Racing Roundup August 8 - 10

Dixon picks up record-tying sixth win this season
Sat 9th, August 2008

Sparta, KY (Sports Network) - Helio Castroneves did everything he could to finally score his first victory of the season, but the No.3 Team Penske driver ran out of fuel on the last lap as Scott Dixon passed him heading into the final turn to pick up his record-tying sixth win of the season.

Dixon tied the IndyCar Series record for most wins in a season, set by his teammate Dan Wheldon in 2005.

"It was crazy," Dixon said. "I knew we were running a pretty good strategy, but Helio made it very hard to pass."

Dixon started on the pole and put on a dominating performance, leading 151 of 200 laps. At the half-way point, Marco Andretti made several attempts to pass Dixon, but Dixon was able to fend him off. He finally gave up the top spot to Andretti on Lap 121.

During the third and final caution, Dixon won the race off of pit road when he edged Andretti by a nose during the caution with 65 laps remaining. Dixon gained two spots as he led the field for the restart four laps later.

Andretti and Dixon battled for the top spot until the last round of green-flag stops from Laps 189-194.

Andretti gave up the lead to Dixon when he pitted for fuel only on Lap 189. Second-place runner Vitor Meira also came in for a splash of gas. Dixon led the next five laps before he came in fuel.

Castroneves, who last pitted on Lap 143, gambled on fuel and decided to go the distance.

After his stop, Dixon returned to the field second and trailed Castroneves by 6.1403 seconds. Dixon narrowed the gap as he charged towards Castroneves.

Heading into the final lap, Dixon was 0.6241 seconds behind Castroneves. Dixon caught up with Castroneves in turn three, and as they entered into the final turn, Dixon passed Castroneves on the outside and then beat him to the finish line by 0.5532 seconds.

"We really took a big gamble," Castroneves said after finishing second for the seventh time this season. "We saved enough fuel, but unfortunately not enough to win the race. We did not have the car to be competing with (Dixon)."

Andretti, Meira and Wheldon completed the top-five.

Dixon now holds a 78-point lead over Castroneves with three races to go in the season.

The next race is scheduled for Sunday, August 24th, at Sonoma, CA.

Ambrose picks up first Nationwide win at Watkins Glen
Sat 9th, August 2008

Watkins Glen, NY (Sports Network) - Fuel strategy paid off for Marcos Ambrose as he became a first-time race winner in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Saturday with a victory in the Zippo 200 at the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen International road course. Ambrose made his last stop on Lap 49 and then drove the final 33 circuits without pitting to capture the victory.

Ambrose recorded his first win in his 59th start.

"It feels so good to get it off my back," Ambrose said. "I've come so far for this. All of these guys (on my team) have never won, and I've never won in America. It just feels so good."

Ambrose has come close to winning a Nationwide race on a road course before.

Last week in Montreal, everything went his way until Lap 38 when he slid off the course. Then Ambrose gave up the lead on Lap 42 when he made his final pit stop. He was caught speeding as he entered and exited pit road. NASCAR hit him with a pass-through penalty. Ambrose ended up finishing third.

Ambrose finished second to Kyle Busch in April at Mexico City. He made contact with Boris Said in the late-stages of the race, which cost him a chance at victory.

Ambrose led in the final laps of last year's race at Montreal. But Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag in wild fashion after Robby Gordon spun out the race leader.

This time, Ambrose had a little bit of luck on his side.

Dario Franchitti captured his first career Nationwide pole earlier in the day and led the field to the green flag. On the third lap, Jeff Burton spun in the gravel while he was battling Ambrose for position. Burton remained on the lead lap, but fell back to the 39th place.

Franchitti held a two-second advantage over Jimmie Johnson until the first caution flag was displayed on Lap 11 for an incident involving Wheeler Boys and Burton. Boys hit the wall after Burton hit him from behind.

Ryan Newman's two-tire strategy put him out of the pits first, advancing five positions. Busch did not pit during the caution and led the field for the restart.

The second caution quickly came when Patrick Carpentier and Brad Coleman jumbled on the restart. After the two made contact, Coleman's car rolled up on the right side of Carpentier's machine. Brad Keselowski also got into the back end of Denny Hamlin, putting Hamlin in a spin.

Busch came in for his first stop on Lap 19, handing the lead over to Jason Leffler. Leffler ran out in front for three laps before P.J. Jones smacked Steve Wallace from behind, forcing the third caution. Jones was penalized for aggressive driving and had to restart from the tail end of the lead lap. Meanwhile, Burton inherited the lead on Lap 22 when Leffler made his first pit stop of the day.

Johnson was running third on the restart on Lap 25, but passed Newman for second and then Burton for the lead within one circuit.

Johnson held a three-second lead over Burton just before the caution came on Lap 41 when Sam Hornish Jr. spun and slammed into Antonio Perez.

When the leaders came in for a round of pit stops, Johnson took on four new tires and was the quickest off of pit road. Johnson, unfortunately, was caught speeding as he exited pit road and had to restart 21st.

Franchitti, Newman and Ambrose did not pit and ran first through fourth, respectively, when the race resumed on Lap 45. All three drivers last pitted on the 14th lap.

Franchitti made his final stop on Lap 48, and one lap later, Ambrose and Newman came in for their last stops. All three pitted just before the fifth and final caution flag was displayed for debris.

Burton held the lead for the restart on Lap 54, but Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer made contact and spun as they headed into turn one. Edwards and Bowyer were running in the top-three at the time. Bowyer fell to 29th, while Edwards dropped to 32nd.

Then things really got dicey as Busch bumped into the back end of Burton while the two were battling for the lead with 21 laps remaining. Both drivers spun, but recovered. Busch captured the lead in the process, with Burton in the second spot.

Meanwhile, Johnson recovered from his pit road mishap as he patiently made his way through the field. He passed Ambrose for the third spot with 17 laps to go.

Burton got even with Busch 14 laps from the finish when he bumped Busch out of the way and grabbed the lead. Johnson and Ambrose moved ahead of Busch for the second and third spots.

Johnson ran out of fuel with less than five laps remaining as Ambrose moved up to second. Then Burton's car slowed the following lap as also ran out of gas. Ambrose grabbed the lead for the second time in the event. He led the final four laps and crossed the finish line 4.335 seconds ahead of Busch.

Matt Kenseth, Harvick and Franchitti completed the top-five.

Burton finished 14th, while Johnson came in 29th.

"I got nailed for speeding on pit road leaving the pit box," Johnson said. "I guess I just didn't know where pit road speed ended. I had the engine off just trying to save fuel, and I got a soft sequence. And I knew we were in trouble, and we were counting on cautions."

Keselowski finished sixth and moved to within 128 points of leader Bowyer, who finished 23rd.

The next race is set for Saturday, August 16th, at Michigan International Speedway.

Busch sweeps the road courses with Watkins Glen win
Sun 10th, August 2008

Watkins Glen, NY (Sports Network) - Kyle Busch is now NASCAR's new "road- course king." Busch scored a season-sweep in the Sprint Cup series' two road- course events this year by winning Sunday's Centurion Boats at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. He won the June 22nd Sprint Cup race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Busch also captured the victory in the April 20th Nationwide event at the road course in Mexico City.

Busch put on a dominating performance at Watkins Glen, leading 52 of 90 laps. He was especially masterful on restarts.

"On restarts, these tires are pretty slick," Busch said. "We found that out at Infineon, so we were just planning for that and trying to get a good solid run up off the corners and being able to get up through the (rest of the track) good."

Busch recorded his series-leading eighth victory of the season and the 12th of his career. He has won a total of 16 races in NASCAR's top three divisions this year.

Busch led the first lap, but Dale Earnhardt, Jr. moved to the inside of him for the top spot the following lap. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon also passed Busch for the second and third positions on Lap 2.

By Lap 5, Tony Stewart, a four-time winner at Watkins Glen, had moved up to fifth place after starting ninth.

Busch reclaimed the third spot when he passed Gordon heading into the final turn of Lap 9. Then Stewart moved ahead of Gordon to capture the fourth position. Gordon fell to seventh by Lap 13. Meanwhile, Earnhardt, Jr. had built a 2.5-second lead over Johnson.

Marcos Ambrose started 43rd but had climbed up to 29th after 16 laps. Ambrose won Saturday's Nationwide race at Watkins Glen.

Green-flag pit stops began on Lap 21 when Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle gave up their top-10 positions and headed for pit road Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton made their stops on Lap 23, while Busch and Stewart came onto pit road on Lap 24. Johnson gave up second place when he came in for his first stop on Lap 27. After leading 27 of the first 28 laps, Earnhardt, Jr. made his pit stop, handing the lead back over to Busch.

Gordon's crew asked NASCAR to post his number on the scoreboard since the team could not communicate effectively with him to pit. NASCAR responded by black- flagging Gordon. He made his stop at the same time Earnhardt, Jr. did on Lap 29. Gordon's crew fixed the communication problem by handing him a new radio during the stop. Gordon returned to field in 23rd place.

After the completion of green-flag stops, Busch built a two-second advantage over Johnson. Stewart ran 6.5 seconds behind in the third spot.

On Lap 43, Johnson cut a left rear tire and had to make an unexpected pit stop. He returned to the field in 31st. Busch's lead grew to five seconds over Stewart.

At the half-way point, Ambrose continued his march towards the front as he moved up to 16th. He cracked the top-10 by Lap 58.

The race ran caution-free for the first half, but the yellow flag came out for the first time on Lap 48 when Sam Hornish, Jr. spun of the track and littered part of the course with sand in the process. A handful of leaders hit pit road. Gordon made an extended stop during the caution as his crew made several adjustments on the car. Gordon was running 25th at the time.

Busch did not pit and led the field for the restart on Lap 51. Three laps later, Edwards gave up the third spot when he came in for a scheduled green- flag stop. Meanwhile, Stewart moved to the outside of Busch and grabbed the lead for the first time. But Busch came storming back on the following lap to reclaim the top spot.

Busch and Stewart made their final stops on Lap 57, with Busch beating Stewart out of the pits. Johnson, after his tire mishap, climbed back into the Top-10 just before the leaders came in for their stops. He grabbed the lead for the first time on Lap 59 when Juan Pablo Montoya came in for his stop.

Johnson came in for his final stop and handed the lead over to Earnhardt, Jr. on Lap 62. Earnhardt, Jr., who had yet to pit, held a 15-second lead over Kasey Kahne.

Travis Kvapil slid of the course and into the gravel on Lap 65, forcing the second caution. Earnhardt, Jr. was the only driver who pitted during the caution. Busch recaptured the lead, while Earnhardt, Jr. fell to 31st.

Busch built a one-second lead over his teammate Stewart with 20 laps to go. Meanwhile, Gordon continued to fall back in the field to 30th while he dealt with handling issues.

With 25 laps to go, Ambrose moved ahead of Montoya to claim the fourth position. One lap later, Ryan Newman spun in turn one as the caution flag waved for the third time. Newman's car would not restart, while his teammate, Sam Hornish, Jr., ended up pushing him back to pit road. Newman's spin allowed Ambrose to move into the third spot. After his crew made repairs on the car, Newman attempted to rejoin the field on Lap 80, but his car stalled on the track again, delaying the restart.

One lap after the race resumed, Michael McDowell made contact with David Gilliland in the 11th turn, sending Gilliland into the wall. Gilliland's car ricocheted with Bobby Labonte's on-coming machine. Labonte hit the wall hard. NASCAR halted the race for 43 minutes as several cars sustained heavy damage. Max Papis, David Ragan, Joe Nemechek, Michael Waltrip, Reed Sorenson, Dave Blaney and Hornish, Jr. were also involved in the incident. All drivers were not injured, but Labonte was transported to a nearby hospital for further evaluation.

"I know that with nine to go, you get up on the wheel and push hard, but that's too much," Papis said. "I don't know exactly what happened. Pushing and shoving is okay, but that was crazy." Papis was running 30th at the time.

McDowell and Gilliland were ordered to the NASCAR hauler at the conclusion of the event.

When the race resumed with five laps to go, Busch quickly moved ahead of Stewart. Busch maintained his lead in the final laps as he crossed the finish line 2.275 seconds ahead of Stewart.

Ambrose attempted to pass Stewart for second on the final lap, but Ambrose was unsuccessful as he had to shrug off Montoya for third place at the end.

"Just a great day for us," Ambrose said. "I had no clutch left, no brakes left. That's all I had, coming through the field. We overused the car early in the race just to try and get track position."

Montoya and Martin Truex, Jr. rounded out the top-five.

With the victory, Busch increased his lead in the championship standings to 242 points over new second-place Edwards, who finished ninth. By virtue of his eight wins, Busch has automatically clinched the first position in the championship standings when the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" starts September 14th at New Hampshire. There are four races remaining before the "Chase" begins.

The next race is scheduled for Sunday, August 17th, at Michigan International Speedway.

Struggles Continue for Gordon
Racingone.com

Jeff Gordon hoped to snap his winless season with a trip to victory lane at Watkins Glen International on Sunday but it turned out to be a disappointing day for the DuPont Chevrolet team.

An early radio problem resulted in NASCAR signaling a black flag to get Gordon's attention, the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet was never able to get back into contention for a record-setting fifth career Watkins Glen win.

Toss in an ill-handling car and Sunday was a day Gordon would just as soon forget.

"We just struggled today," Gordon said. "We really missed the set-up. There wasn't much we could do about it other than just fight."

The problem with the radio got the day off on a wrong foot early.

"Yeah, we lost probably about 15 seconds on that; probably 20 (seconds) total because there were guys coming in to pit earlier and we needed to pit," Gordon said. "(Crew chief) Steve (Letarte) was trying to tell me to pit and I had no idea. We just had a loose connection and finally they black-flagged me. But even while I was out there I was trying to fix it and I lost even more time doing that. And so we finally got in there and shoot, we came out and we were like 30th, you know. The car was a struggle already and the last thing we needed was to lose that much track position."

Losing communication with his crew made for a tough beginning to Gordon's race.

"Oh, it's miserable," he said. "It's about as frustrating as you can get as a team, as a driver. It's not any one person's fault. We're all in it together. We have some work to do. You know we had this same issue at the beginning of the Sonoma race, but we got some cautions to work on it. We didn't have the cautions to work on it early enough here and it bit us."

One bright spot for Gordon was that he missed the big accident that red-flagged the race with nine laps to go.

"I was right behind it," Gordon said. "I barely missed it. I made a pretty good move getting into (Turn) 1 and got by three or four guys. I came around and saw McDowell and the No. 38 I guess got together and when he hit the wall, I was just trying to pull right and stay away from it and just barely missed him. I looked in my mirror and just saw guys plowing into it and I knew it was bad."

Despite the 29th-place finish Gordon was able to mainatin the sixth spot in the Sprint Cup Series standings.

Tracking the Trucks : Toyota Tundra 200
Beth Lunkenheimer

In a Nutshell: Johnny Benson took the checkered flag 0.889 seconds ahead of Erik Darnell to win the Toyota Tundra 200 Saturday night at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, TN. Benson held onto an extremely loose truck early in the race and led just three laps on his way to his third consecutive win this season. Todd Bodine, Jack Sprague and Ron Hornaday, Jr. rounded out the Top 5.

Who Should Have Won: Todd Bodine. Bodine started on the pole and held a 4.2 second lead over Stacy Compton just 30 laps into the race. Bodine went on to lead 74 laps before Stacy Compton took the top spot on lap 75. After losing the lead to Compton, Bodine’s truck remained strong enough to run in the Top 5 for the majority of the night; he ended up finishing third.

Questions You Should Be Asking After the Race:

1. How did Robb Brent fare in his Craftsman Truck Series debut?

Saturday night, Robb Brent and Brad Keselowski Racing made their Craftsman Truck Series debut at Nashville Superspeedway. Brent, who drives for Brad Keselowski Racing in the ARCA / REMAX Series came off of a fifth place finish at Pocono with high hopes for his debut.

In the first practice, the 20 year old ran the 32nd quickest lap, more than six miles an hour slower than the leader. Things didn’t change much in the final practice when Robb Brent ran 31st fastest, but the team was able to gain about three miles an hour on their lap times. Brent’s struggles continued when he qualified his unsponsored No. 19 Chevrolet in the 26th position.

After starting 26th, Robb Brent managed to move up into the Top 15 before dropping back in the field. He never really made any kind of a challenge to get into contention to win, but he did remain on the lead lap before settling into his final finishing position of 21st.

While he didn’t light up the track or run high in the field, Robb Brent made his debut with a team that was also making their series debut, and both Brent and Brad Keselowski Racing should be satisfied with their run. The driver of the No. 19 Chevrolet managed to stay out of trouble, finish on the lead lap and gain valuable experience behind the wheel of a truck. Look for Robb Brent in his next race at Gateway in September.

2. Can Johnny Benson keep his momentum and win his first championship?

Just five races ago following the Cool City Customs 200 at Michigan International Speedway, the Top 10 in the Truck Series standings were split by just 152 points. Following the Toyota Tundra 200, Johnny Benson has managed to help spread the Top 10 out and currently holds a 374 point lead over David Starr in tenth.

While the Top 10 has spread out considerably in the last five races, the Top 3 remain relatively close to each other and are separated by just 91 points. Johnny Benson finds himself leading Ron Hornaday, Jr. by just 45 points, and Matt Crafton remains close by in third.

The No. 23 team picked up right where they left off when they finished the 2007 season with a win at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. Johnny Benson and the No. 23 team made a hard charge at Ron Hornaday, Jr. and Mike Skinner who ran the tightest points battle in the history of the Truck Series but ran out of time to make the gains needed to really challenge for the championship.

In 15 races so far this season, Johnny Benson has scored four wins and eleven Top 10 finishes. As Johnny Benson continues to spread out the Top 10 in points, his consistency is exactly what he needs to be around in November to try to win his first Truck Series championship. One bad race can completely change the Top 10 in points and tighten the race for the championship up once again.

Truck Rookie Report

2008 Rookie of the Year Candidates:
Colin Braun (No. 6)
Andy Lally (No. 7)
Donny Lia (No. 71)
Justin Marks (No. 9)
Marc Mitchell (No. 15)
Phillip McGilton (No. 22 — replaced by Scott Speed at Kansas)
Brian Scott (No. 16)

No. of Rookies in the Race: 4

*No. of Rookies to Finish in the Top 10: *1; Colin Braun, finished 6th

*Rookie Of The Race: *Colin Braun

Worth Noting / Points Shuffle:

Johnny Benson became only the sixth driver to win three consecutive Craftsman Trunk Series races. Benson joins Mike Skinner (twice in 1996 and 2007), Ron Hornaday, Jr. (1997), Greg Biffle (2000), and Todd Bodine. Benson is the only driver on that list that hasn’t won a Truck Series championship.

Johnny Benson remains the points leader for the third week in a row, and his win expanded his points lead from 15 to 45 points over Ron Hornaday, Jr. Matt Crafton remains in third, 91 points back, and Todd Bodine moved up two spots to fourth. Mike Skinner rounds out the Top 5, 235 points behind leader Johnny Benson.

Erik Darnell moved up one spot to sixth while Rick Crawford dropped three spots to seventh. Jack Sprague moved up one position to eighth causing Terry Cook to drop to ninth. David Starr rounds out the Top 10, 374 points out of the lead.

Quotable:

“I didn’t think it was possible with 10 laps to go, to tell you the truth. I knew [Erik] Darnell was going to be tough. I had a really hard time passing the 30 [Bodine], he was running strong, too. Then, I saw [Bodine] sliding around and I was able to get by him. I worked on Darnell and was able to get to Victory Lane.” Johnny Benson

“We were out of tires at the end. I was doing my best to keep Johnny [Benson] back there and held him off for a while. As soon as he cleared Bodine, he ran right up there. Once [Benson] got air on the nose, that was it. I held him off for a while, but he got under me and that was it.” Runner-Up Erik Darnell

Up Next:

The Craftsman Truck Series takes a weekend off and races mid-week at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday August 20th. Coverage begins at 7:30 pm EST on SPEED; the race can also be heard on your local MRN affiliate starting at 8:00 pm EST.

frontstretch.com

Nationwide Series Breakdown: Zippo 200
Bryan Davis Keith

In a Nutshell: Unlike last weekend at Montreal, Marcos Ambrose did not have the best car in the field. And, unlike last weekend, Ambrose capitalized during this weekend’s race, scoring his first career NASCAR victory with a win in the Zippo 200. Ambrose ran in the third position for most of the race’s second half, stalking a furious battle between Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Burton that saw both Cup stars forced to pit with less than ten to go for fuel. Ambrose’s win also catapulted his No. 59 into the Top 10 in Nationwide Series points.

Kyle Busch scored a strong runner-up finish for D’Hondt Motorsports in the team’s first Nationwide Series race of the season, with Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and polesitter Dario Franchitti rounding out the Top 5.

It was an eventful day in the points standings, with leader Clint Bowyer and then second place driver Carl Edwards making heavy contact with each other in Turn 1 roughly halfway into the race. The damage incurred by both cars relegated Bowyer to a disappointing 23rd place finish, Carl Edwards a 25th. Brad Keselowski capitalized, scoring a sixth place run and moving back into second in the Nationwide standings, only 128 points behind Bowyer.

Who Should Have Won: Jimmie Johnson Johnson came to Watkins Glen on a mission, and was only a few laps of fuel short of accomplishing it. While Johnson failed to score a decent finish, his No. 48 car was the class of the field, leading 17 laps and able to seemingly pass at will in traffic. The fastest car of Saturday’s race finished 29th.

Worth Noting

Making his first race start since being named the driver of the No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing entry in the Sprint Cup series, Brad Coleman delivered a stout performance in his Baker/Curb Motorsports entry. After being involved in an early wreck that sent the front end of his Ford airborne, Brad Coleman and his No. 27 team stayed clean and played strategy well enough to score a tenth place finish, the first Top 10 for the team since Las Vegas in March. Coleman’s team desperately needed a good run as a shot in the arm…it’ll be interesting to see if they can capitalize next week, especially with crew chief Shawn Parker departing.

Dario Franchitti may only be making limited appearances in NASCAR for the remainder of the season, but if Saturday was any indication, he may well make some noise. Franchitti scored his first career pole in qualifying, and transferred that success to the race. Franchitti ran smooth all day long, leading 18 laps and finishing fifth, his first career Top 5 in NASCAR competition. Franchitti will run the next two races in the No. 40, and one can’t help but question if the momentum will continue and possibly lead Franchitti to run more Nationwide races.

Anyone that questioned the championship mettle of Brad Keselowski has less to talk about after the performance of the No. 88 team this weekend. Keselowski, who has failed to shine brightly in his previous road race starts this season, seized the opportunity to gain ground in the standings after Clint Bowyer and Carl Edwards tangled, and ran more than anything a smart race, taking no unnecessary risks and parlaying a surprising qualifying run into a sixth place finish. As a result, Keselowski moved back into second in the standings and gained significant ground on Clint Bowyer. The No. 88 team is ready to throw a wrench into Bowyer’s plans of cakewalking to a Nationwide Series title, and runs like Saturday prove that they are able.

Better Luck Next Time

To say Specialty Racing has hit hard times is putting it politely…the team’s rash of mechanical problems has become a pandemic. The team’s struggles lasted all day Saturday. Starting driver Stan Barrett posted one of the slowest qualifying times of the session in his No. 61 Ford, miring the team back in the field to start. From there, the elder Barrett lasted only nine laps before needing a relief driver. The team turned to regular driver Brandon Whitt, who had start and parked the No. 62 earlier in the event. Whitt got the car back on track, but the No. 61 completed only 61 of the 80 laps run after experiencing transmission troubles. It’s hard not to notice how much this team’s performance has slipped since the release of Kevin Lepage.

Steve Wallace scored solid runs in both previous road course races this season, but consecutive Top 10s were not in the cards for his No. 66 team. Though Wallace again ran competitively throughout the day, fuel was an issue for Wallace, who ended up out of gas late in the race well away from pit road. Wallace finished 28th, with his car parked on the grass alongside the track’s backstretch short chute.

Underdog Performer of the Race: Brian Simo and Front Row Motorsports Though Morgan Shepherd’s Top 25 finish was impressive, the underdog performer of the race had to go to Brian Simo and the entire Front Row Motorsports operation. Simo, who already managed to qualify Front Row’s No. 34 Cup car into the field at Sonoma earlier this season, stepped into the No. 24 for regular driver Eric McClure, kept his car in one piece, and scored a lead lap 20th place finish for the team. Simo’s finish marked the No. 24’s first Top 20 since Talladega in April, and only second of the season. Front Row Motorsports also deserves a pat on the back after they extended a hand to fellow underdog Alex Garcia. Though Garcia failed to qualify for the race, Garcia was only able to make an attempt after FRM loaned him a car (Garcia’s primary was wrecked last weekend at Montreal). Bob Jenkins and the FRM operation, despite a meager budget, are at the track every weekend running to completion, and deserve a pat on the back.

Quotables

“Just a huge relief. It feels like a big relief off my shoulders, I’m sure it is for everybody in this room, standing next to us, because we’ve committed a lot to it. I’ve come along way, I’ve dragged my family halfway around the world, away from my dad and mom, and everybody who needs me back in Australia, and today it just feels like it’s worthwhile. It feels like I’ve conquered a huge mountain, and it’s just a great day.” – Marcos Ambrose after scoring his first career Nationwide Series win

“Two speeding penalties and wrecking at the end equals a very frustrating day.” – Boris Said after a disappointing 27th place run

Up Next: The NASCAR Nationwide Series heads to the Irish Hills to tackle the Michigan International Speedway this Saturday. Coverage of the CARFAX 250 begins at 3 PM on ESPN and 330 on MRN.

frontstretch.com

Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud: Centurion Boats at the Glen
Matt McLaughlin

The Key Moment: Dale Earnhardt Jr. pitted under caution on lap 66, handing the lead to Kyle Busch who would never come close to relinquishing it.

In a Nutshell: Kyle Busch once again spanks the field handily, offering fans a chance for a nice late summer nap.

Dramatic Moment: Unfortunately the only high drama Sunday was as a result of Michael McDowell sending David Gilliland spinning out of turn 11, triggering one of the nastiest wrecks of the season.

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

Over the weekend Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson tried playing some head games with points leader Kyle Busch, downplaying his chances at a title given his recent “slump.” My guess is they’ll be a bit more circumspect on that topic this week. It would seem like his teammate, Tony Stewart, Busch tends to drive faster when he’s angry or annoyed. It’s easy to use the media to send a message to another driver in the garage area but it’s a lot harder to make your statement out on the race track.

Gordon in particular ought to be more worried about his own chances in the Chase. At a track where he normally shines Gordon struggled mightily on his way to a less than impressive 29th place finish.

How many more weeks is it until the Bristol Night Race? When the Beach Boys penned the term “Endless Summer,” it was actually supposed to denote a good thing but that’s not the case in the Cup series this year. It just feels endless. But we can always look forward to the Southern 500 at Darlington on Labor Day weekend….oh, yeah, right. Strike that.

You can’t help but wonder if it weren’t for the Chase format if Tony Stewart might have run a little harder trying to pass Kyle Busch in the closing laps. On the bubble of making the Chase, Stewart was probably advised a conservative second place finish beat a risky move at taking a win. Right now Kyle Busch can run as hard as he wants but those drivers towards the bottom of the Top 12 have to run more conservatively. Wasn’t the Chase supposed to make racing more exciting, not less?

Michael McDowell’s Cup career highlight is his savage wreck at Texas. Maybe Michael Waltrip told him he wasn’t getting much TV time lately and the sponsors were upset so he should go out and do something monumentally stupid during the Watkins Glen race to get back on the highlight reels?

What on earth was Tony Eury thinking leaving his driver Earnhardt Jr. out there so long? Almost inevitably a caution flag pit stop sent the 88 to the rear of the field and ended Earnhardt’s chances at a decent finish. If Tony Eury Jr. was in charge of military strategy planning the invasion of Grenada we would have lost the war.

No one can dispute Kyle Busch is having a career year like few drivers will ever enjoy. But how much of it is the driver and how much of it is the car? Maybe it’s time NASCAR rounds up a bunch of Cup engines and takes them back to the R and D center for dyno testing like they did in the Nationwide series after the Joliet race.

While Joe Nemechek finished 38th, one of his crew guys deserves an award for enthusiastic effort in the face of extreme adversity for his efforts in trying to repair the hood of the 78 car. That’s really throwing yourself into your work young man!

I guess Tony Stewart insisted changes be made to his shift lever after having one break at a road course previously. That bat of a shifter in the 20 car looked positively Neanderthal.

What’s wrong with the Cup series these days? For all the talk of Martinsville losing one or both race dates nobody with the power to change things seems to ever discuss dropping Watkins Glen or Sonoma from the schedule.

Lest we forget, Monday, August 11th, will mark the sixteenth anniversary of the tragic passing of JD McDuffie at Watkins Glen. McDuffie’s death and serious injuries suffered by Tommy Kendall in the same corner caused the track to add that chicane at the end of the back straight. R.I.P, JD.

While we’re recalling sad anniversaries, this Wednesday, August 13th, marks nineteen years since the tragic death of NASCAR’s forgotten legend, Tim Richmond. Richmond won the first Cup race staged at Watkins Glen in the modern era. For all the talk of the road course success of Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, in this writer’s humble opinion Richmond remains the greatest NASCAR driver ever to turn a wheel on a road course. Many newer fans never saw Tim race and some perhaps have never even heard his name. Trust me, Tim Richmond died in his prime and were it not for his death the record books would look substantially different. No less an authority than the late Dale Earnhardt once opined that if Tim Richmond had lived, he (Earnhardt) would never have been able to claim those seven titles.

In the interest of historical accuracy, Ron Fellows’ win in rainy Montreal last weekend was not the first time cars in one of NASCAR’s top divisions ran in the rain. On August 12th, 1956 Tim Flock wheeled a Bill Stroppe prepared Mercury to victory at Road America in the rain. That race was part of the season’s Grand National schedule, the equivalent of today’s Cup series.

The Hindenburg Award For Foul Fortune

Bobby Labonte took a savage hit in the lap 83 wreck that sent him to the hospital through no fault of his own. David Gilliland suffered a hard wreck as well. The other eight drivers involved in that travesty ought to be allowed to invite Mr. McDowell to a blanket party behind the transporters next week.

You win as a team and you lose as a team, but the number of times Dale Earnhardt Jr. has seen his chances at a win in a competitive car evaporate due to strategy or pit stops is troubling.

The “Seven Come Fore Eleven” Award For Fine Fortune

With his eighth win of the Cup season, a season Cup series road course sweep, and a second place result in the Nationwide race, Kyle Busch had a pretty good weekend.

If any driver left Watkins Glen happier than Busch, it might have been Marcos Ambrose. He won his first Nationwide series race on Saturday. Despite starting 43rd in Sunday’s Cup event, he drove to a stellar third place finish by the end of the untidy proceedings. Good on ya, mate.

You have to believe the Wood Brothers team was dancing in the streets after the race having proven they can still field a competitive car in an era where their continued existence hangs in the balance.

Carl Edwards just missed Ryan Newman’s car which was sitting stalled at the exit of a blind corner right in the racing line en-route to a ninth place finish.

Jimmie Johnson also just barely avoided the 12 car after Newman’s spin. Later he cut down a tire and dropped to the rear of the field but a timely caution put the 48 back up front and Johnson was able to drive on to a seventh place finish.

Yeah, it might seem odd to say a driver who spun and couldn’t re-fire his car enjoyed any good luck. But for any driver sitting at the exit of a blind corner, driver side out in a stalled car, watching the rest of the field barrel right at him and miss him, it’s one of those moments that puckers up one’s nether-regions like a steel rose bud. Anytime you leave on your own two feet rather than in a helicopter after that sort of mess you have to feel lucky.

NASCAR officials must have burnt live animal holocausts to whatever demon gods they worship to be able to get the race in on Sunday as grim as the forecast was on Sunday morning.

Worth Noting

The Top 10 finishers at Watkins Glen drove three Toyotas (all from JGR), three Chevys, two Fords and two Dodges. Busch’s Toyota victory was the first at the Glen for any non-GM make since Geoffrey Bodine won here in a Ford back in 1996.

Patrick Carpentier’s 20th place finish was the best by any officially declared Rookie of the Year candidate though of course Ambrose could be considered a rookie as well.

Despite his supposed slump, Kyle Busch has won three of the last five Cup races.

Tony Stewart finished second for the second consecutive week and for the third time this Cup season.

Marcos Ambrose’s third place finish was the first Top 5 scored by the Wood Brothers team since Ricky Rudd finished fourth at Bristol in the summer of 2005. It was the 336th Top 5 result the storied team has posted.

Juan Pablo Montoya (fourth) drove to his second Top 5 finish of 2008.

Martin Truex (fifth) managed just his third Top 5 finish of the year. Any more questions as to whether contract negotiations are a distractions to drivers and teams?

After a mid-season slump, Kevin Harvick (sixth) has enjoyed Top 10 finishes in three of the last four Cup events.

Denny Hamlin (eighth) has managed just two Top 10 results in the last seven Cup races.

Kurt Busch (tenth) posted his first Top 10 result since Daytona four races ago.

A.J Allmendinger (11th) has posted his best two career finishes in the last three races. Those two good finishes have propelled the 84 team into 35th place in the standings so at least for next week they are guaranteed a spot in the race.

For all the talk of Jeff Gordon’s prowess at Watkins Glen, upon further review he’s managed just one Top 10 and no Top 5 finishes at the Glen since he last won here in 2001.

What’s the Points?

Not unexpectedly Kyle Busch is still leading the points. His lead is up to 242 points over Carl Edwards who moved up a spot to take over second place honors. Jimmie Johnson moved up a spot to third and trails Edwards by just two points.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. dropped two spots to fourth in the standings. Tony Eury Jr. should probably wear dark sunglasses and a low slung ballcap and bring bodyguards if he’s shopping at the Kannapolis Piggly-Wiggly this week as a result.

In the Battle of the Basement, Matt Kenseth rose a spot to re-enter the Chase in 12th spot. Clint Bowyer fell a spot to 13th and trails Kenseth by 22 points.

Tony Stewart advanced two spots to seventh in the standings and is 138 points ahead of the cut for the Chase. Denny Hamlin moved up a spot to ninth in the standings.

Greg Biffle fell two spots to 10th and objects in the rearview mirror may be bigger than they appear after a lackluster 21st place finish. Kasey Kahne dropped a spot to eighth.

Five drivers currently in Chase contention haven’t even won a race this year leaving open the nightmarish scenario of NASCAR crowning a champion who didn’t win a single event, a possibility unheard of in any major sport. Maybe winning a points race should automatically qualify a driver for this Chase mess? If Ryan Newman did in fact win the sport’s “Super Bowl” back at Daytona in February, how can he not contend for a championship? This is the danger of mixing sport metaphors.

Sam Hornish is 33rd in the points but is this season’s top ranked rookie in the standings to date. You know I think this whole concept of importing open wheel stars into stock car racing might need some rethinking.

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 two cups of Mogan-David 20-20 Mad Dog served in dirty Styrofoam cups. Most fans don’t expect much when it comes to road course racing and that’s what they got, not much.

Next Up: The Cup series returns to the Irish Hills. Michigan? Not this again.

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