WEEKEND AT THE ROAD COURSES
Submitted by Rick A. Talford
NASCAR Enthusiast
ELKHART LAKE, WI - The Nationwide Series ran their road course race in Wisconsin. The race was at Road America. The “Sargento 200” The 50 lap race was run on a 4 mile long track, that had fourteen different corners. This was only the third time that Nationwide would race at this track. There were many road course “aces” at this event. # 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. took the Pole, with # 18 Michael McDowell starting second. The Wisconsin Air National Guard flew their F-16’s over head prior to the start of the race.
The race ran pretty clean with just a few cautions for just a handful of drivers. The first caution was for # 50 TJ Bell running into the sand pit. He would be the reason for another caution later in the race, for the same reason. The second caution was on lap seventeen for a metal plate and foam from someone’s battery box enclosure. During the race, # 7 Danica Patrick showed her talent, driving from tenth to first throughout the start of the race. She would have finished in the third position, but # 22 Jacque Villanueva ran into the rear of her car on the final lap, sending her spinning into the sand pit. She did however get out of the sand, and finished twelfth. The act was very intentional, and the driver spoke after the race, stating her could care less about it. He was an aggressive driver all day, pushing cars out of his way on a regular basis. On lap 31, # 75 Kenny Habul ran off track and into the sand. On Lap 37, # 31 Justin Allgaier did the same.
The final lap was completed with many drivers being over zealous and trying to push their way past the cars in front of them. # 30 Piquet Jr. was the dominant car of the day and he finished right were he started, in the number one spot. # 18 McDowell did the same, finishing right were he started in second. The rest of the top ten were: # 5 Ron Fellows, # 33 Max Papis, # 12 Sam Hornish Jr., # 11 Brian Scott, # 54 Kurt Busch, # 22 Jacque Villenueve, # 88 Cole Whitt, and # 31 Justin Allgaier. Most of the top ten were, Hired road course drivers.
The next race will be Friday night at Kentucky, on ESPN2 at 6 pm.
TOYOTA SAVEMART 350
SONOMA, CA - The Cup Series ran their road course race out in California. The 110 laps were run on the winding track in the Sonoma valley. The Pole Sitter was # 9 Marcus Ambrose, for the second consecutive week. # 24 Jeff Gordon started second.
There was two different strategies ran during this race. A few drivers like # 56 Martin Truex Jr. And # 22 AJ Allmendinger made the race a three stop event, were the rest of the field set themselves up for a two stop race. Jeff Gordon took the lead early in the race, and lead his 23,000th lap at the event. During the first round of green flag stops, # 55 Brian Vickers was caught speeding. On lap 63, # 42 Jaun Montoya had many issues with his electrical system, and his pit crew changed out his electrical control unit in only 25 seconds. At this time # 15 Clint Bowyer had a five second lead. On the second round of green flag pit stops, both # 24 Gordon and # 29 Kevin Harvick ran out of gas prior to getting to pit lane. They both dropped many spots.
The first caution didn’t come out until lap 82, when # 10 Tomy Drissi crashed hard into the tires. Harvick was the “Lucky Dog”, as he was just passed and put one lap down prior to the caution coming out. A second caution came out on lap 106 of 110. # 27 Paul Menard was ran into by # 18 Kyle Busch, and his car stalled and would not re-fire. Busch simply over ran the corner, running into Menard and spinning them both out. The race would end up finishing under the green-white-checkered rules. # 15 Clint Bowyer was able to hold off a hard charging # 14 Tony Stewart for his first victory of the season, and his first road course victory of his career. The rest of the top ten were: # 51 Kurt Busch, # 55 Brian Vickers, # 48 Jimmie Johnson, # 24 Jeff Gordon, # 16 Greg Biffle, # 9 Marcus Ambrose, # 22 AJ Allmendinger, and # 20 Joey Lagono.
Michael Waltrip Racing had a very good day, placing two cars in the top five, and the third would have been in the top ten, but Truex Jr. was spun out on the final lap by another car. During the burn-out during the victory lap, Bowyer ran out of fuel. He walked to Victory Lane for the celebration. Other notes, the fastest lap was at 148 mph by Jeff Gordon, and the fastest pit stop was 12.1 seconds by the Stewart pit crew.
The next race will be Saturday Night at the Kentucky Speedway. The Quaker State 400 will start at 6:30 PM.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
nascar 2012 - race 15
Michigan International Speedway
Submitted by Rick A. Talford
NASCAR Enthusiast
BROOKLYN, MICHIGAN - On Saturday afternoon, the Nationwide Series raced at the newly re-paved, two-mile high speed race track. The drivers would be racing at speeds near 200 mph for 125 laps. The Pole Sitter was # 3 Austin Dillon, with # 88 Cole Whitt starting beside him. The first twenty drivers in the qualifying order, broke the speed record set back in 2007.
It did not take long for the first caution, being it came on lap one for # 7 Danica Patrick and # 38 Brad Sweet. They both spun out in separate incidents, but on the same turn. While the cars were checking up, # 54 Kurt Busch was not so lucky, and ended up with front end damage after running into the back end of # 22 Brad Keselowski. A “Competition Caution” then came out on lap 26, due to the new pavement. The third caution came out for # 99 Kenny Wallace, when his engine let go, and began smoking on track. Caution four was for # 38 Sweet spinning out a second time. The fifth caution was for # 7 Patrick spinning, after # 3 Dillon got close enough to her corner panel that it took the air off the rear end, making the rear-end step out. She was running in the eighth position at the time of the spin. On lap 110, # 7 Patrick and # 38 Sweet once again got together while racing for fourteenth position. The seventh caution came out on lap 115 for # 23 Andy Dick and # 29 Josh Richardson. The two cars got tangled up and hit the wall hard. A “Red Flag” was brought out, to clean up the crash.
With less than ten laps to go, it became a shootout. # 20 Joey Lagono outlasted # 30 James Buescher for the fifth victory of the season for Lagono, in the Nationwide Series. The rest of the top ten were: # 54 Kurt Busch, # 88 Cole Whitt, # 3 Austin Dillon, # 20 Michael McDowell, # 12 Sam Hornish Jr., # 22 Brad Keselowski, # 33 Paul Menard, # 11 Brian Scott. Points leader # 2 Elliott Sadler finished in eleventh position.
The next race will be at Road America in Wisconsin, on Saturday at 2 pm on ESPN.
BROOKLYN, MICHIGAN - On Sunday the Sprint Cup Series was able to race their “Quicken Loans 400” at the Michigan Superspeedway. Nineteen of the top qualifiers ran speeds over 200 mph. # 9 Marcus Ambrose ran the fastest lap at 203 mph for the Pole, with # 29 Kevin Harvick starting second. The race started two hours late, due to steady downpours in the morning and at the original start time for the 200 lap event. The race track was repaved and Goodyear changed the tire composite for this race on Saturday, due to many drivers suffering from blistering tires during practices on Friday.
The first caution came out on lap two, when # 51 Kurt Busch spun out. The engine of the # 26 Josh Wise car blew up on lap ten for the second caution of the race. The third (lap 26) and Fourth (lap 51) cautions were pre-set as “Competition Cautions”, due to the heavy rains, and the new tires brought in on Saturday. On lap 81, the fifth caution came out for debris on the track. For the third consecutive week, the # 18 Kyle Busch driven race car had engine failures. He went to the garage and did return to the track, after going many laps down. Caution came out on lap 120 for # 51 Busch a second time, for another spin out by him. The seventh caution came out when # 38 David Gilliland got lose, and slid up the track. # 20 Joey Lagono attempted to get around Gilliland, but was unsuccessful and turned into the wall. Then # 5 Kasey Kahne ran into the rear end of Gilliland, ending his day at the race as well. The final caution came out for a fiery # 11 Denny Hamlin car, as he tried to get down pit road with his damaged race car, it erupted into flames from under the hood. The entire car was riding on what looked like a blanked of flames. As he came to a stop, the firefighters were able to get the car extinguished.
When the checkered flag flew on lap 200, # 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. was able to celebrate another victory at the Michigan International Speedway. This was the site of his last victory, some 143 races ago in 2008. Earnhardt was racing a special painted race car for the upcoming Dark Knight Rises movie. He was not challenged by anyone in the end, having nearly a six second gap to second place # 14 Tony Stewart.
The rest of the top ten were: # 17 Matt Kenseth, # 48 Jimmie Johnson, # 24 Jeff Gordon, # 15 Clint Bowyer, # 42 Jaun Montoya, # 9 Marcus Ambrose and # 29 Kevin Harvick. Kenseth is now the points leader over Earnhardt Jr. by four points.
The next race is at the California Road course in Sonoma on Sunday.
Submitted by Rick A. Talford
NASCAR Enthusiast
BROOKLYN, MICHIGAN - On Saturday afternoon, the Nationwide Series raced at the newly re-paved, two-mile high speed race track. The drivers would be racing at speeds near 200 mph for 125 laps. The Pole Sitter was # 3 Austin Dillon, with # 88 Cole Whitt starting beside him. The first twenty drivers in the qualifying order, broke the speed record set back in 2007.
It did not take long for the first caution, being it came on lap one for # 7 Danica Patrick and # 38 Brad Sweet. They both spun out in separate incidents, but on the same turn. While the cars were checking up, # 54 Kurt Busch was not so lucky, and ended up with front end damage after running into the back end of # 22 Brad Keselowski. A “Competition Caution” then came out on lap 26, due to the new pavement. The third caution came out for # 99 Kenny Wallace, when his engine let go, and began smoking on track. Caution four was for # 38 Sweet spinning out a second time. The fifth caution was for # 7 Patrick spinning, after # 3 Dillon got close enough to her corner panel that it took the air off the rear end, making the rear-end step out. She was running in the eighth position at the time of the spin. On lap 110, # 7 Patrick and # 38 Sweet once again got together while racing for fourteenth position. The seventh caution came out on lap 115 for # 23 Andy Dick and # 29 Josh Richardson. The two cars got tangled up and hit the wall hard. A “Red Flag” was brought out, to clean up the crash.
With less than ten laps to go, it became a shootout. # 20 Joey Lagono outlasted # 30 James Buescher for the fifth victory of the season for Lagono, in the Nationwide Series. The rest of the top ten were: # 54 Kurt Busch, # 88 Cole Whitt, # 3 Austin Dillon, # 20 Michael McDowell, # 12 Sam Hornish Jr., # 22 Brad Keselowski, # 33 Paul Menard, # 11 Brian Scott. Points leader # 2 Elliott Sadler finished in eleventh position.
The next race will be at Road America in Wisconsin, on Saturday at 2 pm on ESPN.
BROOKLYN, MICHIGAN - On Sunday the Sprint Cup Series was able to race their “Quicken Loans 400” at the Michigan Superspeedway. Nineteen of the top qualifiers ran speeds over 200 mph. # 9 Marcus Ambrose ran the fastest lap at 203 mph for the Pole, with # 29 Kevin Harvick starting second. The race started two hours late, due to steady downpours in the morning and at the original start time for the 200 lap event. The race track was repaved and Goodyear changed the tire composite for this race on Saturday, due to many drivers suffering from blistering tires during practices on Friday.
The first caution came out on lap two, when # 51 Kurt Busch spun out. The engine of the # 26 Josh Wise car blew up on lap ten for the second caution of the race. The third (lap 26) and Fourth (lap 51) cautions were pre-set as “Competition Cautions”, due to the heavy rains, and the new tires brought in on Saturday. On lap 81, the fifth caution came out for debris on the track. For the third consecutive week, the # 18 Kyle Busch driven race car had engine failures. He went to the garage and did return to the track, after going many laps down. Caution came out on lap 120 for # 51 Busch a second time, for another spin out by him. The seventh caution came out when # 38 David Gilliland got lose, and slid up the track. # 20 Joey Lagono attempted to get around Gilliland, but was unsuccessful and turned into the wall. Then # 5 Kasey Kahne ran into the rear end of Gilliland, ending his day at the race as well. The final caution came out for a fiery # 11 Denny Hamlin car, as he tried to get down pit road with his damaged race car, it erupted into flames from under the hood. The entire car was riding on what looked like a blanked of flames. As he came to a stop, the firefighters were able to get the car extinguished.
When the checkered flag flew on lap 200, # 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. was able to celebrate another victory at the Michigan International Speedway. This was the site of his last victory, some 143 races ago in 2008. Earnhardt was racing a special painted race car for the upcoming Dark Knight Rises movie. He was not challenged by anyone in the end, having nearly a six second gap to second place # 14 Tony Stewart.
The rest of the top ten were: # 17 Matt Kenseth, # 48 Jimmie Johnson, # 24 Jeff Gordon, # 15 Clint Bowyer, # 42 Jaun Montoya, # 9 Marcus Ambrose and # 29 Kevin Harvick. Kenseth is now the points leader over Earnhardt Jr. by four points.
The next race is at the California Road course in Sonoma on Sunday.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Veteran's Park Rededication May 28, 2012
ELMWOOD, WI - May 28, 2012. There was a very nice gathering in Elmwood for the re-dedication of the Veterans Park site. A newly redesigned layout was completed this past spring with the names of all the past and present veterans from the local area engraved into the stones of the sidewalks. A flag that was flown over the US Capital on January 8, 2012 was brought to the ceremony to replace the older US Flag that has flown at the site for many years. Elmwood American Legion Post 207 was created on January 8, 1946. A ceremony that lasted just under an hour was arranged for the many citizens to come and view went well, as the weather was warm and sunny. Post 207 Commander Marty Renier spoke to the crowd that gathered for the event. There are 466 names already engraved in stone, and many more already are being ordered to add to the sidewalks. The names that are currently in place are gathered from the Civil War, WWI, Korean War, WWII, Vietnam, Gulf War, and up to the current Afghanistan and Iraq Operations.
nascar 2012 - race 14
The Tricky Triangle
LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA - The Sprint Cup Series ran their first of two races on the Tricky Triangle this weekend. This would be the first of six races for TNT television station. The “Summer Series” is the section of races that are run on TNT. The race has 160 laps, and a pit road speed of 55 mph. The racing surface for Pocono has been replaced with new asphalt, creating much higher speeds than these drivers have seen in the past. Turn one has fourteen degree banking, while turn two has eight degrees and turn three has six degrees. The Pole Sitter is # 20 Joey Lagono, with # 99 Carl Edwards starting second.
One thing this weekends race was missing, was # 51 Kurt Busch, who was suspended for telling it the way it is, to a reporter. NASCAR felt that he violated his already probation, when he verbally abused the reporter. The reporter was in the wrong, when he tried to create more of an issue than Busch had with another driver. Busch simply told him to put a sock in it, and quit trying to start more issues. NASCAR also took a minute to observe the passing of two well known names in the sport. Joseph “DOC” Mattioli and the 2013 Hall Of Fame Inductee Cotton Owens. The Grand Marshal for the race was Vanilla Ice. A fly-over by the local Langley Air Force Base with their T-38’s was done prior to the start of the race as well.
Caution one came out on lap one, when # 83 Landon Cassill spun out and collected # 22 AJ Almendinger, # 42 Jaun Montoya, and # 56 Ryan Truex Jr. Just prior to the crash, # 11 Denny Hamlin got lose, and tagged # 99 Carl Edwards in the rear corner panel. This caused Edwards to fall to the back of the field prior to the caution coming out. More troubles came for both Edwards and Almendinger each. Edwards was penalized for lining up incorrectly at the restart, and Almendinger was caught speeding on pit road. Caution two came out on lap 13, when # 32 Reed Sorenson spun out, taking # 36 Tony Raines and # 49 JJ Yeley. A Competition Caution on lap 20 for rains that fell the night before, washing the track off, was cancelled due to the two early cautions in the race. The third caution came out on lap 66 for # 22 AJ Almendinger, when he hit the wall hard in the “Tunnel Turn”. During the stops, # 31 Jeff Burton was hit with speeding, then hit with lining up incorrectly.
Prior to this caution, the drivers had a couple rounds of green flag pit stops. There seemed to be a common theme for most of them. Speeding penalties were being handed out left and right for many drivers that usually do not have penalties. # 48 Jimmie Johnson was hit twice in as many stops on pit road. By the lap 66 caution, the record of fourteen speeding penalties had been reached. It was noticed that most of these penalties were received from the last section on pit road, number ten.
Caution four came out on lap 74, when # 34 David Ragan ran out of fuel on track and was unable to get back to pit road. During this caution period, # 18 Kyle Busch had his day shortened with engine failures. This was his second race in a row with the same failures. Another round of green flag stops was completed with Dale Earnhardt Jr. taking the lead in the race. Points leader # 16 Greg Biffle also had minor engine failures, dropping down one cylinder to seven. A fifth caution flew for debris on lap 124. At the same time, # 43 Aric Almirola hit the wall after having a tire blow out. More speeding violations happened during the caution, bringing it up to twenty-two for the day. Caution six came out on lap 134, when # 5 Kasey Kahne hit the wall hard after a tire failure. Another debris caution flew on lap 149.
The race then concluded in a not so common way in the last thirty-one races. The Pole Sitter won the race. # 20 Joey Lagono was the lead car at the end of the day, just beating out # 55 Mark Martin who has never won at Pocono. The rest of the top ten were: # 14 Tony Stewart, # 48 Jimmie Johnson, # 11 Denny Hamlin, # 15 Clint Bowyer, # 17 Matt Kenseth, # 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr., # 27 Paul Menard, and # 1 Jamie McMurray. Matt Kenseth takes over the points lead, with Dale Earnhardt now in second and Biffle in third.
The next race is at the Michigan International Raceway, next Sunday.
LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA - The Sprint Cup Series ran their first of two races on the Tricky Triangle this weekend. This would be the first of six races for TNT television station. The “Summer Series” is the section of races that are run on TNT. The race has 160 laps, and a pit road speed of 55 mph. The racing surface for Pocono has been replaced with new asphalt, creating much higher speeds than these drivers have seen in the past. Turn one has fourteen degree banking, while turn two has eight degrees and turn three has six degrees. The Pole Sitter is # 20 Joey Lagono, with # 99 Carl Edwards starting second.
One thing this weekends race was missing, was # 51 Kurt Busch, who was suspended for telling it the way it is, to a reporter. NASCAR felt that he violated his already probation, when he verbally abused the reporter. The reporter was in the wrong, when he tried to create more of an issue than Busch had with another driver. Busch simply told him to put a sock in it, and quit trying to start more issues. NASCAR also took a minute to observe the passing of two well known names in the sport. Joseph “DOC” Mattioli and the 2013 Hall Of Fame Inductee Cotton Owens. The Grand Marshal for the race was Vanilla Ice. A fly-over by the local Langley Air Force Base with their T-38’s was done prior to the start of the race as well.
Caution one came out on lap one, when # 83 Landon Cassill spun out and collected # 22 AJ Almendinger, # 42 Jaun Montoya, and # 56 Ryan Truex Jr. Just prior to the crash, # 11 Denny Hamlin got lose, and tagged # 99 Carl Edwards in the rear corner panel. This caused Edwards to fall to the back of the field prior to the caution coming out. More troubles came for both Edwards and Almendinger each. Edwards was penalized for lining up incorrectly at the restart, and Almendinger was caught speeding on pit road. Caution two came out on lap 13, when # 32 Reed Sorenson spun out, taking # 36 Tony Raines and # 49 JJ Yeley. A Competition Caution on lap 20 for rains that fell the night before, washing the track off, was cancelled due to the two early cautions in the race. The third caution came out on lap 66 for # 22 AJ Almendinger, when he hit the wall hard in the “Tunnel Turn”. During the stops, # 31 Jeff Burton was hit with speeding, then hit with lining up incorrectly.
Prior to this caution, the drivers had a couple rounds of green flag pit stops. There seemed to be a common theme for most of them. Speeding penalties were being handed out left and right for many drivers that usually do not have penalties. # 48 Jimmie Johnson was hit twice in as many stops on pit road. By the lap 66 caution, the record of fourteen speeding penalties had been reached. It was noticed that most of these penalties were received from the last section on pit road, number ten.
Caution four came out on lap 74, when # 34 David Ragan ran out of fuel on track and was unable to get back to pit road. During this caution period, # 18 Kyle Busch had his day shortened with engine failures. This was his second race in a row with the same failures. Another round of green flag stops was completed with Dale Earnhardt Jr. taking the lead in the race. Points leader # 16 Greg Biffle also had minor engine failures, dropping down one cylinder to seven. A fifth caution flew for debris on lap 124. At the same time, # 43 Aric Almirola hit the wall after having a tire blow out. More speeding violations happened during the caution, bringing it up to twenty-two for the day. Caution six came out on lap 134, when # 5 Kasey Kahne hit the wall hard after a tire failure. Another debris caution flew on lap 149.
The race then concluded in a not so common way in the last thirty-one races. The Pole Sitter won the race. # 20 Joey Lagono was the lead car at the end of the day, just beating out # 55 Mark Martin who has never won at Pocono. The rest of the top ten were: # 14 Tony Stewart, # 48 Jimmie Johnson, # 11 Denny Hamlin, # 15 Clint Bowyer, # 17 Matt Kenseth, # 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr., # 27 Paul Menard, and # 1 Jamie McMurray. Matt Kenseth takes over the points lead, with Dale Earnhardt now in second and Biffle in third.
The next race is at the Michigan International Raceway, next Sunday.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
nascar 2012 - race 13
RACING THE MONTSTER MILE
DOVER, DELAWARE - June 2, 2012 The Nationwide Series visited the Monster Mile International Speedway. The track is a one mile speedway. The race is 200 laps with pit road speed only being 35 mph. This creates the most speeding penalties of any track in the circuit. The Pole Sitter is a native of Delaware, # 20 Ryan Truex. Truex just had his appendix removed eleven days ago, but was not going to miss the chance to race at his home track. Brother Martin Truex Jr. was scheduled to race for him, in the case he was unable to get into his race car. Starting second was teammate # 18 Joey Lagono. In his very first Nationwide race was # 33 Ty Dillon, brother of series driver # 3 Austin Dillon. Both grandsons of owner Richard Childress. Ty would start third and finish eighth in his debut race. Prior to the race, during the ceremonies a C-17 flew over the track, from nearby Dover Air Force Base.
The first caution came out on lap 3, when the # 08 of Tim Andrews hit the wall, after a tire failure. The second caution came out for points leader # 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., when he slid coming out of the corner, and hit the inside wall hard. He did leave the race, and come back 66 laps down. Due to the accident that Stenhouse had, # 2 Elliott Sadler was able to take over the points lead, finishing in the top ten. During the caution # 7 Danica Patrick was caught speeding and fell from 17th to 27th on the re-start. On lap 41, NASCAR threw a competition caution, due to the track being green after plenty of rain fell at the track the evening prior. Caution number four came out on lap 120, when # 41 Timmy Hill was spun into the wall by # 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Hornish was the reason for the next caution on lap 132 as well, when he ran into # 7 Danica Patrick and # 38 Brad Sweet. On lap 150 # 18 Joey Lagono ran into the back end of the lap car of # 24 Tim Bainey Jr., bringing out the sixth caution of the race. Rookie Ryan Truex was able to take over the lead after the pit stops were made, but lost the lead when he ran up on two lap cars fighting for position. When Truex was forced to let off and allow them to get in line, teammate Joey Lagono took advantage of his slowing and passed him for the lead. Lagono went on to win the race unchallenged.
The rest of the top ten were: # 20 Ryan Truex, # 11 Brian Scott, # 54 Kurt Busch, # 31 Justin Allgaier, # 3 Austin Dillon, # 2 Elliott Sadler, # 33 Ty Dillon, # 30 James Buescher, and # 51 Jeremy Clements.
The next race will be in two weeks at Michigan International Speedway.
NOTE- In the Dover Truck race the night prior, the race ended early due to rain. # 11 Todd Bodine won the race.
FED EX 400 BENEFITING AUTISM SPEAKS
DOVER, DELAWARE - June 3, 2012 The Sprint Cup Series raced the Monster Mile. During the pre-race ceremonies, 70 year old Dick Berggren was being celebrated for his many years as a pit reporter as this would be his final race in the pits. He is retiring after the race comes to an end. A F-16 did the fly over, and Gov. Jack Markell was the grand marshall for the race. Dover is not only known as the capital of our first state, but also the fastest one mile track on the circuit. The Pole Sitter was # 55 Mark Martin, with # 48 Jimmie Johnson starting second.
The first caution came out on lap nine, when thirteen cars piled up after # 83 Landon Cassill checked up a bit, and # 14 Tony Stewart and # 78 Regan Smith both tagged each other in the rear corner panels. This set off a chain reaction and when all was said and done, # 79 Scott Speed, # 42 Jaun Montoya, # 38 David Gilliland, # 33 Scott Leight, # 36 Dave Blaney, # 13 Casey Mears, # 32 Reed Sorenson, # 87 Joe Nemecheck, # 98 McDowell, and # 93 Travis Kvapil were all collected in a pile. There was a eighteen minute red flag to clean up all the wrecked cars. This was the largest wreck of the season so far. It was noted after the race went back to green that Jimmie Johnson had led over 2000 laps in just 21 starts at this track. During a round of green flag pit stops at lap 69, # 51 Kurt Busch was caught speeding. The second caution came out on lap 111, when # 10 David Reutimann blew an engine. # 22 A.J. Allmendinger was the Lucky Dog. # 39 Ryan Newman received a penalty for having a tire leave his pit box. Lap 165 brought out the third caution when # 99 Carl Edwards hit the wall hard. The Lucky Dog was # 9 Marcus Ambrose. During the pit stops, # 18 Kyle Busch would have troubles. He left his pit box without all the lug nuts being tight. He would have to re-start at the back of the field. It was only a handful of laps later on lap 203, when Busch’s engine would go up in smoke.
Lap 226 brought out a caution for debris on the track. The Lucky Dog was # 27 Paul Menard. During the pit stops, # 29 Kevin Harvick had a miscue when he missed his pit box. He would end up having a 24 second pit stop, dropping him to the last car on the lead lap in eighteenth position. The next caution would also be for debris on lap 340. The Lucky Dog was # 1 Jamie McMurray. On lap 345 # 51 Kurt Busch had an engine failure, while he was already multiple laps down. # 39 Ryan Newman was the Lucky Dog. The Final caution came out for yet another engine failure on the # 31 Jeff Burton car, as he was running in the ninth spot. # 11 Denny Hamlin was given the Lucky Dog.
The race then went green to lap 400, when # 48 Jimmie Johnson won the race after leading a total of 289 of 400 laps. He also had the fastest lap of 152.27 mph. It was also noted that # 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. has finished every race on the lead lap, and has had ten top tens in thirteen races. Earnhardt is the only driver to have completed every lap so far this season. The rest of the top ten were: # 29 Kevin Harvick, # 17 Matt Kenseth, # 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr., # 15 Clint Bowyer, # 43 Aric Almirola, # 56 Martin Truex Jr., # 5 Kasey Kahne, # 20 Joey Lagono, and # 9 Marcus Ambrose.
# 16 Greg Biffle remains the points leader by one point over his teammate # 17 Matt Kenseth and ten points over # 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hamlin, Johnson, Truex, Harvick, Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Bowyer are the rest of the top ten in points after thirteen races.
The next race is next weekend. The Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono is on Sunday.
BELLE ISLE PARK
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - June 3, 2012 The IZOD Series raced on a street course. The first forty-five laps were run green with only one leader. # 9 Scott Dixon led every lap. Then after two cars crashed in separate accidents on the same lap, due to track conditions falling apart, a Red Flag was brought out for nearly two hours. The track is mostly concrete with many areas being filled with asphalt, due to cracks in the roadway. These areas starting to blister, then pull apart. There were three main areas that became unable to be driven over. One of these areas caused the car driven by Hitchcliffe to hydroplane up and into a barrier wall. After tearing out all the asphalt from the problem areas, and replacing it with a concrete filler, they restarted the race when it was cured.
The race would be shortened to only 60 laps, instead of the original 90 laps scheduled. During the final fifteen laps, the cars ran around the track under caution for two laps, so the drivers could see exactly were these repairs were located on the track. With only thirteen laps remaining, # 9 Scott Dixon started and stayed out front for the remainder of the race. This was the second race in a row that team Target Ganassi would finish one-two, when # 10 Dario Franchitti finished in second position.
The rest of the top ten were: #77 Simon Pegenaud, # 13 Will Power, # 22 Servia, # 11 Tony Kanaan, # 28 Ryan Hunter-Raey, # 83 Charlie Kimball, # 14 Mike Conway and # 98 Alex Tagliani. Female driver De Silvestro finished in the 14th position.
DOVER, DELAWARE - June 2, 2012 The Nationwide Series visited the Monster Mile International Speedway. The track is a one mile speedway. The race is 200 laps with pit road speed only being 35 mph. This creates the most speeding penalties of any track in the circuit. The Pole Sitter is a native of Delaware, # 20 Ryan Truex. Truex just had his appendix removed eleven days ago, but was not going to miss the chance to race at his home track. Brother Martin Truex Jr. was scheduled to race for him, in the case he was unable to get into his race car. Starting second was teammate # 18 Joey Lagono. In his very first Nationwide race was # 33 Ty Dillon, brother of series driver # 3 Austin Dillon. Both grandsons of owner Richard Childress. Ty would start third and finish eighth in his debut race. Prior to the race, during the ceremonies a C-17 flew over the track, from nearby Dover Air Force Base.
The first caution came out on lap 3, when the # 08 of Tim Andrews hit the wall, after a tire failure. The second caution came out for points leader # 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., when he slid coming out of the corner, and hit the inside wall hard. He did leave the race, and come back 66 laps down. Due to the accident that Stenhouse had, # 2 Elliott Sadler was able to take over the points lead, finishing in the top ten. During the caution # 7 Danica Patrick was caught speeding and fell from 17th to 27th on the re-start. On lap 41, NASCAR threw a competition caution, due to the track being green after plenty of rain fell at the track the evening prior. Caution number four came out on lap 120, when # 41 Timmy Hill was spun into the wall by # 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Hornish was the reason for the next caution on lap 132 as well, when he ran into # 7 Danica Patrick and # 38 Brad Sweet. On lap 150 # 18 Joey Lagono ran into the back end of the lap car of # 24 Tim Bainey Jr., bringing out the sixth caution of the race. Rookie Ryan Truex was able to take over the lead after the pit stops were made, but lost the lead when he ran up on two lap cars fighting for position. When Truex was forced to let off and allow them to get in line, teammate Joey Lagono took advantage of his slowing and passed him for the lead. Lagono went on to win the race unchallenged.
The rest of the top ten were: # 20 Ryan Truex, # 11 Brian Scott, # 54 Kurt Busch, # 31 Justin Allgaier, # 3 Austin Dillon, # 2 Elliott Sadler, # 33 Ty Dillon, # 30 James Buescher, and # 51 Jeremy Clements.
The next race will be in two weeks at Michigan International Speedway.
NOTE- In the Dover Truck race the night prior, the race ended early due to rain. # 11 Todd Bodine won the race.
FED EX 400 BENEFITING AUTISM SPEAKS
DOVER, DELAWARE - June 3, 2012 The Sprint Cup Series raced the Monster Mile. During the pre-race ceremonies, 70 year old Dick Berggren was being celebrated for his many years as a pit reporter as this would be his final race in the pits. He is retiring after the race comes to an end. A F-16 did the fly over, and Gov. Jack Markell was the grand marshall for the race. Dover is not only known as the capital of our first state, but also the fastest one mile track on the circuit. The Pole Sitter was # 55 Mark Martin, with # 48 Jimmie Johnson starting second.
The first caution came out on lap nine, when thirteen cars piled up after # 83 Landon Cassill checked up a bit, and # 14 Tony Stewart and # 78 Regan Smith both tagged each other in the rear corner panels. This set off a chain reaction and when all was said and done, # 79 Scott Speed, # 42 Jaun Montoya, # 38 David Gilliland, # 33 Scott Leight, # 36 Dave Blaney, # 13 Casey Mears, # 32 Reed Sorenson, # 87 Joe Nemecheck, # 98 McDowell, and # 93 Travis Kvapil were all collected in a pile. There was a eighteen minute red flag to clean up all the wrecked cars. This was the largest wreck of the season so far. It was noted after the race went back to green that Jimmie Johnson had led over 2000 laps in just 21 starts at this track. During a round of green flag pit stops at lap 69, # 51 Kurt Busch was caught speeding. The second caution came out on lap 111, when # 10 David Reutimann blew an engine. # 22 A.J. Allmendinger was the Lucky Dog. # 39 Ryan Newman received a penalty for having a tire leave his pit box. Lap 165 brought out the third caution when # 99 Carl Edwards hit the wall hard. The Lucky Dog was # 9 Marcus Ambrose. During the pit stops, # 18 Kyle Busch would have troubles. He left his pit box without all the lug nuts being tight. He would have to re-start at the back of the field. It was only a handful of laps later on lap 203, when Busch’s engine would go up in smoke.
Lap 226 brought out a caution for debris on the track. The Lucky Dog was # 27 Paul Menard. During the pit stops, # 29 Kevin Harvick had a miscue when he missed his pit box. He would end up having a 24 second pit stop, dropping him to the last car on the lead lap in eighteenth position. The next caution would also be for debris on lap 340. The Lucky Dog was # 1 Jamie McMurray. On lap 345 # 51 Kurt Busch had an engine failure, while he was already multiple laps down. # 39 Ryan Newman was the Lucky Dog. The Final caution came out for yet another engine failure on the # 31 Jeff Burton car, as he was running in the ninth spot. # 11 Denny Hamlin was given the Lucky Dog.
The race then went green to lap 400, when # 48 Jimmie Johnson won the race after leading a total of 289 of 400 laps. He also had the fastest lap of 152.27 mph. It was also noted that # 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. has finished every race on the lead lap, and has had ten top tens in thirteen races. Earnhardt is the only driver to have completed every lap so far this season. The rest of the top ten were: # 29 Kevin Harvick, # 17 Matt Kenseth, # 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr., # 15 Clint Bowyer, # 43 Aric Almirola, # 56 Martin Truex Jr., # 5 Kasey Kahne, # 20 Joey Lagono, and # 9 Marcus Ambrose.
# 16 Greg Biffle remains the points leader by one point over his teammate # 17 Matt Kenseth and ten points over # 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hamlin, Johnson, Truex, Harvick, Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Bowyer are the rest of the top ten in points after thirteen races.
The next race is next weekend. The Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono is on Sunday.
BELLE ISLE PARK
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - June 3, 2012 The IZOD Series raced on a street course. The first forty-five laps were run green with only one leader. # 9 Scott Dixon led every lap. Then after two cars crashed in separate accidents on the same lap, due to track conditions falling apart, a Red Flag was brought out for nearly two hours. The track is mostly concrete with many areas being filled with asphalt, due to cracks in the roadway. These areas starting to blister, then pull apart. There were three main areas that became unable to be driven over. One of these areas caused the car driven by Hitchcliffe to hydroplane up and into a barrier wall. After tearing out all the asphalt from the problem areas, and replacing it with a concrete filler, they restarted the race when it was cured.
The race would be shortened to only 60 laps, instead of the original 90 laps scheduled. During the final fifteen laps, the cars ran around the track under caution for two laps, so the drivers could see exactly were these repairs were located on the track. With only thirteen laps remaining, # 9 Scott Dixon started and stayed out front for the remainder of the race. This was the second race in a row that team Target Ganassi would finish one-two, when # 10 Dario Franchitti finished in second position.
The rest of the top ten were: #77 Simon Pegenaud, # 13 Will Power, # 22 Servia, # 11 Tony Kanaan, # 28 Ryan Hunter-Raey, # 83 Charlie Kimball, # 14 Mike Conway and # 98 Alex Tagliani. Female driver De Silvestro finished in the 14th position.
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