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Week of 7/16/06
Race Recap: Harvick wins Busch race
Race Recap: Kevin Harvick Wins Goody’s 250 at Martinsville Speedway
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (July 22, 2006) – The Richard Childress Racing shop in Welcome, N.C. is just an hour’s drive south of Martinsville, Va., and its drivers were right at home at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday. Kevin Harvick won the Goody’s 250, in the NASCAR Busch Series’ return to Martinsville Speedway after an 11-year absence. It was Harvick’s fourth NASCAR Busch Series win of the season and the 21st of his NASCAR Busch Series career.
Harvick’s RCR teammate Clint Bowyer finished second, followed by Denny Hamlin, Reed Sorenson and Johnny Sauter in fifth place. The victory helped Harvick extend his lead in the NASCAR Busch Series point standings.
Bowyer and Harvick paced the field in the opening laps, while brothers Johnny and Jay Sauter pursued the leaders. After a series of caution flags and pit stops among the race leaders, Paul Menard briefly led before making a pit stop of his own on lap 102.
At the halfway point of the 250-lap race, Kevin Grubb briefly held the lead until Harvick returned to the front on lap 126. Over the next 15 laps, which included two more caution periods, Bowyer worked his way up from the sixth position and the race soon resembled its earlier running order, with Harvick and Bowyer occupying the top two spots.
With 100 laps remaining, Reed Sorenson took over the third position from John Andretti and began to chase down Harvick and Bowyer. A short while later, Hamlin, who started at the rear of the field, passed Andretti to take over the fourth spot on lap 162. Hamlin continued his forward charge and took over the third spot, when the field was re-started for the 14th time after Boris Said and David Green spun out in turn three.
As the field closed in on the finish, five more caution periods slowed the action but Harvick maintained his lead over Bowyer and Hamlin. Harvick’s 21st career NASCAR Busch Series victory also moves him into a tie with Dale Earnhardt and Harry Gant, in sixth-place on the NASCAR Busch Series all-time win list.
The NASCAR Busch Series continues its 25th anniversary season July 29 at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis, Mo. July 22, 2006
Sadler out of #38 after 2006
Sadler To Exit From Robert Yates Racing After 2006
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (July 20, 2006) – Robert Yates Racing (RYR) announced today that driver Elliott Sadler has requested and been granted a release from his contract to take effect at the conclusion of the 2006 season. Yates has started searching for a driver to take over the No. 38 Ford Fusion for 2007.
"We would like to thank Elliott for his commitment to our organization over the past four seasons and for all the success we’ve enjoyed together”, said Robert Yates. “We are excited about the opportunity to find a new driver who will continue the successful run of the #38 Ford as we maintain our focus on the future of our organization.”
“Our objective this year is to finish the season on a strong note,” said Doug Yates. “It is our goal to continue to build this team so we will be better positioned next season to contend for the championship.” July 20, 2006
Kenseth wins homestate short track
Matt Kenseth picked up a win in his home state of Wisconsin on Tuesday at Slinger Super Speedway at the Miller Lite Nationals. His Roush teammate Todd Kluever did not do so well who was hit by Dick Trickle with 85 laps to go July 20, 2006
'Fatback' to chief Schrader
Wood Brothers Racing announced that Michael "Fatback" McSwain will take over crew chief duties for Ken Schrader's #21 machine starting this weekend at Pocono. David Hyder moves over to Jon Wood's #46 Busch car. July 20, 2006
TESTING | KENTUCKY
At the track this week are Scott Riggs and his Evernham #10 car, along with Robby Gordon with his #7 car, checking their setups on the 1.5 mile oval which is similar to a lot of Cup tracks. July 20, 2006
TV Schedule - Pocono / Martinsville
Cup Series Qualifying @ 3:30pm Friday on Speed
Cup Series Happy Hour @ 11am Saturday on Speed
Busch Series Racing from Martinsville @ 3:30pm Saturday on NBC
Cup Series Racing from Pocono @ 1:30pm Sunday on TNT
All times are eastern July 20, 2006
DW to finally drive 'Dream Machine'
This weekend Michael is finally letting his brother DW drive the Aarons Dream Machine in the Busch Series. Darrell has 8 polls, 11 wins, and 27 top 5's in the Cup Series at Martinsville, but he's never made a start in the Busch Series at this track.
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ATLANTA (July 18, 2006) – Aaron's Sales and Lease Ownership and Michael Waltrip Racing are pleased to be a part of Darrell Waltrip’s (D.W.) long-awaited return to the NASCAR Busch Series occurring this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Since it has been slightly over a decade since Waltrip competed in the NASCAR Busch Series, Aaron’s will run a special ‘Another for a Brother’ paint scheme to commemorate his return.
“When Martinsville Speedway was added, I knew it was my best shot to run the No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine,” said Waltrip. “I said man this is it. It’s a Stevie approved track, but I still had to ask. When I mentioned it to her one day, I thought she was going to kill me. She said don’t mention again and get it out of your system. Then, Michael asked me if I wanted to drive. I told him what she said, and if he wanted me to drive at Martinsville that he would have to talk to her. He did, but I didn’t know about it. They schemed up the deal. At my roast earlier this year, Stevie handed me the Aaron’s Dream Machine helmet to my surprise.”
Waltrip has amassed 13 wins, four pole awards, 40 top-fives and 53 top-10s in 94 NASCAR Busch Series starts. Waltrip has 11 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series wins at Martinsville Speedway as well as eight pole awards, 27 top-fives and 31 top-10s in the division, but ironically he has never competed in a NASCAR Busch Series event at the .526-mile oval.
“I have never driven a NASCAR Busch Series car at Martinsville Speedway,”
Waltrip said. “I was telling Clay Campbell that his grandfather (Clay Earl) tried to get me to come up there, but he wouldn’t pay me any deal money. I told him that he had to give me something even it was only $200 dollars or whatever. He said we just don’t do that. He said we’ve never done it for Bobby Allison or Richard Petty or any driver. I told him that I’m just not going to race there and I never did in a Busch car. I did run my car there one time with Harry Gant driving it, but that was only because Dale Earnhardt was going there. The biggest reason I would never race there was because Mr. Earl would never pay me any deal money.”
Waltrip’s last NASCAR Busch Series race occurred in 1995 at Nashville Speedway USA, where he started first and finished eighth. July 19, 2006
Some will still do the double
Seven drivers will split their time between Martinsville and Pocono this weekend. The usual double dippers include Carl Edwards, series leader Kevin Harvick, Reed Sorenson, Denny Hamlin, J.J. Yeley, Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch. Also look for Ricky Craven to try and qualify the FitzBradshaw #14 in the Busch race as well. July 19, 2006
POINT STANDINGS | BUSCH & TRUCK
BUSCH SERIES
5 J.J. Yeley
4 Denny Hamlin
3 Clint Bowyer
2 Carl Edwards
1 Kevin Harvick has a massive 308 point lead
TRUCK SERIES
5 Ted Musgrave
4 Rick Crawford
3 Johnny Benson
2 David Reutimann
1 Todd Bodine leads by 117 July 19, 2006
POINT STANDINGS | CUP SERIES
On the outside looking in now is defending champion Tony Stewart, after two bad weeks in a row.
10 Greg Biffle and
9 Jeff Gordon are tied
8 Kevin Harvick
7 Dale Earnhardt Jr. drops 4 spots with his blown motor
6 Kasey Kahne
5 Mark Martin
4 Kyle Busch rockets up 4 with his win
3 Jeff Burton
2 Matt Kenseth
1 Jimmie Johnson leads by 68 July 18, 2006
Quick-cap top 10
QUICK-CAP | NEW HAMPSHIRE
10 Scott Riggs
9 Jimmie Johnson
8 Kasey Kahne
7 Jeff Burton recovered from speeding on pit road
6 Denny Hamlin ran out gas coming to the finish line
5 Kevin Harvick
4 Mark Martin
3 Greg Biffle
2 Carl Edwards
VICTORY LANE
1 Kyle Busch barely had enough gas to cross the finish line to pick up his first 2006 win, 3rd career after leading the most laps.
OTHER STORIES ON THE DAY
-Tony Stewart wrecked from contact with Ryan Newman, after replacing a radiator he finished 37th and drops out of the top 10 in points.
-Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s 8 car blew a motor and did not finish for the 2nd time this year, Jr. wound up dead last, and drops to 7th in points.
-Elliott Sadler was on his way to a certain top 10 finish, when he ran out of gas and finished 25th, same for Reed Sorenson who ends up 1 spot better than Sadler.
FULL RACE RESULTS: http://www.finallapradio.com/newsfiles/stats.shtml
July 16, 2006
Race Recap: Cup Series | Kyle Busch wins
Race Recap: Kyle Busch Wins in Dominating Fashion at NHIS
LOUDON, N. H. -- Kyle Busch held off a charging Carl Edwards in a wild, green, white, checkered flag finish to win the LENOX Industrial Tools 300 before 100,000 screaming fans Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway.
Busch, driving the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet owned by Rick Hendrick, drove hard all day and held off the challenges of some of the sport's biggest stars to capture the third win of his young career.
Edwards finished second after Denny Hamlin ran out of gas and dropped from second to sixth place between the fourth turn and the finish line. Greg Biffle, Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick also passed the sputtering Hamlin to grab the third, fourth and fifth positions.
Busch, younger brother of former NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion Kurt, dodged a bevy of accidents that eliminated many of the contenders, including brother Kurt.
The two-lap showdown finish was set up when one of the race's front-runners, Clint Bowyer, crashed on the back straightway with just four laps remaining.
Bowyer held a three second lead over the entire field at one point in the race but fell behind during pit stops for gas and tires. The crash relegated Bowyer to a dismal finish.
The same thing happened to another race leader, Reed Sorenson, who ran out of gas near the end. Sorenson was among the fastest cars until chugging into the pits.
Trailing Hamlin in seventh position was Jeff Burton, who clearly had one of the best cars and led early but was penalized for speeding on pit road. Burton's performance was outstanding as he battled from the rear of the 43-car field to a seventh place finish.
Kasey Kahne was ninth and points leader Jimmie Johnson was 10th.
This race on a blistering, humid day in New England had more twists and turns than a Disneyland roller coaster.
Two-time champion Tony Stewart, who ran either in front or near the front for the first 90 or so laps, was hit by Ryan Newman and crashed on lap 94. Stewart went to the garage for repairs, including a new radiator, but returned to action to salvage whatever he could in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup points race. The crash, however, ended his chances to win on this particular day.
Newman was involved in another accident a few laps after the restart when he was hit from behind by Michael Waltrip.
Popular Kasey Kahne was also involved in the accident. Four-time champion Jeff Gordon had to slam on his brakes to avoid the accident and lost quite a few track positions but continued to charge, moving from near the back of the field to eleventh at the midpoint of the 300-lap race.
The race produced some surprise leaders, including Reed Sorensen in the Chip Ganassi Dodge. Sorensen led a number of laps when he passed Kyle Busch near the halfway mark. Greg Biffle also led some laps before Busch went back to the front.
One of the sport's most popular drivers, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., worked his way from 25th starting spot into the top 10 before an engine failure ended his day.
July 16, 2006
Race Recap: Truck Series | Sprague wins
Race Recap: Veteran Sprague Edges Rookie Darnell in Memphis
Three-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Jack Sprague outlasted Erik Darnell in a classic battle pitting veteran against rookie and won Saturday night’s O’Reilly 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park to break a winless streak of more than a year.
Sprague, who started from the Budweiser Pole, was well behind race leader Dennis Setzer when the night’s fifth caution closed the field with less than 25 laps remaining.
After a bizarre incident on pit road dropped Setzer to 14th on the restart – and Darnell’s Roush Racing Ford beat Sprague’s Con-way Freight Toyota onto the track – the pair set off in pursuit of Terry Cook.
Cook, making a record-breaking 211th consecutive series start, had pitted off-sequence and took the lead when the remainder of the field stopped for service. Cook, on well-worn tires, lasted just one lap at the helm when the green flag flew.
Both Darnell and Sprague shot past as the yellow waved again for Chad Chaffin’s spin in Turn 3.
Darnell held off Sprague until the 193rd lap and was maneuvering for a final challenge when Aric Almirola’s accident in Turn 1 added two laps to the 200-lap scheduled distance.
Sprague neatly won the restart battle and carried a two-truck lead into the first turn. Darnell settled for the runnerup spot – his best and tops by a Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate in 2006 – just .251 second behind.
The victory, worth $59,175, was Sprague’s 26th in series competition. The 41-year-old Michigan native, who snapped a 29-race winless streak, last went to Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway in June 2005.
He averaged 88.367 mph as seven cautions consumed 30 laps.
“The older you get, you wonder if you’re ever going to win again,” said Sprague. “It’s sweet.”
The victory was the first for the Jeff Wyler-owned Toyota team and for veteran crew chief Tony Furr.
Said Darnell, “I think we were about the best on the long runs. It just bit us there at the end. We needed to go after that second-to-last restart and we didn’t get it.”
Matt Crafton, who started third in the Menards/Energizer Chevrolet, raced at the front of the field throughout the race and came home third to match his season’s best. Kentucky Speedway winner Ron Hornaday Jr. brought the Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevy from 20th at the start to grab fourth ahead of fellow NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Mike Bliss.
David Ragan, David Reutimann, Cook, Mike Skinner and Setzer completed the top 10 as 18 of 35 finishers went the distance. Robert Richardson’s Chevrolet was the night’s only DNF with engine failure after 83 laps.
Setzer, who led twice for 51 laps, was denied what appeared to be a second Memphis victory when he ran over a pit sign in an adjacent pit stall. The sign became wedged under the FlexFuel 85 Chevy and led to the truck being dropped off the jack before the left rear tire could be attached completely.
Six drivers – Sprague, Darnell, Crafton, Cook, Setzer and Chad McCumbee traded the lead nine times.
Series point leader Todd Bodine had an “off night” finishing 15th but still added five points to his advantage over Reutimann, who trails by 117 heading to the Aug. 4 Power Stroke Diesel 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. Reutimann bypassed previous standings runnerup Johnny Benson, who finished 32nd after being involved in a Turn 2 accident on the 83rd lap.
July 16, 2006
Race Recap: Busch Series | Edwards wins
Race Recap: Edwards Takes Advantage of Bowyer’s Bad Luck
Carl Edwards was the real “lucky dog” on Saturday at New Hampshire International Speedway. After Clint Bowyer had led for 127 laps in the race’s dominant car, he pitted under green with just over 50 laps to go only to see the caution flag fly as he was leaving pit road. The yellow enabled Edwards to escape with his third win of the season at the NASCAR Busch Series New England 200.
Although Bowyer was the beneficiary due to the caution caused due to a spin by Aaron Fike on Lap 143, by rule he was forced to restart at the tail end of the longest line, which meant in 16th position. Edwards was running second prior to Bowyer’s decision to pit just before the caution and after taking on four fresh tires and fuel, came off pit road in first place and did not relinquish his lead.
Edwards was challenged by series points leader Kevin Harvick over the final laps of the event, but managed to pull away from the 2001 series champion after a classy move by Dave Blaney, who had fought hard to stay on the lead lap. Blaney pulled over in the waning laps allowing Edwards and Harvick through to battle for the win. Edwards became the 20th different winner in 20 series races at New Hampshire.
Bowyer managed to charge through traffic to finish fifth, but was disheartened with what could have been. Denny Hamlin, who had spirited confrontations with Harvick throughout the race, finished third, while NASCAR Busch Series regular Paul Menard finished fourth after starting 25th. Fellow series regular Johnny Sauter was sixth, Scott Riggs was seventh, J.J. Yeley eighth, Scott Wimmer ninth and Greg Biffle 10th.
Mark McFarland was the series Raybestos Rookie of the race, with an 11th-place finish. His effort was outstanding considering he had missed the last two events due to a shoulder separation suffered in the waning laps of the race at Milwaukee.
Edwards was able to take a small slice out of Harvick’s points lead, unofficially trailing by 308. Bowyer is third in the standings, followed by Hamlin in fourth and Yeley in fifth. Biffle, Menard, Kyle Busch – who won the Busch Pole for the event – Sauter and Kenny Wallace stand in positions six through 10th respectively.
The NASCAR Busch Series returns to a former favorite venue with a visit to Martinsville Speedway next Saturday. The series last raced at the shortest track on the circuit (.526-mile) in 1994. July 16, 2006
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