Nationwide – Page 2

Watching NASCAR: Talladega Looms This Weekend

October 5, 2012 by Greg Quick 2 Comments

The art of conserving fuel in NASCAR races is often more of a gamble as drivers toss the dice and often come up short of the checkered flag, but last week in Dover Brad Keselowski gave a clinic on how to very accurately gauge how far the last drops will take him, and it took him to a first place finish.

The win resulted in him taking over the points leadership from Jimmie Johnson, who fell to second in the race. Johnson was one of the drivers that were forced to slow late to conserve fuel, a move that Keselowski avoided. The finish was a fight between him and Jeff Gordon who finished second. Mark Martin was behind Gordon with Johnson fourth and Carl Edwards fifth.
http://youtu.be/2sxvWj9Ly7E

This Week: Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500
The crews are all prepped for the Talladega Superspeedway’s 2.66 mile tri-oval in the fourth race of the ten race Chase. If the drivers feel that more is riding on the races each week, a Las Vegas casino agrees. The South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa has launched Virtual Racing NASCAR. It has all of the slots players in the casino choosing a driver and rooting for them, with the possibility of winning cash prizes. Eight drivers are included in the event: Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, or Martin Truex Jr.

Broadcast: Oct. 7 at 1 pm ET ESPN

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Sprint Cup Standings
1) Brad Keselowski
2) Jimmie Johnson -5
3) Denny Hamlin -16
4) Clint Boyer -25
5) Tony Syewart -32
6) Kasey Kahne –32
7) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -39
8 ) Martin Truex Jr. -42
9) Kevin Harvick -46
10) Jeff Gordon -48
11) Greg Biffle -51
12) Matt Kenseth -72

Nationwide Series

Joey Logano must like the cooking in Dover. He swept the season series there by winning last weekend, and did so in commanding style, leading 184 of the 200 laps. One wonders what he was doing for the other 16? The other drivers that looked at the back of his car for the race included Paul Menard in second followed by Michael Annett, Elliott Sadler and Kyle Busch.

One thing that the drivers will not have to worry about as the Nationwide season gets close to wrapping up for the year is seeing Bard Keselowski in their rear view mirror, or worse, being in Keselowski’s mirror. He has decided to forego most of the last races in order to focus on the Chase. I am sure that has led to a few sighs of relief around the track.

This Week: Dollar General 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Broadcast: Oct. 12 at 7 pm ET ESPN

Nationwide Series Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -9
3) Austin Dillon -25
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -60
5) Justin Allgaier -128

Filed Under: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Rickey Stenhouse Jr., Sprint Cup Series, Talladega Superspeedway, Tony Stewart Tagged With: NASCAR, Nationwide, Sprint Cup, Talladega

Watching NASCAR: Will Johnson Win Again at Dover?

September 28, 2012 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

Denny Hamlin has continued his winning ways in the post season by taking the checkered flag in New Hampshire last weekend it brings his total for the year to five. Then again he predicted it prior to the race on Twitter but I doubted that he realized that he would need an assist from his teammate Kyle Busch.

While having the fastest car in practice he started back of the pack due to a pit crew error, but that did not seem to be much of an issue as he quickly worked his way forward, taking the lead around half way through the race and holding on until the end. Teammate Bush helped clear debris from the front of the car that was impeding air flow.

The race helped Hamlin move two spaces up, but steady Jimmie Johnson, who finished second, moved into the top spot, dropping Brad Keselowski down to second in the standings, down by a single point. Jeff Gordon rebounded from last week’s poor showing and finished third while Clint Boyer and Kasey Kahne filled out the top five.

http://youtu.be/CEZCTiQa4dM

This week: AAA 400
This week the Chase heads to Dover International Speedway and its Monster Mile 1 mile oval track for the AAA 400, not good news for much of the field since Johnson lists this as one of his favorite tracks. Jeff Gordon, the bottom feeder in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, needs to not just finish strong, but start winning or he will soon be mathematically eliminated.

Broadcast: Sept 30 1 pm ET ESPN

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Sprint Cup Standings
1) Jimmie Johnson
2) Brad Keselowski -1
3) Denny Hamlin -7
4) Tony Stewart -10
5) Kasey Kahne -15
6) Clint Boyer -15
7) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -26
8 ) Kevin Harvick -31
9) Greg Biffle -33
10) Martin Truex Jr. -34
11) Matt Kenseth -35
12) Jeff Gordon -45

Nationwide Series

There must be something about Kentucky that Austin Dillon really likes as he has won for the second time this season at the Kentucky Speedway, and while the win was not as dominating as his earlier one, few are.

Still he lead the last 50 laps as his competition was felled my mishaps and miscues helped keep him in the front. First a pit road accident between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Eric McClure slowed him down. This allowed Elliott Sadler to shot to the front, where he led 93 laps before also falling down as he was passed and fell to fifth. The top five was filled out by Sam Hornish Jr. in second, Brendan Gaughan, Drew Herring and Sadler.

This week: OneMain Financial 200

Broadcast: Sept. 29 3 pm ET ESPN

Nationwide Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -4
3) Austin Dillion _19
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -46
5) Justin Allgaier -103

Filed Under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dover International Speedway, ESPN, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Rickey Stenhouse Jr., Sam Hornish Jr., Sprint Cup Series, Tony Stewart Tagged With: ESPN, NASCAR, Nationwide, Sprint Cup

Watching NASCAR: The Chase Week 2-The Sylvania 300

September 21, 2012 by Greg Quick 2 Comments

What a difference a week makes, I imagine that once the drivers are behind the wheel a race is a race, aside from the various differences in the track that they will be running on that day. However in the last week before the Chase, Jeff Gordon needed a very good finish to make it and Kyle Busch needed a solid race to keep Gordon out and stay in the Chase himself. It did not work out for Busch.

A week later Gordon hits the wall and Busch is a top five finisher. I guess all sports have their “what could have been” moment and this is certainly one of them. However in a week when the standings were shaken up quite a bit this was only one of the story lines for the first race, but considering how close everyone was at the start, points wise, that is not too surprising.

Brad Keselowski emerged as the winner in Chicagoland in a great race that had him duel for the lead and manage to outrace Jimmie Johnson for the checkered flag, with Johnson complaining that Keselowski violated pit road rules however no penalty was called. Johnson finished second. The rest of the top five was filled out by Kasey Kahne, Busch in fourth and Ryan Newman in fifth.

In other news it looks like AJ Allmendinger has completed NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program and has been reinstated by NASCAR. Good luck.

This week: The Sylvania 300
It’s back to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway and its 1.058 mile oval for the second of the ten races to the Sprint Cup Championship with the Sylvania 300

Broadcast: September 23 at 1 pm ET ESPN

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Sprint Cup Standings
1) Brad Keselowski
2) Jimmie Johnson -3
3) Tony Stewart -8
4) Denny Hamlin -15
5) Kasey Kahne -15
6) Clint Boyer -15
7) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -17
8 ) Greg Biffle -19
9) Martin Truex Jr. -21
10) Kevin Harvick -24
11) Matt Kenseth -26
12) Jeff Gordon -47

Nationwide Series

Rickey Stenhouse Jr. and Elliott Sadler traded places at the top of the Nationwide leaderboard last week as Stenhouse managed his fifth win of the season, pushing him nine points ahead of Sadler in the standings.
http://youtu.be/1n-dzoISQkk

After some early dueling with a few drivers, most notably Kyle Busch, Stenhouse had the dominate car and cruised to the win and the lead. He last led the series back in early June but is the current champion, and is looking tough to beat at this point with two wins and two seconds in the last four races.

Busch came in second and the rest of the filled was filled out by Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski and Paul Menard in the fifth spot.

This Week: Kentucky 300
The Nationwide drivers are once again going their own way this week and will be racing in the Kentucky 300 at the 1.5 mile tri-oval Kentucky Speedway.

Broadcast: Sept. 22 at 3:30 pm ET ESPN

1) Rickey Stenhouse Jr.
2) Elliott Sadler -9
3) Austin Dillion -34
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -57
5) Justin Allgaier -107

Filed Under: Chicagoland Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., ESPN, Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson, Kentucky Speedway, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Rickey Stenhouse Jr., Sam Hornish Jr., Sprint Cup Series, Tony Stewart Tagged With: ESPN, NASCAR, Nationwide, Sprint Cup

Watching NASCAR: The Sprint Cup Heads to Michigan

August 17, 2012 by Greg Quick

Remember earlier this season there were complaints about dull races and that NASCAR should make some rule changes to bring excitement back? Seems like a long time ago, and was pushed further from memory with the tremendous race and finish last week at Watkins Glen.

Three abreast on a road track? I guess anything can happen and it did so on the last lap as Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose and Brad Keselowski fought almost down to the wire in the race. Busch hit some oil on the track, of which after race reports said there was a great deal of, and then bumped from behind by Keselowski.

That allowed for a two way fight that Ambrose won, with Keselowski, also having an oil on the track issue at just the wrong time, coming in second. The top five was filled out by Jimmie Johnson coming in third, followed by Clint Boyer and Sam Hornish Jr.

This Week: Pure Michigan 400
The race for the chase wildcard spots will be a key factor in the upcoming Pure Michigan 400 race at the 2 mile, D-shaped oval track at Michigan International Speedway. This should lead to some great bursts of speed that many fans might have missed last week.

Broadcast: August 19, 12 pm ET ESPN

NASCAR Twitter
Last weeks road race also led to a shakeup in the standings as Dale Earnhardt Jr. dropped from 1st to fourth while Jimmie Johnson took over the overall points leadership, moving up three spots. Earnhardt’s late spin, pushing him to 28th in the race, cost him dearly in the standings.

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Jimmie Johnson
2) Greg Biffle -1
3) Matt Kenseth -2
4) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -17
5) Brad Keselowski -44
6) Martin Truex Jr. -49
7) Clint Boyer -58
8 ) Tony Stewart -61
9) Kevin Harvick -67
10) Denny Hamlin -84

Nationwide Series
It seems that it was a weekend of seconds for Brad Keslowski as he managed it two days in a row, falling to Carl Edwards who beat him off a restart in a two lap sprint to the checkered flag. Edwards was racng in his first Nationwide race of the season, not a bad start!

It looked like Keselowski would pull this one out after he managed to pull even with Edwards but after a bit of banging Edwards broke away for the win. The top five was filled out with Sam Hornish Jr. in third, then Rickey Stenhouse Jr. and Ron Fellows.

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

This Week: NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge
Once again the Nationwide drivers will be at a different track than their Sprint Cup brethren, heading north of the border to Montréal for the NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. This will be the second week in a row on a road course, so the drivers will be use to the constant turns involved. The 2.71 mile course has 14 turns, so last week’s experience at Watkins Glen will be appreciated.

Broadcast: August 18, 2 pm ET ESPN

Nationwide Series Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -13
3) Sam Hornish Jr. -24
4) Austin Dillon -29
5) Justin Allgaier -74

Filed Under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., ESPN, Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson, Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Sam Hornish Jr., Sprint Cup Series Tagged With: NASCAR, Nationwide, Sprint Cup

Watching NASCAR: The Pocono’s Tricky Triangle Awaits

August 3, 2012 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

Some changes at the top of the Sprint Cup last week as it roared into the Brickyard, and Jimmy Johnson once again showed his love for the track by dominating the race and winning there for the fourth time in his career. He and Jeff Gordon are now tied with four wins apiece at the Brickyaed, a race that has only been running for less than two decades.

Pocono's Tricky Triangle

Despite a very strong showing all race JJ found himself looking at the back of Greg Biffle’s ride after a caution as Biffle beat him out of the pits to take the lead. Biffle took two tires to JJ’s four. That only lasted a lap or so and even with a second caution he pretty much had clear sailing the rest of the race.

Points leader Matt Kenseth fell from the top spot after being taken out of the race in a late by Joey Logano, dropping him to 35th in the race as Dale Earnhardt Jr. secured the top spot for himself after a very steady first half of the season, driving wise. The top five was filled out with Kyle Busch in second, followed by Biffle, Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon.

Next Week-Pennsylvania 400
The teams will be out at Long Pond at the Pocono Raceway for the Pennsylvania 400. Run on the 2.5 mile tri-oval it should make for some fun, wide opening racing.

Broadcast
Aug. 5, 12 noon ET ESPN

Car News
It sounds like there will be a new look for the cars next year as NASCAR has approved the designs for next generation Chevrolet SS, Dodge Charger, Ford Fusion and Toyota Camry models that will be seen on the track next year.

While the issue of meeting aerodynamic standards was very important, the most interesting fact is that NASCAR, and the auto companies, are taking a step back to their roots. The next generation cars will look very much like the street models that are available to the general public, something that has been a thing of the past for some time. Looking forward to Daytona next year to see them.

Twitter– Instead of pointing to a number of Twitter addresses as we have in the past it seems to make much more sense just to send you to a site that appears to have consolidated a who’s who of racing twitter addresses instead. So head over here for a list.

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Dale Earnhardt Jr
2) Matt Kenseth -14
3) Greg Biffle -22
4) Jimmy Johnson -27
5) Denny Hamlin -64
6) Kevin Harvick -78
7) Martin Truex Jr. -78
8 ) Tony Stewart -79
9) Brad Keselowski -82
10) Clint Bowyer -88

Nationwide
There were several controversial issues at the Indy 250 last weekend, all having to do with something that on the face of it seems pretty innocuous, spinning your tires. At the start of the race it looked as if Kyle Busch jumped the start over pole winner Kasey Kahne to take the immediate lead but NASCAR ruled that Kahne was spinning his tires.

This was repeated late in the race when Brad Keslowski, the leader at that point, appeared to spin his tires on a restart and Elliott Sadler shot past him for the lead. However on this ruling NASCAR said that while there was some spinning, it was not the cause of Elliott’s lead on the restart. This resulted in Sadler getting black flagged and finishing out of the top 10. He was notably upset after the race over the ruling and his Nationwide points lead was significantly whittled down as well.

Hornish finished second, Ty Dillon was third, Denny Hamlin was fourth and Austin Dillon fifth. Sadler continues to lead the series standings by one point over Austin Dillon.

Nationwide Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Austin Dillon -1
3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -13
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -28
5) Justin Allgaier -75

It is starting to seem that Danica Patrick’s most familiar move on the track is hitting a wall, literally not figuratively. She accomplished this feat once again at the Indy 250 last weekend. Unlike a number of people I know I do not actively root against her, but it seems that this is an increasingly common result in her race, with wrecks at Daytona and elsewhere this season.

What makes this particular crash so interesting is that she has said that she is considering returning to the Indy 500 next season. This along with her expected promotion to the Sprint Cup Series and possibly running select Nationwide races as well. I have to wonder how well she will be accepted in the Sprint Cup Series if she continues to her crashing ways?

This Week-US Cellular 250
The Nationwide teams head to the Corn Belt in Iowa for the U.S. Cellular 250 presented by the Enlist Weed Control System at the Iowa Speedway. While also on a tri-oval like the Sprint race the following day, but several states away, this track is much smaller, coming in at .876 miles.

Broadcast
Aug.4, 7:30 pm ET ESPN2

Filed Under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, ESPN, Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Pocono Raceway, Sam Hornish Jr., Sprint Cup Series Tagged With: NASCAR, Nationwide, Sprint Cup

Watching NASCAR this week: Lenox Industrial Tools 301

July 13, 2012 by Greg Quick 2 Comments

There was a great finish last week at Daytona, with Tony Stewart making a last lap pass and then holding off a trailing gang of rivals to win his 18th race at the fabled track. Only Dale Earnhardt has more wins at Daytona. The win moved Stewart up 4 places in the driver standings.

The victory must have been even sweeter for Stewart since he was forced to start at the back of the pack due to a failed inspection, and it took him some time to fight his way to the front. He passed Matt Kenesth and then led to the finish. Jeff Burton managed to roar by Kenesth at the end for second followed by Joey Logano and then Ryan Newman.

There was some last minute prerace activity as NASCAR suspended driver AJ Allmendinger just prior to the race for failing a random drug test that he took on June 29, with NASCAR reporting that he had an illegal stimulant in his system. He has claimed that he does not take drugs and that there is an error in the test. Team Penske flew in Sam Hornish Jr in from Charlotte at the last minute, barely a half hour before the race started, to replace Allmendinger.

Since then Allmendinger has elected to bring in his own experts to test his “B” sample, something that is expected to happen next week at the earliest. If he fails he will face an indefinite suspension and need to take a program to get reinstated.

ESPN put up some interesting tidbits about the first half of the season and one that really jumped out at me was this one that points out how unimportant winning is compared to simply finishing. Brad Keselowski has three victories, five top-5s and eight top-10s this season, which is good for 9th currently. Kevin Harvick has zero wins, three top-5s and eight top-10s, but Harvick is 6th in the standings.

Lenox Industrial Tools 301
Next up is a trip to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 on a 1.05 mile, oval track. It is interestingly the largest sporting facility in New England and can seat 105,000 spectators. There is also a 1.6 mile road course on the site.

Broadcast
July 15 at 12 noon ET TNT

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Matt Kenseth
2) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -25
3) Greg Biffle -44
4) Jimmie Johnson -58
5) Tony Stewart -90
6) Kevin Harvick -90
7) Denny Hamlin -92
8) Martin Truex Jr. -92
9) Brad Keselowski -103
10) Clint Bowyer -104

Nationwide

Kurt Busch won last week in Daytona with a tremendous finish in a race that had 42 lead changes, more than its fair share of crashes and must have delighted any fan that watched. His car looked like it was about to blow at any second over the last few laps and he managed to reach the front of a greatly diminished field with a lap to go and then held on for dear life. The top five was filled out by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael Ammett, Austin Dillon and Joey Logano.

Broadcast
July 14, 2:30 pm ET ESPN

F.W. Webb 200
This week Nationwide will be featured in a shorter race in New Hampshire, the F.W. Webb 200. This may be old hand and I have just missed it but Nationwide is providing a nice behinds the scene view of teams activities with garagecam Head over here to take a look.

Nationwide Series Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Austin Dillon -8
3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -18
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -35
5) Justin Allgaier -72

Filed Under: Athlete to Follow, Dale Earnhardt Jr., ESPN, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Stewart Tagged With: NASCAR, Nationwide

Watching NASCAR: Talladega Looms This Weekend

Watching NASCAR: Will Johnson Win Again at Dover?

Watching NASCAR: The Chase Week 2-The Sylvania 300

Watching NASCAR: The Sprint Cup Heads to Michigan

Watching NASCAR: The Pocono’s Tricky Triangle Awaits

Watching NASCAR this week: Lenox Industrial Tools 301

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