Jimmie Johnson had an excellent day as he was out on the track running and testing the rubber that is available from Goodyear. This was something that I was expecting to see Johnson achieve and he didn’t disappoint in Friday’s qualifying session at the Monster Mile. He went around the high-banked, concrete surface of the track in a fast 22.878 seconds, at an average of 157.356 miles per hour, to take the pole-position in Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover. This average speed is just a shade under the 158.026 miles per hour average he achieved in the opening practice session.

This result for Johnson came with him starting as the 28^th driver to take to the track at Dover to qualify for Sunday’s competition. A track where he has four career wins, including a win in the May’s race at Dover.

Johnson just beat Juan Montoya’s 156.699 mile per hour average which he achieved in his No. 42 Chevrolet, which is surprising since Montoya was the first driver to take to the track during Friday’s qualifying session. Despite Montoya’s fast time, it was very apparent once Johnson for on the track that unless he made a major mistake he was going to take the pole position for Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. Juan went out there and let it all hang out and gave it his best try, but if you have the second fastest car, it’s hard to come first.

Kasey Kahne needed to have a fast qualifying round at Dover to try to make up for his 39^th place finish in the opening round of the Chase. He really needed at least a top ten finish Sunday to recover and put himself in a better position. He ended up qualifying sixth for Sunday’s race, which should be good enough to allow him to get a good start Sunday.

Ryan Newman had the third fastest time of the day, followed by Greg Biffle, David Reutimann, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Sam Hornish Jr. and Paul Menard rounded out the top ten qualifiers for Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

Jimmie Johnson Captures Pole for AAA 400

Kasey Kahne is ready for the Chase

Hamlin shares the spotlight in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 with Brian Vickers, who had the best night of all the racers, despite not winning the race. Brian managed to do something few other racers have ever done in the history of the Chase, drive himself into the Chase on his last chance of the Sprint Cup year. Brian was competitive all night long and when it counted he stepped up and took advantage of his chance to finish seventh on this .75-mile short track. Brian’s seventh place finish also knocked 25^th place finisher Matt Kenseth out of 12^th place in the race for the Chase, and beats 5^th place finisher Kyle Busch out for the 12^th and final spot in the Chase, by 8 points. Kyle Busch had a pretty good year and losing out by 8 points to the drivers he was battling all year long, is no disgrace.

The drivers that have punched their tickets to the Chase are sitting back and having a cold one by now. Enjoying the moment, just for one beer, before getting back to work on preparing for the 10 race Chase that’s about to begin. The seeding for the first race will be decided according to the number of victories each of the 12 drivers achieved during the 26 race 2009 Sprint Cup season. Mark Martin will be the top seed, just ahead of Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson, who are ten points ahead of Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne. Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Brian Vickers are all tied at 5,010 points, while Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Juan Montoya and Greg Biffle are the bottom seeds.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

Hamlin Punches his own Ticket to the Chase

Kasey Kahne is ready to race

Carl Edwards has a winless record at Richmond and just three top ten finishes in 10 races at this tough and challenging track. Carl has had a rough ride in his car lately, finishing 37^th at Atlanta, but before that he had finished in the top 20 in 13 consecutive races. Edwards needs to finish 24^th or better at Richmond to make the Chase, but in three previous races at Richmond, he has failed to do so.

Kasey Kahne has been running fast and confidently on a NASCAR track lately, but with only four top ten finishes at Richmond, in eight starts, this might be a tall order for this confident racer. Kahne needs to finish 21^st or better at Richmond, and he has failed to do so in five of his 11 career races at this venue, which includes a 29^th place finish during the spring competition.

Kurt Busch should have a good race at Richmond, if the lady luck doesn’t burn him. Busch has one victory, two top-five finishes, and has finished in the top ten five times in 17 races at Richmond. He has had a good time at this venue in his past five starts, with four top twelve finishes, including finishing fifth and ninth. Kurt Busch needs to finish 2oth or better at Richmond to make the Chase, and he has done this 10 times during the 17 times he has raced at Richmond.

Juan Montoya‘s average finish at Richmond is 28^th, but he only has five starts at this venue, so we probably don’t have enough information to give us a good idea of his chances. He only has one top ten finish during his five starts at Richmond, so he still needs to figure out how to race and drive at Richmond. Montoya needs to finish at least 18^th at Richmond but he has only done this once.

Ryan Newman has an average finish of 12^th at Richmond and this is his third best track statistically. In his 15 starts at Richmond, Newman has one victory, five top five finishes, and nine top ten finishes. Expect him to have a good day, if Lady Luck gives him a hand along the way, and he can stay out of trouble.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

Chevy Rock Roll 400 Runs This Saturday

Kasey Kahne will need to have another good result in Richmond to make the Chase

Carl Edwards needs to finish at least 24^th at Richmond to make the Chase but he had a 216 point lead over 13^th place racer Brian Vickers three races ago and this has dwindled to 105 points. Kasey Kahne must finish at least 21^st Saturday night at Richmond or he’ll be watching from the stands. This is despite just winning his second race of the Sprint Cup Series season and jumping five spots in the race for the Chase. The rest are in similar positions, but they don’t need to finish as well as these two gentlemen, who are sitting on the edge, looking down at the rocks.

The last race before the Chase, the Chevy Rock and Roll 400, runs this Saturday night on the pavement of Richmond International Raceway (7 p.m. ET, ABC). This competition is going to be one of the most important and pivotal races of the 2009 Sprint Cup Series and will help determine all the stops as NASCAR gets ready for the Chase.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

Race for the Chase is About to Boil Over

Kasey Kahne takes the victory in the Pep Boys Auto 500

Kasey Kahne raced away from Harvick and third place finisher Juan Montoya, after a caution due to Clint Bowyer’s spin on Lap 309 of the scheduled 500. This event erased the sizable lead Harvick had built up with fast racing and consistency, and due to a car that was faster in the longer stretches, but no match for Kahne during the shorter runs. Kasey Kahne was helped out by his team and excellent pit stops during the race that saved him considerable time. His time came with just eleven laps to go at the end and he stepped on the gas and took advantage like a real professional.

Kasey Kahne wasn’t the only racer that had a good day as Juan Montoya moved into eighth position in the race for the Chase, 88 points ahead of his closest competitor, Brian Vickers. Mark Martin had a fast and steady race and remains 10^th in the Chase standings but he increased his lead over the racer in thirteenth position to 69 points.

Matt Kenseth made the save of the night as he scraped by wall in the early part of the race, which meant his team had to do a little magic and they came through for him. They repaired his car and even improved the steering enough for him to make up for the mistake and finish 12^th in this race. This keeps him 12^th in the Chase standings, 20 points ahead of Brian Vickers. Kyle Busch is currently 14^th in the race to the Chase and with his 13^th place finish in this race; he is 37 points behind Kenseth.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

Kasey Kahne Wins the Pep Boys Auto 500

Sunday's Toyota/SaveMart 350

Kahne had to fight off early challenges by the field, but once he got up to speed the quality of his ride and driving skill started to take over. He had to fight-off a late charge by road-course guru Tony Stewart through a series of double-file restarts at the end of the race, the last time due to Scott Speed’s disastrous spin during Lap 108, and just beat Stewart to the line to take the win. This was just one of seven caution flags of the day that was filled with bangs and crashes on the track and a few off the track as well. This was Kasey’s first win of the 2009 Sprint Cup NASCAR season and the tenth in his short career, but certainly not his last.

Marcos Ambrose had a good run, he had difficulty in the opening laps, but after beginning at the rear due to the changing of an engine, he was able to chase down the leaders for third, and if the race had been a few more laps the ending might have been a little different.

Jimmie Johnson had a difficult day, he had to recover from a speeding penalty in pit lane that put him behind but after battling through to the end, he was able to take fourth place. Denny Hamlin lead in Sunday’s Toyota/SaveMart 350 for 33 laps of the race, which was second to Kasey Kahne’s 37 laps in the lead, but had a few problems near the end of the race and finished fifth. Juan Montoya had a difficult day but managed to finish sixth, A. J. Allmendinger ran at a steady speed to take seventh, Clint Bowyer managed eighth. Jeff Gordon had a few problems getting through the field and finished ninth, while Elliot Sadler finished up the top ten in the Toyota/SaveMart 350 held at Infineon Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

Kasey Kahne Wins the Toyota/SaveMart 350

Kasey hopes Budweiser will put their support behind him for the 2009 Sprint Series. The king still resides over his court

Anheuser-Busch hasn’t announced who they’re going to throw their sponsorship behind for 2009. They may go with Kasey Kahne, who they sponsored in 2008, after the departure of Dale Earnhardt Jr. for Hendricks Motorsports at the end of 2007. But they estimate they only received around 12 million in benefits due to this arrangement, less than fifty percent of the exposure value they received using Dale Earnhardt Jr., so they might be looking around for someone they figure is a little more high-profile to help them return a little more value for their dollar.

Budweiser put their money behind Kahne in 2008

Kasey Kahne is probably crossing his fingers and planning on Budweiser continuing their relationship, it’s hard to find sponsors in the current economic climate and I’m sure the last thing we wants to do is find a new sponsor for 2009. Budweiser on the other hand, is probably wishing Richard or Dale were still available, instead of being otherwise occupied.

Post from: EveryJoe

Anheuser-Busch Drops Sponsorship for Kenny

After rain canceled Friday’s qualifying session, the field lined up based on their order in the car owner’s points standings, setting Kyle Busch out on the pole position for the start of the race. Kyle led the first lap before handing it over to Dale Earnhardt Jr, who started on the outside of the front row. As Busch dropped back to third in the running order, Earnhardt gradually expanded his lead through the next 28 laps, but found himself in 6th after the field completed their first round of green flag pit stops.

Kyle Busch once again took the race lead on lap 30, and was still in charge when the first caution of the day came out on lap 47. NASCAR made the decision to waive the yellow due to debris on the track that was a result of some loose gravel that had been kicked up on the track. The caution was a huge break for Jimmie Johnson who had just pitted a few laps earlier when he had a rear left tire going down, but because he was running up in the top-five at the time, he was able to make his stop without losing a lap. Once pit road opened up, 14 cars remained on the track, including Johnson. Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart – running 1st and 2nd at the time – also elected to stay out.

Kyle Busch was still the race leader when the field went back to green, but the most impressive story to this point was Marcos Ambrose, who was driving the no. 21 Wood Brothers Ford. He was forced to start dead last due to the car’s position in owner points, but had worked his way all the way up inside the top-15 for the restart.

Kyle Busch moved to the side to allow his teammate, Tony Stewart, to lead a lap and pickup the 5 extra bonus points on lap 53, but Tony returned the favor and let Kyle go back by the following lap, and that was the only movement up front until the leaders again came into pit on lap 56. Juan Pablo Montoya and Jimmie Johnson each led a lap during the exchange of green flag stops. Johnson came into pit on lap 58, which handed the lead back over to Dale Earnhardt Jr.

With more than a 25 second lead, Earnhardt was the only car still out on the track that had not yet made his final pit stop. Despite continuing to lose a second per lap to the 2nd and 3rd place cars, Tony Eury Jr. – crew chief for the no. 88 team – elected to keep Earnhardt out on the track, but the call completely backfired when NASCAR waived the second caution flag on lap 64. The caution was again for loose gravel that Travis Kvapil kicked onto the track when he ran off the track. Earnhardt was forced to pit while the other race leaders remained out on the track, and with just 25 laps remaining, he lined up 37th for the restart.

Kyle Busch was once again deemed the race leader by virtue of Earnhardt’s misfortunes with Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman chasing him. With the laps dwindling down, it almost looked as though we might have another caution when Sam Hornish Jr. spun PJ Jones on lap 70, but both cars were able to get going again, and NASCAR saw no reason to bring out the yellow.

The complexity of the race changed on lap 77 when Ryan Newman got into the corner too hard, resulting in a single car spin in Turn 9. Unable to get his car restarted, he had several close cars as the rest of the field tried to avoid the stalled car as it rolled back out onto the track. NASCAR eventually brought out the third caution, and luckily, the entire field was able to get around Newman without hitting him.

The fourth and final caution came with just 8 laps to go when Michael McDowell spun David Gilliland, setting off a huge multi-car crash that involved 9 cars right near the pit road entrance. Michael Waltrip, Bobby LaBonte, Sam Hornish Jr, Reed Sorenson, Max Papis, Dave Blaney, and Joe Nemechek all got caught up in the mess, and LaBonte appeared to be mildly injured as he was seen limping back to the infield care center.

After NASCAR stopped the race under red flag conditions for more than 40 minutes, they finally got the race restarted with Kyle Busch still in the lead, and behind him were Tony Stewart, Marcos Ambrose, Juan Pablo Montoya, Martin Truex Jr, and Kevin Harvick. Busch took the green flag with just five laps to go with Stewart keeping within a couple car lengths for the first few laps. With about 2 to go, though, Busch started to pull away, and Stewart’s new task became keeping the no. 21 of Ambrose in his rearview mirror. Busch went onto take the checkers, and Stewart was able to fend off Ambrose to give Joe Gibbs Racing a 1-2 finish.

Marcos Ambrose fought off Juan Pablo Montoya to hang onto third, and JPM finished 4th. Martin Truex Jr. held onto 5th to earn his first-ever top-five finish at Watkins Glen. He was followed by the 2006 winner of this event, Kevin Harvick, in 6th. 7th place went to Denny Hamlin, who capped off a solid run inside the top-ten for most of the day. Jimmie Johnson rebounded from his cut tire earlier in the race to finish in 8th. AJ Allmendinger walked away with the best NSCS finish of his career in 9th, also giving him his second top-ten in the last 3 races. Carl Edwards completed the top-ten.

Other Notables:
Matt Kenseth had a pretty quiet day, but finished 12th ….. Kasey Kahne matched his best Watkins Glen finish with a 14th place run ….. Dale Earnhardt Jr. wound up 22nd after his team’s race strategy put him in the back of the field with just over 20 laps to go ….. Jeff Gordon had an eventful day. His team had to have NASCAR black flag him to get him into the pits for the first round of stops after the team’s radio became disconnected. Gordon’s car, unfortunately, handled much like the radio, as his struggles throughout the day led to a 25th place finish ….. Robby Gordon started near the back of the pack and never was able to find his way to the front, finishing with a very disappointing 27th place finish ….. Ryan Newman’s spin on lap 77 led to a 28th place effort, as that team continues to watch their Chase hopes keep slipping away.

Kyle Busch now holds a 242 point lead on 1st in the standings, while Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson both moved past Earnhardt Jr. to take over the 2nd and 3rd spots. Tony Stewart’s back-to-back 2nd place efforts have also moved him up to 7th overall, and he now has a 138 point cushion in the Chase standings. Matt Kenseth also moved up a spot to take over the 12th and final spot in the Chase, moving Clint Bowyer back down to 13th. He’s now 22 points out of the Chase.

Grades:
the Race: 75%
Drama: 74%
Coverage: 90%
Pre-Race: 81%

Overall Grade: 78.4%

Complete Results (from nascar.com):

Sprint Cup Series Standings (from nascar.com):

Post from: EveryJoe

Rating the Race: Centurion Boats at the Glen at Watkins Glen

Lock of the Week – Tony Stewart – Top Five – 10 points
Sleeper Pick – Marcos Ambrose – Top Five – 10 points
Steer Clear of – Greg Biffle – Outside Top Fifteen – No points lost

Roc’s Picks (Watkins Glen):
1. Kyle Busch – 1st – 43 points
2. Tony Stewart – 2nd – 42 points
3. Denny Hamlin – 7th – 39 points
4. Carl Edwards – 10th – 37 points
5. Jeff Gordon – 25th – No points
6. Robby Gordon – 27th – No points

Lock of the Week – Jeff Gordon – Outside Top Fifteen – No points
Sleeper Pick – Robby Gordon – Outside Top Fifteen – No points
Steer Clear of – Kasey Kahne – Top Fifteen – (Minus) 10 points

Head-to-Head:
TZ – 219.5 points (3,597.5 cumulative)
Roc – 151 points (3,476 cumulative)

Do You NASCAR Fantasy League
Standings After Watkins Glen:
1. Dalli’s Mom
2. Vanilla Thrillaz
3. Bruce’s Team of Bits
4. TMAX Racing
5. Super Smokers
6. Team Legacy
7. raracing
8. AlexRyan
9. Jimmie’s Rockets
10. do you nascar

Post from: EveryJoe

Fantasy Follow-Up: Watkins Glen

Though they may not admit it, several drivers in the Sprint Cup garage area were probably a bit smitten when NASCAR was forced to cancel qualifying for the Centurion Boats at the Glen at Watkins Glen International on Friday. The simple fact of the matter is that several drivers near the top at points are going to receive a better starting position that they likely would have, and while it still may not exactly give them a shot at winning Sunday’s race, it obviously provides a good path towards a better finish. That would be the guys like Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne who historically get left in a position where they have to work just a little harder to keep their Chase hopes alive after a long day of racing at Watkins Glen. And, as for guys like Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and Kevin Harvick – drivers that are typically considered to be among the favorites to win anytime we go road course racing – they should be just as happy that there was no qualifying on Friday – or, at least they almost were.

Per the NASCAR rulebook, no qualifying means that the field will be set based on car owner points from top to bottom with the small caveat of the past champions provisional to be taken into account. Now, that was almost enough to keep the road course ringers from making their way into the show, but because Ron Fellows is replacing Regan Smith for DEI and PJ Jones is driving the no. 96 HOF Racing entry this weekend, both drivers had enough owner points to receive the opportunity to run on Sunday. Max Papis and Marcos Ambrose almost missed the cut as well, but with only 45 entries, they managed to squeeze by as well.

The two cars that failed to “qualify” were Brian Simo and Boris Said, both considered to be road course specialists. This marked the second year in a row that Said showed up at Watkins Glen only to watch Mother Nature end his weekend before he ever even started the engine ….. and, it was also the second year in a row that a veteran driver climbed out of their car to make room for Said’s talents and expertise. Last year it was Bill Elliott stepping out while Boris drove the no. 21 Wood Brothers car to a 14th place finish. This year, it was Kyle Petty sacraficing his no. 45 Petty Enterprises car – 40th in owner points – to give Boris yet another break.

“Boris is known around the world as one of the premier road-course racers,” said Robbie Loomis, vice president of operations at Petty Enterprises. “He’ll give us another great opportunity to assess our program. Everyone at Petty Enterprises is grateful to Boris for helping us out.”

Post from: EveryJoe

Cup Qualifying Canceled; Said in the Show Despite the Rain