NASCAR + more Rac'in
#1
06-03-2009, 05:35 AM
NASCAR + more Rac'in
THE BIG STORY
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 12th in Sunday’s Autism Speaks 400 at Dover – won by Jimmie Johnson -- his first without Tony Eury Jr. as crew chief. Owner Rick Hendrick named Lance McGrew as interim chief. The move followed a 40th-place finish at Charlotte and only one Cup victory since Earnhardt and Eury came to Hendrick Motorsports last season. Eury is to continue with the team in an R&D role. Junior qualified 22d. Johnson recovered from a longish pit stop to pass Tony Stewart with just over two laps to go. Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch completed the top five. Stewart took the Cup lead by 46 points over Jeff Gordon.
Also: NASCAR penalized Robby Gordon’s No. 7 team for a rear axle violation at Charlotte. Gordon was docked 50 driver and 50 owner points. Crew chief Kirk Almquist was fined $50,000 and put on probation. Gordon appealed… Dale Blaney won his first World of Outlaws race since 2001, Friday night, at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park… Jason Meyers won the WoO feature Saturday night at Michigan’s I-96 Speedway.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Coming off his Charlotte win, David Reutimann took the pole Friday at Dover with a 156.794 mph lap. Jeff Gordon wrecked on his run and had to start 42d in a backup Chevrolet. Sunday, Gordon lost time mid-race and finished 26th, two laps down. NASCAR called for a competition yellow after 30 laps to check tire wear, with Reutimann, Juan Pablo Montoya and Reed Sorenson battling for the lead before that. Jimmie Johnson went to the front on lap 49 after a debris yellow and pit stops. Denny Hamlin was running second to Johnson when he hit the wall on lap 232 when a right-front tire went. Mark Martin got around Johnson for one lap. Another debris yellow, on lap 275, saw Matt Kenseth get out of the pits first. Johnson quickly repassed. Paul Menard and Robby Gordon wrecked. There was another debris yellow and then another on lap 364. Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart were among those who only took two new tires, while Johnson went with four on his Chevy, and restarted ninth. David Stremme spun and Reutimann got caught in the wreck. Biffle’s Ford led until Stewart got by with less than 10 laps to go, then Johnson passed him coming to the line with two laps remaining. Johnson won by .861 second over Stewart. He averaged 115.237 mph with 10 yellows for 43 laps.
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Once again, Kyle Busch led the most laps, but didn’t win. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammate Joey Logano got into the back of Busch’s Camry on a restart with two laps to go Saturday, moving Busch up high, and Brad Keselowski took advantage of the bottom-groove opening to take the lead and get his first series victory of the season in the Heluva Good 200 at Dover. Keselowski, driving a Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished .299 second ahead of Logano. Clint Bowyer was third in a Chevy. Busch wound up 17th. Keselowski averaged 93.168 mph with nine yellows for 50 laps. Busch leads Carl Edwards (fifth) by 40 points.
NASCAR Camping World Truck SeriesDelayed
a day by rain, the AAA Insurance 200 at Dover was run Saturday, after the Nationwide series event. Brian Scott, in a Toyota, was the surprise winner as right-front tire issues caused numerous accidents and yellows. With 17 laps to go, both leader Kyle Busch and second-place runner Colin Braun went into the wall after tires went down. Busch came back to place ninth while Braun couldn’t continue. Scott was among a handful of drivers who didn’t pit for tires under this caution. He held off Dennis Setzer’s Chevrolet over the last 10 laps and won by .435 second. David Starr was third in a Toyota. Ron Hornaday Jr. crashed heavily when a tire went flat and series champion Johnny Benson was another to have this problem. Scott averaged 92.819 mph with 10 yellows for 49 laps. Hornaday (26th) leads Mike Skinner (eight) by 27 points.
NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series
Sunday’s O’Reilly Summer Nationals at Topeka, Kansas ended with Larry Dixon, Ron Capps and Allen Johnson in the winner’s circle. In Top Fuel, Dixon powered to a 3.971 second, 301.74 mph victory over Clay Millican’s 4.056, 293.41 mph. Tony Schumacher is 43 points clear of Antron Brown. In Funny Car, Capps’ Dodge Charger went 4.265, 286.07 mph vs. Ashley Force Hood’s 4.495, 238.26 mph in a Ford Mustang. Jack Beckman qualified sixth in the Valvoline/MTS Charger but lost in the semifinals. Capps leads Del Worsham by 119 points. In Pro Stock, Johnson ran 6.726, 204.94 mph in a Dodge Stratus for a holeshot W over Mike Edwards’ 6.718, 205.88 mph in a Pontiac GXP. Ron Krisher qualified sixth in the Valvoline Chevrolet Cobalt but lost in the first round. Jeg Coughlin Jr. has a 73-point margin of Jason Line.
IndyCar Series
Scott Dixon won Sunday’s ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225 at the Milwaukee Mile. He passed poleman Ryan Briscoe with 25 laps to go and won by 2.1 seconds. Dario Franchitti was third. Helio Castroneves started last after a qualifying-lap crash and finished 11th. Dixon averaged 138.784 mph with two yellows for 22 laps. Tony Kanaan led early but went out with mechanical problems. Paul Tracy subbed in Foyt’s No. 14 Honda for injured Vitor Meira and was 17th. Dixon tops Briscoe and Franchitti by four points.
Racer of the Week
Brian Scott. First-time Truck series winner in his 39th start.
Yes, He REALLY Said
ThatPaul Tracy, on negotiating with A.J. Foyt to drive at Milwaukee. "I was on the phone with A.J., and I had a tire blow out on my motorhome. I was trying to listen to A.J., and I was hanging onto my motorhome, trying to keep out of the ditch. I had a lot of stuff going on all at once. I had to cut A.J. off, and I never really got a chance to talk to him again, 'cause we got hung up on the side of the road for about five hours."
Valvoline Winners Last Weekend
Larry Dixon, NHRA Top Fuel class, Topeka. Ron Capps, NHRA Funny Car class, Topeka.
This WeekendNASCAR
heads to Pocono for Sunday’s Cup 500. The Nationwide series goes Saturday at Nashville. Trucks go Friday night in Texas before Saturday night’s IRL run. NHRA travels Route 66. Formula One visits Turkey. Grand-Am is at Watkins Glen
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 12th in Sunday’s Autism Speaks 400 at Dover – won by Jimmie Johnson -- his first without Tony Eury Jr. as crew chief. Owner Rick Hendrick named Lance McGrew as interim chief. The move followed a 40th-place finish at Charlotte and only one Cup victory since Earnhardt and Eury came to Hendrick Motorsports last season. Eury is to continue with the team in an R&D role. Junior qualified 22d. Johnson recovered from a longish pit stop to pass Tony Stewart with just over two laps to go. Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch completed the top five. Stewart took the Cup lead by 46 points over Jeff Gordon.
Also: NASCAR penalized Robby Gordon’s No. 7 team for a rear axle violation at Charlotte. Gordon was docked 50 driver and 50 owner points. Crew chief Kirk Almquist was fined $50,000 and put on probation. Gordon appealed… Dale Blaney won his first World of Outlaws race since 2001, Friday night, at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park… Jason Meyers won the WoO feature Saturday night at Michigan’s I-96 Speedway.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Coming off his Charlotte win, David Reutimann took the pole Friday at Dover with a 156.794 mph lap. Jeff Gordon wrecked on his run and had to start 42d in a backup Chevrolet. Sunday, Gordon lost time mid-race and finished 26th, two laps down. NASCAR called for a competition yellow after 30 laps to check tire wear, with Reutimann, Juan Pablo Montoya and Reed Sorenson battling for the lead before that. Jimmie Johnson went to the front on lap 49 after a debris yellow and pit stops. Denny Hamlin was running second to Johnson when he hit the wall on lap 232 when a right-front tire went. Mark Martin got around Johnson for one lap. Another debris yellow, on lap 275, saw Matt Kenseth get out of the pits first. Johnson quickly repassed. Paul Menard and Robby Gordon wrecked. There was another debris yellow and then another on lap 364. Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart were among those who only took two new tires, while Johnson went with four on his Chevy, and restarted ninth. David Stremme spun and Reutimann got caught in the wreck. Biffle’s Ford led until Stewart got by with less than 10 laps to go, then Johnson passed him coming to the line with two laps remaining. Johnson won by .861 second over Stewart. He averaged 115.237 mph with 10 yellows for 43 laps.
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Once again, Kyle Busch led the most laps, but didn’t win. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammate Joey Logano got into the back of Busch’s Camry on a restart with two laps to go Saturday, moving Busch up high, and Brad Keselowski took advantage of the bottom-groove opening to take the lead and get his first series victory of the season in the Heluva Good 200 at Dover. Keselowski, driving a Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished .299 second ahead of Logano. Clint Bowyer was third in a Chevy. Busch wound up 17th. Keselowski averaged 93.168 mph with nine yellows for 50 laps. Busch leads Carl Edwards (fifth) by 40 points.
NASCAR Camping World Truck SeriesDelayed
a day by rain, the AAA Insurance 200 at Dover was run Saturday, after the Nationwide series event. Brian Scott, in a Toyota, was the surprise winner as right-front tire issues caused numerous accidents and yellows. With 17 laps to go, both leader Kyle Busch and second-place runner Colin Braun went into the wall after tires went down. Busch came back to place ninth while Braun couldn’t continue. Scott was among a handful of drivers who didn’t pit for tires under this caution. He held off Dennis Setzer’s Chevrolet over the last 10 laps and won by .435 second. David Starr was third in a Toyota. Ron Hornaday Jr. crashed heavily when a tire went flat and series champion Johnny Benson was another to have this problem. Scott averaged 92.819 mph with 10 yellows for 49 laps. Hornaday (26th) leads Mike Skinner (eight) by 27 points.
NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series
Sunday’s O’Reilly Summer Nationals at Topeka, Kansas ended with Larry Dixon, Ron Capps and Allen Johnson in the winner’s circle. In Top Fuel, Dixon powered to a 3.971 second, 301.74 mph victory over Clay Millican’s 4.056, 293.41 mph. Tony Schumacher is 43 points clear of Antron Brown. In Funny Car, Capps’ Dodge Charger went 4.265, 286.07 mph vs. Ashley Force Hood’s 4.495, 238.26 mph in a Ford Mustang. Jack Beckman qualified sixth in the Valvoline/MTS Charger but lost in the semifinals. Capps leads Del Worsham by 119 points. In Pro Stock, Johnson ran 6.726, 204.94 mph in a Dodge Stratus for a holeshot W over Mike Edwards’ 6.718, 205.88 mph in a Pontiac GXP. Ron Krisher qualified sixth in the Valvoline Chevrolet Cobalt but lost in the first round. Jeg Coughlin Jr. has a 73-point margin of Jason Line.
IndyCar Series
Scott Dixon won Sunday’s ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225 at the Milwaukee Mile. He passed poleman Ryan Briscoe with 25 laps to go and won by 2.1 seconds. Dario Franchitti was third. Helio Castroneves started last after a qualifying-lap crash and finished 11th. Dixon averaged 138.784 mph with two yellows for 22 laps. Tony Kanaan led early but went out with mechanical problems. Paul Tracy subbed in Foyt’s No. 14 Honda for injured Vitor Meira and was 17th. Dixon tops Briscoe and Franchitti by four points.
Racer of the Week
Brian Scott. First-time Truck series winner in his 39th start.
Yes, He REALLY Said
ThatPaul Tracy, on negotiating with A.J. Foyt to drive at Milwaukee. "I was on the phone with A.J., and I had a tire blow out on my motorhome. I was trying to listen to A.J., and I was hanging onto my motorhome, trying to keep out of the ditch. I had a lot of stuff going on all at once. I had to cut A.J. off, and I never really got a chance to talk to him again, 'cause we got hung up on the side of the road for about five hours."
Valvoline Winners Last Weekend
Larry Dixon, NHRA Top Fuel class, Topeka. Ron Capps, NHRA Funny Car class, Topeka.
This WeekendNASCAR
heads to Pocono for Sunday’s Cup 500. The Nationwide series goes Saturday at Nashville. Trucks go Friday night in Texas before Saturday night’s IRL run. NHRA travels Route 66. Formula One visits Turkey. Grand-Am is at Watkins Glen
Last edited by Space; 06-03-2009 at 05:40 AM.
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