“US CELLULAR 250”
NEWTON, IOWA- The Nationwide Series came to the
Midwest for this week’s race. The .88 mile track was the site for a 250 lap
race. The Pole Sitter was Drew Herring (54), with Regan Smith (7) starting P2.
On lap 55, Drew Herring spun out by himself to bring
out the first caution. During the pit stops, Brad Keselowski (22) was penalized
for a tire leaving his pit box. He was forced to restart back in the thirties.
On lap 141, the second caution flew. It was near
this time in the race that Keselowski began having engine overheating issues.
He made a green flag stop, that dropped him back in the field a second time.
The third caution flew on lap 200, when Travis
Pastrana’s (60) night got worse, as a tire failure sent him into the outside
wall. His car received damage on both the front and rear end. As this caution
came out, Austin Dillon (3) had a seven second lead wiped out. He had been the
dominant car for the weekend, and led 116 out of the first 200 laps. During
this round of pit stops, Dillon would take four tires, while a handful of cars
only took two tires. Dillon would restart in fifth position. There were fifteen
cars left on the lead lap.
On lap 222, the fourth and final caution came out
for Richard Harriman (23) spinning out on track.
Brad Keselowski (22) was the only cup driver in this
race, and he was able to out race his teammate Sam Hornish Jr. (12) for a
one-two finish for Penske Racing.
The rest of the top ten were: Brian Vickers (20),
Austin Dillon (3), Kyle Larson (32), Drew Herring (54), Alex Bowman (99),
Elliott Sadler (11), Ryan Gifford (33) (very first nationwide race) and Trevor
Bayne (6).
Dillon is the current point’s leader after extending
his lead from six to fourteen points after this race.
The next race will be at Walkins Glen in NY, next
Saturday on ABC at 2 PM EST.
“TRICKY TRIANGLE OF POCONO”
LONG POND, PA- The twenty-first race of the season
brought the cup drivers to the “Tricky Triangle”. A 160 lap, 400 mile race was
scheduled for the two and a half mile track. Jimmie Johnson (48) was able to
take the pole, in his “Planes” paint scheme. Kyle Busch (18) also sported a
special paint scheme for the race and started P2. This was Jeff Gordon’s 42nd
birthday and his 42nd race at Pocono. He would start the race P22.
The final practice was rained out, so many drivers had less than ten laps of
practice with their cars before the race. A “Competition Caution” was scheduled
for lap twenty.
In Opening Ceremonies, Monty Self provided the
Invocation. Eric Lee sang the National Anthem and Dane Cook was the Grand
Marshall. He is one of the voices on the upcoming movie “Planes”.
The first caution took no time to get to, as Juan
Montoya (42) slid up and into the side of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (17). This sent
the two of them crashing into the outside wall in turn one of the first lap.
Matt Kenseth (20) was also caught up in the incident.
On lap twelve, Jamie McMurray (1) had to make a
green flag stop, for debris covering his grill. The debris was red tape off his
teammates car, after he was involved in the wreck.
On lap 15, a second caution came out for Denny
Hamlin (11) crashing into turn 3 wall. NASCAR then cancelled the “Competition
Caution” for lap twenty.
During the next run, many cars made green flag pit
stops. Carl Edwards (99), Matt Kenseth (20) and Tony Stewart (14) all received
drive thru penalties for speeding on pit road.
On lap 53, the third caution flew for David
Gilliland (38) hitting the wall and starting on fire.
On lap 77, Jimmie Johnson (48) had a tire fail,
sending him into the outside wall. He was the leader at the time of his crash,
and he had led 43 of the 77 laps run.
The fifth caution came out on lap 95, when David
Stremme (30) had a tire failure send him into the wall.
On lap 102, the sixth caution flew for Aric Almirola
(43) blowing out a rear tire and spinning out on track. Timmy Hill (32) also
spun out trying to avoid Almirola’s sliding car.
Caution number seven came out on lap 110, when
Danica Patrick (10) and Travis Kvapil (93) began to slide out of control
through the corner. Paul Menard (27) and Jeff Burton (31) both were caught up
in the wreck also. Patrick and Burtons cars were beyond repair. Menard had
serious damage as well. When the cars went into the corners side by side, very
close together, the air would cause the car lower on the track to get lose.
This caused a couple issues in the race.
On lap 148, a debris caution came out for a chunk of
rubber on the track. Kasey Kahne (5) had a seven second lead when this caution
came out. Hendrick drivers had the top three spots at this point, with Johnson
sitting just outside the top ten after having a hard hit earlier in the race.
The ninth and final caution flew on lap 156, when
Matt Kenseth (20) spun out alone on track.
On the restart with two laps remaining, Jeff Gordon
(24) was the leader. A Birthday Victory was in his sight. Gordon got a great
start, and with a big push from Kurt Busch (78), Kahne was able to pass Gordon
going into the tunnel turn and run to the end for his second victory of the
season.
The rest of the top ten were: Kurt Busch (78), Ryan
Newman (39), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88), Brad Keselowski (2), Joey Lagono (22),
Kyle Busch (18), Tony Stewart (14) and Greg Biffle (16).
The next race will be at Walkins Glen on Sunday at
Noon EST on ESPN.
