Ron Hornaday wins World Camping Truck Series

Kevin Harvick could be heard screaming into his radio after the race that they had done it and this was a great way to end the 2009 Camping World Truck Series. Kevin has won the last two races of the Camping World Truck Series season and has three wins in his past six starts. It wasn’t looking very good when Harvick came into the pits on Lap 114 for more fuel, but once he got back out on the track, he turned things around and was back in the lead within eight laps. Over the remaining laps Harvick was able to increase his lead by over four seconds, before Ryan Sieg’s spin caused another caution to occur.

Kevin Harvick’s win played second fiddle to the real story of the day, as Ron Hornaday was able to finish eighth and secure the Camping World Truck Series title. Ron Hornaday has had a fast truck all year and this is a much deserved championship for Hornaday, who battled all year, despite his problems.

Matt Crafton finished second, just ahead of Colin Braun’s truck in the Ford 200 Camping World Truck Series race; while Timothy Peters was able to stay strong and consistent with a fourth place finish. Todd Bodine finished fifth in his Toyota, in front of Mike Skinner and his Toyota, and just ahead of David Starr and his Toyota. Ron Hornaday stayed out of trouble and obviously knew he didn’t need to win and just tried to finish as best he could, without putting himself in jeopardy of being taken out of the race. Johnny Sauter finished ninth and T.J. Bell rounded out the top ten in the Ford 200.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

Ron Hornaday Wins Camping World Truck Title

Kelly took the new Chevrolet Impala they'll be using in the Nationwide Series in 2011 for a test drive at Talledega on Monday

The new cars looked great and were nimble and fast as they went around the track of Talledega, the new car will provide the Nationwide Series with its own identity and the drivers and teams with safe cars to race with. The day turned out to be a special one for NASCAR as the response of everyone who saw and sat behind the wheel of the new cars was suitably impressed. The successful tests on this day matched results from previous testing done on the car at Richmond and Charlotte last year and should go along way to making NASCAR confident in the new cars and the direction the Nationwide Series is headed.

The drivers that tried the cars commented that the new cars appeared to draft better than the current Nationwide Series cars, but they tried different arrangements on the cars throughout the day trying to find the right set up. The cars started the testing with a restrictor plate with holes measuring 29/32 of an inch, but they experimented with different sizes, before finishing with a 31/32 hole. They also tested different spring and suspension combinations in the cars throughout the session.

The drivers and teams took it easy on the cars through the day as this was the first time they had the cars on the track. When questioned later they said they were just trying to match the new engine package to the same RPM ranges they race every day and had spent part of the day on a gear change to help them work on the RPMs of the cars.

This day is really just a brief shake down for the cars and they’ll need to do a lot more work and spend more time behind the wheel and in the garage, before the new cars are ready to race, but at least we the drivers have an idea of what the cars they’ll be racing in feel like.

What’s next for the new Nationwide Series cars, they’ll debut at Daytona next summer, before competing in races at Michigan next August, Richmond in September and then Charlotte in October, as a lead up to full time racing in the new Nationwide Series car in 2011.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

NASCAR Unveils New Nationwide Series Car

Kyle Busch wins his third straight truck race

Harvick after the race stated that Hornaday’s failure to let him move past him during the closing laps prevented him from using his faster truck to catch Kyle Busch. He attributed this to lack of communication between crew chiefs and spotters and you can be sure he’s straightening this out, right now.

Kyle Busch said he wasn’t sure if he would have enough fuel after his brief stop, but decided to put the his foot down and see how far his car would make it. He made it over the line just .560 seconds ahead of Hornaday and ran out of gas as he was driving into Victory Lane to receive his rewards. This gamble allowed Busch to take the win when Hornaday took to long in pit row adding additional fuel.

Hornaday and Harvick were actually the dominant trucks all day long, but when Hornaday failed to respond to Harvick’s desire to get past him, Harvick was done. The heat between team owner and Hornaday appeared to be rising after the race as Harvick stormed over to Hornaday’s truck after the race and apparently had a little talk with his fellow racer and employee.

Hornaday stared after the race that communication problems definitely played a part in his two trucks not winning the race and they’ll work out the problems so this hopefully doesn’t happen again.

This was hardly a bad day for Harvick and his team, they still finished second and third, and he still leads in the series standings by 217 points over Crafton. Crafton for his part was obviously making an effort to race clean after last week’s race at Gateway that saw him getting black flagged. He did finish fourth, but never really challenged for the win.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

Kyle Busch Wins the Heluva Good! 200

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

Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and the boys going for a drive

The No. 18 of Kyle Busch was a little better on the short runs, but after a few laps Harvick and Earnhardt had set the pace, and the race was on. Harvick had a fast car all night long but he conserved his car and waited for his moment like an old pro. Earnhardt’s fuel management strategy almost worked but he couldn’t stay ahead of the speed in the race and had to settle for third place.

It was a great race for the fans as Kyle Busch won the pit road race after the lead cars all pitted for tires and fuel under yellow on Lap 129. Harvick stayed behind Busch until he passed him with 48 laps remaining and then his strength in the long stretches allowed him to build a lead of more than seven seconds over Busch by the time they pitted for the last time on Lap 182. After coming out of the pits Harvick chased down Earnhardt and passed him to take the win in the Degree V12 300.

Brad Keselowski came home fourth, followed by Jeff Burton in fifth and Joey Logano in sixth place. Greg Biffle finished eighth, just ahead of David Ragan in ninth, while Reed Sorenson made a good showing by completing the top ten.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

Kevin Harvick Wins the Degree V12 300

Kevin Harvick races in the Food City 250 at 730 ET on ESPN 2

Kevin Harvick’s KHI has had a very strong season that included five straight wins for Ron Hornaday in the Camping World Truck Series, the longest winning streak in a NASCAR Nationwide Series car in 38 long years. Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte have also won a Nationwide Series race sitting behind the wheel of a Kevin Harvick Nationwide Series car. Harvick’s first win in March driving his own Nationwide Series car must have been special but a second win today would probably be like a double layer of icing on your cake.

Harvick and his wife DeLana built KHI up from the dirt to be more than just a hobby and the pressure has been on the last year to make KHI a success. This husband and wife combination is starting to see a little daylight in their journey and hopefully this is just the beginning of years of racing success for the team. They might be able to take a deep breath after the Food City 250 and release the pressure on the cooker that has been working for a year. KHI appears to be a team on the rise and if they can win today on a track that has always been a good one for Harvick, then they’ll have something that’s important with any sports athlete, confidence they can win.

Kevin Harvick isn’t the only car to be watching for if you’re out on the track of Bristol today. You should also look for the No. 5 of Ryan Newman, who has five to ten finishes after just six races at Bristol. The No 18 of Kyle Busch will be out on the track of Bristol, as well as the No 88 of Brad Keselowski, last week’s surprise winner over Busch and Vickers.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

Kevin Harvick and Bristol Motor Speedway

Harcik does it again

Busch lost ground when he was penalized for a line violation because he ran against the inside backstretch wall when the race was under caution to try to straighten out a bent fender, but still managed to lead the race for 139 laps and finished a respectable 17th. Busch had company in this accident filled affair that saw a total of 13 cautions during the race, the first one slowing the race on the first lap.

Ron Hornaday finished second in his Chevrolet, Mike Skinner third in a Toyota that ran pretty well, Johnny Benson finished fourth on a day where his Toyota held together pretty good, while the race pole-sitter Rick Crawford managed to stay in the race and finished fifth to round out the top five. Stacy Compton ran sixth in his Toyota, Dennis Setzer came seventh in a Chevrolet, Brian Scott came eighth in a Toyota, Matt Crafton ninth, and Ken Schrader tenth on this day at Martinsville Speedway.

Kyle Busch stays on top of the series points race, despite his poor finish and a partial race schedule which will see him miss the next race at Kansas Speedway, over a Todd Bodine who had trouble with the track and drivers, finishing 18th because of two different accidents, the last of which happened with just two laps to the checkered flag, and put the race under a caution flag for the last few laps.

Images Newscom.com

Post from: EveryJoe

Kevin Harvick Wins Kroger 250

The fourth try was the charm for Kevin Harvick

Busch lead for 157 laps before his team lost control of a tire in the pit lane, which cost him the race essentially, and helps the current points leader Edwards keep ahead of the pack in the points standings. Currently, Edwards still has a 114 point lead in the standings on Harvick, who is probably a lot more confident, and 124 point lead on Busch in the race to the series championship.
The Nationwide Series points race is starting to heat up and hopefully Harvick can turn up the dial a little and keep the pressure on Edwards, and make this a championship for the record books.

Image: Newscom.com

Post from: EveryJoe

Kevin Harvick Wins the Scotts Turf Builder

Biffle’s No. 16 car posted the fastest time during the practice round, cutting up the Kansas Speedway at 167.385 MPH. Biffle is tied for second in the Chase standings, along with Johnson, who finished the practice round with a top speed of 166.528. Edwards posted the third-best top speed in the No. 99 car at 167.271.

So what are we looking at this afternoon? Well, the Kansas Speedway has been notorious for being extremely hard to win for those 12 drivers involved in the Chase. It’s all been almost expected to see a wreck that will impact the race standings. So, here’s my prediction. With the history of the track hard to ignore, I’m staying on the side of caution. Both Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart looked impressive in practice Saturday, however both are starting near the back of the pack. With so much to make up, I don’t feel comfortable choosing either as a hands-down winner. But I do feel comfortable picking either Mark Martin or Jeff Gordon.

Martin starts alongside Johnson on the front row after Montoya was disqualified. Gordon will start in the 13th position. Yet, it’s hard to ignore Biffle and his chase for a third-straight win. So, here are my top three finishers for today’s race. Gordon will win, followed by Martin and Biffle fighting for second.

Now, time to sit back and wait for that green flag.

Post from: EveryJoe

Camping World RV 400 Preview

10. Matt Kenseth – 22 races – Last Win: Homestead-Miami Speedway, Fall 2007
9. Jeff Gordon – 27 races – Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Fall 2007
8. Greg Biffle – 29 races – Kansas Speedway, Fall 2007
7. Tony Stewart – 36 races – Watkins Glen International, Summer 2007
6. Jamie McMurray – 40 races – Daytona International Speedway, Summer 2007

5. Martin Truex Jr. – 45 races – Dover International Speedway, Spring 2007
4. Kevin Harvick – 57 races – Daytona International Speedway, Spring 2007
3. David Ragan – 60 races – No NSCS wins
2. Brian Vickers – 68 races – Talladega Superspeedway, Fall 2006
1. Elliott Sadler – 141 races – Auto Club Speedway, Fall 2004

Post from: EveryJoe

List of the Week: Longest Winless Streaks Inside the Top 20