Racing Roundup April 5 - 6

Busch dominates for Nationwide win at TMS

Fort Worth, TX (Sports Network) - Kyle Busch didn't need a good starting position to dominate Saturday's O'Reilly 300 at the Texas Motor Speedway. The No.18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota started near the back and still led 126 of 200 laps crossing the finish line a comfortable 1.041 seconds ahead of Jeff Burton.

The victory was Busch's first of the season and 12th of his Nationwide career.

"A great job by all these guys at Joe Gibbs Racing...the car was awesome," said Busch.

Kevin Harvick, who sat on the pole because of Thursday's rained out qualifying session, proved he might have had the fastest car anyway, by leading right from the drop of the green flag. The No.33 Chevrolet held off Tony Stewart, who worked his way from sixth to second for 53 laps before Stewart slid around him for the first lead change of the race.

While the two were fighting for the lead, Busch was flying through the field from his 31st starting spot on the grid. By lap 40 he was already in the top-10 and still closing on the leaders. He cracked the top-four before lap 50.

On the first green flag pit stop, Harvick had problems leaving the pit. He made one slow lap and returning to the garage with a broken left axle. It was Stewart who held the lead after the stops, with Bowyer and Busch about three seconds back.

Busch, however, was still the fastest car on the track, even faster than the leader and he passed Bowyer for second place at lap 68. Then on lap 71 Stewart suddenly slowed. He thought it was a right-side vibration and pulled down pit lane. They changed tires and off he went, but he was now down a lap.

Busch inherited the lead from Stewart with about a one-second edge on Bowyer and three seconds on Burton. By lap 85 the gap was 3.007 seconds between Busch and Bowyer and the No.18 Toyota driver had lapped all but 15 cars.

The inevitable caution, for debris, erased Busch's big lead, but it didn't slow the Las Vegas native down. The big loser on the stop was the No.2 Bowyer Chevrolet that fell from second to fourth. So it was now Burton trying to stay with Busch.

It was all Burton could do to keep up with Busch and he fell one second back at the 115-lap mark. The only car on track with Busch's speed was the No.32 Toyota of Brian Vickers, who had come from 19th on the grid to fourth place behind Busch, Burton and David Reutimann.

But unless he broke or made a driving error this was Busch's race. He had the lead up to three seconds again by lap 130 and 5.168 seconds at lap 145.

Meanwhile, Stewart was back on track and the first car one lap down. Should a caution flag come out he would get the "Lucky Dog" pass and be back in the race. Unfortunately a long green-flag run coupled with Busch's speed meant that Stewart never got that free pass and finished 10th.

Final green flag stops began around lap 152. Busch came in on lap 155, made no changes and off he went. He had just returned to the track when Kyle Krisiloff spun to bring out just the third caution flag of the day.

The front four cars after the stops had not changed positions - Busch, Burton, Reutimann and Vickers.

Reutimann was slow on the restart and reported that he was down a cylinder, moving Vickers up to third place with 35 laps to go. But this race was all about the No.18 Toyota.

Busch rebuilt the lead to one second with 30 laps remaining and 4.006 seconds with 13 to go. But Krisiloff blew a tire with 12 laps to go to give Burton and David Ragan, who also stayed out, one last shot at Busch. Clint Bowyer was fourth, with four fresh tires.

"I thought staying out in the fresh air would be best," said Busch.

Bowyer got around Ragan relatively quickly, but he and Burton fought for second and it gave Busch a chance to open up a solid lead. From there Busch cruised to the checkered flag without challenge leading 126 of 200 laps.

Bowyer, Labonte and Jamie McMurray completed the top-five.

The next race is scheduled for Friday, April 11th at the Phoenix International Raceway.

Edwards wins in overtime at TMS

Fort Worth, TX (Sports Network) - Carl Edwards had to go a few extra laps, but the outcome was rarely in doubt over the last 100 laps as he won Sunday's Samsung 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway. The No.99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford crossed the finish line 0.399 seconds ahead of Jimmie Johnson.

The victory was Edwards' third of the season and 10th of his Sprint Cup career.

Edwards hung around the top-10 for the first half of the race, but when it was time to go, no one could handle the No.99 Ford. He took the lead from Johnson on lap 233 and led the final 106 laps to take the victory.

Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin completed the top-five. Other drivers of note and their unofficial finishing positions: points leader Jeff Burton (sixth), Tony Stewart (seventh), Matt Kenseth (ninth), Kevin Harvick (11th), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (12th) and Jeff Gordon (43rd).

"I appreciate my fans sticking behind me," said Edwards, referring to the 100- point penalty he received after his win in Las Vegas. "This was fun.

"He was better than us there at the end," said Johnson.

Earnhardt Jr., the pole winner, quickly jumped out in front as Edwards fell into line between the No.88 and Busch. Busch, however, wasn't satisfied with just sitting in line and on lap 14 got past "Junior" for the lead. Busch quickly built the lead to more than two seconds.

Going in the opposite direction was Gordon. He was complaining of brake and handling problems and dropped from 18th on the starting grid to 34th after 25 laps.

A caution flag and the No.88 pit crew got Earnhardt Jr. back out front for the restart, just ahead of Johnson, Busch and Edwards. Johnson earned his five- point bonus when he got around Earnhardt Jr. on lap 47. He built a lead of around one second on Busch, Earnhardt Jr. and Edwards.

The top-three cars, sans Earnhardt Jr. began to pull away from the field. They were already lapping slower cars including: Michael Waltrip and Jeremy Mayfield. The next on the list was Gordon, who still had not improved after the first pit stop. On lap 69 Johnson put his teammate (and co-owner) down a lap. After 100 laps the leaders had lapped all except the first 21 cars.

Busch was having trouble keeping up with Johnson's pace and fell five seconds back, although still in third place. Only Edwards was within one second of the No.48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Then Gordon spun to bring out the caution flag on lap 109 and slow the race to 55 m.p.h. Gordon got out of the car and took interviews as it was a long repair process to get him back onto the track. he final returned some 100 laps later, but finished dead last.

After the pit stops, the No.17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Matt Kenseth took over. He led 22 laps until a debris caution on lap 131 again slowed the field. The pit crew again did their job getting Kenseth out first. At the mid-point, lap 167, it was Kenseth leading Johnson by half-a-second and Busch by 2.5 seconds.

Another caution flag and this time Kenseth's crew was a little slow letting Busch, Edwards and Denny Hamlin get past him. Kenseth was definitely slower after the restart and couldn't keep up with Busch, Edwards and Johnson as the field crossed the 200-lap mark.

Edwards and Johnson both passed Busch, but it was still looked like a three- man race with 100 laps to go. Then Edwards put it in another gear and even Johnson and Busch couldn't keep up.

The No.99 Roush Ford flew around the track and by lap 275 his lead was eight seconds on Johnson and 11 seconds on Busch. He had lapped all but 11 cars including Earnhardt Jr., the pole winner.

Edwards made a stop with 51 laps to go, making no changes. He returned to the track with almost all of his eight-second lead in tact. Barring a caution flag this was Edwards' race.

Then on lap 294, the one thing that Edwards didn't want to see - a caution flag. Out went his seven plus-second lead and we had a race again. All 10 of the remaining lead-lap drivers pitted for new tires.

They came off pit lane with Edwards on top, followed by Johnson, Busch and Martin Truex Jr. who took just two right-side tires to gain four spots.

Busch went between Johnson and a lapped car to grab second from Johnson, but Johnson came right back on the next lap to take second again. But while Busch and Johnson were fighting for second, Edwards was pulling away.

The No.99 had a one-second lead with 30 laps to go. It was close to two second with 20 laps to go and only a mistake or an engine failure could keep Edwards out of Victory Lane.

A caution flag (Truex Jr. engine failure) with five laps to go gave Johnson one last hope. There would be just two laps to go when they got the green flag.

But Edwards got off to a good jump and Johnson could never even get close enough to pressure Edwards much less make a passing attempt.

Burton's sixth-place finish gives him a 59-point lead over Harvick heading into next Saturday night's race in Phoenix. With the win Edwards moved up to 10th overall.

Ill-handling cars in Texas draw complaints, except from winner
April 6, 2008

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -Jimmie Johnson finished second and Jeff Gordon had a rare last-place finish. While at opposite ends of the field, both Hendrick teammates had complaints about how the new cars handled at Texas Motor Speedway.

``The car is so dependent on aerodynamics that the guy in front has a major, major advantage,'' Johnson said. ``More than we've ever had before.''

Near the end of the Samsung 500 on Sunday, after two late cautions tightened the field and sent the race to two extra laps, Johnson still couldn't catch up with Carl Edwards.

``We're all afraid to run side-by-side, and you can only get so close to the guy in front of you,'' said Johnson, obviously frustrated despite he second straight top-five finish. ``I can tell you how bad (the car) drove. ... My hands were full.''

At least Johnson had a good finish to show for his day. Gordon was 43rd - last in the field - for only the second time in his 516 career Cup races. Gordon finished only 124 of the 339 laps.

When Gordon spun out and made contact with the wall on lap 109, he bypassed his pit and took the ill-handling No. 24 Chevrolet straight to the garage. After lengthy repairs, Gordon went back on the track more than 100 laps down and ran only a few more laps before finally parking the car.

``We've tried every setup we can find, but none of them seem to work,'' Gordon said. ``I was just hanging on every single lap.''

Except for a two-day tire test with two cars in mid-January, this week was the first time NASCAR's new cars ran at Texas.

Kyle Busch, after winning the Nationwide race at Texas on Saturday, was third Sunday in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for his best finish in seven Cup starts at Texas. And even he wasn't completely thrilled.

``Was it fun to drive? No. Was it hard to drive? Yes,'' Busch said. ``Did it survive the day? Yes. So was it a good day? Sure.''

Edwards had a different take, though, than everybody who followed him on the track. He insisted that the cars were ``the same for everybody. It makes it more exciting to win. ... It's not supposed to be a drive on the interstate.''

Gordon started 18th, dropped five spots the first three laps, then slipped to 35th after 11 laps. Then on lap 70, Gordon was passed by Johnson, who was leading the race at the time. Gordon was trying to avoid being lapped again when he spun.

Gordon has 81 victories and is one of only four drivers to run all 15 Cup races in Texas, but he still hasn't won on the high-banked 1 1/2-mile track in any series. Gordon at least has a Nationwide victory at Homestead, the only other track he hasn't won a Cup race.

``We have had our moments when the car has been really good,'' Gordon said. ``But, you know what, when the car is off, I am lost here. I haven't felt this lost since my rookie year at a race track.''

MOVING UP, DOWN: Before getting to Texas, Jamie McMurray was having to qualify on time because his No. 26 Ford had dropped below 35th in owner points.

The Roush Fenway driver has solved that problem.

McMurray made his second consecutive five-spot jump in those standings, to 26th, after finishing 14th at Texas. After having to qualify on time at Martinsville Speedway, he drove to a season-best eighth-place finish in the No. 26 Ford.

Cup rookie Sam Hornish Jr., the former open-wheel champion driving for Roger Penske, moved up two spots to 34th and is guaranteed a spot in Saturday night's race at Phoenix. He switched places with Jeremy Mayfield, the only driver to fall out of the top 35.

David Reutimann, who took over retired driver Dale Jarrett's points in the No. 44 Michael Waltrip Racing car, dropped another spot to 38th in owner points after finishing 41st on Sunday.

SORE McDOWELL: NASCAR rookie Michael McDowell will always be reminded of his weekend in Texas, with the much-replayed video of his fiery crash during qualifying.

While McDowell escaped the horrific accident basically unscathed, he was still sore, and felt it Sunday while driving his No. 00 backup car 332 laps. It was much different from the 500 laps at the shorter Martinsville track in his Sprint Cup debut the week before.

``I like those ARCA races that are only 150 miles,'' McDowell said. ``Last week wasn't too bad, but starting the race out sore and kind of starting out the race in pain anyway, it didn't take long before I felt it.''

McDowell finished 33rd, seven laps off the pace, in his second Cup start for Michael Waltrip Racing.

During qualifying Friday, McDowell's car got loose, slammed almost headfirst into the wall, then ricocheted and barrell-rolled at least eight times before coming to rest at the bottom of the track.

GANASSI GRIPES: A day after car owner Chip Ganassi blasted his poor-performing Cup team, nothing happened in Texas to really make him feel any better.

Juan Pablo Montoya (19th place) and Reed Sorenson (24th) both finished two laps off the lead and dropped in owner points. And that was after Dario Franchitti didn't even qualify to race.

Montoya slipped three spots to 20th in owner points. And Sorenson, who hasn't finished better than 18th since a fifth-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500, is down to 29th. Franchitti is 39th, only dropping a spot without racing.

SPARKPLUGS: The No. 12 Dodge of Ryan Newman, who finished fourth, failed postrace inspection because the right rear was too high. NASCAR officials said any penalties would be forthcoming this week. ... A prerace moment of silence was observed for Max Helton, who founded Motor Racing Outreach organization, a Christian ministry, in 1988. Helton, diagnosed with brain cancer in August, died April 30. Helton's name was painted on the infield, along with the words, ``A Good and Faithful Servant.'' ... The crowd was estimated at 190,000.

Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud: Samsung 500

The Key Moment: Edwards had been slow on re-starts all day but he got a good one when it counted as the final green flag waved.

In a Nutshell: Just another McRace….the new cars and the superspeedways just don’t seem to produce very good racing.

Dramatic Moment: A green/white/checkered flag gave the rest of the field one last shot at the 99 on a track that was still possibly a bit oily in the high groove but it was all for naught.

What They’ll Be Talking About Around the Water Cooler This Week

While the tires weren’t terrible on Sunday like they had been at Atlanta, one can’t help but wonder if Goodyear and the teams could have brought better equipment to Texas had NASCAR agreed to let the teams test there prior to the event like Eddie Gossage offered to let them.

OK, so what is NASCAR going to find illegal on the 99 car this time? Let me guess…an illegal swaybar.

What was Juan Montoya thinking blocking the leaders all day? He was just a well decaled obstáculo de camino Sunday.

OK, how deep into the race did you make it before a nap sounded like more fun?

How many more boring races is it going to take before NASCAR admits these new cars need a nose job? Cue up the Bob Dylan because the answer is blowing in the wind…..even if you don’t need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

It would have seemed Jeff Gordon’s late race wreck at Vegas would have convinced every track GM that all walls at the track need to be protected by the SAFER barrier. Apparently nobody at Texas got the memo and it’s fortunate J.J Yeley wasn’t hurt after hitting that inside wall a ton and a half.

What in blazes is going on at Petty Enterprises? Kyle Petty said he didn’t take part in the decision to replace him in the seat of the 45 car for Texas. Who’s driving this bus and who tossed Kyle under that bus? Kyle’s commitment to step out of the seat to do TV work mid-season combined with the loss of General Mills as a sponsor for the 43 car at the end of the season have obviously raised the anxiety level up a few notches at Petty Enterprises.

There’s no doubt that it was a horrific wreck but all those neophytes watching the video of Michael McDowell’s qualifying wreck need to understand the physics of these crashes. When the car bends up and begins rolling and shedding parts that’s actually a good thing because the energy of the wreck is being dissipated. Compare Friday’s wreck to the last lap tragedy of the 2001 Daytona 500. That black 3 car remained relatively intact and all the energy of the impact was passed onto its driver. The difference is you can replace a car.

It looks like the unemployment rate in North Carolina is about to ratchet up a notch courtesy of Chip Ganassi.

NASCAR had previously had an unwritten rule about drivers rising up to the Cup level of racing. So how is it with four Nationwide/Busch starts and one CTS start, Michael McDowell was able to get in a Cup car? McDowell had never finished better than fourteenth in any of those Little League races. On the other hand a convincing argument can be made the wreck wasn’t entirely McDowell’s fault. Once again it appeared that fluids on the track not properly cleaned up, despite extensive down time on the track to clean things up, might have triggered Friday’s wreck. From what I’m told the synthetic oils the teams are using are more difficult to clean up than conventional petroleum based fluids. The new oil dry required for synthetics is not only less effective but tends to produce choking dust clouds when it’s used. So how hard would it be to just ban synthetic oils?

Anyone else still trying to pry the cat off the ceiling after Sunday’s command to start the engines?

I’m hearing rumors Michael Waltrip’s palatial home in Sherrill’s Ford is on the market. The property includes a pool house perfect for hiding out from the police after a late night single car wreck. Maybe Britney Spears would be interested?

Only FOX could promote a baseball game with highlights of bench clearing brawls.

Areas of the country struggling with lengthy droughts might want to schedule Nationwide qualifying sessions to get some much needed rain.

The Hindenburg Award For Foul Fortune

It’s been a long time since Jeff Gordon looked that awful in an undamaged car. Hitting the wall just put him out of his misery and out of everyone else’s way.

Martin Truex had a solid top 10 run going before his engine expired with a handful of laps to go.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. looked to have a solid shot at a win at long last before his team did what they always seem to be doing lately; they adjusted a competitive car to the point Junior would have been lucky to keep it in a 50 acre patch of briars.

The “Seven Come Fore Eleven” Award For Fine Fortune

After qualifying 35th, it appeared that Jeff Burton was going to be an also ran on Sunday. Somebody forgot to tell Burton that.

Kyle Busch won the Nationwide race on Saturday and finished third in Sunday’s Cup event. All in all that’s a pretty fair weekend’s work.

All three of Joe Gibbs teams finished in the top 7 on Sunday. All three of the Richard Childress owned Chevys finished in the top 11. 7 and 11? Is this Texas or Vegas?

J.J Yeley got out of his car unhurt after a savage wreck. And how many times must the white dove fly before concrete walls are forever banned?

Worth Noting

* Edwards won for the third time in seven races this season. Even had he not been penalized those one hundred points, Edwards would still be fourth in the standings, 84 points behind Jeff Burton and 25 points behind Kevin Harvick who hasn’t won a race this year. That seems to be a pretty clear indication the points system needs a major tweaking.

* Two months into the season Kyle Busch has already won at least one race in all three of NASCAR’s top touring series.

* Jeff Gordon endured his third DNF of the 2008 season. Last year he failed to finish only one race.

* Jimmie Johnson finished second for the second time this season but what you’ll be hearing all week is none of the Hendrick teams have won yet this season.

* Kyle Busch managed his first top 10 finish in three races on Sunday. Busch has led laps in six of this season’s seven Cup events.

* Ryan Newman drove to his first top 5 finish since he won this year’s Daytona 500.

* After a slow start to the season, Denny Hamlin has now posted three consecutive top 10 finishes.

* Jeff Burton now has five consecutive top 10 finishes.

* Mark Martin’s eighth place finish was his best in the five Cup races he’s started this season.

* Clint Bowyer has scored four straight top 10 results in the Cup series.

* Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s 12th place finish was his second worst result of 2008.

* The top 10 finishers at Texas Sunday drove two Fords, four Chevys, three Toyotas and a lone Dodge.

* It was another tough day for the rookies at Texas. Partick Carpentier’s 28th place finish was the best by any Rookie of the Year candidate.

* I’ve already gotten two emails asking me when Jeff Gordon finished dead last in a Cup race prior to Sunday. Oddly enough it was at Texas in 1999.

What’s the Points?

Jeff Burton maintains his points lead and increases his margin to 59 points over teammate Kevin Harvick who remains second in the standings.

Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards had the best points days at Texas. They each advanced four spots in the standings to sixth and tenth place respectively. Ryan Newman advanced three spots to eighth while Kyle Busch advanced two spots to third in the standings, now 64 points of the lead. Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer each advanced a spot in the standings. They are now fifth, seventh and 11th respectively. Matt Kennseth moved up two spots to 13th in the standings.

Holy Unsuited Shock package, Batman! Jeff Gordon tumbled five spots to 14th, out of the top 12 at least for a week. Greg Biffle fell six spots to ninth in the standings while Kasey Kahne fell five spots to 12th.

Any driver from seventh place Denny Hamlin on up could leave Phoenix with the points lead next week.

Overall Rating (On a scale of one to six beer cans with one being a stinker and a six pack an instant classic) We’ll give this one one can of lukewarm Lone Star, a brew so loathsome the Geneva Convention bans its use on prisoners of war.

Next Up: It’s off to Phoenix for this season’s first Saturday Night Special.

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