NASCAR News: Kasey Kahne to Drive for Red Bull

Welcome NASCAR race fans to my NASCAR blog. The big news this week is about Kasey Kahne. His contract with Richard Petty Motorsports is ending at the end of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season in 2010. earlier this year he announced he would not be renewing his contract. Rick Hendrick signed Kasey onto his Rick Hendrick Motorsports organization. But since Mark Martin is signed up until the end of 2011, there was no place for Kasey there until 2012. Rick promised Kasey a ride for 2011.

After a few months Red Bull Racing announced they signed Kasey for 2011. Kasey made the chase for the Sprint Cup last year. This year he is mired in the 20’s in points. Gillette-Evernham merged with Yates racing at the end of 2009 and became Richard Petty Motorsports and are now racing in Fords. The Fords are not doing very well this year on the track. That may have had something to do with Kasey’s decision to move on.

Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kasey was complaining about the brakes not working and crashed the car because there were no brakes. The car was brought to the garage for repairs. Kasey, however left the track while repairs were being made, complaining of being sick. J. J. Yeley finished the race for RPM. A crew member accused Kasey of not doing his part for the team. Kasey claims he can’t drive the cars that are prepared for him.

Wednesday night RPM released Kasey from his contract. Brian Vickers has been out of his 83 Red Bull car for most of the season with blood clots. Reed Sorenson has been in that car for most of the season. Kasey will be in the 83 car for the rest of the season. This weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is in Martinsville, Va. Aric Almirola was to drive the 83 car, but will now pilot the 9 car that Kasey vacated.

Qualifying at this tight little 1/2 mile track will be later today, with the race on Sunday. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is also at Martinsville this weekend and will qualify later on Friday and race on Saturday. The NASCAR Nationwide Series is at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, IL. They will qualify Saturday morning and race Saturday afternoon.

Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin have won the last six races at Martinsville. They are first and second in points heading into Martinsville. I’m looking forward to a great race. Talk to you later.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley. I love NASCAR.

NASCAR’s 2009 Top 12

Welcome NASCAR race fans to my review of the finishers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. As you’ll recall, #83 Brian Vickers finished 12th, #99 Carl Edwards finished 11th and #9 Kasey Kahne finished 10th. Finishing in 9th, is #39 Ryan Newman.

At the end of 2008, Ryan left his Penske Dodge team to join Tony Stewart in Tony’s new Stewart-Haas team. Ryan didn’t make the Chase in 2008, but he did this year with his new team. However, he did not have a win this year, and started the Chase for the Sprint Cup in tenth, behind Carl Edwards, who was higher in points after 26 races.

The first two races at New Hampshire and Dover went well, both with top 10 finishes, moving him up to seventh in points. His 22nd place finish in Kansas brought him back down to tenth. A fifteenth place finish at Auto Club Speedway in California and eleventh at Lowes were followed by a top ten finish of seventh at Martinsville.

Then came Talladega, where he ended the race with a spectacular crash, having Ryan flying through the air and landing with the hood of his car on the hood of the #29 car of Kevin Harvick before finally landing on the roof. That caused a Red Flag for clean-up and to turn the car right side up so Ryan could get out of the car. The caution happened with five laps to go. Ironically, it was team mate and owner #14 Tony Stewart that got him airborne. Ryan finished 36th and dropped a spot to eighth.

In Texas, he finished 12th, but fell another spot when #11 Denny Hamlin finished second. Phoenix has never been good to Ryan, but he did manage to finish 20th, keeping his ninth place in the points.

In the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami, he only finished 23rd, leaving Ryan in ninth place for the year. Not a stellar season for Ryan, but by no means terrible in his first year with Stewart-Haas Racing. (The #12 car that he left, finished 32nd in points with David Stremme behind the wheel.)

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Check out my store

Check out the new NASCAR News blog

How am I doing? Feel free to leave a comment.

Need tickets?

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

Pocono 500

Long Pond, Pa.

Welcome, race fans. This is the fourteenth race of the season. At the triangular shaped 2.5 mile track in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. The only car that didn’t make it into the race was #96 J. J. Yeley. Why 44 cars couldn’t start on this big of a track, is beyond me. But I don’t make the rules. Dario Franchitti is back in the 40. 70 today is Jason Leffler from the Nationwide Series. He also competed in that Series race at Nashville this weekend. 18 Kyle Busch crashed his car in practice, as did 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. Both will start from the rear. 29 Kevin Harvick left his ignition switch on all night, and it drained his battery. He had to get a new battery to start the car, and will also start from the rear. 21 is Bill Elliott, who made it in on speed. 45 is Terry Labonte, in for Newscaster this week and all TNT televised races, Kyle Petty. He got in with a past Champion provisional. 9 Kasey Kahne is on the pole.
48 Jimmy Johnson leads the first lap. 99 Carl Edwards is moving up on the bottom of the track. 84 A. J. Allmendinger, 01 Regan Smith and 20 Tony Stewart are three-wide. 84 kept the car off 20 and looses the spot. 9 and 48 battle for the lead. 9 takes the lead. 18 gets by29 for thirty-fifth. 11 Denny Hamlin gets by 2 Kurt Busch for ninth. And here, race fans, our electricity went out with a severe thunder storm. So I missed the first two cautions. 2 went spinning, but stayed on the lead lap. The lights come back on after the second caution, with cars exiting pit road. Forty-two laps are complete. 1 Martin Truex, Jr. stays out to lead. 48 takes the lead and 11 gets by 1.
The third caution involves 18. He wasn’t clear of 26 Jamie McMurray when he tried to slide in front of him, and 26 doesn’t let off. 18 goes to the garage. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and 24 Jeff Gordon battle. 88 gets by. 11 gets by 8 Mark Martin for third. When 11 was getting out of the pits, he hit another car with his right front. And there is some damage. 9 gets by 99 for fifth. The fourth caution comes out when 10 Patrick Carpentier and 77 spin together. 9 has to come back into the pits. They were going to take four tires, but decided on only two after they had lug nuts off. So they have to pit again to get those tires changed. 83 Brian Vickers stays out to lead. 6 David Ragan got into 31 Jeff Burton trying to miss the cone on the way out of the pits. Forty-two cars are on the lead lap.
48 quickly takes the lead. 11 pushes 99 past 16 Greg Biffle. The fifth caution comes out for 77 and 20 spinning together again. They collect 38 David Gilliland. 45 makes it past all that spinning. There is rain on the track, and we go to a Red Flag with the pace car leading everyone into the pits to dry the track. They dry the track, and the restart is on lap seventy-four. 48 is leading. 84 gets by 16 for seventh. The sixth caution comes out for 07 Clint Bowyer spinning in the pits. 42 of Juan Pablo Montoya is on fire. 07 started spinning out of control and 42 got into him while he was spinning. Montoya drives to the fire trucks to get out of the car. And they take their time putting the fire out.
Six cars stay out. 48 is first out of the pits. So, at the restart, it’s 19 Elliott Sadler, 43 Bobby Labonte, 22 Dave Blaney, 1, 11, 45, 48, 16, 99 and 20 in the top ten. 1 pushes 8 to gain position. 11 catches 19. 11 and 19 battle for the lead. 11 takes the lead. 8 and 43 battle. 48 and 99 get by 19 for second and third. 2 soars by 17 Matt Kenseth and 20. 12 Ryan Newman and 31 battle. 31 hangs on. 9 is up to seventh from thirty-third after the lug nut issue. 19, 43, 20 and 1 pit.
The seventh caution comes out for 55 Michael Waltrip who got into the wall. 45 Terry Labonte is the Lucky Dog. Out of the pits, it’s 88, 16, 9, 99, 11, 17, 48. 19, 20, 43 and 1 had just pitted before the caution and stay out. 20 takes the lead. 9 and 11 battle. 11 gets by 88 for sixth. 99 gets by 88 for seventh. 16 gets by 19 for second. The eighth caution comes out when 38 and 40 get together and 40 gets into the wall. 70 also has damage. 16 takes two tires and heads out before a crew member is clear. And then gets hit by 26 who is already going out of pit road. 48 and 24 stay out, with 9 out of the pits first. 9 gets by 24. 20 gets by 24. 16 gets by 24. 11 gets by 24. 9 catches 48 for the lead. 17 and 99 get by 24. 2 gets by 24. 31 pushes 1 and himself past 24. 9 takes the lead. 16 pushes 20 by 48.
The ninth caution comes out again for 77 and 40. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya is the Lucky Dog. He gets one of forty-two laps back. 18 is back in the race, eighty laps behind. 16 gets by 20 for second. 11 and 99 battle. 99 gets by. 99 and 11 get by 48. 48 pits using backward pitting strategy of a road course. 8 pits. 20 goes low and 99 gets by. 16 leads, then pits. 99 leads, then pits. 83 leading. 22 is fast entering pits, and 10 is fast exiting. Both will have to go down pit road. 16 is too fast exiting and will come back in. 9 is back in the lead. Twenty-eight cars are on the lead lap. 99 and 11 battle. 99 takes second from 11. 9 and 11 pit. 20 pits and is too fast exiting.
The tenth caution comes out when 18 spins. 99 was about to pit when the caution came out and stayed on the track, as pit road had closed as he was about to enter. 17 took the lead when 99 went to pit. 10 Patrick Carpentier is the Lucky Dog. 83 is leading at the restart with nineteen to go. 88 and 83 battle for the lead. 83 stays in the lead. 20, a lap down, gets out of the way so 9 can get by.11 gets by 88 for third. 9 takes the lead. 31 gets by 48 for fifth. 43 gets into the wall.17 doesn’t hit him, and we stay green. 31 and 88 battle. 31 gets by 88. 88 goes low to get back by 31 for fourth.
And 9 Kasey Kahne wins the race from the pole position.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Visit my website:

http://www.ilovemynascar.com