, too.
But Allgaier is quietly making his move, right to the top of the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings. Following last Saturday’s race at Nashville, Allgaier claimed the top spot – barely – over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The two drivers are tied for the lead with 264 points, but Allgaier’s second-place finish at Las Vegas betters the top finish thus far in 2011 by Stenhouse (fourth at Auto Club Speedway), thereby giving Allgaier the tiebreaker heading to Richmond.
Allgaier is the fifth different standings leader this season, and the third among his Turner Motorsports teammates. Reed Sorenson and Jason Leffler – from whom Allgaier wrestled the lead this past weekend – also have each led the points this season. Leffler (third) and Sorenson (fourth) remain in the top 10 and are among seven drivers within seven points of the lead.
Allgaier is the last series-only regular to win a race, having done so at Bristol in 2010. His former Penske Racing teammate and 2010 series champion Brad Keselowski won this race last year. Allgaier finished 15th.
Annett Leads RWR Resurgence
After a tumultuous start to his season both on and off the track, Michael Annett has made plenty of strides – especially in the standings.
Annett, who was 28th in the points following the season-opening race at Daytona, has managed to push his way into the top 10, currently in 10th place.
Although he has yet to post a top-10 finish, this is the earliest in his 79-race career that Annett, 24, has landed in the top 10. He’s got some work to do at Richmond, however, where his average finish in four races is 26.2.
His Rusty Wallace Racing teammate, Steve Wallace, also is on an uptick. Wallace is two points behind Annett in 11th, and comes to a track where he’s enjoyed some success. He earned the first top-five finish of his series career at RIR in this race in 2008 and has an average finish of 12.5 over his last six races there.
New Car Back In Familiar Surroundings
Although this is the second race appearance for the NASCAR Nationwide Series new car at Richmond, it will be the first time the car has competed in this event.
The new car made its third of four 2010 starts at Richmond last fall, also under the lights. Two-time series champion Kevin Harvick won, matching the series’ all-time wins (49) and poles (30) leader Mark Martin with five wins at the .75-mile track. Paul Menard will drive the No. 33 KHI Chevrolet at Richmond this weekend.
In 2008, the new car made its track debut at Richmond during a two-day test Sept. 8-9.
Big Week In Store For Sadler
Virginia’s own Elliott Sadler is looking forward to racing at Richmond – the Emporia native has run in 15 NASCAR Nationwide Series races at the track, the most at one track in his series career. His best finish was second in this race in 2005. He’s currently sixth in the series standings.
While at home, he’ll also be celebrating his 36th birthday, on April 30.
Surrounded by familiarity during the latter part of the week, Sadler will be in a foreign environment – literally – as this week begins. He’ll head to Montreal on Tuesday, April 26, to take part in a media day event to advance and promote the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on August 20.
Sadler will meet with Canadian media at the track at 11:30 a.m. ET Tuesday. He’ll also get his first “laps” around the famed 2.709-mile road course while driving a van full of those same media members and giving his impressions of the circuit
Quiet No More – Allgaier Next Up At No. 1
If you don’t know him, you might mistake Justin Allgaier for a young fan instead of a top young driver. His boyish looks certainly belie even his young age – 24. He’s pretty unassuming, too.
But Allgaier is quietly making his move, right to the top of the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings. Following last Saturday’s race at Nashville, Allgaier claimed the top spot – barely – over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The two drivers are tied for the lead with 264 points, but Allgaier’s second-place finish at Las Vegas betters the top finish thus far in 2011 by Stenhouse (fourth at Auto Club Speedway), thereby giving Allgaier the tiebreaker heading to Richmond.
Allgaier is the fifth different standings leader this season, and the third among his Turner Motorsports teammates. Reed Sorenson and Jason Leffler – from whom Allgaier wrestled the lead this past weekend – also have each led the points this season. Leffler (third) and Sorenson (fourth) remain in the top 10 and are among seven drivers within seven points of the lead.
Allgaier is the last series-only regular to win a race, having done so at Bristol in 2010. His former Penske Racing teammate and 2010 series champion Brad Keselowski won this race last year. Allgaier finished 15th.
Annett Leads RWR Resurgence
After a tumultuous start to his season both on and off the track, Michael Annett has made plenty of strides – especially in the standings.
Annett, who was 28th in the points following the season-opening race at Daytona, has managed to push his way into the top 10, currently in 10th place.
Although he has yet to post a top-10 finish, this is the earliest in his 79-race career that Annett, 24, has landed in the top 10. He’s got some work to do at Richmond, however, where his average finish in four races is 26.2.
His Rusty Wallace Racing teammate, Steve Wallace, also is on an uptick. Wallace is two points behind Annett in 11th, and comes to a track where he’s enjoyed some success. He earned the first top-five finish of his series career at RIR in this race in 2008 and has an average finish of 12.5 over his last six races there.
New Car Back In Familiar Surroundings
Although this is the second race appearance for the NASCAR Nationwide Series new car at Richmond, it will be the first time the car has competed in this event.
The new car made its third of four 2010 starts at Richmond last fall, also under the lights. Two-time series champion Kevin Harvick won, matching the series’ all-time wins (49) and poles (30) leader Mark Martin with five wins at the .75-mile track. Paul Menard will drive the No. 33 KHI Chevrolet at Richmond this weekend.
In 2008, the new car made its track debut at Richmond during a two-day test Sept. 8-9.
Big Week In Store For Sadler
Virginia’s own Elliott Sadler is looking forward to racing at Richmond – the Emporia native has run in 15 NASCAR Nationwide Series races at the track, the most at one track in his series career. His best finish was second in this race in 2005. He’s currently sixth in the series standings.
While at home, he’ll also be celebrating his 36th birthday, on April 30.
Surrounded by familiarity during the latter part of the week, Sadler will be in a foreign environment – literally – as this week begins. He’ll head to Montreal on Tuesday, April 26, to take part in a media day event to advance and promote the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on August 20.
Sadler will meet with Canadian media at the track at 11:30 a.m. ET Tuesday. He’ll also get his first “laps” around the famed 2.709-mile road course while driving a van full of those same media members and giving his impressions of the circuit
CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES NEWS
4/27/11
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
Piquet Jr. Earns First Top-Five In Nashville
After finishing outside the top-25 in three of the first four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events, perseverance finally paid off for Nelson Piquet Jr. in Nashville. The Brazilian-native passed his KHI teammate, Ron Hornaday Jr., in the closing laps of the 150-lap event to earn a second-place finish, the first top five of his career.
The runner-up finished moved Piquet up eight spots on the series standings. He currently sits in 17th position only 71 points out of the lead. In addition, he moved within three points of second place in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings.
The finish was the best finish by a Brazilian in all three national series.
The Big 21 for Dillon
Most people don’t have an accomplished resume before turning 21, but Austin Dillon – who will turn 21 on Wednesday, April 27 – proves to be the exception.
• Earned his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East win (2008) at Greenville-Pickens Speedway at the age of 18.
• Nabbed his first national series top-five finish in the NASCAR Nationwide Series seven weeks after his first series start with a fourth place finish at Memphis Motorsports Park.
• Won his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pole (2010) at Texas Motor Speedway in only his ninth career start at the age of 20. He became the youngest pole winner in series history, but has since been supplanted by Cole Whitt.
• Earned his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory at Iowa Speedway on July 11, 2010 while piloting the famed black No. 3 for Richard Childress Racing. He became the second youngest winner in series history behind Kyle Busch.
• Visited victory lane for the second time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series nine races later at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where he once again won from the pole.
• Won the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year title and finished fifth in the end of the series standings.
• In 2010, broke the rookie record for number of poles won during a rookie season with seven – a record previously held by Greg Biffle.
Up Next: Dover International Raceway
Following two open weeks on the schedule the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to action in the Lucas Oil 200 on Friday, May 13 at Dover International Raceway.
The past three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events held at Dover have been one by first time winners.
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
Piquet Jr. Earns First Top-Five In Nashville
After finishing outside the top-25 in three of the first four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events, perseverance finally paid off for Nelson Piquet Jr. in Nashville. The Brazilian-native passed his KHI teammate, Ron Hornaday Jr., in the closing laps of the 150-lap event to earn a second-place finish, the first top five of his career.
The runner-up finished moved Piquet up eight spots on the series standings. He currently sits in 17th position only 71 points out of the lead. In addition, he moved within three points of second place in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings.
The finish was the best finish by a Brazilian in all three national series.
The Big 21 for Dillon
Most people don’t have an accomplished resume before turning 21, but Austin Dillon – who will turn 21 on Wednesday, April 27 – proves to be the exception.
• Earned his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East win (2008) at Greenville-Pickens Speedway at the age of 18.
• Nabbed his first national series top-five finish in the NASCAR Nationwide Series seven weeks after his first series start with a fourth place finish at Memphis Motorsports Park.
• Won his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pole (2010) at Texas Motor Speedway in only his ninth career start at the age of 20. He became the youngest pole winner in series history, but has since been supplanted by Cole Whitt.
• Earned his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory at Iowa Speedway on July 11, 2010 while piloting the famed black No. 3 for Richard Childress Racing. He became the second youngest winner in series history behind Kyle Busch.
• Visited victory lane for the second time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series nine races later at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where he once again won from the pole.
• Won the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year title and finished fifth in the end of the series standings.
• In 2010, broke the rookie record for number of poles won during a rookie season with seven – a record previously held by Greg Biffle.
Up Next: Dover International Raceway
Following two open weeks on the schedule the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to action in the Lucas Oil 200 on Friday, May 13 at Dover International Raceway.
The past three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events held at Dover have been one by first time winners.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
ROAD TO RICHMOND
Richmond
Several marquee NASCAR drivers will run on Thursday, April 28 in the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown: Hamlin, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Travis Pastrana, Trevor Bayne, Aric Almirola Hermie Sadler and Jason White are confirmed. … Matt Kenseth, country music star Rodney Atkins and Richmond are set to honor Matthew and Daniel Hansen this weekend for the Crown Royal Presents the Matthew & Daniel Hansen 400. Traditionally, the race has donned only the name of the contest winner, but this year’s race will recognize Matthew, as well as his identical twin brother and fellow Marine, Daniel, who was killed in action on Feb. 14, 2009. Matthew Hansen will receive the royal treatment throughout the weekend. His name will be incorporated into the national race broadcast and has been included on all race tickets and event merchandise. He will serve as Grand Marshal, including riding in pace-car laps, watching the race from the No. 17 pit box and delivering the trophy bearing his name to the race winner in Victory Lane. Hansen will be joined by friends and family members throughout the race weekend. … Michael Waltrip will compete in the Monticelloman Olympic Triathlon in Lake Monticello, Va. on Sunday, May 1. The two-time Daytona 500 winner enters his first triathlon after competing in several marathons including the 2000 Boston Marathon. Sunday’s triathlon includes a 0.9-mile swim course, a 24-mile bike course and 6.2-mile running course around Lake Monticello. … The NASCAR Hall of Fame Fan Vote polls open on Thursday at 10 a.m. at www.nascar.com/hall. For the third consecutive year, fans have an opportunity to help decide who earns entry into the Hall of Fame.
First Time Points Leader Allgaier Poised For Championship Run in 2011
After last Saturday’s race at Nashville, Justin Allgaier became the fifth different points leader this season. Allgaier and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are tied for the lead with 264 points, but Allgaier’s second-place finish at Las Vegas betters the top finish thus far in 2011 by Stenhouse (fourth at Auto Club Speedway), thereby giving Allgaier the tiebreaker heading to Richmond.
“As a driver, it's comforting knowing we've come out of the box strong with a new team, new crew chief, new crew,” Allgaier said. “I feel like the one really good thing is this new race car has really kind of evened the playing field. I feel like all of us are running really, really close together.” To listen to Allgaier audio from last week’s NASCAR national teleconference, click here.
Allgaier is the third driver from Turner Motorsports to lead the series driver standings this season, joining his teammates Jason Leffler (currently third in the standings) and Reed Sorenson (fourth). Collectively Turner Motorsports has led the standings for five of the first nine weeks of the season.
Allgaier has posted one top five and four top 10s in the first nine races of the season.
Allgaier is the last series-only regular to win a race, having done so at Bristol in 2010. His former Penske Racing teammate and 2010 series champion Brad Keselowski won this race last year. Allgaier finished 15th.
Allgaier has made four starts at Richmond International Raceway posting one top-10 and three top-15 finishes.
New Car Returns To Richmond Carrying Trunk Load Of Competition
Returning to where it all began can be sweet. This weekend the NASCAR Nationwide Series new car returns to Richmond International Raceway, the .075-mile track on which the new car made its debut back in Sept. of 2008 during a two-day test. This will be the second time the new car has competed at Richmond, and the first for this event. The new car made its third of four 2010 starts at Richmond last fall, also under the lights. Two-time series champion Kevin Harvick won, matching Mark Martin with five wins for most all-time at Richmond.
2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Competition Fast Facts
• The standings lead is tied at 264 points and the top seven drivers in the standings are separated by only seven points.
• Six different pole winners in the first eight races: Carl Edwards (three), Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano and Elliott Sadler (each have one).
• Five different points leaders in the first eight races: Landon Cassill, Reed Sorenson, Jason Leffler, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Justin Allgaier.
Richmond International Raceway Competition Fast Facts:
• 54 NASCAR Nationwide Series races have been held at RIR garnering 30 different pole winners and 30 different race winners.
• Kyle Busch holds the track record for youngest pole winner and youngest race winner (19 yrs., 12 days – 5/14/2004)
• Kevin Harvick and Mark Martin lead the series in wins at RIR with five each.
• 11 of the 54 races have been won from the pole; the most of any starting position, the last driver to do so was Kevin Harvick in the 2010 fall event.
• Three out of the last five races have had a margin of victory of less than a second.
RWR Climbing Back Into Contention
Rusty Wallace Racing’s two-car team struggled the first part of the season but now Michael Annett is leading the team’s resurgence back into contention. Annett was 28th in the points following the season-opening race at Daytona, and Steve Wallace was 12th but then dropped to 17th after the second race at Phoenix.
Both RWR teammates are rebounding. Annett has pushed his way into the top 10, currently in 10th place, 80 points behind standings leader Justin Allgaier and Wallace is just two points behind Annett in 11th place.
Annett will have his work cut out for him this weekend though; he has made four starts at Richmond with a best finish of 20th. Wallace has made nine starts at Richmond posting one top five and two top 10s. Wallace has an average finish of 17.0 at Richmond.
NNS Etc. – Richmond
Emporia, Va. native, Elliott Sadler, is looking forward to racing at Richmond this weekend where he has run in 15 NASCAR Nationwide Series races, the most at one track in his series career. His best finish was second in this race in 2005. He’s currently sixth in the series standings. While at home, he’ll also be celebrating his 36th birthday, on April 30. … On Tuesday, April 26, Sadler headed to Montreal to take part in a media day event to advance and promote the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on August 20.
Peters A Championship Contender For Second Season
Timothy Peters led the championship standings several times in 2010 before sliding into a sixth-place finish overall.
Building on that solid foundation, which included last year’s victory at Daytona International Speedway, Peters and his Red Horse Racing team hew to the old adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
Peters hasn’t reached Victory Lane in 2011, but that’s likely just a matter of time. Meanwhile, Peters keeps stacking up points on a regular basis with every finish among the top 12 and stands second in the standings just three markers behind leader Johnny Sauter.
Peters, aided by a late-race, two-tire strategy executed by crew chief Butch Hylton, came out of last weekend’s Bully Hill Vineyards 200 with a third-place finish – the driver’s best at Nashville Superspeedway. Peters has finished sixth, fifth and third in his most recent three starts and is one of four drivers to have completed all 800 laps run this season.
“What we did tonight is a championship caliber deal for our team,” Peters said.
The fifth of 25 races produced a 12-point spread from Sauter to fifth-place Cole Whitt. Sauter holds the top spot for the second consecutive race followed by Peters, Matt Crafton, four-time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. and Whitt.
All but Whitt, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader, finished among the top 10 in Nashville with Whitt 12th among 25 drivers completing all 150 laps.
Piquet Proving To Be Quick Study In NASCAR
Success in NASCAR usually comes one rung up the ladder at a time but Nelson Piquet Jr.’s late-race charge to a second-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway suggests the former Formula 1 competitor may be ready to skip a step or two.
Last weekend’s race marked the first time the Brazilian had seen the 1.333-mile oval and Piquet’s introduction to competing in NASCAR on a concrete surface.
The finish was Piquet’s series best trumping a sixth-place debut last season at Daytona International Speedway. It effectively righted a rocky start to the 25-year-old’s season in which Piquet had posted a single top-15 finish.
Road racing specialists historically have taken longer to master the art of NASCAR racing; however, Piquet’s Nashville charge brings to mind another day – also on a concrete surfaced track – when ex-F1 driver Scott Speed won the 2008 NCWTS race at Dover International Speedway.
Piquet found his way into the right seat at the right time, partnering with 47-time series winner Ron Hornaday Jr. at Kevin Harvick Inc. To say that he is learning at the feet of giants would be an understatement.
NCWTS Etc.
Virginians Jason White and Hermie Sadler, who covers NCWTS pit road for SPEED and occasionally competes in the series, are among invitees for Thursday’s Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown at Richmond International Raceway. … Kyle Busch’s Nashville victory marked the 21st time that Eric Phillips has backed a series winner. He ties Germain Racing’s Mike Hillman Jr. for third among winning crew chiefs. … On lap 114 of last Friday night’s race, Busch reached 20,000 laps led in his NASCAR national series career.
Several marquee NASCAR drivers will run on Thursday, April 28 in the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown: Hamlin, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Travis Pastrana, Trevor Bayne, Aric Almirola Hermie Sadler and Jason White are confirmed. … Matt Kenseth, country music star Rodney Atkins and Richmond are set to honor Matthew and Daniel Hansen this weekend for the Crown Royal Presents the Matthew & Daniel Hansen 400. Traditionally, the race has donned only the name of the contest winner, but this year’s race will recognize Matthew, as well as his identical twin brother and fellow Marine, Daniel, who was killed in action on Feb. 14, 2009. Matthew Hansen will receive the royal treatment throughout the weekend. His name will be incorporated into the national race broadcast and has been included on all race tickets and event merchandise. He will serve as Grand Marshal, including riding in pace-car laps, watching the race from the No. 17 pit box and delivering the trophy bearing his name to the race winner in Victory Lane. Hansen will be joined by friends and family members throughout the race weekend. … Michael Waltrip will compete in the Monticelloman Olympic Triathlon in Lake Monticello, Va. on Sunday, May 1. The two-time Daytona 500 winner enters his first triathlon after competing in several marathons including the 2000 Boston Marathon. Sunday’s triathlon includes a 0.9-mile swim course, a 24-mile bike course and 6.2-mile running course around Lake Monticello. … The NASCAR Hall of Fame Fan Vote polls open on Thursday at 10 a.m. at www.nascar.com/hall. For the third consecutive year, fans have an opportunity to help decide who earns entry into the Hall of Fame.
First Time Points Leader Allgaier Poised For Championship Run in 2011
After last Saturday’s race at Nashville, Justin Allgaier became the fifth different points leader this season. Allgaier and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are tied for the lead with 264 points, but Allgaier’s second-place finish at Las Vegas betters the top finish thus far in 2011 by Stenhouse (fourth at Auto Club Speedway), thereby giving Allgaier the tiebreaker heading to Richmond.
“As a driver, it's comforting knowing we've come out of the box strong with a new team, new crew chief, new crew,” Allgaier said. “I feel like the one really good thing is this new race car has really kind of evened the playing field. I feel like all of us are running really, really close together.” To listen to Allgaier audio from last week’s NASCAR national teleconference, click here.
Allgaier is the third driver from Turner Motorsports to lead the series driver standings this season, joining his teammates Jason Leffler (currently third in the standings) and Reed Sorenson (fourth). Collectively Turner Motorsports has led the standings for five of the first nine weeks of the season.
Allgaier has posted one top five and four top 10s in the first nine races of the season.
Allgaier is the last series-only regular to win a race, having done so at Bristol in 2010. His former Penske Racing teammate and 2010 series champion Brad Keselowski won this race last year. Allgaier finished 15th.
Allgaier has made four starts at Richmond International Raceway posting one top-10 and three top-15 finishes.
New Car Returns To Richmond Carrying Trunk Load Of Competition
Returning to where it all began can be sweet. This weekend the NASCAR Nationwide Series new car returns to Richmond International Raceway, the .075-mile track on which the new car made its debut back in Sept. of 2008 during a two-day test. This will be the second time the new car has competed at Richmond, and the first for this event. The new car made its third of four 2010 starts at Richmond last fall, also under the lights. Two-time series champion Kevin Harvick won, matching Mark Martin with five wins for most all-time at Richmond.
2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Competition Fast Facts
• The standings lead is tied at 264 points and the top seven drivers in the standings are separated by only seven points.
• Six different pole winners in the first eight races: Carl Edwards (three), Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano and Elliott Sadler (each have one).
• Five different points leaders in the first eight races: Landon Cassill, Reed Sorenson, Jason Leffler, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Justin Allgaier.
Richmond International Raceway Competition Fast Facts:
• 54 NASCAR Nationwide Series races have been held at RIR garnering 30 different pole winners and 30 different race winners.
• Kyle Busch holds the track record for youngest pole winner and youngest race winner (19 yrs., 12 days – 5/14/2004)
• Kevin Harvick and Mark Martin lead the series in wins at RIR with five each.
• 11 of the 54 races have been won from the pole; the most of any starting position, the last driver to do so was Kevin Harvick in the 2010 fall event.
• Three out of the last five races have had a margin of victory of less than a second.
RWR Climbing Back Into Contention
Rusty Wallace Racing’s two-car team struggled the first part of the season but now Michael Annett is leading the team’s resurgence back into contention. Annett was 28th in the points following the season-opening race at Daytona, and Steve Wallace was 12th but then dropped to 17th after the second race at Phoenix.
Both RWR teammates are rebounding. Annett has pushed his way into the top 10, currently in 10th place, 80 points behind standings leader Justin Allgaier and Wallace is just two points behind Annett in 11th place.
Annett will have his work cut out for him this weekend though; he has made four starts at Richmond with a best finish of 20th. Wallace has made nine starts at Richmond posting one top five and two top 10s. Wallace has an average finish of 17.0 at Richmond.
NNS Etc. – Richmond
Emporia, Va. native, Elliott Sadler, is looking forward to racing at Richmond this weekend where he has run in 15 NASCAR Nationwide Series races, the most at one track in his series career. His best finish was second in this race in 2005. He’s currently sixth in the series standings. While at home, he’ll also be celebrating his 36th birthday, on April 30. … On Tuesday, April 26, Sadler headed to Montreal to take part in a media day event to advance and promote the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on August 20.
Peters A Championship Contender For Second Season
Timothy Peters led the championship standings several times in 2010 before sliding into a sixth-place finish overall.
Building on that solid foundation, which included last year’s victory at Daytona International Speedway, Peters and his Red Horse Racing team hew to the old adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
Peters hasn’t reached Victory Lane in 2011, but that’s likely just a matter of time. Meanwhile, Peters keeps stacking up points on a regular basis with every finish among the top 12 and stands second in the standings just three markers behind leader Johnny Sauter.
Peters, aided by a late-race, two-tire strategy executed by crew chief Butch Hylton, came out of last weekend’s Bully Hill Vineyards 200 with a third-place finish – the driver’s best at Nashville Superspeedway. Peters has finished sixth, fifth and third in his most recent three starts and is one of four drivers to have completed all 800 laps run this season.
“What we did tonight is a championship caliber deal for our team,” Peters said.
The fifth of 25 races produced a 12-point spread from Sauter to fifth-place Cole Whitt. Sauter holds the top spot for the second consecutive race followed by Peters, Matt Crafton, four-time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. and Whitt.
All but Whitt, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader, finished among the top 10 in Nashville with Whitt 12th among 25 drivers completing all 150 laps.
Piquet Proving To Be Quick Study In NASCAR
Success in NASCAR usually comes one rung up the ladder at a time but Nelson Piquet Jr.’s late-race charge to a second-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway suggests the former Formula 1 competitor may be ready to skip a step or two.
Last weekend’s race marked the first time the Brazilian had seen the 1.333-mile oval and Piquet’s introduction to competing in NASCAR on a concrete surface.
The finish was Piquet’s series best trumping a sixth-place debut last season at Daytona International Speedway. It effectively righted a rocky start to the 25-year-old’s season in which Piquet had posted a single top-15 finish.
Road racing specialists historically have taken longer to master the art of NASCAR racing; however, Piquet’s Nashville charge brings to mind another day – also on a concrete surfaced track – when ex-F1 driver Scott Speed won the 2008 NCWTS race at Dover International Speedway.
Piquet found his way into the right seat at the right time, partnering with 47-time series winner Ron Hornaday Jr. at Kevin Harvick Inc. To say that he is learning at the feet of giants would be an understatement.
NCWTS Etc.
Virginians Jason White and Hermie Sadler, who covers NCWTS pit road for SPEED and occasionally competes in the series, are among invitees for Thursday’s Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown at Richmond International Raceway. … Kyle Busch’s Nashville victory marked the 21st time that Eric Phillips has backed a series winner. He ties Germain Racing’s Mike Hillman Jr. for third among winning crew chiefs. … On lap 114 of last Friday night’s race, Busch reached 20,000 laps led in his NASCAR national series career.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Edwards tops Kyle Busch for Nashville Nationwide win
Edwards tops Kyle Busch for Nashville Nationwide win
By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 2011)
LEBANON, Tenn.—Carl Edwards returned to victory lane at Nashville Superspeedway for the first time since 2007, winning Saturday’s Nashville 300 Nationwide Series race.
Edwards had won three Nationwide races in a row in 2006-07 but went six races at Nashville without winning again. His four Nashville victories are tops among all drivers at the 1.33-mile track.
“Was it 2007?” Edwards said. “That’s a long time to run poorly somewhere. Seemed like every time we came we won for a little while. Was it three in a row? Then all of a sudden, we came here and really struggled. That’s really trying on everybody.
“I have to give credit to (car owner) Jack Roush, to Ford, (engine builder) Doug Yates, (crew chief) Mike Beam, the guys at the shop. It looked like we were facing some insurmountable challenges, and they worked hard and got these cars better.”
Saturday, Edwards was the best, leading five times for 148 laps in beating Kyle Busch to the checkered flag by .521 seconds. Edwards surged past Busch as the two dueled for the lead with 35 laps to go.
Busch was gunning for a weekend sweep after his victory in Friday night’s Camping World Truck Series race but came up short as his Toyota was “just not quite fast enough.”
The victory was Edwards’ second of the season and 31st of his career—tying him for fourth all time with Jack Ingram.
Brad Keselowski finished third and Joey Logano fourth as Sprint Cup regulars swept the top four spots in the Nationwide Series’ first stand-alone race of the season. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fifth for the best finish among Nationwide regulars and took over the points lead.
Edwards and Busch traded the lead three times and raced side by side for more than three laps not long after a restart with 44 laps to go.
“At the end of the race, I was pedaling for all I had,” Edwards said. “I was kind of excited at the beginning of the race. I thought, ‘Boy, we’re going to run off with this thing. It’s going to be easy.’ Then at the end, that was white-knuckle. I was driving as hard as I can drive, racing him and Brad.
“In the end, it’s better to have a race like that, but it was really nerve-wracking for me.”
Edwards led Lap 189 of 225, with Busch coming back to lead Lap 190. Edwards led Lap 191 and finally got clear of Busch, even as Keselowski was challenging from third.
“I didn’t quite finish that pass,” Busch said. “He had a really fast car. We could keep up with him momentarily but not for the whole run. It was a good show right there, a little bit of racing back and forth. … Brad was right behind us and kind of lurking in the distance there.”
In the end, both drivers agreed Edwards’ No. 60 was simply the better car.
“Our Ford was just slightly better than his car, just slightly,” Edwards said. “He’s savvy enough of a racer, he knew how to keep me behind him and how to force the issue. He made it really hard on me, but he also gave me plenty of room. You can race a bunch of different ways out there, but that was a very clean race. That was really good. It was fun. I was really having a blast out there.”
By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 2011)
LEBANON, Tenn.—Carl Edwards returned to victory lane at Nashville Superspeedway for the first time since 2007, winning Saturday’s Nashville 300 Nationwide Series race.
Edwards had won three Nationwide races in a row in 2006-07 but went six races at Nashville without winning again. His four Nashville victories are tops among all drivers at the 1.33-mile track.
“Was it 2007?” Edwards said. “That’s a long time to run poorly somewhere. Seemed like every time we came we won for a little while. Was it three in a row? Then all of a sudden, we came here and really struggled. That’s really trying on everybody.
“I have to give credit to (car owner) Jack Roush, to Ford, (engine builder) Doug Yates, (crew chief) Mike Beam, the guys at the shop. It looked like we were facing some insurmountable challenges, and they worked hard and got these cars better.”
Saturday, Edwards was the best, leading five times for 148 laps in beating Kyle Busch to the checkered flag by .521 seconds. Edwards surged past Busch as the two dueled for the lead with 35 laps to go.
Busch was gunning for a weekend sweep after his victory in Friday night’s Camping World Truck Series race but came up short as his Toyota was “just not quite fast enough.”
The victory was Edwards’ second of the season and 31st of his career—tying him for fourth all time with Jack Ingram.
Brad Keselowski finished third and Joey Logano fourth as Sprint Cup regulars swept the top four spots in the Nationwide Series’ first stand-alone race of the season. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fifth for the best finish among Nationwide regulars and took over the points lead.
Edwards and Busch traded the lead three times and raced side by side for more than three laps not long after a restart with 44 laps to go.
“At the end of the race, I was pedaling for all I had,” Edwards said. “I was kind of excited at the beginning of the race. I thought, ‘Boy, we’re going to run off with this thing. It’s going to be easy.’ Then at the end, that was white-knuckle. I was driving as hard as I can drive, racing him and Brad.
“In the end, it’s better to have a race like that, but it was really nerve-wracking for me.”
Edwards led Lap 189 of 225, with Busch coming back to lead Lap 190. Edwards led Lap 191 and finally got clear of Busch, even as Keselowski was challenging from third.
“I didn’t quite finish that pass,” Busch said. “He had a really fast car. We could keep up with him momentarily but not for the whole run. It was a good show right there, a little bit of racing back and forth. … Brad was right behind us and kind of lurking in the distance there.”
In the end, both drivers agreed Edwards’ No. 60 was simply the better car.
“Our Ford was just slightly better than his car, just slightly,” Edwards said. “He’s savvy enough of a racer, he knew how to keep me behind him and how to force the issue. He made it really hard on me, but he also gave me plenty of room. You can race a bunch of different ways out there, but that was a very clean race. That was really good. It was fun. I was really having a blast out there.”
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Edwards tops Kyle Busch for Nashville Nationwide win
Edwards tops Kyle Busch for Nashville Nationwide win
By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 23, 2011)
LEBANON, Tenn.—Carl Edwards returned to victory lane at Nashville Superspeedway for the first time since 2007, winning Saturday’s Nashville 300 Nationwide Series race.
Edwards had won three Nationwide races in a row in 2006-07 but went six races at Nashville without winning again. His four Nashville victories are tops among all drivers at the 1.33-mile track.
Edwards surged past Kyle Busch as the two dueled for the lead with 35 laps to go. Busch was gunning for a weekend sweep after his victory in Friday night’s Camping World Truck Series race.
Edwards led Lap 189 of 225, and he and Busch raced side by side for more than three laps, exchanging the top spot three times.
Once clear of Busch, Edwards inched away and beat Busch by about 10 car lengths.
The victory was Edwards’ second of the season and 31st of his career, tying him for fourth all time with Jack Ingram.
Busch finished second, with Brad Keselowski third and Joey Logano fourth as Sprint Cup regulars swept the top four spots in the Nationwide Series’ first stand-alone race of the season. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fifth for the best finish among Nationwide regulars.
By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 23, 2011)
LEBANON, Tenn.—Carl Edwards returned to victory lane at Nashville Superspeedway for the first time since 2007, winning Saturday’s Nashville 300 Nationwide Series race.
Edwards had won three Nationwide races in a row in 2006-07 but went six races at Nashville without winning again. His four Nashville victories are tops among all drivers at the 1.33-mile track.
Edwards surged past Kyle Busch as the two dueled for the lead with 35 laps to go. Busch was gunning for a weekend sweep after his victory in Friday night’s Camping World Truck Series race.
Edwards led Lap 189 of 225, and he and Busch raced side by side for more than three laps, exchanging the top spot three times.
Once clear of Busch, Edwards inched away and beat Busch by about 10 car lengths.
The victory was Edwards’ second of the season and 31st of his career, tying him for fourth all time with Jack Ingram.
Busch finished second, with Brad Keselowski third and Joey Logano fourth as Sprint Cup regulars swept the top four spots in the Nationwide Series’ first stand-alone race of the season. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fifth for the best finish among Nationwide regulars.
Race Winner: Carl Edwards(i)11th Annual Nashville 300
Race Fast Facts
Nashville Superspeedway
11th Annual Nashville 300
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sat, April 23, 2011 @ 05:48 PM Eastern
Race Winner: Carl Edwards(i)
Age: 31
Team : No. 60 - Ford Drive one. Ford
Owner: Jack Roush
Crew Chief: Mike Beam
Carl Edwards won the 11th Annual Nashville 300 , his 31st victory in 219 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
Edwards ties NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Jack Ingram for fourth on the all-time series wins list.
This is his second victory and sixth top-10 finish in 2011.
This is his fourth victory and 11th top-10 finish in 12 races at Nashville Superspeedway.
Kyle Busch (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in ten races at Nashville Superspeedway. It is his sixth top-10 finish in 2011.
Brad Keselowski (third) posted his seventh top-10 finish in nine races at Nashville Superspeedway.
Nashville Superspeedway
11th Annual Nashville 300
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sat, April 23, 2011 @ 05:48 PM Eastern
Race Winner: Carl Edwards(i)
Age: 31
Team : No. 60 - Ford Drive one. Ford
Owner: Jack Roush
Crew Chief: Mike Beam
Carl Edwards won the 11th Annual Nashville 300 , his 31st victory in 219 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
Edwards ties NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Jack Ingram for fourth on the all-time series wins list.
This is his second victory and sixth top-10 finish in 2011.
This is his fourth victory and 11th top-10 finish in 12 races at Nashville Superspeedway.
Kyle Busch (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in ten races at Nashville Superspeedway. It is his sixth top-10 finish in 2011.
Brad Keselowski (third) posted his seventh top-10 finish in nine races at Nashville Superspeedway.
Coors Light Pole Winner: Joey Logano 11th Annual Nashville 300
Qualifying Fast Facts
Nashville Superspeedway
11th Annual Nashville 300
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sat, April 23, 2011 @ 01:38 PM Eastern
Coors Light Pole Winner: Joey Logano
Age: 20
Team : No. 20 - Harvest Investments Toyota
Owner: Joe Gibbs
Crew Chief: Adam Stevens
Joey Logano won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 11th Annual Nashville 300 with a lap of 30.396 seconds, 157.876 mph.
This is his 16th pole in 73 NASCAR Nationwide Series races. Logano ties Brett Bodine and Matt Kenseth for 11th on the all-time series poles list.
This is his first pole and seventh top-10 start in 2011.
This is his third pole in four races at Nashville Superspeedway. Logano now leads on the all-time Nashville series poles list.
Trevor Bayne (second) posted his eighth top-10 start of 2011 and his fourth in four races at Nashville Superspeedway.
Austin Dillon (third) posted his first top-10 start at Nashville Superspeedway. It is his first in one races this season.
Ryan Truex (20th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Nashville Superspeedway
11th Annual Nashville 300
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sat, April 23, 2011 @ 01:38 PM Eastern
Coors Light Pole Winner: Joey Logano
Age: 20
Team : No. 20 - Harvest Investments Toyota
Owner: Joe Gibbs
Crew Chief: Adam Stevens
Joey Logano won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 11th Annual Nashville 300 with a lap of 30.396 seconds, 157.876 mph.
This is his 16th pole in 73 NASCAR Nationwide Series races. Logano ties Brett Bodine and Matt Kenseth for 11th on the all-time series poles list.
This is his first pole and seventh top-10 start in 2011.
This is his third pole in four races at Nashville Superspeedway. Logano now leads on the all-time Nashville series poles list.
Trevor Bayne (second) posted his eighth top-10 start of 2011 and his fourth in four races at Nashville Superspeedway.
Austin Dillon (third) posted his first top-10 start at Nashville Superspeedway. It is his first in one races this season.
Ryan Truex (20th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Kyle Busch wins Nashville truck race
Kyle Busch wins Nashville truck race
By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 22, 2011)
LEBANON, Tenn.—Kyle Busch had to work a little harder than he expected, but he still scored a dominant victory in the Bully Hill Vineyards 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck race Friday night at Nashville Superspeedway.
Ron Hornaday Jr. made things interesting, passing Busch shortly after a restart with eight laps remaining. After another caution, though, Busch returned the favor, slipping under Hornaday in Turn 3 with two laps to go to complete a pole/victory sweep for the second year in a row at Nashville.
“I felt like we had a dominant truck,” Busch said. “There with about 10 to go, the race really got started and got really interesting.”
Busch led to the green on a restart with nine laps to go, but Hornaday made a bold, sneaky move to get the top spot.
“Hornaday got a good restart and put enough drag on my spoiler that he kind of slowed me down on the frontstretch and stayed alongside me,” Busch said. “I cleared him through (Turns) 1 and 2 and pulled up in front of him, but he had a little bit of momentum on me and pulled back to my inside down the backstretch and made a bold move driving it so far into the corner.”
Hornaday’s truck slid a little through Turn 3, and he and Busch moved up the track, with Hornaday grabbing the lead.
The yellow waved again, giving Busch a chance to turn the tables.
“There on the last restart, I did the same thing,” Busch said. “Luckily we had that opportunity and got back to him and was able to win the thing. It would’ve really been a shame if we weren’t able to win this thing.”
In the process, Busch led his 20,000th lap across the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and truck series. In two truck races at Nashville, Busch has two wins, two poles and 271 of 300 laps led. The victory was Busch’s second of the season and 26th in the truck series.
“Kyle had the dominant truck all day, and he had clean air,” Hornaday said. “I had to wear my stuff out trying to stay with him. That restart, that’s the only opportunity I had to run with him. I just gave a show for the fans. That’s all I could do.”
With shot tires, Hornaday was also passed for position by rookie Nelson Piquet Jr. and Timothy Peters, who finished second and third, respectively.
“I drove it too hard and wore the tires off,” Hornaday said.
Hornaday was fourth, followed by James Buescher, Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter, David Starr, Craig Goess and Parker Kligerman.
Busch goes for the Nashville sweep in Saturday’s Nashville 300 Nationwide Series race.
Notes: Piquet’s first top five came in his 10th start. He moved up eight spots in the standings to 17th. … Sauter maintained the points lead, with Peters moving to second, three back. Crafton is third, Hornaday fourth and rookie Cole Whitt fifth. … Busch’s 26th win came in his 88th start. He is fourth on the all-time list, two wins behind Mike Skinner and Jack Sprague, who are tied for second. Hornaday is first with 47 wins.
By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 22, 2011)
LEBANON, Tenn.—Kyle Busch had to work a little harder than he expected, but he still scored a dominant victory in the Bully Hill Vineyards 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck race Friday night at Nashville Superspeedway.
Ron Hornaday Jr. made things interesting, passing Busch shortly after a restart with eight laps remaining. After another caution, though, Busch returned the favor, slipping under Hornaday in Turn 3 with two laps to go to complete a pole/victory sweep for the second year in a row at Nashville.
“I felt like we had a dominant truck,” Busch said. “There with about 10 to go, the race really got started and got really interesting.”
Busch led to the green on a restart with nine laps to go, but Hornaday made a bold, sneaky move to get the top spot.
“Hornaday got a good restart and put enough drag on my spoiler that he kind of slowed me down on the frontstretch and stayed alongside me,” Busch said. “I cleared him through (Turns) 1 and 2 and pulled up in front of him, but he had a little bit of momentum on me and pulled back to my inside down the backstretch and made a bold move driving it so far into the corner.”
Hornaday’s truck slid a little through Turn 3, and he and Busch moved up the track, with Hornaday grabbing the lead.
The yellow waved again, giving Busch a chance to turn the tables.
“There on the last restart, I did the same thing,” Busch said. “Luckily we had that opportunity and got back to him and was able to win the thing. It would’ve really been a shame if we weren’t able to win this thing.”
In the process, Busch led his 20,000th lap across the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and truck series. In two truck races at Nashville, Busch has two wins, two poles and 271 of 300 laps led. The victory was Busch’s second of the season and 26th in the truck series.
“Kyle had the dominant truck all day, and he had clean air,” Hornaday said. “I had to wear my stuff out trying to stay with him. That restart, that’s the only opportunity I had to run with him. I just gave a show for the fans. That’s all I could do.”
With shot tires, Hornaday was also passed for position by rookie Nelson Piquet Jr. and Timothy Peters, who finished second and third, respectively.
“I drove it too hard and wore the tires off,” Hornaday said.
Hornaday was fourth, followed by James Buescher, Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter, David Starr, Craig Goess and Parker Kligerman.
Busch goes for the Nashville sweep in Saturday’s Nashville 300 Nationwide Series race.
Notes: Piquet’s first top five came in his 10th start. He moved up eight spots in the standings to 17th. … Sauter maintained the points lead, with Peters moving to second, three back. Crafton is third, Hornaday fourth and rookie Cole Whitt fifth. … Busch’s 26th win came in his 88th start. He is fourth on the all-time list, two wins behind Mike Skinner and Jack Sprague, who are tied for second. Hornaday is first with 47 wins.
Friday, April 22, 2011
KYLE BUSCH ON BULLY HILL POLE
Qualifying Fast Facts
Nashville Superspeedway
2nd Annual Bully Hill Vineyards 200
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, April 22, 2011 @ 06:10 PM Eastern
POLE WINNER KYLE BUSCH
Age: 25
Team : No. 18 - Dollar General Toyota
Owner: Kyle Busch
Crew Chief: Eric Phillips
Kyle Busch(i) won the Keystone Light Pole Award for the 2nd Annual Bully Hill Vineyards 200 with a lap of 30.620 seconds, 156.721 mph.
This is his 11th pole in 89 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.
This is his first pole and third top-10 start in 2011.
Busch has won the pole in both Nashville Superspeedway races he has attempted.
Austin Dillon (second) posted his fifth top-10 start of 2011 and his second in three races at Nashville Superspeedway.
Justin Johnson (third) posted his first top-10 start at Nashville Superspeedway. It is his first in four races this season.
Nashville Superspeedway
2nd Annual Bully Hill Vineyards 200
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, April 22, 2011 @ 06:10 PM Eastern
POLE WINNER KYLE BUSCH
Age: 25
Team : No. 18 - Dollar General Toyota
Owner: Kyle Busch
Crew Chief: Eric Phillips
Kyle Busch(i) won the Keystone Light Pole Award for the 2nd Annual Bully Hill Vineyards 200 with a lap of 30.620 seconds, 156.721 mph.
This is his 11th pole in 89 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.
This is his first pole and third top-10 start in 2011.
Busch has won the pole in both Nashville Superspeedway races he has attempted.
Austin Dillon (second) posted his fifth top-10 start of 2011 and his second in three races at Nashville Superspeedway.
Justin Johnson (third) posted his first top-10 start at Nashville Superspeedway. It is his first in four races this season.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Last-minute sponsorship sends Logano, No. 20 to Nashville
Last-minute sponsorship sends Logano, No. 20 to Nashville
By Lee Montgomery
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 21, 2011)
Joey Logano and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team were going to skip Saturday’s Nashville 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Nashville Superspeedway, despite Logano’s having two poles and a win there and the team leading the series’ owners points.
But a sponsor joined the No. 20 for Nashville only recently, and the team decided to continue its run for the Nationwide owners championship.
“That is huge, because this team has been running good all year long and to let the owners championship points lead slip away because we didn’t have sponsorship would have been tough to swallow,” Logano said. “Times are tough now and everyone is having trouble finding sponsorships, so to be able to have a company step up at the last minute because they want to see this team continue and chase that title is huge. So I can’t thank Harvest Investments and Harvest-Properties.com enough. Hopefully, we can repay them for doing this with a win and an even bigger points lead.”
Thanks mostly to Logano, with an assist from JGR Sprint Cup teammate Denny Hamlin, the No. 20 team leads the owners points by 13 over JGR’s No. 18 team and driver Kyle Busch. That’s quite an accomplishment, given Busch has four victories in the Nationwide Series this year.
Hamlin finished seventh in his turn in the No. 20 at Las Vegas, and Logano has finished seventh or better in five of his six starts, coming home 12th in the season-opener at Daytona. Three of those finishes were in the top five, including last weekend’s second-place effort at Talladega.
“I’m excited to go to Nashville because I’ve always run well there, but more than anything, I’m excited for the guys on the team,” Logano said. “They were really bummed at not going to Nashville, especially after the way we’ve been improving week to week with a pretty much brand-new team. After Talladega, when we looked at the points and saw we had increased the points lead, it was a downer.
“Then, when things came along, I told them, ‘Let’s get it done.’ So this is a big shot in the arm for those guys and might just give them the added push to get this No. 20 Toyota back into victory lane.”
Logano has made three starts at Nashville’s 1.33-mile concrete track, winning a guitar the track awards race winners in 2009. He crashed while running in the top five in 2008 and finished eighth there last year.
“I love Nashville. It’s just a great place to go,” Logano said. “I really wish the Cup cars would race there, but since they don’t, I would hate to miss a race there in the Nationwide deal. I’ve already got one of those guitars, but I’m ready for another one. And we’ve run well there every year we’ve been there. ... The results might not show how strong we are, but it’s probably one of my better tracks. That makes me even more confident going into the weekend as well.”
By Lee Montgomery
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 21, 2011)
Joey Logano and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team were going to skip Saturday’s Nashville 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Nashville Superspeedway, despite Logano’s having two poles and a win there and the team leading the series’ owners points.
But a sponsor joined the No. 20 for Nashville only recently, and the team decided to continue its run for the Nationwide owners championship.
“That is huge, because this team has been running good all year long and to let the owners championship points lead slip away because we didn’t have sponsorship would have been tough to swallow,” Logano said. “Times are tough now and everyone is having trouble finding sponsorships, so to be able to have a company step up at the last minute because they want to see this team continue and chase that title is huge. So I can’t thank Harvest Investments and Harvest-Properties.com enough. Hopefully, we can repay them for doing this with a win and an even bigger points lead.”
Thanks mostly to Logano, with an assist from JGR Sprint Cup teammate Denny Hamlin, the No. 20 team leads the owners points by 13 over JGR’s No. 18 team and driver Kyle Busch. That’s quite an accomplishment, given Busch has four victories in the Nationwide Series this year.
Hamlin finished seventh in his turn in the No. 20 at Las Vegas, and Logano has finished seventh or better in five of his six starts, coming home 12th in the season-opener at Daytona. Three of those finishes were in the top five, including last weekend’s second-place effort at Talladega.
“I’m excited to go to Nashville because I’ve always run well there, but more than anything, I’m excited for the guys on the team,” Logano said. “They were really bummed at not going to Nashville, especially after the way we’ve been improving week to week with a pretty much brand-new team. After Talladega, when we looked at the points and saw we had increased the points lead, it was a downer.
“Then, when things came along, I told them, ‘Let’s get it done.’ So this is a big shot in the arm for those guys and might just give them the added push to get this No. 20 Toyota back into victory lane.”
Logano has made three starts at Nashville’s 1.33-mile concrete track, winning a guitar the track awards race winners in 2009. He crashed while running in the top five in 2008 and finished eighth there last year.
“I love Nashville. It’s just a great place to go,” Logano said. “I really wish the Cup cars would race there, but since they don’t, I would hate to miss a race there in the Nationwide deal. I’ve already got one of those guitars, but I’m ready for another one. And we’ve run well there every year we’ve been there. ... The results might not show how strong we are, but it’s probably one of my better tracks. That makes me even more confident going into the weekend as well.”
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Success builds trucks points leader Sauter's confidence
Success builds trucks points leader Sauter's confidence
By Jared Turner
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 20, 2011)
In three short days, Johnny Sauter had two big reasons to celebrate.
The first came on April 2 when he rallied past the always-stout Kyle Busch to win the Camping World Truck Series Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway.
Sauter's second—and even bigger—reason to rejoice followed on April 4 when the ThorSport Racing driver and his wife welcomed their second child, daughter Paige, into the world.
Somewhat lost in all the excitement was that Sauter also became the truck series points leader with his win at Martinsville, a track where he'd finished no better than 15th in six previous starts.
Sauter holds a five-point edge in the standings over ThorSport teammate Matt Crafton entering Friday's Bully Hill Vineyards 200 at Nashville Superspeedway.
More happy days could be on the horizon for Sauter as the trucks prepare to race for the first time since his Martinsville victory and the birth of his daughter.
Sauter and the No. 13 ThorSport team clearly have their act together as the trucks head to the Music City for race No. 5 of the 2011 campaign.
"I definitely think you carry momentum. I'm starting to see the fruits of all the guys' labor over the offseason," Sauter said. "I mean, there was a lot of nights they worked burning the midnight oil, just trying to get to where we were at.
"I definitely see us being able to go to Nashville, go in there and give our Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevy a run."
Sauter historically has no problem navigating the 1.333-mile concrete oval. His three previous truck series starts at Nashville have produced finishes of fifth, sixth and 11th.
Not that Sauter needs to race at Nashville to be a contender. The Wisconsin native has been on top of his game all season—opening with three top 10s in four starts. His Martinsville victory was his most impressive outing yet as he started from the pole, led 71 laps and perfectly executed the winning pass of Busch with two laps to go.
Sauter and his team continue to build on their first two seasons together, which produced a win in 2009 and 2010 along with points finishes of sixth and third, respectively.
Sauter has a shot at being No. 1 when the curtain falls on this season in November at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
"I've just got a lot more confidence going to the racetrack because I feel like we're doing a lot of things right and we can win races," Sauter said. "We've proven it. We've won three in the last three seasons but to the point of the points deal, it's just way too early to be worried about that. We just need to go to the racetrack and do the best job we can."
By Jared Turner
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 20, 2011)
In three short days, Johnny Sauter had two big reasons to celebrate.
The first came on April 2 when he rallied past the always-stout Kyle Busch to win the Camping World Truck Series Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway.
Sauter's second—and even bigger—reason to rejoice followed on April 4 when the ThorSport Racing driver and his wife welcomed their second child, daughter Paige, into the world.
Somewhat lost in all the excitement was that Sauter also became the truck series points leader with his win at Martinsville, a track where he'd finished no better than 15th in six previous starts.
Sauter holds a five-point edge in the standings over ThorSport teammate Matt Crafton entering Friday's Bully Hill Vineyards 200 at Nashville Superspeedway.
More happy days could be on the horizon for Sauter as the trucks prepare to race for the first time since his Martinsville victory and the birth of his daughter.
Sauter and the No. 13 ThorSport team clearly have their act together as the trucks head to the Music City for race No. 5 of the 2011 campaign.
"I definitely think you carry momentum. I'm starting to see the fruits of all the guys' labor over the offseason," Sauter said. "I mean, there was a lot of nights they worked burning the midnight oil, just trying to get to where we were at.
"I definitely see us being able to go to Nashville, go in there and give our Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevy a run."
Sauter historically has no problem navigating the 1.333-mile concrete oval. His three previous truck series starts at Nashville have produced finishes of fifth, sixth and 11th.
Not that Sauter needs to race at Nashville to be a contender. The Wisconsin native has been on top of his game all season—opening with three top 10s in four starts. His Martinsville victory was his most impressive outing yet as he started from the pole, led 71 laps and perfectly executed the winning pass of Busch with two laps to go.
Sauter and his team continue to build on their first two seasons together, which produced a win in 2009 and 2010 along with points finishes of sixth and third, respectively.
Sauter has a shot at being No. 1 when the curtain falls on this season in November at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
"I've just got a lot more confidence going to the racetrack because I feel like we're doing a lot of things right and we can win races," Sauter said. "We've proven it. We've won three in the last three seasons but to the point of the points deal, it's just way too early to be worried about that. We just need to go to the racetrack and do the best job we can."
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES Notes
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
4/19/11
Can ThorSport Finally Take Home The Guitar?
Nashville Superspeedway has had 10 different winners in the previous 11 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races held at the 1.33-mile concrete oval. Four of those victories have been won from the pole.
Missing from the long list of winners is ThorSport Racing’s Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton.
Sauter and Crafton – currently first and second in the NCWTS standings - have a combined 14 starts at the superspeedway. Sauter has one top-five and two top-10 finishes in three starts with Crafton posting one top-five and six top-10 finishes in 11 starts.
Four races into 2011 season, ThorSport Racing has one win (Sauter at Martinsville) and six top-10 finishes and has lead the series standings since the second race of the season.
Sauter currently leads the standings over Crafton by five points.
Concrete Conquers
Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday Jr. have one thing in common – dominance on concrete surfaces.
Nashville Superspeedway marks the first of four races on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule this season that features concrete instead of the traditional asphalt surface.
Busch and Hornaday remain the only two drivers in series history to win at all three concrete tracks on the circuit: Nashville, Dover and Bristol.
Who could be the next concrete winner? Don’t count out Timothy Peters.
Peters – currently third in the NCWTS series standings - has finished fourth at Nashville in the past three seasons.
Double Duty
Three drivers will pull double duty this upcoming Easter weekend at Nashville.
Kyle Busch, Elliott Sadler and Austin Dillon will compete in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and the NASCAR Nationwide Series event.
Sadler and Dillon will be gunning after their first famed Gibson Guitar trophy while Busch goes for his third win at Nashville in three years.
Home Sweet Home Music City
Tennessee is the home state to numerous crew members inside the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series garage:
Dennis Adcock –NASCAR Camping World Truck Series official – garage supervisor. Hometown: Nashville, Tenn.
Jeff Davis – Tire specialist for Turn One Racing No.60 Chevrolet driven by Cole Whitt. Hometown: Hermitage, Tenn.
Jonathon Ellis – Mechanic for Turner Motorsports, No. 31 Chevrolet driven by James Buescher. Hometown: Hixson, Tenn. (Chattanooga area).
Daniel Rankin – Mechanic and rear tire changer for Kevin Harvick Inc., No. 33 Chevrolet driven by Ron Hornaday Jr. Hometown: Hixson, Tenn. (Chattanooga area).
Todd Perryman – Mechanic and front tire changer for Kevin Harvick Inc. No. 7 Chevrolet driven by Nelson Piquet Jr. Hometown: Lebanon, Tenn.
4/19/11
Can ThorSport Finally Take Home The Guitar?
Nashville Superspeedway has had 10 different winners in the previous 11 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races held at the 1.33-mile concrete oval. Four of those victories have been won from the pole.
Missing from the long list of winners is ThorSport Racing’s Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton.
Sauter and Crafton – currently first and second in the NCWTS standings - have a combined 14 starts at the superspeedway. Sauter has one top-five and two top-10 finishes in three starts with Crafton posting one top-five and six top-10 finishes in 11 starts.
Four races into 2011 season, ThorSport Racing has one win (Sauter at Martinsville) and six top-10 finishes and has lead the series standings since the second race of the season.
Sauter currently leads the standings over Crafton by five points.
Concrete Conquers
Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday Jr. have one thing in common – dominance on concrete surfaces.
Nashville Superspeedway marks the first of four races on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule this season that features concrete instead of the traditional asphalt surface.
Busch and Hornaday remain the only two drivers in series history to win at all three concrete tracks on the circuit: Nashville, Dover and Bristol.
Who could be the next concrete winner? Don’t count out Timothy Peters.
Peters – currently third in the NCWTS series standings - has finished fourth at Nashville in the past three seasons.
Double Duty
Three drivers will pull double duty this upcoming Easter weekend at Nashville.
Kyle Busch, Elliott Sadler and Austin Dillon will compete in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and the NASCAR Nationwide Series event.
Sadler and Dillon will be gunning after their first famed Gibson Guitar trophy while Busch goes for his third win at Nashville in three years.
Home Sweet Home Music City
Tennessee is the home state to numerous crew members inside the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series garage:
Dennis Adcock –NASCAR Camping World Truck Series official – garage supervisor. Hometown: Nashville, Tenn.
Jeff Davis – Tire specialist for Turn One Racing No.60 Chevrolet driven by Cole Whitt. Hometown: Hermitage, Tenn.
Jonathon Ellis – Mechanic for Turner Motorsports, No. 31 Chevrolet driven by James Buescher. Hometown: Hixson, Tenn. (Chattanooga area).
Daniel Rankin – Mechanic and rear tire changer for Kevin Harvick Inc., No. 33 Chevrolet driven by Ron Hornaday Jr. Hometown: Hixson, Tenn. (Chattanooga area).
Todd Perryman – Mechanic and front tire changer for Kevin Harvick Inc. No. 7 Chevrolet driven by Nelson Piquet Jr. Hometown: Lebanon, Tenn.
Nationwide Series Notebook
NASCAR Nationwide Series
4/19/11
Stand And Deliver
This first race at Nashville is the traditional opening of stand-alone season for the NASCAR Nationwide Series. This year, there are eight races where the series is either the main attraction or shares billing with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (as it does this weekend) or one of NASCAR’s touring series.
Saturday’s Nashville 300 is the first of two series races this season at the 1.33-mile concrete track, is the first for the series’ new car at Nashville and therefore also its first at a stand-alone event. Two-time series champion Kevin Harvick is the defending winner, however he isn’t entered this time around. Instead, Austin Dillon, who’s the grandson of Richard Childress and drives full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, makes his NASCAR Nationwide Series season debut in KHI’s No. 33 Chevrolet.
Starting with the May 22 race at Iowa Speedway, six of the subsequent 13 races will be stand-alone affairs.
Leffler Leads, But Allgaier Lurks
After another early-season thriller, this time at Talladega, Jason Leffler is the series’ new standings leader. The popular series veteran took over the top spot after former leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was involved in an accident on Lap 68 at ‘Dega; his first DNF since last May at Charlotte.
This is Leffler’s second go-round as the points leader this season. But his Turner Motorsports teammates are circling, especially Justin Allgaier, who’s just two points behind Leffler. And Allgaier is stout at Nashville. He has a pole and two top-five finishes in his last two races there. This is the closest he’s been to the lead this year, having fought back from his 18th-place ranking – 24 points behind first place – following the season-opener at Daytona.
Can Bayne Overcome Distractions?
It’s been three months since his stunning Daytona 500 victory, and for Trevor Bayne, the novelty has yet to wear off. But if he’s to start making a move in the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ driver standings, where he’s a full-time competitor for the 2011 series championship, it’s go-time.
That could be a tough order for Bayne, 20, as the Knoxville native comes home with plenty of buzz still surrounding his early-season exploits. He’s seventh in the points after a sixth-place finish at Talladega, his lowest points ranking since after the season’s second race at Phoenix, when he was 11th.
Despite four top-10 finishes in the first seven races – including his season-best of fifth at Las Vegas –Bayne has yet to put together consecutive top-10 efforts. Last year in this race at Nashville, Bayne finished 12th.
Busch Still Best In Show
Although they’re quickly closing the gap, series-only regulars have yet to win a race this season. And if that breakthrough is to come Saturday, someone has to step up to Kyle Busch. The 2009 series champion simply continues his incredible assault on the record books. His victory at Talladega puts him two wins shy of Mark Martin’s all-time series record of 49. Busch won this race last year from the pole and has top-five finishes in last three Nashville races.
He’s one of five double-duty drivers entered this weekend, joining 2007 and 2010 series champions Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano, along with David Reutimann.
No Ordinary Joe
With so many new faces making headlines in the first quarter of the season, it’s been easy to overlook some series veterans who are pushing their way onto the front page. Or has it?
Case in point: 1992 series champion Joe Nemechek, who is one of many veterans thriving in the new “pick a series” format across NASCAR’s national series. He’s 10th in the points, the fourth time this year he’s been ranked in the top 10. Two weeks ago at Texas, he started his 900th national series race, one of only 10 drivers among that select group. And now, Nemechek, 47, comes off a third-place finish at Talladega, a race where he and fellow veteran Mike Wallace, 52, teamed up to nearly pull a stunner that would have been as unbelievable as Trevor Bayne’s Daytona 500 win.
The finish was Nemechek’s best in the NASCAR Nationwide Series since 2004 when he won at Kansas. He and Mike’ brother, Kenny Wallace, 47 – who’s ninth in points and five starts from becoming only the second series driver to reach 500 career starts), are getting the younger drivers’ attention.
4/19/11
Stand And Deliver
This first race at Nashville is the traditional opening of stand-alone season for the NASCAR Nationwide Series. This year, there are eight races where the series is either the main attraction or shares billing with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (as it does this weekend) or one of NASCAR’s touring series.
Saturday’s Nashville 300 is the first of two series races this season at the 1.33-mile concrete track, is the first for the series’ new car at Nashville and therefore also its first at a stand-alone event. Two-time series champion Kevin Harvick is the defending winner, however he isn’t entered this time around. Instead, Austin Dillon, who’s the grandson of Richard Childress and drives full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, makes his NASCAR Nationwide Series season debut in KHI’s No. 33 Chevrolet.
Starting with the May 22 race at Iowa Speedway, six of the subsequent 13 races will be stand-alone affairs.
Leffler Leads, But Allgaier Lurks
After another early-season thriller, this time at Talladega, Jason Leffler is the series’ new standings leader. The popular series veteran took over the top spot after former leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was involved in an accident on Lap 68 at ‘Dega; his first DNF since last May at Charlotte.
This is Leffler’s second go-round as the points leader this season. But his Turner Motorsports teammates are circling, especially Justin Allgaier, who’s just two points behind Leffler. And Allgaier is stout at Nashville. He has a pole and two top-five finishes in his last two races there. This is the closest he’s been to the lead this year, having fought back from his 18th-place ranking – 24 points behind first place – following the season-opener at Daytona.
Can Bayne Overcome Distractions?
It’s been three months since his stunning Daytona 500 victory, and for Trevor Bayne, the novelty has yet to wear off. But if he’s to start making a move in the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ driver standings, where he’s a full-time competitor for the 2011 series championship, it’s go-time.
That could be a tough order for Bayne, 20, as the Knoxville native comes home with plenty of buzz still surrounding his early-season exploits. He’s seventh in the points after a sixth-place finish at Talladega, his lowest points ranking since after the season’s second race at Phoenix, when he was 11th.
Despite four top-10 finishes in the first seven races – including his season-best of fifth at Las Vegas –Bayne has yet to put together consecutive top-10 efforts. Last year in this race at Nashville, Bayne finished 12th.
Busch Still Best In Show
Although they’re quickly closing the gap, series-only regulars have yet to win a race this season. And if that breakthrough is to come Saturday, someone has to step up to Kyle Busch. The 2009 series champion simply continues his incredible assault on the record books. His victory at Talladega puts him two wins shy of Mark Martin’s all-time series record of 49. Busch won this race last year from the pole and has top-five finishes in last three Nashville races.
He’s one of five double-duty drivers entered this weekend, joining 2007 and 2010 series champions Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano, along with David Reutimann.
No Ordinary Joe
With so many new faces making headlines in the first quarter of the season, it’s been easy to overlook some series veterans who are pushing their way onto the front page. Or has it?
Case in point: 1992 series champion Joe Nemechek, who is one of many veterans thriving in the new “pick a series” format across NASCAR’s national series. He’s 10th in the points, the fourth time this year he’s been ranked in the top 10. Two weeks ago at Texas, he started his 900th national series race, one of only 10 drivers among that select group. And now, Nemechek, 47, comes off a third-place finish at Talladega, a race where he and fellow veteran Mike Wallace, 52, teamed up to nearly pull a stunner that would have been as unbelievable as Trevor Bayne’s Daytona 500 win.
The finish was Nemechek’s best in the NASCAR Nationwide Series since 2004 when he won at Kansas. He and Mike’ brother, Kenny Wallace, 47 – who’s ninth in points and five starts from becoming only the second series driver to reach 500 career starts), are getting the younger drivers’ attention.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Kyle Busch wins Nationwide race in overtime
Kyle Busch wins Nationwide race in overtime
(April 16, 2011)
TALLADEGA, Ala.—In a wild ending that had Mike Wallace’s Chevrolet spinning upside down and landing on its roof, Kyle Busch won Saturday’s Aaron’s 312 Nationwide Series race at Talladega Superspeedway when a caution flag on Lap 124 froze the field.
Busch got the win on the second attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race seven laps past its scheduled distance at the 2.66-mile track. Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Joey Logano, had just pushed Busch to the lead when Wallace’s wreck brought out the record 11th caution of the race.
Logano was credited with second place, followed by Joe Nemechek, Brad Keselowski and polesitter Elliott Sadler.
A huge 21-car chain-reaction crash on the backstretch after a Lap 88 restart thinned the field and collected several of the strongest cars, among them the No. 18 of Busch, the No. 1 of Jamie McMurray and the No. 66 of Steve Wallace.
Contact between Busch and Clint Bowyer started a spin that collected Michael Waltrip and sent half the field sliding and spinning out of control.
Waltrip blamed Sadler and McMurray who were separated on the track but were trying to hook up together in a two-car draft.
“It happened on the radio before the restart,” Waltrip said. “The 2 (Sadler) decided that he would manipulate the restart so that the 1 could get behind him, and they could work together like they had before.
“It’s the way you race, but the 1 and the 2 messing around got me crashed.”
McMurray agreed that he and Sadler were trying to get back together.
“I really don’t know what happened,” McMurray said. “I was obviously trying to get back to Eliiott—we worked together really well all day. Elliott was trying to get away from the 99 (Waltrip) so that I could get hooked up with him.
“I pulled to the inside, and I think the 18 behind me gave me a big shove, and I thought I was just going to have to go with him, because of the momentum we had, and then I just kind of got hit in the right rear.”
After a stoppage of 6 minutes 45 seconds—the second red flag of the afternoon—the race restarted on Lap 93, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the lead.
Earlier, on Lap 69, contact between the Fords of teammates Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. sent Stenhouse, the series points leader entering the race, into the outside wall and out of the race.
After the wreck, NASCAR red-flagged the race for 5 minutes, 33 seconds to clean the debris from the racetrack.
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 16, 2011)
TALLADEGA, Ala.—In a wild ending that had Mike Wallace’s Chevrolet spinning upside down and landing on its roof, Kyle Busch won Saturday’s Aaron’s 312 Nationwide Series race at Talladega Superspeedway when a caution flag on Lap 124 froze the field.
Busch got the win on the second attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race seven laps past its scheduled distance at the 2.66-mile track. Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Joey Logano, had just pushed Busch to the lead when Wallace’s wreck brought out the record 11th caution of the race.
Logano was credited with second place, followed by Joe Nemechek, Brad Keselowski and polesitter Elliott Sadler.
A huge 21-car chain-reaction crash on the backstretch after a Lap 88 restart thinned the field and collected several of the strongest cars, among them the No. 18 of Busch, the No. 1 of Jamie McMurray and the No. 66 of Steve Wallace.
Contact between Busch and Clint Bowyer started a spin that collected Michael Waltrip and sent half the field sliding and spinning out of control.
Waltrip blamed Sadler and McMurray who were separated on the track but were trying to hook up together in a two-car draft.
“It happened on the radio before the restart,” Waltrip said. “The 2 (Sadler) decided that he would manipulate the restart so that the 1 could get behind him, and they could work together like they had before.
“It’s the way you race, but the 1 and the 2 messing around got me crashed.”
McMurray agreed that he and Sadler were trying to get back together.
“I really don’t know what happened,” McMurray said. “I was obviously trying to get back to Eliiott—we worked together really well all day. Elliott was trying to get away from the 99 (Waltrip) so that I could get hooked up with him.
“I pulled to the inside, and I think the 18 behind me gave me a big shove, and I thought I was just going to have to go with him, because of the momentum we had, and then I just kind of got hit in the right rear.”
After a stoppage of 6 minutes 45 seconds—the second red flag of the afternoon—the race restarted on Lap 93, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the lead.
Earlier, on Lap 69, contact between the Fords of teammates Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. sent Stenhouse, the series points leader entering the race, into the outside wall and out of the race.
After the wreck, NASCAR red-flagged the race for 5 minutes, 33 seconds to clean the debris from the racetrack.
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
Friday, April 15, 2011
NATIONWIDE : TALLADEGA
Kevin Harvick Inc. continued its restrictor-plate mastery by sweeping the front row during qualifying for Saturday’s running of the Aaron’s 312 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Elliott Sadler captured the pole position during qualifying Friday with a speed of 179.558, edging out KHI teammate Clint Bowyer, who turned a fast lap of 179.373. At the season-opening Nationwide race at Daytona International Speedway, KHI cars finished first and second and sat on the pole as well.
“There’s no secret how good these restrictor-plate cars have been the last couple of years,” Sadler said. “It shows a lot of hard work by Kevin Harvick and everybody on his race team.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has had plenty of restrictor-plate success of his own over the years, qualified third with a run of 179.115. Earnhardt has started only two of the first six Nationwide races this season but has finished in the top-five both times, including a fourth-place showing at Daytona.
“The Nationwide Series is fun to race in. I enjoy the races,” Earnhardt said. “The races I don’t run, it’s a weird feeling to not be in the Nationwide race. There have been times where I’ll sit there and watch that race and about halfway through it I’m thinking, ‘Why in the world didn’t I do something to be in the race.’ ”
Jamie McMurray will start fourth, followed by Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne in fifth, Carl Edwards sixth, Joey Logano seventh, Michael Annett eighth, Jason Leffler ninth and Aric Almirola 10th.Kevin Harvick qualified 11th, current Nationwide points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 14th, defending Aaron’s 312 winner Brad Keselowski 16th and Alabama native Mike Harmon 28th.
Sadler is running fulltime in the Nationwide Series this season and is eligible for the championship. He finished 38th in the season-opener at Daytona but motors into the Aaron’s 312 off three consecutive top-five finishes, propelling him into fourth place in the point standings.
“We are definitely going in the right direction,” Sadler said. “Finishing 38th at Daytona put us in a huge hole. We were fast (in the next two races), we just couldn’t dig ourselves out of that hole. And then we put three top-fives together in a row.
“We have a really good race team. I just want to be consistent enough to get our team back in contention to where we need to be.”
Driver introductions for the Aaron’s 312 are scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. CDT Saturday. The green flag for the 117-lap race is set to fly at approximately 2 p.m.
Elliott Sadler captured the pole position during qualifying Friday with a speed of 179.558, edging out KHI teammate Clint Bowyer, who turned a fast lap of 179.373. At the season-opening Nationwide race at Daytona International Speedway, KHI cars finished first and second and sat on the pole as well.
“There’s no secret how good these restrictor-plate cars have been the last couple of years,” Sadler said. “It shows a lot of hard work by Kevin Harvick and everybody on his race team.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has had plenty of restrictor-plate success of his own over the years, qualified third with a run of 179.115. Earnhardt has started only two of the first six Nationwide races this season but has finished in the top-five both times, including a fourth-place showing at Daytona.
“The Nationwide Series is fun to race in. I enjoy the races,” Earnhardt said. “The races I don’t run, it’s a weird feeling to not be in the Nationwide race. There have been times where I’ll sit there and watch that race and about halfway through it I’m thinking, ‘Why in the world didn’t I do something to be in the race.’ ”
Jamie McMurray will start fourth, followed by Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne in fifth, Carl Edwards sixth, Joey Logano seventh, Michael Annett eighth, Jason Leffler ninth and Aric Almirola 10th.Kevin Harvick qualified 11th, current Nationwide points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 14th, defending Aaron’s 312 winner Brad Keselowski 16th and Alabama native Mike Harmon 28th.
Sadler is running fulltime in the Nationwide Series this season and is eligible for the championship. He finished 38th in the season-opener at Daytona but motors into the Aaron’s 312 off three consecutive top-five finishes, propelling him into fourth place in the point standings.
“We are definitely going in the right direction,” Sadler said. “Finishing 38th at Daytona put us in a huge hole. We were fast (in the next two races), we just couldn’t dig ourselves out of that hole. And then we put three top-fives together in a row.
“We have a really good race team. I just want to be consistent enough to get our team back in contention to where we need to be.”
Driver introductions for the Aaron’s 312 are scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. CDT Saturday. The green flag for the 117-lap race is set to fly at approximately 2 p.m.
Pole Winner: Elliott Sadler Aaron's 312
Qualifying Fast Facts
Talladega Superspeedway
20th Annual Aaron's 312
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, April 15, 2011 @ 01:50 PM Eastern
Coors Light Pole Winner: Elliott Sadler
Age: 35
Team : No. 2 - OneMain Financial Chevrolet
Owner: Delana Harvick
Crew Chief: Ernie Cope
Elliott Sadler won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 20th Annual Aaron's 312 with a lap of 53.331 seconds, 179.558 mph.
This is his seventh pole in 137 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
This is his first pole and fourth top-10 start in 2011.
This is his first pole in three races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Clint Bowyer(i) (second) posted his second top-10 start of 2011 and his seventh in eight races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.(i) (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his second in three races this season.
Blake Koch (32nd) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Talladega Superspeedway
20th Annual Aaron's 312
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, April 15, 2011 @ 01:50 PM Eastern
Coors Light Pole Winner: Elliott Sadler
Age: 35
Team : No. 2 - OneMain Financial Chevrolet
Owner: Delana Harvick
Crew Chief: Ernie Cope
Elliott Sadler won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 20th Annual Aaron's 312 with a lap of 53.331 seconds, 179.558 mph.
This is his seventh pole in 137 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
This is his first pole and fourth top-10 start in 2011.
This is his first pole in three races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Clint Bowyer(i) (second) posted his second top-10 start of 2011 and his seventh in eight races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.(i) (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his second in three races this season.
Blake Koch (32nd) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Scott ready to play offense at Talladega
Scott ready to play offense at Talladega
By Lee Montgomery
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 14, 2011)
Brian Scott doesn’t want to make the same mistake twice.
Heading into the Nationwide Series season’s first superspeedway race, at Daytona in February, Scott admitted his Joe Gibbs Racing team played a little too much defense, and the result was an accident, engine failure and a 34th-place finish.
For Saturday’s Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway, Scott and his team will go on offense.
“Personally, I feel like the No. 11 team showed up at Daytona with the wrong mindset,” Scott said. “We showed up at Daytona very defensive, kind of on our heels, trying to guard against the bad things that can happen. Of course, the bad things did happen. I think it was because of that mindset.
“I think we have to go to Talladega, and we have to be aggressive. We have to be on the offensive.”
Scott said he needs to work immediately on the two-car draft when practice starts to develop relationships with other drivers so they know his car is fast and know they can work with him.
“Knowing that we’re going to go to Talladega and run in those two-car deals the whole time, we’re going to prepare for that,” Scott said. “We’ve already got (in-car) radio deals figured out, we’ve already been politicking within the company about who’s going to work with who.”
That could mean you’ll see Scott, 23, race a lot with his more-seasoned teammates, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano.
Busch is chasing Mark Martin’s series record for victories and has won three times this year. Logano has four top 10s in five starts this year and, even though he’s two years younger than Scott, already has eight wins. Busch and crew chief Jason Ratcliff seem to have a handle on the new Nationwide car, while Logano and Scott are still searching for the right combination.
“It’s slightly unfair to compare me to Kyle and Joey because, one, they’ve already got substantial more experience than me,” Scott said. “And, two, each weekend, they’re getting two to three times the track time I’m getting.”
But the equipment is the same, and Scott believes he can live up to the lofty expectations he put on himself when he joined JGR. That starts with his relationship with crew chief Kevin Kidd.
“He understands exactly what I’m saying when I’m talking about what the car’s doing,” Scott said. “And he knows what I’m looking for feel-wise. We’re still working with that. We have some slight communication gaps every week, but they’re getting fewer and fewer, and we’re getting the gap narrower. We’re getting better. It’s one of the things we’re working the hardest on.”
That, and playing offense.
By Lee Montgomery
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 14, 2011)
Brian Scott doesn’t want to make the same mistake twice.
Heading into the Nationwide Series season’s first superspeedway race, at Daytona in February, Scott admitted his Joe Gibbs Racing team played a little too much defense, and the result was an accident, engine failure and a 34th-place finish.
For Saturday’s Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway, Scott and his team will go on offense.
“Personally, I feel like the No. 11 team showed up at Daytona with the wrong mindset,” Scott said. “We showed up at Daytona very defensive, kind of on our heels, trying to guard against the bad things that can happen. Of course, the bad things did happen. I think it was because of that mindset.
“I think we have to go to Talladega, and we have to be aggressive. We have to be on the offensive.”
Scott said he needs to work immediately on the two-car draft when practice starts to develop relationships with other drivers so they know his car is fast and know they can work with him.
“Knowing that we’re going to go to Talladega and run in those two-car deals the whole time, we’re going to prepare for that,” Scott said. “We’ve already got (in-car) radio deals figured out, we’ve already been politicking within the company about who’s going to work with who.”
That could mean you’ll see Scott, 23, race a lot with his more-seasoned teammates, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano.
Busch is chasing Mark Martin’s series record for victories and has won three times this year. Logano has four top 10s in five starts this year and, even though he’s two years younger than Scott, already has eight wins. Busch and crew chief Jason Ratcliff seem to have a handle on the new Nationwide car, while Logano and Scott are still searching for the right combination.
“It’s slightly unfair to compare me to Kyle and Joey because, one, they’ve already got substantial more experience than me,” Scott said. “And, two, each weekend, they’re getting two to three times the track time I’m getting.”
But the equipment is the same, and Scott believes he can live up to the lofty expectations he put on himself when he joined JGR. That starts with his relationship with crew chief Kevin Kidd.
“He understands exactly what I’m saying when I’m talking about what the car’s doing,” Scott said. “And he knows what I’m looking for feel-wise. We’re still working with that. We have some slight communication gaps every week, but they’re getting fewer and fewer, and we’re getting the gap narrower. We’re getting better. It’s one of the things we’re working the hardest on.”
That, and playing offense.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Biggest Superspeedway On The Schedule Attracts Biggest Names In NASCAR
Biggest Superspeedway On The Schedule Attracts Biggest Names In NASCAR
The who’s who of NASCAR will be gracing the high-banks of Talladega Superspeedway for Saturday’s Aaron’s 312. Some of the biggest names in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will join the familiar faces of the NASCAR Nationwide Series regulars. Below is the star-studded double-duty list and some quick highlights:
• Two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion and series car owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. has made seven starts at Talladega posting one win (2003), three top fives and five top 10s. He is ranked seventh in the pre-race Driver Rating with 94.5.
• Past NASCAR Nationwide Series champions Joe Nemechek (1992), Kevin Harvick (2001, ‘06), Carl Edwards (2007), Clint Bowyer (2008), Kyle Busch (2009) and Brad Keselowski (2010). Keselowski is the defending race winner. Nemechek, who made his 900th NASCAR national series start last weekend at Texas, leads all series active drivers at Talladega in wins with two (1998, 2000) and poles with five (1996, ’97,’98, 2001,’02).
• Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray (2010) and two-time Daytona 500 winner (2001, ‘03) and series car owner Michael Waltrip return to the series.
• Joe Gibbs Racing driver Joey Logano has the highest-ranked (second) NASCAR Pre-Race Loop Data Driver Rating heading into Talladega this weekend with (113.5). He has made two starts at Talladega finishing second last season and third in 2009.
Driver Spotlights: Brian Scott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s newest addition Brian Scott and Roush Fenway Racing’s comeback king Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are both heading to Talladega with momentum from their early success this season.
Finding room in the spotlight with a teammate as dominate in the NASCAR Nationwide Series as Kyle Busch can be difficult, but Brian Scott has done it. He is eighth in the points after the first six races of the season just 45 points behind Stenhouse, the series standings leader. Scott has posted two top-10 finishes this season at Phoenix and last weekend at Texas.
Scott made his Talladega debut last season starting 17th and finishing 10th, just ahead of Busch in 11th.
Roush Fenway Racing swept Texas last weekend in both NASCAR national series, and this weekend the series driver standings leader, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is looking to capitalize on the momentum.Stenhouse is tied with his teammate Carl Edwards for the series lead with five top-10 finishes this season. Stenhouse is the highest ranked series regular in season-to-date Driver Rating (108.4) and only third overall behind Kyle Busch (128.2) and Carl Edwards (117.5).
Stenhouse leads the standings by 14 points over Turner Motorsports’ Jason Leffler. Stenhouse is looking to rebound from last season’s Talladega debut, when he started third but finished 29th.
NNS Competition Corner
After the first six races here are some competition highlights:
• All four manufacturers have now won in the new car. Dodge and Chevrolet each had two wins among the new car’s four races last year. Toyota claimed its first new car win this year at Phoenix courtesy of Kyle Busch, and Ford scored its first new car victory with Carl Edwards’ victory at Texas last weekend.
• Four different winners in the first six races: Kyle Busch (three wins), Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, and Carl Edwards (each has one).
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is the fourth different driver standings leader joining Landon Cassill, Reed Sorenson and Jason Leffler.
• Three perfect driver rating performances this season: Kyle Busch (150.0) at Phoenix and Bristol; Carl Edwards (150.0) at Texas.
Below are some bullets highlighting the action scheduled for this weekend at Talladega:
• The NASCAR Nationwide Series new car makes race debut at Talladega, but this won’t be its first time on the track. The new car tested at Talladega in October 2009.
• There have been 19 series races at Talladega Superspeedway with 13 different pole winners led by Joe Nemechek (five), and 16 different race winners led by two-time series champion Martin Truex Jr. (three). Nemechek leads all active drivers this weekend with two victories.
NNS Etc. – Talladega Superspeedway
Travis Pastrana turned his first laps in a NASCAR Nationwide Series car this week at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va. for his co-owned team Pastrana Waltrip Racing. Click this here to listen to an interview with Pastrana at the event. … Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 car became the fourth new leader in the owner standings this past weekend, overtaking the No. 18 Toyota, which dropped to seventh in the standings. The No. 20 team holds the standings lead by one point ahead of the Roush Fenway Racing No. 60 car and the Kevin Harvick Inc. No. 33 car. Both have 224 points this season.
The who’s who of NASCAR will be gracing the high-banks of Talladega Superspeedway for Saturday’s Aaron’s 312. Some of the biggest names in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will join the familiar faces of the NASCAR Nationwide Series regulars. Below is the star-studded double-duty list and some quick highlights:
• Two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion and series car owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. has made seven starts at Talladega posting one win (2003), three top fives and five top 10s. He is ranked seventh in the pre-race Driver Rating with 94.5.
• Past NASCAR Nationwide Series champions Joe Nemechek (1992), Kevin Harvick (2001, ‘06), Carl Edwards (2007), Clint Bowyer (2008), Kyle Busch (2009) and Brad Keselowski (2010). Keselowski is the defending race winner. Nemechek, who made his 900th NASCAR national series start last weekend at Texas, leads all series active drivers at Talladega in wins with two (1998, 2000) and poles with five (1996, ’97,’98, 2001,’02).
• Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray (2010) and two-time Daytona 500 winner (2001, ‘03) and series car owner Michael Waltrip return to the series.
• Joe Gibbs Racing driver Joey Logano has the highest-ranked (second) NASCAR Pre-Race Loop Data Driver Rating heading into Talladega this weekend with (113.5). He has made two starts at Talladega finishing second last season and third in 2009.
Driver Spotlights: Brian Scott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s newest addition Brian Scott and Roush Fenway Racing’s comeback king Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are both heading to Talladega with momentum from their early success this season.
Finding room in the spotlight with a teammate as dominate in the NASCAR Nationwide Series as Kyle Busch can be difficult, but Brian Scott has done it. He is eighth in the points after the first six races of the season just 45 points behind Stenhouse, the series standings leader. Scott has posted two top-10 finishes this season at Phoenix and last weekend at Texas.
Scott made his Talladega debut last season starting 17th and finishing 10th, just ahead of Busch in 11th.
Roush Fenway Racing swept Texas last weekend in both NASCAR national series, and this weekend the series driver standings leader, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is looking to capitalize on the momentum.Stenhouse is tied with his teammate Carl Edwards for the series lead with five top-10 finishes this season. Stenhouse is the highest ranked series regular in season-to-date Driver Rating (108.4) and only third overall behind Kyle Busch (128.2) and Carl Edwards (117.5).
Stenhouse leads the standings by 14 points over Turner Motorsports’ Jason Leffler. Stenhouse is looking to rebound from last season’s Talladega debut, when he started third but finished 29th.
NNS Competition Corner
After the first six races here are some competition highlights:
• All four manufacturers have now won in the new car. Dodge and Chevrolet each had two wins among the new car’s four races last year. Toyota claimed its first new car win this year at Phoenix courtesy of Kyle Busch, and Ford scored its first new car victory with Carl Edwards’ victory at Texas last weekend.
• Four different winners in the first six races: Kyle Busch (three wins), Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, and Carl Edwards (each has one).
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is the fourth different driver standings leader joining Landon Cassill, Reed Sorenson and Jason Leffler.
• Three perfect driver rating performances this season: Kyle Busch (150.0) at Phoenix and Bristol; Carl Edwards (150.0) at Texas.
Below are some bullets highlighting the action scheduled for this weekend at Talladega:
• The NASCAR Nationwide Series new car makes race debut at Talladega, but this won’t be its first time on the track. The new car tested at Talladega in October 2009.
• There have been 19 series races at Talladega Superspeedway with 13 different pole winners led by Joe Nemechek (five), and 16 different race winners led by two-time series champion Martin Truex Jr. (three). Nemechek leads all active drivers this weekend with two victories.
NNS Etc. – Talladega Superspeedway
Travis Pastrana turned his first laps in a NASCAR Nationwide Series car this week at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va. for his co-owned team Pastrana Waltrip Racing. Click this here to listen to an interview with Pastrana at the event. … Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 car became the fourth new leader in the owner standings this past weekend, overtaking the No. 18 Toyota, which dropped to seventh in the standings. The No. 20 team holds the standings lead by one point ahead of the Roush Fenway Racing No. 60 car and the Kevin Harvick Inc. No. 33 car. Both have 224 points this season.
Randy Moss Motorsports Hits “300” Milestone In Nashville
Randy Moss Motorsports Hits “300” Milestone In Nashville
Randy Moss Motorsports will achieve a significant milestone April 22 at Nashville Superspeedway, becoming just the fourth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series organization to field at least one truck in 300 consecutive races.
Known previously as Dollar Motorsports, the team has competed in 15 of the series’ 16 seasons. Its No. 5 Toyota is driven by 2003 champion Travis Kvapil.
“I feel very fortunate to be able to reach this milestone in my career as a team owner,” said team founder and co-owner David Dollar. “As a young racer competing on dirt tracks back in Oklahoma, I always heard about Richard Childress and Rick Hendrick, and now here we are competing against their drivers and equipment every week.”
Randy Moss, the National Football League wide receiver, became a team principal in mid-2008. “I can sleep every night knowing David really cares about the sport, making it better and educating me; that has made the transition a lot smoother,” said Moss.Kvapil, one of more than 30 to drive for the organization, said, “I’ve been racing in the (series) on-and-off for the last 10 years, and have had some intense battles with drivers from Randy Moss Motorsports. David and Randy have always put in a lot of time to make this team one of the strongest in the [NASCAR Camping World] Truck Series garage.”
The Randy Moss Motorsports timeline:
• Oct. 7, 1996 Marc Robe starts and finishes 33rd as Dollar Motorsports debuts at Infineon Raceway.
• Rob Morgan and Dollar form Morgan-Dollar Motorsports in 1999. The team begins its current streak on March 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Morgan finishes 18th in the championship standings.
• Dennis Setzer scores the team’s first victory on June 23, 2001 at Memphis Motorsports Park and adds a first pole two weeks later at Kansas Speedway.
• Setzer is the team’s most successful driver, winning 11 times and finishing runner up in the championship standings from 2003-05. Three other drivers - Mike Skinner (three wins), Clint Bowyer and Bobby Labonte - contribute to the team’s 16 wins, ranking 11th all-time among owners.
• A virtual who’s who of NASCAR has been at the controls of a Randy Moss Motorsports truck contributing to 70 top-five and 164 top-10 finishes and six poles. They include AJ Allmendinger, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Scott Speed and Tony Stewart.
Points Reflect NASCAR Camping World Truck Changes
Finding Todd Bodine and Ron Hornaday Jr. among the top 10 of the NASCAR Camping World Truck standings is a virtual given. Bodine (eighth) has held a top-10 position after four races in each of the seven seasons he’s competed in the series fulltime. Hornaday (sixth) is 11-for-12 seasons.
That, however, is where comparisons between 2011 and 2010 end. Six of those ranked among the top 10 as the series heads to Nashville Superspeedway weren’t there a year ago. In fact, four of those six weren’t even fulltime series competitors in 2010.
Here’s the tale of the tape:• Matt Crafton and Timothy Peters rank in the top five for the second consecutive season. Crafton is second vs. fifth a year ago; Peters, last year’s points leader after race No. 4, is third.
• Current leader Johnny Sauter didn’t make the 2010 top 10 until his victory in race No. 5 at Kansas Speedway.
• Last year’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year Austin Dillon also needed a win to reach elite ranking. He jumped to seventh, where he currently resides, after a victory in race No. 10 at Iowa Speedway.
• The remaining top-10 drivers – Cole Whitt, Clay Rogers, Max Papis and Miguel Paludo – were doing the majority of their racing elsewhere in 2010. Whitt and Paludo are rookies. Last season’s comparable top 10 was 100% veteran drivers.
NCWTS Etc.
David Starr finished 38th in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. … Series veteran Scott Eggleston and SS Green Light Racing’s Bobby Dotter and Butch Miller won big on their weekend off as Eggleston collected one of late model racing’s largest pots - $75,000 – on Sunday at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. … Eibach Springs will partner with ThorSport Racing and its three drivers Crafton, Sauter and Dakoda Armstrong for the remainder of the 2011 season. … Camping World will sponsor the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Ford driven by Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway as well as the team’s participation in the May 21 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.
Randy Moss Motorsports will achieve a significant milestone April 22 at Nashville Superspeedway, becoming just the fourth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series organization to field at least one truck in 300 consecutive races.
Known previously as Dollar Motorsports, the team has competed in 15 of the series’ 16 seasons. Its No. 5 Toyota is driven by 2003 champion Travis Kvapil.
“I feel very fortunate to be able to reach this milestone in my career as a team owner,” said team founder and co-owner David Dollar. “As a young racer competing on dirt tracks back in Oklahoma, I always heard about Richard Childress and Rick Hendrick, and now here we are competing against their drivers and equipment every week.”
Randy Moss, the National Football League wide receiver, became a team principal in mid-2008. “I can sleep every night knowing David really cares about the sport, making it better and educating me; that has made the transition a lot smoother,” said Moss.Kvapil, one of more than 30 to drive for the organization, said, “I’ve been racing in the (series) on-and-off for the last 10 years, and have had some intense battles with drivers from Randy Moss Motorsports. David and Randy have always put in a lot of time to make this team one of the strongest in the [NASCAR Camping World] Truck Series garage.”
The Randy Moss Motorsports timeline:
• Oct. 7, 1996 Marc Robe starts and finishes 33rd as Dollar Motorsports debuts at Infineon Raceway.
• Rob Morgan and Dollar form Morgan-Dollar Motorsports in 1999. The team begins its current streak on March 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Morgan finishes 18th in the championship standings.
• Dennis Setzer scores the team’s first victory on June 23, 2001 at Memphis Motorsports Park and adds a first pole two weeks later at Kansas Speedway.
• Setzer is the team’s most successful driver, winning 11 times and finishing runner up in the championship standings from 2003-05. Three other drivers - Mike Skinner (three wins), Clint Bowyer and Bobby Labonte - contribute to the team’s 16 wins, ranking 11th all-time among owners.
• A virtual who’s who of NASCAR has been at the controls of a Randy Moss Motorsports truck contributing to 70 top-five and 164 top-10 finishes and six poles. They include AJ Allmendinger, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Scott Speed and Tony Stewart.
Points Reflect NASCAR Camping World Truck Changes
Finding Todd Bodine and Ron Hornaday Jr. among the top 10 of the NASCAR Camping World Truck standings is a virtual given. Bodine (eighth) has held a top-10 position after four races in each of the seven seasons he’s competed in the series fulltime. Hornaday (sixth) is 11-for-12 seasons.
That, however, is where comparisons between 2011 and 2010 end. Six of those ranked among the top 10 as the series heads to Nashville Superspeedway weren’t there a year ago. In fact, four of those six weren’t even fulltime series competitors in 2010.
Here’s the tale of the tape:• Matt Crafton and Timothy Peters rank in the top five for the second consecutive season. Crafton is second vs. fifth a year ago; Peters, last year’s points leader after race No. 4, is third.
• Current leader Johnny Sauter didn’t make the 2010 top 10 until his victory in race No. 5 at Kansas Speedway.
• Last year’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year Austin Dillon also needed a win to reach elite ranking. He jumped to seventh, where he currently resides, after a victory in race No. 10 at Iowa Speedway.
• The remaining top-10 drivers – Cole Whitt, Clay Rogers, Max Papis and Miguel Paludo – were doing the majority of their racing elsewhere in 2010. Whitt and Paludo are rookies. Last season’s comparable top 10 was 100% veteran drivers.
NCWTS Etc.
David Starr finished 38th in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. … Series veteran Scott Eggleston and SS Green Light Racing’s Bobby Dotter and Butch Miller won big on their weekend off as Eggleston collected one of late model racing’s largest pots - $75,000 – on Sunday at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. … Eibach Springs will partner with ThorSport Racing and its three drivers Crafton, Sauter and Dakoda Armstrong for the remainder of the 2011 season. … Camping World will sponsor the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Ford driven by Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway as well as the team’s participation in the May 21 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES: TALLADEGA
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
It’s Anybody’s Game
The NASCAR Nationwide Series new car makes its race debut at Talladega, but this won’t be its first time on the track. The new car tested at Talladega in October 2009 so the teams that participated have notes in hand. One of the goals of the new car was to provide competitive balance in the NASCAR Nationwide Series garage, and following last Friday’s victory at Texas by 2007 series champion Carl Edwards – his first win of the season – all four manufacturers have now won in the new car.
Dodge and Chevrolet each had two wins among the new car’s four races last year, and Toyota claimed its first new car win this year at Phoenix courtesy of 2009 series champion Kyle Busch. Dodge is seeking its first win of 2011.
A different manufacturer has won the last four races at ’Dega. Dodge, with 2010 series champion Brad
Keselowski, won this race last year. Keselowski has had somewhat of a snake-bitten season, but has momentum after posting his best finish of the season, second, at Texas.
Toyota leads the manufacturer’s standings by three points over Chevrolet, which has been the dominant manufacturer over the 19 previous Talladega races with 12 wins. However Chevy hasn’t won since 2007 with 1991 series champion Bobby Labonte. Ford is in the hunt in third, six points out of the lead. Dodge is 15 points back.
Series-Only Regulars Getting Their Wish At ’Dega
NASCAR Nationwide Series driver championship contenders – series-only regulars who are eligible for the driver championship since they selected the series to compete for points at the start of the season – have long said racing against double-duty drivers is a challenge they embrace.
That challenge is on at ’Dega.
Nine NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stars – including two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion and series team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, 2009 series champion Kyle Busch, 2008 series champ Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray and series team owner Michael Waltrip – are among those joining full-time double-duty drivers Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski in the field. That number matches the season high for double-duty driver participation set at Daytona to start the year.
Through the first six races of the season, which have averaged 6.4 double-duty drivers entered, series-only regulars have been represented among the top-10 finishers at a 4.7 clip.
Scott Finding His Footing At JGR
With names like Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, Brian Scott may have been the forgotten man in the strong Joe Gibbs Racing stable. But Scott, in his first year with the organization, has quietly been showing progress. He scored his second top-10 finish of the year last week at Texas and has been showing improvement since a disappointing start to the year at Daytona – 34th due to engine failure.
Since Daytona, Scott’s average finish is 11.6, and he has moved up to eighth in the standing. That ranking is tied for his career best, coincidentally since after this race last year at Talladega when he also was eighth. Last year in his series track debut at Talladega, he finished 10th, one of two series-only regulars in the top 10 and best among returning “regular guys.”
Scott is 45 points behind standings leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and two points behind seventh-place Trevor Bayne. Stenhouse had another strong outing last week, finishing eighth last Friday at Texas. He’s collected five top-10 finishes in the first six races, which is tied for the series lead with his Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Carl Edwards.
It’s Anybody’s Game
The NASCAR Nationwide Series new car makes its race debut at Talladega, but this won’t be its first time on the track. The new car tested at Talladega in October 2009 so the teams that participated have notes in hand. One of the goals of the new car was to provide competitive balance in the NASCAR Nationwide Series garage, and following last Friday’s victory at Texas by 2007 series champion Carl Edwards – his first win of the season – all four manufacturers have now won in the new car.
Dodge and Chevrolet each had two wins among the new car’s four races last year, and Toyota claimed its first new car win this year at Phoenix courtesy of 2009 series champion Kyle Busch. Dodge is seeking its first win of 2011.
A different manufacturer has won the last four races at ’Dega. Dodge, with 2010 series champion Brad
Keselowski, won this race last year. Keselowski has had somewhat of a snake-bitten season, but has momentum after posting his best finish of the season, second, at Texas.
Toyota leads the manufacturer’s standings by three points over Chevrolet, which has been the dominant manufacturer over the 19 previous Talladega races with 12 wins. However Chevy hasn’t won since 2007 with 1991 series champion Bobby Labonte. Ford is in the hunt in third, six points out of the lead. Dodge is 15 points back.
Series-Only Regulars Getting Their Wish At ’Dega
NASCAR Nationwide Series driver championship contenders – series-only regulars who are eligible for the driver championship since they selected the series to compete for points at the start of the season – have long said racing against double-duty drivers is a challenge they embrace.
That challenge is on at ’Dega.
Nine NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stars – including two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion and series team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, 2009 series champion Kyle Busch, 2008 series champ Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray and series team owner Michael Waltrip – are among those joining full-time double-duty drivers Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski in the field. That number matches the season high for double-duty driver participation set at Daytona to start the year.
Through the first six races of the season, which have averaged 6.4 double-duty drivers entered, series-only regulars have been represented among the top-10 finishers at a 4.7 clip.
Scott Finding His Footing At JGR
With names like Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, Brian Scott may have been the forgotten man in the strong Joe Gibbs Racing stable. But Scott, in his first year with the organization, has quietly been showing progress. He scored his second top-10 finish of the year last week at Texas and has been showing improvement since a disappointing start to the year at Daytona – 34th due to engine failure.
Since Daytona, Scott’s average finish is 11.6, and he has moved up to eighth in the standing. That ranking is tied for his career best, coincidentally since after this race last year at Talladega when he also was eighth. Last year in his series track debut at Talladega, he finished 10th, one of two series-only regulars in the top 10 and best among returning “regular guys.”
Scott is 45 points behind standings leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and two points behind seventh-place Trevor Bayne. Stenhouse had another strong outing last week, finishing eighth last Friday at Texas. He’s collected five top-10 finishes in the first six races, which is tied for the series lead with his Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Carl Edwards.
Monday, April 11, 2011
CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES NOTEBOOK
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
Randy Moss Motorsports Marks 300th Race
One of the longest running teams in THE NASCAR Camping World Truck Series garage – Randy Moss Motorsports – will celebrate the team’s 300th consecutive NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Nashville Superspeedway next weekend.
RMM has competed in the series since 1996 and has 13 victories with drivers Dennis Setzer, Clint Bowyer and Mike Skinner.
Buescher Spends Open Week at Talladega
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular James Buescher will spend the open weekend on the schedule at Talladega Superspeedway competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event on Saturday.
Buescher – who has two top-10 finishes in four NCWTS events this season - will again pilot a Turner Motorsports car in the seventh NNS race of the season. It will be his second NASCAR Nationwide start of the season – he scored an eighth-place finish at Bristol earlier this season.
Up Next: Nashville Superspeedway
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to action next weekend at Nashville Superspeedway on Friday, April 22. The Bully Hill Vineyards 200 will mark only the second spring truck series race to be held at the 1.33-mile concrete oval.
In 11 previous races at Nashville, 10 different winners have visited victory lane and four of them have been won from the pole – including last year’s winner Kyle Busch.
Randy Moss Motorsports Marks 300th Race
One of the longest running teams in THE NASCAR Camping World Truck Series garage – Randy Moss Motorsports – will celebrate the team’s 300th consecutive NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Nashville Superspeedway next weekend.
RMM has competed in the series since 1996 and has 13 victories with drivers Dennis Setzer, Clint Bowyer and Mike Skinner.
Buescher Spends Open Week at Talladega
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular James Buescher will spend the open weekend on the schedule at Talladega Superspeedway competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event on Saturday.
Buescher – who has two top-10 finishes in four NCWTS events this season - will again pilot a Turner Motorsports car in the seventh NNS race of the season. It will be his second NASCAR Nationwide start of the season – he scored an eighth-place finish at Bristol earlier this season.
Up Next: Nashville Superspeedway
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to action next weekend at Nashville Superspeedway on Friday, April 22. The Bully Hill Vineyards 200 will mark only the second spring truck series race to be held at the 1.33-mile concrete oval.
In 11 previous races at Nashville, 10 different winners have visited victory lane and four of them have been won from the pole – including last year’s winner Kyle Busch.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Edwards wins his first Nationwide race of the season
Edwards wins his first Nationwide race of the season
(April 8, 2011)
FORT WORTH, Texas—Carl Edwards held off tenacious Brad Keselowski to win Friday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The victory was Edwards’ second at Texas, his first of the season, the 30th of his career and the first for the new Ford Mustang in the Nationwide Series.
Keselowski crossed the stripe .482 seconds behind Edwards. Paul Menard came home third, followed by Joey Logano and Elliott Sadler. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished eighth and retained the series points lead by 14 points over Jason Leffler.
“I was pretty concerned (with Keselowski)—he was so fast down there on the bottom in (Turns) 3 and 4, and he kept getting a run,” Edwards said in victory lane. “So I stayed high, and I could pull him off the corner.
“His teammate (Sam Hornish Jr.) was kind of working for him there, helping him out (attempting to block Edwards as Keselowski closed in). That almost got him by me, but I was able to get by (Hornish). That was pretty wild.”
Keselowski, last year’s Nationwide Series champion, finally finished a race as well as he ran it. Tire issues have plagued Keselowski all season; his previous best finish this year was 15th at Phoenix.
“We ran like we did all year last year tonight and made some great adjustments on the car, unloaded really well and just came up a little bit short,” Keselowski said. “I felt like if we could have cleared Carl Edwards coming off of pit road there (after Edwards stopped with 11 laps left) and got the clean air there, I felt like I might have been able to hold him off.
“We were both really even there at the end, and it kind of came down to clean air. But he drove a good race.”
Kyle Busch, who was gunning for his third consecutive win and fourth of the season, was chasing Edwards for the lead on Lap 88 of 200 when the No. 52 Chevrolet of Tim Schendel blew a tire and slid up into Busch’s path. With no room to maneuver and no time to react, Busch slammed into the back of Schendel’s car, knocking Busch’s No. 18 Toyota out of the race.
“We started out a little bit tight, and the track was actually coming our way a little bit,” Busch said. “It started to free up a little bit that last run right before we wrecked. We felt pretty good about it. We were just biding our time. We were just running there—we were running hard, but we were just running.
“It felt like we were probably the only car that was going to give Carl a shot. It’s a shame that we didn’t have the chance to race it out the rest of the night.”
Edwards had mixed feelings about Busch’s departure.“If he hadn’t gotten knocked out, he would have been the competition tonight—he was fast,” Edwards said. “It’s fortunate that we missed that wreck, and I hate it for him. I think it would have been a really good race between us.”
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 8, 2011)
FORT WORTH, Texas—Carl Edwards held off tenacious Brad Keselowski to win Friday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The victory was Edwards’ second at Texas, his first of the season, the 30th of his career and the first for the new Ford Mustang in the Nationwide Series.
Keselowski crossed the stripe .482 seconds behind Edwards. Paul Menard came home third, followed by Joey Logano and Elliott Sadler. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished eighth and retained the series points lead by 14 points over Jason Leffler.
“I was pretty concerned (with Keselowski)—he was so fast down there on the bottom in (Turns) 3 and 4, and he kept getting a run,” Edwards said in victory lane. “So I stayed high, and I could pull him off the corner.
“His teammate (Sam Hornish Jr.) was kind of working for him there, helping him out (attempting to block Edwards as Keselowski closed in). That almost got him by me, but I was able to get by (Hornish). That was pretty wild.”
Keselowski, last year’s Nationwide Series champion, finally finished a race as well as he ran it. Tire issues have plagued Keselowski all season; his previous best finish this year was 15th at Phoenix.
“We ran like we did all year last year tonight and made some great adjustments on the car, unloaded really well and just came up a little bit short,” Keselowski said. “I felt like if we could have cleared Carl Edwards coming off of pit road there (after Edwards stopped with 11 laps left) and got the clean air there, I felt like I might have been able to hold him off.
“We were both really even there at the end, and it kind of came down to clean air. But he drove a good race.”
Kyle Busch, who was gunning for his third consecutive win and fourth of the season, was chasing Edwards for the lead on Lap 88 of 200 when the No. 52 Chevrolet of Tim Schendel blew a tire and slid up into Busch’s path. With no room to maneuver and no time to react, Busch slammed into the back of Schendel’s car, knocking Busch’s No. 18 Toyota out of the race.
“We started out a little bit tight, and the track was actually coming our way a little bit,” Busch said. “It started to free up a little bit that last run right before we wrecked. We felt pretty good about it. We were just biding our time. We were just running there—we were running hard, but we were just running.
“It felt like we were probably the only car that was going to give Carl a shot. It’s a shame that we didn’t have the chance to race it out the rest of the night.”
Edwards had mixed feelings about Busch’s departure.“If he hadn’t gotten knocked out, he would have been the competition tonight—he was fast,” Edwards said. “It’s fortunate that we missed that wreck, and I hate it for him. I think it would have been a really good race between us.”
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
Friday, April 8, 2011
Coors Light Pole Winner: Carl Edwards O'Reilly Auto Parts 300
Qualifying Fast Facts
Texas Motor Speedway
15th Annual O'Reilly Auto Parts 300
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, April 08, 2011 @ 06:08 PM Eastern
Coors Light Pole Winner: Carl Edwards(i)
Age: 31
Team : No. 60 - Fastenal Ford
Owner: Jack Roush
Crew Chief: Mike Beam
Carl Edwards(i) won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 15th Annual O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 with a lap of 30.178 seconds, 178.938 mph.
This is his 24th pole in 217 NASCAR Nationwide Series races. He breaks tie for third with Sam Ard and Jeff Green.
This is his third pole and sixth top-10 start in 2011.
This is his second pole in 13 races at Texas Motor Speedway. His other pole came Nov. 1, 2008.
Brad Keselowski(i) (second) posted his third top-10 start of 2011 and his fourth in ten races at Texas Motor Speedway.
Elliott Sadler (third) posted his third top-10 start at Texas Motor Speedway. It is his third in six races this season.
Blake Koch (20th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Texas Motor Speedway
15th Annual O'Reilly Auto Parts 300
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, April 08, 2011 @ 06:08 PM Eastern
Coors Light Pole Winner: Carl Edwards(i)
Age: 31
Team : No. 60 - Fastenal Ford
Owner: Jack Roush
Crew Chief: Mike Beam
Carl Edwards(i) won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 15th Annual O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 with a lap of 30.178 seconds, 178.938 mph.
This is his 24th pole in 217 NASCAR Nationwide Series races. He breaks tie for third with Sam Ard and Jeff Green.
This is his third pole and sixth top-10 start in 2011.
This is his second pole in 13 races at Texas Motor Speedway. His other pole came Nov. 1, 2008.
Brad Keselowski(i) (second) posted his third top-10 start of 2011 and his fourth in ten races at Texas Motor Speedway.
Elliott Sadler (third) posted his third top-10 start at Texas Motor Speedway. It is his third in six races this season.
Blake Koch (20th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
NATIONWIDE AND CAMPINGWORLD NOTE BOOK
The NASCAR Nationwide Series new car will be making its Texas debut on Thurs., April 7. Teams will receive extra practice, one of four tracks teams selected for extended practice time this season. … Robert Richardson Jr. will attempt to make his 75th NASCAR Nationwide Series start Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway, his home track. A native of McKinney, Texas, some 45 minutes northeast of the track, Richardson will need to qualify on time. … Kenny Wallace is inching closer to becoming the second driver in series history to reach 500 starts. He’ll enter Texas having made 493 starts. Jason Keller is the all-time leader with 519. … David Reutimann will be replacing Ryan Truex this weekend in the Pastrana Waltrip Racing No. 99 car. Truex is out recovering from wrist surgery … Paul Menard will make his season series debut this week in the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet, and Sam Hornish returns to the series in the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge. ThorSport Sets Standard So Far In 2011
ThorSport Racing continues to make NASCAR Camping World Truck Series history.
Johnny Sauter won the April 2 Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway to take the series championship lead for the first time in his NCWTS career.
Sauter displaced his teammate, Matt Crafton, from the No. 1 spot. The exchange marked the first time two teammates have topped the points standings in the same season.
ThorSport arguably is the team to beat in 2011 – at least for now.
• Crafton and Sauter are one-two in current standings, five points apart.
• The duo finished last season ranked third and fourth, the team’s first top-five championship “double.”
• That trumped 2009 when Crafton finished runner-up to champion Ron Hornaday Jr. Sauter won his first of four races, finished sixth overall and claimed the Sunoco Rookie of the Year.
ThorSport Racing is the series’ longest-standing operation dating to 1996, the series’ second season. Sauter’s victory was its fifth, marking the fourth consecutive season ThorSport has visited Victory Lane. Several more milestones are in the works in the coming months:
• Nashville Superspeedway’s April 22 Bully Hill Vineyards 200 marks the team’s 327th consecutive race matching Circle Bar Racing for second all-time to Roush Fenway’s 349.
• ThorSport, with 344 starts, is 10 races away from becoming the series’ most prolific team in terms of events with at least one truck in the lineup. Roush Fenway’s record is 353.
Trucks Historically A Training Ground For F1 Stars
It would be difficult – if not impossible – to make any sort of comparison between Formula 1 and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. But since 1997, when Chile’s Eliseo Salazar ran his first and only race at Watkins Glen International, trucks have been an entry point into NASCAR competition for a number of stars from the world’s premier open wheel circuit.
Currently foremost is Max Papis who ranks ninth in NCWTS points standings following his 10th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway.
Papis isn’t the only F1 alum among this year’s truck racers. Nelson Piquet Jr. is among this year’s large class of Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders.
Now add to the list Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 F1 world champion, who recently signed to compete on a limited basis for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Raikkonen, from Finland, anticipates making his NASCAR Camping World Truck debut May 20 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, giving the field an unprecedented number of former F1 drivers.
"Kyle is one of the best in NASCAR, and being able to draw on his knowledge will be a valuable asset as I make my transition to a new form of racing,” said Raikkonen.
The list also includes Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 F1 world champion, and Narain Karthikeyan, who competed in nine races last season. American Scott Speed is the only ex-Formula 1 driver with a NASCAR Camping World Truck victory – in 2008 at Dover International Speedway.
Martinsville Spells More Success For Some, Turnabout For Others
Brendan Gaughan never has been a big fan of Martinsville’s long straights and corner curbing but he’ll take last weekend’s ninth-place finish as something upon which to build.
Gaughan, who snapped a disappointing trio of finishes outside the top 15, was among several who found the season’s fourth race to be either a bounce-back or confirmation of solid performances to date.
• Timothy Peters, a former Martinsville winner, cracked the top five (fifth) for the first time in 2011. He holds the No. 3 points position.
• Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader Cole Whitt finished sixth to become only the third driver with three top 10s in 2011.
• Austin Dillon logged his first Martinsville top 10 (seventh).
• Ricky Carmichael (No. 4 Monster Energy Chevrolet) led twice for 36 laps and finished ninth, a significant turnaround from a pair of accident-marred runs outside the top 20 at Phoenix and Darlington.
ThorSport Racing continues to make NASCAR Camping World Truck Series history.
Johnny Sauter won the April 2 Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway to take the series championship lead for the first time in his NCWTS career.
Sauter displaced his teammate, Matt Crafton, from the No. 1 spot. The exchange marked the first time two teammates have topped the points standings in the same season.
ThorSport arguably is the team to beat in 2011 – at least for now.
• Crafton and Sauter are one-two in current standings, five points apart.
• The duo finished last season ranked third and fourth, the team’s first top-five championship “double.”
• That trumped 2009 when Crafton finished runner-up to champion Ron Hornaday Jr. Sauter won his first of four races, finished sixth overall and claimed the Sunoco Rookie of the Year.
ThorSport Racing is the series’ longest-standing operation dating to 1996, the series’ second season. Sauter’s victory was its fifth, marking the fourth consecutive season ThorSport has visited Victory Lane. Several more milestones are in the works in the coming months:
• Nashville Superspeedway’s April 22 Bully Hill Vineyards 200 marks the team’s 327th consecutive race matching Circle Bar Racing for second all-time to Roush Fenway’s 349.
• ThorSport, with 344 starts, is 10 races away from becoming the series’ most prolific team in terms of events with at least one truck in the lineup. Roush Fenway’s record is 353.
Trucks Historically A Training Ground For F1 Stars
It would be difficult – if not impossible – to make any sort of comparison between Formula 1 and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. But since 1997, when Chile’s Eliseo Salazar ran his first and only race at Watkins Glen International, trucks have been an entry point into NASCAR competition for a number of stars from the world’s premier open wheel circuit.
Currently foremost is Max Papis who ranks ninth in NCWTS points standings following his 10th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway.
Papis isn’t the only F1 alum among this year’s truck racers. Nelson Piquet Jr. is among this year’s large class of Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders.
Now add to the list Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 F1 world champion, who recently signed to compete on a limited basis for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Raikkonen, from Finland, anticipates making his NASCAR Camping World Truck debut May 20 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, giving the field an unprecedented number of former F1 drivers.
"Kyle is one of the best in NASCAR, and being able to draw on his knowledge will be a valuable asset as I make my transition to a new form of racing,” said Raikkonen.
The list also includes Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 F1 world champion, and Narain Karthikeyan, who competed in nine races last season. American Scott Speed is the only ex-Formula 1 driver with a NASCAR Camping World Truck victory – in 2008 at Dover International Speedway.
Martinsville Spells More Success For Some, Turnabout For Others
Brendan Gaughan never has been a big fan of Martinsville’s long straights and corner curbing but he’ll take last weekend’s ninth-place finish as something upon which to build.
Gaughan, who snapped a disappointing trio of finishes outside the top 15, was among several who found the season’s fourth race to be either a bounce-back or confirmation of solid performances to date.
• Timothy Peters, a former Martinsville winner, cracked the top five (fifth) for the first time in 2011. He holds the No. 3 points position.
• Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader Cole Whitt finished sixth to become only the third driver with three top 10s in 2011.
• Austin Dillon logged his first Martinsville top 10 (seventh).
• Ricky Carmichael (No. 4 Monster Energy Chevrolet) led twice for 36 laps and finished ninth, a significant turnaround from a pair of accident-marred runs outside the top 20 at Phoenix and Darlington.
NATIONWIDE SERIES TO TEXAS
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
Turner Brings Series Success Home To Texas
Forgive Steve Turner if he’s a bit preoccupied this week.
A former dirt racer who began his family-operated race team out of Hallettsville, Texas so his daughters could compete, Turner is set to bring one of the biggest – and quickly becoming one of the baddest – NASCAR Nationwide Series teams home to Texas Motor Speedway.
His Turner Motorsports organization has grown from a home-spun shop to one that includes four full-time NASCAR Nationwide Series teams and two full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams.
The teams in both series have been successful early in 2011, but his NASCAR Nationwide Series outfit is making the biggest headlines. Mark Martin brought Turner its first series victory with a win at Las Vegas last month.
The team currently has three drivers ranked in the top five in the championship standings. Two – Reed Sorenson and Jason Leffler – have held the points lead at various times this season. All four teams are ranked in the top 10 in the owner standings with the No. 38 team leading the way in fifth.
Sorenson comes to Texas as one of two driver championship contenders to post top-10 finishes in both series races there last year. Sorenson was third in this race last season and finished seventh in the 2010 fall race. Steve Wallace was ninth last spring and 10th in the fall.
Stenhouse Is Navigating The Learning Curve
His is s turnaround of epic proportions. And Ricky Stenhouse Jr. comes to yet another track where he can cast some of the gremlins that nearly ruined his NASCAR Nationwide Series career before it got off the ground. In fact, he’s at the perfect place to stomp them out with his beloved cowboy boots.
After five races last year, Stenhouse, 23, had an average finish of 32.2, two DNFs (did not finish) and his No. 6 team had fallen out of the top 30 in owner points, meaning he’d have to qualify on time to make the race. He finished 23rd in this race last year due to an accident. The fall race was one that mirrored his second-half improvement last year; he finished 11th.
Now after five races, he’s leading the driver standings, has an average finish of 8.2, has one pole, and has led 38 laps – most recently two weeks ago at Auto Club Speedway where he was challenging for the win late. And perhaps most importantly, he’s completed all but two laps, keeping his car on the track instead of in the garage.
He’s finished out of the top 10 only once (14th at Bristol) and earned his first top-five finish (fourth) at Auto Club. He’s got the best average finish among the trio of Roush Fenway drivers that include 2007 series champion Carl Edwards (9.2) and Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne (14.2).
His turnaround can be traced back to the second half of the 2010 season, when the NASCAR Nationwide Series debuted its new car at four tracks before integrating it into competition full-time this year. Stenhouse took to the new car immediately, fashioning an average finish of 8.5 in those races.
The new car is making its track debut at Texas, which is one of four tracks series teams opted to have extra practice time.
Upset Alert At Texas?
Millions of brackets were busted along the way as the games in both the men’s and women’s college basketball championships were paired down to the final games this week. The favorites fell by the wayside early and late, leaving underdogs to vie for the titles in both tournaments.
That comparison can be made this weekend at Texas. Kyle Busch comes in as the overall No. 1 seed, and rightfully so. Busch, the 2009 series champion, has won the last three spring races at Texas and five out of the last six overall at TMS. He’s also coming off consecutive victories this season – at Auto Club and Bristol – and he also won at Phoenix. Busch has had four perfect 150.0 Driver Ratings at TMS, including his victory in this race last season.
But NASCAR Nationwide Series driver championship contenders have been closing the gap on double-duty drivers this season. And although Texas has been a track where the double-duty drivers have thrived over the years, an upset -- a la the NCAA tournament -- isn’t out of the question. Carl Edwards broke Busch’s five-race TMS winning streak last fall; could that information assist Edwards and his Roush Fenway Racing teammates, standings leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne, a few months later? A Turner Motorsports driver and Texas native – James Buescher – won the pole for last year’s fall race, while two of his teammates – Reed Sorenson and Jason Leffler – were in the top 10 at the finish.
Turner Brings Series Success Home To Texas
Forgive Steve Turner if he’s a bit preoccupied this week.
A former dirt racer who began his family-operated race team out of Hallettsville, Texas so his daughters could compete, Turner is set to bring one of the biggest – and quickly becoming one of the baddest – NASCAR Nationwide Series teams home to Texas Motor Speedway.
His Turner Motorsports organization has grown from a home-spun shop to one that includes four full-time NASCAR Nationwide Series teams and two full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams.
The teams in both series have been successful early in 2011, but his NASCAR Nationwide Series outfit is making the biggest headlines. Mark Martin brought Turner its first series victory with a win at Las Vegas last month.
The team currently has three drivers ranked in the top five in the championship standings. Two – Reed Sorenson and Jason Leffler – have held the points lead at various times this season. All four teams are ranked in the top 10 in the owner standings with the No. 38 team leading the way in fifth.
Sorenson comes to Texas as one of two driver championship contenders to post top-10 finishes in both series races there last year. Sorenson was third in this race last season and finished seventh in the 2010 fall race. Steve Wallace was ninth last spring and 10th in the fall.
Stenhouse Is Navigating The Learning Curve
His is s turnaround of epic proportions. And Ricky Stenhouse Jr. comes to yet another track where he can cast some of the gremlins that nearly ruined his NASCAR Nationwide Series career before it got off the ground. In fact, he’s at the perfect place to stomp them out with his beloved cowboy boots.
After five races last year, Stenhouse, 23, had an average finish of 32.2, two DNFs (did not finish) and his No. 6 team had fallen out of the top 30 in owner points, meaning he’d have to qualify on time to make the race. He finished 23rd in this race last year due to an accident. The fall race was one that mirrored his second-half improvement last year; he finished 11th.
Now after five races, he’s leading the driver standings, has an average finish of 8.2, has one pole, and has led 38 laps – most recently two weeks ago at Auto Club Speedway where he was challenging for the win late. And perhaps most importantly, he’s completed all but two laps, keeping his car on the track instead of in the garage.
He’s finished out of the top 10 only once (14th at Bristol) and earned his first top-five finish (fourth) at Auto Club. He’s got the best average finish among the trio of Roush Fenway drivers that include 2007 series champion Carl Edwards (9.2) and Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne (14.2).
His turnaround can be traced back to the second half of the 2010 season, when the NASCAR Nationwide Series debuted its new car at four tracks before integrating it into competition full-time this year. Stenhouse took to the new car immediately, fashioning an average finish of 8.5 in those races.
The new car is making its track debut at Texas, which is one of four tracks series teams opted to have extra practice time.
Upset Alert At Texas?
Millions of brackets were busted along the way as the games in both the men’s and women’s college basketball championships were paired down to the final games this week. The favorites fell by the wayside early and late, leaving underdogs to vie for the titles in both tournaments.
That comparison can be made this weekend at Texas. Kyle Busch comes in as the overall No. 1 seed, and rightfully so. Busch, the 2009 series champion, has won the last three spring races at Texas and five out of the last six overall at TMS. He’s also coming off consecutive victories this season – at Auto Club and Bristol – and he also won at Phoenix. Busch has had four perfect 150.0 Driver Ratings at TMS, including his victory in this race last season.
But NASCAR Nationwide Series driver championship contenders have been closing the gap on double-duty drivers this season. And although Texas has been a track where the double-duty drivers have thrived over the years, an upset -- a la the NCAA tournament -- isn’t out of the question. Carl Edwards broke Busch’s five-race TMS winning streak last fall; could that information assist Edwards and his Roush Fenway Racing teammates, standings leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne, a few months later? A Turner Motorsports driver and Texas native – James Buescher – won the pole for last year’s fall race, while two of his teammates – Reed Sorenson and Jason Leffler – were in the top 10 at the finish.
CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
ThorSport Racing Commands The Series Standings
Four races into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season ThorSport Racing is emerging as an early favorite in the quest for the series championship. The Sandusky, Ohio-based team has held the top spot in the series standings since the second race of the season.
Johnny Sauter overtook the standings lead from teammate Matt Crafton by five points following his victory on Saturday at Martinsville. Sauter, who has garnered three consecutive top-10 finishes in the last four races, has now won at least one NCWTS event since his rookie season in 2009.
Crafton, whose lowest finish this season is an 11th at Martinsville, is no stranger in the championship battle having finished among the top-five in the series standings the last three seasons.
ThorSport Racing is the longest running team in NASCAR Camping World Series history.
Sauter Wins Martinsville On Saturday; Becomes A Dad on Monday
Johnny Sauter became only the second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver to take home the famed grandfather clock trophy given to race winners by Martinsville Speedway on Saturday.
The clock will make a nice welcome home gift for his new daughter born early on Monday, April 4, 2011. Baby girl Sauter –Paige Gertrude -- weighed 7lbs, 5oz.
It was the second child for Sauter and his wife, Cortney.
Kimi Raikkonen Makes It Official With Kyle Busch Motorsports
The list of international drivers cutting their teeth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continues to grow - Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen is making the move to NASCAR.
Kyle Busch Motorsports announced it will field a Toyota Tundra for the Finnish driver in the NCWTS race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 20.
Raikkonen has 18 Formula 1 victories and 62 podium finishes in his nine-year career. He is currently competing in the World Rally Car Championship.
ThorSport Racing Commands The Series Standings
Four races into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season ThorSport Racing is emerging as an early favorite in the quest for the series championship. The Sandusky, Ohio-based team has held the top spot in the series standings since the second race of the season.
Johnny Sauter overtook the standings lead from teammate Matt Crafton by five points following his victory on Saturday at Martinsville. Sauter, who has garnered three consecutive top-10 finishes in the last four races, has now won at least one NCWTS event since his rookie season in 2009.
Crafton, whose lowest finish this season is an 11th at Martinsville, is no stranger in the championship battle having finished among the top-five in the series standings the last three seasons.
ThorSport Racing is the longest running team in NASCAR Camping World Series history.
Sauter Wins Martinsville On Saturday; Becomes A Dad on Monday
Johnny Sauter became only the second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver to take home the famed grandfather clock trophy given to race winners by Martinsville Speedway on Saturday.
The clock will make a nice welcome home gift for his new daughter born early on Monday, April 4, 2011. Baby girl Sauter –Paige Gertrude -- weighed 7lbs, 5oz.
It was the second child for Sauter and his wife, Cortney.
Kimi Raikkonen Makes It Official With Kyle Busch Motorsports
The list of international drivers cutting their teeth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continues to grow - Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen is making the move to NASCAR.
Kyle Busch Motorsports announced it will field a Toyota Tundra for the Finnish driver in the NCWTS race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 20.
Raikkonen has 18 Formula 1 victories and 62 podium finishes in his nine-year career. He is currently competing in the World Rally Car Championship.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Late pass gives Sauter truck win at Martinsville
Late pass gives Sauter truck win at Martinsville
By Reid Spencer
(April 2, 2011)
MARTINSVILLE, Va.—Polesitter Johnny Sauter passed Kyle Busch on the next-to-last lap of Saturday’s Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway and held on to post his first Camping World Truck Series victory of the season and the third of his career.
Busch, who has never won a race at Martinsville, ran second, .453 seconds behind Sauter. Ron Hornaday Jr. finished third, followed by his team owner, Kevin Harvick, who recovered from early trouble to finish fourth.
Sauter, whose wife, Cortney, is expecting a baby on Monday, said his truck was nearly perfect.
“About the only thing that was missing today was leather interior,” he said in victory lane. “I think Kyle got in the corner and got loose (on the penultimate lap). He got loose and swung the back around and tried to come back down, and I was there and I made contact with him.
“It’s pretty cool when you can beat Kyle Busch.”
There was at least one driver who disagreed with that last statement.
“We had a shot, and we gave it away,” Busch said. “I just hate it. We had a really good truck, (but) on that last restart, I couldn’t turn. The front tires were just beat off it. If we didn’t have that last caution come out (on Lap 241 of 250), we probably would have been all right.
“Johnny was really good, but I hate to lose at Martinsville. I’d love to win one here someday—eventually.”
Austin Dillon held the lead by four truck-lengths over Max Papis when Dusty Davis’ crash in Turn 3, after contract from Todd Bodine’s Toyota, brought out the 10th caution on Lap 202. The accident bunched the field for a restart on Lap 209; by then Harvick, who restarted ninth, had regained two laps he lost on pit road early in the race.
During the five green-flag laps that followed, Busch worked his way from sixth to second and Harvick from ninth to fifth. Bodine’s spin caused the 11th caution on Lap 214 and tightened the field for a restart on Lap 220, with Dillon in the lead.
Busch regained the lead in the first corner and paced the field through one more yellow-flag period until Matt Lofton’s spin in Turn 1 brought out the 13th caution and set up a four-lap sprint to the finish.
Tire wear was a huge issue in the race, as it has been all weekend, and Harvick felt it would be a major factor in Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup race.
“It’s a terrible tire,” Harvick said. “There’s no rubber on the racetrack. Who knows what it’s going to be (on Sunday)?”
Notes: Sauter moved into first place in the points standings, five ahead of Matt Crafton, who finished 11th. … The race was red-flagged for 9 minutes, 40 seconds after a violent crash on Lap 135 involving James Buescher and Jeffrey Earnhardt. That wreck in Turn 3 occurred seconds after a multitruck collision in Turn 2 that caused the seventh caution of the race.
-- This is Johnny Sauter's third Truck Series victory in his 65th start. Sauter's last win was at Kansas in May 2010 (23 starts).
-- Johnny Sauter becomes the fourth different winner in four Truck Series races this season.
-- This is Johnny Sauter's first Martinsville win in his seventh start. Sauter's previous best finish was 15th in this race last season.
-- Johnny Sauter is the 20th different driver to win at Martinsville in the Truck Series.
-- This is Johnny Sauter's first Truck win from the pole and the fourth time the Martinsville Truck race was won from the pole.
-- This is ThorSport Racing's fifth Truck Series victory and first at Martinsville.
-- Kyle Busch (second) has finished in the top two in 14 of his past 18 starts.
-- Ron Hornaday (third) has finished in the top three in the past three Truck races.
-- Kevin Harvick (fourth) recovered from two laps down to get his fourth top-five finish in his past five Martinsville Truck starts.
-- Timothy Peters (fifth) scored his best finish of the season and second consecutive top-10 finish.
-- Cole Whitt (sixth) has finished in the top 10 in the past three races.
-- Matt Crafton (11th) snapped a 19-race streak of finishing in the top 10.
-- Caleb Roark finished 19th in his Truck Series debut.
By Reid Spencer
(April 2, 2011)
MARTINSVILLE, Va.—Polesitter Johnny Sauter passed Kyle Busch on the next-to-last lap of Saturday’s Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway and held on to post his first Camping World Truck Series victory of the season and the third of his career.
Busch, who has never won a race at Martinsville, ran second, .453 seconds behind Sauter. Ron Hornaday Jr. finished third, followed by his team owner, Kevin Harvick, who recovered from early trouble to finish fourth.
Sauter, whose wife, Cortney, is expecting a baby on Monday, said his truck was nearly perfect.
“About the only thing that was missing today was leather interior,” he said in victory lane. “I think Kyle got in the corner and got loose (on the penultimate lap). He got loose and swung the back around and tried to come back down, and I was there and I made contact with him.
“It’s pretty cool when you can beat Kyle Busch.”
There was at least one driver who disagreed with that last statement.
“We had a shot, and we gave it away,” Busch said. “I just hate it. We had a really good truck, (but) on that last restart, I couldn’t turn. The front tires were just beat off it. If we didn’t have that last caution come out (on Lap 241 of 250), we probably would have been all right.
“Johnny was really good, but I hate to lose at Martinsville. I’d love to win one here someday—eventually.”
Austin Dillon held the lead by four truck-lengths over Max Papis when Dusty Davis’ crash in Turn 3, after contract from Todd Bodine’s Toyota, brought out the 10th caution on Lap 202. The accident bunched the field for a restart on Lap 209; by then Harvick, who restarted ninth, had regained two laps he lost on pit road early in the race.
During the five green-flag laps that followed, Busch worked his way from sixth to second and Harvick from ninth to fifth. Bodine’s spin caused the 11th caution on Lap 214 and tightened the field for a restart on Lap 220, with Dillon in the lead.
Busch regained the lead in the first corner and paced the field through one more yellow-flag period until Matt Lofton’s spin in Turn 1 brought out the 13th caution and set up a four-lap sprint to the finish.
Tire wear was a huge issue in the race, as it has been all weekend, and Harvick felt it would be a major factor in Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup race.
“It’s a terrible tire,” Harvick said. “There’s no rubber on the racetrack. Who knows what it’s going to be (on Sunday)?”
Notes: Sauter moved into first place in the points standings, five ahead of Matt Crafton, who finished 11th. … The race was red-flagged for 9 minutes, 40 seconds after a violent crash on Lap 135 involving James Buescher and Jeffrey Earnhardt. That wreck in Turn 3 occurred seconds after a multitruck collision in Turn 2 that caused the seventh caution of the race.
-- This is Johnny Sauter's third Truck Series victory in his 65th start. Sauter's last win was at Kansas in May 2010 (23 starts).
-- Johnny Sauter becomes the fourth different winner in four Truck Series races this season.
-- This is Johnny Sauter's first Martinsville win in his seventh start. Sauter's previous best finish was 15th in this race last season.
-- Johnny Sauter is the 20th different driver to win at Martinsville in the Truck Series.
-- This is Johnny Sauter's first Truck win from the pole and the fourth time the Martinsville Truck race was won from the pole.
-- This is ThorSport Racing's fifth Truck Series victory and first at Martinsville.
-- Kyle Busch (second) has finished in the top two in 14 of his past 18 starts.
-- Ron Hornaday (third) has finished in the top three in the past three Truck races.
-- Kevin Harvick (fourth) recovered from two laps down to get his fourth top-five finish in his past five Martinsville Truck starts.
-- Timothy Peters (fifth) scored his best finish of the season and second consecutive top-10 finish.
-- Cole Whitt (sixth) has finished in the top 10 in the past three races.
-- Matt Crafton (11th) snapped a 19-race streak of finishing in the top 10.
-- Caleb Roark finished 19th in his Truck Series debut.
13th Annual KROGER 250 Winner: Johnny Sauter
Race Fast Facts
Martinsville Speedway
13th Annual KROGER 250
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sat, April 02, 2011 @ 04:37 PM Eastern
Race Winner: Johnny Sauter
Age: 32
Team : No. 13 - Safe Auto / 104 WTQR Country Chevrolet
Owner: Mike Curb
Crew Chief: Joe Shear Jr.
Johnny Sauter won the 13th Annual KROGER 250, his third victory in 65 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.
This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2011.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in seven races at Martinsville Speedway. This is his first short track victory in the series.
Kyle Busch (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in eight races at Martinsville Speedway. It is his third top-10 finish in 2011.
Ron Hornaday Jr. (third) posted his 12th top-10 finish in 18 races at Martinsville Speedway.
Cole Whitt (sixth) was the highest finishing rookie.
There were a track-record 12 lead changes.
Martinsville Speedway
13th Annual KROGER 250
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sat, April 02, 2011 @ 04:37 PM Eastern
Race Winner: Johnny Sauter
Age: 32
Team : No. 13 - Safe Auto / 104 WTQR Country Chevrolet
Owner: Mike Curb
Crew Chief: Joe Shear Jr.
Johnny Sauter won the 13th Annual KROGER 250, his third victory in 65 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.
This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2011.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in seven races at Martinsville Speedway. This is his first short track victory in the series.
Kyle Busch (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in eight races at Martinsville Speedway. It is his third top-10 finish in 2011.
Ron Hornaday Jr. (third) posted his 12th top-10 finish in 18 races at Martinsville Speedway.
Cole Whitt (sixth) was the highest finishing rookie.
There were a track-record 12 lead changes.
Campingworld Martinsville Pole Winner: Johnny Sauter
Qualifying Fast Facts
Martinsville Speedway
13th Annual KROGER 250
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sat, April 02, 2011 @ 11:29 AM Eastern
Keystone Light Pole Winner: Johnny Sauter
Age: 32
Team : No. 13 - Safe Auto / 104 WTQR Country Chevrolet
Owner: Mike Curb
Crew Chief: Joe Shear Jr.
Johnny Sauter won the Keystone Light Pole Award for the 13th Annual KROGER 250 with a lap of 19.836 seconds, 95.463 mph.
This is his third pole in 65 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.
This is his first pole and fourth top-10 start in 2011.
This is his first pole in seven races at Martinsville Speedway. His previous best start was fifth in October, 2010.
Cole Whitt (second) posted his third top-10 start of 2011.
Kevin Harvick (third) posted his seventh top-10 start at Martinsville Speedway.
Martinsville Speedway
13th Annual KROGER 250
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sat, April 02, 2011 @ 11:29 AM Eastern
Keystone Light Pole Winner: Johnny Sauter
Age: 32
Team : No. 13 - Safe Auto / 104 WTQR Country Chevrolet
Owner: Mike Curb
Crew Chief: Joe Shear Jr.
Johnny Sauter won the Keystone Light Pole Award for the 13th Annual KROGER 250 with a lap of 19.836 seconds, 95.463 mph.
This is his third pole in 65 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.
This is his first pole and fourth top-10 start in 2011.
This is his first pole in seven races at Martinsville Speedway. His previous best start was fifth in October, 2010.
Cole Whitt (second) posted his third top-10 start of 2011.
Kevin Harvick (third) posted his seventh top-10 start at Martinsville Speedway.
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