• Archives

Tag Archives: NASCAR

Jeff Gordon Breaks 66-Race Winless Streak at Phoenix

February 27, 2011   Bob Zeller   No comments

Filed under: , , , ,


Jeff Gordon fought back from a late slip to pass Kyle Busch with eight laps to go to win the Subway 500 at Phoenix International Raceway and end a victory lane drought that lasted almost two years.

Gordon dominated the last half of the race and led 138 of the 312 laps– the most of anyone — but a slow exit on the final pit stop cost him the lead to Busch. But Gordon had the faster car, and he relentlessly tracked down Busch, taking the lead coming out of the fourth turn and down the frontstretch with just a few miles to go.

It was Gordon’s first victory in 66 races — almost two years — and it breaks the longest streak of futility in a storied career that features four Sprint Cup championships. . And it came in only his second race with a new crew chief, Alan Gustafson, after team owner Rick Hendrick decided to shake up the driver-crew chief combinations during the off-season.

With a yelp of delight we haven’t heard in months, Gordon gave a ya-hoo and shouted, “You guys are awesome!” as he took the checkered flag.

“Welcome back, welcome back,” said Gustafson. “Awesome job.”

Moments later, Hendrick got on the radio with his own congratulations.

“Thanks so much, boss,” Gordon replied. “Thank you sooo much for this opportunity. I’m loving these guys.”

The race was slowed by eight yellow flags, especially toward the beginning of the race, including one for a multi-car crash that took out pole winner Carl Edwards and a number of other good cars.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read More

Kyle Busch Wins Nationwide Race, Goes for Weekend Sweep Sunday

February 26, 2011   FanHouse Newswire   No comments

Filed under: , , , , ,

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kyle Busch became the first driver in a national NASCAR race to win wire-to-wire in nearly eight years.

It wasn’t as easy as it looked, not with his car getting loose and Carl Edwards bearing down over the final few laps.

Busch dominated from the pole early and held off Edwards late, maintaining the lead the entire way in the Nationwide race Saturday to set up the chance for a perfect weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.

“It came down to the end of the race and Carl was alongside of me and we were racing really hard trying to beat each other, and I was like, ‘Man, just beat him back to the start-finish line, man, just beat back to the start-finish line,”‘ Busch said. “I was just trying to hold on for as long as I could.”

The Nationwide opener last weekend was a nail-biter, with Tony Stewart nipping Clint Bowyer by .007 seconds for the series’ closest finish ever at Daytona. Busch had race No. 2 looking like a walkover until Edwards pulled beside him three times in the final 20 laps.

Busch never let him get around, though, fighting a car that had lost some handling after the final pit stop to lead all 200 laps around Phoenix’s bumpy mile oval. He’s the first green-to-checkers winner in any NASCAR series national race since Dale Earnhardt Jr. did it during a Nationwide race at Daytona in 2003.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read More

Carl Edwards Grabs Pole for Phoenix Race

February 26, 2011   FanHouse Newswire   No comments

Filed under: , , ,

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Phoenix International Raceway is filled with bumps and cracks and has patches on top of patches trying to hold it together for one last race.

It may be falling apart, but one thing it has never lost is speed.

Carl Edwards had the fastest lap on one of the fastest days ever at Phoenix, setting the last in a slew of track records on Saturday during the final qualifying session before the surface undergoes a makeover.

“This track is great,” Edwards said. “I talked to (track president Bryan) Sperber earlier and I think the question I asked him seems a lot of people have asked was: ‘Why would you even mess with this?”

Raceway officials don’t have a lot of choice with the track nearly crumbling.

It’s at least going out with flourish.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read More

Blake’s Takes: The Dark Spectre in Racing

February 26, 2011   Ben Blake   No comments

Filed under: , , , , , , , , ,


There’s an Iggy Pop song called “Gimme Danger.” The tune is haunting, although the words have almost nothing to do with what I’m about to discuss.

Those two words came to me every time I thought about what to write on a touchy subject, and I’ll admit to some reservation in writing it at all.

Arguing with aggrieved NASCAR fans is like trying to explain something to your ex-wife — you cant win.

Another quote brings it closer to home. Former world champion Jackie Stewart recalled a pre-season drivers meeting in the 1970s and looking around and wondering, en brogue, “which of these men I wouldn’t see at next year’s meeting.”

Yes, friends, the possibility of death on the track loomed large then, and before, not just in Grand Prix racing but in midget and sprint-car shows in the Tommy Hinnerschitz days. The Nurburgring, that 16-mile monstrosity through the German forests, was billed as the world’s most lethal track. Anyone remember Langhorne Speedway, outside Philadelphia? Bill Vuckovich? Eddie Sachs?

The now-gone Indianapolis News annually published the “official” record book of the 500-Mile Race. On a full page in the back was “Died at the Speedway”, a list that included not only drivers and crewmen but spectators and innocent bystanders.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read More

Trevor Bayne Wrecks at Phoenix, Continues Hunting for Sponsors

February 25, 2011   FanHouse Newswire   No comments

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne is still working on finding sponsors for his Sprint Cup and Nationwide cars.

The 20-year-old driver says he’d like to add both races at Talladega, but doesn’t have anything lined up. He also says Friday his car would have a lot of open spaces on it this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway because the Wood Brothers are still trying to line up more sponsors.

Bayne is scheduled for 18 Sprint Cup races, but would like a full season. His Nationwide car doesn’t have a sponsor.

The youngest driver to win the Daytona 500, Bayne says he’s had a chaotic week, including calls from President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, TV appearances and meeting actress Pamela Anderson, who told him he reminded her of her son.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read More

Big Penalties for Broken Spoiler on Michael Waltrip’s Winning Daytona Truck

February 23, 2011   Bob Zeller   No comments

Filed under: , , , , ,


When MIchael Waltrip crossed the finish line a winner in the Camping World truck series race at Daytona International Speedway Friday night with only half a spoiler to retard his progress, you knew NASCAR wouldn’t stand for that, at least to a degree.

Despite the broken spoiler (above), it was an emotional, stirring victory for Waltrip, coming as it did 10 years to the day of his first Daytona 500 victory in 2001 in the race that took the life of his car owner and friend, Dale Earnhardt.

In the announcing booth after the truck race, Michael’s brother, Darrell, confidently predicted that the victory would stand, but NASCAR would fine the team for the broken piece.

Darrell Waltrip’s prediction was spot on, as NASCAR levied hefty penalties for the spoiler, which “did not meet specifications in post-race inspection,” the sanctioning body announced Wednesday.

“As a result, crew chief Doug Howe has been fined $25,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Owner Billy Ballew has been penalized with the loss of 25 championship owner points,” NASCAR’s statement said.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read More

Blake’s Takes: NASCAR’s Fuel Injection? Well, It’s a Start

February 22, 2011   Ben Blake   No comments

Filed under: , ,


To me, the most exciting announcement to come out of Speed Weeks was in a bulletin released by NASCAR the Thursday before qualifying.

Or was it? We’ll get to that later.

The news was that NASCAR, in a major break from the stock cars of 1948, finally decided to adopt fuel injection for its racing engines, replacing the venerable (and largely obsolete) carburetors, the primary device for mixing air and fuel on internal combustion engines since the dawn of time.

Problem is, all cars manufactured for street use in the United States (and just about everywhere else) began widespread of fuel injection in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The last factory-for-sale car to use a carburetor was a single model of the Subaru in 1991.

NASCAR’s insistence on carburetor use was therefore mystifying, and evidence of the widening chasm between NASCAR and “stock” cars. Every other major form of motorsport uses some type of computerized mix-and-inject.

In fact, only one company makes the kind of carburetors used in NASCAR racing. The carbs therefore are pricey and require extensive machining in the team shops to make them work in specific applications.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read More

Trevor Bayne Says He’s Sticking With Nationwide Championship Run

February 22, 2011   Bob Zeller   No comments

Filed under: , , , , ,

Whoever wins the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup series championship, his name won’t be Daytona 500 champ Trevor Bayne.

The 20-year-old rookie, who became the youngest winner of the Daytona 500 Sunday, said he’s sticking with his original plan for the season — a full-time Nationwide series run for the championship and a part-time Sprint Cup campaign.

“I think I am going to stay with Nationwide,” Bayne said Tuesday on the weekly NASCAR teleconference. “Nothing has really changed for me other than that I am the Daytona 500 champion, which is really incredible.

“I think we are still going to have an awesome year for Roush Fenway running for that Nationwide championship. Obviously we still have a blank car and I would love to get some partners on it, but as of now we are still running for it full time over there. I am still not full-time Cup and I am going to run for the championship in Nationwide. I don’t regret any of our decisions there.”

Bayne will also run at least 17 more races in Sprint Cup for the Wood Brothers.

As they have for the past several years and for most of their long and storied history in NASCAR, the Wood Brothers are running only a partial schedule.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read More

Bahrain F1 Race Canceled Due to Unrest

February 21, 2011   FanHouse Newswire   No comments

Filed under:

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — The crown prince of Bahrain called off Formula One’s season-opening race Monday, handing another victory to protesters aiming to break the ruling dynasty’s stranglehold on power in the Gulf kingdom.

Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa owns the rights to grand prix and serves as commander of the armed forces in an island country were at least eight protesters have been killed in a week of unrest. Angry protesters, who see the Bahrain GP as particularly meaningful to him, wanted the March 13 race dropped.

Facing more demonstrations around an event that draws a worldwide TV audience of around 100 million in 187 countries, the crown prince told F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone by telephone that the race would not go ahead.

“We felt it was important for the country to focus on immediate issues of national interest and leave the hosting of Bahrain’s Formula One race to a later date,” Bahrain’s crown prince said in a statement.

After launching deadly attacks on protesters at a landmark in the capital city of Manama, the nation’s security forces pulled back Saturday under international pressure and allowed demonstrators to occupy Pearl Square. The protesters have now established a tent city there.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read More

Daytona 500 Winner Trevor Bayne Living a Dream at 20

February 20, 2011   Holly Cain   No comments

Filed under: ,

Trevor Bayne

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Flashing his dimples, and looking even younger than his 20 years, Trevor Bayne grinned broadly, laughed and fidgeted as he conducted his first news conference as the youngest Daytona 500 winner in history.

One day after celebrating his 20th birthday Bayne drove the legendary No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford to victory Sunday in NASCAR‘s biggest race — sharing the honor with the team’s previous Daytona 500 winning drivers, A.J. Foyt, Cale Yarborough, Tiny Lund and David Pearson. Bayne wasn’t even born when Pearson claimed the Wood Brothers’ last Daytona 500 trophy in 1976.

Explaining how grateful he was for the opportunity, thankful for his good fortune and appreciative of his team’s efforts, the good-looking, well-spoken Bayne sounded as mature and poised behind the microphone as he was behind the steering wheel in holding off three series champions and a handful of other veterans on the last two laps of Sunday’s race.

The Knoxville, Tenn., native’s biggest smile, however, seemed to come when he found out that his Twitter account expanded from 6,000 followers to 16,000 by the end of the race. And, he modestly conceded, he was going to need a friend to drive his Ford truck home. Seems that while most of Bayne’s competitors flew in private jets to the race, he drove his Ford F150 pickup truck from Tennessee to Florida.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read More
« Older posts
Powered by WordPress | Designed by: suv | Thanks to toyota suv, infiniti suv and lexus suv