Nascar 2012 - race 25

NRA American Warrior 300




Written by Rick A. Talford

NASCAR Enthusiast



HAMPTON, GEORGIA - The Nationwide Series ran a 300 mile race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Race number 24 of 35 races on the season would be completed with the finishing of this race. They would race 195 laps on the 1.5 mile track. In this race, were five cup regulars. Kyle Busch (54), Kevin Harvick (33), Kasey Kahne (38), Denny Hamlin (18) and Brad Keselowski (22). Two drivers would make their very first start at the track. Danica Patrick (7) and Travis Pastrana (99). They would begin their night in sixteenth and seventeenth positions. In the pre-race ceremonies, Ralph Easterwood provided the invocation. The group Von Grey sang the National Anthem, as a T-45 flew over the raceway. The Grand Marshal for the race was a group of children “Children of Fallen American Heroes”. It was also noted that in the past nine races, the race was won by a cup regular. The In-Race reporter was Cole Whitt (88). The Pole Sitter was Kyle Busch (54), with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (6) starting second.



Kyle Busch would lead the first two laps, before Stenhouse Jr. took the lead. The first caution came out early on lap four, when Joey Gase (52) had troubles with his steering and hit the wall hard. The second caution came just laps later, on lap ten for Fair Skinners (41) car going up in smoke on track. On lap eighteen, Kevin Harvick (33) would take over the lead, and show the field that he was here to dominate the race. Within a handful of laps, Harvick was five seconds out in front of second place. Harvick would make his first green flag pit stop on lap 51, after taking a twelve second lead into the pits. During the round of stops, both Keselowski (22) and Kahne (38) would get penalized for speeding while entering pit road. To make things worse, both drivers would get a second speeding infraction while doing their return run through pit road. Both drivers would fall a couple laps down, due to the penalties happening under green. Harvick now had a fifteen second lead over Stenhouse Jr. (6). Only six cars were on the lead lap, when the third caution came out on lap 65. Reed Sorenson (98) was run into the wall by Robert Richardson Jr. (23) as he tried to get out of the way of the two lap down Kahne’s car. Kahne made it three wide, and when Richardson Jr. tried to give him room, as he ran into Sorenson.



On lap 82, Denny Hamlin (18) would have a tire separate on track. The outer shell blew out, leaving him driving on the inner liner. This allows cars to do much less damage to their cars when a tire blows out. They can get back to pit road without tearing up the cars. Danica Patrick (7) would end up running over the shell, but did no damage to her race car. The fourth caution came out on lap 105, when Kahne had a tire blow out on track. Patrick would get the “Lucky Dog” to get back on the lead lap, as she had just been passed by the rocket ship of Harvick. Patrick was in thirteenth position. The fifth caution flew for Eric McClure (24) when he had troubles and scraped the wall. On the restart, Travis Pastrana (99) would have the lead for the very first time in the series. His luck would not hold up though, as he hit the wall after a tire went down on lap 163. He tried to return to the race, but the car was too damaged to continue.



Harvick now had a dominating nine second lead, before making his final stop on lap 170. During this round of pit stops, Sam Hornish Jr. (12) and Denny Hamlin (18) both received speeding penalties while entering pit road.



On lap 184, a caution for debris was flown. Just before the yellow, the camera men caught Keselowski throwing a bottle onto the track. Nascar claimed that this was not the cause of the caution, as they showed a small piece of debris picked up on track. The piece was well out of the racing groove and was up next to the wall, where no one was running. Keselowski was needing a caution to get himself back on the lead lap, after being down two laps because of the speeding penalties. (Suspicious, Who knows?) On the restart, the eighth and final caution flew for a pile up with Kyle Fowler (08), Mike Bliss (44), James Buescher (30) and Patrick (7). Buescher was attempting to get to the high side of the track, but Patrick was already there. He came across the nose of her car, turning him into the wall. Patrick was able to drive through the wreck, but tagged Bliss while trying to correct her car. Bliss and Fowler were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.



A “Red Flag” was shown, stopping the field so they could clean up the track. The yellow would return in just a bit over three minutes. On the final restart on lap 192, Stenhouse Jr. made the comment over his radio “The only chance we had, was if Harvick’s car would not have restarted” (after the red flag). Harvick had Dominated the entire race, leading 157 of the 195 laps. But it was not to be, as for Harvick lost the lead on the final lap to Stenhouse Jr. and Keselowski in the final two corners. He would finish third, after being in another class all night. Fresher tires on the 22, may have helped him push the 6 to victory. Only ten cars finished on the lead lap.



The top ten were: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (6), Brad Keselowski (22), Kevin Harvick (33), Elliott Sadler (2), Justin Allgaier (31), Austin Dillon (3), Kyle Busch (54), Cole Whitt (88), Sam Hornish Jr. (12) and Michael Annett (43). Danica Patrick (7) would finish one lap down in thirteenth, in her first run in Atlanta. She also led a lap during the pit stops. She will make her first start at the track, in the cup race on Sunday night.



The next race is at Richmond, on Friday night.



NOTE - Ty Dillon (3) won his first ever Truck race in Atlanta on Friday night.











ADVOCARE 500



HAMPTON, GEORGIA - The Cup Series also had their race at AMS this weekend. Drivers would run 325 laps for the 500 mile race. There was extra celebration at the track for a couple well known drivers. Jeff Gordon was celebrating twenty years as a Cup driver, while Richard Petty was celebrating twenty years, since he retired from racing. The final race at Atlanta for Richard Petty, was the first race of Jeff Gordon’s career. At this very same race, Alan Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship. Driving for Hooters, Kulwicki would get the Championship and the Victory in Atlanta. In the pre-race ceremonies, Bill Brannon provided the invocation. Ernie Hasse and the Signature Sound sang the National Anthem, while four T-38’s flew over the Speedway. The Grand Marshals were Richard and Sherry Wright, and the In-race reporter was Martin Truex Jr. (56). The Pole Sitter was Tony Stewart (14), with Greg Biffle (16) starting beside him on the front row.



Biffle would lead the first lap, before Stewart would take the lead on the second lap. By lap ten, Jeff Gordon (24) would become the leader, with Kyle Busch taking the lead by lap seventeen. One of the fastest cars on track was Clint Bowyer (15) going from 42nd to 14th in the first thirty laps. On lap 35, Denny Hamlin (11) would take the lead. The first caution flew for possible oil on the track, after Aric Almirola (43) had engine start smoking on track. Another car that was being watched coming to the front fast was Kevin Harvick (29), going from 29th to fifth in the first forty laps. Kyle Busch (18) and Denny Hamlin (11) would restart on the front row. During a round of green flag pit stops on lap 83, Jaun Pablo Montoya (42) would be penalized for speeding on pit road.



On lap 130, a debris caution came out. Again the restart had Busch and Hamlin on the front row. By lap 135, Kevin Harvick would take the lead. Joey Lagono (20) would have tire issues on lap 147, without any caution coming out, he went to pit road for a new set of tires. Around lap 185, Clint Bowyer (15) would have battery troubles, causing him to go to the pits while running in the seventh spot. By lap 225, Harvick had jumped out to a six second lead. He would show that the dominance he had the night before in the Nationwide race, would continue over into the Cup race. Harvick led 101 laps on the night, before finishing fifth. The third caution came out on lap 241 for Jaun Pablo Montoya touching the wall. There was no severe damage or parts that fell off the car, but Nascar threw the caution anyways. Another driver Carl Edwards (99) would have battery issues while running sixth at the time. A piston also failed on his race car, sending him to the garage for the night. Edwards had ran 102 races since his last DNF (did not finish). When the engine let go on lap 260, the fourth caution came out.



The biggest incident of the race came on lap 270, when Jimmie Johnson went three wide with Ryan Newman (39) and Sam Hornish Jr. (22). Johnson began to move over into Hornish Jr., as Newman was already on the outside of Hornish Jr. Johnson’s car would slide sideways and hit the wall in front of Newman. Johnson and Newman would not be able to continue, as Hornish Jr. was able to drive away. Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. (56) would be the front row at the restart. On lap 281, Truex Jr. would take the lead and drive away from the field. A late caution came out on lap 320, when Jamie McMurray (1) had touched the wall and blew a front tire. Everyone would make a final pit stop to get fresh tires for the final two laps, under the green-white-checkered rules. Hamlin would beat Gordon and Truex Jr. off pit road. While driving hard to the finish, Hamlin would edge out Gordon for the victory. This was Hamlin’s fourth win of the season, and second consecutive victory. Hamlin now leads the series with four victories, going into the final race before the “Chase for the Championship” that begins in two weeks.



The rest of the top ten were: Brad Keselowski (2), Martin Truex Jr. (56), Kevin Harvick (29), Kyle Busch (18), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88), Paul Menard (27), Matt Kenseth (17) and Mark Martin (55). Danica Patrick would finish the race with a clean race car in 29th position, multiple laps down. The top ten drivers are now all locked in for the Chase, with the two wild card spots to be decided next week at Richmond.



The drivers that are trying to get into the Chase as wild card entries are: Kasey Kahne (5) with two wins in eleventh spot. Kyle Busch (18) with one win in twelfth. Jeff Gordon (24) with one win in thirteenth, and Carl Edwards (99) with no wins in fourteenth.



The next and final race before the Chase begins, is next Saturday night at Richmond.