Race Review: Coke Zero 400

Welcome race fans, to the eighteenth race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Rain washed out qualifying on Friday. So they line up according to the rule book, by owner points. 14 Tony Stewart and 24 Jeff Gordon share the front row. Max Papis and Mike Wallace were sent home as a result. 00 David Reutimann, 16 Greg Biffle and 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. will start the race from the rear with changes to their cars.

So here we go! 2 Kurt Busch leads the first lap, barely ahead with the field double-file. 14 Stewart takes the lead when his line moves ahead. 11 Denny Hamlin takes the lead. The first caution comes out when 5 Mark Martin goes up into 17 Matt Kenseth, who is already there, and spins into the inside wall. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya grazes Mark as he spins by. In the pits, 2 runs over his hose and has to back up to complete the stop. 14 with his pit box just feet away from the line out of the pits, comes out first. He chooses to restart on the inside. 39 Ryan Newman has a long pit, behind 2.

The second caution comes out for 07 Casey Mears spinning. 12 David Stremme came down into 07 and he backs it into the wall. Where 5  hit the wall. After the double-file restart, 11 takes the lead. 42 has a tire issue and gets lapped. 11 is on the bottom by himself. 18 Kyle Busch pushes 14 into the lead. 17  pits from third place. And the third caution comes out for debris from 77 after his tire blows. Matt stays on the lead lap and leads when everyone else pits. In the pits 12 runs into the tire carrier of 99 Carl Edwards, knocking the tire out of his hands. 42 is black flagged for something hanging on the car. He has to pit to take it off as they are set to restart.

18 pushes 11 into the lead, leaving 17 on the inside with no help. 00 pushes 9 Kasey Kahne. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. gets by 00 for thirteenth. The fourth caution is a big one. 9 pushes 12 and 12 spins into everyone else. Amoung those involved are: 09 Brad Keselowski, 24, 29 Kevin Harvick, 33 Clint Bowyer, 39, 43 Reed Sorenson, 71 David Gilliland, 83 Brian Vickers and 88. Thirteen cars were involved. 34 John Andretti stays out to lead a lap and then pits.

14 comes out of the pits first again. 11 takes the lead. 00 gets into the wall and the fifth caution comes out for debris. 48 Jimmy Johnson has a long pit. 7 Robby Gordon stays out to lead a lap and then pits. 14 comes out of the pits first again to lead. 11 is by himself and falls from second to seventh. 2 and 99 get by 20 Joey Logano. 11 gets by 2. 18 is blocking. (He likes to be “three-wide all by himself”.)

The sixth caution comes out when 2 and 6 David Ragan get together and 6 spins. 83, involved in the previous caution gets his lap back. 14 comes out of the pits again in the lead. 99 takes the lead. 14 tucks in front of 18. 31 Jeff Burton takes the lead. 14 takes the lead when 31 has a tire going down, after contact with 42. 11, 18, 11 and 48 run away from the pack.

The seventh caution comes out with fifteen laps to go. 11 pushes 14 into the lead past 18. 48 goes low and 18 puls in front of 48. 82 Scott Speed and 44 AJ Allmendinger get together and bring out the eighth caution when 44 had to check up to avoid 78 Regan Smith. 39 Ryan Newman gets his lap back.

When they get going again, it is Green, White,Checkers. 18 takes the lead. 14 tries to take the lead and 18 blocks. 14 goes high, 18 blocks and 18 spins in front of 14 and into the wall. 9 comes along with nowhere to go, smack into the rear end of 18 and 18 ends up on top of 9. 7, 31, 44 and 20 were also involved. It was the last lap with the Checker flag in sight. And blocking is normally what causes the wrecks in these restrictor-plate races. 14 Tony Stewart wins after starting from the pole. He feels bad that it ended that way, but he did nothing wrong. Carl Edwards blocked almost at the line in Talladega and wrecked. That’s what happens when you block. In my opinion, it was the perfect ending to a great race.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Race Review: Lenox Industrial Tools 301

Welcome race fans to the seventeenth NASCAR Sprint Cup race of the season. The race takes place at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Lauden, New Hampshire. This track is affectionately known as the “Magic Mile”. It’s a flat track, just over a mile long. There has been rain all weekend, so there was little time to practice. Qualifying got rained out on Friday, so they will line up according to owner points. Putting 14 Tony Stewart and 24 Jeff Gordon the front row. Tony crashed his car in practice, but changed the engine in his back-up car before what would have been qualifying, so he keeps his pole position. 09 is Brad Keselowski. He won in Talladega in this car. 36 is Patrick Carpentier. He sat on the pole last year in NH. 37 is Tony Raines. 78 is Regan Smith. He has made every race he has entered. And has finished them all. 51 Dexter Bean and local favorite, 27 Ted Christopher didn’t have the owner points or attempts, so they will go home.

47 Marcos Ambrose is not feeling well. Since there was rain over night, there will be a competition caution on lap 35 so they can check the tires. If there is a caution prior to that competition caution, they can change tires and make adjustments, but they cannot take fuel.

So, here we go! 24 and 2 Kurt Busch take off on the outside. 24 leads the first lap. 2 tries to get by 24 for the lead, but can’t get by. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya gets by 18 Kyle Busch for ninth. 2 finally takes the lead after many laps trying to get by. 24 and 16 battle for second. 14 slides back to seventh from the pole position. 99 Carl Edwards is having trouble getting by 39 Ryan Newman for fifth.

The first caution comes out during the commercial when 36 gets into the wall. It was something mechanical. 14 pits for adjustments, but cannot take fuel. 55 Michael Waltrip was too fast. 2 is leading and chooses to restart on the inside. They are double-file all the way around, with no clear leader running away.

The second caution comes out when 29 Kevin Harvick slides up and into 26 Jamie McMurray, putting him into the wall. 11 Denny Hamlin pits. 24 was leading when the caution came out, and he picks the inside to restart. They move the competition caution up to lap 45, since there weren’t enough laps raced under Green to decide what the tires are doing. 16 Greg Biffle and 24 battle for the lead. 16 gets loose.

The third caution comes out when 44 AJ Allmendinger spins around and doesn’t get going again. 26 Jamie McMurray is the Lucky Dog and gets his lap back. 66 Dave Blaney goes to the garage. 2 takes the lead. 18 and 48 Jimmy Johnson battle for fourth. 18 is smoking his brakes. 16 drives by 18. 42 and 48 battle.

The fourth caution is the competition caution and everyone can take fuel.18 couldn’t get out of his pit without hitting the car in front of him. 24 is out of the pits first, followed by 48 and 16. 24 has to take the outside, since 71 David Gilliland is on the inside and will pit when the Green Flag is about to fly. This lets 48 take the lead from the inside. 5 Mark Martin and 18 battle. 16 gets into the wall. 37 and 26 go to the garage. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and 16 battle.

The fifth caution comes out during the commercial. 19 Elliott Sadler gets loose and gets into 82 Scott Speed. 82 spins 55 Michael Waltrip and they collect 7 Robby Gordon. 48 chooses the inside for the restart. 24 and 18 battle for second. 14 and 2 battle. 14 and 18 battle for third. 14 pulls ahead of 18. 12 David Stremme gets loose. 48 is in ugly traffic, with everyone battling each other and trying to stay ahead of the leader.

1 Martin Truex, Jr. starts Green Flag Pitting. 42 leads when 48 pits. 9 Kasey Kahne drives by 42 to get his lap back. 88 and 5 get by 42. 42 finally pits when everyone was getting by him to get their laps back. 11 leads when 42 pits. 43 Reed Sorenson leads when 11 pits. 7  leads when 43 pits, then pits himself.  When everyone has pitted, 48 is back in the lead.  48  is trying to lap 20 Joey Logano and 24 catches  the leader, 48. 5 and 18 battle for seventh. 5 gets by. 31 Jeff Burton and 18 battle for eighth.

The sixth caution comes our for debris. 2 and 24 come out of the pits neck-and-neck, but 24 was a few inches in front. The cars ahead of the leader get the wave around and they race back to the end of the field. 24 elects to Restart on the outside this time. 48 makes it three-wide for the lead with 24 and 2. 24 stays in the lead. 2 and 24 battle for the lead. 88 and 2 battle for second. 48 gets loose and falls to sixth.

The seventh caution comes out during the commercial. 98 Paul Menard gets the brakes locked up and drives into the wall. 24 Restarts on the outside. The eighth caution comes out at the Restart. 1 gets into 88, 18 gets into 1 from behind 1, sending him spinning. And then into 31 with everyone spinning. 18 thought he had a hole and took it, like he always does, but the hole wasn’t there. Involved were: 1, 29 Kevin Harvick, 31, 07 Casey Mears, 83 Brian Vickers, 00 David Reutimann, 6David Ragan, 26. There is a Red Flag for clean-up.

24 Restarts on the outside. 39 gets into the wall. 2 and 24 battle for the lead. 20 gets into 39 and 00 and cuts a tire and brings out the ninth caution. 11 gets by 18 for ninth. 2 slides up the track and falls back. 14 and 24 battle for the lead. The tenth caution comes out when 82 Scott Speed gets into the wall. He says “I’m not gonna lie, that hurt”. 20 Joey Logano is the Lucky Dog. 2 gets into 48 and many get by both of them.

14 takes the lead. 88 and 9 battle. 88 gets by. 48 and 9 battle. 48 gets by. 48 gets around 88 for eighth. 99 thinks he may have a loose wheel and pits. 48 gets by 5 for seventh. 18 pits to start Green Flag Pitting again. 5 stays out and leads.16 leads when 5 pits. 96 Bobby Labonte leads when 16 pits. 31 is back out in a “modified” car. 14 slides into 18 and gets by for eleventh. 39 leads when 96 pits. 24 gets by 00 for fourth. 55 pits. 39 is out of fuel and pits. 20 takes the lead when 39 ran out of gas. 39 has trouble getting the car fired up again.

The eleventh caution comes out for rain. The race is Red Flagged on lap 273 of 301.  It pours and 20 Joey Logano wins his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race by being out in front when the rain came. He isn’t the first to win his first race here with the rain shortening the race. Jeff Burton is the only driver to lead all 300 laps here.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley.

Race Review: Toyota/Save Mart 350

Welcome race fans to the sixteenth race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. This week we are in Sonoma, Ca. at Infineon Raceway. This my friends, is the first of two road course races. As always, there are road course specialists hoping to get into the race. 08 is Boris Said, 09 is Ron Fellows. 04 is PJ Jones in a Robby Gordon car. 55  is Patrick Carpentier in the MWR car instead of Michael Waltrip. 02 is Brandon Ash. Failing to make the race are 82 Scott Speed, 27 Tom Hubert, 37 Chris Cook and 36 Brian Simo. 87 Joe Nemecheck made the race, but Scott Speed didn’t. Nemecheck gave his 87 car to Speed to drive this race. 83 Brian Vickers is on the pole with a speed of 93.678 for the second race in a row. 18 Kyle Busch starts second. Kyle won last year. 47 Marcos Ambrose blew an engine. 71 David Gilliland is in a back-up car after a crash in practice. 87 had a driver change from Nemechek to Speed. All three will start from the rear.

So, here we go! 83 Vickers leads from the pole. 14 Tony Stewart lets team mate 39 Ryan Newman by. 1 Martin Truex, Jr. gets by 14 for fifth. 17 Matt Kenseth, 24 Jeff Gordon and 20 Joey Logano battle. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya is up to tenth after starting seventeenth. 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. stomps on the brakes and flat-spots the tires. He has to pit. 47  Ambrose is up fifteen spots. 44 AJ Almendinger gets into the dirt. 47 pits on lap thirteen. 44 gets a speeding penalty. 18 Kyle Busch takes the lead.

The first caution comes out when 31 Jeff Burton spins. Several others are involved including 6 David Ragan getting into the tires and 12 David Stremme. The coverage wasn’t very good. They had to keep going to commercial. 13 Max Papis is the Lucky Dog and gets his lap back. We’re told there is lots of action all over the track, but the cameras are focused on 18. 11 Denny Hamlin turns 09 Fellows to miss the tires in turn eleven. 18 pits and 14 takes the lead. 18 stalls the car after pitting.

55 Carpentier and 33 Clint Bowyer spin out. 48 Jimmy Johnson is too fast entering the pits and  will have to come back in again and drive through. 9 Kasey Kahne leads when 14 pits. 39  Newman won’t let 47 Ambrose by. 9 pits and 11 Denny Hamlin takes the lead. 43 Reed Sorenson goes to the garage with a broken track bar. 2 Kurt Busch drives by 11 to take the lead. 2 is mirror-driving and locks the brakes, letting 11  retake the lead. 04 Jones is out. 19 Elliott Sadler goes on an off-track excursion. 00 David Reutimann spins and gets into the dirt, after 48 gets into him.

43 is back on the track, several laps down. 71 Gilliland gets into 1 Truex, Jr. 24 Jeff Gordon and 42 Montoya battle for fifteenth. The second caution comes out for debris on the track. 44 AJ Almendinger is the Lucky Dog. The top nineteen cars stay out. 24 gets a speeding ticket. 02 Ash spins out when he and 16 Greg Biffle get together. 5 Mark Martin is slow and 29 Kevin Harvick gets into him. 5 was slow because 17 Matt Kenseth got into him. 83 and 42 battle for ninth. 47 gets by 18 for fifth. 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. and 99 Carl Edwards battle for fifth. 77 spins and 18 gets into him and they both spin out. 83 gets by 77 but gets into 18.

14 and 2 battle for second. 14 takes the spot. 17 has some damage from his spin. 14 leads when 11 pits. 2 beats 11 out of the pits. 08 Said is too fast exiting the pits. 42 pits from sixth place. 24 drops a lug nut in his pit stop, adding a few seconds to his stop. 31 Jeff Burton has an off-course excursion. 7 Robby Gordon leads when 14 pits. 47 flies out of the pits and into 96 Bobby Labonte. 96 spins into the dirt and can’t get going. Which brings out the third caution. 7 now has to pit under caution and will not win the race. 7, 1 and 34 John Andretti now have to pit. 87 Speed stays out to lead, but falls back.

20 Joey Logano gets into 87. 47 gets by. 39 spins into the dirt. 98 Paul Menard goes oround 39 to get by. The fourth caution comes out during the commercial. 09 got into 77 and 71 got into 77 while he was spinning. 18 Kyle Busch is the Lucky Dog. 9 is still leading. And they restart double-file with 9 on the outside. 14 and 42 battle for second. 14 takes the spot. 48 and 2 battle. 2 spins out into the tires. 47 gets into the wall while battling 11 and 48. There wasn’t enough room for all three.

The fifth caution comes out because 2 was stuck in the dirt. 17 Matt Kenseth is the Lucky Dog. 9 is still leading and will restart again on the outside. 16 spins. 47 and 48 battle. 47 takes the spot. 02 gets into the wall. The sixth caution comes out for debris – someone’s header fell off! 77 Sam Hornish, Jr., eight laps down, gets one of them back. 42 and 14 battle again for second. 47 gets by 42. 18 spins and the car won’t refire. There’s lots of spinning going on with lots of dirt flying around. 6 Ragan and 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. spin together when 99 Carl Edwards gets into 6. 7 spins 08. 12 David Stremme gets off-course and pits. 08 spins 87.

The seventh caution comes out because 87 is stopped on the track. 77 gets another lap back with the Lucky Dog. It will be a Green, White Checker finish. 9 once again is on the outside for the restart. 31, 7 and 5 spin into each other.

And 9 Kasey Kahne wins the Toyota/Save Mart 350. This is his first road course win. And the first win for the new Richard Petty Motorsports.  The King congratulates Kasey in Victory Lane. This is Kasey’s tenth career win. RPM had three cars in the top ten.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Race Review: Lifelock 400

Welcome race fans to the fifteenth race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Season. The Lifelock 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, MI. This beautiful two-mile track is set in the Irish Hills. The track is wide and massive, so there is plenty of room for the drivers to choose anywhere to race. One of my favorites to watch. With so much room to race, there are few cautions, and lots of racing, including Green Flag Pitting.

Qualifying was on Friday afternoon. 83 Brian Vickers got the pole with a speed of 189.110. 18 Kyle Busch starts second with a speed much slower. Forty-four teams showed up to qualify, so one team went home. In my opinion, one more car on this two-mile track could and should have been done. Just fill the twenty-second row. Anyway, that unlucky driver was Mike Skinner in the #36. Mike is a regular in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, which was in Michigan this weekend.

37 is Tony Raines, 09 is veteran Sterling Marlin, 13 is Max Papis. And in the news is Johnny Benson, defending Truck Champion whose Truck team was disbanded earlier because of lack of Sponsorship. He competed in a super modifieds race on Saturday and was in a horrific crash, landing in the Hospital in critical but stable condition, with broken ribs and more. I sure hope he makes a speedy recovery.

The first race at this track was in 1969 and Cale Yarborough won the race. 24 Jeff Gordon, 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. and 87 Joe Nemecheck had to change engines and they will start from the rear. The pit lights are not working, so the drivers will have to watch out for the flagmen to let them know when pit road is open.

83 doesn’t take right off  when the Green Flag flies and 48 Jimmy Johnson moves to the inside, and they are all bunched up. 18 Kyle Busch leads the first lap. 9 Kasey Kahne gets by 00 David Reutimann for fourth. 2 Kurt Busch and 00 battle for fifth. 24 and 77 battle in the back of the pack for thirty-first. 16 Greg Biffle is up to tenth after starting twentyth. 16 gets by 33 Clint Bowyer for ninth.

48 battles 18 for the lead, and 48 takes the lead. Jimmy has no wins at Michigan. 2 gets by 83 for third. 9 gets by 83 for fourth. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya gets by 83 for fifth. 18 reports a vibration. 20 Joey Logano is stuck in the middle between 12 David Stremme and 26 Jamie McMurray. (And I said there was lots of room!)  20 gets into both of them, gets a tire rub and falls behind both of them. 14 Tony Stewart, who won last week in Pocono, gets by 83. 37 and 87 go to the garage. 13 is one lap down. 11 Denny Hamlin gets by 00 for tenth. 5 Mark Martin gets by 99 Carl Edwards for fifteenth.

48 pulls ahead of second place, 18 by over six seconds. 16 gets by 42 for sixth. 09 and 66 Dave Blaney go to the garage. 43 Reed Sorenson and 77 battle for thirty-first. 2 and 18 battle for second. 2 gets by. The first Green Flag Pitting session begins on lap thirty-nine. 48 stays in the lead the whole time, makes his stop and comes back out still in the lead! 16 and 9 battle for second. 16 takes second. 00 is “Evil loose”. 2 and 14 get by 18. 11 gets loose, but corrects while battling with 2 for eighth. (Good thing the track is wide enough!)

The first caution comes out on lap 72 for debris. 39 Ryan Newman is the Lucky Dog and gets his lap back. Twenty-two cars are on the lead lap, and will Restart double-file. 55 Michael Waltrip stays out and will be waved by to join the pack just before the Restart. 48 is the leader again and chooses the outside to Restart. 6 David Ragan gets loose and almost looses it. 17 Matt Kenseth and 14 battle for sixth. 14 keeps the spot.

99 gets by 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for ninth. 18 gets by 88 for eighth. 88 and 99 battle for ninth and 99 gets the spot. 88 is getting very loose. He has part of the skirting loose and that is messing up the car. 14 and 2 battle for fifth. 88 gets by 18 for eleventh. 99 gets by 2 for sixth. 1 Martin Truex, Jr. gets into the wall and gets Black-Flagged to come in and fix the flapping rear end. 99 gets by 9.

Green Flag Pitting begins again. 99 leads a lap, then pits. When it’s all over, 48 is back in the lead. The second caution comes out during the commercial, again for debris. 00 David Reutimann is the Lucky Dog. The first nine cars stay out – 48, 16, 42, 14, 2, 5, 11, 24 and 99. 17 is out of the pits first in tenth. 99 and 24 battle for eighth. 24 keeps the spot. 5 gets by 42 for third. 26 and 88 battle. 26 gets by. 17 makes an unscheduled pit stop. 11 gets by 42 for fourth. 21 Bill Elliott and 88 battle.

The third caution comes out during the commercial. 12 David Stremme gets loose and slides down the track, into the pit road barrier. 17 Matt Kenseth is the Lucky Dog, and is back on the lead lap. The lead lap cars pit and 16 comes out first to lead. They go Green with 45 to go. 24 and 42 battle. 48 gets by 5 for second. 48 is catching 16, the leader, but 48 is too loose to get by. 48 finally takes the lead. 48 and 16 battle for the lead again. 48 runs out of fuel with one to go. 5 takes the lead when 16 runs out of fuel. 5 runs out of fuel and coasts to the Finish Line to win the Lifelock 400!

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Race Review: Pocono 500

Today’s race review is the 14th race of the season, the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. Qualifying was rained out on Friday, so the field was set by owner points. That put 14 Tony Stewart on the Pole and 24 Jeff Gordon starting second. However, Tony crashed his car in the first practice on Saturday and will start the race last, in a back-up car. That will put 48 Jimmy Johnson on the pole. 7 Robby Gordon was in the Baha 500 on Saturday, leaving Travis Kvapil to practice the car. He won the race, by the way. But will start the Pocono 500 from the rear. 09 is Sterling Marlin. 51 is Dexter Bean. 36 is Patrick Carpentier. He’s a road-racer of sorts, and Pocono is almost a road course. Pocono Raceway is a triangle with three different corners. It’s not really an oval. But it’s not really a road course, either. Some call it a “roval”.

So, here we go. There is trouble for 11 Denny Hamlin right at the start. There’s a puff of smoke and he has no power. Denny pulls the car out of everyone’s way, but the first caution comes out because he has stopped on the track and can’t get going. The track truck comes out and pushes him to the pits. A couple of cars pit during this caution. 24 Jeff Gordon is leading.

NASCAR listened to the fans and they decided they wanted double-file restarts, like they had in the All-Star race. So, starting this week, all restarts will be double-file. With the leaders battling each other and the lapped cars battling each other. It’s a bit comfusing about the line-up because the lead lap cars pit first, followed by the lapped cars the next lap. They will line up behind the lead-lap cars by how they came out of the pits. Not necessarily by position on the track. If any cars stay out instead of pitting to put themselves ahead of the leader, these cars will be given the go-around by the pace car with one to go and they will take their place on the tail end of the lead lap. And any Lucky Dog will be behind everyone else.

Back to racing. 83 Brian Vickers dives low to try to get by. 48 Johnson takes the lead. 83 and 99 Carl Edwards battle. 2 Kurt Busch and 24 battle for second. 39 Ryan Newman and 24 battle for third. 16 Greg Biffle pushes 39 past 24 and then follows 39 by. The second caution came out during the commercial. 11 is again being pushed off the track. Denny was fastest in final practice. 9 Kasey Kahne is in the pits with the hood up. The throttle hung up. Six cars did not pit.

48 is the leader and chooses the outside lane to restart. 5 Mark Martin and 16 battle. And they are four-wide! 83 and 42 Juan Pablo Montoya battle. 14 gets by 07 Casey Mears, 42 and 83. 16 gets by 17 Matt Kenseth for second. 99 Carl Edwards is up to fourth. 31 Jeff Burton slides back to seventh, from third. 14 is up to twelfth. 11 is back out of the garage, 22 laps down. 9 is up to twentyth after histhrottle problem was resolved. 17 gets loose and 17 and 99 almost get together.

16 is catching the leader 48. 14 gets by team mate 39 for tenth. 48 gets loose and 16 takes the lead. 48 takes the lead back. 99 and 16 battle with 48 for the lead. 99 takes the lead. 00 David Reutimann and 83 get by 39. 31 heads for the pits to start Green Flag Pitting. 51 Bean hits the committment cone, comming into the pits and knocks it out of the way. 55 Michael Waltrip doesn’t see any committment cone and spins into the pits.

5 Mark Martin takes the lead when 99 pits. 2 Kurt Busch leads when 5 pits. When all the pitting is over, 99 is back in the lead. 39 led a lap. 2 gets by 18 Kyle Busch for eighth. 14 gets by 18 for ninth. 17 starts another round of Green Flag pitting and many followed him in. 14 Stewart takes the lead. 14 pits and 99 is back in the lead. 39 is having engine issues. “Like there’s water in it”, he says. 99 didn’t get both cans of fuel in, and will be short on gas. Larry McReynolds declares he will have to make an “extry stop”.!?

31 pits. 48 heads to the pits as the second caution comes out. They make their pit stop even though pit road is closed, and he over-shoots his pit stall. The caution was for debris in the tunnel turn. 96 Bobby Labonte is the Lucky Dog. 39 was too fast exiting. 48 goes back into the pits. 18, 24 and 00 are three-wide for eighth. 12 David Stremme gets into the wall, and the fourth caution comes out for debris. 99 is leading and chooses the outside for the restart. 17 and 14 get by 99. 17 takes the lead. 99 gets second back from 14. 48 gets by 00 for seventh. 2 pits with water  blasting out of the over-flow.

31 again starts Green Flag pitting. 39 leads, then pits. 26 Jamie McMurray leads, then pits. 19 Elliot Sadler leads, then pits. 07 takes the lead as the only car still not having pitted. 99 takes the lead and 07 pits. 2 is back out after a water pump issue. The fifth caution comes out with 43 to go for debris. 55 Michael Waltrip is the Lucky Dog. 16 has no brakes. Rain is coming, so 24 stays out to lead. But sunshine is back out, so he pits. 14 Stewart came out of the pits first, to lead. The cars that went back in to top off their fuel will fall behind everyone else.

They go Green with 35 laps to go. 39 and 00 get by 5. 1 Martin Truex, Jr. gets by 5. 5 pits. 16 makes a pit stop. 18 is pitting. 17 and 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. pit. 9 pits. 31 gets by 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. for tenth. They are playing a fuel mileage game, and the leaders are all slowing down. 48 gets by 99 for second. 99 gets back by 48. 48 runs out of fuel and finishes seventh instead of third.

And 14 Tony Stewart, in his own car, wins the Pocono 500. Tony won the non-points All-Star race last month. This is his first points win as an owner/driver. He remains at he top in the points. Kyle Busch, who won the Nationwide race on Saturday against all the amateurs,(and smashed his Gibson guitar Trophy) finishes 22nd and falls three spots in the points. I guess he can’t beat the Pros, like he can the little guys.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Have a good week.