Bodine overcomes spin and wins at Kentucky09/03/2010 at 21:34pm
By Lee MontgomerySporting News NASCAR Wire Service SPARTA, Ky.—Todd Bodine clearly isn’t “points racing.” The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points leader gambled on fuel mileage Friday night and won the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway. Bodine last stopped for fuel on Lap 92 of the 150-lap race and ran the final 55 laps under green on the same tank of gas. Johnny Sauter finished a distant second, with Aric Almirola third, Jason White fourth and Ricky Carmichael fifth. Timothy Peters, Kyle Busch, Ryan Sieg, polesitter Austin Dillon and Matt Crafton completed the top 10. The strategy started to play out on Lap 81, when Bodine tried the low side in Turn 4 to pass Busch for the lead. But Bodine’s Toyota spun in front of the field, though he escaped without any major damage. Bodine was able to remain on the lead lap after pitting but restarted 25th. When Paddy Rodenbeck spun on Lap 91 to bring out the final caution, crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. brought Bodine into the pits as the top nine trucks stayed out. Busch, who dominated the race and led a race-high 73 laps, was one of the trucks that stayed out, but as the green continued to wave, he eventually had to pit on Lap 127. Later, leaders Dillon and Justin Lofton pitted, and Bodine surged to the lead. Bodine ended Busch’s four-race NASCAR winning streak. Busch had won the previous four races he had entered in NASCAR’s top three series. On this day ... September 309/03/2010 at 17:43pm
By Bill MarxSporting News NASCAR Wire Service 1951: Herb Thomas emerges from the field of 82 cars to win the Southern 500 at Darlington. Thomas leads 311 of 400 laps and beats second-place Jesse James Taylor by one lap. Buddy Shuman finishes third, nine laps back. NASCAR Number: 1009/03/2010 at 17:41pm
By Bill MarxSporting News NASCAR Wire Service 10: Top-five finishes in Sprint Cup Series races for David Reutimann since the start of the 2009 season. Half of those top fives—and both of his wins—have come at 1.5-mile tracks, even though only 15 of the 60 races in that span have been at 1.5-milers. Reutimann has finished in the top 15 in 11 of those races. Sunday’s Sprint Cup race is at 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway. NASCAR podcast: Atlanta preview09/03/2010 at 16:10pm
The official NASCAR podcast previewing Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway can be found at: http://traffic.libsyn.com/nascarmedia/2010_NASCAR_Beat_-_Atlanta_Sept_Preview.mp3 On this week’s podcast:
Daily podcast from Rowdy.com: September 309/03/2010 at 15:57pm
Today’s Rowdy podcast can be found at: http://www.rowdy.com/system/audio/file_name/734/podcast090310.mp3. On today’s show:
The full Rowdy podcast feed can be found at http://www.rowdy.com/podcast.xml. Or subscribe at iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/rowdy-racing-news-nascar-daily/id73937404. Kyle Busch one win from Nationwide record09/03/2010 at 03:08am
By Lee MontgomerySporting News NASCAR Wire Service Sam Ard didn't do it. Neither did Jack Ingram. Or Dale Earnhardt Jr. Or Martin Truex Jr. Or even Kevin Harvick. No, no driver in the 28-year history of the NASCAR Nationwide Series has won 11 races in a single season. But Kyle Busch could accomplish that feat in this Saturday's Great Clips 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Ard won 10 races in 1983, the second year of the series, and Busch matched that total in 2008. But no one else has won that many—until this year. "It's pretty awesome," Busch said. "To me, it's cool to have the opportunity. We've got eight, nine, 10 more races left or whatever it is to get the opportunity to do it. Hopefully luck can fall our way and we can get No. 11. No. 11 is going to be pretty special because for one, it's never been done before." But Busch has some other reasons to make breaking the record special. One is a member of the Joe Gibbs Racing team who has never celebrated in victory lane. Sure, car chief Leo Thorsen has won races, lots of them. But the veteran mechanic prefers to avoid the picture-taking ceremonies after races. But after this season, Thorsen is coming off the road to spend more time with his family. Busch, though, made Thorsen promise that he would go to victory lane should Busch break the Nationwide single-season record for victories. "For some reason (he) just doesn't like coming to victory lane," Busch said. "But I told him on win No. 11, 'When I break the record for most wins and you're a part of it, you're coming to victory lane and getting your picture taken and hanging it up on the wall for your kids to see he was a part of it.'" Another JGR crew member, engine tuner Kevin Grubb, was on Ard's team in 1983, as well as Busch's team in 2008. "He was with Sam back when Sam won 10 so it's pretty cool to have him here now," Busch said. "Three seasons he's been able to do it." Busch's next win also would bring him closer to Mark Martin's all-time series record of 48 victories. And remarkably, Busch's 40 wins have come in 193 stars, with 29 victories over the last three seasons, a total of 85 starts. "I really like these cars," Busch said. "This car, I really like. It's fun, man. I've really grown accustomed to these things and learned how to drive them. You can really drive the Nationwide cars hard because they don't have a whole lot of horsepower so you can really try to make up a lot by being able to get more out of the car driver-wise versus a Cup car you'd have to slow it down and finesse it a little bit more." There seems to be no slowing Busch down, at least not in the Nationwide Series.
Fast facts Chart of the week: Toyota at 7509/02/2010 at 15:55pm
By Bill MarxSporting News NASCAR Wire Service Kyle Busch's victory in last week's Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland gave Toyota its 75th win in the series. It also moved Busch into a tie with Johnny Benson Jr. for second-most truck wins in a Toyota.
Driver Wins Source: Racing-Reference.info Bowyer out to do more than just protect lead at Atlanta09/02/2010 at 15:51pm
By Jim PedleySporting News NASCAR Wire Service Before getting a job offer over the phone from Richard Childress as he worked at his job in a body shop in his hometown of Emporia, Kan., Clint Bowyer was a champion at one of the Midwest's top dirt short-tracks. Bowyer will be back racing under the lights this weekend, and he's hoping that the dirt from his past will resurface and help him nail down a berth in the 2010 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, which is now just two weeks away. This Sunday's Cup race is the Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. And while AMS is neither short nor dirt, Bowyer, who is holding down the 12th and final berth in the Chase, says it sure drives like his old home track of Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City. "That's exactly what you're doing. You're dirt-tracking at 200 miles per hour around a big racetrack," Bowyer said of racing on the 24-degree banks of the 1.5-mile Atlanta quad-oval. "You have to get up on the wheel to make things happen, but hold onto the car and don't let it get out from underneath you. Most of the time, you're really loose as the back end of the car is trying to come out from underneath you. It happens about every corner on every lap. It doesn't matter what line you're in, either. You could be on the white line or all the way up at the wall. Either way, you're loose all the way around the track." Constantly loose at 200 mph? It sounds like Sunday night on Labor Day weekend might be a good time to play it safe. Protect the 100-point lead he has over 13th-place Jamie McMurray and 101-point lead he has over 14th-place Mark Martin. While it might be a good idea for some, it's not for Bowyer. Bowyer said he is not going out to protect his lead at Atlanta. He's going out to increase it. "I'm pretty confident we can go to Atlanta and have us a good run and then on to my favorite track in Richmond and be able to back that up," Bowyer said. "I want to be able to put a little bit more pad in it in Atlanta and go into Richmond and not have to worry about it and go after a win. "That (the regular-season finale at Richmond) is one of my best opportunities to win a race. I'd like to be in a situation where I don't have to look over my shoulder and be conservative when it comes down to time to gamble." Bowyer has not yet won a race this season. That means that the way it stands right now, he would be tied for last when the 10-race playoff starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 19. Not a great situation, he said. But not a dire one, either. "Here recently, we've had to look over our shoulder, and played a little bit (of a cautious) approach to everything," Bowyer said. "But I'm fairly confident that when we get in this Chase, and we're the 12th seed, you don't have anywhere to go but up. "It's a fun situation to be in because you don't have any pressure. Nobody counts on you to do anything. The year we got in it (2007), we won our first race and ended up third in the points because you're able to make all the gambles you can, take all the chances possible and go for it, you know? That's a fun way to race." Now, if only there were a real dirt race on the Chase schedule.
Fast facts Top 5 and 5 to watch: Atlanta09/02/2010 at 15:41pm
By Bill MarxSporting News NASCAR Wire Service Here's a look at the top five drivers in the Sprint Cup Series standings and five drivers to watch in Sunday night's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. All statistical references are for Sprint Cup races at Atlanta unless otherwise indicated. Driver rating is based on the past 11 races at the track. 1. Kevin Harvick, 81.1 driver rating. Two of Harvick's four top fives came here in 2009, and he finished ninth in March. Everything points to another top 10 or even his second win. His first was one of the most famous in NASCAR history—in the No 29 Goodwrench Chevrolet in 2001 in his third Cup start. 2. Jeff Gordon, 101.8. Gordon finished 18th in March for only his second finish outside the top 10 in the past five years. None of those eight top 10s was a win, though, and that continues to be Gordon's problem: Great finishes, no wins. He has four wins at Atlanta, the last in 2003. 3. Kyle Busch, 88.7. In 2008, Busch won and finished fifth. Those are his only top 10s in 12 starts. He finished 25th in March. There are five intermediate tracks in the Chase. A strong finish Sunday sends a strong message. A weak finish casts doubt that the No. 18 team is championship material. 4. Carl Edwards, 99.4. Edwards has three wins but finishes of 37th and 39th in his past two starts. Much of the focus will be on Edwards' feud with Brad Keselowski and what happened in March. But that was five months ago, and in racing time, a lifetime ago. Edwards wasn't competitive early in the season. He is now. His first win since 2008 is a real possibility. 5. Denny Hamlin, 94.5. In his past three starts on intermediate tracks, Hamlin has a win, an eighth and a second. But Hamlin is winless since that win at Michigan in June with three finishes of 34th or worse. That kind of wild inconsistency will sink him in the Chase. He has three top 10s in 10 starts at Atlanta. Five to watch: 12. Clint Bowyer, 81.8. Bowyer has an odd record at Atlanta: four sixth-place finishes and five finishes from 20th to 29th. He leads Jamie McMurray by 100 points and Mark Martin by 101. A fifth sixth-place finish should just about sew up a spot in the Chase. 13. Jamie McMurray, 71.6. McMurray's average finish of 20.9 in 16 starts doesn't bode well. He has four top 10s and no top fives. But as wins at Daytona and Indianapolis prove, McMurray has the car to pull off a top-five finish. If he has any chance of catching Bowyer, he needs a top five while Bowyer stumbles to a finish in the 20s. Say McMurray finishes fifth and Bowyer 25th. That's a 67-point difference (with no laps led by either). If that happens, Richmond becomes very, very interesting. 14. Mark Martin, 85.7. Martin needs that same scenario to play out, but the No. 5 team hasn't shown nearly the punch of the McMurray's No. 1 team. Martin has two wins and 14 top fives in 49 starts, but he also has 15 DNFs, including three for crashes in his past eight starts. One of those crash DNFs was in March. If that happens again, there will be no miracles for Martin in 2010. 15. Ryan Newman, 71.0. Newman shares the Atlanta pole record with Buddy Baker (seven), but Newman hasn't done much with the great starting positions. He has one top five in 17 starts and a 17.9 average finish. If ever Newman needed a second top five, it's Sunday. He trails Bowyer by 118 points. 16. Kasey Kahne, 93.3. Kahne is 136 back. He needs everything to fall in place to make the Chase for the second year in a row. History in Atlanta—not in past Races to the Chase—is on his side. He has two wins and six top fives in 13 starts. He won this race last year and finished fourth in March. He must make it three top fives in a row for any chance at making Richmond relevant for his No. 9 team. Daily podcast from Rowdy.com: September 209/02/2010 at 15:56pm
Today's Rowdy podcast can be found at: http://www.rowdy.com/system/audio/file_name/734/podcast090210.mp3
On today's show: The full Rowdy podcast feed can be found at http://www.rowdy.com/podcast.xml Or subscribe at iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/rowdy-racing-news-nascar-daily/id73937404
|
|
|
 |
Check out upcoming US99.5 events featuring give-aways and more at various locations around Chicagoland on our EVENTS page!
