Busch dominant in California truck race
Sat 21st, February 2009
Fontana, CA (Sports Network) - Kyle Busch began the first of his three-race weekend at Auto Club Speedway with a convincing victory in the San Bernardino County 200 Camping World Truck Series race. The No.51 Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota driver led 95 of 100 laps Saturday to win the 200-mile race at California for the second year in a row.
Busch, who started on the pole, only relinquished the lead twice when he pitted.
Brian Scott spun and smacked the wall after making contact with Mike Skinner on lap 25. During the caution, Busch was quickest off of pit road in both rounds of stops, one for fuel and the other for tires.
Chad McCumbee, however, stopped for fuel only and then captured the lead just before the race resumed on lap 31. McCumbee ran in front for three laps, but Busch passed him to reassume command.
With teams having to pit for fuel in the closing stages, Busch made his final stop with nine laps to go. Colin Braun, who remained on the track in an attempt to go the distance, inherited the top spot. But Busch moved back to the lead two laps later when he made the move around Braun. Busch held it for his 10th career victory in the series.
"This thing was just flawless," Busch said. "This win is extra special. This is Doug George's first win as a crew chief. (The team) worked awfully hard all winter on this thing. The guys just did flawless. They work so well and made this truck drive so good."
Busch had very little time to celebrate his victory, as he quickly moved on to final Sprint Cup Series practice and then the Nationwide Series race, which he will start from the outside pole.
After taking the pole for the truck race at California on Friday, Busch became the first driver to win a pole and race in NASCAR's top three divisions at the same track. Now he's looking to become the first competitor to win all three of NASCAR's events on the same weekend.
"I don't know," he said. "I think (Jimmie) Johnson and Carl (Edwards) are going to be tough come Sunday, but we've got another fast hot-rod for tonight."
Busch will start 10th in Sunday's Auto Club 500.
Meanwhile, Braun was running second with four laps to go, but ran out of fuel as he coasted into the pits. That allowed Todd Bodine, winner of last week's race at Daytona, to move into the runner-up position. Bodine crossed the line 9.023 seconds behind Busch.
"It's a little disappointing to have a Toyota Tundra that good finish second," said Bodine, whose team continues to run without sponsorship. "It tells you how good Kyle was. Once the tires got heated up, it got a little slick and we were just a little tight through the center of the corner. I couldn't quite hold it wide open, and Kyle started getting ahead."
Busch and Bodine also finished one-two in last year's truck race at California. Busch currently holds a five-point lead over Bodine in the championship standings.
McCumbee finished third, followed by David Starr and T.J. Bell.
Ron Hornaday, Matt Crafton, Ricky Carmichael, Timothy Peters and Max Papis completed the top-10.
Braun ended up finishing one lap behind in 20th.
The next race is scheduled for Saturday, March 7 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Record-winning day for Busch at California
Sun 22nd, February 2009
Fontana, CA (Sports Network) - Several hours after winning the Camping World Truck Series race, Kyle Busch returned to victory lane at Auto Club Speedway when he took the checkered flag for the Stater Bros. 300 Nationwide event. Busch became the first driver in NASCAR history to win two national touring races on the same day.
Not only did Busch win both races at California, he did it in dominating fashion as well. Busch led 95 of 100 laps in the 200-mile truck event and then 143 of 150 laps in the 300-mile Nationwide race.
However, Busch had to overcome late-race challenges from Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick in the Nationwide race to assure his record-setting day at California.
On the last round of stops, Edwards beat Busch off of pit road by less than a car length to capture the lead. But Busch and Harvick caught Edwards just after a restart with 16 laps to go. The three battled for the lead on the backstretch before Busch in his No.18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota moved in front for the final time.
"To run like that here and beat guys like Carl and Kevin, it's pretty special," Busch said. "To win here twice in one day, that's even more special."
Busch was reunited with crew chief Jason Ratcliff, who returned to the track for the first time this weekend after serving an 11-race suspension. Ratcliff and Dave Rogers, who serves as crew chief for Gibbs' No.20 Nationwide team, were suspended by NASCAR after their teams were caught tampering with an engine dynamometer test last August at Michigan International Speedway.
"It was great to have Jason back," he said. That really means a lot to us. We just get through practice quicker. Before we would have to text him or call him or whatever and get changes made. Now we can just buzz right through practice, like last night when we only used 15 minutes of the second one."
Busch scored his 22nd career Nationwide victory and his second at the two- mile Southern California track. He won 10 Nationwide races last year, tying Sam Ard's 1983 series record for most wins in a season.
Harvick finished second, followed by Joey Logano, Edwards and David Ragan.
"It's just racing," Edwards said. "I couldn't see behind me, but it felt like we were racing real hard. I think I might have got touched a little bit, but (Kyle) was going for the win and that's what the fans pay for. I'm definitely disappointed I didn't have a better run at it."
Jeff Burton, David Reutimann, Brian Vickers, Brendan Gaughan and Steve Wallace completed the top-10.
Edwards started on the pole, but Busch moved to the outside of Edwards to take the lead on the opening lap.
Busch held an eight-second advantage over Edwards just before he pitted during a round of green-flag stops on lap 40. Brad Keselowski gave up the top position when he pitted three laps later. That allowed Busch to reclaim the lead.
Michael McDowell made contact with the outside wall coming out of turn two on lap 52. The back end of his Toyota burst into flames as a result of leaking fuel and oil. McDowell, who started third, quickly jumped out of his burning car when it came to rest on the apron. He ended up finishing 36th.
"The motor was still running while I was still on fire there, so I don't think the motor blew up." McDowell said. "We had a great qualifying effort. We were looking for a good show, but it sort of went up in flames."
Greg Biffle, a three-time Nationwide race winner at California, was involved in a trio of incidents.
While battling for position on lap 89, Biffle and Vickers made contact, putting Vickers into a spin. Both drivers were running in the top-10 at the time.
On lap 95, Keselowski slammed the outside wall on the backstretch after Biffle hit him from behind. Jason Leffler tried to avoid the incident but made contact with Keselowski's Chevrolet. Leffler suffered minor damage to his Toyota but was able to remain on the lead lap.
Biffle was running in the seventh position on lap 128, but lost control of his car and crashed into the wall. His day ended with a 34th-place finish.
Busch now holds a 20-point lead over Edwards in the Nationwide standings.
If Busch wins Sunday's Auto Club 500, he will become the only driver to win all three of NASCAR's top division races on the same weekend. He'll start 10th in the Sprint Cup Series race.
The next Nationwide race is scheduled for Saturday, February 28 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
California Dreamin': Kenseth wins second Cup race in a row
Sun 22nd, February 2009
Fontana, CA (Sports Network) - After a winless season in the Sprint Cup Series in 2008, Matt Kenseth is perfect so far this year, as he picked up his second consecutive victory by taking Sunday's Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway. Kenseth, who won last weekend's rain-shortened Daytona 500, became the first driver to win the first two races in the season since Jeff Gordon did it in 1997.
Kenseth led a race-high 84 laps, but had to hold off Gordon in the closing stages to record his 18th career Sprint Cup victory and his third at the two- mile Southern California track. He also gave Roush Fenway Racing its fifth straight victory in the February event at California.
"I'm so blessed that I have such a great race team," Kenseth said. "I thank these guys. They gave me a pit stop that got me into clean air and that's just a huge difference."
Kenseth grabbed the lead for the final time when he beat Gordon off of pit road on lap 213.
With less than 20 laps remaining, the battle for the win came down to Kenseth and Gordon with third-place Kyle Busch trailing five seconds behind. Gordon made several attempts to chase Kenseth down in the closing laps, but could not catch the leader, as he finished second.
"It was a lot of fun," Gordon said. "This is a new team, and it showed tonight. We still got a little bit of work to do, but man I am so excited on one side because we ran so good and we started the season off so great. But I'm so mad on the other hand because I felt like we had what it took to win tonight."
Even though Gordon won the first qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway a week and a half ago, the four-time Cup Series champion has not won a points-paying race since October 2007 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Busch set a NASCAR record Saturday by winning the Camping World Truck and Nationwide Series races on the same day, but his attempt for a trifecta at California came up short with a third-place finish.
"It's never been done before, so it's definitely a challenge," Busch said. "The last one's always the hardest to get. They leave it the hardest to get because it's on Sunday and it's the biggest show. It's not easy in this sport. But maybe one day."
Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five.
Brian Vickers won the pole Friday, but had to start from the rear of the field after an engine change. Therefore, Jimmie Johnson led the field to the green flag.
The 500-mile race featured five cautions, four of them for rain.
Light rain fell on the track on lap six, with the caution extended until lap 23.
After starting 24th, Kenseth had climbed up to 11th within the first 40 laps.
During the second caution. Kurt Busch won the battle off of pit road and held the lead for the restart on lap 47. Johnson, however, beat Busch to the line and reclaimed the lead on the following lap. Kenseth moved into the fifth position.
Gordon scraped the wall on lap 76, but still managed to dive below Johnson and take the top spot from Johnson two laps later.
After making his green-flag pit stop, Gordon was back in front on lap 88. While Gordon built a two-second lead, Biffle passed Johnson for second and Kenseth took fourth from Kurt Busch just before the 100-lap mark.
Biffle made a fast green-flag stop and beat Gordon off of pit road to take the lead on lap 128. Gordon attempted to reclaim the top spot, but had to back off after Michael Waltrip interfered with his progress. Waltrip was a lap down at the time.
Gordon made one more attempt to capture the lead, but rain in turn three interrupted 95 consecutive laps of green-flag racing.
Kenseth inherited the lead for the first time on lap 145 after he was the quickest off of pit road.
Just before the fourth caution came for rain on Lap 170, Johnson's car began experiencing engine problems as he began to drop in the field. Johnson managed to soldier on and finish ninth. He led 74 laps earlier in the race.
Johnson's teammate, Mark Martin, wasn't so fortunate with his engine as it expired on lap 182. Martin headed to the garage and ended up finishing 40th.
The engine woes continued for Hendrick Motorsports when Dale Earnhardt Jr. called it a day on lap 206.
"I think we broke something in the valve, probably a spring first," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I'm sure it's just an anomaly. They'll figure out what it was, and it won't ever happen again."
Earnhardt Jr. finished 39th.
Kevin Harvick created the only on-track incident on lap 208 when he blew a right-front tire and slammed into the wall. Harvick finished 38th one week after his second-place run in the Daytona 500.
The series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for next Sunday's Shelby 427.
Stewart off to strong start with new team
February 22, 2009
FONTANA, Calif. (AP) -Tony Stewart was all smiles Sunday after his second straight eighth-place finish of 2009.
Stewart, who left his longtime home at Joe Gibbs Racing after last season to become co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, said repeatedly before the season-opening Daytona 500 that he didn't know what to expect from his new team.
So far, so good.
``I'm not really that good here,'' Stewart said. ``It tells you the car is better than I am probably. (But) I think we're capable of doing it. I mean, we've done it two weeks in a row now.''
Stewart said that Sunday's Auto Club 500 was a truer test of where the team is than at Daytona, where engine restrictors produce a whole different style of racing than at most of the other tracks where NASCAR's Sprint Cup series competes.
``I was satisfied with the results of it,'' Stewart said. ``We seemed to go back and forth on catching up with (the car), so I was pretty happy with the communication today. The guys had really good pit stops. That last stop out there they got us out seventh and I couldn't hold us up there. But, I felt like, team-wise we've been solid for two and a half weeks straight here now.''
BIF'S MISTAKE: Greg Biffle finished fourth on Sunday, but you would never have known it from the grim look on his face.
The Bif, a strong contender through much of the race, was running second to Jeff Gordon when he made a costly mistake on his last pit stop. He slid his No. 16 Ford across his own air hose as he entered his pit box and NASCAR immediately penalized Biffle, pushing him back to 12th place.
Biffle was a man on a mission after that, moving all the way to fourth before running out of laps.
``They should fire me,'' he said immediately after getting out of his car. ``That was a pretty fast car. I just screwed it up trying to get greedy.
``You know it was so hard to pass out here, and I was hoping to beat the 24 (Gordon) out and I was trying to give my guys every advantage I could. ... We had this problem before. It's just me stopping too deep in the box and caught them off guard and ran over the hose.
``They didn't do anything wrong,'' he added. ``It was my fault.''
Biffle said he was knew he was going to have trouble sleeping Sunday night.
``I'm just sick to my stomach, man,'' he said. ``It almost brings tears to my eyes to know I let my guys down like I did.''
But it wasn't all that bad a day for Biffle, who added Sunday's top-five finish to a far more disappointing 20th-place finish in the Daytona 500. He was one of three Roush Fenway Racing entries to finish in the top 10, joining winner Matt Kenseth and seventh-place Carl Edwards. The other two team drivers, Jamie McMurray and David Ragan, finished 16th and 17th.
LEARNING CURVE: Joey Logano, the 18-year-old rookie who moved into Tony Stewart's seat in the No. 20 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing, had another tough day of on-track education.
The youngster, who crashed and finished last at Daytona, stayed out of trouble Sunday, but finished a lap off the pace in 26th.
``I wish I learned half this stuff before we started racing,'' he said. ``I'm happy with this. I think we definitely needed this, for sure, just kind of get the season rolling, get everything going.
``We're going to take it and improve from it and I feel a lot better.''
Scott Speed, the only other rookie in the race, had an engine failure and finished 41st.
CROWD NOISE: Despite the economic crunch that has hit California particularly hard and predictions of a disastrously small turnout Sunday, it appeared the grandstand that holds 105,000 spectators was more than half full.
Auto Club Speedway president Gillian Zucker was obviously pleased with the numbers.
``This says a lot about what Southern Californians feel about NASCAR,'' she said as the cars zoomed around the nearby track. ``I think there is not any kind of question about how hard this part of the country has been hit by the economy. ... To see this kind of a crowd in this grandstand says a lot, I think a heck of a lot, about how we've promoted this event and how much people are beginning to care about this sport the same way with the same passion as they have in the Southeast.''
The track 60 miles east of Los Angeles has had trouble filling the stands since adding a second Cup date in 2004. But a swap with Atlanta Motor Speedway moved the second Auto Club Speedway race from Labor Day Weekend to October in 2009.
``We have a race now that's at a great time of year for racing in California,'' Zucker said. ``We have a Chase race and I expect you'll see these crowds continue to grow. But the doom and gloom about the fact that California can't support NASCAR is dead wrong.''
WEATHER WISE: The first four of five caution flags in Sunday's event were all brought out by light rain.
A year after heavy rains postponed the Cup race until Monday, the weather was just a nuisance, slowing down the proceedings for a total of 36 of the first 177 laps.
The cars continued to cruise around the 2-mile oval under each of the rain cautions until NASCAR deemed the track dry enough to wave the green flag again.
SPARK PLUGS: An engine failure sent Kevin Harvick into the wall on lap 208, ending his string of 81 consecutive races in which the Richard Childress Racing driver had been running at the end. He was 12th at the time. ... Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin, who ran among the leaders most of the day, both wound up in the garage with engine problems. ... Winner Matt Kenseth averaged 135.839 mph.
Tracking the Trucks : San Bernardino County 200
Beth Lunkenheimer
In a Nutshell: Kyle Busch took the checkered flag 9.023 seconds ahead of Todd Bodine to win the San Bernardino County 200 Saturday afternoon at Auto Club Speedway in California. Busch took the lead for the final time with only seven laps remaining after a late race gas and go pit stop on the way to his first win of the 2009 season. Chad McCumbee, David Starr and T.J. Bell rounded out the Top 5.
Who Should Have Won: Kyle Busch. Busch started on the pole and wasted no time in opening up a large lead on the rest of the field. By lap 15, only 27 trucks remained on the lead lap; by the time the checkered flag flew, only 13 trucks remained on the lead lap. The driver of the No. 51 Miccosukee Resorts Toyota became only the third driver to win from the pole at Auto Club Speedway and the first since his older brother Kurt did it in 2000.
Questions You Should Be Asking After the Race:
1. How did Gabi DiCarlo fare in her Camping World Truck Series debut?
ARCA driver Gabi DiCarlo made her Camping World Truck Series debut Saturday afternoon. After running 24th quickest in the first practice session, DiCarlo was forced to qualify for the San Bernardino County 200 on time; she started in the 23rd position.
Throughout much of the race, Gabi DiCarlo kept her No. 190 Great Clips Toyota in the mid to low 20s and didn’t make very much ground on the rest of the field. She did however manage to remain out of trouble all afternoon and brought her truck home 19th, one lap down.
Following the second restart of the race, Gabi DiCarlo was black flagged for passing to the left prior to crossing the start-finish line. Instead of coming down pit road for a pass through penalty, DiCarlo gave back the position she gained.
While she didn’t move inside the Top 15, Gabi DiCarlo did exactly what any driver making their debut needs to do. She finished the race and didn’t wreck the truck, and no doubt gained valuable information for her future starts in the series.
The Arizona native is expected to pilot the No. 190 Great Clips Toyota in up to six more races this season, and her next start is scheduled for the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway in late March.
2. How did the Ricky Carmichael recover from Daytona?
During the season opener last week at Daytona International Speedway, rookie Ricky Carmichael got caught up in a wreck after Todd Bodine slid up the race track and spun fellow rookie James Buescher.
California was much kinder to the rookies than Daytona was. Ricky Carmichael again had a fantastic qualifying run and started his No. 4 Monster Energy Chevrolet in third. He thought he had a tire going soft around mid-race, made an extra pit stop and restarted 19th. Within four laps, he climbed five spots to 14th and spent the remainder of the race working his way back into the Top 10 and an eventual finishing position of eighth.
Ricky Carmichael’s 8th place finish moved him up to 14th in the standings.
Truck Rookie Report
2009 Rookie of the Year Candidates:
Chase Austin (No. 32)
James Buescher (No. 10)
Ricky Carmichael (No. 4)
J.R. Fitzpatrick (No. 7)
Taylor Malsam (No. 81)
Johnny Sauter (No. 13)
No. of Rookies in the Race: 6
No. of Rookies to Finish in the Top 10: 1; Ricky Carmichael finished 8th
Rookie Of The Race: Ricky Carmichael
“I learned so much today. The boss (Kevin Harvick, team co-owner) had a goal for me today – and that was to finish in the top-15, so we beat the bosses’ goal! I wanted to exceed his expectations. I kept my nose clean all day and I feel like if we could start this race over again right now, I could do much better with everything I learned!” Ricky Carmichael
Worth Noting / Points Shuffle:
The running of the San Bernardino County 200 broke multiple records Saturday afternoon:
* Kyle Busch’s 9.023 second margin of victory shattered the previous record of 2.158 seconds set in 2003.
* The driver of the No. 51 Toyota lead 95 laps, two more than the previous record of 93 set in 1997.
* Toyota and Dodge are now tied for most wins at Auto Club Speedway at four apiece.
* Kyle Busch became the first driver in NASCAR history to win two races in NASCAR’s top three series in the same day.
For the second week in a row, Terry Cook was black flagged by NASCAR. Last week, Cook had to serve a pass-through penalty for passing below the double yellow line, and this week the black flag flew as a result of excessive smoke coming out of the back of his No. 25 Harris Trucking Toyota. Cook went on to finish 25th, nine laps down.
T.J. Bell scored the best finish of his Camping World Truck Series career after finishing fifth. Bell had to drop to the back of the field prior to the start of the race after the team had to change the engine in the No. 11 Home4theHolidays.org Toyota.
Kyle Busch now leads Todd Bodine in the standings by just five points. Matt Crafton moved up four spots to third and sits 77 points out of first. Timothy Peters moved up two spots and sits five points behind Crafton in fourth. Ron Hornaday, Jr. moved up four spots and rounds out the Top 5.
T.J. Bell moved up six spots and is tied with Ron Hornaday, Jr. for fifth. Mike Skinner dropped two spots to seventh, and Chad McCumbee moved up an impressive 11 positions to seventh. David Starr moved up eight spots to ninth and sits 98 points behind leader Kyle Busch. Meanwhile, Terry Cook dropped seven spots and rounds out the Top 10.
Quotable:
“This thing was just flawless. The guys did flawless. They worked so well and made this truck drive so well. It’s really a lot fun to come out here and win two years in a row, and hopefully we can do some more.” Kyle Busch
“It’s a little disappointing to have a Tundra that’s that good and finish second. That tells you how good Kyle [Busch] was. Once the tires got heated up — got a little slick — we were just a little tight through the center of the corner. I couldn’t quite hold it wide open.” Todd Bodine
Up Next:
The Craftsman Truck Series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway in two weeks for the American Commercial Lines 200 on Saturday, March 7th. In 2008, Kyle Busch beat Ron Hornaday, Jr. to the checkered flag after a short rain delay. Coverage begins at 1:30 pm EST; the race can also be heard on your local MRN affiliate.
Frontstretch.com
Nationwide Series Breakdown: Stater Brothers 300
Bryan Davis Keith
In a word, uneventful.
As if following up Daytona with Fontana wasn’t enough of a letdown, Kyle Busch made sure that there would be no last lap fireworks this time around. Leading over 140 of the 150 laps run Saturday night, Busch followed up his Truck win earlier in the day with a dominant performance that saw the JGR No. 18 team lay waste to the Nationwide Series field. The win was the first for the No. 18 team with Jason Ratcliffe on the pit box since his suspension at Michigan last August for tampering with a NASCAR chassis dyno. Kyle Busch also became the first driver in NASCAR history to win two national touring division races on the same day.
Fourth place finisher Carl Edwards put it best in saying “Busch was in a league of his own tonight.”
Much like his performance at Auto Club Speedway this past August, Busch proved impossible to pass for anyone on track. The only time Busch’s Camry got passed all evening was by Carl Edwards on pit road during the final exchange of pit stops, and his No. 60 Ford failed to lead even half a lap under green before being losing the point to a bump and run by Busch in Turn 2.With the win, Busch took the Nationwide Series points lead by 20 markers over Carl Edwards.
Who Should Have Won: Kyle Busch Love him or hate him, Busch’s No. 18 Toyota was hooked up. All night. With flawless handling, Toyota horsepower under the hood and an all-star pit crew composed of regulars from all of JGR’s Sprint Cup operations, Saturday night’s race will likely be a movie that the Nationwide Series will see played many times in 2009.
Worth Noting
The Good: Cup regulars took eight of the top 10 finishing positions Saturday night, and both of the Nationwide regulars that cracked the top 10 came from the Rusty Wallace Incorporated stable. Brendan Gaughan struggled with handling early in the race, to the point that his No. 62 team made numerous pit stops under a later caution. The adjustments hit on something, as Gaughan took to the high side of the track like a man possessed. The former Winston West Series regular got as high as sixth before fading to a solid eighth at the finish, a finish that moved Gaughan into the top 10 in points. Meanwhile, Steve Wallace rebounded impressively from his nasty wreck at Daytona, using a Lucky Dog and timely adjustments to score his first career top 10 at ACS. Of note, Gaughan’s No. 62 team is now eighth in points, the highest ranked Nationwide Series regular.
The Bad: Last week Brad Keselowski had no one to blame but himself for late-race contact with the wall that cost him a shot at victory at Daytona. Another week, another wreck for the driver of the No. 88, though this time he got punted. Literally. Entering Turn 4 on Lap 97, Greg Biffle bowled all over Keselowski’s back bumper, sending his Chevrolet hard into the retaining wall, a wreck that also caused notable damage to the front bumper of Jason Leffler’s No. 38. Though ESPN commentators were quick to rationalize Biffle’s bulldozing, saying that Keselowski had gotten loose in front of Biffle’s car, replays made it very clear that Keselowski had gathered his car up well before contact was made. The wreckage left Keselowski four laps down from resulting repair work (he finished 27th) and mired Jason Leffler back in traffic for the duration of the evening. Keselowski’s eventful evening left him 16th in points, already 171 markers behind leader Kyle Busch.
Fortunately, Biffle got what he had coming to him, losing control of his No. 16 on his own later in the race and slamming into the Turn 2 wall, recording a DNF.
The Ugly: You’ve got to hand it to Michael McDowell. When he wrecks, he does so in spectacular fashion. In the most dramatic accident to rock a Nationwide Series race in Fontana since Brad Keselowski’s horrific wall-slide in the 2007 fall race, Michael McDowell’s No. 47 Toyota literally blew up in Turn 2, igniting oil and turning the car into a massive fireball. McDowell did an admirable job to get his car off the racing surface and into position for fire crews to react. Fortunately, the former open-wheeler was quick to remove himself from the car after he got it stopped, and was reportedly no worse for the wear. The same could not be said for his car, however, which left the track on a roll-back. He finished 36th.
Underdog Performer of the Race: Morgan Shepherd Back in 2004, on a blistering hot race day in California, Shepherd brought his only car and engine to the then California Speedway for the Sprint Cup race, the Auto Club 500. With only 43 cars present, Shepherd qualified for the race, and managed to remain on the lead lap for nearly 60 laps, eventually finishing 36th. The purse money he won didn’t cover his expenses for the weekend. Still, when interviewed by the Rocky Mountain News, Shepherd could only say “I’m a racer. I’m here to race.”
Fast forward to 2009. Shepherd is now 67 and is running Nationwide Series races instead of Cup, but his mantra clearly hasn’t changed. Because despite being outclassed by the majority of the teams that started the Stater Brothers 300, Shepherd ran the distance and finished in the top 20. The Nationwide Series often sees underdog teams crack the top tier of the finishing order on the short tracks and in plate races, but to see Shepherd finish 19th on the intermediate tracks that have become the feeding ground for NASCAR’s super-teams was nothing short of impressive. Well done, Morgan.
The Final Word
The biggest gaffe that NASCAR made last weekend at Daytona was their asinine decision to penalize Jason Leffler five laps for “rough driving” on the auspice that he intentionally wrecked Steve Wallace, holding Leffler guilty until proven innocent. In Saturday night’s race out west, NASCAR had a similar incident occur on Lap 97 when Greg Biffle ran all over Brad Keselowski, causing a wreck that also caught Jason Leffler. Fortunately, true to form, NASCAR was inconsistent, this time levying no penalties against Greg Biffle despite ample video evidence that he was at fault.
I’m not condoning Greg Biffle for his actions by saying he shouldn’t be penalized. On the contrary, any time I see a Nationwide Series regular get slammed into by a Cup regular who has no need to be on track in the first place I get angry and curse at my TV screen, and Saturday night was no exception.
But, just as with the Leffler/Wallace wreck last week, there was no way looking at the video for NASCAR to truly know whether Biffle had a lapse of concentration or for some reason had it out for Brad Keselowski. And this time, given the inconclusiveness of the evidence, they made the right call; no call at all.
What the Biffle incident seemed to conclusively prove though was that 2009 is looking to truly be a year of the Nationwide Series being Cup Lite, be it the companion races or the title chase itself. Saturday night saw Kyle Busch impose his will over absolutely every car in the field, with Carl Edwards hardly breaking a sweat to remain in the top 5. The same could not be said for the Nationwide regulars contending for the series title. The damage that Jason Leffler received in the Lap 97 wreck cost him a top 10 finish. Mike Bliss had a top 5 run going before having a flat tire under green that left him fighting traffic the rest of the night. Jason Keller was off the pace all evening. And as previously mentioned, Greg Biffle saw to it that Brad Keselowski’s awful history at ACS continued.
We’re only two races into the season, and the “Kyle Busch vs. Carl Edwards Cup Showdown” that was hyped all off-season is already the story of note. These two Cup regulars are each now at least 84 points ahead of the closest Nationwide Series regulars, and judging from their post-race comments they are the only two competitors that their teams are thinking about.
Next up for the Nationwide Series tour is the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, another high-speed intermediate oval that will likely be dominated by Cup regulars doing double-duty. The good news for Nationwide Series fans is that Brad Keselowski darned near won this race last season.
The bad news? He lost it by getting run over by a Cup regular late in the running.
Sound familiar?
Frontstretch.com
Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud: Auto Club 500
Matt McLaughlin
The Key Moment- Matt Kenseth’s crew was flawless all night and got him off pit road first on the final sequence of pit stops. Despite Kenseth’s initial Charlie Brown like resignation over the radio he was able to hold off the 24 car.
In a Nutshell: With all due apologies to Albert Hammond, “It never rains in Southern California, but boy don’t they warn you, that it bores, that it bores….”
Dramatic Moment” For the last twenty laps Jeff Gordon kept Matt Kenseth honest but he apparently licked all the red off his candy too early in the run.
What They’ll Be Talking About Around the Water Cooler This Week
People complain about Pocono all the time, but if there’s any race that needs to be shortened from 500 miles to 300 miles, especially given the starting time, this is it.
Yes, I’m going to beat the same old dead horse one more time. It’s tough to take that we gave up Rockingham for this sorry excuse of a race track. What’s really galling is NASCAR officials said Rockingham had to lose its date due to poor attendance. Did anyone else note just a few gaps in the grandstand seating at Fontana?
Remember last year when Las Vegas track owner Bruton Smith offered Fontana track GM Gillian Zucker a new job and a nice pay increase? She declined the offer. If I was Ms. Zucker I’d spend this week at the Las Vegas airport, resume in hand waiting to greet Smith when he arrived in town.
It’s hard to say which was more embarrassing Saturday afternoon; the truck race itself or the size of the audience in the grandstands there to watch it. Kyle Busch just spanked the field en route to victory with more than a nine second gap back to second place Todd Bodine. As for the “crowd” I’ve seen more people at a middle school lacrosse game in the rain. Qualifying ticket sales were even more embarrassing but that’s understandable. NASCAR’s top 35 rule has taken all the drama out of qualifying to the point they might as well just draw numbers out of the hat to set the field. It’s not like winning a pole even gains a driver entry into next year’s Bud Shootout after all.
The Haas Automation decals on Ryan Newman’s car seem to indicate the entry was competing without a sponsor. Gene Haas owns half the team.
Give the folks at FOX points for trying hard to put a positive spin on things. They feel that the ratings for last week’s Daytona 500 “reaffirmed its status as one of America’s premier annual sports events.” The go on to say that their audience of sixteen million viewers beat last year’s Beijing Olympics, a somewhat questionable statistic given 211 million Americans watched that multi-day event. Here’s the hard numbers. Last year’s 500 garnered a 10.2 Nielsen Rating. This year’s race drew a 9.2 rating. FOX says that’s because it rained. Of course last time a Daytona 500 was truncated by rain the race still drew a 9.8 Nielsen rating. It is safe to say that this year’s 500 was the highest rated Daytona 500 since a rodent was introduced as part of the broadcast team…Darrell Waltrip non-withstanding.
Hey, maybe I’m too old fashioned as someone who reads the Bible more than I do the Wall Street Journal, but I’m seeing a dichotomy here. If FOX is going to give us the un-amusing and unnecessary Digger segments during their race broadcasts to attract kids should they also be accepting the soft core porn ads from Go.Daddy.com? If Ms. Danica Patrick ever wishes to raise the issue with the media again as to why she isn’t treated as a serious and talented race car driver but rather just another pretty face she need only look at the endorsement deals she’s done. I haven’t seen that many big boobs together in one place since Brian France and NASCAR officials delivered their usual “State of the Sport” address during the pre-season Media Tour.
I guess there’s a reason I’m a writer not a network executive. For the life of me I don’t understand how it’s going to help TV ratings for a race to constantly remind viewers that the Oscar’s would be airing on a competing network later in the evening. Hey, anyone who’s bored of this column you might want to go see what Monte Dutton had to say about this weekend’s race. He’s a very talented and funny writer.
While it’s true that Kenseth’s crew has always been the best in the business, Dale Blickensderfer is two for two atop the pit box, don’t forget that this season Kenseth is reunited with his spotter from his championship season, Mike Calinoff. Fortunately for Calinoff there seems to be plenty of room left on his meaty calves for additional race victory tattoos.
The Hindenburg Award For Foul Fortune
Kevin Harvick blew an engine and endured his first DNF in 81 races to bring out the night’s only caution not related to rain.
Greg Bifffle might have had a car fast enough to compete with Kenseth and Gordon but he overshot his pit board and ran over the air line on the final pit stop.
The one thing worse than having a car not fast enough to get up front is having a car not fast enough to compete that blows up early. Such was the fate of Dale Earnhardt Jr. I guess that’s the last time the 88 team lets Brian Vickers set the valve lash prior to the race.
Mark Martin also suffered a rare blown engine out of the Hendrick shop.
Jeff Gordon had to feel like Tantalus with his first victory in 42 points races so close but so far away in those final laps.
Joey Logano looked like he was channeling Casey Atwood out there on the track.
The “Seven Come Fore Eleven” Award For Fine Fortune
Kenseth’s engine temperature rose to an alarming degree but a timely caution allowed him to pull up to the pace car to remove that hot dog wrapper on his way to victory.
Third place might not have been what he envisioned but given two dominating victories in Saturday’s truck and Nationwide races Kyle Busch had a pretty fair weekend at Fontana.
After Daytona Brian Vickers has got to be pleased to leave Fontana with a top ten finish and no reason for the Earnhardt nation to channel their ire at him.
Given this sport’s history of aircraft tragedies the MWR members aboard the team plane forced to make an emergency landing in Vegas after engine problems developed have to feel blessed. The situation was so tense that even though Waltrip wasn’t aboard the plane he took off his shoes and tried to run home when advised the FAA was en route to investigate.
Wow, Kyle Busch and his Nationwide team really seemed to benefit from the return of Jason Ratcliff back to the pit box after his long suspension for trying to doctor the dyno results after last year’s Michigan race. It must be Jason’s magnetic personality.
Worth Noting
A Roush Racing entrant won the February Fontana Neo-classic for the fifth time in as many years.
Kenseth has won the first two races of the season, the first time that feat has been accomplished since Jeff Gordon did so in 1997.
The top ten finishers at Fontana drove three Fords, three Chevys, three Toyotas and Kurt Busch’s lone Dodge.
Joey Logano was the top finishing rookie of the race with his 26th place finish. Sweet.
Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart are the only three drivers to score top 10 finishes in both of this season’s points races.
All five drivers who posted top 5 finishes in this year’s February Fontana race also finished in the top 10 in last year’s same event. Officially last year 70,000 fans attended that race. This year many of them did not come back.
What’s the Points?
It is still WAY too early to worry about points to any meaningful degree.
Not surprisingly considering he’s won the first two points paying events of the season Kenseth leads the Cup points. He has a 81 points lead over Jeff Gordon, who is second in the standings. Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart are tied for third, a further ten points behind Gordon. If the season were to end right now… many of us longtime fans would be vastly relieved.
Among the surprises in the top 10 in points right now are: Michael Waltrip (seventh), David Ragan (eighth), and Juan Pablo Montoya (tenth).
Notable drivers who need to dig themselves out of an early season (real early) points hole include Jimmie Johnson (nineteenth), Mark Martin (27th) Jamie McMurray (28th), Jeff Burton (31st, ironically enough) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (35th). Again, recall we’re two races deep into the 26-race regular season. Next weekend’s race at Las Vegas could really shuffle the deck, so to speak.
Overall Rating (On a scale of one to six beer cans with one being a stinker and a six pack an instant classic) — I’ll give this one a single can of generic stuff. Air traffic controllers allow passenger aircraft to fly closer together than most of the field ran on Sunday night.
Next Up: The series heads off to Las Vegas to give the folks at FOX a chance to trot out their usual toxic and tortured Elvis routines. Oh, and the race starts about 4:45 EST. What the…
Frontstretch.com
Ten Points to Ponder: Auto Club 500 Edition
Mike Lovecchio
Kenseth Proves Daytona Wasn’t Luck
Several fans had a bitter taste in their mouth about the ending of the Daytona 500 last week and rightfully so. When you have a driver who hasn’t won a race in over a year and he suddenly wins the sport’s most prestigious race after taking the lead one lap before it rains, fans have a right to hesitate when giving credit to the winner. But what most people don’t realize is that Kenseth put himself in position for the victory whether it rained or not and this week he proved the win was no fluke. The Wisconsin native is the first driver to win the first two races of the season since Jeff Gordon over ten years ago and don’t look now, but Kenseth has two wins and averaged a 9th place finish in nine races at Las Vegas as well.
Junior Struggling
This is not how the No. 88 team hoped to start 2009. After the controversial accident with Brian Vickers and 27th place finish in the Daytona 500, Earnhardt struggled off the trailer in California and succumbed to engine failure just as the team seemed to be heading towards the front, finishing 39th. There was talk of Junior feeling the pressure to succeed following Daytona and last night he had the look of a broken driver. It’s still WAY too early in the season to count Earnhardt out and Junior Nation needs to realize that the No. 88 team is still strong. His confidence may be rattled, but you’ve got to think there will be some good runs ahead.
Different Year, Same Story for Lil’ Busch
Lil’ Busch seems to be picking up right where he left off last season when it comes to success across the sport’s three national series. After two second place runs in the truck and Nationwide races last week at Daytona, he answered back with two wins and a third this week at California. Expect much of the same throughout the season as Busch’s truck and Nationwide equipment is far superior to the competition and his No. 18 Sprint Cup car ain’t too shabby either.
Roush Speedway
The cat in the hat seems to have this whole spring race at Auto Club Speedway figured out as Matt Kenseth’s second consecutive victory of the season was Jack Roush’s fifth consecutive victory at the 2-mile speedway. All four Roush Fenway cars spent considerable time in the top 10 and Greg Biffle had perhaps the best car on the track before running over his airhose on a late-race pit stop.
Wack-A-Mo
I understand the importance of trying to get kids interested in NASCAR, but if I have to see that animated gopher one more time I’m going to have to “Wack-A-Mo.” Seriously, the gopher-cam was cool, but do we really need to hear DW, Larry Mac and Mike Joy and plug Digger during each segment? Do the millions of ADULT fans want to hear about a cartoon character every five minutes? And I thought “Boogity, boogity, boogity” was annoying.
Notes To Ponder:
Surprise Through 2 Races = Waltrip: Anybody else notice Michael Waltrip sits 7th in points?
Rookies Struggle Again: The year’s supposedly stout rookie class hasn’t quite performed as well as expected yet. Joey Logano’s 26th place finish was the best for a rookie this season.
Atta Boy for Morgan Shepherd: One of the most impressive runs this weekend was Shepherd’s surprising 19th place run in Saturday’s Nationwide series event.
Scary Crash for McDowell: Taking the Michael Waltrip career path, Michael McDowell is making a name for himself with scary crashes. His most recent resulted in a scary fire in the Nationwide event.
From Bikes to Cars: Ricky Carmichael seems to be adjusting to NASCAR quicker than expected, finishing 8th in just his second truck series start.
Frontstretch.com
RacingOne Rewind: Auto Club
Racingone.com
A look back at Matt Kenseth's 18th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win in Sunday's Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway including news, notes and observations by the RacingOne staff.
Inside Line
Matt Kenseth became the first driver since Jeff Gordon in 1997 to win the first two races of a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season when he followed up his Daytona 500 win with a victory in Sunday night's Auto Club 500.
Keys to Victory Lane
Kenseth beat Gordon off pit road on a late stop and was able to stay ahead in the closing laps to score his third career ACS victory. Complete Results
Zero to Hero
Brian Vickers won the pole but was forced to start last after an engine change, however, he rallied back to finish 10th.
Rookie of the Race
Joey Logano rebounded from his Daytona 500 accident to finish 26th Sunday night.
Notables
Denny Hamlin started 23rd and came home sixth. Carl Edwards took the green flag 25th and notched a seventh-place finish. And Michael Waltrip came from the 42nd starting spot to post a 15th-place finish.
Chase for the Cup
Kenseth has the early point lead by 81 over Gordon with Kurt Busch third, 91 behind.
Auto Club 500 Loop Data Leaders
• Average Running Position: Jeff Gordon - 2.3
• Fastest Early In a Run: Jeff Gordon - 175.098 mph
• Fastest Late In a Run: Greg Biffle - 170.615 mph
• Fastest Laps Run: Greg Biffle - 46
• Fastest on Restarts: Jimmie Johnson - 175.550 mph
• Most Passes During Green Flag Conditions: David Stremme - 96
• Laps In Top 15: Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson - 250
• Quality Passes: Denny Hamlin - 44
• Speed in Traffic: Jeff Gordon - 171.888 mph
Pit Stops
• Kenseth captured his 18th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win in his 330rd career start. Detailed Active Driver Wins
• Kenseth won the 115th race for car owner Jack Roush. Detailed Active Car Owner Wins
• Kenseth became the second driver to win at Auto Club Speedway from the 24th position. He was the 12th driver overall to win a race from that position. Starting Position Facts
• Kenseth won the 10th race for Ford at Auto Club Speedway. All-Time Manufacturer Wins
• Jeff Gordon (second) posted his ninth top-10 finish in 18 races at Auto Club Speedway.
• Kyle Busch (third) posted his eight top-10 finish in 10 race at Auto Club Speedway. With his two victories Saturday, and third-place finish Sunday, Busch posted the best overall finish for a triple-race weekend.
• Greg Biffle (fourth) posted his fourth top-five finish in 13 starts at Auto Club.
• Kurt Busch (fifth) posted his first top five at Auto Club since joining Penske Racing.
• Denny Hamlin (sixth) posted his third top-10 finish in seven starts at Auto Club.
• Carl Edwards (seventh) has finished in the top 10 in all but one of his 10 starts at Auto Club Speedway.
• Tony Stewart (eighth) posted his eighth top-10 finish in 16 starts at Auto Club Speedway.
• Jimmie Johnson (ninth) has now posted five consecutive top-10 finishes at Auto Club Speedway.
• Brian Vickers (10th) has finished 12th or better in all five of his starts at Auto Club Speedway with Red Bull Racing.
• The 250-lap race saw 19 lead changes among 11 drivers and an average speed of 135.839 mph.
• Five caution flags were thrown for 43 laps.
• The Auto Club 500 lasted 3 hours, 40 minutes, 51 seconds.
Lug Nuts
• Once again FOX saddled fans with a late start time that probably put the race in more danger of rain problems than a regular green flag beginning.
• No sign of letting up on Digger Mania either.
• Roush Fenway Racing literally owns Auto Club Speedway.
• Kenseth and Gordon are making early statements that last year is way over.
• Rough day for Chevy with three blown engines in Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick.
• Tony Stewart most likely heard noises from inside his Hendrick motor.
• Kyle Busch just may pull off a three-peat weekend yet this year.
• Decent crowd on hand for Fontana standards.
• Not much of a "House" call on the command by Hugh Laurie.
Garage Talk
• "It's called getting beat and not liking it." - Jeff Gordon
• "Drew has brought magic to the team." - Jack Roush
• "They should fire me." - Greg Biffle
• "But the doom and gloom about the fact that California can't support NASCAR is dead wrong." - Auto Club Speedway president Gillian Zucker
• "I'm not really that good here.” - Tony Stewart on his eighth-place finish
RacingOne Rating
On a scale of one to 10 Hollywood Stars, we'll give Sunday's Auto Club 500 a seven. The racing is getting better at ACS with a combo platter of the new Cup car and the weathered track. If Gordon could have gotten a little closer at the end we would have had a pretty good finish. But all in all a decent race number two. Now it's off to Sin City and a slew of gambling puns coming from the TV guys next Sunday in the Shelby 427 at Auto Club Speedway.