“ZIPPO 200”
It took very little time to get the first caution in the race. Kyle Busch (54) lost control and spun out on the first lap, in turn one. Before he could get going again, Mike Wallace (01) crashed into his front end, damaging both cars heavily. Busch had also tagged the rear of the race leader Hornish Jr. (12) before spinning out.
On lap 17, Kenny Habul (75) stalled on the track, having no power to continue racing. Three cars stayed on track, as the rest of the field took advantage of the caution by making pit stops. Parker Kligerman (77), Ranger (53) and Kasey Kahne (5) all rolled the dice and stayed on track.
On lap 24, the third caution came out for another car that had no power on track. Joey Gase (52) was pushed back to pit road. Just before the caution came out for this driver, Trevor Bayne (6) spun out in turn seven.
On lap 42, the fourth caution flew for the third car of the race to have no power on track. Kyle Larson (32) also needed a push to get back to pit road.
The fifth caution came out on lap 57, for debris. A small piece of metal just outside of the running lane was seen. With twenty laps remaining, Penske Racing was in the top three spots.
On lap 80, with just two laps to go, Joey Lagono (48) ran out of fuel. He and crew chief were trying to roll the dice and make it to the checkered flag without making the final stop everyone else made.
Brad Keselowski (22) was able to win his fourth race in four attempts in the Nationwide Series. He beat his teammate Sam Hornish Jr. (12) for this win.
The rest of the top ten were: Brian Vickers (20), Regan Smith (7), Elliott Sadler (11), Parker Kligerman (77), Justin Allgaier (31), Cole Whitt (44), Nelson Piquet Jr. (30) and Trevor Bayne (6).
The next race will be Saturday at 2PM EST on ESPN, for the Inaugural race at Mid-Ohio road course.
“CHEEZ-IT 355”
In other news this week, Tony Stewart (14) was in an accident that broke two bones in his leg. He was racing in the Sprint Series on Monday night, when his car rolled a few times and he was injured. He needed two surgeries this week to set his leg. He could be out at least 6 weeks, and if there are any issues with his treatment, he could be out the rest of this season. Max Papis will drive at the Glen for Stewart.
In Opening ceremonies, Rev. David Fife provided the Invocation. Angie Johnson sang the National Anthem, as a Douglas C-47 flew over the track. Brad Davidson, Darcey Macken and Angie Johnson were the Grand Marshalls. The In-Race Reporter was Marcus Ambrose. Ambrose was attempting to repeat as the winner of this race for the third consecutive year. Starting on the Pole was a great start for that attempt.
The first caution came out on lap 5, when David Reutimann (83) had his engine fail after he missed his shifting marks. He apologized to his team.
On lap 13, David Gilliland (38) tagged the wall and went to the pits, and Brad Keselowski (2) spun out and lost several spots.
On lap 14, Jeff Gordon (24) crashed hard coming out of the S’s. This was a driver error as well, causing the crash.
The third caution flew on lap 35, when Michael McDowell (35) blew a tire on track.
On lap 40, the fourth caution came out for Travis Kvapil (93) and Ron Fellows (33) wrecked with one another. In a second incident Tommy Dressi (36) and Victor Gonzalez Jr. (87) wrecked with each other.
A “Red Flag” was then thrown on lap 41, to clean up the track. After twenty plus minutes, the yellow was brought back out. Upon the drivers getting going again, Max Papis (14) was spun out by Greg Biffle (16) on lap 43.
The fifth caution came out on lap 60, when Aric Almirola (43) crashed hard into the tire wall. Kyle Busch (18) was on pit road when this caution came out. Again NASCAR gave him the lead position after everyone made stops. In the past, if you were on pit road when a caution came out, you were automatically put one lap down. For some reason, NASCAR has given Kyle Busch the lead after he was on pit road when a caution flew, twice this season. The leader of the race was then forced to restart in fourteenth position after dominating the first 51 of 60 laps.
On lap 78, Travis Kvapil (93) brought out another caution for a tire failure.
On lap 80, a multiple car wreck happened after Matt Kenseth (20) got into Marcus Ambrose (9). Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88) commented over his radio just prior to the wreck, that he felt Kenseth was attempting to take out Ambrose. Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne (5), David Ragan (34), David Blaney (7) and Jeff Burton (31) were all involved in the wreck.
The eighth caution flew on lap 84, when Max Papis (14) spun out Marcus Ambrose (9). Brian Vickers (55) was also caught up in the wreck. NASCAR did not “Red Flag” the race for either of the last two cautions, allowing all the final laps to count down. The final restart came with just two laps remaining.
Kyle Busch (18) was basically handed this victory over Brad Keselowski (2). The most dominant car left the track on a tow truck, due to NASCAR putting him back in the field after a caution that flew while he was the leader of the race. This I do not understand, because the leader had traveled much further on track when the caution came out, yet he lost several spots after he pitted, because the cars on pit road when the caution came out, were all put ahead of him. The cars that stayed on track had raced longer, so they should not have lost their positions. I feel NASCAR is really messing this up, by giving them a benefit for getting caught on pit road when the caution flag flies. For this Race Fan, this disgusts me.
The rest of the top ten were: Martin Truex Jr. (56), Carl Edwards (99), Juan Montoya (42), Clint Bowyer (15), Joey Lagono (22), Jimmie Johnson (48), Kurt Busch (78) and AJ Almandinger (47).
The next race is Sunday at Michigan on ESPN at 12 EST. The “Pure Michigan 400”
