Motorsports FanHouse

Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Pennsylvania 500

Geoffrey Miller — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:53:00 EST

Filed under: Bobby Labonte, David Reutimann, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch, Reed Sorenson

After a rain-soaked weekend at Pocono Raceway, here's some ramblings from the race that was the Pennsylvania 500.

David Reutimann took a big hit in his chances of making the Chase for the Sprint Cup at Pocono and Wednesday he was still "mad as heck" at Denny Hamlin for spinning the No. 00 late in the race.

"Everybody's capable of making mistakes," said Reutimann. "I'm a forgiving guy if he sincerely apologizes or says he was in the wrong. [...] In the end I'm still confused at why it happened. It wasn't just one shot. It was multiple shots."

At the time, Reutimann was running in the top-10, but finished 29th due to significant damaged he suffered after spinning into semi-teammate Marcos Ambrose thanks to the contact Hamlin provided coming off of turn 3.

The wreck resulted in Reutimann dropping three spots to 16th in the standings, and from 68 points from the Chase cut to 121 points out with five races until the cutoff.

Excessive levels of carbon monoxide nearly sidelined Richard Petty Motorsports driver Reed Sorenson from this weekend's road course event at Watkins Glen, but the team said today he'll be good to go.

Sorenson's car apparently allowed a good bit of the dangerous gas to enter his cockpit during the 500-miler at Pocono.

Prior to that announcement, though, former Formula 1 driver, Indianapolis 500 champ and part-time stock car driver Jacques Villeneuve was being eyed by RPM to fill his seat for the weekend.

Juan Pablo Montoya might be the scariest underdog we'll see in this year's Chase -- pending that he holds on over five races to his 169-point advantage over 13th place -- thanks to the way his team has been racing as of late.

They haven't been exactly aggressive in their setups, and instead, have been trying to find some consistency before "having fun", as Juan says, in the Chase.

If you didn't think Juan Pablo Montoya was going to be good in stock cars, just wait until 2010.

Bobby Labonte took a huge hit after getting hit by fellow Ford driver David Ragan in the later stages of Monday's 200-lap event. The No. 96 spun rear-first into the outside turn one wall at Pocono after Ragan's brown No. 6 nudged Labonte at the end of the frontstretch -- the longest on the NASCAR circuit.

It was quite similar to Jeff Gordon's crash at the same track a few years ago when he lost his brakes, but fortunately for Labonte, much of the impact was taken away from him thanks to the rear of the car crushing like a tin can. Gordon, on the other hand, slapped the outside wall with the driver's door.

Labonte was obviously frustrated with Ragan, but his sense of class and professionalism soon carried over when he was interviewed after leaving the infield care center as he never once trashed Ragan for the move or dropped a snarky, back-handed comment. Refreshing, if I must say.

Speaking of professionalism, Kyle Busch deserves a measured level of "atta-boy" for at least answering questions about his mediocre race on Monday.

I've criticized Busch before for leaving the talking about his team and his race up to crew chief Steve Addington when Busch is one of the focal points of every NASCAR weekend, so I certainly can't let it slide that he's talked two weeks in a row including last weekend's miserable finish at Indianapolis.

Granted, Busch didn't have a big part of the story on Monday at Pocono with his 16th-place finish, but he did offer a brief analysis of his day:

"We ended up on a little bit of a different strategy than some of the other guys and the cautions didn't fall right for us," said Busch. "We fought tight for most of the day, but it got loose on me trying to gain some spots after a restart. We just never really got the handling exactly where we wanted it. There at the end, we managed to salvage something out of a day that could have ended up much worse."

There's certainly a few Kyle Busch fans out there who care about that. Thanks, Shrub.

Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Pennsylvania 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:53:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chip Ganassi Calls His Team "Pathetic"

Geoffrey Miller — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:40:00 EST

Filed under: Reed Sorenson, Chip Ganassi Racing, Dario Franchitti

For any employee of Chip Ganassi's three NASCAR racing teams, it's a good thing that the owner is over a 1,000 miles away at the IndyCar event in St. Petersburg, Fla.

His words, though, about the performance of the No. 40, No. 41, and No. 42 teams could be well heard in the garage area of Texas Motor Speedway.

Ganassi sure didn't mince any words when talking about it on Saturday:

"Frankly, there are 46 cars there and if you can't beat three of them, that's pretty pathetic," Ganassi said on Sirius Satellite Radio. "I certainly have all the faith in the world in (Franchitti's) driving abilities. I don't think it's that. The fact of the matter is, we didn't give him a car that was capable of doing it."

Heading into Texas, Juan Pablo Montoya's team is 17th in points, Reed Sorenson's is 26th, and Dario Franchitti -- who didn't make Sunday's race -- sits 37th. Teamwork is the problem, Ganassi says.

"When you say 'this team' you hit the nail on the head - we're not working as a team," Ganassi said. "You can't have guys that are fast and guys that are slow. It doesn't make any sense. These guys, these teams are not talking to each other, they are not working together, they are not using all the resources that are available to them. That's how you end up in a fix like this."

You've got to love this brutal honesty. Ganassi indeed hits the nail on the head himself with the summary of his team. They have frankly been mediocre for a long while and with the sponsorship and racing experience a guy like Ganassi has, he knows when a team is reaching its potential.

And in this case, he knows that his Sprint Cup teams aren't cutting it. It should be an interesting week around the CGR shop.

Chip Ganassi Calls His Team "Pathetic" originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:40:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dodges Wreck to Start Las Vegas Weekend

Geoffrey Miller — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:55:00 EST

Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Juan Montoya, Reed Sorenson, Kyle Busch, Sprint Cup

After nearly 50 haulers passed through the Las Vegas Strip on Thursday afternoon, the Sprint Cup teams got off to a fresh start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday.

And yes, the weather for the weekend looks much, much better than teams were treated to at Auto Club Speedway last weekend. Sun is the only thing in the forecast with highs Friday topping at 77 degrees, and a high of 68 degrees expected for Sunday's UAW-Dodge 400.

Though the weather seemed plenty nice Friday afternoon, several Dodge teams had some significant problems during pre-qualifying practice, according to Jayski:

#77-Hornish scraped the turn two wall early in practice; #10-Carpentier (pictured) spun off turn 4 and looped around a couple times; #42-Montoya slammed the turn 2 wall hard and will go to a backup car. #41-Sorenson spun off turn 4; #9-Kahne smacked turn 4, unknown if they have to go to a backup, but little damage. Late in the session, #43-Labonte lost it in turn 4 and spun around, slapping the wall with the left rear and drivers side, the team will go to a backup car.

So the list of teams who will head to a backup car include Juan Pablo Montoya and Bobby Labonte. Kasey Kahne could end up there.

The fastest laps of the practice session were turned by Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and David Reutimann. Busch's quickest lap of 179.946mph is just under five miles per hour slower than Kahne's pole-winning speed a year ago.

Qualifying starts with Travis Kvapil out first at 6:40pm/ET Friday on SPEED.

Dodges Wreck to Start Las Vegas Weekend originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint Cup Races Monday After Long Sunday

Geoffrey Miller — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:19:00 EST

Filed under: Casey Mears, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Reed Sorenson, Denny Hamlin, Sprint Cup, Sam Hornish Jr.

Nearly 10 hours after the scheduled start of the Sprint Cup Auto Club 500, NASCAR officials finally ceded to the weather and track and decided the race on Monday.

It was Sunday night in California and Monday morning on the east coast when the postponement was declared just after 2:00am/ET.

Rain at the Auto Club Speedway had stopped much before that and most of the track indeed was dry. However, the battle that NASCAR and speedway officials have been battling all week with water seeping from the seams on the pavement reared its ugly head.

Before that, though, the action was exciting -- if not a tad unfair for some drivers.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Casey Mears, Denny Hamlin, Reed Sorenson & Sam Hornish Jr. were caught up in wrecks less than 25 laps in to the event that appeared on television to be directly caused by the water seeping on to the track. Earnhardt Jr. was particularly unhappy about the race conditions.

Jimmie Johnson currently leads Travis Kvapil in the running order.

Monday promises to be a better day of racing -- if the seeping water can be corrected -- with a sunny day planned and a high of 67 degrees.

Tune in to FOX at 1pm/ET (10am/PT) to catch the resumption of the race from lap 87. The Nationwide Series race postponed from Saturday will be ran immediately in its entirety following that event on ESPN2.

Sprint Cup Races Monday After Long Sunday originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:19:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Crazy Wreck Takes Out Earnhardt Jr., Mears

Geoffrey Miller — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 19:43:00 EST

Filed under: Casey Mears, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Reed Sorenson, Sprint Cup

A crazy wreck on the backstretch of Auto Club Speedway on lap 21 of Sunday's Auto Club 500 took out two drivers from Hendrick Motorsports and further inflamed some drivers who thought the track wasn't ready to race.

The wreck started when Mears' No. 5 shot up the track in turn 2, got loose, spun around and slid back down the track slamming teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the passenger side. Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 then spun and hit the wall drivers side.

Meanwhile, Mears car slid back up the track and slowed to a near stop along the wall heading the same direction as traffic when Sam Hornish Jr. slid behind him and lifted the No. 5 up in the air and then over on its roof. Fire then spewed from Hornish's engine while safety workers quickly jumped to aid both drivers and put the fire out.

All drivers involved -- including Reed Sorenson who was involved -- walked away OK, but very frustrated. Earnhardt Jr. had the most visible anger:

"The track ain't ready today. We rushed into this [...] " said Earnhardt Jr, referring to NASCAR trying to get the race underway.

Denny Hamlin wrecked a few laps earlier to bring out the race's first caution after he got loose in turn 3 and slid up and contacted the wall.

"42 other drivers agree that we should not be driving today," said Hamlin. "I hit a slick spot and my car took off. My car just took off after I hit a wet spot."

A red flag was brought out after the Mears incident and as of 7:40pm/ET the race had not been restarted due to water seeping into the race track because NASCAR might have finally saw what the drivers saw -- the track was simply too wet to race on.

Hopefully we'll get it going sometime tonight...
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Crazy Wreck Takes Out Earnhardt Jr., Mears originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 24 Feb 2008 19:43:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASCAR FanHouse Top 25 Year-in-Review
Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Chip Ganassi Dodge

Geoffrey Miller — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 07:00:00 EST

Filed under: Reed Sorenson, Dodge, Chip Ganassi Racing

Welcome to the 2007 NASCAR FanHouse Year in Review. Follow along each day until the end of 2007 as we look back on the top 25 drivers of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series for the 2007 season. Heck, bookmark us if you have to! Today, we review the season of 22rd-place Reed Sorenson.

Driver: Reed Sorenson -- Peachtree City, Georgia
Team: No. 41 Target Dodge
Points: 22rd (-3448)
2006: Finished 24th in Season Standings
Key Stats: 1 pole, 3 Top-5s, 6 Top-10s
Back in 2008?: Yes, same team

As good or bad as Reed Sorenson's 2007 season in your eyes, you've got to remember one thing. Sorenson turned 21 years of age back in February.

And yes, he's now completed two full NASCAR Nextel Cup Series seasons with a total of 74 starts. Not bad for a guy who just earned his way into a bar.

Sorenson's 2007 season was marked with typical Chip Ganassi Racing style -- flashes of brilliance, but no lasting light. Without a doubt, Sorenson's pole-winning run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Allstate 400 was a nice accomplishment for such a young driver. Indeed, that's a trophy that'll make its way to a prominent mantle. The 5th-place finish at Indy was a nice cap to the weekend.

Aside from Indy, two Top-5's -- one at Charlotte in May (4th) and one at Phoenix in April (3rd) -- were two other flashes from the No. 41 team, but again, sustainability wasn't there. As has been the story with Ganassi since Sterling Marlin's near miss at the championship in 2001, there just hasn't been consistency at the front for the team.
Unfortunately for Reed, as well as teammates David Stremme and Juan Pablo Montoya from 2007, it's tough to tell what kind of talent they really do have. Obviously, there was plenty of effort on behalf of Sorenson with seven DNF's over the season, but averaging a 24th-place finish to wind up the season shouldn't happen.

A lack of consistency, whether it be Ganassi's fault or Reed's, truly showed in 2007 for Sorenson, as he only one in the 36-race season compiled three straight finishes in the Top-25 or higher. Even then, that streak only saw finishes of 15th, 25th, and 21st.

For 2008, both Sorenson and Ganassi are going to have to find a way to get much, much more consistent in putting their Dodges in the Top-20 at the very least. Ganassi isn't a guy that loses much in other racing series', so it makes you wonder why that doesn't translate to Cup competition.

That has to change for Sorenson in '08 either by car performance or increased driver performance for 2009 to be a true reality for the partnership to continue, I'd say.

NASCAR FanHouse Top 25 Year-in-Review
Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Chip Ganassi Dodge originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Thu, 13 Dec 2007 07:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sorenson A Friend of Breasts, Needs Isaac Mizrahi, Stat

tallglassofmilk — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:32:00 EST

Filed under: Reed Sorenson, Nextel Cup

How can a team go through the effort of designing a special paint scheme and firesuit only to forget the hat? And do they not know that pink and red only go together at Valentine's Day--and even then it has to be the right combination.

What we've got pictured here at the right is not the right combo. Target should have put Isaac Mizrahi on the case--he never would have let this happen.

But even though Reed Sorenson does look like a trackside fashion tragedy, it is for a good cause.

Unless you steer clear of all media, you know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The NASCAR driver is doing his part with a pledge benefiting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the Carolina Breast Friends' Project Pink House for the Atlanta race that Target will match.

Sorenson will donate $10,000 for a victory, $5,000 for a top-five finish, $1,000 for a top-10 finish, $4,100 for a pole and $12.62 for each lap completed, totaling $4,100 if he completes all of the scheduled 325 laps. He will also auction his autographed race helmet and fire suit.

The helmet, by the way, they got right:

Now let's hope he has a good finish in Atlanta to get these groups some cash.

Sorenson A Friend of Breasts, Needs Isaac Mizrahi, Stat originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:32:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Biffle Wins, Non-Chasers Dominate Top 10

tallglassofmilk — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 23:59:00 EST

Filed under: Casey Mears, Greg Biffle, Reed Sorenson, Nextel Cup

Greg Biffle got his first win of the season in a rain-delayed, daylight-shortened race with a flexibly-ruled finish. That's a nice lil' wedding gift from NASCAR ... that extra pocket change ought to come in handy next month.

The neglected Hendrick Motorsports driver, Casey Mears, quietly scored his fifth top 5 of the season. Could've been his sixth.

Reed Sorenson scored his fourth top 10, Dale Earnhardt Jr. his 12th. Junior, incidentally, has gained as many or more points as the Chase drivers since the Chase started. Too bad that trend didn't start earlier.

Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler both had top 10s, Kahne his sixth on the season, Elliott his second. This is just the second time this season two Evernham drivers have finished in the top 10--the first was 28 races ago in Daytona.

Dave Blaney was the LifeLock 400's highest-finishing Toyota driver, but the #22 still sits outside the top 35 in owner points, 49 behind the #21. In the fight for owner points, there were no gains or losses this week in the 32nd to 41st positions.

All three Michael Waltrip Racing drivers started--and finished-- today's race. Well done. I think that's a first (?).

David Ragan was the highest-finishing rookie, but he's running out of races to catch Juan Pablo Montoya for rookie of the year title. I'm still holding out hope.

LifeLock 400 Results | Nextel Cup Standings

Biffle Wins, Non-Chasers Dominate Top 10 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 30 Sep 2007 23:59:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sorenson Tops Busch Series in St. Louis

Geoffrey Miller — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 13:24:00 EST

Filed under: Reed Sorenson, Chip Ganassi Racing, Busch Series, NASCAR Tracks

Two years ago, Reed Sorenson took his 2nd-career Busch Series victory at Gateway International Raceway.

Saturday night at Gateway (just outside St. Louis), Sorenson picked up his 3rd-career Busch triumph, 61 races later.

Now if you would have told me in 2005 that Sorenson, who was on his way to Nextel Cup in 2006, would not find victory lane again until two years later, I would've said you'd lost your mind.

Bygones are bygones, however, as Sorenson no longer has that streak of winless competition under his belt.

Sorenson led a race-high 93 laps in a race that saw 9 cautions for 43 laps.

Busch Series point-dominator Carl Edwards ran strong much of the night before getting loose into turn 3 while in the top-5 and slapping the rear-end of the car against the SAFER barrier.

The damage, though, was only cosmetic and after several crew members jumped on the rear decklid, the car was back in shape. Edwards powered back through the field with the banged-up car to take home sixth. With a late caution or two, Edwards could have been battling for the win.

That didn't happen, and Sorenson cruised past David Reutimann for Ganassi Racing's second Busch win of the year -- both under the helm of crew chief Brad Parrot.

Sorenson Tops Busch Series in St. Louis originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 22 Jul 2007 13:24:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Coca-Cola 600 Top 5 A Motley Crew

tallglassofmilk — Mon, 28 May 2007 17:05:00 EST

Filed under: Charlotte, Casey Mears, Brian Vickers, Reed Sorenson, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing

The Coca-Cola 600 saw some unlikely names in the top 5:

Casey Mears
J.J. Yeley
Kyle Petty
Reed Sorenson
Brian Vickers

and some Nextel Cup milestones:

Mears' first career win
Yeley's best-ever finish
Petty's first top 5 in 10 years
Sorenson's best-ever finish
Toyota's best-ever finish

I couldn't have been happier for Petty with his run. When he started running consistently in the top 10 with about 100 laps to go, I already knew I would be thrilled for him to get a top 10. A third-place finish for the member of the Coca-Cola Racing Family in the sponsor's title race with a Coca-Cola Zero paint scheme delivered an extra-caffeinated jolt to my happy meter.

In his post-race interview, the always gracious and articulate driver gave all the credit to his crew and praised Casey Mears for his win:

"We've really struggled with our pit crew and they stepped up huge today. They're the ones that put us in position to have the Lucky Dog. They're the ones that put us in position to have a good run there at the end. I can't say enough about that.

"I couldn't be more excited for Casey Mears if his name was Adam Petty. I can tell you that. I'm tickled to death for Casey Mears. That kid is a great racecar driver."

Yeley, Sorenson, Petty and Mears all gained five spots in the owner standings.

What Say You?
Who'll drive to victory lane first? Joe Gibbs Racing's J.J. Yeley (W-0, T5-1, T10-4) or Chip Ganassi Racing's Reed Sorenson (W-0, T5-2, T10-7)?

Coca-Cola 600 Top 5 A Motley Crew originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Mon, 28 May 2007 17:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fat and Out of Shape Tops Practice Charts

tallglassofmilk — Tue, 08 May 2007 11:50:00 EST

Filed under: Charlotte, Reed Sorenson, Nextel Cup

David Stremme slid three spots to 17th in the points standings this week after suffering his first DNF of the season in Richmond.

But the "fat and out of shape" driver is back on track already.

Stremme topped yesterday's practice sessions at Lowe's Motor Speedway with a top speed of 187.000 mph in the second session.

No other driver even came close--Jeremy Mayfield came in 2nd almost two seconds behind Stremme at 185.134mph.

Paul Menard, Ward Burton and Reed Sorenson rounded out the top 5.

If these guys are fastest in practice, how come we never see them running in the top spot -- or even the top 5? Of those five drivers, only Stremme and Sorenson have cracked the top 10 with an 8th and 9th place finish respectively.

So ... what's the difference between practice and racing?

Fat and Out of Shape Tops Practice Charts originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Tue, 08 May 2007 11:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASCAR Must Have Forgot About the Red Flag

Geoffrey Miller — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 22:13:00 EST

Filed under: Reed Sorenson, Joe Gibbs Racing, Nextel Cup, Talladega Superspeedway

The black helicopters are sweeping in, folks. Somewhere in the heart of central Alabama, the conspiracy is alive and well. NASCAR hates Denny Hamlin. And Tony Raines. And Reed Sorenson. And fill-in-driver-here who had to pit under the last caution because of the extended yellow.

What happened, NASCAR? Did the red flag that your flagman uses fly out of the flagstand? Was it lost in transit from Phoenix? Did the helmet capers get a hold it?

The reason for the second-to-last caution was David Reutimann, who had been having a stellar day, either lost a motor or a rear end gear. Reutimann had to make the show on time, so he was likely running a qualifying package due to the impound race -- causing the failure.

Anyways, Reutimann's problem happened while the field was going into turn 1 of lap 185, meaning the field would take the yellow at the line for lap 186. Reutimann put down quite a bit of oil across the tri-oval, leaving a nice mess to clean up. A red flag would have stopped the cars on the backstretch during lap 186. With the red flag removed, pit road would have been open that time by and the one lap to green could have been given on lap 187. With a green-white-checkered finish starting on lap 188, the race would have finished at lap 190 or sooner.
But that didn't happen, and the teams that gambled with their fuel mileage were completely thrown under the bus. Had a red flag come out, maybe some of the teams wouldn't have made it, but some may have made it to the checkers.

Instead, NASCAR kept the yellow flag on the speedway, causing the cars to circle for track cleanup during which two restarts were waived off. The result was finally a green flag at lap 191, nearly 8 miles past the scheduled finish. A caution that ended the race off of turn 2 probably saved some drivers who didn't pit from running out of fuel during the final 3.5 miles.

It was a questionable call, to say the least. It really is time for NASCAR to lay down a flat rule for when to display the red flag. Shouldn't an attempt be made to finish a race as close to the scheduled distance as possible?

NASCAR Must Have Forgot About the Red Flag originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 29 Apr 2007 22:13:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASCAR Crew Chiefs to Race Before All-Star Event

Geoffrey Miller — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 12:18:00 EST

Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Casey Mears, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte, Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr., Reed Sorenson, Crew Chiefs, Lowes Motor Speedway

Imagine this situation.

Coming into turn three at "The Quarter-Mile at Lowe's Motor Speedway", Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief Tony Eury, Jr. is leading the inaugural running of the Kobalt Tools Crew Chief Race. The Budweiser head guy has led a majority of the race of the Thunder Roadsters after bumping Steve LeTarte (Jeff Gordon), Alan Gustafson (Kyle Busch), and Larry McReynolds (FOX) out of the way.

Then -- wham!

Chad Knaus, 2006 Nextel Cup Champion Crew Chief of Jimmie Johnson, takes the win as Eury spins in turn four coming to the checkers in front of the entire grandstand.

Is there anything that wouldn't come out of the grandstands? (Hot dogs, Bojangle's Chicken, Dale Jr. die cast cars, coolers...)There can't be a large following in the grandstands that love Mr. Knaus -- both in and out of the Hendrick group. After all, the guy's been suspended for cheating and last week made a comment last week over the radio after Johnson won that didn't sound too favorable to Gordon's team, despite utilizing their setup.

Hello, launched beer cups.

Well, we're going to find out what this event actually produces at the Nextel All-Star Challenge in May. The crew chief event will be run prior, and will be carried live on SPEED's pre-race show.

The additional expected participants Billy Wilburn (Kyle Petty), Darian Grubb (Casey Mears), Gil Martin (Clint Bowyer), Jeff Hammond (SPEED), Jimmy Elledge (Reed Sorenson), Kevin "Bono" Manion (Martin Truex, Jr.), Larry McReynolds (SPEED), Paul Andrews (Bobby Labonte), Scott Miller (Jeff Burton), Steve Lane (David Stremme), and Todd Berrier (Kevin Harvick).

I'm looking forward to it, and I hope these guys realize that a spin and win of anything relating to the 8 car could be deadly.

NASCAR Crew Chiefs to Race Before All-Star Event originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 07 Apr 2007 12:18:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Has The CoT Leveled The Playing Field?

tallglassofmilk — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 01:39:00 EST

Filed under: Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Reed Sorenson, Dodge, Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota, Nextel Cup

Yesterday, I was all set to talk about how Chevy is kicking everybody's ass with the car of tomorrow. Ford driver Greg Biffle and the stats would even back me up.

Despite putting down the fastest COT test lap in Richmond on Tuesday, Biffle says Chevy is dominating:

"We were probably the best in 2005 as a manufacturer, and then in '06 and '07 Chevrolet is back up top where they've been most of the time. And it's not really a surprise to us to see that they're running as well as they are. They've got a bunch of great teams - Gibbs, Hendrick, Childress just off the top are very, very strong race teams. Technically, there's one of us, if you will. We have Roush and Yates over in the Ford camp. If you were to say we had three Roush conglomerates all running Fords, then the tables might be balanced a little different, but they've got three strong, strong teams and three strong teams with good drivers driving Chevys. That's something we know we have to battle. They've been a little bit better at it and, let's face it, you take Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and all those guys and feeding a little bit of information back to Chevrolet, it'll trickle around to those teams a little bit faster. But in our organization all we have is us - we have our five teams to gather that information and use it within ourselves. It's tough to beat the odds. The odds are there are more Chevrolet teams and better cars."

The race stats definitely speak to that:

The Impalas ran the show at Bristol, leading 487 of 504 laps and finishing with eight cars in the Top 10 positions. It was more of the same in Martinsville where the Chevys led 489 of 500 laps and took the top seven positions.

But testing headlines don't tell a story of dominance:

Busch fastest in final Richmond test session (Dodge)
Sorenson ends fastest at Richmond (Dodge)
Biffle fastest in Richmond CoT test (Ford)
Kenny Wallace paces Richmond evening test (Chevy) -- Go Herman!

Even Toyota made a decent showing in testing with two cars in the Top 10 in three out of four sessions, including Dave Blaney (4th, 4th and 9th) and Michael Waltrip (7th, 9th). Johnny Benson, who hasn't raced a Cup car in a year and a half, tested 2nd Tuesday afternoon in a team that hasn't even attempted to qualify this season.

Does this mean that NASCAR has successfully leveled the playing field despite their promise that the car of tomorrow would improve competition?

I have to agree with Alan Gustafson, crew chief for the #5 Chevy, who said, "The chassis stuff, I'm okay with. That's for safety. But the body stuff, that's definitely not a safety issue. That's just to try to level the field out."

Of course it is.

Who remembers industrial arts class where you had to build your own car out of a block of wood? It was all about the aero. Aero's a huge part a part of racing--but NASCAR doesn't want it to be. NASCAR wants to keep all teams competitive and hang on to sponsors.

If NASCAR was actually trying to improve competition, they'd start by tossing the restrictor plates.

Has The CoT Leveled The Playing Field? originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Thu, 05 Apr 2007 01:39:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Home Track Advantage: Atlanta Motor Speedway

tallglassofmilk — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 22:50:00 EST

Filed under: Atlanta, Reed Sorenson, Nextel Cup, Craftsman Truck Series

Do NASCAR drivers have an advantage at their hometown tracks? I'm sure there's some fancy algorithm that has a definitive answer to that, but I don't. Let's just say that the upside is, it never hurts when you have a few laps under the belt. The downside is that being home can prove to be a distraction and you have to factor in additional psychological issues like performance anxiety.

David Ragan, Unadilla, Ga.
NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Rookie of the Year contender David Ragan is no stranger to Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Unadilla, Ga. native estimates that between the Summer Shootouts and winter and heat races, he's run anywhere from 75 to 100 races at his home track.

His mission for the weekend is to enjoying the friendly faces in familiar surroundings without allowing himself to become distracted and to keep getting those points.

His experience at AMS assisted him today with a better than average for the season Top 20 finish in the Busch Series Nicorette 300, Ragan's first NASCAR race at AMS. He starts 38th tomorrow in his first Cup race here.

Reed Sorenson, Peachtree City, Ga.
In addition to getting his first Cup start at AMS, Reed Sorenson recorded his first career Series Top 10 in just his sixth career start in the Golden Corral 500 at AMS on March 20, 2006. He started the event in 15th and rallied from as far back as 30th to bring home a 10th-place finish at his hometown track.

Sorenson grew up racing Legends Cars at AMS, capturing three track championships ('98, '99, '01) 22 wins, 40 top-five finishes and 42 top-10 finishes in 43 starts. His friend and teammate Shane Bourgeois also hails from Peach Tree City. Bourgeois helped Sorenson on his ASA team before moving with him to North Carolina and to Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS). Bourgeois works in the suspension department and provides pit support on race day.

An early collision in today's Busch race relegated him to a 39th place finish. He starts tomorrow in 11th.

I don't think either Georgia native has an advantage over Atlanta's own Home Depot.

Home Track Advantage: Atlanta Motor Speedway originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 17 Mar 2007 22:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Home Track Advantage: Atlanta Motor Speedway

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Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Chip Ganassi Dodge