Motorsports FanHouse http://motorsports.fanhouse.com Motorsports FanHouse http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/media/feedlogo.gif Motorsports FanHouse http://motorsports.fanhouse.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Kyle Busch Wraps Up Nationwide Titlehttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/21/kyle-busch-wraps-up-nationwide-title/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/21/kyle-busch-wraps-up-nationwide-title/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/21/kyle-busch-wraps-up-nationwide-title/#commentsFiled under: ,

Kyle BuschHOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) -- Kyle Busch only needed the green flag to drop to win his first NASCAR title. His coronation was never in doubt and neither, really, was the outcome of the Nationwide Series finale.

Busch made it a double dose of celebration for Joe Gibbs Racing, wrapping up the series championship before turning a single lap and capping Saturday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway with his ninth trip to Victory Lane.

"It's not easy to win in any division in this sport when you're racing against some of the best," Busch said. "It's a big deal."

Busch held off a hard-charging Carl Edwards to win the 300-mile race, a fitting ending because the two NASCAR stars finished 1-2 in the final standings.

By the numbers, Busch was sensational in NASCAR's second-tier series.

He led a record 2,698 laps, had a record 11 second-place finishes, and finished 210 points ahead of Edwards.

Busch's championship run helped the cocky 24-year-old star get his swagger back and eased the sting from his failure to qualify for the Chase for the championship in the Sprint Cup series.

"It says a lot about the people I'm around," Busch said.

About the only bummer for Busch was missing the latest Denny Hamlin-Brad Keselowski fireworks behind him. Hamlin and Keselowksi wasted little time adding another combustible chapter to a feud that dates back to last season.

The latest run-in came when Hamlin made good on his promise to go after Keselowski as payback for a series of wrecks. Hamlin cashed in when he tapped Keselowski from behind and spun him out on lap 35, though not a serious enough hit to end his day.

The two raced side-by-side or bumper-to-bumper for most of the race, sparking some life into a finale that needed some juice after Busch wrapped up his title at the start.

NASCAR parked Hamlin for a lap for rough driving. Hamlin said crews from the other teams cheered and applauded as he pulled the No. 11 Toyota into pit road.

"I don't really hold any grudges. I'm ready to move on," Keselowski said. "Hell, I've already moved on. Hopefully, he feels the same way."

Well, Keselowski won't forget it quite yet. He quickly added that Hamlin "has a lot of problems on and off the racetrack" and didn't think the JGR driver would feel good about his conduct in the morning.

Hamlin laughed off those comments.

"I feel great right now," he said. "It was well worth it."


Hamlin was cheered by fans who heard his comments over the public address system. His aggressive, self-policing style was a hit with the crowd.

The escalating feud might have one more round in Sunday's Sprint Cup race.

"I challenge anybody to get wrecked as much as we have by one driver to not do anything," Hamlin said. "The weekend ain't over, either."

Keselowski met with top NASCAR officials last week at Phoenix International Raceway after his latest dust up with Hamlin. Contact between the two has led to five Hamlin wrecks dating back to last season, and Hamlin vowed revenge.

"It's tough to have a rivalry with a mid-pack driver," Hamlin said. "I shouldn't be racing him, anyway. ... I just wanted to send a message that I am a man of my word, and my father once told me, if you say you are going to do something, you've got to do it. And he told me I had to do it, so I had to do it."

Busch laughed as he talked his own novel idea about how to handle Keselowski: Get a stock car posse after him in next season's opener.

"What would be even better is if five drivers teamed up next year and knocked him out the first five races so he'd be out of the top 35," Busch said.

Jeff Burton, Joey Logano and Hamlin round out the top five. Keselowski, third in the final standings, was 12th.

Burton, a respected veteran, said Hamlin made the right choice.

"When you constantly get spun out by the same car, there comes a time where you've got to put your foot down and not take it," he said. "And the next time Keselowski thinks about spinning him out, he'll think about it."

Busch became the first Nationwide champ to win the season finale since Sam Ard in 1983.

"It hasn't been done in a long time, so I guess you know how hard it is to do for someone to come out here and win the final race of the year," Busch said.

Busch grabbed the Nationwide championship flag and wildly waved it from the top of his No. 18 Toyota. He high-fived every member of his JGR crew and seemed emotional talking about how much it meant to have his parents and brother at the race.

"It's cool," Busch said. "This win here means a lot for Joe Gibbs Racing."

Busch has 20 wins this season in the Trucks Series, Nationwide and Sprint Cup.

"It was fun to watch and fun to be a part of at the end," Busch said. "I felt like I wasn't the best driver here tonight, but the guys gave me a car capable of winning."

By DAN GELSTON, AP Sports Writer

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Kyle Busch Wraps Up Nationwide Title originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Kyle BuschFanHouse NewswireSat, 21 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Dickies 500http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/09/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-dickies-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/09/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-dickies-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/09/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-dickies-500/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Notes, quotes and a dash of commentary from a NASCAR weekend in Texas.

Kurt Busch Texas Motor Speedway NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase Penske RacingWhat a difference a crew chief makes.

Kyle Busch, a Sprint Cup nobody in the last few weeks, rocketed back to his expected form with new team leader Dave Rogers calling the shots Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. Busch had the dominant car and led 232 of 334 laps before a fuel miscalculation or a blind shot at a win kept him from making history by being the first driver to win three races in one weekend.

And strangely, Busch's old form of letting his crew chief do the post-race talking returned, too.

Busch, credited with an 11th-place finish after running out of fuel with 2.5 laps left, skirted all media on his quick dash out from Texas -- leaving Rogers to stand in the garage area and try to explain what happened on his end.

But what about Kyle? Was he disappointed to miss out on doing a NASCAR first? Or was he late to a race somewhere else?

Kyle Busch fans, I guess you'll never know.

Sunday's margin of victory for Kurt Busch was a whopping 25.686 seconds, thanks to him stretching the fuel mileage game in his No. 2 Dodge.

Since NASCAR's inception of electronic timing in 1993, Kurt Busch's winning margin at Texas was the largest of any race in that time period. That 1993 season featured another fuel mileage race with a large margin of victory as Morgan Shepherd took the win -- his last career Sprint Cup win -- at Atlanta Motor Speedway by some 17 seconds in the Wood Brothers No. 21 car.

Of all the work Jimmie Johnson's crew performed on what was otherwise a completely trashed race car after his lap 3 crash, it's surprising they left out one huge detail: a massive Lowe's decal on the new hood.

NASCAR has long been the sport with sponsors and logos in every imaginable spot, so you'd think the team would just naturally have a replacement nose at least covered with a Lowe's decal -- or even just have a big one ready to peel and stick on the hood.

After all, think about all of the cool marketing approaches Lowe's could use had the No. 48 donned a logo. I'm thinking about pitches involving teamwork, quality repair and, of course, the Lowe's motto of "Let's Build Something Together."

Why do I have a feeling that's something Hendrick Motorsports will have figured out for next weekend -- just in case?

You've got to be happy for Michael McGee, the agriculture education teacher from Broken Bow, Okla.

McGee randomly chose Kurt Busch to take Sunday's race win after the 23-year-old advanced through race sponsor Dickies' American Worker of the Year contest. As a result, he won a cool million bucks.

As a guy who has spent more than my fair share of time in the agriculture education world, it was a cool moment to see a person in a profession that can make a big difference on the lives of his students thanks to a real world education that ag ed can offer. As with so many thankless jobs, the pay is very often not that great.

How does McGee plan to spend the money? He told ESPN after the race that he'd like to pay off his house and maybe build a covered horse barn because he raises horses on the side. There's something to like about a guy who wins money and plans to spend it in a responsible fashion, I say.

On Twitter during Sunday's race, a lot was made about the teamwork amongst Hendrick Motorsports teams to get Jimmie Johnson's car back on the track -- despite teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon being the closest contenders to taking advantage of Johnson's misfortune.

HMS team members wearing colors from all four teams were shown helping with different parts of Johnson's mangled race car.

Sure, there's some element of cooperation going on there, but people should remember that the paychecks at Hendrick Motorsports come from Hendrick Motorsports -- not Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson or Mark Martin. As a result, those crew guys are going to work on anything under the Hendrick Motorsports banner -- not just one car or another.

Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Dickies 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:24:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Texas Motor SpeedwayGeoffrey MillerMon, 09 Nov 2009 18:24:00 EST FanHouse Warmup: Dickies 500http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/08/fanhouse-warmup-dickies-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/08/fanhouse-warmup-dickies-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/08/fanhouse-warmup-dickies-500/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

The Essentials
Carl Edwards Texas Motor Speedway Dickies 500 Roush Fenway Racing 2009 Sprint Cup NASCAR NovemberRace: Dickies 500
Where: Texas Motor Speedway
Time: Sunday 3:15 p.m. EST
TV/Radio: ABC, PRN Radio
Twitter: @FanHouseRacing
Forecast: Mostly cloudy, Low 70s
Distance: 334 laps (501 miles)
Pole Winner: Jeff Gordon
2008 Winner: Carl Edwards

The Storylines

Ladies and gentleman, there was nothing wrong with last week's race at Talladega -- if you ask Tony Stewart or NASCAR.

This week, each of them blamed the fan uproar solely on the media (mainly ESPN) for ultimately putting such ideas about the bad racing at Talladega into the heads of fans. Race fans, Stewart and NASCAR feel, were induced with propaganda by television to believe that they were getting shafted by NASCAR.

So, what to make of that?

I'll agree -- ESPN's Talladega broadcast was probably over the top with its insinuations that drivers were staging a boycott of some sort by running single file. That had more to dothough with drivers not wanting to wreck more than wanting to make a statement to the NASCAR brass in the control tower.

But the fact remains: problems are evident with Talladega and they need a solution -- and that's not just another media type trying to influence an dose of fans against NASCAR.

In this new era of the Budweiser Shootout field not being determined by pole winners, the fact that Jeff Gordon has yet to win a pole before this weekend at Texas in 2009 has gone a bit unnoticed.

To be fair, Gordon -- by virtue of the old rules related to past winners of the Shootout and what not -- would have been qualified for the exhibition season-opener already in the old format, but had he gone all of 2009 without starting on the pole it would have stopped a streak previously tallying 16-straight seasons of qualifying at least once on the pole.

Yes, Gordon started up front a few times early in the season when he was the point leader and rain washed out qualifying, but it only counts officially when NASCAR allows teams to take laps. So, thanks to Texas, Gordon makes it 17-straight seasons in winning a pole.

Carl Edwards won eight times in 2008, and two of those came during his season sweep of the '08 Sprint Cup races at Texas Motor Speedway.

You can bet that he'd like to get back in the winning column -- he's yet to find victory lane in 2009 after just missing out on the 2008 title -- and there's no better place to do it for Edwards than Texas.

Kyle Busch could make history on Sunday if he's the one to take the checkered flag.

He'd be the first driver in NASCAR history to win three races during the same race weekend. Busch took the 1st-place honors during Friday night's Camping World Truck Series race and in Saturday's Nationwide Series race at TMS.

Also, it would make a crew chief a winner during his first race on the pit box for the second time in 2009. Dave Rogers assumed duties as Busch's crew chief this week after Steve Addington was removed from the position.

Earlier this season, Drew Blickensderfer -- say that fast, like, twice -- was leading Matt Kenseth during his first race as crew chief when Kenseth won the season-opening Daytona 500. Kenseth then won the second race of the year at California, leaving Blickensderfer batting 2 for 2 in his career.

FanHouse Warmup: Dickies 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Texas Motor SpeedwayGeoffrey MillerSun, 08 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Tums 500http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/27/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-tums-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/27/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-tums-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/27/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-tums-500/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Notes, quotes & commentary after 501 laps around a Virginian paperclip.

I get what NASCAR is trying do, I really do.

They want these races to be dramatic, to make good television and perhaps provide a sense of danger to fans like ESPN's Ed Hinton believes they crave. It's no different than any other sport, movie or story -- dramatic moments bring eyeballs.

But at some point, NASCAR needs to get a whole lot better at not allowing a stalled race car to sit in peril at the start/finish line in the name of a dramatic finish.

That's what happened Sunday when John Andretti spun and couldn't get his No. 34 re-fired along the frontstretch at Martinsville Speedway on the final lap. It's also what happened just over a month ago with A.J. Allmendinger at New Hampshire.

Neither incident resulted in the hapless drivers being hit by the oncoming race cars, but the law of averages doesn't seem to bode well for their safety if these incidents turn into a regular thing. It's just easy to see how a driver back in the pack may misjudge a move, not hear a spotter or get turned while slowing down into the stopped race car.

NASCAR's right to allow a finish to play out as much as possible, but I just think they are taking "as much as possible" a little too far.

Jeff Gordon's crew chief Steve Letarte tried an 'experiment' early in Sunday's race that I'm still undecided about.

Gordon came to the pits on lap 46 under caution while leading and took on just two tires. He emerged from pit road still leading, but soon fell back in the leaderboard after the advantage of four fresh tires was immediately apparent and didn't start to make ground again until a lap 90 caution brought the field back to pit road.

Letarte, we can assume, was looking to find out if a two-tire pit stop would be a good tool to use later in the race for track position if necessary and found that its benefits would last all of about two laps if cars directly behind had four fresh Goodyears. After the call, Gordon led just eight more laps on the day and never led again except for a lap under green flag pit stops.

Should Letarte have made the move? In hindsight -- which we know is always 20/20 -- it's easy to say no because Gordon never really competed for the lead again.

But on the same note, the information turned out to be extremely valuable in determining if a two-tire pit stop could be a valuable asset for track position. It wasn't.

Live and learn, I suppose.

Surprisingly, Kyle Busch's fourth-place finish on Sunday was his best appearance at Martinsville since 2007.

Since that point, Busch has had three finishes at the short track of 24th or worse -- an anomaly for Busch considering his two best tracks over his career in terms of finishing position are the other short tracks on NASCAR's schedule, Bristol and Richmond.

The finish likely had no bearing, however, on crew chief Steve Addington's future with Joe Gibbs Racing in a role other than crew chief.

Did you catch Denny Hamlin's Twitter shout-out in the post-race interview?

Hamlin mentioned the fans of his Twitter account -- look him under http://www.twitter.com/DennyHamlin -- in his victory celebration and later tweeted "That's what I'm talking about!!! Whooo!! I told ya we would win another!"

Hamlin rolled out his official Twitter page a few weeks ago and has already surged to over 5,000 fans. Now if only the FanHouseRacing Twitter could get as much love...

Because I've yet to include a quote in this edition -- unless quotes from Twitter count -- of "N's & Q's", I'll leave you with my favorite driver saying of the Martinsville weekend, courtesy of Mr. Matt Kenseth.

"I thought I did a bad job and thought I ran into about everything," said Kenseth. "I had some issues on a couple of restarts and we struggled on our last pit stop, so all of those things considered, to finish 14th is really good."

Hey Matt: talk to Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Kasey Kahne -- I'll bet they feel the same way. A walk in the park 500 laps at Martinsville is not.

Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Tums 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:21:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Martinsville+SpeedwayGeoffrey MillerTue, 27 Oct 2009 13:21:00 EST Steve Addington Out as Kyle Busch's Crew Chiefhttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/27/addington-out-as-kyle-buschs-crew-chief/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/27/addington-out-as-kyle-buschs-crew-chief/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/27/addington-out-as-kyle-buschs-crew-chief/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Kyle Busch and Steve AddingtonDespite turning in a four-win 2009 season and leading Kyle Busch to a series best eight victories last year, Steve Addington (far right, with Busch) is being replaced by Dave Rogers as crew chief of Busch's No. 18 Toyota beginning with the Nov. 8 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Addington, 45, who has served as crew chief of the No. 18 car for five years, will be reassigned within the Joe Gibbs Racing organization, according to a news release from the team on Tuesday.

"We evaluate all of our teams on an ongoing basis and believe this is a change that will make the 18 team stronger as we prepare for next season,'' said JGR President J.D. Gibbs. "We think highly of Steve and the job he has done and we look forward to him remaining a part of the JGR family."

With Addington calling the shots last year, Busch qualified for the Chase for the Championship, but he just missed making the 12-driver field -- by eight points -- this year. In the six Chase races to date, Busch has only two top-five finishes and has dropped to 14th in the championship -- his worst points finish since a 20th place position during his 2005 rookie year.

Rogers, a crew member on Tony Stewart's 2002 championship team at JGR, is in his fourth season as crew chief on the team's No. 20 Nationwide Series car. He led JGR to its first Nationwide Series owner's championship in 2008 with nine wins using four different drivers. The car has five wins this year.

"Dave has proven himself a talented crew chief and we think he will work well with Kyle,'' Gibbs said. "We hope that by making the move following this weekend's race at Talladega (Ala.) they can use the final three weeks of the season to begin working on communication and setups for the 2010 season.''

Busch has not issued a comment yet.

Steve Addington Out as Kyle Busch's Crew Chief originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:52:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>dave rogersKyle BuschSteve AddingtonHolly CainTue, 27 Oct 2009 11:52:00 EST Keselowski Holds Off Busch in Memphishttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/24/keselowski-holds-off-busch-in-memphis/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/24/keselowski-holds-off-busch-in-memphis/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/24/keselowski-holds-off-busch-in-memphis/#commentsFiled under: , ,


MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Brad Keselowski held off points leader Kyle Busch on the final lap to win the Kroger On Track For the Cure 250 in a green-white-checker finish in Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Memphis Motorsports Park.

Keselowski was leading when a caution came out with two laps to go because Stephen Wallace spun after tangling with Matt Kenseth. Wallace banged into Kenseth's car after the race and the two had words on pit road.

Keselowski held onto the lead through the overtime segment. Busch finished second and leads Carl Edwards by 215 points in the standings.
More Coverage: Nationwide Race Results | Check Series Standings

Busch was on Keselowski's rear bumper coming out of the final turn. Keselowski got loose but held on for his fourth Nationwide win of the year.

Jason Leffler finished third, while Mike Bliss and Brendan Gaughan completed the top five. Edwards, who won this race last year, was sixth.

There were 14 cautions on the day, with the last one setting up an exciting finish.

Keselowski led 34 of the eventual 254 laps in earning his first victory at Memphis Motorsports Park.

Edwards, Busch and two other Sprint Cup drivers were sent to the rear of the grid to start the race because substitute drivers had qualified for them. The Cup drivers had been at Martinsville earlier in the day preparing for Sunday's race.

Edwards entered the race trailing Busch by 195 points, and his hopes of cutting into the lead appeared to take a hit on the 25th lap. Tony Raines got into the back of Edwards, sending him spinning between turns 3 and 4. Edwards took another shot to the back of his Ford before coming to a stop.

That was one of three early cautions brought on by crashes. The third included pole-sitter Justin Allgaier, who got together with Keselowski.

Allgaier, who entered the race fifth in the points, captured the pole in qualifying earlier Saturday with a lap of 118.1 mph. It was the rookie's first pole in 36 Nationwide races.

He led for the first 34 laps, and eventually finished 19th.

Meanwhile, Edwards and Busch kept moving up through the field. Despite the early crash, Edwards was in fifth and Busch eighth by the 54th lap. Edwards took the lead on lap 62, but Keselowski passed him four laps later.

Busch took over after a restart on the 95th lap, going outside to get in front. Bliss grabbed the lead two laps later and built his lead to 5 seconds as the race reached the halfway point.

After a yellow brought everyone in for pit stops, Busch left pit road first and the other four Cup drivers -- Edwards, Kenseth, Keselowski and David Reutimann -- were in the top 10.

Between cautions and restarts, Edwards held onto the lead through much of the second half of the race. But with 18 laps to go, he ended up in a wreck on the backstretch possibly started when Keselowski got into his back bumper.

That ended any hope Edwards had of repeating his trip to victory lane or cutting into Busch's series points lead.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Keselowski Holds Off Busch in Memphis originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>brad keselowskikyle buschFanHouse NewswireSat, 24 Oct 2009 20:30:00 EST Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Pepsi 500http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/13/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-pepsi-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/13/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-pepsi-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/13/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-pepsi-500/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Tony Stewart Auto Club Speedway NASCAR Sprint CupTony Stewart may be working spots for Burger King at the moment, but at the end of Sunday's race, he was making chicken salad.

"It was making chicken salad out of chicken you know what," said Stewart after finishing 5th. "We were pretty fortunate to get a couple of breaks there when we needed them."

The 'breaks' Stewart was talking about including getting back on the lead lap after falling behind thanks to a miscue on pit road. You could also toss in the fact that he kept his Chase hopes alive by not taking a finish deep in the field.

Casey Mears has had a downright awful season in 2009, but it got a little bit better on Sunday.

Mears finished 11th in his Richard Childress Racing entry and could have had a little bit more before falling back during the late restarts. It was his best finish since a sixth at Michigan in August, and it left him just one spot away from recording his fourth top-10 of the season.

Chalk David Ragan up as a guy who finished a lot better than his season has gone so far. Ragan, in the Roush-Fenway Racing No. 6, finished seventh in the 500-miler -- just one spot behind teammate Carl Edwards.

"Certainly, that's not what we want as the 6 car," said Ragan. "We're not celebrating like it's a win, but a top-10 the way our season has been is certainly refreshing.

Unbelievably, the top-10 was just the second for Ragan in 2009 with the first coming after 6th-place run at the season-opener in Daytona. Last season, Ragan brought in six top-5's and 14 top-10's.

Joey Logano nabbed an unexpected win in Saturday's Nationwide Series race, but didn't have the same luck on Sunday at Auto Club Speedway.

"We made one pit stop and it went to crap," said a frank Logano. "I don't know what happened. We went junk and couldn't fix it. Eventually, we swung for the fence and it was too far, so we went to the other side of the fence and we started backing it back up from there. I don't know why we went good to complete junk like a light switch."

Logano's words echo the general description of NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow chassis for much its lifespan in the Sprint Cup Series. Simply, the handling characteristics are incredibly similar to walking on razor blades. One misstep can spell disaster.

Logano finished 14th.

David Gilliland got a first time experience Sunday when he hopped into Kyle Busch's No. 18 after Busch exited the car on lap 62 due to overwhelming flu-like symptoms. It was the first time all weekend that Gilliland had driven car, meaning it would be a tall task to get a handle on the race car in the middle of the action.

It didn't go too terribly, but didn't go great, either. Gilliland earned Busch a 24th-place finish.

"It was a little bit different. It was an experience, for sure," said Gilliland. "Without practicing it and stuff, we just never could get it right."

Gilliland had previously inked a deal with Joe Gibbs Racing to drive a fourth car in a few remaining races this season. The first of those races will come Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte and Gilliland is a little more optimistic about running well.

"We'll be able to practice and do everything else and have a couple hours to tune the car to kind of what I need," said Gilliland. "I'm excited and looking forward to next week, especially."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but i think Kyle Busch was also the last driver to be a part of a relief driver scenario that saw another starter in the same race exit the race and later jump into another car.

Sunday in California, David Gilliland started in the No. 71 TRG Motorsports car which promptly exited the race on lap 13 as start-and-park. But back in 2007 at Texas Motor Speedway, Busch was involved in crash with his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team early in the event and figured the car was unrepairable. He left the track and headed home.

The team, though, fixed some damage on the car enough to get back on the track and needed a driver to earn some points. Dale Earnhardt Jr., also involved in the crash, was available and hopped in Busch's No. 5 car to make a few laps. As it turns out, it was somewhat of a foreshadow of what would happen in 2008.

Finally, I hope you missed Sunday's rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner by Jesse McCartney.

McCartney, a 22-year-old pop singer formerly of the boy band Dream Street, missed an entire verse of the National Anthem during the pre-race ceremonies.

I understand getting nervous and all, but come on. If you've been hired to sing a song that everyone knows -- get it right.

Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Pepsi 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:25:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Auto Club SpeedwayGeoffrey MillerTue, 13 Oct 2009 13:25:00 EST FanHouse Warmup: Pepsi 500http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/11/fanhouse-warmup-pepsi-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/11/fanhouse-warmup-pepsi-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/11/fanhouse-warmup-pepsi-500/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Race: Pepsi 500
Where: Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, Calif.
Time: Sunday 3 p.m./EST
TV/Radio: ABC, Motor Racing Network
Twitter: Updates @ FanHouseRacing
Forecast: Mid-70s, Clear
Distance: 250 laps (500 miles)
Pole Winner: Denny Hamlin
2008 Winner: Jimmie Johnson
The Storylines

A nice bout with the flu has Kyle Busch reeling this weekend at Auto Club Speedway. Busch was leading yesterday's Nationwide Series race when he came to pit road under caution to have Denny Hamlin relieve him of his driving duties.

Busch said after getting out that as the car was heating up, he was having difficulty concentrating. He did say that he felt like he could have finished the race if needed, but felt it was more in his interest to conserve energy for Sunday's race. According to SPEED's pre-race programming, though, Busch is still under the weather.

Not helping the issue was a blown engine during a Friday practice session. As a result, Busch will drop to the rear of the field for the start of Sunday's race. David Gilliland, slated to drive a fourth Joe Gibbs Racing car in a few Sprint Cup races this season, will be on standby in the No. 18 pit should Busch need to get out.

JGR's J.D. Gibbs said Sunday afternoon that its likely that Busch will be getting out of the car early in the race.

Tom Logano probably embarrassed his kid Joey quite a bit on Saturday at ACS.

Again.

Joey, of course, took home the checkered flag after snaking his way through a wreck between Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle and then making a heckuva restart on the ensuing green flag. But controversy from a lap 50 incident when it appeared that Biffle intentionally shoved Logano into the outside backstretch wall left his father seething after the race.

The older Logano apparently confronted Biffle on pit road after the race and NASCAR officials didn't seem to like it. Tom Logano had his hard card credential pulled by an official, meaning he'll have to apply each weekend for a credential until the hard card is restored.

It's not Tom Logano's first run-in with another driver, either. Back at Daytona in February, Logano wasn't happy with Robby Gordon after a wreck in the Budweiser Shootout that involved son Joey, and the pair had words.

Joey's just got to love the impression that his dad is the one that fights his battles, right?

It appears that Kevin Harvick's run with Richard Childress Racing is heading for an ending point in the near future -- though after the mismanagement of such rumors earlier this season, it's not exactly surprising.

In a story that's running on the Charlotte Observer's NASCAR site, NASCAR beat writer Jim Utter is reporting that Harvick is leaving quite a few doors open during an interview that will air during Sunday's pre-race show on ABC. The interview, by ESPN's Marty Smith, reportedly has Harvick talking about closing a book in reference to his time at RCR.

Harvick, who took over the team driven by the late Dale Earnhardt in 2001, has had a miserable 2009 season with 3 top-5's and just 5 top-10's. He's currently 21st in points.

The Bakersfield, Calif., driver has 11 wins in the Sprint Cup Series to his name -- including wins in the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 -- but went through a round of rumors this summer that he had asked for his release from Childress at the end of 2009. RCR categorically denied the claims, but it took weeks for Harvick and Childress to issue a press release that denied such a request had been made.

Needless to say, the future for Harvick at RCR looks a little rocky. It's a safe bet, though, that he'll be in the No. 29 for at least 2010.

NASCAR made a rule change involving the "wave-around" cars for this weekend's action.

During last week's Nationwide Series race at Kansas, Carl Edwards was penalized for going too fast on pit road during a green flag stop. The penalty under green flag conditions is making a pass-through of pit road, which generally means losing a lap.

A caution came out right after Edwards' penalty and it prevented him from coming to pit road to serve the penalty. Edwards, already with fresh tires and fuel, didn't need to pit. He then became eligible to pass the pace car due to being in between it and the race leader, giving Edwards a lap back. He then served the penalty as if it were issued under caution by starting at the end of the pack.

Well, NASCAR made a change this week that says any driver under penalty at the point of caution will not be eligible for the wave around, or getting a lap back by not pitting while the leaders do under caution.

Fair, if you ask me.

Enjoy the race.

FanHouse Warmup: Pepsi 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:54:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Auto+Club+SpeedwayGeoffrey MillerSun, 11 Oct 2009 12:54:00 EST Sprint Cup N's & Q's: AAA 400 @ Doverhttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/29/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-aaa-400-dover/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/29/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-aaa-400-dover/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/29/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-aaa-400-dover/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Please follow Joey Logano's actions and keep your hands and feet inside this ride we call Sprint Cup Notes & Quotes at all times.

Michael Waltrip's crash on lap 86 didn't look too vicious compared to Joey Logano's tumbling crash on lap 31, but when you take into account the angle of impact and sudden stop Waltrip's No. 55 experienced, it would easily be the most dangerous of the two.

His Toyota suffered a blown right front tire that uncontrollably rocketed Waltrip into the outside wall. After getting out of his damaged machine, Waltrip was feeling awful thankful for the safety improvements NASCAR has implemented in the past few years.



"I've been racing for a long time and I don't ever take the softer walls for granted," said Waltrip after the hit that left him with a 36th-place finish. "But, at Dover, when you blow a right front -- that's career-ending. We've seen people just not be able to race again because of it. And here I stand talking to you. Dr. Melvin, Dean Sicking, NASCAR, Tony George -- from the bottom of my heart, a guy who has hit real walls before -- I thank you."

Those guys he mentioned were instrumental in getting the SAFER barrier system invented and implemented initially at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and later at every track the Sprint Cup Series races at.

Waltrip's a guy that has turned a lap or two in his career -- over 750 starts, actually -- and for him to acknowledge how much of a difference a safety device made has some significant credence.

For Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle, the Goodyear tires each raced on didn't suffer any problems like Waltrip -- but the two drivers weren't happy with the results.

NASCAR allowed eight drivers to test at Dover in August with the tire supplier because Goodyear was hoping to find a better compound for last Sunday's race. Goodyear had learned several new technologies in its extensive testing at other tracks this season and felt that they could bring a better tire to produce racing.

Denny Hamlin wasn't happy with the tires before the race and the mood didn't change afterwards, either.

"We definitely came out here thinking we could win the race just like any other weekend, but as soon as the green flag fell, I knew we were in trouble," said Hamlin. "It was just a bad day. The tire that we had was so loose that you had to overcompensate so much with the chassis that it just didn't make for good racing, at least from my standpoint."

Hamlin finished 22nd after never contending all day and is 108 points out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup lead.

Greg Biffle had troubles getting a handle on the new tire as well, but was more concerned with an advantage he felt was given to Jimmie Johnson and Juan Pablo Montoya. They were two of the test drivers from August.

"It was a frustrating day," said Biffle. "What's probably most frustrating about the whole thing, and I hate to beat a dead horse, is that the 42 and the 48 and I don't know who else came up here and tire tested, and when we came back, look at the guys that didn't tire test, we ran terrible. It was a completely different tire, it had us off our game right when we unloaded off the truck, we couldn't even make a lap on the track. We got going there toward the end, but not like the guys that tested. That's the whole deal. We had a decent car, but we're not going to beat guys that came here and tested."

Biffle finished 13th.

Another Chase competitor -- Jeff Gordon -- left Sunday's race quite disappointed as well, but it had nothing to do with the tires.

Gordon was upset with finishing sixth, a position much lower than he ran for parts of the race.

"I'm really disappointed," said Gordon. "I feel like we had a second-place car and when you have a second-place car you've got to finish second or contend for the win. We had a problem with a gun on pit road and I don't know what you do about that but we'll try to fix it for the next time. It's just nice to run good. The No. 48 was in a league of their own but I felt like we were second best."

Gordon's title hopes for 2009 are still intact, though the deficit of 122 points he faces is tough road climb in 8 races when the Chase leaders are looking nearly bulletproof. He'll need to make up ground and not lose it this weekend at Kansas.

Did you catch the in-car camera of Kyle Busch when he hit the wall on lap 207? Something wasn't quite right with the whole ordeal.

Busch first hit the turn one wall with his No. 18 before also impacting the turn two wall. Nothing strange there, right?

Busch then accelerated down the back straightaway with obvious tire and suspension damage and made more contact with the turn three wall before turning on to pit road. Generally, a slow and cautious approach is used to get a car back on pit road in such an instance.

For a guy that is known to have some tremendous car control, it was interesting to see Busch stuff it in the fence three times in one lap. Was he doing it intentionally to finish off a car that had already been wrecked?

I suppose that's something only he knows.

Sprint Cup N's & Q's: AAA 400 @ Dover originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Geoffrey MillerTue, 29 Sep 2009 13:30:00 EST NASCAR's Chase for the Cup Beginshttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/13/nascars-chase-for-the-cup-begins/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/13/nascars-chase-for-the-cup-begins/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/13/nascars-chase-for-the-cup-begins/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Chase for the Cup
RICHMOND, Va. -- If the Chase for the Championship can live up to the race that launched it, NASCAR will be must-see TV for these last 10 races of the season. So let the games begin.

The 12-driver playoff field wasn't set until the final lap of Saturday's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway ending with a storybook scenario complete with heroes and villains, white and black hats, sentimental favorites and potential spoilers.

Mark Martin is in. Kyle Busch is out. Brian Vickers made it. Matt Kenseth did not.
Chevy Rock & Roll 400: Check Race Results | Series Standings

The 50-year old Martin starts the 10-race playoff as perhaps the most unlikely and most popular points leader in recent memory, not clinching his spot in the Chase until his fourth place finish Saturday night. Now as the points reset based on victories, he finds himself leading the championship standings thanks to a series-best four wins.

The other four-race winner, the season's fan-appointed villain Busch, missed making the playoffs by a mere eight points or two finishing positions -- and yet he climbed out of his car Saturday night never more gracious than in this defeat.

Kyle Busch"We gave a valiant effort,'' Busch said. "Unfortunately it wasn't enough for tonight to get into the Chase, but it's not just tonight or the last week that kept us out. You can look at a whole different scenario or a different slew of things but what it boils down to is we missed it.''

Busch's older brother Kurt, Saturday's runner-up and Chase qualifier, was more sympathetic.

"When I did hear that he didn't make it, I sat down next to my car and thought for a moment what eight points means in this sport,'' Busch said.

"I was fortunate to win the championship by eight points in 2004. ... Eight points for him is tough, but his sun will rise again.

"It's a hard lesson to learn. You don't have to win them all, you have to run consistent. It's just tough not to see the kid make the Chase.''

Ten drivers came into the race vying for the final eight positions. Busch and Vickers exchanged the final 12th-place points position throughout the 400-lap race. It wasn't until the last lap that Vickers secured the spot, ultimately moving from 13th in the standings before the race to replace 12th-place Kenseth, whose fate was seemingly set very early in the night.

Kenseth, the 2003 champion, finished 25th and never contended, suffering from pit road problems and a car that could never make its way through the field after a disappointing qualifying effort.

Vickers meanwhile completed a pass with a lap remaining to give himself a cushion over Busch.

With the championship field set and the points reset, Martin takes the lead from Tony Stewart who had held a comfortable points margin for most of the season.

Now only 40 points separate Martin from 12th place Greg Biffle and the season essentially starts again."It's probably one of the most interesting starts we're going to have. It's really tough to give this to anybody or even pick a favorite.''
-- Jimmie Johnson

"It's probably one of the most interesting starts we're going to have,'' three-time reigning champion Jimmie Johnson said. "It's really tough to give this to anybody or even pick a favorite.''

And that's why the 12-driver lineup of Martin, Stewart, Johnson, Saturday night's race winner Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Vickers, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya and Biffle will provide one of the most competitive runs for the trophy in seasons.

Much of the hype leading into Saturday night's race centered on whether NASCAR needed the 24-year old Busch to make the playoffs to give the six-year old Chase format credibility and spunk. Nonsense.

In Martin, NASCAR has a 50-year-old that hasn't raced full time in the series for three years now leading the championship. It's got Tony Stewart trying to become the first owner-driver champion since Alan Kulwicki in 1992 -- and the first-year Cup owner has two shots at it, with himself and Newman, who will start 10th in the standings.

Johnson is trying to become the first Cup driver in history to win four consecutive titles. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon is going for a fifth championship and his first since 2005.

Kahne is hoping to help his team owner, NASCAR legend Richard Petty, to his first season title in 30 years.

Montoya, a Columbian native and former IndyCar champ and Formula One driver, is the first foreign driver to ever qualify for the Chase. It puts his team owner Chip Ganassi in championship contention in three major racing series -- NASCAR, IndyCar and the Grand-Am sports car circuit.

NASCAR doesn't need Busch to have compelling plot lines for the championship. It's got plenty of competition. And it's got a sentimental favorite in Martin. And watching the super-talented Busch play spoiler may actually turn out to be as fun.

"I feel like a whole new person, huge weight off my shoulders,'' Martin said. "It's like I said before, to make this thing is the icing and now we get to go race for the cake.

"This is certainly the best year of my career, the most fun.

"Anybody in this Chase can win this Chase. All it takes is the magic ten races and anybody can win.''


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Latest NASCAR Photos
Brian Vickers, right, sprays champagne on Jeff Gordon after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Chevy Rock & Roll 400 auto race at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va., Saturday Sept. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Scott k. Brown)
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Latest NASCAR Images

    RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota takes the checkered flag winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Denny Hamlin

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: Confetti flies as drivers celebrate after making the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: Drivers celebrate after making the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: (Back row from L-R) Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet, Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Aflac Ford, Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 3M Ford, Mark Martin, driver of the #5 Kellogg's Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Dupont Chevrolet, (Front row L-R) Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the #42 Target Chevrolet, Ryan Newman, driver of the #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, Kasey Kahne, driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge, Kurt Busch, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota, and Brian Vickers, driver of the #83 Red Bull Toyota, pose with the Sprint Cup trophy following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: (Back row from L-R) Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet, Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Aflac Ford, Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 3M Ford, Mark Martin, driver of the #5 Kellogg's Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Dupont Chevrolet, (Front row L-R) Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the #42 Target Chevrolet, Ryan Newman, driver of the #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, Kasey Kahne, driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge, Kurt Busch, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota, and Brian Vickers, driver of the #83 Red Bull Toyota, pose with the Sprint Cup trophy following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: (Back row from L-R) Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet, Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Aflac Ford, Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 3M Ford, Mark Martin, driver of the #5 Kellogg's Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Dupont Chevrolet, (Front row L-R) Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the #42 Target Chevrolet, Ryan Newman, driver of the #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, Kasey Kahne, driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge, Kurt Busch, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota, and Brian Vickers, driver of the #83 Red Bull Toyota, pose with the Sprint Cup trophy following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    The Sprint Cup Chase drivers pose in front of the trophy after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Chevy Rock & Roll 400 auto race at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va., Saturday Sept. 11, 2009. The drivers are from left to right top row Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Bottom row, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Brian Vickers. (AP Photo/Scott k. Brown)

    AP

    Brian Vickers, right, sprays champagne on Jeff Gordon after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Chevy Rock & Roll 400 auto race at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va., Saturday Sept. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Scott k. Brown)

    AP

    Chase drivers from left to right, Top row, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Bottom row, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Brian Vickers pose after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Chevy Rock & Roll 400 auto race at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va. Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Jason Hirschfeld)

    AP

    RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: (Back row from L-R) Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet, Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Aflac Ford, Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 3M Ford, Mark Martin, driver of the #5 Kellogg's Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Dupont Chevrolet, (Front row L-R) Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the #42 Target Chevrolet, Ryan Newman, driver of the #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, Kasey Kahne, driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge, Kurt Busch, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota, and Brian Vickers, driver of the #83 Red Bull Toyota, pose with the Sprint Cup trophy following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

    Getty Images for NASCAR

NASCAR's Chase for the Cup Begins originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 13 Sep 2009 02:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Holly CainSun, 13 Sep 2009 02:20:00 EST Kyle Busch Barely Misses Out on Chasehttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/12/busch-barely-misses-out-on-chase/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/12/busch-barely-misses-out-on-chase/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/12/busch-barely-misses-out-on-chase/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Kyle BuschRICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Denny Hamlin suffered his fair share of heartbreak at Richmond International Raceway, the home track where he so desperately wanted a win.

He finally got it Saturday night, but the victory celebration was muted. Kyle Busch, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, fell eight points short of making the Chase for the championship in the tightest deciding race since the format was launched in 2004.
Chevy Rock & Roll 400: Check Race Results | Series Standings

"We did all we can do. We gave a valiant effort and it was a good night," Busch said. "We will live to see another day. We'll go on for the rest of the year."

Hamlin, with the momentum of his Richmond win, believes he's the favorite to win the Sprint Cup title. He twice before led the most laps at Richmond, where he sat in the stands as a child rooting on boyhood idol Bill Elliott, only to have late pitfalls sabotage his shot at victory.

Now he's got his Richmond win, his second of the season, and a ton of confidence headed into the Chase.

"They better watch us," he vowed. "I am telling you, this team is dangerous."

Mark Martin, who at 50 is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career, leads the Chase field as the top seed and is followed by Tony Stewart and three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson.

Hamlin starts the Chase in fourth and is followed by Kasey Kahne, three-time series champion Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Brian Vickers, who finished a career-best seventh Saturday night to grab the final qualifying spot.

Carl Edwards will start the Chase in ninth and is followed by Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya and Greg Biffle.

Busch and Matt Kenseth, who had made the Chase in each of its first five seasons, were the two drivers shut out of the field.

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Latest NASCAR Photos
RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota left, talks with Team Owner Joe Gibbs after failing to make the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" by finishing in fifth place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Kyle Busch
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Latest NASCAR Images

    RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota takes the checkered flag winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Denny Hamlin

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: Confetti flies as drivers celebrate after making the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: Drivers celebrate after making the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: (Back row from L-R) Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet, Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Aflac Ford, Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 3M Ford, Mark Martin, driver of the #5 Kellogg's Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Dupont Chevrolet, (Front row L-R) Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the #42 Target Chevrolet, Ryan Newman, driver of the #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, Kasey Kahne, driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge, Kurt Busch, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota, and Brian Vickers, driver of the #83 Red Bull Toyota, pose with the Sprint Cup trophy following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: (Back row from L-R) Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet, Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Aflac Ford, Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 3M Ford, Mark Martin, driver of the #5 Kellogg's Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Dupont Chevrolet, (Front row L-R) Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the #42 Target Chevrolet, Ryan Newman, driver of the #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, Kasey Kahne, driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge, Kurt Busch, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota, and Brian Vickers, driver of the #83 Red Bull Toyota, pose with the Sprint Cup trophy following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: (Back row from L-R) Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet, Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Aflac Ford, Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 3M Ford, Mark Martin, driver of the #5 Kellogg's Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Dupont Chevrolet, (Front row L-R) Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the #42 Target Chevrolet, Ryan Newman, driver of the #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, Kasey Kahne, driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge, Kurt Busch, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota, and Brian Vickers, driver of the #83 Red Bull Toyota, pose with the Sprint Cup trophy following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    The Sprint Cup Chase drivers pose in front of the trophy after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Chevy Rock & Roll 400 auto race at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va., Saturday Sept. 11, 2009. The drivers are from left to right top row Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Bottom row, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Brian Vickers. (AP Photo/Scott k. Brown)

    AP

    Brian Vickers, right, sprays champagne on Jeff Gordon after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Chevy Rock & Roll 400 auto race at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va., Saturday Sept. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Scott k. Brown)

    AP

    Chase drivers from left to right, Top row, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Bottom row, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Brian Vickers pose after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Chevy Rock & Roll 400 auto race at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va. Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Jason Hirschfeld)

    AP

    RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: (Back row from L-R) Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet, Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Aflac Ford, Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 3M Ford, Mark Martin, driver of the #5 Kellogg's Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Dupont Chevrolet, (Front row L-R) Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the #42 Target Chevrolet, Ryan Newman, driver of the #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, Kasey Kahne, driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge, Kurt Busch, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota, and Brian Vickers, driver of the #83 Red Bull Toyota, pose with the Sprint Cup trophy following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

    Getty Images for NASCAR



It made for a compelling night of racing, where 11 drivers vied for the final eight available spots in NASCAR's title-deciding Chase.

On the bubble was Kenseth, the Daytona 500 winner, who started the race in the 12th and final qualifying spot. Vickers, charging hard the past 11 races, and Busch were right on his bumper.

But Kenseth struggled from the drop of the green flag and quickly fell out of contention. Busch and Vickers swapped the final spot multiple times over the 400 laps, setting up a final 14-lap sprint to the finish.

Busch used a flawless final pit stop to beat Vickers off of pit road, but he restarted the race sixth and could only gain one spot on the track. He finished fifth and said he'll focus now on helping Hamlin win a championship.

"I'll do my best to help Denny out and bring Joe Gibbs Racing a championship," Busch said. "I think Denny has got a lot going forward, especially winning here. He's going to have a big momentum boost next week."

Vickers, meanwhile, grabbed his best finish at Richmond when his season was on the line. He had feuded with Busch, his one-time teammate, over the past month but the two showed no ill-will toward each other after the frantic finish. Busch extended a handshake and said, "Good job," as Vickers entered the post-race news conference.

Vickers, who got upstart Red Bull Racing into its first Chase, promised a long night of celebrating.

"I genuinely mean that, I'm going to party hard tonight," he said.

Kenseth, winner of the first two races this season, was shut out of the Chase for the first time since it started in 2004.

"Third race of the year, Las Vegas, we finished last and it's been downhill from there," Kenseth said. "The way we're running right now, even if we made it, we wouldn't have a shot at the championship."

By JENNA FRYER, AP Sports Writer

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Kyle Busch Barely Misses Out on Chase originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 12 Sep 2009 23:37:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>brian vickersdenny hamlinkyle buschFanHouse NewswireSat, 12 Sep 2009 23:37:00 EST Race Fixing or Just Racing? http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/11/race-fixing-or-just-racing/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/11/race-fixing-or-just-racing/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/11/race-fixing-or-just-racing/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch

RICHMOND, Va. -- With all the publicity surrounding allegations of cheating and race fixing in Formula One and drag racing this week, it begs the question, would NASCAR drivers ever purposely "help" a teammate win a race, improve a position or gain in the championship standings?

Is it even wrong? Or is it simply a long-practiced element of competition?

"I've already thought about that in regards to my teammates and if there's anything I can do to help my teammates, I'd do it," said Carl Edwards, who has two Roush Fenway teammates still trying to clinch a spot in the Chase for the Championship in Saturday's Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

"This is a team sport and especially at this point in the year, having more of your teammates in the Chase is good."

But what if you're winning the race?

"That's a tough call, if that's what it took and that's what had to happen then that's what I would do," Edwards said.

And if it meant wrecking another driver?

"You can't take somebody out because you're not just taking that person out, you're taking out their team and their sponsors and all that stuff, so I don't think it'll come to that.''

Clearly Edwards draws a line and most of the Sprint Cup drivers felt similarly. But there's a lot on that line Saturday night and the multi-car teams have a natural advantage in terms of determining track position."If I were leading, I don't believe they'd ever put me in that position (to let a teammate win). We haven't even spoken about that this week.''
-- Denny Hamlin

"I'd give 'em second if I was second, but not a win, that's all I would do,'' said Denny Hamlin, whose Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch is trying to race his way into the Chase Saturday.

"If it puts him over the top, you'd give up a position. But there's a lot of races that go on before this. You can't play a game of cards and have only one card in the deck that can help you."

"If I were leading, I don't believe they'd ever put me in that position (to let a teammate win). We haven't even spoken about that this week.''

It's an especially hot topic after allegations that the National Hot Rod Association's all-time winningest driver John Force "threw" a Funny Car class race at the U.S. Nationals last weekend to help another car he owns qualify for the championship playoff format.

Competitor Cruz Pedregon, who failed to make the playoff because of Force's loss to his son-in-law Robert Hight, angrily accused Force of "cheating" and manipulating."

Force has maintained he simply lost the drag race, adding "They're my teams and I'll do what I want with them.''

Renault made headlines Friday as the governing body, FIA, has called the team to appear before the World Motor Sport Council on Sept. 21 to answer to charges of race fixing. There are allegations that the team had one driver, Nelson Piquet crash late in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to bring out a caution and ultimately helped his teammate Fernando Alonso win the race.

FIA President Max Mosley told AUTOSPORT, "Fixing is one degree worse than cheating.''

He has given Piquet immunity if he'll provide evidence in the case and Mosley said he's not ruling out modifying the points finish in the Singapore race or the world championship standings -- now a year later.

The F1 situation is much more serious than what NASCAR drivers are suggesting happens all the time in racing.

"It's been going on ever since the first teammate back in the day,'' driver Ryan Newman said. "Absolutely there are always teams manipulating things ... giving up positions just to get points then giving it back.

"It's a part of racing whether it is NASCAR or NHRA or Indy car, it's part of racing.''

The question is whether that is playing fair.

"Everybody is trying to get the best run they can. Certainly if you have a teammate or a friend or somebody you respect on the track and maybe you have a chance to lead a lap and get points -- just like any other week all year -- that stuff probably happens.

"I certainly don't think you're gonna see teammates or anybody do anything goofy to change the outcome."

When three-time reigning series champ Jimmie Johnson was asked about the possibility of that happening for his teammate Mark Martin, who still needs to clinch a spot in the Chase, Johnson broke out in a huge grin.

"In the experience I've had at Hendrick Motorsports, regardless of the situation, it's not been discussed or even considered.

"I think if we threw something for Mark, I think Mark would get out of the car and whip some ass.

"He wants to go in there and earn it on his own. I don't think he'd tolerate that.''

Race Fixing or Just Racing? originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:25:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Holly CainFri, 11 Sep 2009 17:25:00 EST Richmond Is Last Chance to Make Chase For Vickers And Buschhttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/10/busch-vickers-still-alive-for-chase/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/10/busch-vickers-still-alive-for-chase/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/10/busch-vickers-still-alive-for-chase/#commentsFiled under: , ,

They've fought on-track and tossed fighting words at each other off-track, but now Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch are more focused on the fight ahead of them this weekend at Richmond International Raceway.

Busch, a winner of four races this season, and Vickers, a winner of one, stand the best chance to fight their way into the top-12 of NASCAR's point standings at the end of the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Saturday night. By doing so, they'd secure themselves a spot in the coveted Chase for the Sprint Cup and a chance to race for the title.

But judging by performance of previous drivers on the edge of making it in during Richmond's final opportunity, their chances are 50/50 at best.

The math at the moment is simple. Vickers trails 12th-ranked Matt Kenseth by a slim margin of 20 points, while Busch sits behind by just 37 points. For Vickers and his No. 83 team, the deficit is close enough that should he lead the most laps and win the 400-lapper, Kenseth would have to do no worse than lead a lap and finish second.

If that happened, the two would end up tied. The first tiebreaker in that situation falls to total race wins in 2009 and Kenseth currently holds that advantage with his season-opening wins at Daytona and Fontana. But if Vickers adds a win at Richmond to his win in mid-August at Michigan, both drivers would be tied with two wins each this season. The tiebreaker would continue to second-, third- and fourth-place finishes and so forth until a decisive edge is reached.

In this case, since neither Kenseth nor Vickers has a runner-up or third-place finish this season, it would be extrapolated out to fourth-place finishes, which Kenseth has one and Vickers none, thus giving Kenseth the Chase berth despite Vickers' best efforts.

For Kyle Busch, a difference of one car length -- either in front of or behind him -- could have very well have made the difference in his run to qualify for the Cup.

On lap 123 of February's season-opening Daytona 500, Busch was running nose to tail with Reed Sorenson in front and Kenseth behind when Vickers got turned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the backstretch. It began the biggest wreck of the day and snared Busch while Sorenson and Kenseth narrowly slipped by.

Busch led 88 laps that day and easily had the car to beat until the wreck. Had he been able to skirt through and even pull out his average finish at Daytona (18th), he would have scored 69 more points -- plenty enough to find himself in 12th ahead of Richmond. The wreck wasn't his fault, but looking back on it now, the ramifications of his finishing position in that race have wound up being huge.

Had Busch avoided the wreck and finished in his average finishing position at Daytona (18th), he'd simply be battling to hold a Chase spot instead of scrambling for one.

Certainly no one thought the wreck in Daytona -- or any troubles Busch has had in 2009 -- would leave him on the verge of not running for the championship.

Fortunately, Busch and Vickers aren't completely out of it yet. Since 2004, the final race before the Chase at Richmond International Raceway has seen three instances where drivers managed to squeak their way into the Chase despite being on the outside looking in going into the race.

In 2004, Jeremy Mayfield pulled off an improbable win to overcome a 55-point deficit and jumped six spots in the final standings to make the Chase. In 2005, Ryan Newman overtook Jamie McMurray after McMurray suffered a crash that left him 40th in the pivotal race -- and ultimately on the outside looking in when the final Chase field was decided.

The 2006 race at Richmond was the last time the lineup of Chase drivers changed after that race when Kasey Kahne finished third to knock Tony Stewart (finished 18th) out of the playoffs by 16 points. Ironically enough, Stewart won the then-Nextel Cup championship the year before, but was unable to defend his title.

In a further twist of irony, Stewart wound up stealing much of the thunder from the Chase competitors in 2006 by winning three of the 10 Chase races. Unfortunately for him, it went for naught, as he still was unable to finish any higher than 11th-place -- the first guy on the outside looking in.

Also, had NASCAR changed to the top-12 format before 2006 (it switched in 2007), a teammate battle between Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle would have seen Edwards miss the Chase thanks to Biffle's 6th-place finish.

As it was, neither made the Chase in 2006.

In the last two years, the deficit between 12th and 13th has been noticeably larger. In 2007, Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered Richmond out of 12th place by 128 points. His day didn't turn out any better as he finished the race 13th, leaving him 201 points out of the Chase.

Last year was very similar as Kahne slid to 69 points back of 12th place and never really challenged.

This year though has two drivers quite close to making the Chase, meaning we might just see an upset before Saturday night is over.

Richmond Is Last Chance to Make Chase For Vickers And Busch originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:31:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Brian VickersChase for the CupKyle BuschRichmondSprint CupGeoffrey MillerThu, 10 Sep 2009 10:31:00 EST Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Pep Boys Auto 500http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/08/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-pep-boys-auto-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/08/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-pep-boys-auto-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/08/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-pep-boys-auto-500/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

After a slip-sliding affair in the Peach State on Sunday night, here's some Notes & Quotes from NASCAR's newest Labor Day tradition.

You've got to hand it to Atlanta Motor Speedway. Sunday night's race looked and felt like a breath of fresh air into the venue that has long seen attendance woes -- even while the racing has generally been well above par. Estimates from media and drivers alike put the crowd much larger than the track has seen in years.

The on-track action -- thanks mostly to a tire that wore down and slowed the cars during a run -- was second to none with some 31 lead changes. You've got to bet track president Ed Clark has a big smile on his face this week because Labor Day weekend really clicked with the 1.54-mile track.

David Reutimann finished a strong 4th driving an ultra-cool camouflage-painted No. 00, but it wasn't an easy process.

"We just had one set of tires on the car that the car didn't like very much," said Reutimann, echoing the sentiment of many drivers. "We just kept coming in and working on it. The guys did a great job. I'm really proud. We have run so bad here in the past. It really feels almost like a win."

Reutimann, of course, got his first win at the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 in May and has picked up 5 top-5s and 8 top-10s in 2009 -- both career highs.

Strangely, three big favorites heading into Sunday night's race finished all in consecutive positions -- but at the back.

Jimmie Johnson and his three AMS wins finished 36th thanks to a broken axle and lock nut that forced repairs, Carl Edwards finished a lap further back than Johnson in 37th due to debris causing damage to the oil lines and Kurt Busch smacked the turn four wall after getting loose to finish 38th. Busch dominated and won the spring AMS event.

Bobby Labonte was dropped for seven races from Yates Racing due to sponsorship issues just before Atlanta, but the track came through yet again for the Texan after he picked up a last-minute ride from TRG Motorsports.

Labonte drove the No. 71 to an 18th-place finish -- his personal best since a 12th-place at Charlotte in May -- and topped Erik Darnell by 12 positions. Darnell's sponsorship put him in Labonte's normal No. 96 car for Atlanta.

David Gilliland has driven that No. 71 regularly in 2009, but the shuffle with Labonte ended up with Gilliland subbing for a somewhat-injured Bill Elliott in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford. Elliott had a dirtbike accident last week that injured his ribs.

Gilliland finished just behind Labonte in 19th, but was elated after the race about his experience with crew chief David Hyder.

"He's a racer and he believes what you're telling him in the race car, which is helpful, and that's awesome," said Gilliland. "Everybody was awesome to work with. We made great adjustments and everytime I told him what it was doing we came in and the tire-pressure builds said exactly the same thing as I was saying, so we were on the same page all night."

Gilliland is looking for a full-time ride in 2010.

Jeff Gordon may have summed the night up best after his 8th-place run that saw him both lead and struggle to stay in contention at different points during the 500-miler.

"It was really crazy. There were a lot of things going on. I can't even keep up with all the different things that happened," said Gordon. "There were times I thought we had the car to beat then I thought we were going to go a lap down. We were trying to keep up with the changing conditions whether it was track, tires or whatever it was. Man, we were all over the place and never could seem to find any consistency."

Kyle Busch skirted a chance to talk with the media in post-race, but crew chief Steve Addington left the No. 18 team's goal simple for next weekend at Richmond where they'll face a 37-point deficit to make the Chase.

"We got to go there and win and let the chips fall where they may," said Addington after Busch's 13th-place finish. "We've been working hard -- nothing we can do now. We can't control what everybody else does we can only control what we do. We need to go to Richmond and win the race."

The last time he said that was at Michigan after a dismal day for Busch. Busch won the very next race at Bristol, just two weeks ago.

Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Pep Boys Auto 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:22:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Atlanta Motor SpeedwayBobby LabonteCarl EdwardsDavid GillilandDavid ReutimannJeff GordonJimmie JohnsonKurt BuschKyle BuschGeoffrey MillerTue, 08 Sep 2009 13:22:00 EST Although He May Miss Chase, Kyle Busch Still Making NASCAR Historyhttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/07/although-he-may-miss-chase-kyle-busch-still-making-nascar-histo/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/07/although-he-may-miss-chase-kyle-busch-still-making-nascar-histo/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/07/although-he-may-miss-chase-kyle-busch-still-making-nascar-histo/#commentsFiled under: ,

NASCAR statisticians have some newly-released numbers that are guaranteed to get die-hard race fans talking.

Those numbers concern the sport's top drivers and how many all-time combined wins they have across the three major racing series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Trucks).

At first glance, the list looks rather typical. The usual names - Petty, Allison, Yarborough, Pearson, Waltrip, etc., are on it. That's not surprising, given their prowess in the Cup Series, where they all earned most of their career triumphs.

But as you work your way down the list, one name and statistic hits you straight in the eyeballs like running head-on into the first turn at Darlington Raceway. We all know Richard Petty won 200 races (all Sprint Cup events) in his career. But look at who is No. 9 on the all-time combined wins list: Kyle Busch.

That's right, at just 24 years old, Busch is ALREADY the ninth-winningest driver in NASCAR annals with an incredible 56 combined victories across the Cup (16 wins), Nationwide (27) and Trucks (13) series.

By comparison:

* The late Dale Earnhardt, who is ranked No. 3 on the list, didn't reach 56 combined series wins until he was 39 years old.

* Fifth-ranked Mark Martin, who turned 50 years old earlier this year, didn't reach 56 combined wins until he also was 39 years old.

* Sixth-ranked Jeff Gordon didn't hit 56 combined wins until he was 28 years old.

The younger Busch brother's first career win in any of NASCAR's three pro series came in 2004 in the spring Nationwide Series race at Richmond, 12 days after he turned 19 years old.

Now, 56 wins later, that means KyBusch has averaged over nine combined wins per season across all three series since then.

What's more, Busch already has 14 wins this season: four in Cup, six in Nationwide and four others in Trucks - and there's still just under one-third of a season remaining in each series.

If Busch makes this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup, he'd likely be seeded either first or second with Mark Martin by virtue of both drivers leading the series with four wins apiece.

However, that prospect is looking dismal right now.

Following Sunday's race at Atlanta, Busch dropped one spot to 14th in the standings, 37 points behind 12th-ranked Matt Kenseth and 17 points behind Brian Vickers, who moved up to 13th.

All-Time Wins
Kyle Busch already ranks ninth all-time in wins in the three series combined.
Rank Driver
 Wins
1.
Richard Petty
 200 (all in Sprint Cup)
2.
 David Pearson
 106 (105 in Cup, 1 Nationwide)
3-t.
 Dale Earnhardt
 97 (76 Cup, 21 Nationwide)
3-t.
 Darrell Waltrip
 97 (84 Cup, 13 Nationwide)
5.
 Mark Martin*
 94 (39 Cup, 48 Nationwide, 7 Trucks)
6.
 Jeff Gordon*
 87 (82 Cup, 5 Nationwide)
7.
 Bobby Allison
 86 (84 Cup, 2 Nationwide)
8.
 Cale Yarborough
 83 (all in Sprint Cup)
9.
 Kyle Busch*
 56 (16 Cup, 27 Nationwide, 13 Trucks)
10.
 Rusty Wallace
 55 (all in Sprint Cup)
* = Currently Active; Source: NASCAR
Busch is essentially faced with a must-win situation to race his way into the playoffs this coming Saturday at Richmond, the final Chase qualifying event - and even a win might not be enough to assure him a spot in the playoffs.

It may not be much consolation if he misses the Chase, but with 21 combined wins last year plus the 14 he already has in 2009, Busch has won 35 races across all three series since the start of the 2008 season. If he manages to continue that kind of torrid victory pace, he mathematically could overtake second-ranked David Pearson (106 combined wins) by the time he's 30. Think about that.

If we extrapolate it even further, and if Busch continues racing into his 40s, he has a realistic chance of toppling Petty's all-time wins record - a mark many believe would never be broken - roughly by the time he hits 41 or 42.

Of course, that would be from combined wins in all three series for Busch, while all of Petty's victories came on the Cup circuit, a mark that will likely stand forever in that series' ranks, even with Busch's best efforts.

Although He May Miss Chase, Kyle Busch Still Making NASCAR History originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Mon, 07 Sep 2009 10:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Dale EarnhardtJeff GordonKyle BuschMark MartinJerry BonkowskiMon, 07 Sep 2009 10:30:00 EST In or Out: Kyle Busch and Mark Martin Created Own Fatehttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/08/28/in-or-out-kyle-busch-and-mark-martin-created-own-fate/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/08/28/in-or-out-kyle-busch-and-mark-martin-created-own-fate/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/08/28/in-or-out-kyle-busch-and-mark-martin-created-own-fate/#commentsFiled under: , ,

It is a very real possibility that four-time winners Kyle Busch and Mark Martin might not qualify for NASCAR's Chase for the Championship despite leading the Sprint Cup Series in victories.

Martin is ranked 10th with a tenuous 60-point cushion on Busch in 13th place. Busch is 34 points out of the 12-driver cutoff with two races remaining.

It would be ironic to stage a playoff without the winningest drivers of the regular season. But it would not tarnish the championship one bit.

To put it bluntly, Busch and Martin should have performed better when they weren't winning. If they miss the Chase, it will be because they simply did not score enough points.

Suggestions that NASCAR needs to alter the championship format in a way to prevent the winningest driver from missing the playoffs is insulting. The championship system cannot change to accommodate every new scenario or to manufacture a compelling storyline.

Sure, it would be great to have the talented but volatile Busch vying for the season title. And yes, it would be hugely popular to have the 50-year old Martin showing Brett Favre the real way to come out of retirement.

It would be more interesting, more entertaining and more competitive should these two drivers be factors in the championship outcome.

But if they don't make the 12-driver championship field, it just shows those teams need to improve, the sport doesn't have to change.

The driver with the most wins has won the championship only twice in the last decade. Jeff Gordon won the most races in all four of his championship seasons. If you take him out of the equation, the winningest driver has earned the title only once (Jimmie Johnson in 2007) since 1989.

Winning a race is different from claiming a season championship. It's a lot easier to be great one afternoon than it is to maintain superiority over the course of a 36-week season.

Nascar rewarded race winners two years ago when it tweaked the Chase format by resetting the Chase standings with bonuses for wins in the 26-race regular season.

That is why if Martin and Busch do make the Chase field, they could conceivably start on top of the standings - going from barely cracking the top-12 to leading the top-12.

But changing the format again to guarantee the driver with the most wins makes the Chase - no matter his ranking - is wrong.

What's next weighing the wins? Should Matt Kenseth's rain-shortened Daytona 500 win count less than Kasey Kahne holding off Tony Stewart for victory on the Sonoma, Calif road course?

Media and drivers have argued for years that a victory should pay substantially more points than second place. The race winner gets 185 points, second place earns 170. There are five bonus points available for any driver who leads one lap and five bonus points for the driver who leads the most laps.

And yet despite the extra points earned for winning races Busch and Martin are still having to prove themselves in a two-race set-up for the playoffs.

Martin, who was ranked 12th prior to last week's race at Bristol, Tenn., has 12 top-10 finishes, but also three results of 40th or worse and two more 35th or worse.

Busch, who has combined for 12 wins in NASCAR's three marquee series this season, has only eight top-10 finishes in the Cup ranks with wins accounting for half of those.

His top-10 tally is the lowest of the top 15 drivers and pales in comparison with the top-10s earned by points leader Tony Stewart (18) and second place Jimmie Johnson (16). Busch has four finishes of 30th or worse.

Is something wrong with the Chase that Busch and Martin might be relegated to season subplots? No. Something was wrong that they didn't close the deal. And both drivers will tell you just that.

In or Out: Kyle Busch and Mark Martin Created Own Fate originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Kyle BuschKyleBuschmark martinMarkMartinHolly CainFri, 28 Aug 2009 17:20:00 EST Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Sharpie 500http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/08/27/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-sharpie-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/08/27/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-sharpie-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/08/27/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-sharpie-500/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Marcos Ambrose NASCAR Toyota Sprint Cup BristolThoughts, ramblings and more from a 500 lapper in Thunder Valley.

Marcos Ambrose is certainly making a name for himself in the Sprint Cup Series, and the way he's doing it is just mind-boggling.

His Michael Waltrip Racing-prepared cars aren't on level with Hendrick, Roush or Gibbs and the guy truly has less experience in NASCAR-style stock cars than just about every driver out there. Yet, he's compiled 4 Top-5s and 7 Top-10s with a team that has obviously worked quite hard.

I'd say he's a shoe-in for the 2010 Chase.

I mentioned the battle between Mark Martin and Kyle Busch to close out Saturday night's race was a key element in why fans should realize that Bristol has changed for the better.

I still though can't get over how much car control each driver exhibited in the late-race dash for the win. Busch on the outside and Martin on the inside with inches to spare and hardly even a touch between them. It was NASCAR racing at its best, and for all the marbles at the end of the race.

Winning probably takes the cake, but I'd bet the adrenaline pumping through both Martin and Busch in the closing laps is a huge reason they do what they do.

There's been quite the precedent for Kyle Busch getting heavy boos from the grandstands, according to Martin.

"I'll tell you, anybody that wins a whole lot gets booed," said Martin. "Jeff Gordon never did anything, in my opinion, to get booed. And he got booed a lot because he won a lot. That's part of the sport. Kyle's incredibly talented and he's won a lot. That's part of it."

It's hard not to agree with that logic, especially after spending my fair share of time in the grandstands during Gordon's reign in the late ninties.

Jimmie Johnson disappointment has stretched to two weeks after running out of fuel at Michigan and then suffering a pit stop problem during the race's final stops on Saturday night at Bristol.

Ultimately, the issue ended up being a lug nut that had bounced up and lodged itself between the new tire and rotor, making it impossible for the rear tire changer to mount the left-rear tire appropriately. It cost Johnson, the leader prior to the pit stops, an extra pit road and likely his first win at Bristol.

"Fastest car out there," said Johnson after the race. "We should be in victory lane. It's just a bummer we had something on pit road screw us up. Just really disappointed."

I have a feeling that come Homestead in November, the disappointment will wear off. Yep, consider that my championship prediction.

David Ragan followed up his second career Nationwide Series win with a 14th-place finish Saturday night. Not great, but certainly not as bad as most of his should-have-been-breakout season has gone.

2009 has been terribly disappointing after the No. 6 showed so much promise at the end of 2008. He certainly could afford to make some late-season noise.

160,000 fans showed up to Bristol on Saturday night to sell out the joint yet again. Bad economy or not, all this talk about how bad NASCAR is doing is a bit premature if you ask me.

Show me another 'struggling' sport where 160,000 folks will show up. I've yet to see one.

Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Sharpie 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:51:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>BristolJimmie johnsonKyle BuschMarcos AmbroseMark MartinGeoffrey MillerThu, 27 Aug 2009 13:51:00 EST Kyle Busch Snaps Slump at Bristolhttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/08/22/kyle-busch-snaps-slump-at-bristol/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/08/22/kyle-busch-snaps-slump-at-bristol/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/08/22/kyle-busch-snaps-slump-at-bristol/#commentsFiled under: , ,


BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- Kyle Busch was finally able to shake that anger.

Derided all week by rival Brian Vickers as a generally unhappy human being, Busch had reason to celebrate Saturday night when he held off Mark Martin over a frantic four-lap sprint to the finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. His fourth victory of the season put him back in contention for the Chase for the championship.
More Coverage: Sharpie 500 Results | Sprint Cup Series Standings

And that miserable existence Vickers described? Perhaps he was confused by Busch's passion for winning.

"I am a guy who loves to win,'' Busch shrugged. "There's nothing else to me but the feeling of winning.''

Although he grabbed wins in the lower-tier NASCAR series -- including Wednesday night in the Truck race at Bristol -- he'd come up empty in 13 consecutive races in the premiere Sprint Cup Series. It was a healthy slump for a guy who won races at a rapid pace last season, 21 in all spanning all three series.

The struggle to accept defeat had been seemingly too much for Busch to handle of late.

"I hate that he lives in such an angry place. It must be miserable to live like that," Vickers said Friday at Bristol in the wake of a feud that began on the final lap of last week's Nationwide race at Michigan.

Busch knew his emotions were getting the best of him. His feedback during races had fallen off, his mood was often sour even outside the race car and it seemed to be affecting his performance. The top seed in last year's Chase entered Saturday night's race 15th in the standings and in need of a flawless run to save his season.

He delivered by smoothly working his way to the front, then holding off the veteran Martin in a series of restarts over the final 50 laps. It helped him climb off the ropes and keep his title hopes alive.

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Latest NASCAR Photos
Kyle Busch (18) leads Mark Martin (5) on the final lap as Busch goes on to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sharpie 500 in Bristol, Tenn., Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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Latest NASCAR Images

    BRISTOL, TN - AUGUST 22: Kyle Busch (R), driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota, poses in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2009 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Kyle Busch

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    BRISTOL, TN - AUGUST 22: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP Sugar Free/National Guard Chevrolet, leads Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 3M Ford, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2009 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Dale Earnhardt Jr.;Greg Biffle

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    BRISTOL, TN - AUGUST 22: Kyle Busch drives the #18 M&M's Toyota during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2009 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Kyle Busch

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    BRISTOL, TN - AUGUST 22: Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 3M Ford, pits during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2009 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Greg Biffle

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    BRISTOL, TN - AUGUST 22: Mark Martin, driver of the #5 Pop Tarts/CARQUEST Chevrolet, and Kurt Busch, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, lead a group of cars during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2009 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Mark Martin;Kurt Busch

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    BRISTOL, TN - AUGUST 22: Brian Vickers, driver of the #83 Red Bull Toyota, races Scott Speed, driver of the #82 Red Bull Toyota, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2009 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Brian Vickers;driver of the #83 Red Bull Toyota

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    BRISTOL, TN - AUGUST 22: Scott Speed, driver of the #82 Red Bull Toyota pits during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2009 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Tom Whitmore/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Scott Speed

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    BRISTOL, TN - AUGUST 22: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota, leads Mark Martin, driver of the #5 Pop Tarts/CARQUEST Chevrolet, in the last laps of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2009 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Kyle Busch

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    BRISTOL, TN - AUGUST 22: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2009 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Tom Whitmore/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Kyle Busch

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    BRISTOL, TN - AUGUST 22: Kyle Busch drives the #18 M&M's Toyota during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2009 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Kyle Busch

    Getty Images for NASCAR


His fourth win of the season -- tied with Martin for most in the Sprint Cup Series -- jumped him two spots in the standings to 13th.

With two races to go before the 12-driver field is set, Busch trails 12th-place driver Matt Kenseth by just 34 points.

"No pressure on us yet!" his team radioed after he crossed the finish line. "This 18 is not going down without a fight!"

Busch was silent for a few seconds before celebrating with a smoky burnout on the frontstretch and his traditional bow to the crowd. He then grabbed the checkered flag from a NASCAR official, but gave it to a fan through a hole in the fence.

"I hope this just isn't a fluke to get in the Chase," he said in Victory Lane. "We need to run well at Atlanta and Richmond.''

Martin, the pole-sitter, finished second in the 1,000th start of his career. Just like Busch, he improved his Chase chances and moved up two spots to 10th.

But he could have moved Busch out of his way several times over the final 50 laps, including the dramatic four-lap sprint to the finish.

Instead, he raced him clean and defended his decision not to use his bumper on Busch.

"Anyone who thinks I was soft out there on the race track wasn't watching,'' Martin said. "I raced my guts out.''

Martin led 240 of the 500 laps, and Busch could commiserate with his bridesmaid showing.

"Mark Martin, what a class act. He deserved to win this race,'' Busch said. "I'm sorry he got second. I know how he feels. But man, I drove as hard as I could. He had a chance, could have done it, he raced me clean."

It broke a 13 race winless streak in the Cup series, which is an eternity for Busch since he joined Joe Gibbs Racing last season. But he's been struggling to regain the momentum he had most of last year, and his confidence at times has seemed shattered as he struggled to accept defeat.

"We didn't have the best car, but had a car capable enough to doing it if I can drive it hard enough," he said. "I gave it everything I had. It's crazy."

Marcos Ambrose was third, while Greg Biffle and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five. Hamlin came back from an early tire issue to grab his top-five finish.

Ryan Newman was sixth and was followed by Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kenseth.

It was a mixed night for the Chase contenders. Points leader Tony Stewart had an early radio problem, an issue with his power and a generally miserable night as he finished 33rd. Kasey Kahne was 28th, and Carl Edwards was 16th.

Juan Pablo Montoya moved as high as second on the track at one point, but a tire problem dropped him like a rock through the field and he lost six positions before he was finally saved by a caution.

"Good! What has changed on this thing?'' Montoya asked. "We're going to wreck.''

Fighting for his own Chase berth, he was urged to stay calm by crew chief Brian Pattie.

"Dude, you're going to be fine. You're still P8,'' Pattie said. "Just get a top 10 like we talked about.''

But when racing resumed, Montoya continued to slide backward, finally heading to the pits to change what he suspected was a flat right-side tire. He finished 25th and fell to ninth in the standings.

Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon struggled and finished 23rd, while Johnson put himself in position to cross Bristol off the list of six active tracks where he has yet to win. Instead, a loose wheel on a late tire change sent him back into the pits and he dropped from race-winning contention.

By JENNA FRYER, AP Sports Writer

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
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Kyle Busch Snaps Slump at Bristol originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:31:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>kyle buschmark martinFanHouse NewswireSat, 22 Aug 2009 23:31:00 EST FanHouse Warmup: Sharpie 500http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/08/22/fanhouse-warmup-sharpie-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/08/22/fanhouse-warmup-sharpie-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/08/22/fanhouse-warmup-sharpie-500/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The Essentials
Mark Martin Bristol NASCAR Sprint Cup Hendrick MotorsportsRace: Sharpie 500
Where: Bristol Motor Speedway
Time: Saturday night 7:00pm/EDT
TV/Radio: ESPN, Motor Racing Network
Twitter: Updates @ FanHouseRacing
Forecast: Mid-60s, 30% chance rain
Distance: 500 laps (266.5 miles)
Pole Winner: Mark Martin
2008 Winner: Carl Edwards

The Storylines

Brad Keselowski was the talk of the Bristol garage Friday evening after a few sources said that he's signed a deal with Penske Racing to be the driver of the No. 12 in 2010 -- uprooting a relationship with NASCAR's top team and another driver.

Keselowski at the moment is a full-time Nationwide Series driver who has dabbled in the research & development team with Hendrick Motorsports, in addition to racing a few events with Phoenix Racing's No. 09 car. He shocked the NASCAR world by winning in that No. 09 at Talladega in the spring.

He's been quite vocal about wanting to move up from his JR Motorsports (a partnership between Hendrick & Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Nationwide teams) to a Cup ride, but the success of Mark Martin in the No. 5 car seemed to slow that idea. Keselowski was once thought to be sharing that ride in the near future with Martin.

Instead, Martin was courted by Rick Hendrick to keep driving in 2010 and said just a few weeks back on Wind Tunnel that he doesn't really envision hanging it up for good -- ever.

So Keselowski was left as one of the most talented products of the Nationwide Series with nowhere to move up in the dominant Hendrick camp for 2010, and that appears to have landed him with Dodge at Penske Racing.

The big question, though, will be if Keselowski with his limited Car of Tomorrow experience can do better than David Stremme in that No. 12 seat -- if the reports are accurate, of course -- or if he's doing himself a disservice by wanting to jump up to the Cup ranks so quickly. In reality, Keselowski could stay with JR Motorsports in 2010 and probably challenge for that championship while expanding his brand.

The fork in Keselowski's road certainly has some big implications on the young Michigan driver's future.

On another Nationwide Series note, I'm still trying to figure out what NASCAR was thinking late in the going of Friday night's Bristol race by not red-flagging the event. They let a huge number of laps tick off during the late caution and left just a green-white-checkered.

Perhaps, though, that's just what they wanted -- especially with ESPN2's timeslot coming to an end.

Did you catch the opening of the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium during their preseason game? I couldn't help but imagine what Bristol would be like if they could manage to suspend 60-yard high definition screen above the track.

Bruton, are you listening?

We talked about it earlier in the week but it still rings true -- Kyle Busch is facing a do-or-die situation with this Chase thing starting tonight.

For a guy that's led 79 percent of the laps in the last two races at the track, he needs a similar performance tonight to even have a shot for the Chase in the last two races before the cutoff. Otherwise, he's going to be the one of the biggest stories of the year -- and for all the wrong reasons.

Lots of favorites for Saturday night's race had horrible qualifying efforts, which hopefully will turn up the excitement as they scramble for position during a race that has too often been bland thanks to a conservative approach by several teams.

Watch for Jeff Gordon (33rd) and Tony Stewart (29th) to scramble for the win because they have nothing to lose and bonus points in the Chase to gain. Last year's winner Carl Edwards starts between the two in 32nd, while Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson line up 15th and 21st, respectively.

Mark Martin, though, will have the best starting spot and one that I just don't think he'll give up too often after last week's fuel mileage mistake at Michigan.
The Prediction

Geoffrey: I'm taking the man who needs it -- Mark Martin.

FanHouse Warmup: Sharpie 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 06:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Brad KeselowskiBristolCarl EdwardsKyle BuschMark MartinGeoffrey MillerSat, 22 Aug 2009 06:55:00 EST David Ragan Wins as Kyle Busch Wrecks At Bristolhttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/08/21/david-ragan-wins-as-kyle-busch-wrecks-at-bristol/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/08/21/david-ragan-wins-as-kyle-busch-wrecks-at-bristol/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/08/21/david-ragan-wins-as-kyle-busch-wrecks-at-bristol/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

David RaganBRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- David Ragan held off teammate Carl Edwards on a two-lap sprint to the finish Friday night to win the Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Edwards settled for second, but shaved 91 points off the commanding lead Kyle Busch brought into the race. Busch, who started the night with a 339-point lead over Edwards, was wrecked by Chase Austin while leading early in the race and finished 28th.

Edwards now trails him by 248 points, and wasn't disappointed to lose to his Roush Fenway Racing teammate.

"We didn't come here to finish second, but he's a great guy, a great teammate," Edwards said. "If you guys don't have a David Ragan hat or T-shirt, you need to go get one. There's no better guy out there."

Brad Keselowski finished third by overcoming his own early accident.

Amid mounting speculation he'll leave Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Nationwide team next season to drive in the Sprint Cup Series for Roger Penske, Keselowski coincidentally ran into Penske driver Justin Allgaier.

"Just 100 percent my fault," said Keselowski, who declined to comment on his 2010 plans. "I was racing hard. I guess I was racing a little bit too hard."

Austin, in just the fourth Nationwide race of his career, could relate.

The 19-year-old was a lap down when Busch passed Kevin Harvick for the lead. As Busch and Harvick rounded Turn 4, Austin inexplicably cut down the track and directly into Busch.

Replays showed his hand was out the window motioning his intent to move down the track, but he never knew the traffic was on his inside. He was radioing his team to inform them of a tire problem at the exact time his spotter tried to tell him about Busch and Harvick.

"I heard a lot of fans were happy about it - that's how I knew it was Kyle," Austin said of the crowd's positive reaction to Busch wrecking.

Busch needed a few minutes to compose himself inside his team truck, but seemed sympathetic to Austin's error when he finally emerged.

"Real unfortunate that it happened," Busch said. "I've made mistakes too. Chase, I guess, didn't have the spotter telling him the leaders were bearing down. It stinks."

The bizarre accident allowed Edwards to climb back into the championship race, but he said a Busch wreck wasn't how he wanted to chip away at the points lead.

"That was some raw excitement," Edwards said. "That was unexpected. We made up some points, but that's not the way we want to do it."

Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.

It was only the second NASCAR victory for Ragan, who also won the Nationwide race at Talladega in April. He was thrilled to run up front at Bristol, where he'd never finished higher than eighth in five previous starts.

"We're usually just mediocre here," he admitted.

He had a decent lead over Edwards until debris on the track brought out the eighth caution of the race with eight laps remaining. He selected the outside for the double-file restart, then had to nervously circle around the track as NASCAR waved off the green flag each time Ragan thought the racing was about to resume.

"I felt like a field goal kicker, they kept calling timeouts," Ragan said. "One to go, call it off. One to go, call it off"

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

David Ragan Wins as Kyle Busch Wrecks At Bristol originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>David RaganFanHouse NewswireFri, 21 Aug 2009 22:55:00 EST