Nascar 2012 - race 35

NATIONWIDE @ PHOENIX




Written by Rick A. Talford

Nascar Enthusiast



AVONDALE, ARIZONA - The Nationwide Series ran their second to last race of the season at the Phoenix track. In the Pre-race ceremonies, Ken Bowers provided the invocation. Chelsea Bain sang the National Anthem, while two T-45’s flew over the race track. Rhonda Olson was the Grand Marshal. The Pole-sitter was Joey Lagono (18), with Kyle Busch (54) starting second. A one mile track, that they would run 200 laps. In other related news, Brian Vickers was signed to drive the Joe Gibbs # 20 car full-time next season.



The first caution came out on lap one, when Noel Dowler (41) spun out. The second caution flew on lap 31, when John Blankenship (44) spun out. The third caution on lap 70, was also Blankenship spinning out. This time he had a bit of help from Brad Keselowski (22). Caution came out on lap 120, when Dowler spun out a second time. On lap 148, Mike Wallace (01) spun out Timmy Hill (70). Caution seven came out on lap 155, when Kyle Busch (54) intentionally spun out Sam Hornish Jr. (12). Another caution flew for Blankenship a second time on lap 177, for another spin out.



Elliott Sadler (2) ran up into Cole Whitt (88), and spun the two cars sideways with two laps remaining. The caution came out, as the car of Brendan Gaughn (33) also ran into the front end of Sadler. A “Red Flag” then came out on lap 199, to clean up the track for a Green-White-Checkered finish. Joey Lagono (18) was able to hold onto the lead, for his ninth win of the season. He also led the most laps in the race.



The rest of the top ten were: Brian Vickers (20), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (6), Kyle Busch (54), Kasey Kahne (38), Austin Dillon (3), Michael Annett (43), Brian Scott (11), Brad Keselowski (22) and Danica Patrick (7).



The points standings now have Stenhouse Jr. ahead of Sadler by 20 points, with Dillon back 25 points. (Stenhouse Jr. only needs to finish 16th or better next week at Homestead, to win his second consecutive championship) Hornish Jr. -107, Annett -162, Allgaier -169, Whitt -252, Bliss -335, Scott -396 and Patrick -406.







ADVOCARE 500



AVONDALE, ARIZONA - The Sprint Cup Series also ran their second to last race of the season at Phoenix International Raceway. 312 Laps were scheduled to be run. The Pole-sitter was Kyle Busch (18), with Martin Truex Jr. (56) starting second. A new track record was set by Busch in qualifying (138.766). During the Opening Ceremonies, Ken Bowers provided the Invocation. Jason Wyatt sang “America the Beautiful”, and the National Anthem was sang by JoJo , while four F-16’s flew over the race track. The Grand Marshal was Richard and Sherry Wright. The In-race Reporter was Clint Bowyer (15). Other related news this week was, Kevin Harvick (29) will race one more year with RCR, then he will go to Stewart-Hass Racing in 2014. Ryan Newman (39) had 250 black and white pictures of American Veterans on his race car.



The race ran seven laps, before one of the “Chase” drivers began having troubles. Martin Truex Jr. (56), who started in second position began having electrical issues. He would take his car to the garage, where they found out the engine was starting to fail. On lap 18, the first caution came out for Mike Bliss (19) hitting the wall. Another caution came out on lap 52, when David Gilliland (38) had a tire blow out. He would hit the wall hard after the tire failure. Denny Hamlin (11) would take the lead from teammate Busch on lap 120. Busch would get the lead back after the third caution, on lap 168 for debris. Newman would have the lead at the re-start, but Busch would get it back shortly after.



On lap 232, Brad Keselowski (2) would take the lead away from Busch. The fourth caution came out just a couple laps later, when Jimmie Johnson (48) would have a tire fail. He ran up the track, and into the wall. The damage was sever enough, that he had to go to the garage for repairs. The fifth caution came out for David Ragan (34) hitting the wall on lap 274, after he had a tire failure in turn four. Johnson returned to the track after repairs to his car on lap 277. He was 38 laps down when he came back to the track. The sixth caution came out on lap 280, when Tony Stewart (14) was spun out by Aric Almirola(43). Stewart had to check up, when teammate Newman slowed in front of him. On lap 288, Sam Hornish Jr. (22) brought out the seventh caution, when he hit the wall after contact with Danica Patrick (7). Both drivers were racing for nineteenth position on the lead lap.



On the re-start, Kevin Harvick (29) was able to get past Busch to take the lead. Before he could get to the white flag, Jeff Gordon (24) and Clint Bowyer (15) got together on track. Gordon waited for Bowyer to come back around, and intentionally wrecked him. Joey Lagono (20) and Aric Almirola (43) both got collected in the incident. A fight then broke out on pit road between the crews, after Bowyers crew went after Jeff. The “Red Flag” was then waved, so clean-up could be completed. The race would go into the Green-White-Checkered conclusion. The wreck happened right in front of the points leader, Brad Keselowski.



The end of this race was complete wreck fest. Right after the re-start, Jeff Burton (31) got into Danica Patrick and spun her out. Both were inside the top fifteen at the time. No caution was thrown, and cars drove through oil getting back to the checkered flag.



Another major pile-up happened at the start/finish line due to the oil. Ryan Newman (39), Kurt Busch (78), Mark Martin (55), Paul Menard (27), Greg Biffle (16), Danica Patrick (7) and Brad Keselowski (2) received damages from the last lap incident.



Kevin Harvick was able to re-start the final time, and get away. He would beat Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch for the victory. Harvick broke a 44 race winless streak. The rest of the top ten were: Kasey Kahne (5), Ryan Newman (39), Brad Keselowski (2), Greg Biffle (16), Kurt Busch (78), Paul Menard (27) and Mark Martin (55).

Other “Chase” notable finishes were: Matt Kenseth -17th, Tony Stewart - 20th, Dale Earnhardt Jr. -21st, Clint Bowyer - 27th, Jeff Gordon - 30th, Jimmie Johnson - 32nd and Martin Truex Jr. - 42nd. Danica Patrick finished 17th, one lap down as the leader passed her just before the start/finish line, after she was spun out by Burton.



The points leader is now Brad Keselowski by 20 points over Jimmie Johnson. With only one race remaining, Keselowski needs to finish 15th or better to win the title outright, no matter what Johnson does.



The next race is at Homestead next Sunday on ESPN.