NASCAR - Kentucky

NASCAR - Kentucky... Some overall good racing at Kentucky today... Love Saturday night racing but the rains forced the race to be on a Sunday afternoon. Long green flag runs made for some good pit strategy. Matt Kenseths crew chief, Jason Ratliff, may a gutsy call of fuel only leaving Matt to race on 4 old tires. Using a little restart strategy to keep his car out front proved to be the moves of the day. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the pole for the race, setting a new qualifying record at Kentucky, but ran into trouble when the skin of Denny Hamlins tire roiled up in front of him causing damage to the left front side and splitter of his car, which took most to the race to correct, rendering him a 12th place finish. Jimmie Johnson led the most laps today, but on the next to the last restart just couldn't get going and spun out, having a fast car, he made his way back up into the top ten, finishing 9th. Brad Keslowski was tapped by Kurt Busch early in the race as Busch came back up the track from the apron, causing him to crash, taking Greg Biffle and 5 other drivers with in. Having a 33rd place finish, dropped the defending champion 4 position, down to 13th.

Congratulations Matt Kenseth!!! Good pit strategy, Great race!!! Your restart strategy to keep Jimmie Johnson at bay was excellent. I believe the drivers have found Jimmie's Achilles heal. Restarting in 2nd place is not Johnsons strong point. The leader know matter who it was seemed to love the clean air. Even on old tires, once Matt got out front on the restarts he pulled away. Jamie McMurray had a strong car at the end of the race today also and needed just a couple more laps to give Matt a run for the win. This win gives Matt 4 wins so far this season, leading Johnson by 1 win now.
Top Ten Recap:
1. Matt Kenseth - started 16 - remains in 5th
2. Jamie McMurray - started 23 - up 2 positions to 19th
3. Clint Bowyer - started 15- remains in 3rd
4. Joey Lagano - started 11 - up 4 positions to 10th
5. Kyle Busch - started 4 - up 1 position to 7th
6. Kurt Busch - started 27 - up 3 positions to 14th
7. Martin Truex Jr. - started 19 - up 2 positions to 8th
8. Jeff Gordon - started 12 - up 1 position to 12th
9. Jimmie Johnson - started 3 - remains in 1st
10. Kevin Harvick - started 22 - remains in 4th

Race for the Chase:
1. Jimmie Johnson - finished 9th
2. Carl Edwards - finished 21st
3. Clint Bowyer - finished 3rd
4. Kevin Harvick - finished 10th
5. Matt Kenseth - WINNER
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - finished 12th - up 1 position
7. Kyle Busch - finished 5th - up 1 position
8. Martin Truex Jr. - finished 7th - up 2 positions
9. Greg Biffle - finished 34th - down 3 positions
10. Joey Lagano - finished 4th - up 4 positions
11. Kasey Kahne - finished 11th
12. Jeff Gordon - finished 8th - up 1 position

Tony Stewart with a 20th finish dropped 1 position to 16th, but with a win he will take over the second wild card position.

Next race - Daytona - Coke Zero 400 - Saturday, July 6, 2013 - 7:30 pm est.

Have a Wonderful Week
Take Care
Barbara

NASCAR - Sonoma

 NASCAR - Sonoma - Road Race - Ho Hum... I am not a road race fan at all. NASCAR to me is SPEED, not twist and turns. The question of the day on the Speed Channel was "Should there be a road race in the Chase?" The answer is NO! NO! NO!... I think road races should be taken completely off the circuit. They are just not exciting to watch. Martin Truex Jr. had a good car, stayed out of trouble during the race and had the perfect pit strategy. The most of important to win a road race is the perfect pit strategy. Juan Pablo Montoya was the last car to finish on the lead lap (34th) as he just barely crossed the finish line after running out of gas on the last lap. When Kurt Busch was interviewed after the race, finishing 4th after being caught speeding on pit road,

twice, He gave a classic opening statement "We had a fast car today, even on pit road". Great sense of humor Kurt, and nice race.
Congratulations Martin Truex Jr.!!! Great to see you back in victory lane. You ran a good race and of course your pit strategy was perfect. Michael Waltrip Racing had a good showing at Sonoma, with Clint Bowyer (15) finishing 5th and Brian Vickers (55) finished 13th.

Top Ten Recap:
1. Martin Truex Jr. - started 14 - up 3 positions to 10th
2. Jeff Gordon - started 10 -  up 3 positions to 13th
3. Carl Edwards - started 3 - remains in 2nd
4. Kurt Busch - started 7 - up 3 positions 17th
5. Clint Bowyer - started 5 - remains in 3rd
6. Kasey Kahne - started 15 - up 1 position to 11th
7. Marcos Ambrose - started 2   up 1 position to 22nd
8. Greg Biffle - started 4 - up 2 positions to 6th
9. Jimmie Johnson - started 19 - remains in 1st
10. Kevin Harvick - started 12 - remains in 4th

Race for the Chase:
1. Jimmie Johnson - finished 9th
2. Carl Edwards - finished 3rd
3. Clint Bowyer - finished 5th
4. Kevin Harvick - finished 10th
5. Matt Kenseth - finished 19th
6. Greg Biffle - finished 8th - up 2 positions
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - finished 12th
8. Kyle Busch - finished 35th - down 2 positions
9. Brad Keslowski - finished 21st
10. Martin Truex Jr. - WINNER - up 3 positions
11. Kasey Kahne - finished 6th - up 1 position
12. Paul Menard - finished 14th - down 1 position

After finishing 15th Tony Stewart lost 5 positions this week, dropping him to the 15th position, but because of this win this year, Paul Menard is out and Tony takes the 2nd wild card position.
David Ragan the other driver with a win finished 33rd and dropped to 29th in points.

Next Race - NIGHT RACE!!! yeah, love Saturday racing - Kentucky Speedway - Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts - Saturday, June 29, 2013 - 7:30 pm est.

Have a Wonderful Week!!!
Take Care
God Bless
Barbara

NASCAR - Michigan

Happy Fathers Day to all the Dad's 

NASCAR - Michigan - Not the race the Hendricks teams were looking for. All 4 of the Hendricks cars
finished out of the top 20. Jeff Gordon was the first to have problems with a an early crash, finishing 38th, Kasey Kahne was next, leading the race cuts a tire and hitting the wall, finishing 39th, Dale Earnhardt Jr., also leading the race, blew an engine, finishing 37th. Jimmie Johnson lasted the longest almost to the end of the race also cuts a tire and hits the wall, finishing 28th. The race was pretty uneventful. Greg Biffle once up front had a fast car. Winning his second Michigan race in a row.
Congratulations Greg Biffle!!! Nice racing, giving Ford 1,000 wins. Michigan is a great place to do it. Way to go Ford!!!

Top Ten Recap
1. Greg Biffle - started 19 - up 2 positions to 8th
2. Kevin Harvick - started 21 - up 1 position to 4th
3. Martin Truex Jr. - started 13 - up 4 positions to 13th
4. Kyle Busch - started 9 - up 1 position to 6
5. Tony Stewart - started 14 - up 3 positions to 10th
6. Matt Kenseth - started 8 - up 1 position to 5th
7. Clint Bowyer - started 27 - remains in 3rd
8. Carl Edwards - started 1 - remains in 2nd
9. Joey Lagano - started 6 - up 2 positions to 14th
10. Jeff Burton - started 18 - up 4 positions to 17th

Race for the Chase:
1. Jimmie Johnson - finished 28th
2. Carl Edwards - finished 8th
3. Clint Bowyer - finished 7th
4. Kevin Harvick - finished 2nd - up 1 position
5. Matt Kenseth - finished 6th - up 1 position
6. Kyle Busch - finished 4th - up 1 position
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - finished 37th - down 3 positions
8. Greg Biffle - WINNER - up 2 positions
9. Brad Keslowski - finished 12th
10. Tony Stewart - finished 5th - up 3 positions
11. Paul Menard - finished 14th - up 1 position
12. Kasey Kahne - finished 39th - down 4 positions

Kasey Kahne would take the first wild card position (11th) having 1 win, Paul Menard would take the 2nd.
Danica Patrick had a fine 13th place finish today...

My heartfelt condolenses go out to the family of Jason Leffler. Who lost his life in a racing accident this week.

Next race - Sonoma - Toyota - Save Mart 350 - Sunday, June 23, 2013 - 2pm est.
Road Course

Have a Wonderful Week
Take Care
God Bless

NASCAR - Pocono

Pocono - Partying is about the only exciting thing that ever happens at the Pocono Raceway. As always  a long, boring Pocono race... Jimmie Johnson by far dominated this race. No one could even come close to him. I wish they would only have one race at Pocono. I am just not a fan of this track, I refer to it as a road course  with no right turns, which makes it worse than a road course. There was only 1 caution in the first 125 laps and 7 in the last 35. Racing for position and spinning, going all over the place as Kyle Petty mentioned on one of the last restarts when the whole field fanned out trying to get just one more position. "They are 43 wide" LOL.. that is about what it looked liked. Any way another race in books of Sprint Cup.

Congratulations Jimmie Johnson!!! Your 3rd win posted this season. Dominating the race all day leading just about all the laps. Matt Kenseth spun rendering him a 25th place finish. Brad Keslowski had a bit of problems early on getting back up to 16th. Kasey Kahne went out of the race real early with engine problems finishing in 36th.
Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman finished 4th and 5th for Stewart Haas racing. Greg Biffle cracked the top 10 in points with his 2nd place finish, advancing 3 positions.
Top Ten Recap:
1. Jimmie Johnson - started 1 - remains the Leader
2. Greg Biffle - started 13 - up 3 positions to 10th
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - started 6 - up 2 positions to 4th
4. Tony Stewart - started 19 - up positions to 13th
5. Ryan Newman - started 23 -  up 2 positions to 18th
6. Kyle Busch - started 8 - up 2 positions to 7th
7. Kurt Busch - started 20 - up 2 positions to 15th
8. Denny Hamlin - started 17 - up 1 positions to 25th
9. Kevin Harvick - started 5 - remains in 5th
10. Joey Lagano - started 21 - up 2 positions to 16th

Race for the Chase:
1. Jimmie Johnson - WINNER
2. Carl Edwards - finished 18th
3. Clint Bowyer - finished 15th
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - finished 3rd - up 2 positions
5. Kevin Harvick - finished 9th
6. Matt Kenseth - finished 25th - down 2 positions
7. Kyle Busch - finished 6th - up 1 position
8. Kasey Kahne - finished 36th - down 1 position
9. Brad Keslowski - finished 16th - up 1 position
10. Greg Biffle - finished 2nd - up 3 positions
11. Jeff Gordon - finished 12th
12. Paul Menard - finished 30th - down 2 positions

Tony Stewart advanced 3 positions up to 13th, but has ensured himself the 11th Wild Card position at the moment.

Next Race: Michigan International Speedway - Quicken Loans 400 - Sunday June 16, 2013 - 1pm est.

Have a Wonderful Week
Take Care
God Bless
Barbara

NASCAR - Dover

NASCAR - Dover 1 mile fast track, lots of passing some really good racing. Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr. had the cars to beat, both blowing engines Matt at lap 159 and Martin just 100 laps later at 259, knocking Martin out of the Chase to 14th this week. Jimmie Johnson would have been hard to catch at the end of the race but misjudging Juan Pablo Montoya on the re-start with just 18 laps left got him a black flag for jumping the restart and rendering him a 17th finishing position.

Congratulations Tony Stewart!!! Staying out of trouble, making the right calls in the pits and racing hard the last dozen laps to overtake Montoya for your first win of the season was exciting to watch and made Dover one of the best races this season. Good going and great racing from the champion that you are.

Top Ten Recap:
1. Tony Stewart - started 22 - up 4 positions to 16th
2. Juan Pablo Montoya - started 14 - up 1 position to 22nd
3. Jeff Gordon - started 22 - up 4 positions to 11th\
4. Kyle Busch - started 3 - up 2 positions to 9th
5. Brad Keslowski - started 8 - up 2 positions to 8th
6. Clint Bowyer - started 15 - up 1 position to 3rd
7. Joey Lagano - started 9 - up 1 position to 18th
8. Kevin Harvick - started 7 - up 2 positions to 5th
9. Mark Martin - started 6 - up 1 position to 24th
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - started 12 - remains in 6th

Race for the Chase:
1. Jimmie Johnson - finished 17th
2. Carl Edwards - finished 14th
3. Clint Bowyer - finished 6th - up 1 position
4. Matt Kenseth - finished 40th - down 1 position
5. Kevin Harvick - finished 8th - up 2 positions
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - finished 10th
7. Kasey Kahne - finished 23rd - down 2 positions
8. Brad Keslowski - finished 5th - up 2 positions
9. Kyle Busch - finished 4th - up 2 positions
10. Paul Menard - finished 20th - down 2 positions
11. Jeff Gordon - finished 3rd - up 4 positions
12. Aric Almirola - finished 18th

Tony Stewart would take the 1st wild card position (11th) with his win today, knocking Aric Almirola out of the chase and moving Jeff Gordon to 12th.
Martin Truex Jr. lost 5 positions today putting him in the 14th position. Jamie McMurray after losing a radiator also lost 5 positions to 19th.

Great racing today guys and lady!!!

Next race - Pocono Raceway - Party in the Pocono's 400 - Sunday - June 9, 2013 - 1 pm est

Have a Wonderful Week!!!
Take Care

Barbara