Chicagoland "STP 300"

“STP 300”

JOLIET, ILLINOIS- The Nationwide Series ran their eighteenth race of the season at the Chicagoland Speedway. The race was scheduled for 200 laps on the 1.5 mile track. The Pole Sitter was Sam Hornish Jr. (12), with Elliott Sadler (11) starting second. This was the third of four races, involved in the “Dash 4 Cash”. Brian Scott (2), Austin Dillon (3), Brian Vickers (20) and Michael Annett (43) were the four drivers who qualified last week to race for the extra $100K bonus in this race. The top finisher among these four drivers will get that money, and qualify for the final run for the bonus dollars at Indianapolis next weekend. There was only one Cup Series driver in this race, being Joey Lagono (22). 

During the opening ceremonies, Glen Spoolstra provided the Invocation. Michael McDermott played a guitar and sang the National Anthem. Nate Ellis was the Grand Marshall and Justin Allgaier (31) was the In-Race Reporter. This is the one and only race that is scheduled on a Sunday for the NNS. The attendance for this race was extremely low, as the grandstands looked very empty.

It did not take long for the first caution to fly, as Joey Gase (52) had an oil cooler belt blow off his race car at the start of the race, bringing the caution out before he made it 200 feet past the start/finish line, as the green flag was thrown.

The second caution came out on lap 49, when Harrison Rhodes had an engine failure on track. During the pit stops, the race leader who led every lap so far, was penalized for speeding on pit road. Sam Hornish Jr. (12) was forced to restart in twentieth position.

The race ran clean to the mid-race lap, with Elliott Sadler (11) leading the way. Green Flag stops began just after the 100^th lap, and after all was completed Austin Dillon (3) was the new race leader. To this point, Sam Hornish Jr., Elliott Sadler, Austin Dillon, Joey Lagono (22) and Kyle Larson (32) had led laps.

The third caution flew near lap 118, when Travis Patrana (60) had a tire failure, that sent him into the outside wall. The fourth caution was on lap 130, when Regan Smith (7) spun out, sending his car across the grass of the infield.

On lap 170, Mike Bliss (19) spun out on track for the fifth caution. Just a few laps later, on lap 178, Reed Sorenson (40) went up in smoke. There were only seventeen cars left on the lead lap after the final race caution.

Joey Lagono (22) was able to out race his teammate Sam Hornish Jr. (12) for the victory. The two race cars looked identical, except for their car numbers. They both ran a full yellow paint scheme with Hertz being the major sponsor. This gave Penske a one-two finish.

Austin Dillon (3) was the winner of the “Dash 4 Cash” bonus of $100K, for the second consecutive weekend. He is now qualified for the bonus next week at Indianapolis, along with Elliott Sadler (11), Sam Hornish Jr. (12) and Brian Vickers (20). Elliott Sadler won the first bonus, and Dillon has won the last two, with one remaining.

The rest of the top ten were: Austin Dillon (3), Elliott Sadler (11), Brian Vickers (20), Parker Kligerman (77), Trevor Bayne (6), Justin Allgaier (31), Brad Sweet (5) and (33).

Sam Hornish Jr. (12) now has the points lead over previous leader Regan Smith (7), by seven points.

The next race will be Indianapolis on ESPN, Saturday at 4 PM EST.

New Hampshire RD 1

“NASCAR at New Hampshire’s Motor Speedway”

LOUDON, NEW HAMPSHIRE- Both Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series ran at the track this weekend. The Nationwide drivers were scheduled to run 200 laps on the one mile speedway. The Pole Sitter was Kyle Busch (54) with teammate Brian Vickers (20) starting P2. This was race number two of the “Dash for Cash” series, with Kyle Larson (32), Austin Dillon (3), Elliott Sadler (11) and Sam Hornish Jr. (12) gunning for the extra $100K bonus. 

In the opening ceremonies, Marcus Lemonis was the Grand Marshall and Elliott Sadler was the In-Race Reporter for this weekend festivities. Four Sprint Cup drivers were in this race, including Kyle Busch (54), Joey Lagono (22), Kasey Kahne (5) and Matt Kenseth (18). For this race fan, I am beginning to not like the Cup drivers in this series. They are taking away not only taking away money from these regular racers in the series, but they take away the amount of time the commentators talk about the skills being built up by the drivers in this lower level of racing. I feel it is similar to having a NFL player, go back to College and play after they have years of experience in the pro series. The skill level is greater, because they have built their level much higher. Why go back and take away from the players/drivers that are working there butts off to become that level of a contender. I agree in NASCARs move to not allow them to run for Championships in both series, but I really believe there are more than enough drivers in the series to keep them interesting without having hired guns to be taking everything away from them weekly.

The first caution came out on lap 36, when debris was seen on track. The second caution was on lap 43, when Brett Butler (24) spun out and hit the wall in his very first race in the series. In the replay, it was clear that Jamie Dick (55) was the cause, as he tagged him in the rear left corner.

By the mid-race point, Busch and Vickers had each led close to the same amount of laps, without anyone leading a lap. Green Flag pit stops began on lap 110, with Matt Kenseth (18) having the lead when all stops were completed.

On lap 123, Jamie Dick (55) had issues to bring out the third caution. On lap 130, the fourth caution flew for Reed Sorenson (40) having an engine go south on him. During this, Trevor Bayne (6) ended up with some front and rear end damage.

On lap 198, Chad Hackenbracht brought out the fifth caution. The Green-White-Checkered rules, would be once again used for this race to get completed. During the restart on lap 200, Landon Cassill (4) ran out of fuel on the backstretch before the white flag could be shown. They would be forced to try again a second time. To help hurry things up, Mike Wallace (01), a teammate of Cassill pushed his car onto pit lane. 

During the second attempt at a Green-White-Checkered finish, Paul Menard (33) and Parker Kligerman (77) were spun out by Joey Lagono (22) going three wide and spinning them out, again before the white flag could be shown. A final and third attempt to complete the race was needed. 

A “Red Flag” was then thrown to stop all the cars on the track, being a majority of them were very low on fuel. This was a major “FOUL” by NASCAR. This basically gave the victory over by hand, being they stopped the field, instead of allowing them to turn laps under caution like they should have been doing. The only time a red flag is thrown, is when there is such a large amount of debris on track that they need time to clean it up, not help the drivers save fuel.

The final attempt at a Green-White-Checkered finish was then started at lap 210. During the final lap, Elliott Sadler (11) was spun out, then he ran out of fuel to boot. Kasey Kahne (5) also ran out of fuel on the final restart. Kyle Busch (54) was able to beat Brian Vickers (20) back to the line for the victory. If NASCAR would have kept these cars running laps as they should have, many more cars could have ran out of fuel making a much bigger change in the finishing order.

The rest of the top ten were: Austin Dillon (3) who won the extra $100K bonus this week, Brian Scott (2), Michael Annett (43), Trevor Bayne (6), Sam Hornish Jr. (12), Ragan Smith (7), Matt Kenseth (18) and Alex Bowman (99)
.

Next week’s race is at Chicago “STP 300” on ESPN at 3PM EST.

“Camping World RV Sales 301”

LOUDON, NEW HAMPSHIRE- The Sprint Cup Series ran their nineteenth race of the season at the “Magic Mile”. A new Track Record was set by Pole Sitter Brad Keselowski (2) at a speed of 135.922. Kurt Busch (78) started P2 after Jimmie Johnsons (48) time was disallowed after failing an inspection for being too low after his qualifying attempt had him in the position. Johnson would be forced to start in the last position for the race. 

A McDonald’s promotion was run at this week’s race, with a couple receiving $200 per lap that Jamie McMurray completed. As he passed the start/finish line on each lap, that was like passing “GO” on the Monopoly game. If McMurray completes all 301 laps, they would receive $60, 200. 

Also this week, the formal announcement of Kevin Harvick (4) moving over to Stewart-Haas Racing next year in a new number, but with the same “Budweiser” sponsorship. Ryan Newman (39) will be leaving SHR at season’s end. Morgan Shepherd (52) also made history this weekend, being the oldest driver to ever race in the series. He is 71 years young, and in very good condition. This is the final race for TNT as their “Summer Series” comes to a close with the completion at Loudon.

In opening ceremonies, The Boston Police Dept. presented the Nations colors with the first responders and the firefighters. A moment of silence was held for those injured in the Boston Bombings. Pastor Ron Kastens provided the Invocation. Samantha Russo, Miss New Hampshire sang the National Anthem. The Grand Marshall’s were the CEO and other members of the Camping World RV Sales.

On lap 4, Joey Lagono (22) had a tire failure that sent him hard into the outside wall with the driver’s side of his race car. He ended up driving backwards on the track and up pit lane to his pit box. He would end up taking the car to the garage for much needed repairs.

On lap 14, Casey Mears (13), Marcus Ambrose (9), Kevin Harvick (29) and AJ Allmendinger (51) were involved in an incident. Harvick and Ambrose had gotten together to start a spin out. Mears and Allmendinger were simply just caught up in the mess.

By lap 73, green flag stops started. Denny Hamlin (11) received a penalty for a lug nut missing as he left the pits, and Brian Vickers (55) was penalized for equipment out of the pit box.

On lap 79, the third caution came out for debris on the track. Debris would become a issue throughout the race.

On lap 122, Denny Hamlin had a tire go down on his car to bring out a caution.

There were three cautions on lap 156, 202 and 210 all for debris. Only one time did they show the debris, and it was a small piece of rubber, well out of the racing groove.

On lap 219, the eighth caution came out for Danica Patrick (10) spinning out, after AJ Allmendinger tagged her. During this caution, only Tony Stewart (14), the leader stayed on track as the rest of the field made pit stops.

The ninth caution flew on lap 225 for Ryan Newman (39) getting run into and spinning out. Kyle Busch (18) had run into Newman to start the end of Newmans day. Also involved were Kurt Busch (78), Matt Kenseth (20) and Kasey Kahne (5). Kahne had minimal front end damage and Kenseth had minimal rear end damage from the incident. Newman was far from happy, and said he will remember who did this. He called Busch “Not very bright”. His car was done for the day as he hit the wall very hard a couple times.

On lap 237, Danica Patrick (10) got into the back of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (17) and caused Jr. and Travis Kvapil (93) to crash into the outside wall. Patrick claimed she mis-judged her speed entering the corner and tried to brake, sending her sliding sideways into the two race cars ahead of her. She did admit fault in the wreck that took out her current boyfriend. Note: Just a few weeks ago, this was the other way around. Funny, HUH?

The eleventh caution came out on lap 268, when Jeff Gordon (24) was intentionally spun out by Paul Menard (27). The replay showed it was clearly intentional on how Menard took out Gordon in the race.

The final caution came on lap 296 for what I believe was cars out of fuel on track. Bobby Labonte (47) had a great day go bad when he ran out of fuel in the late stages.  Brian Vickers (55) was able to hold off Tony Stewart (14) on the restart to end the race. As Stewart ran out of fuel on the last lap, Kyle Busch took the P2 spot. Stewart would finish on the lead lap, but in twenty-sixth spot.

The rest of the top ten were: Jeff Burton (31), Brad Keselowski (2), Aric Almirola (43), Jimmie Johnson (48), Kevin Harvick (29), Carl Edwards (99), Matt Kenseth (20) and Jeff Gordon (24).

The next race will be at Indianapolis “Brickyard 400” in two weeks, on ESPN.

Independance Day Weekend at Daytona

                                                          “Subway Firecracker 250”




DAYTONA, FLORIDA- The NASCAR Nationwide Series began the second half of their season at the most famous track on the circuit. 100 laps were scheduled for the two and a half mile super speedway. This is a race that is scheduled as close to Independence Day every year. The “Pole Setter” was once again Richard Childress driver Austin Dillon (3). This was his sixth consecutive oval track pole received in seven weeks. The only pole he did not get in the last two months, was at Road America in WI. That was a road course race. Travis Pastrana (60) began the race in second, for the second consecutive week. Both race cars had special paint schemes for the holiday weekend. Red-White-Blue was a common theme for the race. Due to some poor finishes the past couple weeks by points leader Regan Smith (7), the top five are separated by only 20 points now.



In the opening ceremonies, Rev. L Ronald Durham provided the Invocation. LT. Manny Nunez sang the National Anthem. Former racer and Daytona 500 winner (3x) Bobby Allison was the Grand Marshall. The In-Race Reporter was Kurt Busch (1) in a special paint scheme to remember the “Days of Thunder” car of Cole Trickle. This was to also bring peoples thoughts to all our servicemen and women who return from overseas with PTSD (Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder).



The “Dash for Cash” returns at this race, with a $100,000 bonus going to the driver closest to the front at the end of the race. There are four drivers that are competing for this bonus, Brian Vickers (20), Elliott Sadler (11), Kyle Larson (32) and Austin Dillon (3). Whichever driver finishes best, will get the bonus and will be eligible for the bonus at the next Dash for Cash eligible race in New Hampshire.



In other racing news: NASCAR confiscated roof flap spacers from sixteen teams at Daytona. There are penalties expected to be levied this week. NASCAR states that these spacers for the hinge car of the roof flaps were out of tolerance. The teams affected are: Joe Gibbs Racing: Busch, Kenseth and Hamlin. Michael Waltrip teams: Bowyer, Truex Jr., and Michael’s car. Roush racing teams: Biffle, Edwards and Stenhouse Jr. Richard Petty racing teams: Ambrose and Almirola. Penske racing teams: Keselowski and Lagono. Wood Bro’s team: Bayne. Germain racing team: Mears. Earnhardt –Ganassi racing team: McMurray.



The race ran very clean and green for the first half , before the famous “Phantom Debris” caution came out on lap 48. No debris was ever shown to the viewers of the race. The field had separated quite a bit, as the leaders were close to half a lap ahead of many of the top contenders. Joey Lagono (22) and Sam Hornish Jr. (12) were easily the class of the field. The teammates led almost all the laps in the first 48 ran.



The second caution came out on lap 71, when Reed Sorenson (40) had engine troubles on track. Plenty of oil was left on track from his race car, for clean-up to be needed. After the restart, Matt Kenseth (18) was pushing Brian Vickers (20) towards the front, as he clipped his back corner and sent Vickers into the grassy infield. No caution was thrown, as Vickers was able to keep his car going back onto the track. He did fall from the front all the way back to the last car on the lead lap (33rd).



On lap 88, Mike Wallace (01) slowed on track and was not able to get back to pit road, as an electrical issue stopped his car from continuing on in the race.



On lap 96, a mini “Big One” happened with several cars. Travis Pastrana was following teammate Trevor Bayne through the field, and was clipped by Cole Whitt (44). This sent Pastrana across the track, collecting Robert Richardson Jr. (23), Jason White (24), Jeffrey Earnhardt (79), Jamie Dick (55) and Brian Scott (2). Pastrana’s car was completely destroyed. The other cars had plenty of damage, with Scott only having some minor damage to the front of his car.



A “Red Flag” was thrown to clean the track. The red flag was out for just short of ten minutes, before they returned to yellow flag conditions. This resulted in a Green-White-Checkered finish to the race.



Prior to this caution coming out, Lagono and Hornish Jr. had been shuffled out of the lead, after leading 67 laps of the race. Matt Kenseth (18) and James Buescher (34) were able to get away from the field on the restart and Kenseth took the victory.



The rest of the top ten were: Elliott Sadler (11), Kurt Busch (1), Austin Dillon (3), Kyle Larson (32), Sam Hornish Jr. (12), Regan Smith (7), Joey Lagono (22) and Trevor Bayne.



The Dash for Cash will return at New Hampshire, with Sadler, Dillon, Larson and Hornish Jr. racing for the $100K bonus. Sadler won the first round of the Dash for Cash.



The next race is at New Hampshire on Saturday, on ESPN.





                                                               “COKE ZERO 400”



DAYTONA, FLORIDA – The Pole Position was won by Kyle Busch (18) over teammate Matt Kenseth (20). Country Music Artist Sheryl Crow was at the track performing. Shaguille O’Neil, Kevin James and Adam Sandler were the Grand Marshall’s for the race. They were also at the track promoting their upcoming movie “Grown Ups 2”. In the Opening Ceremonies: Pastor Ronnie Barton provided the Invocation, The National Anthem was played by the Navy Ceremonial Band as eight “Warbirds” flew over the speedway.



The first caution came out on lap 24, when Paul Menard (27) had an engine failure on track. Menard was running third when his engine let go. There was a fire under the hood for a short time, and Kurt Busch (78) just barely got passed him as he was dropping down and off the track..



On lap 70, Joey Lagono brought out the second caution, when he slapped the wall hard. On lap 98, Denny Hamlin (11) was turned sideways, and collected Juan Pablo Montoya (42) and Martin Truex Jr. (56). Kyle Busch (18) had minor front end damage, as he tagged Hamlin trying to get around his race car.



Danica Patrick (10) showed she knows exactly what to do in the restrictor plate races, as she was running in second place by lap 107. Patrick ran in the top ten most of the race, just as she did in the season started at Daytona. After recent criticism by former driver Kyle Petty, she showed everyone that she belongs in NASCAR.



On lap 126, another small wreck happened that involved David Stremme (30), Greg Biffle (16), Aric Almirola (43), Marcus Ambrose (9) and AJ Almendinger (51).



During the race, TNT and Sprint had a special contest named “Sprint 60 Unlimited” Viewers could call in and text their favorite race car drivers number as many times as they could in a sixty-second time limit. The winner of this contest would win $10,000 for their favorite charity. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88) won this contest.



On lap 148, a multi-car wreck happened when Denny Hamlin turned sideways in front of his teammate Matt Kenseth (20). This set off a chain reaction with Jeff Gordon (24), AJ Allmendinger (51), Dave Blaney (7) and David Reutimann (83) all getting damaged in one form or another.



A “Red Flag” was thrown on lap 150 to clean up the mess left by the accident. This was the second consecutive week that a red flag was thrown in a race. This was the second day in a row for a red flag to be used at Daytona as well.



On lap 156, Marcus Ambrose slammed side to side, into Kasey Kahne (5), sending Kahne hard into the inside wall and bringing out another caution. The two cars were running in the top three when this happened. It appeared that Ambrose was attempting to split Kahne and Jimmie Johnson (48) when he hit Kahne hard on the right side of his car. This would make the race go into the Green-White-Checkered finish, as there were only a few laps remaining.



During the GWC restart, another wreck began on the backstretch that involved Carl Edwards (99), Casey Mears (13), Marcus Ambrose (9), Joe Nemechek (87), Scott Speed (95), Bobby Labonte (47) and Landon Cassill (33). NASCAR did not throw the caution, as they had already been shown the white flag. The field was allowed to race back to the checkered flag, and before they could get to it, another larger wreck happened as they came to the finish line. Those involved in the second wreck were: Kyle Busch (18), Danica Patrick (10), David Gilliland (38), Jeff Burton (31), Ryan Newman (39), Casey Mears (13), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (17) and Terry Labonte (32).



While there was plenty of mayhem on the final lap, Jimmie Johnson (48) was able to hold off Tony Stewart (14) and Kevin Harvick (29) for the second victory at Dayton this season. Johnson is only the second driver to sweep Daytona, as he won the Daytona 500 earlier this season also. He became only the second driver to do this, since Bobby Allison did it back in 1982.



The rest of the top ten were: Clint Bowyer (15), Michael Waltrip (55), Kurt Busch (78), Jamie McMurray (1), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88), Casey Mears (13) and Ryan Newman (39).



Danica Patrick was scored thirteenth as she slid across the finish line in the multi-car wreck. The second crash started when David Gilliland (38) turned Patrick sideways coming to the flag. The first wreck on the final lap started when Edwards was run up and into the outside wall. Johnson led nearly one hundred laps, of the 162 they ran.



The next race will be at New Hampshire next Sunday on TNT starting at 12:00 PM EST.