nascar 2012 - race 11

The Lady in Black Submitted by Rick A. Talford NASCAR Enthusiast DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA - The Nationwide Series race was held on Friday Night at the “Track to tough to tame” This raceway was built on a field that was used for growing peanuts before racing. The track is shaped like a paperclip, making it very difficult to set up a car to act right for both ends of the track. The track is also well known for giving drivers the dreaded “Darlington Stripe”. This is when the cars get loose and then they find the outer walls, leaving a black stripe on the wall and the race cars. Many drivers get the infamous stripe at some point throughout the weekend. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was the Pole Setter in the # 6 Ford Mustang, with # 18 Denny Hamlin starting second in his Toyota. The race began with a quick caution on lap two, when rookie driver # 36 Ryan Blaney hit the wall. This was Blaney’s second start in the series, and it ended very quickly for him, as he finished in 43 position. The second caution came near lap 35, when the # 01 car driven by Mike Wallace hit the wall hard. The third caution came out on lap 46, when # 39 Josh Richards tagged # 50 TJ Bell, pushing him up and into the wall. The “Lucky Dog” was given to another driver in only his second start # 99 Travis Pastana. At mid-race # 18 Denny Hamlin had dominated so far, leading the most laps and setting the pace of the race. Hamlin has done very well at Darlington, winning three out of the last four races held at the track. The fourth caution came out on lap 126 when # 54 Kurt Busch blew a right front tire, sending him into the wall. He was running in third place when this happened. One of the most exciting moves of the race, happened when Busch passed both Hamlin and Lagono on a restart, as the two battled for the lead, Busch made it three wide and came out with the lead. Lap 137 had # 33 Brendan Gaughn blowing a right front tire as well, and sending him into the wall as well. The restart on lap 142 ended when # 20 Joey Lagono was trying to push # 2 Elliott Sadler to the lead and spun Sadler’s car into # 18 Denny Hamlin just before his car hit the outer wall, ending his chance at a victory. # 38 Kasey Kahne also had minor contact during the wreck. The race ended under the Green-White-Checkered rules. # 20 Joey Lagono was able to hold off his teammate # 18 Hamlin for the victory. This was Lagono’s third victory in five races in the Nationwide Series. The remainder of the top ten were: # 22 Brad Keselowski, # 12 Sam Hornish Jr., # 3 Austin Dillon, # 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., # 11 Scott, # 54 Kurt Busch, # 30 James Buescher, and # 88 Cole Whitt. # 7 Danica Patrick ended the race in twelve position, leaving her to be in the tenth spot for the Nationwide Series Points. At the pre-race ceremonies, a memorial prayer was given for race car enthusiast and creator to the Shelby race car. Carrol Shelby passed away at age 89. The next race for the Nationwide Series will be held next Sunday (1:30 pm) at the Iowa race track. “Bodangle’s Southern 500” DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA - Saturday Nights race was scheduled for 367 laps at the raceway. The Pole Setter was # 16 Greg Biffle. This was his second pole of the season. Starting second was # 48 Jimmie Johnson. Race conditions were perfect with the temperature being 77 degrees and clear skies. The race started in daylight, and would finish up under darkness. # 10 Danica Patrick was in just her second career Cup Race at this race. She would start 38th. The race began, and went green for quite a long time. A record number of laps were ran without any cautions. The first 171 laps went green, with three rounds of green flag pit stops being made. # 16 Greg Biffle led most of the first 100 laps. Then # 48 Jimmie Johnson took over the lead for the next 70 plus laps. Lap 172 would be the first caution for debris on the racing surface. During the caution the commitment cone was put back in its spot, after being hit in an earlier round of pit stops. The second caution came right away on lap 194, when # 24 Jeff Gordon’s left rear tire went down and blew out on the track. This began Gordon’s downfall of the race. He ended up having three rear tires go down in a matter of just o few laps (lap 205 and lap 221). He would go to the garage, and the team never did find out what was causing the tire issues. Gordon would finish the race, many laps down. Lap 232 had another Debris caution. No debris was shown in any of the cautions they threw for it. Lap 280 had another round of green flag pit stops, with Patrick having trouble entering pit road. She hit the commitment cone and was penalized with a drive thru penalty. She went multiple laps down throughout the race, but kept her car very clean and she did finish in 31 position. Lap 298 had # 47 Bobby Labonte bringing out a caution, when he spun his car around on the race track. Lap 306 had another spin by # 78 Regan Smith. He was last years winner of this race. Lap 316 had # 22 AJ Almendinger and # 1 Jamie McMurray getting together and wrecking. Lap 330 had # 32 Reed Sorenson spinning out for another caution. On lap 360 # 54 Kurt Busch was one of the fastest cars on the track, when he had a tire go down and he hit the wall hard. During his spin sideways, # 43 Aric Almirola ran into # 39 Ryan Newman, causing his car to spin out and into the inside retaining wall. This ended Newman’s race. The final restart would be for a green-white-checkered finish. # 48 Jimmie Johnson would hold off # 11 Denny Hamlin for his car owner’s (Hendrick) 200th team victory. The rest of the top ten were: # 14 Tony Stewart, # 18 Kyle Busch, # 56 Martin Truex Jr., # 17 Matt Kenseth, # 99 Carl Edwards, # 5 Kasey Kahne, # 9 Marcus Ambrose, and # 20 Joey Lagono. The next race will be the All-Star race on Saturday night in Charlotte, N.C.