Race Review: Dickies 500

Welcome race fans to the Dickies 500 coming to you from the Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, Texas. This race is the 34th race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and the 8th race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Texas Motor Speedway was busy this weekend, with races on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Thursday there was a tragedy at nearby Fort Hood. The flag is at half-mast and prayers are said for the victims and their families.

The Coors Lite Pole Award for qualifying took place on Friday, with Jeff Gordon grabbing the pole with a speed of 191.117. 02 David Gilliland made the race in the JGR fourth car. 71 is Bobby Labonte. 70 is Mike Skinner from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. 12 is Brad Keselowski in his new ride for 2010. He will be in his new ride for the last three races. 36 is Michael McDowell. 96 is Erik Darnell. 21 Bill Elliott got into the race with his former champion provisional. Not making the race are: 37 Tony Raines, 66 Dave Blaney, 13 Max Papis and 09 Mike Bliss from the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

On Friday night, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series raced. 51 Kyle Busch won that race, with 88 Matt Crafton coming in  second. Saturday, the NASCAR Nationwide Series raced, with Kyle Busch winning that race also. He’s going for the trifecta, hoping to win all three races in a weekend at one track. He tried it at Auto Club Speedway in California earlier this year, but fell short on Sunday, finishing third. He will be the first one to do so, if he can pull it off. Jeff Gordon won at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year. Can he make a sweep?

Jimmy Johnson leads Mark Martin by 181 points heading into this race. This is the last 500 mile race of the year. The Texas Christian University marching band did an excellent job with the National Anthem. 29 Kevin Harvick is the in-race reporter. 9 Kasey Kahne starts second.

So, here we go. 24 Jeff Gordon and 9 Kahne are side by side at the start of the race. 24 leads the first lap from the pole. 2 Kurt Busch gets by 9 for second. 2 takes the lead.

The first caution comes out on lap three. 00 David Reutimann, 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. and 48 Jimmy Johnson were three wide. 00 bumped 77, which got him loose. He went up the track, into 48. 48 gets into the outside wall, down the track, into 77, spinning him, and then into the inside wall. 48 has massive damage and heads to the garage, where they will rebuild the car. The crowd cheers because the points leader is no longer invincible.

18 Kyle Busch gets by 9 for third. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. gets by 9 for fourth. 14 Tony Stewart gets by 9 for fifth. 16 Greg Biffle gets by 9 for sixth. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya drives around on the top of the track around 5 Mark Martin and they continue to battle. 5 gets back by 42. 6 David Ragan and 9 battle for thirteenth. 6 and 47 Marcos Ambrose battle side by side. 99 Carl Edwards gets by team mate 16. The leader 2 is lapping cars.

00 David Reutimann and 24 battle for third, with 00 taking the spot. 14 gets by 24 for fourth. 33 Clint Bowyer, 5 and 11 Denny Hamlin get by 16. 16 and 47 battle. 19 Elliott Sadler gets lapped and pits, starting Green Flag Pitting. 2 stays out the longest on old tires, and 18 leads after all the pitting is done. 77 gets sideways, but catches it. In the pits, 24 dropped a lug nut and had a long pit. 12 tries to stay on the lead lap, racing leader 18.

The second caution comes out on lap 87 when 77 spins out. 12 Brad Keselowski is the Lucky Dog and gets back on the lead lap. 18 chooses the outside for the restart. 14 and 2 battle for second. 26 Jamie McMurray gets loose, almost into 6. 5 and 17 Matt Kenseth battle. 42 and 24 battle for ninth, with 42 getting by. 00 and 47 battle for fourth, with 47  getting by. 5, 44 A. J. Allmendinger and 9 are three-wide. They end up 5, 44, 9. 17 gets by 9. 17 and 44 battle. 42 gets by 33 for eighth. 5 gets by 24.

48 is back on the track after one hour and eight minutes in the garage, 114 laps down. They rebuilt the car. He comes back into the pits to correct a tire rub. 47 catches second place, 2. And there is Green Flag Pitting once again. 11 leads when 18 pits. After it all, 18 is back in the lead. 24 and 99 battle. 24 and 1 Martin Truex, Jr. battle.

The third caution comes out as 1 and 24 were about to be lapped, for debris. 31 Jeff Burton gets the free pass. 47 had to back up in his pit stall to get by 39 Ryan Newman, who was gone by the time 47 backed up. The fourth caution comes out just past halfway, when 42 gets loose into 99. 99 gets into the wall. 24 gets loose and slides, trying to avoid them. 12 got into 42 to get him loose. 24 heads to the pits before they are open to fix the splitter brace.

2 chooses the outside for the restart. 18 spins the tires. 29 Kevin Harvick gets by 44. 31 gets by 16. The fifth caution comes out on lap 207. A tire goes down on 43 Reed Sorenson and he gets into the outside wall and down the track, into the inside wall. 43 heads for the garage. 6 David Ragan gets the free pass. Everyone comes to pit road. Smoke is coming from 02. 18 comes out first and chooses the inside. 47 gets by 33 for ninth. 42 is back on the track, smoking.

Once again, there is Green Flag Pitting. 18 pits and 2 leads. 2 stays out two more laps before he pits. After all the pitting, 18 is back in the lead. 18 laps 24, but 24 drives back by. 2 gets by 00 for second. Fuel is a factor in this race, with the leaders saving fuel, and not really racing, but just driving. 24 pits for fuel. 88 pits for fuel and stalls the car, loosing two laps. 18 runs out of fuel… 47 runs out of fuel.

And 2 Kurt Busch wins the Dickies 500 on fuel mileage. Kyle didn’t win the trifecta again. Kurt drives the car around the track in reverse. A lucky fan wins $1M as a result of 2 winning the race. There were only four different leaders this race.

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NASCAR Racing:Talladega

Welcome race fans to my blog. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, AL. this weekend. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is also there this weekend. On Friday, there were two practice sessions for the Sprint Cup drivers. The Talladega race is an impound race. That means that there will be no practice after qualifying. But, instead, the cars will be impounded after qualifying and no work will be done on the cars. What they have is what they race with. But maybe they should look at this again. The trucks also qualified on Friday.

On Saturday, it is raining. So Coors Lite Pole qualifying was canceled. This means they will line up according to owner points, putting 48 Jimmy Johnson on the pole, as he is leading in the points. In my opinion, it might have been better to have had qualifying on Friday and skip Happy Hour on Saturday. But that’s just my opinion.

44 teams showed up to qualify at Talladega. But only 43 will be able to race. Seams rather silly to me, as this race track is 2.66 miles long and there is room for one more car filling the 22nd row. But I don’t make the rules. As it is, with qualifying rained out, those not locked into the top 35 in owner points get in on attempts made. Regan Smith in the 78 car is on a limited schedule and has not attempted all the races. That would put him out of this race. However, lucky for Regan, 37 Tony Raines decided to bow out of the race. Letting Regan get the final spot.

Talladega Superspeedway gives the fans a great race every time. The engines are restricted with a plate to give less horsepower and thus slow the cars down. As a result, all the cars drive at about the same speed, putting them into one big pack. To me, this is exciting. Watching them race three wide, twelve rows deep is exciting. The only problem is that when one driver makes a mistake, the whole field gets involved. As a result, there are some spectacular crashes here. I personally like the three wide racing, but don’t like to see the crashes. Many fans watch the race to see the crashes.

After Carl Edwards flew into the catch fence in the spring race, just before the Finish Line, they made the catch fence eight feet taller. So that debris wouldn’t get into the stands.

There is also a rule here and at Daytona, the other plate race, that you can’t drive below the double yellow line to make a pass. However, in my opinion, this rule needs to be tweaked. Last year Tony Stewart bumped Regan Smith below the line. Regan was supposed to give the spot back. But the Finish Line was right there. And if he had done so, he would have caused a big wreck. As it was, he didn’t win the race and was put back to the 18th position. In the Spring race this year, Dale Earnheardt, Jr. got a run on the bottom, and Brian Vickers dove down to block him, putting Jr. below the line. Jr. moved up to get back on the track and got into Brian, who got into the rest of the pack. At the end of the race, Brad Keselowski pushed Carl Edwards into the lead. When the Checkers were in sight, Brad let Carl go, to try to win the race. Carl blocked, Brad stood his ground, and Carl flew into the catch fence.

In my opinion, the double yellow line rule should not be in effect on the last lap. What a great ending it would be with the cars racing 4 or 5 wide going for the Checkers! Regan would have won his first race.  Brad could have gone below the line to avoid contact with Carl. And they could have raced to the line. Although, it seems to me that blocking is the problem, not the line. If Brian hadn’t blocked, Jr. wouldn’t have had to get back on the track. If Tony hadn’t blocked, Regan wouldn’t have been below the line and could have won. If Kyle Busch hadn’t blocked Tony, Kyle wouldn’t have crashed near the Finish line. It’s blocking that causes the crashes. In my opinion.

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Race Review: AAA 400

Welcome race fans to the 28th race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the second race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The AAA 400 takes place at the one mile concrete oval track of Dover International Speedway in Dover, DE., affectionately known as the “Monster Mile”. This is a high-banked roller-coaster of a track. I personally go to the Spring race here.

Friday’s Coors Light Pole award saw 48 Jimmy Johnson grab the pole with a speed of 157.356. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya starts next to him on the front row. 19 Elliott Sadler broke the crank in qualifying and will start the race from the rear. 33 Clint Bowyer had to change his engine and will also start from the rear.

71 again today is David Gilliland. 09 today is Mike Bliss. 36 today is Michael McDowell. 4 Scott Wimmer was the only team that had to go home. You know how I feel about that. They could have filled the 22nd row. There have been seven different winners here in the last seven races. Let’s see how this one plays out.

There was rain all night and into the morning, so they dry the track before the festivities. But Mother Nature co-operates and the race begins on time. There will be a competition caution at the end of the 25th lap so everyone can check the tires. If there is a caution before that, those choosing to pit will not be allowed to fuel.

So, here we go! 48 leads from the pole and pulls away. 37 Tony Raines heads for the garage. 2 Kurt Busch and 83 Brian Vickers  battle for ninth, with 2 making the pass. 9 Kasey Kahne gets by 16 Greg Biffle for fourth. On lap 22, as the competition caution is about to come out, we go to commercials. I guess so we can be treated to more when the caution gets here. We come back to the caution already out. 34 John Andretti is the Lucky Dog and gets back on the lead lap.

39 Ryan Newman takes two tires and comes out of the pits leading. He chooses the outside for the restart. The second caution is quite a big one. Especially for this one-mile track. 96 Bobby Labonte slides in front of 20 Joey Logano, who checks up. 14 Tony Stewart slams into Joey and sends him spinning into the inside wall, and back up the track into 43 Reed Sorenson. Joey tumbles side over side down the track seven times until he lands on his left side, and then plops onto his wheels. 1 Ryan Truex, Jr. slams into 43 and 7 Robby Gordon has nowhere to go and slams into 43. Robby and Reed go to the garage for repairs. Joey is out. But everyone is ok. They have to repair the nose of 14. There is a Red Flag for the clean up.

When the Yellow flag comes out, 99 Carl Edwards pits before pit road is open to fix his wing. He will have to restart from the rear. My question is, why did they have to go around a second time before the pits were open? 14 comes in to repair his nose. The leaders stay on the track, and 39 chooses the outside. He keeps the lead. 5 Mark Martin makes it three-wide on the top. 98 Paul Menard and 9 battle for position. 9 finally gets by. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya battles 98, with 42 getting by. 11 Denny Hamlin and 31 Jeff Burton battle for thirteenth, with 11 getting by. 44 A. J. Allmendinger gets by 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for eighteenth.

2 Kurt Busch takes the lead from 39. 42 gets by 9. 24 Jeff Gordon gets by 9. 18 Kyle Busch gets by 9. Kasey says the tires have too much air. 39 and 42 battle for second, with 42 getting by. 24 drives by 39. 39 and 16 Greg Biffle battle for fourth with 16 getting by. I guess he shouldn’t have taken only two tires, as he is falling back. 00 David Reutimann is pitting under Green.

The third caution comes out during the commercial when 55 Michael Waltrip gets into the wall, hard. 11 gets into 17 Matt Kenseth getting out of the pits. 2 leads out and chooses the outside. 48 and 18 battle 16. 48 gets by 16. 42 gets by 24 for fifth. 39 and 5 battle for seventh, with 5 getting by. 18 gets by 16. 42 gets by 16. 5 and 16 battle for sixth and 5 finally pulls ahead. 42 gets by 18 for third. 26 Jamie McMurray gets by 39 for ninth. 48 catches leader 2 in traffic. 1 is back out, 47 laps down. 88 fights 2 to stay on the lead lap. 5 gets by 18 for fourth. 24 drives by 18 for sixth. 26 pits from the sixth position. 48 takes the lead.

The fourth caution comes out during the commercial. 18 gets into the wall a couple of times, with a flat tire. The caution is for debris. 31 Jeff Burton is the Lucky Dog and gets back on the lead lap. 2 comes out of the pits first and chooses the outside. 39 drives by 5 on the top. 48 battles 2 for the lead, side by side. 48 finally gets by to take the lead. 48 picked up some debris where the brakes are being cooled. 83 and 07 Casey Mears battle, with 07 getting by. 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. fights 48 to stay on the lead lap.

The fifth caution comes out when 18 bounces again off the wall three times. 48 comes out of the pits first and chooses the outside. 5 doesn’t get going and holds the pack up on the bottom. 31 and 83 battle for eighteenth, with 83 taking the spot. 48 puts 11 a lap down. 26 goes back into the pits. 14 gets by 39 for eighth. 14 bumps 44 to get by. 18 is back out, 53 laps down racing to get by the leaders.

The sixth caution comes out during the commercial, when 12 David Stremme gets into the wall. 83 Brian Vickers is the Lucky Dog. 26 gets the wave around, to stay on the lead lap, but cannot pit. The winner at Dover and leading the points has never won the Title. And the leader of the most laps has never won the race at Dover. 07 and 47 Marcos Ambrose battle side by side, with 07 finally making the pass. 39 and 9 battle for ninth, with 39 getting by. 16 dives under 9 to battle for tenth. 9 keeps the spot. 5 gets by 14 for sixth. 43 is back out, 229 laps down. 5 drives below 2. 5 gets by 17 for fourth. 11 goes another lap down.

The seventh caution comes out on lap 325 for debris. 31 Jeff Burton is the Lucky Dog, and back on the lead lap. eighteen cars are now on the lead lap. 24 has a long pit stop. 48 comes out of the pits first and chooses the outside. 42 and 17 get by 5. 2 gets by 5. 2 tries to get by 17 but can’t. 39 gets by 14. 5 drives under 2 for fourth. 5 gets by 17 for third. 14 gets back by 39.

The eighth caution comes out when 78 Regan Smith looses it coming off turn 4. 12 gets into 78 and 19 and 1 get collected. 34 John Andretti zips by on the top forcing 19 into 1. 83 Brian Vickers is the Lucky Dog. 24 has a stop of 12.6 seconds and comes out of the pits first, but the top eleven stay out. 17 gets behind leader 48 to get by 42. 24 and 39 battle. 24 and 39 get together with 24 loosing spots. 44 gets by 24. 99 Carl Edwards and 9 get together. 44 and 39 battle for position. 44 can’t get by. 24 gets back by 44. 24 finally gets by 39 for ninth. 17 gets by 5 and 42 for second. 24 gets by 07 for eighth.

The ninth caution comes out with 32 laps to go for 77 into the wall. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is the Lucky Dog. 77 got loose trying to get by 00. 14, 39, 9, 16 come into the pits. 39 and 9 take two tires. 16 takes four. 48 takes the outside and pulls away. 2 tries to get by 42. 44 gets by 07 on the top. 9 gets by 39 on the top. 14 drives under 39. 5 slides in front of 17 for second. 14 finally gets by 39. 07 and 31 battle. 44 drives under 9.

And 48 Jimmy Johnson wins the AAA 400 after leading 271 laps, the most. 71 David Gilliland led a lap. There were four different leaders. Mark Martin stays first in the points, with Jimmy Johnson ten points behind. Matt Kenseth moves past Kyle Busch into thirteenth in points. Denny Hamlin looses three spots, and Brian Vickers looses two spots.

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Race Review Daytona 500

Welcome fans to the Daytona 500 Qualifying. The Daytona 500 is the first race of the year. And it is the only race that the line up is not determined by qualifying. Qualifying for the Daytona 500 only locks in the pole and second place positions. This year starts the new Sponsor of the pole award, Coors Lite. So they are qualifying for the Coors Lite Pole Award.

On Thursday, Feb. 12 there will be the Gatorade Duels. The way this works is the way you qualified today is how you line up on Thursday. Odd numbers line up behind the pole sitter. Even numbers line up behind the second place driver. And those races determine the line up for the Daytona 500.

Today there were 57 cars entered to try to qualify. One of them, 74 year old James Hylton, couldn’t get his car to fire up for practice. And so, was not allowed to qualify. Those locked into the top 35 in owner points from 2008 qualified first.  Followed by the rest of the cars. So, there were twenty-two cars trying to qualify for eight spots. Actually, only seven spots, since there were three Past Champions who could get locked in.

The past Champions this year, trying to get into the Daytona 500 are, in order, #14 Tony Stewart, #66 Terry Labonte and #21 Bill Elliott. Tony is now co-owner of his new team, so he has no owner points to fall back on. But he is the most recent Champion, so he will be locked in.

#24 Jeff Gordon went out first and set the pace. #5 Mark Martin knocked Jeff off the pole with a speed of 187.82. And then #1 Martin Truex, Jr. knocked Mark off with a speed of 188.00! He came out twenty-seventh. After all was said and done, #1 is on the pole and #5 will start second. Three positions are also locked in, the fastest of those not in the top 35. #21 Bill Elliott, #28 Travis Kvappil and #14 Tony Stewart. So no matter how they do in the Duels, they will race in the Daytona 500. And that also means that #66 Terry Labonte will also be in the race, since he is the past Champion and can take his provisional.

The Gatorade Duels on Thursday will determine starting spots 3-39. Positions 40-42 will be determined by the fastest cars not already qualified for the Daytona 500. And 43rd goes to the past Champion, if needed. If Terry races his way in, a third car will get in on speed. Complicated, I know but that’s how this first race has always been done. You see, the first race of the Season is also the “Super Bowl”. So, everything about the race is special.

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