Ron Hornaday picked up his 35th career victory in the Craftsman Truck Series on Friday – and, his first at Texas Motor Speedway - as he held off Kyle Busch on a green-white-checkered restart to get the win at the Sam’s Town 400. The restart was setup after rookie, Scott Speed, slammed into the wall with only 2 laps remaining in the scheduled 167-lap event.

Busch had to start in the back of the field because he was not there to qualify his truck himself on Thursday, due to his commitment to run three races over the weekend in three different cities. As the team continually worked on his truck to make it fit Kyle’s style, though, he was able to work his way up to the top-ten after only 53 laps. Busch hadn’t led a lap all night long and trailed Hornaday by more than half a second when the final caution flag came out, but Hornaday pulled away on the restart, and Busch couldn’t capitalize. Kyle will also run the Nationwide race in Nashville on Saturday, and then head back to Pocono for Sunday’s Cup race.

Third place in the race went to the Bill Davis Racing Toyota of Johnny Benson, and Hornaday’s Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate, Jack Sprague, finished fourth. Todd Bodine completed the top-five. Hornaday’s second win of the season was enough to bump him up two spots in the standings, as he now assumes the points lead over Matt Crafton, who finished seventh. Rick Crawford entered Friday’s event with the points lead, but a 21st place finish at Texas has dropped him down to 6th place.

Craftsman Truck Series Standings (from nascar.com):

*Credit photo to Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Hornaday Edges Busch on Restart to Get the Win

NASCAR’s Best Tracks:
5. Richmond International Raceway
4. Daytona International Speedway
3. Lowe’s Motor Speedway
2. Chicagoland Speedway
1. Bristol Motor Speedway

Post from: EveryJoe

DYN List of the Week: Best & Worst NASCAR Tracks

Image details: O’Reilly Challenge Practice served by picapp.com

It was announced Thursday that Bruton Smith, company chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) has purchased Kentucky Speedway, located about midway between Louisville, KY and Cincinatti, OH, for the sum of $78.3 million – the track had originally cost $152 million just to build. Smith was very open from the get-go of the announcement that it was his intent to bring a Sprint Cup Series date to the track – a feat that previous owner, Jerry Carroll of Kentucky Seedway LLC, had been unable to accomplish.

Carroll is currently tied up in an ongoing lawsuit against NASCAR due to his inability to secure a date for the track on the Sprint Cup Schedule. The case was originally dismissed by the US District Court in 2005, but Carroll has since filed for an appeal with the US Court of Appeals. Carroll claims that the lawsuit is still on despite the recent sale of his facility, but NASCAR spokesman, Ramsey Poston, has assured that NASCAR will continue to defend their case vigorously.

The sale of Kentucky Speedway itself is still in the beginning stages and is not expected to be finalized until sometime late in the summer. Because of this, SMI has not yet made any formal requests for a 2009 date, but Poston has already stated that even if they had, not to expect a Kentucky race next year because NASCAR is already deep into their sanctioning process for the 2009 schedule.

There are several scenarios that could play out over the next year or two that could lead to landing a Cup date in Kentucky. SMI currently has seven other NASCAR tracks under their control: Bristol Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Infineon Raceway. Of these tracks, all except for Las Vegas and Infineon currently host two Sprint Cup dates. It could be very feasible for Smith to attempt to move one of the dates from NHIS over to Kentucky if needs be. It was originally discussed last year when SMI purchased the Vegas facility that they may try to get another date for that track, but that has yet to play out in anyway.

Another possibility is that Smith and company could attempt to purchase yet another track that already has to Cup races, and then attempt to move a date from that track. The leading candidate for this scenario appears to be Pocono Raceway, a track that Smith has been rumored to have been interested in for some time now, but sources have not yet confirmed whether or not the track is for sale.

Smith can make the request in any way he sees fit, but at the end of the day, the decision will fall upon NASCAR. Poston insists that track ownership does not play into whatever they decide to do, but with SMI currently controlling 1/3 of the Cup Series schedule, it stands to reason that the sanctioning body might go ahead and cater to their requests for a date swap if they should happen to make one.

Recommended Reads:
- Smith Coy About His New Kentucky Home (the Finish Line)
- My Old Kentucky Speedway (From the Marbles)

Post from: EveryJoe

SMI Purchases Kentucky Speedway, But Doesn’t Pickup Cup Date

Image details: The Dan Lowry 400 served by picapp.com

Incase some of you may have forgotten already, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch were not the only two drivers involved in an emotion-filled accident this past Saturday night in Richmond. As you might recall, back on lap 352 of the Dan Lowry 400, Casey Mears clipped the side of Michael Waltrip’s no. 55 NAPA Autoparts Toyota Camry, knocking him into the wall and giving the car considerable damage. As retaliation, Waltrip kept driving and immediately clung to the back of Mears’ car, giving him an extra bit of a push down the track. Without hesitation, NASCAR immediately ordered Waltrip to park his car for the 48 remaining laps, an order that Waltrip was receiving for the first time in his professional racing career.

Both drivers were on-hand for Monday’s testing session at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (follow the link for a report on the testing session), and neither driver appeared to be carrying the extra weight of ill feelings over the mishap. Mears claimed that for him it was simply a breakdown in communication between he and his spotter that initiated the accident, and that he simply had no idea that the 55 car was there.

Waltrip stated, “It was just an accident, and Casey’s a good dude. I know he didn’t do it on purpose, and sometimes when somebody does something that I viewed as being pretty stupid, that will make you madder than if someone did something on purpose … I lost my cool for a split second and ran into the back of him.”

NASCAR stated that no additional penalties or fines will be given to Waltrip for his reckless behavior.

For more on this story, go read:
NASCAR’s Waltrip, Mears Make Nice After Richmond Wreck over at the Herald Net and Richmond’s Two Other Controversies over at NASCAR Ranting and Raving

In Other News:
- After dominating the first 381 laps of the Dan Lowry 400, Denny Hamlin suffered grave misfortunes when he felt a tire starting to go down. As a result, Denny limped his no. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota around the track for a few more laps before finally deciding to park it in the middle of turns three and four. Hamlin’s decision to stop his car on the track and intentionally draw the caution flag also managed to draw the wrath of NASCAR, to which they handed down a two-lap penalty to Hamlin. Following the race, NASCAR stated that the black flag on the 11 team was sufficient penalty, and that they, too, would not be the recipient of any further fines or penalties.

- NASCAR’s most popular star, Dale Earnhardt Jr, was recently offered a check for $100,000 from Texas Motor Speedway track owner, Eddie Gossage, to compete in the IndyCar Series race at Texas on June 7th.  When asked about the offer from the media, Junior responded by sarcastically stating, “Well, he thinks I’m a cheap date, I guess.” Gossage apparently hasn’t taken Earnhardt’s response as a direct no, and is apparently still pursuing the notion of getting Earnhardt to compete in the race.

Post from: EveryJoe

All Is Forgiven In Waltrip / Mears Wreck

A) Auto Club Speedway (California) – 46%
B) Michigan International Speedway – 17%
C) Texas Motor Speedway – 17%
D) None – 17%
E) New Hampshire International Speedway – 7%

Post from: EveryJoe

Poll Results: 4/7 – 4/20

The no. 5 car owned by JR Motorsports is currently third in the Nationwide Series owner’s standings. The car has been driven three times this year by Earnhardt himself, resulting in a 3rd, 7th, and 14th place finish, with the other race being driven by Mark Martin, who won the race in Las Vegas. This isn’t the first time Truex has raced for Earnhardt. Dale teamed up with his step-mother, Theresa, to form Chance 2 Motorsports back in 2003, and Truex raced part-time for them that season. The following two years he competed full-time, winning the Nationwide [then labeled the Busch Series] championship in both years. He also competed in three events for JR Motorsports itself back in 2006.

- In other news, as a result of the numerous complaints from NASCAR drivers over the past week combined with NASCAR denying Texas a testing date prior to their Spring race this year, Goodyear has promised not to bring the same tire to Texas Motor Speedway that they raced on in Atlanta.

- Roush-Fenway Racing has elected not to appeal NASCAR’s penalty levied against the no. 99 team of Carl Edwards. The team insists that an internal investigation was conducted to find out if anyone within the organization intentionally left the oil lid off, but they were not able to find any such proof. The stand by their conviction that the infraction was completely unintentional, but they also admit that does not excuse the situation they created.

- EA Sports has announced that Jeff Gordon will be on the cover of EA Sports NASCAR 09, which is currently scheduled to begin shipping on June 10th.

Post from: EveryJoe

Juniors Reunite at Bristol

1/30 – Richard Petty will waive the green flag at this year’s Daytona 500, a race that “the King” has won himself on seven different occasions.  Read More.

1/30 – Hershey’s is honoring racing legend Dale Earnhardt by releasing four limited edition collector chocolate bars this month depicting different images of “the Intimidator”.  Read More.

1/30 – Richard Childress is among eight inductees this year into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.  Read More.

1/31 – Billboards at Texas Motor Speedway promoting the Sprint Cup Series’ visit to the track with the wording “Reason # 88: Step-Mom” are being replaced at the request of Kelly Earnhardt, Dale’s sister.  The billboard will now read “Reason # 88: New Car Smell”.  Read More.

1/31 – Johnny Benson ran the fastest lap in the four testing sessions for the Nationwide Series held this week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He turned in a lap of 29.552 in his no. 20 Toyota.  Read More.

1/31 – Cunningham Motorsports has announced that they will expand to the Craftsman Truck Series this year. CHM is already a top competitor in the ARCA Series and is now seeking drivers and sponsors for 2008 to run the trucks.  Read More.

2/1 – Robby Gordon Motorsports has signed a new partnership to align the race team with that of Gillette-Evernham Motorsports. Per the terms of the deal, Gordon’s single car operation will field Dodge’s on the track in 2008, and in return will receive the financial and sponsorship assistance he’s lacked in recent years.  Read More.

2/1 – Due to new state laws in Tennessee banning smoking in most public facilities, smoking at Bristol will now be restricted to the concourse areas.  Read More.

2/1 – Denny Hamlin led the pre-season Sprint Cup testing at California by turning a lap of 39.447 seconds in his no. 11 Joe Gibbs Toyota in the Thursday morning session.  Read More.

Post from: EveryJoe

Saturday Morning Quick Fix

9. Jamie McMurray wins his the Pepsi 400 at Daytona.  This is Jamie’s first win since filling in for Sterling Marlin at Lowe’s back in 2001 and his first win with Roush Racing.

8. Martin Truex Jr. wins his first career Cup race at Dover International Speedway in June.

7. Casey Mears wins his first career Cup race at the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowes Motorspeedway in May.

6. Ron Hornaday wins the Craftsman Truck Series championship in the final race of the season at Homestead.

5. Toyota makes their official stock car debut in NASCAR at the Daytona 500 in February.

4. Tony Stewart wins his second Brickyard 500 and gets to kiss the bricks in front of his hometown for the second time in his career.

3. Carl Edwards clinches the final Busch Series Championship at Texas Motorspeedway in a race that was won by 2006 champion Kevin Harvick.

2. Kevin Harvick wins his first Daytona 500.

 1. Jimmie Johnson becomes the first driver to win back-to-back Cup Championships since teammate Jeff Gordon did it in the mid-90’s.

Post from: EveryJoe

the Big Ten: Best Moments of 2007

On the season, Stewart has three victories, ten top 5 finishes, and twenty top 10’s.  Only points leader Jeff Gordon has better numbers than him in all three categories, and Jimmie Johnson is the only other driver better than Stewart in any of the three.  When you breakdown the upcoming races and look at some of the favorites to win them, you’ll see Tony Stewart’s name come up quite often.  Stewart, or “Smoke” as he’s commonly referred to, won the race at Kansas last year and has an average finish of 6.5 at that track – best amongst all active drivers in NASCAR.  Following Kansas, the Cup Series heads to Talladega, and it’s been no secret that Gibbs Racing has been the only rival to Hendrick Motorsports at restrictor plate racing in the past couple years.  Stewart has also experienced tremendous success in recent years at Martinsville, Atlanta, and Homestead – all races that remain on the schedule as the 2007 season dwindles down.  The key to Stewart’s success this year could lie in the races at Lowes, Texas, and Phoenix, but even those tracks Tony has faired well at over his career.

Don’t get me wrong, while I firmly believe that 2007 is Stewart’s year to shine once again, it won’t come easy.  Jeff Gordon is still working on his “Drive for Five” campaign in an effort to pickup his fifth Cup Championship, and Jimmie Johnson is valiantly trying to become the first back-to-back champion since his Hendrick partner-in-crime did it nearly ten years ago.  The biggest difference, though, is that while the two of them have been losing more and more steam over recent weeks, Tony Stewart has been heating up, and that’s why Smoke is going to be sitting at the head of the table in New York once this season is over.

Post from: EveryJoe

3-Peat is in the Works