NCWTS - AAA Insurance 200

(May 30, 2009) The gamble paid off for Brian Scott @ Dover. Good for his first win in the Camping World Truck Series.

He opted to stay on the track and not pit for tires with 10 laps to the finish knowing fresh tires made a difference. Scott, Dennis Setzer, Stacy Compton and Jason White stayed out after watching Kyle Busch and Colin Braun both blow right fronts. Each hit the outside wall in the same corner on lap 184.
Chris Trotman/Getty Images

"I watched all those tires blow -- it was kind of scary," Scott said. "But my crew chief (Jeff Hensley) just kept me calm and kept saying that we were getting really good tire wear. Track position at the end -- we played the game perfectly, and I commend him. There were times when I didn't think it was the right call or we were going to be in position, but it all worked out, and now we're in victory lane, baby."

Kyle Busch led the race high 133 laps out of 200. Once again, he was victim to hard luck in the closing stages of the race. It was a similar situation just three hours earlier when he lost the Nationwide Series race because of a tire problem on a restart two laps from the finish. Busch came back to score a 9th place finish.

Points leader Ron Hornaday Jr also suffered from tire issues. He slammed the wall after blowing his right front tire on Lap 34. Though he finished 26th, 157 laps down, he held onto the point lead over 2nd place Mike Skinner. Skinner finished 8th and was able to cut into Hornaday's lead from 84 points to 27.

For the (unofficial) results, click here.

There were 10 cautions for 49 laps and 12 lead changes among 9 drivers:

R. Hornaday Jr. 1-12; K. Busch 13-47; T. Bainey Jr 48; J. Benson 49-71; K. Busch 72-81; M. Skinner 82-86; K. Busch 87-101; C. Fontaine 102-106; K. Busch 107-135; C. Braun 136-139; K. Busch 140-183; D. Starr 184-186; B. Scott 187-200.

NNS - Heluva Good! 200

(May 30,2009) The name is right. We were treated to some great racin' @ Dover today!

Brad Keselowski was the surprise race winner in an ending we might not have easily seen coming."We had a great car, we put ourselves in position to win, we needed a break, and we caught a break," said Keselowski, who won his 3rd Nationwide Series race. "Don't feel guilty about it. Not one bit. I saw the 18 slow down and the 20 making a basic maneuver. I just saw a hole, went for the hole and I made it. I was there and ready for it, and it worked out."













Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR

Once again, Kyle Busch led the most laps. And once again, Busch couldn’t seal the deal. On the final restart with 2 laps to go, his teammate Joey Logano ran his front bumper into the back of Kyle’s car. Kyle incidentally had a flat right front tire. He went from first to finishing 17th. Kyle led the race high 108 laps. He’s led the most laps in 5 consecutive races, but just one win to show for it.



Logano started from the pole and led 87 laps himself. “I was trying to stay right up on him,” Logano said. “I was going to stay with him through the first corner. I got right up on his bumper. I got in the back of him. Completely my fault.” Logano said he wanted to apologize to Busch. For much of the race, the two Joe Gibbs Toyotas ran 1-2. During the incident, Kyle’s crew chief Jason Ratcliff told his driver to “keep his mouth shut”. In a post-race interview, Ratcliff said, “It wasn’t Joey’s fault. It was just one of those things where everything lined up and turned into a bad deal in a split second.”

Logano was runner-up followed by Clint Bowyer, Brian Vickers and Carl Edwards – round out the top 5.

For the (unofficial) results, click here.

There were 9 cautions for 50 laps and 7 lead changes by 5 drivers: 7 among 5 drivers:
J. Logano 1-30; M. Annett # 31; J. Logano 32-56; K. Busch 57-74; K. Wallace 75-76; J. Logano 77-108; K. Busch 109-198; Brad Keselowski 199-200.

Rivalry?

Thoughts?

On Track - Friday 5/29

It’s raining again! Severe thunderstorms moved through the Dover area before the tough truck race was supposed to get underway. Wet weather delayed the race for forty minutes before washing it out altogether @ Dover. It has been rescheduled for tomorrow following the Nationwide Series. Good news! There isn’t a chance for rain in the forecast for the rest of the weekend.

There was a lot of action on the track leading up until the showers. It all started in the morning at 9 with a press conference with the new No. 88 interim crew chief Lance McGrew and No. 88 team manager Brian Whitesell. "Everything and everybody will be evaluated," McGrew said. “The idea of having a multiple-car team is you can lean on your teammates. And you have to be within the same page to get any information. A lot of times they were not on the same page."

Camping World Truck Series qualifying started at 10:10 am
Ron Hornaday Jr won the Keystone Light Pole Award for his 21st pole in 232 truck races and 1st @ Dover. Colin Braun starts 2nd followed by Brian Scott, Johnny Sauter and Chad McCumbee.

For the starting line-up, click here.

NSCS Sprint Cup Series Practice was held from 11:30 – 1.
Fastest on the board:
1. David Reutimann
2. Kasey Kahne
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Ryan Newman
5. Jimmie Johnson

NNS Final Practice from 1:10 – 3.
1. Kevin Harvick
2. Carl Edwards
3. Kyle Busch
4. Joey Logano
5. David Ragan

11 cup regulars are on the entry list. Qualifying is scheduled for 10:10 tomorrow (Saturday) morning.

NSCS Qualifying at 3:10

David Reutimann proved if you're on a roll than you're on a roll. He posted the fastest speed during time trials for his 3rd pole in 76 cup races and 2nd this season.

Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

Kasey Kahne qualified 2nd while trying out the Dodge R6 engine for the 1st time in for Evernham Motorsports.

Juan Pablo Montoya qualified 3rd followed by Reed Sorenson, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, A.J. Allmendinger, Jimmie Johnson, Brian Vickers and Elliott Sadler - starting in the top 10.

Jeff Gordon hit the wall during his qualifying run. He'll have to start 42nd in a back-up car.



There was another Hendrick car that didn't have much more luck. Surprise Talladega race winner & Michigan native, Brad Keselowski, driving the #25 this week, was 1 of 4 drivers who failed to qualify. Lance McGrew was focusing as crew chief for the #25 this weekend but will now be able to help out on the #88 before he 'officially' takes over next week @ Pocono.

For the starting line-up, click here.

"Dale in the D"

(May 28, 2009) A week ago and in conjunction with promoting the Sprint Cup Series race on June 14th, Michigan International Speedway announced "Dale in the D" at Motor City Casino's 1,500 seat Sound Board Theater. A special invite-only event where Earnhardt would meet, greet and answer questions for GM employees and members of the Michigan National Guard. As we were making our Memorial Day plans and watching the rain @ Charlotte, little did we realize exactly what news this day would bring.

There had been some talk and rumors circulating on various racing websites as of late, would or should Earnhardt’s cousin, Tony Eury Jr be replaced as crew chief of the #88? By Noon today, team owner Rick Hendrick answered that question. Lance McGrew was named as “interim crew chief” beginning with the June 7th race at Pocono Raceway. Team manager Brian Whitesell will fill the crew chief role this weekend at Dover. "Dale in the D" started just a few hours after the official announcement was made and for obvious reasons was the first topic asked.

Earnhardt Jr sat down with media first to answer questions, before taking the stage for the "Dale in the D" event. He said, “It was a very difficult situation. Obviously, when me and Tony Jr. went to work with Rick we expected to have a lot of success and be in a totally different situation than we are now. It's really disappointing, I guess, that we aren't making that happen. It's a situation; it's a relationship that's very important to me, the one with Tony Jr. We are family and it was a pretty big risk, I guess, for me and him both to make the move. We really wanted it to work. Unfortunately, we didn't succeed. Being this is a business, Rick and the guys decided we needed to go in a new direction. I'm supportive and confident in the decisions that they make. They have a lot of great success. Obviously, there is no arguing they know how to run a race team. I want to be in a good position where I run as well as I can. We have a lot of sponsors and a lot of responsibilities to put ourselves in that situation if we want to be able to race every weekend. I'm pretty confident. I still have a good resolve and a good initiative and motivation to get up and get to the race track every weekend and try to see when we'll turn this thing around. Rick and the guys are positive about the decision that we've made to make the change in crew chief. They seem confident about the decision. That kind of makes me feel pretty good about it. It makes the team feel good. At least their aware of situation and they're willing to make changes and do whatever it takes.”

Junior went on to say, “To Rick's credit, they waited a lot longer to make this change than they probably would've considering me and Tony Jr. have a relationship like brothers. They gave us more time than anyone else probably would have gotten to try to make this work. To Tony Jr's credit, he tried everything he knew to try to give me what I needed at the race track. He worked and has always worked harder than anybody I know in the sport. The guy has devoted his entire existence to working on race cars. He's sacrificed extensive amounts to be where he is today. So it's really, really disappointing that it didn't work out, because we gave everything we have to be there. I think me and him deserved to have it work out, so it's really frustrating, but I've been through a lot tougher things. Situations like this come and go and you move forward. You've got to go out and perform under the circumstances the best we can this weekend. We'll band together and go do the job the best we can. I feel confident, I told Rick, me and Tony Jr. were aware of how delicate our situations was over the last several weeks. We knew we needed to step up our performance somehow, someway to be able to keep our situation intact. Me and Tony Jr. both told Rick throughout the last six to 10 weeks when they were looking at us closely to make the decisions they needed to make as a company and we would both support them whichever decisions they made. So that's what's happening.”

Tony Eury Jr will move into a key role with Hendrick Motorsports' research and development group. As crew chief of the #88 team, he posted one win, one pole, 19 top-10 finishes and 11 top-fives in 48 races. "I have mixed feelings, and that's just natural," Eury said. "But I enjoy working at Hendrick Motorsports, and this is where I want to be. I'll do whatever I can to help all of our teams and try to be a part of another championship. I think a new challenge will be good."

Need For Speed Race Preview: Dover

This weekend's race @ The Monster Mile marks the halfway point through the 'regular season' until the Chase begins.

Who to watch for?

Well, there's a very real chance this could be any of the drivers race to win. There have been 12 different race winners in the past 12 spring races @ Dover.

Mark Martin and current points leader, Jeff Gordon lead all active drivers with 4 Dover wins each. Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman have 3 a piece.

Even though they haven't really been "on the map" since Matt Kenseth's back-to-back season opening wins, Roush Fenway Racing excels at this track. A Roush driver has won 5 of the last 10 races @ Dover. Greg Biffle has 2 wins and finished runner-up in this race last year.

And then of course, there's Kyle Busch. Kyle is the defending Spring Dover race winner.

There have been some improvements made to the mile-concrete track since the winter including:
- longer, safer pit wall
- pit road has been widened
- all 43 pit stalls are 4 ft longer
- new apron space was created at the entrance to pit road

The good news is.... taking a look at the extended forecast for the Dover area, there's a 0% chance of rain for race day Sunday! Let's hope that won't change. There's a slight chance for wet weather on Friday & Saturday. If the rain can hold out, there won't be a lack of racin' action! It's a triple header weekend with all 3 national series @ Dover.

Friday: Camping World Truck Series - 8pm (SPEED)
Saturday: Nationwide Series - 2 pm (ABC)
Sunday: Sprint Cup Series - 1:30 pm (FOX)

Mandatory NASCAR meeting

As announced during the pre-race show before the Coca-Cola 600, there will be a mandatory driver meeting this Tuesday morning at the Research and Development Center in Concord, NC.

NASCAR chairman Brian France said a variety of issues will be discussed in a town hall meeting atmosphere. "Including what the economy has done, the sponsorship component, what's happening with the manufacturers, the new car on the track ... a lot of different things," he said. "There's many things we're going to look at, that being one of them, and see if we can make the sport better," France said. "It's to open up our communication lines with team owners and drivers. "It's just something we've wanted to do for a while."

Read more on the article at ESPN.com, click here.

5/26 UPDATE:

What we know:

NASCAR officials spent more than 4 hours in two meetings discussing with drivers and owners everything from the drug testing policy, ways to improve the "new car" and the economy.

"Hopefully, this is the beginning of a new form of communication," NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said.

You can check out interviews with several drivers to the right of this post in the video section.
The drivers interviewed seemed to all stress how positive the meeting was. This is something new in the sport and relatively unheard to get all of the drivers and team owners together for discussion. Typically we hear that a couple of drivers from time to time will be invited to the NASCAR hauler to give feedback and share ideas.

To read more at ESPN.com, click here.

NSCS - Coca Cola 340.5 (600) 5/25

David Reutimann won the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600! After over 24 hours since the scheduled start and 3 rain delays, the race was finally called after 227 of 400 scheduled laps Monday evening.

Reutimann lead just 5 laps while under caution. He was running 14th when the #00 team decided to take a gamble to stay out when the front of the field opted to follow leader Kyle Busch down pit road during a caution for rain 22 laps past the halfway point.

"Rodney told me, I'm either going to get us a win or lose us 10 spots, one or the other. It's a gamble. I said, I'll stay out. That's what he told me to do. That's what I do. When I'm told to do something, I generally do something," Reutimann said about the decision. "Man, it's fun, but it felt like I was out on pit road for a month. I wanted either the sun to come out and it quit or just pour. It just kind of stayed in between. Mike assured me that's what it needed to do, we were going to be in good shape. I told him he was crazy. I continued to tell him there was no way this was going to work."

Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

It's the 1st win for Reutimann in 75 Sprint Cup Series races. He becomes the 20th driver to win a race in NASCAR's three national series (Cup, Nationwide and Truck). The win gives Michael Waltrip Racing its first victory in a Sprint Cup race.

"It's incredible to be able to progress from where we were in '07 as a new organization, and then compete all throughout the latter half of '08 and into '09 at a level I've been really proud of," team owner and driver Michael Waltrip said. "I'm real proud of the progression and real proud of the job that David did today. Obviously his crew chief made an awesome call. I think they were surprised that more people ahead of them didn't make the same call. But what a great call. You got to be proud of the result because these things are really hard to win. David and I both have been in position to win races before, had fate take it away from us. So I like to think of this as payback. David won the race, and I couldn't be happier."

Kyle Busch didn't waste any time to get out front. Starting 2nd, Kyle took the lead on lap 3 and would lead 5 times for the race high 173 laps. He wound up 6th. Kyle also led the race-high numbers of laps in Saturday night's Nationwide Series race @ Lowe's. He lost the lead during a pit stop right before the race was called due to rain. "Weather. You can't do anything about it, really" was what Kyle had to say.

Polesitter Ryan Newman finished 2nd followed by Robby Gordon. Both followed Reutimann to the front when the others decided to pit on lap 222.

NASCAR confiscated a part of Gordon's #7 Toyota during post-race inspection. More details to follow....

There were 6 cautions for 40 laps and 3 red flag periods including an observance for the Memorial Day National Moment of Silence at 3pm with NASCAR calling the drivers to halt on the frontstretch and shut down the engines.

There 14 lead changes among 10 drivers:

R. Newman 1-2; Kyle Busch 3-42; J. Johnson 43-48; Kyle Busch 49-72; R. Gordon 73; M. Waltrip 74; S. Riggs 75-77; Kyle Busch 78-119; B. Vickers 120-130; J. Logano # 131; D. Blaney 132-133; Kyle Busch 134-144; B. Vickers 145-166; Kyle Busch 167-222; D. Reutimann 223-227.

For the unofficial race results, click here.

Jeff Gordon leads the point standings by 44 points over Tony Stewart.

Daytona Flooded

Dodging rain drops all weekend @ Lowe's, but all of the south has been getting hit by heavy rainfall - especially Florida. Thank you Charles for forwarding on Mary's pictures of Daytona International Speedway. Pictures were taken yesterday, Sunday May 24th.























Daytona International Speedway PR's Andrew Booth said there is no apparent damage. "It's a significant amount of water, but all it is, is water," Booth said. "The pictures are very dramatic. It's not a sight you usually see. We'll be good to go in July."

Over 12 inches of rain fell in Daytona over the holiday weekend. If you'd like to read further, click here for the iReport.

Coca-Cola 600 Postponed!

The Coca-Cola 600 has been postponed due to weather. The race has been rescheduled for Noon tomorrow.

There is still a chance for rain and thunderstorms for the forecast on Monday.

For Charlotte weather, click here.

2009 Indianapolis 500

It was a feel good story with a "Hollywood ending" as Helio Castroneves won the 93rd Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. And yes, he climbed the fence!

Castroneves started from the pole; led the 1st 7 laps; ran in the top 10 for much of the race; made adjustments on his car himself throughout the day; and then took over the lead on lap 142 for the final 58 laps. On the final restart with 17 laps to go, Helio jumped out in front of Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick by almost 2-seconds.

"This is incredible," he said. "I think my tears speak for everything. What a great team. I thank the Lord for giving me this opportunity, to be strong, to have a family that I have. I have to thank Roger (Penske), Tim (Cindric), my guys, everybody because they gave my life back."

It's Helio's 3rd Indy 500 win. He joins a short list of just 8 drivers that have at least 3 Indy 500 wins. It's the 20th time a polesitter won "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing". It also gave team owner Roger Penske a record 15 Indy 500 wins.

Dan Wheldon finished 2nd followed by Danica Patrick, Townsend Bell and Will Power. Last year's Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon finished 6th. He led a race high 73 laps. His Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dario Franchitti finished 7th. Franchitti led 50 laps.

There 6 lead changes among 4 drivers:

1-7 Helio Castroneves; 8-52 Dario Franchitti; 53-63 Ryan Briscoe; 64-85 Scott Dixon; 86-90 Dario Franchitti; 91-141 Scott Dixon; 142-200 Helio Castroneves

It was a crash filled race slowed by 8 cautions for 61 laps. Mario Moraes and Marco Andretti made contact on the very first lap and seemingly set the theme for the day. Andretti was able to get back out and run laps late in the race. He finished 30th. Tony Kanaan was running 3rd when something broke in his car sending him into the wall. Kanaan finished 27th. Vitor Meira's car caught on fire on pit road. After the crew extinguished the flames, he got back out on the track - only to get tangled up in a wreck on lap 174 with rookie Raphael Matos. Meira was taken to a local hospital. He was diagnosed with lower-back fractures. Surgery was not necessary, but he will need to wear a back brace.

Laps 1-6 Contact: #5 Moraes & #26 Andretti in T2
Laps 21-27 Contact: #21 Hunter-Reay in T4
Laps 57-62 Contact: #02 Rahal in T4
Laps 83-89 Contact: Car #44 Hamilton in T4
Laps 98-108 Contact: #11 Kanaan in Turn3
Laps 132-140 Contact: #00 Philippe in T4
Laps 161-166 Contact: #18 Wilson in T1
Laps 174-182 Contact: Cars #2 Matos & #14 Meira in T1

For the results, click here.

For the entire run down of the festivities and race day action, click here.