NASCAR Race Review: Lucas Oil 200

Welcome NASCAR race fans to my NASCAR blog. This race review of the Lucas Oil 200 is coming to you from the Monster Mile, Dover International Speedway. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series raced late Friday afternoon. 66 Justin Marks sits on the pole with 2 Kevin Harvick in his Bad Boy Truck starting second. 2 charges around 66 to lead the first lap. 33 Ron Hornaday gets by 66 and 18 Kyle Busch for second.

The first caution comes out 99 J. R. Fitzpatrick getting into the wall in turn two. 1 Jeffrey Earnhardt gets back onto the lead lap. 2 chooses the outside with team mate 33 inside. 18 gets by 33 for second, then takes the lead. 60 Rookie Cole  Whitt gets by 33 for third then by 2 for second.33 is falling back.

The second caution comes out on lap 45. 46 Craig Goess looses it. 39 Shane Sieg gets his lap back. 88 Matt Crafton gets by 2 for third. The third caution comes out for 32 Brad Sweet spinning off turn two. 60 and 2 battle side by side for second and 2 finally gets by. The fourth caution comes out when 4 Ricky Carmichael spins into the wall in turn three. Something broke loose. 31 James Buescher gets his lap back. 30 Todd Bodine is smoking and heads for the garage.

88 gets by 29 Parker Kligerman for fourth. Green Flag Pitting starts and 88 takes the lead. 13 Johnny Sauter is too fast entering the pits and gets Black Flagged to come back into the pits for a pass-through. 81 David Starr leads. 17 Timothy Peters leads. 20 Johanna Long leads, then pits. 18 is back in the lead.

The fifth caution is for debris 8 Nelson Piquet, Jr. gets back onto the lead lap. At the restart 23 Jason White leads. 60 takes the lead and pulls away from 18. 33 slides and 88 gets by. The sixth caution comes out on lap 178 when 77 Justin Lofton spins into the inside wall.13 Johnny Sauter gets his lap back. 60 chooses the outside but Cup driver 18 takes the lead. (He’s just so much better than the Rookie Truck driver.)

The seventh caution comes out for spinning 46. 9 Max Papis gets his lap back. 18 chooses the inside and they go Green with 9 laps to go. The eighth caution comes out for 29 spinning in turn three, trying to get around 3 Austin Dillon. 39 is again the lucky Dog. They go Green with five laps to go.

The ninth caution comes out after the White Flag was thrown and 18 Cup driver 18 kyle Busch wins the Lucas Oil 200 beating the Truck drivers again. NOT what I came to see. Cole Whitt, Matt Crafton and Austin Dillon were denied a win in the NASCAR Camping World Series by a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver. That’s Kyle Busch. The best Minor League driver ever. The only other driver in the field with a cup win was Kevin Harvick. Sure sounds like media hype to me.

NASCAR Racing At The Monster Mile

Welcome NASCAR race fans to my NASCAR blog. Friday at Dover International Speedway starts out with qualifying for the Lucas Oil 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. It seemed to me the announcers are expecting you to be home watching instead of at the track. The Tower wasn’t working right so I didn’t get to see many of the speeds. And I had to look up who some of the drivers numbers later to find out who they were. But they got in their favorite, Kyle Busch in his 18 Truck, even though he is not a Truck driver, but rather, a Sprint Cup driver. This Camping World Truck Series fan would rather hear about the Truck drivers. 66 Justin Marks will start the Lucas Oil 200 race later this afternoon from the pole with a speed of 156.924 mph and 22.941 seconds. 2 Kevin Harvick will start second with 18 Busch third. Let’s see if these two Cup drivers can get together with each other and let a Truck driver win the race.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice for the Autism Speaks 400 took place after the Trucks qualified. 48 Jimmie Johnson ended up being the fastest , followed by 43 A. J. Allmendinger, 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 4 Kasey Kahne and 20 Joey Logano. They will have Happy Hour after the NASCAR Nationwide Series has their practice.

After the first practice for Cup, the Nationwide drivers practiced for the 5-hour Energy 200. 6 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was the fastest in practice. That’s it for now. Lucas Oil 200 coming up.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley. I love NASCAR.

NASCAR Racing At Dover

Welcome NASCAR race fans to my NASCAR blog. Coming to you live from the Monster Mile, Dover International Speedway in Dover, DE. I’m here this weekend to see all the racing action. This 1 mile concrete track is a real monster. And fun to watch. This weekend is the eleventh race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks.

I come here every year to see this great track and the top three NASCAR National Series’. Thursday afternoon the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series had practice for the Lucas Oil 200 race. Qualifying will be Friday morning and the race will be on Friday late afternoon. 88 Matt Crafton was the fastest in the first practice. Final practice happened while I was out shopping! Sorry. For tickets, try Vivid Seats.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series will practice for the 5-hour Energy 200 on Friday and qualify and race on Saturday. I have to wonder why the Truck and Nationwide races are the same length.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series will practice for the Autism Speaks 400 after the Camping World Trucks qualify and again after the Nationwide cars practice. Coors Light pole Qualifying will take place on Saturday after the Nationwide qualifying. The race is on Sunday. I’ll have more as I can get online.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley. I love NASCAR.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season Review

Welcome NASCAR race fans to my NASCAR blog. The 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season has come to an end. I won’t be looking forward to the weekends, but rather to February when the 2011 season begins. This year Jimmie Johnson again made history by winning his fifth consecutive Championship. But I have to wonder how long his reign will last. Is the chase for the Sprint Cup the reason he is doing this year after year? Or, is he just that good of a driver?

Jamie McMurray started the season out strong, winning the Daytona 500, the Super Bowl, if you will at Daytona International Speedway. He went on to win the prestigious Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Jamie failed to make the chase for the Sprint Cup.

Denny Hamlin had a record year. After winning the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2009, he declared himself in contention to challenge Jimmie Johnson for the 2010 championship. After winning the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway, he had surgery on his knee,  injuring it playing football with friends during the off-season. Two weeks later he raced at Phoenix International Raceway in much pain, but stayed in the car to finish the race, proving to his crew that he was doing all he could for the team. They did well for him, helping him win the next two out of four races. Then after winning back to back races, he announced, “All we do is win!” He promptly stopped winning. (Never say something like that out loud. Lady Luck will bite you.) Denny won again at Richmond International Raceway, starting the chase on top of the points with one more win than Jimmie Johnson. He won once again at Martinsville, bringing his wins to seven,and winning again at Texas for his best ever eight wins in a season. He faltered at Phoenix, pitting for fuel with very few laps left in the race and his points lead dwindled to only 15 ahead of Johnson. Johnson proved to be no match for Hamlin in that final race, where he spun himself out early in the race. Denny finished the season in second by 39 points. Maybe he can have as good a year next year and again challenge Johnson. (But I would suggest he not brag about how good he is.)

Kevin Harvick had a stellar 2010 season, leading the points for most of the regular season, winning the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona and the Carfax 400 at Michigan International Speedway. With the chase rules, he started the chase in third and finished there, 41 points behind Johnson. Kevin raced his heart out all season and had the most points of anyone all year, yet he fell short in the chase, staying in third. Perhaps something is wrong with the chase so that the points leader after the regular season is not leading when the chase begins.

This year Jimmie Johnson was not as stellar as he was in previous championship seasons. He did have five wins during the regular season, to Denny’s six, and won the second race in the chase at Dover International Speedway. This was the first year he was not leading the points heading into the finale at Homestead. But he outran the other contenders, finishing second. That was all that was needed for his fifth championship in a row. And owner, Rick Hendrick, now has the most championships with ten.

I have to include Carl Edwards in my review. His last win was the finale in 2008. He made the chase without any wins. But finished the season strong, winning the final two races at Phoenix and Homestead. Now he has momentum heading into the 2011 season.

NASCAR is talking about perhaps tweaking the chase once again. I have to add that in my opinion the chase would not be needed if more points were given to the drivers for wins all season. The driver with the most wins, wins the championship, right? But if the chase is here to stay, despite fans not liking it and ratings proving that, perhaps a good change would be to put the regular season points leader at the top to start the chase. I personally do not like a playoff system where all 43 drivers are still racing. The media likes it however, as it gives them lots to talk about. But manufactured excitement rarely makes things more exciting. And neither does talking about 12-15 drivers all season long when there are 43 drivers competing all season long. I’m not sure the sponsors care for it either. After Harvick finished poorly all 2009 season, his sponsor, Penzoil moved to Penske  and Kurt Busch, who is the first champion with the chase system. He almost won the championship for Penzoil and would have won it all if there were no chase. But that’s just my opinion as a die hard fan.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley. And I love NASCAR.

NASCAR Race Review: AAA 400

Welcome NASCAR race fans to my NASCAR blog. The AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway is the 28th race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and the second race in the chase for the Sprint Cup. In my opinion, the chase is chasing away a lot of fans. The whole section around turn 3 was closed off and fans were missing all around the track. I love Dover, but I must admit, I don’t go to the chase race.

48 Jimmie Johnson starts from the pole with 43 A. J. Allmendinger right beside him. Dover is the concrete “Monster Mile” in Dover DE. 26 Jeff Green, 64 Josh Wise and 66 Ted Musgrave failed to qualify for the race. 34 Tony Raines had a transmission change. 5 Mark Martin failed post-qualifying inspection and his speed was disallowed. Both will start from the rear. The chase points leader, 11 Denny Hamlin does not have a very good record at this track amoung the rest of the chase drivers. Let’s see how he does. Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race here in Dover on Saturday. Let’s see if he can make it a double win for the weekend. A chaser has always won this race and the points leader after this race has never gone on to win the championship. Just so you know.

So, here we go! 48 chooses the outside and leads from the pole. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya gets by 11 for fourth. 14 Tony Stewart and 31 Jeff Burton get by 82 Scott Speed. (after 8 laps they go to a commercial) During the commercial, 43 takes the lead. 24 Jeff Gordon and 39 Ryan Newman battle for twelfth, with 24 taking the spot. 16 Greg Biffle gets by 11 for fifth. Regular season points leader, 29 Kevin Harvick has never won at Dover.

The first caution comes out on lap 39. The cover fell off one of the caution lights. 43 leads them to the pits. 48 has trouble on the left side. 34 Travis Kvapil gets the free pass back onto the lead lap. 43 leads them back out of the pits. 2 Kurt Busch and 48 battle for sixth, but 48 slams the door. 14 took two tires for position, but is now really loose. 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. gets close to 83Reed Sorenson. 31 and 77 touch as 31 takes the position away.

The second caution comes out when 39 gets loose into 00 David Reutimann and 00 hits the wall. 09 Bobby Labonte gets back onto the lead lap and 00 stays on the lead lap after repairs. There was trouble for the 29 pit crew when one crew member fell and injured his hand. 17 Matt Kenseth gets by 99 Carl Edwards. 42 and 16 battle for third. 48 and 16 battle and 48 gets by. 16 gets below 48 and they battle some more. But 48 keeps the position. 2 and 11 battle and 2 gets by. 11 and 18 Kyle Busch battle with 24 and 17 right behind. 1 Jamie McMurray gets by 33 Clint Bowyer with fresher tires. 48 gets by 42 for third. 56 Martin Truex, Jr. in second thinks he ran over some debris, as he has a vibration. 1 has a vibration.

34 Travis Kvapil gets into the wall. 43 starts Green Flag Pitting. There is a 35 mph speed limit on pit road. 56 takes the lead. 56 pits and 20 joey Logano leads. 83 leads when 20 pits. 14 is too fast entering the pits and has to make a drive through. He is now two laps down. 09  leads when 83 pits. After it all, 43 resumes the lead, way ahead of the field. 11 gets by 42 for sixth. 29 drives by 1 for thirteenth. 42 is loose and gets sideways. 17 gets by 42 for seventh. 99 gets by 42 for eighth. 33 and 31 get by 1. 33 gets loose, goes sideways, saves it, then gets into the wall. 99 gets by 17 for seventh.

43 gets loose and pits, putting 48 in the lead. 43 had debris on the tire and it almost blew. Good thing he pitted. 33 pits, speeds and has to pit again. 17 tries to pit, can’t get slowed up, misses the pit entrance and has to go back around. He blows the tire after flat spotting the tires trying to slow down. The third caution comes out for debris. 19 Elliott Sadler gets back on the lead lap. 43 will take the wave around and stay on the lead lap, as he had just pitted. the 56 pit crew almost had a tire get away. 2 gets a speeding penalty as he sped up to his pit stall.

48 chooses the outside for the restart. 11 and 20 race side by side for fifth. 31 drives under 11 for sixth. 99 gets by 11 for seventh. 56 has a loose wheel and pits. He stalls the car getting out of the pits and breaks the axle! 18 races into second. 20, 24, 31 and 99 are all racing together. 31 and 99 get by 24. 99 gets by 31 for fourth.  18 gets into the wall. 9 Kasey Kahne gets loose and takes off up the track. 5 is up to eleventh after starting in 42nd.

Green Flag Pitting starts again. 2 leads when leader 48 pits. 48 slowed too much entering pit road and looses time. 78 Regan Smith is caught speeding and speeds when he comes back in. 48 remains the leader after it all.

The fourth caution is for debris. 19 Elliott Sadler is again the Lucky Dog. 18 comes out of the pits first to lead. 20 takes second from 48. 99 and 43 both get loose and both of them save their cars. 43 gets around 5 for eleventh. 20 blocks 48 from taking second. 48 gets around 20 for second. 39 Ryan Newman and 43 battle for tenth and 43 finally clears 39. 48 closes in on leader 18. 48 takes the lead. (“New leader… 48”) 18 tries to battle back but 48 stays in the lead. 31 gets by 20 for third. 31 and 18 battle for second and 31 finally takes the spot.

With 500 to go, there is Green Flag Pitting again. 2 leads when 48 pits. 99 leads when 2 pits. 24 lost a lug nut. 48 is back into the lead. (We come back from commercials with 5 laps to go!) 48 sails to the Checkered Flag. 48 Jimmie Johnson wins the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. This was Jimmie’s sixth win this year, tying point leader, Denny Hamlin. This win was Jimmie’s 53rd career win. (Look out chase. Here comes Jimmie!) Jimmie started on the pole, led the most laps and won the race. That’s all you could ask for.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley. I love NASCAR.