Welcome NASCAR race fans to my NASCAR blog. It was a big day of NASCAR activities at ChicagoLand Speedway in Joliet, Il. on Friday. For the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, there was practice for the Geico 400. In the first practice that set the qualifying order, David Reutimann and Clint Bowyer topped the charts. They will come out last for Coors light Pole Qualifying to be held on Saturday. In Happy Hour, the final practice, Red Bull team mates, Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne were fastest. The Geico 400 will be raced Sunday afternoon.
The NASCAR Nationwide Series also had practice for the Dollar General 300. Ryan Truex in the JGR #20 car and Brad Keselowski were fastest in the first practice, while Elliott Sadler and Aric Almirola were fastest in the second practice. They will qualify and race on Saturday.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series also had practice on Friday. They also qualified for the Fast Five 225 with 32 Steve Arpin capturing the Pole with a speed of 175.507 mph and 30.768 seconds around this 1.5 mile D-shaped oval track. 2 Kevin Harvick will start second. This was Steve’s first career pole. Thirteen drivers broke the track record. 18 Kyle Busch will start fourteenth. 17 Timothy Peters had to change the engine in his Truck and qualified last, but will start from the rear. Wayne Edwards and Charles Vest failed to qualify for the race.
And now for the race review of the Fast Five 225. 2 Harvick leads the race while 32 Arpin falls back. 29 Parker Kligerman and 32 get by 4 Ricky Carmichael. 38 Mike Garvey is slow on the track and the first caution comes out for debris from his Truck. 7 Norm Benning gets back onto the lead lap. At the restart, 2 and 29 are up front. 2 takes off. 18 drives under 4 for fifth. 60 Cole Whitt and 18 battle for fifth and 18 gets by. 8 Nelson Piquet, Jr. gets by 29 for second. The temperature is rising on 60 so he must be careful not to overheat and blow the engine. 2 starts Green Flag pitting. 8 leads. 29 gets by 8 to lead. 8 leads, then pits. 3 Austin Dillon leads, then pits. 5 Todd Bodine, who pit during the first caution leads.
4 is smoking and leaking oil, which brings out the second caution. He takes the truck behind the wall. 18 and 8 lead at the restart. 2 gets by 8 and 29 for second. 18 and 2 battle side by side for the lead. 2 takes the lead. 81 David Starr gets a flat left rear tire and drives on the apron to get to pit road. 17 got loose into 81 causing the tire to go flat. The third caution comes out for debris from 81. 60 Cole Whitt gets the free pass onto the lead lap. 23 Jason White miss shifts and falls back. 2 leads with 5 and 18 behind. 18 and 5 race for second with 18 completing the pass on the outside. 3 gets by 29 for ninth. 8 and 5 race for position and 8 gets loose but catches the Truck. 8 and race again and 8 finally gets by.
3 and 5 race side by side and 3 gets by. 31 James Buescher, the points leader is having trouble. 3 gets by 8 for third in traffic. 60 gets by 33 Ron Hornaday in traffic. 2 again starts Green Flag pitting. 8 is too fast entering the pits. 6 Justin Lofton is too fast entering, but they review what happened and he gets no penalty. 18 and 2 race side by side for second with 8 right behind. 18 gets into the wall and 2 takes second. 3 pulls away
while 2 and 18 race for position. 29 gets by 18.
3 Austin Dillon wins the Fast Five 225 at Chicagoland Speedway, his fourth career win. He beat the Cup drivers who were battling each other. (It’s nice to have a Truck driver, going for the championship points, win the Truck race.) Harvick, finished second, followed by Piquet, Jr., Kligerman, Busch, Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton, Joey Coulter, Kligerman, Whitt and Bodine rounded out the top ten. Buescher stays in the points lead. Dillon gains two spots into second. Sauter drops a spot into third. peters drops a spot to fourth, followed by Hornaday. Crafton and Coulter trade spots, Kligerman and Whitt trade spots and Bodine remains in tenth.
It was fun to watch Cup drivers, Busch and Harvick racing side by side, lap after lap. They did not take each other out, and eventually, Harvick did get by. It was also great that a Truck driver won a Truck race. I liked the race, and will record the replay on Monday. Next up: Sprint Cup qualifying on Saturday. And nationwide qualifying and the Dollar General 300 race on Saturday.
Brought to you by Sheila Hawley. I love NASCAR racing.
Sprint Cup Driver Wins NNS Race
October 15, 2011Kenny Wallace is starting his 519th race, tying him for the most starts with Jason Keller. October is Breast Cancer month and many cars are pink for this race. All eyes are on the Sprint Cup drivers entered in this race. They are, after all, so much better drivers than the Nationwide drivers. Personally, I’m tired of the Cup drivers taking over the series. The only way to win the owner’s championship is to have Cup drivers in the Nationwide cars. here’s my review.
33 Menard leads from the Pole. 6 Stenhouse, Jr. falls to fifth. 11 Brian Scott and 31 Justin Allgaier race together and 31 gets by. 11 and 16 Trevor Bayne race side by side for tenth and 16 finally gets by. 18 kyle Busch gets by 60 Carl Edwards. The first caution comes out for debris (or, at least I don’t know what else might have happened.) 6, 31 and 2 Elliott Sadler take two tires and come out of the pits first. There is a fire in the 22 Brad Keselowski pit stall.
6 chooses the inside for the restart. 18 has to check up for 31 and gets shuffled back. 33 races 31 for third. 60 and 18 smack the wall, with 60 getting much damage. 33 and 31 race for third. The second caution comes out during the commercial. 82 Reed Sorenson has no power and is stuck on the track. 60 comes in for damage repairs. 38 Kasey Kahne comes in for adjustments. 33, 6 and 22 Brad Keselowski are three wide for the lead. 22 takes the lead. 2 gets around 6. 33 drives under 6 and slides on front of him. 33 drives under 2 for third. 18 and 20 Joey Logano get by 6. 09 Kenny Wallace gets by 99 Ryan Truex. 16 gets by 6 for sixth. Ricky had trash onhis grill and had to get behind someone to get it off.
The third caution comes out during the commercial for debris. 22 and 33 race for the lead side by side and 33 takes the lead. 18 gets by 22 for third. 22 takes the lead. 38 gets by 66 Steve Wallace. 66 scrapes the wall. Something is loose in 6. 6 gets by 16 for fifth. There is a round of Green Flag pitting. The fourth caution comes out when 99 gets into the wall after he blew the right front tire. 18 gets out of the pits first. 20 drives under 18 and 22 takes the lead. 2 and 60 race side by side for fifth. 33 has a vibration and makes a pit stop.
60 gets by 2 for fifth. 16 and 32 Brian Vickers race with 11 right behind. 16 gets by.11 gets by 32. 11 and 32 race side by side and 32 gets by. 31 races 11 and 31 gets by. The fifth caution comes out during the commercial. 22 gets loose with 18 nearly getting into him trying to get by. 22 has a tire puncture and swerves around, causing the caution. 6 and 2 race side by side for the lead and 2 takes the lead. 18 gets by 6 for second. 18 takes the lead. 6 gets by 2 for second. 38 slides into the wall and makes a pit stop.
The sixth caution comes out for debris from 38 getting into the was several laps before. They go Green with twelve laps to go. 18 leads and chooses the outside. 6 has trouble getting going. 20 and 6 race for second. 2 gets by 6. 20 and 60 race for second. 60 gets loose,but tries again. 60 gets by 20. 16 gets close to 20, 20 gets loose and gets into the wall, bringing out the seventh caution. 6 gets by 2 when had so slow for 20 but the scoring loop puts 2 ahead. 18 and 60 battle for the lead. 16 pushes 60 into the lead. 16 again didn’t get going. 16 gets by 2 for third.
On the final lap 18 and 60 race for the lead. 60 Carl Edwards retains the lead and wins the Dollar General 300 miles of courage. Elliott Sadler wins
the $100.000 along with a fan and his wife. The top four NNS drivers were 16, 2, 11, 31. Carl does his flip and joins the fans in the stands.
Kyle Busch finished second, followed by Bayne, Sadler, Scott, Keselowski, Allgaier, Menard, Stenhouse and Vickers for the top ten. In Nationwide points Stenhouse retains the lead over Sadler by 15 points. Aric Armirola and Allgaier gain a spot while Sorenson looses two spots. Leffler and Kenny Wallace stay in sixth and seventh while Scott and S. Wallace trade places. Michael Annett stays in tenth.
Brought to you by Sheila Hawley. I love NASCAR racing.
Tags:Charlotte Motor Speedway, Coors Light Pole Qualifying, Dash 4 Cash, Dollar General 300, NASCAR blog, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR race fans
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