Race Review

Sharpie 500

Bristol Motor Speedway, TN

Welcome, race fans to the twenty-fourth race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. This week is the bull ring in Bristol, TN. The .533 mile, high banked track is “racing the way it ought to be”. It’s a Saturday night race, with loads of excitement. 21 is Bill Elliott, who got in on speed. 96 is Ken Schrader. 70 is Tony Raines. 8 is Aric Almirola. 09 is sterling Marlin. Kyle Petty is back in the #45. 00 is Mike Skinner from the Craftsman Truck series to evaluate the 00 car. 34 Jeff Green, 10 Patrick Carpentier and 08 Johnny Sauter failed to qualify. 6 David Ragan crashed in qualifying and will be in a back up car and starting from the rear. 500 laps comes out to 266.5 miles. 99 Carl Edwards is the in-car reporter, and starts from the pole. 44 David Reutimann starts second.
So, here we go! 99 leads from the pole. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. passes three cars before reaching the Start/Finish line. You can only pass on the high side before the Start/Finish Line on a restart. At the start of the race, you must reach the Line before passing. So, Jr. will serve a pass through penalty, which puts him three laps down.  84 A. J. Allmendinger and 21 are holding up points leader 18 Kyle Busch. 48 Jimmy Johnson gets into the wall, much like he did in the Craftsman Truck race here on Wednesday. He pits to repair the damage. There is no caution, and he goes seven laps down. The splitter is touching when he comes back out, so he has to go back into the pits. 48 is now thirteen laps down.
42 Juan Pablo Montoya doesn’t want to be lapped and won’t let leader 99 get by him. While 99 is racing 42, 24 Jeff Gordon takes the lead. 24 can’t get by 42 and 99 takes the lead back. 18 Kyle Busch goes low and gets by 24 and 99 for the lead and gets by 42. 99 backs off and 24 takes second. 24 can’t get by 42. 42 is now holding up 24, 99, 01 Regan Smith, 44  and 12 Ryan Newman. The first caution comes out when 1 Martin Truex, Jr. and 84 get together. 1 had a tire going down and got into 84 who was on the top of the track. They both get into the wall. Everyone pits, and the top ten coming out of the pits are: 18, 99, 24, 12, 29 Kevin Harvick, 31 Jeff Burton, 9 Kasey Kahne, 44, 01, and 07 Clint Bowyer. 19 Elliott Sadler slides into his pit stall and has to back up and straighten out to change the left sides.
09 Sterling Marlin, 88 and 11 Denny Hamlin are three wide. 07 taps 88. 88 taps 07. 19 heads into the pits with a loose seat belt. (How does that happen?) 18 battles 28 Travis Kvapil, trying to put him a lap down. 9 and 20 Tony Stewart battle for sixth. The second caution comes out when 20 gets into 09 when 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. doesn’t clear 09. 31 slows up, but 78 Joe Nemecheck doesn’t and plows 31 into 09. 2 Kurt Busch may have been the Lucky Dog, but the announcers didn’t say.
The third caution comes out and is turned into a Red Flag, with 9 on fire. 55 Michael Waltrip and 5 Casey Mears get together when 5 doesn’t clear 55, but moves up in front of him. (The spotter’s fault.) 5 gets into 07. 9, 7 Robby Gordon, and 77 get into it. 41 Reed Sorenson can’t get by. 44 gets into 21. 96 slowly goes high and gets around it all. 2  goes on the apron to get by. 17 Matt Kenseth is the Lucky Dog. 31 is out of the race. 11 cuts off 24. 20 taps 24.
The fourth caution comes out when 22 spins hard into the wall. 15 Paul Menard is the Lucky Dog. 6 gets by 2. The fifth caution is for debris from 44. Out of the pits, it’s 18, 99, 24, 11 and 29. 99 catches 18. 99 and 18 battle for the lead. The sixth caution comes out on lap 364. The top 8 stay out, but 9th through 15th pit. Note: in March, 1973 Cale Yarborough led all 500 laps at Bristol! The seventh caution comes out with 49 to go, for debris, when 8 got loose and into the wall. So the caution was not because 8 got into the wall, but because he left debris on the track when he did it!
They go Green with 42 to go. The eighth caution is also for debris. A patch flies off 2 who is the first car a lap down. Does he get the Lucky Dog? They never say. 2 pits. 99 bumps 18 to take the lead lap 470. 11 and 18 battle for second. 11 gets by 18 for second. 11 and 18 battle again. 18 takes second from 11. It looks like 99 made better adjustments during that pit stop. 07 and 20 battle for seventh. 07 takes the spot. 99 Carl Edwards wins for the sixth time this year. After the Checkers, Kyle Busch gets into Carl Edwards. To show he didn’t like being nudged. Carl turns Kyle. And Kyle will go to the Trailer after the race.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Visit my site: http://www.ilovemynascar.com

Race Review

3M Performance 400

Brooklyn, Michigan

Welcome race fans to the foot hills of Michigan, just outside of Detroit. This is the twenty-third race of the season. This is the best racing track in the Series. It’s very wide, so there is a lot of room to race. 83 Brian Vickers is on the pole with a speed of 187.536 mph. 48 Jimmy Johnson will start second. 45 is again Terry Labonte, who didn’t have to use his past Champ provisional. 00 is Mike Skinner, a Craftsman Truck driver, trying to evaluate Michael McDowell’s 00 car. 00 fell out of the top 35 in owner points and has to qualify on speed to get into the race. 70 is Tony Raines. 21 is Marcos Ambrose from the Nationwide Series. 96 is now Brad Coleman, also from the Nationwide Series. J. J. Yeley is no longer the driver. Today’s in-race reporter is 16 Greg Biffle.
So, here we go! 48 leads the first lap. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. gets by 83 for second. 18 Kyle Busch gets loose and can’t get by 10 Patrick Carpentier. 88 takes the lead. 10 gets gets by teammate 19 Elliott Sadler. 18 gets loose again. The first caution comes out on lap 9 when 21 blows up. The Little Debbie’s car is usually white with Dabbie’s picture on the hood. Today it’s yellow, with no picture. I wonder if that had anything to do with it blowing up! It’s a long caution since they have to clean up pit road before they can pit. 84 A. J. Allmendinger gets hit in the pits and has to go back in for repairs.
Out of the pits, it’s 48, 83, 88, 10, 24 Jeff Gordon. 24 had a “sorry” pit stop. 88 takes second from 83. 83 takes third from 48. 83 and 18 battle. 88 takes the lead. 18 gets by 83. 18 pulls in front of 48. 99 gets by 48 for fifth. 24 gets by 48 for sixth. 88 has debris on the grill and is overheating, while leading. Now he’ll have to slow down to let someone by to pull it off. 83 takes second from 18.  83 takes the lead and dislodges the debris on the 88 in doing so. 83 brushes the wall. They all seem to be loose out there.
99 Carl Edwards gets by 18 for third. 20 Tony Stewart gets loose. 12 Ryan Newman is pitting to start Green Flag Pitting. 41 Reed Sorenson and 22 Dave Blaney get together in the pits. 41 was going in and 22 was coming out. 88 resumes the lead after all the pitting. 99 takes the lead. 83 gets by 88 for second. 88 is very loose. 6 David Ragan and 48 battle for ninth. 18 gets by 88 for third.
The second caution comes out during the commercial. 15 Paul Menard gets into 12, who spins into 22, sending 22 into the wall. It lifts the right side of the 22 right off the track! No one says who the Lucky Dog was. 24 drops back to fifteenth. 99 is in the lead out of the pits. 16 Greg Biffle takes the lead. 20, 48, 24 are four-wide. 20 and 24 get into 48. 48 is smoking with a tire rub and has to pit. 99 takes the lead. 16 and 18 battle for second. The third caution comes out when 24 cuts a tire and gets into the wall. 24 goes to the garage. Everyone pits. 18, 88, 99, 16 all take two tires. 43 Bobby Labonte misses his pit and comes out +23 positions! But he’ll have to pit for real next time around. 84 A. J. Allmendinger is the Lucky Dog.
48 is the first car a lap down and will start on the inside. 99 is leading at the restart. 18 takes second from 16. 9 Kasey Kahne gets loose. 9 and 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. battle. 28 Travis Kvapil gets into 77, but 77 saves it. 07 Clint Bowyer (the NASCAR Nationwide Series Leader) is falling back. 16 gets by 83 for third. 9 goes to the garage with engine trouble. 10 gets loose in front of the leader, 99. 11 Denny Hamlin gets by 17 Matt Kenseth for eighth. Green Flag Pitting starts again. 18 takes the lead. 88 and 48 battle. 48 is a lap down. 99 gets loose. 11 and 17 battle again.
The fourth caution comes out for debris from 24 who just got back out onto the track. 1 Martin Truex, Jr. should be the Lucky Dog. 83 takes two tires to get out of the pits first. 18 takes the lead. 2 Kurt Busch spins and saves it, then pits. No caution. 70 and 2 got together. 99 takes second from 83. 16 and 83 battle for third. 24 is officially out. 99 and 18 battle for the lead. The fifth caution is for debris. There are seventeen cars on the lead lap. 6 and 88 stay out. 88 should have pitted. 99 gets out of the pits first. 88 gets into the wall and pits. 99 keeps 48 a lap down.
The sixth caution comes out with thirteen to go for debris from 88.  Now, why didn’t they just throw the caution when he hit the wall? When you hit the wall, there’s usually debris. 48 Jimmy Johnson is the Lucky Dog.  We restart with ten to go. 18 gets by 6 for second. 6 and 18 battle for second. 83 and 8 Mark Martin battle. 17 gets by 83 for sixth. The seventh caution comes out with five to go when 11 blows up. It is a Green, White Checker finish with 99 Carl Edwards winning. The top ten are 99, 18, 6, 16, 17, 8, 83, 29 Kevin Harvick, 19 Elliott Sadler and 26 Jamie McMurray. Rouch Fenway Racing had all five of their cars in the top ten! First, third, fourth, fifth, and tenth. Carl Edwards does his back-flip.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Visit my site http://www.ilovemynascar.com

NASCAR Labor Day Weekend

Dear Race fans. I just found out  from Steve Waid of NASCAR Scene that the Historic Darlington Raceway will be hosting an event on Labor Day weekend. All us real NASCAR fans never forgave NASCAR for taking the Southern 500 from Darlington and giving the weekend to California. In my opinion, the Southern 500 was one of the crown jewels of NASCAR. Giving the weekend to California for the sake of marketing was just not right.

Well, Labor Day weekend Darlington will host the inaugural Darlington Historic Racing Festival. It will feature the legendary cars and drivers from a veriety of racing series, including NASCAR and Indy car, from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. Fans will get to see drivers and vintage cars that contributed to racing’s legacy. There will be two days of question and answers and autograph sessions with past drivers. And vintage cars will take laps around the tough, old 1.366 mile track.

Drivers Derrell Waltrip, David Pearson, Charlie Glotzbach, Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, Marvin Pauch, Cotton Owens, Ned Jarrett and Rex White will be on hand for autographs and Q&A. As well as crew chiefs Leonard Wood and Wadell Wilson. And owners Bud Moore, Ray Fox and Raymond Parks. Also, radio announcer Barney Hall.

More than 100 vintage race cars will be there and many of them will run laps. Many car clubs will participate as well. Each club that participates will be able to take a lap around the historic track. The Darlington Historic Racing Festival will open for fans at 9 AM on Aug. 30 and 10 AM on Aug. 31. Tickets for the event are $15 for one day and $25 for the weekend. Call Darlington ticket office at 866-459-RACE or online at http://www.darlingtonraceway.com/tickets/

So, all you die hard race fans, make sure you are there, rather than at California. Let’s see how many fans go to see the race in California and how many attend this event. In my opinion, Darlington is the better choice.  No matter what Brian France thinks. California may be a good market, but race fans LOVE Darlington. And, if I may say so, Rockingham as well.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Visit my site: http://www.ilivemynascar.com

.

Race Review

Centurion Boats @ The Glen

Watkins Glen, NY

Welcome race fans to the twenty-second race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Rain washed out qualifying on Friday. So the field will line up according to Owner points, with 18 Kyle Busch on the pole and 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. starting second. Today the 8 is Aric Armirola, in for Mark Martin. 01 is road racer Ron Fellows, in for Regan Smith, to help with Owner points. 96 is no longer J. J. Yeley, and this week P. J. Jones is filling in, also a road course ace. Since qualifying was rained out, 60 Boris Said was to go home. But Petty Enterprises are letting Said drive the 45 Dodge with permission from Ford. Today road ace Max Papis will be in the 70. 21 is NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Marcos Ambrose, who won the series race at Watkins Glen yesterday. He will start 43rd. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya will be the in-car reporter. They will drive 90 laps for 220.5 miles.
So, here we go! 18 leads from the pole. 88 gets by 18 to take the lead. 48 Jimmy Johnson gets by 18. 24 Jeff Gordon gets by 18. 44 David Reutimann spins onto the asphalt, but gets going, so there is no caution. 24 and 18 battle. 24 lets 18 by. 20 Tony Stewart gets by 24. 42 gets by 9 Kasey Kahne, but wheel hops off the track and 9 gets back by. 29 Kevin Harvick gets by 24. 10 Patrick Carpentier and 96 spin off together. 84 A. J. Allmendinger pits lap 17. 99 Carl Edwards, 29 and 16 Greg Biffle get by 24. 41 Reed Sorenson spins in turn one. 99 and 16 pit lap 21.
18, 20, 31 Jeff Burton, 28 Travis Kvapil, 12 Ryan Newman, 6 David Ragan are all pitting. 6, in a back up car after crashing in practice stalls the car on pit road. 24 can’t hear his pit crew, and Officials will flash his number and black flag him, so he goes to the pits. The plug came out of his helmet, so he couldn’t hear his crew. But they fix it and go on. 7 Robby Gordon goes off course and comes back in for fuel. He’s now a lap down. 48 has a left rear tire go down and has to pit. 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. goes off the track.
The first caution comes out on lap 47 for debris. 18 stays out, 88 pits. 78 Joe Nemecheck is the Lucky Dog, and gets his lap back. 99 is pitting for the last time. 18 lets teammate 20 lead a lap, before getting back by. 18, 20, and 29 pit, giving the lead to 42. 48 takes the lead when 42 pits. 88 takes the lead when 48 pits. 28 goes off the track. 96 and 24 battle for position. 77 knocks 96 off the track. 42 gets by 1 Martin Truex, Jr. for fifth.
The second caution comes out when 12 spins off turn one and gets stuck on the track in front of everyone going around that turn. 7 Robby Gordon is the Lucky Dog. 12 gets it started and pits, but stalls it on the track again, so we cannot go back to Green. Green comes out with nine laps to go. With eight laps to go there is a multi-car crash at pit entrance. Ten cars are involved. 43 Bobby Labonte, 38 David Gilliland, 70, 41, 78, 22 Dave Blaney, 12, 77 55 Michael Waltrip and 00 Michael McDowell. 38 and 00 barrel into each other and spin. 38 goes back up the track and 43 smashes into him, with 77 smashing the barrels guarding pit road. 22, 78 and 55 smash into each other. 70 and 41 have no where to go and can’t stop in time.
There is a forty-five minute Red Flag to clean up the mess. Bobby Labonte is air lifted out to a local Hospital for further evaluation. He got out of the car, but was pretty wobbly. Gilliland and McDowell are called to see Officials after the race. We go Green with five laps to go. 1 gets by 42. 42 gets back by 1. 18 Kyle Busch wins his eighth race of the season.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Visit my site: http://www.ilovemynascar.com

Race Review

Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500

Presented by Cheez-it

Pocono, Pa.

Welcome NASCAR race fans to the twenty-first race of the season. We revisit Pocono Speedway in the mountains of Pa. Qualifying was on Friday, and 34 Chad Chaffin had to go home. There was no room for a forty-fourth car on this 2.5 mile track! Rain came on Saturday, so there was no practice. NASCAR will throw a competition caution on lap 20 to check the tires. 10 today is Terry Labonte. Patrick Carpentier, usually in the car, was driving in the Nationwide race on Saturday in Montreal. (He was a favorite to win.) 45 is Chad McCumbee. 21 is again Bill Elliott. 70 is Tony Raines. The 12 car of Ryan Newman is a red and white Avis car. The 8 car of Mark Martin today is a red Steak-Umm. Keiffer Southerland, gives the command to start your engine. He did a great job. 66 Scott Riggs had an engine change and will start from the rear. 48 Jimmy Johnson is on the pole with a speed of 168.215. 8 Mark Martin will start second.
We have the first caution on the first lap off turn two. 78 Joe Nemechek and 29 Kevin Harvick get together and spin. 29 doesn’t hit anything and no one hits him. With new tires, he should be good to go. 78 made it three-wide and that doesn’t work in that turn. 78 has to repair broken splitters. The restart is on lap 5. 8 is leading. Six cars pit during the caution. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya has a plug wire issue. That may hurt the engine later on.
The second caution comes out on lap 8. 2 Kurt Busch gets loose and spins. Those pitting before the competition caution cannot add fuel. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya is the Lucky Dog and makes up the lap he lost while his crew was fixing the plug wire. We go back to Green on lap 12. We’ll be racing until the competition caution, which was moved up to lap 22. 9 Kasey Kahne and 83 Brian Vickers battle for eighth. 12 gets by 24 Jeff Gordon. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. gets by 24. 9 and 17 Matt Kenseth battle. 9 gets by 17. 83 Brian Vickers gets by 17. 9 gets by 88 for fifth. 9 gets by 12 for fourth.
The competition caution, the third caution, comes out on lap 22. Everyone pits. 48 takes two tires to lead out of the pits. 17 lets 8 get by. 18 Kyle Busch gets out of shape. He’s too aggressive on two tires. 8 catches 48, and takes the lead. 55 led a lap before pitting during the competition caution. He is now out of the race.18 and 99 Carl Edwards battle, and 99 gets by. 88 gets by 16 Greg Biffle for seventh. 16 tries to get it back, but 88 keeps the spot. Green Flag Pitting begins with 18 who slides into his pit. 99 takes the lead when 8 pits. After all the pitting, 8 is back in the lead. 9 gets by 24.
The fourth caution comes out on lap 66 for debris. Out of the pits, it’s 99, 9, 17, 88, 16, 19 Elliott Sadler, 12, 83, 6 David Ragan, 66 Scott Riggs. Remember, 66 had to start from the rear. The restart is on lap 71. They are 3-wide, and 4-wide down the straight away. There are thirty-nine cars on the lead lap. 48 gets by 6 for eighth. 01 Regan Smith, 45 and 7 Robby Gordon are a lap down. The fifth caution comes out on lap 87, during the commercial for debris. 48 again takes two tires and comes out first. 01 Regan Smith is the Lucky Dog. 24 and 48 battle for the lead. 20 Tony Stewart and 24 battle for second. 11 Denny Hamlin and 88 battle. 88 gets by 20 and 17 for fourth. Rain is in the area. 99 gets by 24 for second. 9 gets by 17 for fifth. 66 and 83 battle. 18 is smoking. 16 gets by 18 for ninth.
99 takes the lead during the commercial. 84 A. J. Allmendinger pits to start Green Flag Pitting. 17 leads. 99 is back in the lead after pitting. The sixth caution comes out for rain. It’s raining on part of the track, and sunny on the another part. That’s Pocono! 88 gets fuel only, 99 takes two tires, as does 48. 9 stays out to lead, as does 18 others. 88 is first out of the pits in 20th. There is a Red Flag with sixty-nine to go. When we go back to Yellow, 77 can’t get started and has to be pushed. He gets to keep his position. Forty-one cars are on the lead lap. 28 Travis Kvapil may have been the Lucky Dog. They didn’t say. 7 is still a lap down.
We go Green with sixty-six laps to go. 17 and 11 battle for second. 8 and 17 battle for third. 12 gets loose in traffic, but saves it. 8 finally gets by 17. The seventh caution comes out when 15 Paul Menard and 78 get together and into the wall. 18 got into the wall with sixty-two laps to go. We restart with fifty-five laps to go. 42 blows up, but gets off the track, so there is no caution. 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. gets loose and into the wall. 88 and 44 David Reutimann battle for ninth. 99 gets by 44. 77 gets by 44. 20 brushes the wall trying to pass 43 Bobby Labonte. 48 and 99 get by 88. 48 and 99 battle. 9, 11 and 8 pit. 16 takes the lead. 2 leads when 16 pits. 77 pits. 2 runs out of fuel. 17 leads. 99 leads when 17 pits with 83. 41 Reed Sorenson is out of fuel. 18 pits. 38 David Gilliland is out of fuel. 99 and 20 pit, along with 12, 31 Jeff Burton, 29, 24, 48. 6 leads. 31 had an uncontrolled tire and has to go back into the pits. 26 Jamie McMurray leads. 11 is pitting. 88 and 48 battle. 16 pits. 17 pits for fuel. 9 pits. 8 leads when 9 pits. 99 is back in the lead. 8 gets by 17. 88 and 18 battle for fourth. 18 takes fourth from 88. 18 pits with two to go, and can’t get going.
99 Carl Edwards wins the race and does his signature back flip. 48 and 88 run out of fuel and coast to the finish line. 48 in third, and 88 in 12th.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Visit my site

http://www.ilovemynascar.com