Nascar 2012- race 21

US Cellular 250




NEWTON, IOWA - The Nationwide Series ran their race at the Pocono Race Track. Nearly 56 thousand fans attended the sell-out race. The 7/8 mile track was raced for 250 laps. # 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is racing for his fourth straight victory in Iowa. This was the Final “Dash for Cash” race for $100,000.00. A fan will also win a cool $100K as well. The competitors for the cash are Stenhouse Jr., Dillon, Annett and Hornish Jr. There are many young drivers in the field for the race, including # 22 Ryan Blaney, # 20 Darrell Wallace Jr., # 39 Joey Gase, # 18 Michael McDowell and # 99 Brett Moffitt. J.T. Hodges sang the National Anthem, as seven planes from the KC Flight Team flew over. Kathy Hust was the Grand Marshal.



The first 36 laps were lead by rookie Darrell Wallace Jr., before he was caught and passed. A Competition Caution came out on lap 50, due to the track was washed off by rain. The second caution came out on lap 94, when # 44 John Blankenship spun out on track. The third and final caution flew on lap 175 for debris on track.



# 2 Elliott Sadler was able to take control of the race, and took the win. He was black flagged last week in Indianapolis, and felt this was a good redemption for that race being taken away from him by Nascar. Sadler was pushed by Dillon past the leader on the last caution/restart, and was penalized for getting ahead of the leader before the start/finish line. Sadler looked like he was the favorite to win the inaugural race at Indy.



The rest of the top ten were: # 31 Justin Allgaier, # 12 Sam Hornish Jr. (winner of the $100K and fan Tammy Atieri won a $100K), # 43 Michael Annett, # 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., # 18 Michael McDowell, # 20 Darrell Wallace Jr., # 30 Jamie Leffler, # 9 Brett Moffitt and # 22 Ryan Blaney. Only 14 cars finished on the lead lap. Both # 7 Danica Patrick (11) and # 70 Johanna Long (13) finished the race on the lead lap.



The next race will be at Walkins Glen next Sat. at 2:30 PM







PENNSYLVANIA 400



POCONO, PENNSYLVANIA - The Sprint Cup Series ran this weekends race at the “Tricky Triangle”. A 160 laps on the 2.5 mile track was scheduled. # 42 Jaun Pablo Montoya won the Pole Position, with # 11 Denny Hamlin starting second. The pre-race ceremonies had Alex Boyd singing the National Anthem, while a F-16 Mustang flew overhead. A Competition Caution was set for lap 20, due to on and off rain before the race. The scheduled time was set back 90 minutes, due to a late storm that moved across the track a half hour before the start time.



Montoya and Hamlin led the early laps, before # 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. showed his strength, taking the lead before the first caution came out on lap 18 for # 18 Kyle Busch. He blew a tire, while driving hard towards the front. Being a bit aggressive on his tires cost him. He hit the wall plenty hard, and went to the garage for repairs. He did return to the race, 23 laps down. On lap 39 # 48 Jimmie Johnson drove to the lead, and showed everyone that he was the car to beat. The Hendrick and Roush cars seemed to be the fastest in the race. On lap 50, Earnhardt Jr. had his transmission fail. He was getting back up to speed after a pit stop, and found he had no fourth gear, then trying to go back into third, found it was gone too. He would go to the garage and start jacking the car up himself. The team changed the transmission and had him back in the race in just 18 laps. Kyle Busch’s troubles were not yet over, when on lap 72 he was caught speeding on exit from a pit stop.



The second caution flew on lap 86 for his brother # 51 Kurt Busch, as he blew a tire and hit the wall with both the rear and front of the race car. His day ended with the wreck. Another caution flew right away on the restart, when # 17 Matt Kenseth attempted and succeeded to get # 48 Jimmie Johnson loose in turn one, by driving very close to his passenger side of the car. Johnson’s car slid up the track into Kenseth. Both cars slid sideways as the field went by. # 16 Greg Biffle was right behind the two, and he slid into the wall while braking. As Kenseth came away from the wall, he turned sideways in front of # 11 Denny Hamlin. The two cars came together, destroying Hamlin’ car, and doing heavy damage to the drivers side of Kenseth.



The race would never get another chance to start, due to a Severe Thunderstorm that moved over the track. A red flag came out first, and ten minutes later, Nascar called it a race. On lap 99 # 24 Jeff Gordon was the leader after the caution flew, and became the winner of a rain shortened race. This was Gordon’s first victory of the year, and put him the second wild card spot for the upcoming Chase for the Championship.



The rest of the top ten were: # 5 Kasey Kahne, # 56 Martin Truex Jr., # 2 Brad Keselowski, # 14 Tony Stewart, # 39 Ryan Newman, # 99 Carl Edwards, # 15 Clint Bowyer, # 78 Regan Smith and # 9 Marcus Ambrose.



Even after the troubles Dale Earnhardt Jr. had, he still kept the points lead going to Walkins Glen next Sunday.

Note- A fan was killed at the race track after being hit by lightning. Please say a prayer for the family.