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Watching NASCAR this Weekend: Coke Zero 400

July 6, 2012 by

Driving a second car does not keep Brad Keselowski in second place. Despite destroying his primary car in a practice round last week in Kentucky and yet he managed to drive the backup to victory, something that you very rarely see.

Not only did he win but he led the last 55 laps but he did it with a limited gas supply in earning his third victory of the season. Kyle Busch looked very strong early but a bump into the wall and the resulting damage ruined any chance he had of a win. The top five for the week was filled out by Kasey Kahne in second followed by Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon.

Next up- Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola
This week the teams are back at a place they are very familiar with, Daytona for the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola. Not much that can be sad about the track that fans do not already know. It is a 2.5 mile tri-oval and if my math is correct this race marks the half way point in the season. The leader board is very tight and we will probably expand it to the top ten next week.

I did catch an interesting piece over at ESPN about a proposal to include mandatory cautions in races to add excitement. Burton Smith, a billionaire track promoter said that the inclusion would make the races more exciting, something that he believes long stretches of green flag racing is not. NASCRA official seem very cold to the idea, at least right now.

Twitter– Instead of pointing to a number of Twitter addresses as we have in the past it seems to make much more sense just to send you to a site that appears to have consolidated a who’s who of racing twitter addresses instead. So head over here for a list.

Broadcast
July 7 6:30 ET TNT

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Matt Kenseth
2) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -11
3) Jimmie Johnson -23
4) Greg Biffle –25
5) Denny Hamlin -68

Nationwide Series
The Nationwide race last week was an up and down day for Austin Dillon. He was absolutely dominating in the race, winning his first Nationwide Series race by leading it for 192 out of 200 laps. The win enabled him to take over the leader board from Elliott Sadler, at least for a very short while.

A look below at the point’s leader shows that Dillon fell out of the points lead. The reason for this was a six point penalty because his car failed an inspection following the race last week for having a car that was too low. The top five of the race was filled out by Kurt Busch in second with Kevin Harvick, Michael Annett and Justin Allgaier filling out the remaining positions.

This Week: Subway Jalapeno 250 powered by Coca-Cola

Broadcast
July 6, 7 pm ET ESPN

Nationwide Series Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Austin Dillon -4
3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -31
5) Justin Allgaier -71

Filed Under: Athlete to Follow, Dale Earnhardt Jr., ESPN, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Sam Hornish Jr. Tagged With: ,

Watching NASCAR this Week: The Quaker State 400

June 29, 2012 by

Clint Bowyer dominated the Sonoma racetrack at last weekend’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 in Sonoma yet still had to withstand a strong performance from Kurt Busch to earn the green flag. He led 71 of the 119 laps in a race that witnessed few cautions and 8 lead changes and which had an average speed of 86 mph, or as a friend said, lap car speeds.

It was a near thing for Bowyer as he ran out of gas at the end of the race and had to walk to victory lane. Busch, in an unsponsored car fell back at the end and the top 5 was filled out with Tony Stewart finishing second followed by Busch, Brian Vickers and Jimmie Johnson.

Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway.
Next up is the Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway. The track is a 1.5 mile tri-oval and will be the site of a great deal of speculation as to Matt Kenseth’s future. At the end of the season his contract with Roush Fenway Racing expires and will not be renewed. He is slated to be replaced on the team by Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

So far this season Kenseth has one victory and eight top five finishes and is the leading point’s leader. ESPN is reporting that now Kenseth is claiming that he has a deal for 2013 but is declining to say where. Let the second guessing begin-or is it still at first guessing level?

Twitter- Instead of pointing to a number of Twitter addresses as we have in the past it seems to make much more sense just to send you to a site that appears to have consolidated a who’s who of racing twitter addresses instead. So head over here for a list.

Broadcast
June 30 at 6:30 pm ET on TNT

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Matt Kenseth
2) Greg Biffle -11
3) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -14
4) Jimmie Johnson -25
5) Tony Stewart -63

Nationwide’s Road America race last week was won by Nelson Piquet Jr., a race that I missed because ESPN decided to broadcast it like something the late LeRoy Neiman would have painted (my cable company is having trouble with some ESPN broadcasts).

Piquet ran a solid race but at least some of the news has to do with Jacques Villenueve how was dominating for a time and racing for a top finish still on the last lap. Then on the last lap to go he was pushed into the grass and came back on the track and collided with Danica Patick, spinning her out from the 5th place position she was in-she eventually finished 12th. The top five was filled out by Michael McDowell in second, then Ron Fellows, Max Papis and Sam Hornish Jr.

Feed the Children 300 at Kentucky Speedway

Broadcast
June 29 7 pm ET ESPN 2

Nationwide Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Austin Dillion -11
3) Rickey Stenhouse Jr. -23
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -34
5) Cole Whitt -75

Filed Under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, ESPN, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Sam Hornish Jr., Sprint Cup Series, TNT, Tony Stewart Tagged With: ,

NASCAR takes on the Road at Sonoma Raceway

June 22, 2012 by

Dale Earnhardt Jr. must be feeling lighter a foot these days as a 143 race losing streak monkey just leaped off his back with his victory last week at the Quicken Loans 400 held at the Michigan International Speedway.

The victory for the driver, who is having a great season, could help him break another streak that he would love to see gone, that of never having won a championship. In the top ten in points all season he is now just a mere 4 points behind Sprint Cup leader Matt Kenseth. The top five was filled out by Tony Stewart in second followed by Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Jimmy Johnson.

Toyota/Save Mart 350
This week’s race is a horse of a different color, as it is a road race at Sonoma, a good deal slower and much harder to pass. The 1.99 mile track, once as long as 2.52 miles, is situated at the gateway to the Napa and Sonoma wine country so if you are heading out you might want to make a weekend of it.

Road races are not to everybody’s taste. No high curves, the banging and bumping that characterize so many other races is missing. I think that they make a nice change of pace, but do not see a need to add another, not that I am aware of any push to do so.

Broadcast
June 24, 2 pm ET on TNT

Instead of pointing to a number of Twitter addresses as we have in the past it seems to make much more sense just to send you to a site that appears to have consolidated a who’s who of racing twitter addresses instead. So head over here for a huge list.

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Matt Kenseth
2) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -4
3) Greg Biffle -17
4) Jimmie Johnson -33
5) Denny Hamlin –51

The Nationwide race last week witnessed Joey Logano winning for the second win in a row by leading the last 24 laps but was forced to hold off a hard charging James Buescher to win his fifth race of the year.

Some of the top racers in the Nationwide series did not have great races including points leader Elliott Sadler finishing 11th. Danica Patrick had a very interesting race, there were seven cautions and she was involved in three of them. She did manage to finish in 18th. The top five last week was filled out by Buescher finishing second followed by Kurt Busch, Cole Whitt and Austin Dillon.

Sargento 200
This week the teams are headed to Road America for the Sargento 200, far away from the wine country where the Sprint Cup is running and instead out where the cheeseheads live in Wisconsin. This is also a much longer course that the one in Sonoma, with a 4.04 circuit and 14 turns.

Broadcast
June 23 3 pm ET ESPN

Nationwide Series Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Austin Dillon -8
3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -27
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -45
5) Cole Whitt -81

Filed Under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Stewart Tagged With:

NASCAR Faces Fast Track at Quicken Loans 400 Race

June 15, 2012 by

I turn on a race a little bit late and what do you know, half a dozen cars are already out and a number are laps down already — that’ll teach me to watch the clock better. The Pocono 400 presented by #NASCAR had some bumping at the start and some at the end.

Joey Logano ended the race by giving Mark Martin a bit of a love tap that enabled him to win a race that he started from the pole position, and action that seems to be increasingly rare in NASCAR these days and which had not yet been accomplished this season until last week.

By pushing past Martin with just three laps to go Logano managed to secure his first win of the season and left Martin with the second spot. The crowd was filled out by Tony Stewart in third, Jimmie Johnson in fourth and the fifth spot was taken by Denny Hamlin.

Quicken Loans 400
This week the teams head to Michigan International Speedway for the Quicken Loans 400 up in the Irish Hills. This will be a very interesting race due to the new surface on the track. Speeds are very high, according to ESPN, and some drivers have spoken out about safety concerns. I seem to recall a few years ago another track that had been resurfaced suffered from peeling during a race, but I could be mistaken.

Broadcast
June 17, 12 pm ET on TNT

Twitter Feeds
#NASCAR- the new NASCAR curated site
@NASCAR-Official NASCAR feed
@NationwideNNS-Nationwide Official Twitter
@NASCAR_NNS-NASCAR Nationwide feed
@Poconoraceway-Pocono Raceway
@PRNLive-Performance Racing Network
@EdHintonESPN-ESPN Columnist Ed Hinton
@nascarnowespn-ESPN2 NASCAR
@siriusxmnascar- Sirius XM:
@SPEED-Speed
@Nascar_TNT-TNT’s feed

The leader board remains tight, with a bit of shuffling from last week’s standings, with leader Biffle dropping to third, but still only 16 points out from the lead.

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Matt Kenseth
2) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -10
3) Greg Biffle -16
4) Denny Hamlin -19
5) Jimmie Johnson -20

Nationwide Series
The Alliance Truck Parts 250

Broadcast
June 16 3:30 pm ET ABC

Last week was an off week so no changes since the Dover race on June 2. The Alliance Truck Parts 250 will be the race of choice for those rooting on the Nationwide crews, and the Sprint crews that often race side by side at the events.

Nationwide Standings
1) Elliot Sadler
2) Rickey Stenhouse Jr. -12
3) Austin Dillon -14
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -50
5) Justin Allgater –78

Filed Under: ABC, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle, Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR, Sam Hornish Jr., TNT, Tony Stewart Tagged With: ,

Race Day in Dover as NASCAR Readies for FedEx 400

June 1, 2012 by

Some very interesting 3-peats last week. I guess technically they were not actual 3-peats but so what? In the Coca-Cola 600 Kasey Kahne won for the third time and it is clear that he really likes this race since on the tour he has only won 13 times. The list of other 3 time winners shows that he is in an impressive group with luminaries such as Dale Earnhardt, David Pearson and Buddy Baker among the six others that have accomplished the feat.

The race was a great day overall for Hendrick Motorsports, which aside from Kahne had an additional 3 cars in the top 11. Filing out the top five was Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle and Brad Keselowski.
http://www.doverspeedway.com/

This Week
The FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks will be run at the Dover International Speedway’s monster mile, touted as the world’s fastest one mile oval. Good news for fans that have visited the track’s web site, they now have a mobile app that seems to be speedier than the regular one.

Broadcast
June 3 12:30 pm ET on Fox

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Greg Biffle
2) Matt Kenseth -10
3) Denny Hamlin -16
4) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -18
5) Jimmie Johnson -48

Twitter Feeds
@NASCAR-Official NASCAR feed
@NationwideNNS-Nationwide Official Twitter
@NASCAR_NNS-NASCAR Nationwide feed
@NASCARONFOX-Fox Sports feed
@AllWaltrip-3 Time NASCAR Champ and Fox announcer
@PRNLive-Performance Racing Network
@EdHintonESPN-ESPN Columnist Ed Hinton
@nascarnowespn-ESPN2 NASCAR
@siriusxmnascar- Sirius XM:
@SPEED-Speed

Nationwide Series
Brad Keselowski skated to a nice win last week in Charlotte, leading the last 67 laps and praying that the gas he got when he fueled up with 73 laps to go would last-it did, making his caution lap decision not to pit pay off.
The top five was filled out by Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler. Point’s leader Ricky Stenhouse had mechanical issues and finished 26th while one other widely watched driver, Dancia Patrick disappointed by starting 3rd but finishing 13th.

The 5-Hour Energy 200 is this weekend and they will be racing in just a little over 24 hours of posting this. It should be a fun race as speeds will be high and drivers should be raring to go on this interesting track.

Broadcast
June 2, 2 pm ET ESPN & WatchESPN

Nationwide Standings
1) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2) Elliott Sadler -13
3) Austin Dillon -28
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -57
5) Cole Whitt -94
5) Justin Allgaier -94

Indy 500
Congratulations to Dario Franchitti who won his third Indianapolis 500 in a very intense last lap battle with Takuma Sato, who ended up hitting the wall in a tremendous crash after their tires made contact with each other.

Filed Under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, Dover International Speedway, ESPN, Fox Sports, Greg Biffle, Indy 500, Kurt Busch, Live sports via mobile, NASCAR, Sam Hornish Jr. Tagged With: , ,

Big Weekend for Racing Fans: Coca-Cola 600 and Indy 500

May 25, 2012 by

The two will make for a great week of viewing for fans. With Indy moving its starting time back to noon it once again gives drivers that want to the opportunity to race in both events, all it needs is a helicopter ride in between. I am too lazy to look at this moment but I believe that only one driver has ever finished both races in the same day.

Last week there was the All Star Sprint Cup event. I did not see these races due to other obligations but according to ESPN’s report I did not missed that much as drivers figured out how to game the system. Jimmie Johnson won the $1 million event but complains of sandbagging seem to have arisen. I suspect we will see the rules tweaked a bit next year to try and stop this from occurring once again.

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Greg Biffle
2) Matt Kenseth -2
3) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -14
4)Denny Hamlin -17
5) Jimmy Johnson -39

Twitter Feeds
@NASCAR-Official NASCAR feed
@NationwideNNS-Nationwide Official Twitter
@NASCAR_NNS-NASCAR Nationwide feed
@NASCARONFOX-Fox Sports feed
@AllWaltrip-3 Time NASCAR Champ and Fox announcer
@PRNLive-Performance Racing Network
@EdHintonESPN-ESPN Columnist Ed Hinton
@nascarnowespn-ESPN2 NASCAR
@siriusxmnascar- Sirius XM:
@SPEED-Speed
@NASCAR_TNT-NASCAR on TNT

The Coca-Cola 600

Broadcast
May 27 at 5:30 PM ET on Fox
The race will be held at Charlotte Motor Speedway and is the longest race of the season for the drivers, and that is not counting and any additional delays from cautions could drag out the telecast. It looks like the race will be run under hot and humid conditions, although there is also a chance of isolated thunderstorms as well.

With Jimmie Johnson so hot lately he has to be considered the favorite in this race, his having gone two for two over the past two weeks. No asterisk need be applied to last week because I am sure no driver hits the gas in an effort not to take home the prize. However the length of a race also has to impact the chances that some unforeseen mishap can ruin a driver’s day.

Nationwide Series
The Nationwide Series also returns, with the running of the History 300. Somehow I missed the fact that they were running in Iowa last week- sorry. I just looked to see what other race was occurring in Charlotte. O well it happens.

It looks as if Rickey Stenhouse Jr. did not miss me, dominating the race by leading 209 of the 250 laps and winning the checkered flag He apparently likes the track with three wins here in the last year. The win was good for extending his lead in the series. The top five was filled out by Elliott Sadler coming in second followed by Michael McDowell, Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch. For those of you still enthralled by Danica Patrick, she did not finish for the second time this year.

Nationwide Series Standings
1) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2) Elliott Sadler -34
3) Austin Dillon -43
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -74
5) Cole Whitt -92

History 300
Broadcast
May 26 2:30 ET on ABC

The Indy 500
Broadcast
May 27 12:00 PM ET ABC
The Indy 500 is also this weekend and fans in the infield should be prepared for some hot racing, and hot weather. There are expectations that the race may set a heat record, beating the 92 set in 1937 if it hits the estimated 94 on Sunday.

With qualifying over the top row will feature Ryan Brisco alongside James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay leading off the 33 car field. It looks like it was a pretty busy week for the drivers and fans.

Filed Under: ABC, Athlete to Follow, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, Fox Sports, Greg Biffle, Indy 500, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Sam Hornish Jr. Tagged With: ,
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