What, Toyota Lost Their Horsepower? Kyle Busch Didn’t Notice

July 27, 2008 by Tim Zaegel  
Filed under Racing

Kroger 200

Earlier in the week NASCAR implimented new rules restricting the horsepower output in the Nationwide Series engines, specifically targeting Toyota, as they were the only manufacturer running the effected engine packages. But, even that couldn’t stop Kyle Busch from dominating Saturday night at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

Busch started the race from the outside pole, and then ran away with the race, leading 197 of the 200 laps. The victory is Busch’s sixth NNS win of the season, and his 15th between NASCAR’s three premier series, surpassing the previous record set by Kevin Harvick. Colin Braun, in search of his first NASCAR victory for Roush-Fenway Racing, settled for 2nd, and Mike Bliss, Scott Wimmer, and Josh Wise completed the top-five.

Following the race, Busch sarcastically commented, “I was kind of disappointed because I feel like that 15 horsepower cost me the pole. I really got to thank my competitors for doing the complaining they did, because we were able to have good traction control all night long. I feel like that was important, to get off the corners a little bit better than everybody.”

Rookies Landon Cassill and Joey Logano continued to impress, as they finished 7th and 8th, respectively. Series points leader, Clint Bowyer, found his struggles throughout the evening, as he finished 18th. Second place, Brad Keselowski, didn’t do any better, though, and he finished 19th. Third place, Carl Edwards, made up a little bit of ground with his 11th place finish. There were no changes with the top-ten in points, though.

Kroger 200 Complete Results

Nationwide Series Standings (from nascar.com):

RANK

+/- DRIVER POINTS BEHIND STARTS POLES WINS TOP 5 TOP 10
1 Clint Bowyer 3216 Leader 22 0 1 8 18
2 Brad Keselowski 3043 -173 22 1 1 8 13
3 Carl Edwards 3036 -180 22 2 2 9 11
4 David Reutimann 2926 -290 22 1 0 7 11
5 David Ragan 2885 -331 22 0 0 4 14
6 Mike Bliss 2838 -378 22 0 0 2 11
7 Kyle Busch 2828 -388 20 2 6 11 11
8 Mike Wallace 2618 -598 22 0 0 1 6
9 David Stremme 2587 -629 21 0 0 4 11
10 Jason Keller 2534 -682 22 0 0 1 4
11 Jason Leffler 2491 -725 22 0 0 2 7
12 Marcos Ambrose 2411 -805 22 0 0 1 3
13 Steve Wallace 2389 -827 22 0 0 2 4
14 +1 Bobby Hamilton Jr. 2324 -892 21 0 0 1 2
15 -1 Kelly Bires 2277 -939 22 0 0 1 2
16 Brad Coleman 2037 -1179 22 0 0 0 1
17 Kenny Wallace 2003 -1213 21 0 0 0 0
18 +1 Scott Wimmer 1963 -1253 14 0 1 3 9
19 -1 Kevin Harvick 1890 -1326 14 0 0 6 7
20 Denny Hamlin 1695 -1521 11 0 3 7 9

 BallHype: hype it up!

Benson Wins For Second Week in a Row

July 26, 2008 by Tim Zaegel  
Filed under Racing

Power Stroke Diesel 200

NASCAR veteran, Johnny Benson, held off Ron Hornaday in a two-lap shootout for the checkers to win the Power Stroke Diesel 200 on Friday night at O’Reilly Raceway Park. Hornaday took the lead from polesitter Bobby East back on lap 5 and went onto lead a race high 153 laps before surrendering the lead to the charging Benson on lap 162.

There were a record-tying 11 cautions during the event, the last of which came on lap 195 when Benson’s Bill Davis Racing teammate, Michael Annett, spun while trying to race Rick Crawford for position inside the top-five. The accident setup a restart on lap 198 of the 200 lap race, with Hornaday still running in second. Hornaday attempted a final charge, but he slipped high up on the track, and Benson pulled away for the victory. Hornaday went onto finish 2nd, followed by Erik Darnell, Matt Crafton, and Shelby Howard completing the top-five.

Other Notables:
Kyle Busch finished 8th in the race after stirring up a bit of controversy earlier in the evening, sending Chad McCumbee into the wall back on lap 136 as the two raced for position. Mike Skinner rounded out the top-ten in 10th place. Rick Crawford finished 12th. Hornaday’s Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate, Jack Sprague, was 17th.

Johnny Benson’s victory now opens up a 15 point lead over Hornaday in the points standings. Hornaday jumped past Matt Crafton to take the 2nd spot in the standings as Crafton drops down to 3rd. There were no other changes through the top-six in points. For Benson, the win gave him his second in a row, and his third in the past four weeks.

Complete Power Stroke 200 Results

Craftsman Truck Series Standings (from nascar.com):

RANK +/- DRIVER POINTS BEHIND STARTS POLES WINS TOP 5 TOP 10
1 Johnny Benson 2071 Leader 14 3 3 8 10
2 +1 Ron Hornaday 2056 -15 14 2 3 7 10
3 -1 Matt Crafton 2040 -31 14 0 1 8 9
4 Rick Crawford 1916 -155 14 0 0 4 7
5 Mike Skinner 1914 -157 14 3 0 3 12
6 Todd Bodine 1867 -204 14 0 1 6 7
7 +1 Erik Darnell 1846 -225 14 1 1 6 6
8 -1 Terry Cook 1825 -246 14 0 0 2 7
9 Jack Sprague 1787 -284 14 1 0 3 6
10 +1 David Starr 1749 -322 14 0 0 4 6
11 -1 Dennis Setzer 1739 -332 14 0 1 2 4
12 Chad McCumbee 1657 -414 14 0 0 2 6
13 Brendan Gaughan 1641 -430 14 0 0 2 4
14 +1 Colin Braun* 1579 -492 14 0 0 1 4
15 -1 Ted Musgrave 1577 -494 14 0 0 0 3
16 Kyle Busch 1502 -569 10 1 2 4 8
17 +2 Shelby Howard 1491 -580 14 0 0 1 2
18 +2 Donny Lia* 1472 -599 13 0 1 1 3
19 -2 Stacy Compton 1448 -623 14 0 0 0 3
20 -2 Justin Marks* 1423 -648 14 1 0 0 1

 BallHype: hype it up!


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