Benson makes it three straight in Milwaukee
West Allis, WI (Sports Network) - Johnny Benson led 130 of 200 laps en route to a dominating win in Friday night's Camping World RV Sales 200 at the Milwaukee Mile. The No.23 Toyota crossed the finish line 2.530 seconds of Matt Crafton.
The victory was Benson's first of the season, third straight at Milwaukee and 10th of his Craftsman Truck Series career.
"These guys have been great all year," said Benson.
Benson won the pole, but quickly gave way to Rick Crawford on the opening lap of 200. Three laps later Benson blew by Crawford to retake the lead and gain five bonus points.
After the early challenge, Benson pulled away from everyone, including Crawford. At lap 40 his lead was two seconds on Crawford and four seconds on Colin Braun, the third-place truck.
That was bad news for the field because Benson radioed to his crew that he was in "cruise-mode" just trying to take care not to overuse his equipment. The long green-flag run gave the field a chance to spread out as he lapped trucks up to the 18th position as they reached the 70-lap mark.
They began green-flag pit stops on lap 71 with Benson holding a three-second lead. It was 10 seconds when Benson pitted on lap 77. He took four tires and off he went. But the caution flag came out as Benson entered pit road and Todd Bodine was still making laps.
Bodine inherited the lead, although he had to give it up two laps later to pit for tires and fuel and dropped to third place.
On the restart, Erik Darnell went around the outside of Benson to grab the lead, but traffic from "tail-end-of-the-lead-lap-trucks" made driving very difficult for all the leaders. Bodine also got around Benson, who was complaining about the new set of tires.
Just before the halfway point a debris caution sent all the leader back down pit lane.
Marc Mitchell stayed out to lead a lap when a huge multi-truck accident slowed the race again. It looked like it started when Jack Sprague slowed in Turn 4 and got hit from behind by Brendan Gaughan. Having occurred just after a restart, the trucks were all very close together and no one had a chance to avoid Sprague.
When the smoke cleared and they got back to green-flag racing, Darnell was the leader, but Crawford and Benson were just behind. Just after they crossed the start/finish line for lap 116, Crawford slid underneath Darnell for the lead.
Meanwhile, Benson was losing his position to Matt Crafton. Crafton charged past Darnell for second with still more than 70 laps to go. Crawford's lead was one and-a-half seconds at lap 135 and three seconds on Benson who slid past Darnell.
Sixty laps to go and it was still Crawford, Crafton, Benson and Darnell. But some rain was in the area and there was a question as to whether they could get all 200 laps in before it hit.
A caution flag for light rain slowed the race at lap 146.
It made for a tough call for crew chiefs. Pit now if the race were to go the distance, or stay out and hope the race ended.
The leaders all followed Crawford down pit lane. Benson won the race off pit lane ahead of both Crawford and Crafton, but Crawford was caught for speeding and had to give up his good track position. He would restart in 14th place.
"They won the race with that pit stop," said Benson.
Before the race could be restarted, the red flag was displayed and the trucks were pulled onto pit lane. Additionally the fans were told to leave the stands until after the thunderstorm storm came through. The lightning was just too close for NASCAR officials.
After a 25-minute delay, the engines were restarted and the trucks pulled back onto the track. The green flag dropped with 45 laps to go and Benson charged off. But a Chrissy Wallace/Chad McCumbee spin slowed the field again with 42 laps to go.
On the restart with 40 laps to go, Benson quickly built a half-second lead on Crafton. It was 1.395 with 28 laps remaining and 2.509 seconds with 13 laps to go. From there Benson cruised to the checkered flag unchallenged.
Landon Cassill, Erik Darnell and Todd Bodine completed the top-five.
The win extends Benson's championship lead to 50 points over Bodine and 67 over Crafton.
The next race in the series is scheduled for Saturday, June 28th at Memphis Motorsports Park.
Edwards breaks winless streak with win in Milwaukee
West Allis, WI (Sports Network) - He was the defending series champion, but Carl Edwards had not won in 36 races before he captured Saturday night's Camping World RV Rental 250 at the Milwaukee Mile. The No.60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford crossed the finish line 1.589 seconds ahead of Joey Logano.
The victory was Edwards' first of the season and 14th of his Nationwide Series career.
Pole winner Brad Keselowski charged into the first turn and kept on going.
Meanwhile, the Sprint Cup drivers (defending series champion Edwards, points leader Clint Bowyer and David Ragan), who flew in late from California and had to start from the back of the field, were slicing their way through the field.
By lap 15 Edwards had already jumped from 39th to 15th. Bowyer was up to 19th and Ragan 22nd. Edwards pitted for adjustments at the first caution flag, so Bowyer got ahead of him as they continued up the ladder. At lap 40 Bowyer had cracked the top-10 and Edwards was 14th.
Up front, David Reutimann, who arrived in time to qualify and started fifth, has moved up to second place behind Keselowski. Then David Stremme spun on lap 53 and it sent everyone down pit lane.
Keselowski remained the race leader on the restart with Mike Bliss and Jason Leffler behind him. Reutimann fell to fifth when he and Logano made contact on pit road, Edwards was up to ninth and Bowyer 10th.
Bliss was fast and got around Keselowski on lap 63 for the lead. The pair of drivers pulled out to a one-second lead on third place Leffler at the 75-lap mark. Keselowski obviously wasn't happy about following Bliss and on lap 84 he slid underneath Bliss to retake the top spot.
Another caution flag and Keselowski again got help from his pit crew to get him out first. But behind him Scott Wimmer and Edwards' crew performed brilliantly and they were second and third, respectively.
Keselowski wasn't about to give up his position. He was the leader at the 100-lap mark and at the mid-point his lead was 1.465 seconds over Wimmer and four seconds on Leffler. The car on the move was Logano's who passed Bliss, Bowyer and Edwards to take over fourth place. Logano got Leffler for third place on lap 134 and was almost two miles-per-hour faster than the leader.
Logano got past Winner eight laps later and had just one car between himself and a possible repeat win.
A Colin Braun spin, with help from Chase Miller, brought out the caution flag to slow the race with 100 laps to go. It was close at the exit line on pit lane, but Keselowski barely beat Logano to maintain his lead. Edwards was third.
Logano got side-by-side with Keselowski with 81 laps remaining, but the No.88 refused to give up the position and fought him off using an outside line. Two laps later they made contact and it sent Keselowski up the track and gave Logano the lead. Edwards followed Logano through the opening as did David Ragan.
With the clean air, Logano was flying and built his lead to 1.400 seconds with 70 laps remaining. The gap was up to 2.403 seconds a dozen laps later. Then a caution flag on lap 204 erased the lead and sent the leaders down pit road for one last time.
Steve Wallace took just two tires, gained 12 positions and was the new race leader. Behind him was Edwards with four new tires, Bowyer and Logano.
But the two tires were no match for four new ones and Edwards flew around the outside of Wallace. Bowyer chose the inside and he pulled past Wallace into second place and then past Edwards for the lead. One lap later Logano got around Wallace. It was now a three-man race for the win.
Thirty laps to go and Travis Kittleson slammed the outside wall and set up a 26-lap shootout.
One lap after the green flag Edwards slid underneath Bowyer, got him loose and charged through the opening for the lead. Logano followed Edwards and grabbed second place.
But Edwards is a veteran and he never let Logano get close enough to make a passing attempt. He also got help from Bowyer who fought Logano for second and allowed him to get a comfortable lead.
Edwards easily took the checkered flag and then honored a favorite local driver, the late Alan Kulwicki, with a "Polish Victory Lap."
Bowyer's third-place finish will send him to next Saturday's race at the New Hampshire International Speedway with a 188-point lead over Keselowski who finished eighth.
Massa captures Grand Prix of France
Magny Cours, France (Sports Network) - Brazilian Felipe Massa took advantage of Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen's broken exhaust to capture Sunday's Formula One Grand Prix of France. Raikkonen held onto the second spot and crossed the finish line 17.984 seconds behind to give team Ferrari a one-two finish.
The victory was Massa's third of the season and eighth of his F1 career.
Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen and Robert Kubica completed the top-five. Trulli notched Toyota's first podium finish since 2005 in Spain.
"We needed a little bit of luck today. We had a little bit of luck due to what happened to Kimi," said Massa. "I think we are heading in the right direction."
Massa held a 14-second margin over Raikkonen with 15 laps to go, after the final stops were complete for the leaders. Trulli, Kovalainen and Kubica rounded out the top-five at the time.
Raikkonen could only hope for an error by Massa at this point. Massa stayed mistake free and made it clear he was going to take home the victory.
The battle between Trulli and Kovalainen for third was the only drama that occurred in the final laps. Kovalainen almost got past Trulli on the final lap, but his attempt failed.
Massa cruised past the finish line well ahead of his teammate.
After dominating qualifying on Saturday, Raikkonen built a two-second margin over Massa after five laps. Fernando Alonso, Trulli and Kubica battled behind the Ferrari drivers.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was given a drive-through penalty on lap 14 for gaining an advantage early in the race when he cut the chicane in an effort to pass Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton found himself in 13th after the penalty and finished 10th. The No.22 McLaren Mercedes was already fighting a 10-place penalty from his incident in Canada.
Finland's Raikkonen pulled away to a five-second lead by lap 16, as Alonso came into the pits to start a cycle of green flag stops.
Raikkonen led Massa, Trulli, Vettel and Kubica after 27 laps. Vettel and Nick Heidfeld came down pit road on lap 30 for their first stop. Thus, Kubica and Alonso inherited the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
With a six-second lead, Raikkonen slowed down considerably by the halfway point as Massa started to quickly cut into the margin. The gap was down to 1.7 seconds just two laps later when it was reported Raikkonen had a broken exhaust. He let a faster Massa pass him for the lead on lap 39, and Raikkonen was able to keep a reasonable pace to keep second.
Alonso made his second stop of the day on lap 43 and started the final cycle of pit stops for the leaders.
Raikkonen's broken exhaust may have cost him the win, but it could have been a lot worse.
"I was lucky to finish the race and get the eight points," said a disappointed Raikkonen, who dominated early in the race. "The last couple laps the car almost stopped a few times."
Massa moved into first in the driver standings with 48 points. Kubica dropped to second, two points behind Massa, with his fifth-place finish.
The next race in the series is set for Sunday, July 6th at the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit.
Wheldon's strategy pays off in Iowa
Newton, IA (Sports Network) - Dan Wheldon went the last 90 laps, 37 under caution, without a pit stop to capture Sunday's Iowa Corn Indy 250 at the Iowa Speedway. The No.10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver crossed the finish line 0.1430 seconds ahead of Hideki Mutoh.
The victory was Wheldon's second of the season and 15th of his IndyCar career.
Marco Andretti, Scott Dixon and AJ Foyt IV completed the top-five.
The strategy started when the caution flag came out with 62 laps to go. Most of the leaders took pit stops except for Wheldon, Mutoh and Danica Patrick. The drivers who did stop had different strategies as well. Dixon and Tony Kanaan took over fourth and fifth after the final stops by taking fuel only.
The race went back to green with 48 laps to go and it seemed like Kanaan, running in third, had a good shot at winning. But that all changed very quickly. Kanaan hit the wall hard in turn two to bring out the caution flag with 38 laps remaining.
After a long caution period due to debris on the track, Wheldon led the field to the restart with 24 to go. Patrick and Helio Castroneves had bad restarts and fell back.
Now it became a matter of Wheldon holding off Mutoh, Andretti, Dixon and Foyt IV.
Wheldon, celebrating his 30th birthday, did a solid job of fighting off Mutoh. He maintained a 0.2-second margin as the laps dwindled.
The 21-year-old Andretti tried to make a late charge to take over second and hopefully battle for the win. But Mutoh held off his AGR teammate. That battle helped Wheldon cross the finish line for the win.
Since qualifying was rained out, Dixon led the field to the green flag for 250 laps of high-speed racing. But Dixon, Kanaan and Castroneves each took turns leading the race early on.
After a round of pit stops and a lengthy caution period, Castroneves took the outside lane going into turn three to pass Kanaan for first during the restart on lap 51.
Meanwhile, Wheldon drove in the third spot followed by Andretti and Ryan Briscoe. Dixon, running in seventh, battled to stay in the top-10.
The pace slowed down on lap 103 when the second caution flag flew. The leaders took their second stops of the afternoon under the caution period.
Kanaan won the race off pit road and was followed by Wheldon, Andretti, Castroneves and Briscoe. Castroneves dropped four spots due to problems with his crew getting a new right-rear tire on his car.
During the lap 111 restart, Wheldon lost numerous spots and fell back to ninth. Kanaan held onto first and led Andretti, Castroneves, Briscoe and Dixon. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Foyt IV made their way into the top-five, as Dixon and Briscoe dropped back.
The seventh lead change of the afternoon came on lap 135 when Andretti got past Kanaan. Andretti quickly built his margin to half-a-second.
Mario Moraes brought the caution flag out on lap 157. Andretti led the leaders down pit road for service. Kanaan led Castroneves, Andretti, Hunter-Reay and Wheldon when the stops were complete.
The race went back to green on lap 166 and Castroneves was fast to grab the inside lane and duck under Kanaan to take back the lead. Hunter-Reay, Andretti and Dixon settled in behind to round out the top-five.
Castroneves led the most laps, 92, but this race was won with strategy. When Enrique Bernoldi spun lap 188 that's when Wheldon, Mutoh and Patrick took their winning gamble.
Wheldon and Dixon gave their winnings to the Iowa flood relief.
Dixon leads Castroneves by 48 points in the point standings. Wheldon, with the win, follows in a close third with 49 points.
The next race the series is set for Saturday night, June 28th at the Richmond International Raceway.
Busch earns fifth win of 2008
Sonoma, CA (Sports Network) - Kyle Busch and the Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew made the right moves at the right times and he captured Sunday afternoon's Toyota Save Mart 350 at the Infineon Raceway. The No.18 M&M's Toyota crossed the finish line 1.716 seconds ahead of David Gilliland.
The victory was Busch's fifth of the season and ninth of his Sprint Cup career.
Twice Busch made pit stops just before a caution flag and it set him up with the lead on the final run to the checkered flag. He was never really challenged over the final 40 laps and led a total of 78 laps.
"These guys worked so hard," said Busch. "This is really special. We came a long ways with this thing. That's what makes me so proud of this team."
Kasey Kahne, winner of three of the last five races and Friday's pole, brought the field to the green flag for 110 laps of road-course fun. He led them through the first laps, but it was Robby Gordon that was showing the most speed. The No.7 Dodge started eighth but by the end of the third lap he was already past road-course ace Jeff Gordon and into fourth place.
Also of note was that Kahne was reporting to his pit crew that he had already lost first gear. Jimmie Johnson caught Kahne on lap five and passed him in Turn 11 to grab the lead and five bonus points.
Robby Gordon, who only knows one way to drive - at 110-percent, took third place from a fading Kahne on lap eight.
Meanwhile, Johnson was out for a "Sunday drive" with the clean air built his lead to almost four seconds after a dozen laps. Two drivers who looked strong early were Carl Edwards and rookie Marcos Ambrose. Also of note, defending champion Juan Pablo Montoya cracked the top-10 on lap 13.
Edwards was on the move and got around both Robby Gordon and Busch for second place on lap 21. He was more than four second behind the two-time series champion. But Edwards was faster than Johnson and began to eat into his lead. Johnson's lead was under one second at lap 28 as Edwards closed on the No.48 Chevrolet. A caution flag on lap 30, cause by David Ragan, slowed Edwards' assault on Johnson.
Differing pit stop strategies, left Greg Biffle, Montoya and Busch at the front of the line. Johnson came out 11th, but the first of those who had pitted.
Biffle led for just three corners before spinning and when the smoke had cleared, Busch had slid underneath Montoya to grab the lead. Busch quickly built a two-second lead on Montoya.
In the middle of the field, Edwards got around Johnson and began to slowly move his way past those who had not stopped at the last caution flag.
Busch, Montoya and McMurray stayed in line at the front, although Busch built the lead to more than three seconds by lap 50.
In this "strategy race," the question for every crew chief is when they would make their final stops. Last year, Montoya made his final stop on lap 68 and after everyone had cycled through he was left with the lead and the only question was could he stretch his fuel to the checkered flag. He did and won the race.
The drivers were mostly staying in line waiting for the final pit stop and run to the checkered flag. Exceptions were Edwards who cracked the top-five on lap 62 and Ambrose was also climbing - he was up to ninth. By lap 65 Edwards was up to fourth and Ambrose to seventh.
Gilliland pitted on lap 66, the first of the top-10 drivers to pit.
Could he go 44 laps on a tank of fuel?
Jeff Burton came in on the next lap as did Harvick and Clint Bowyer. Ambrose and Dale Earnhardt Jr. came in on lap 68. Busch came in on lap 69 as did Montoya, McMurray and Tony Stewart.
Then on the next lap Robby Gordon and Max Papis made contact and it brought out the caution flag.
With the caution flag in the middle of pit stops, the advantage went to those who had stopped before the yellow...the opposite of what you want at an oval track.
The remainder of the cars stopped when pit lane was opened on lap 71.
The race would restart with Busch, Montoya and McMurray again leading the way. Behind them were Ambrose, Gilliland, Stewart, Harvick and Ron Fellows.
Montoya, McMurray and Ambrose got together in Turn 11 when Ambrose tried to make a pass on the No.26 Ford. The end result was Montoya getting knocked back to 15th place and Ambrose taking over second.
McMurray fought back and passed Ambrose as the crossed the start/finish line to start lap 77. Ambrose began to fade as Gilliland, Stewart, Harvick and Elliott Sadler all got around the rookie. Then Ambrose's transmission blew and his great day was over.
Busch again built a comfortable lead, almost three seconds at lap 90, 20 to go. Without a caution flag it appeared that it was Busch's race to lose - assuming he had enough fuel to go 41 laps on his final fill up. His margin back to McMuray at lap 100 was more than four seconds.
But then David Reutimann slammed into the tire barrier with nine laps to go and it brought out a full-course caution flag. The yellow erased Busch's big lead and gave those chasing him one last chance to catch him.
It took a while to dig Reutimann's Toyota out of the tire barrier and the green flag dropped with six laps to go. Busch got a great start, but McMurray slipped off the track in the first turn and Stewart stole second from him.
A couple of turns later Harvick went in too hot, hit McMurray who in turn hit Stewart sending all three cars spinning. The accident also collected Ron Fellows who was set for a top-six finish.
The race would restart on lap 107 with Busch leading Gilliland and Jeff Gordon. But they couldn't get in even one green-flag lap completed before the caution flag came out again.
The red flag came out to clean up the multi-car accident and officials declared the race would go to lap 112 on a green-white-checker finish. Busch got off to another great restart and was never challenged the rest of the way.
Jeff Gordon, Bowyer and Casey Mears completed the top-five. Montoya finished sixth.
Busch's win gives him a 103-point lead over Burton heading to the next race - set for Sunday, June 29th at the New Hampshire International Speedway.
Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud: Infineon Edition
Doug Turnbull
Hey guys! Doug Turnbull here. Matt warned you that he wouldn’t be in the driver’s seat for his Infineon column — I don’t know if that makes me a road course ringer or not, but I do know that I am gonna stick to his format for wrapping up the race. This race seemed to play itself out as many predicted and in the end, the best driver and the best car won.
The Key Moment: Robby Gordon’s spin into Kurt Busch that not only left contenders, like Carl Edwards, trapped on the track, while Kyle Busch, David Gilliland and others pitted, but also caused Gordon to run out of fuel and never regain position.
In a Nutshell: Kyle Busch benefited from the first caution, when David Ragan sent Joe Nemechek into one of the tire barriers. Busch and others had already pitted, meaning the early dominant car of Jimmie Johnson lost a ton of track position on pit road. Carl Edwards got burned in the same way as Johnson on a later caution, and never fully recovered. Busch never looked back, hitting his marks while the other fast horses of Marcos Ambrose, Juan Pablo Montoya, Tony Stewart, and Robby Gordon faded from contention. Would you like some M&M’s with that wine?
Dramatic Moment: Tony Stewart’s late race charge to the front to catch his leading teammate was foiled by Kevin Harvick’s Montoya-like decision to dive-bomb both Stewart and Jamie McMurray, eliminating all three of them, plus Ron Fellows, ending any chance of capturing the day’s trophy.
What They’ll Be Talking About at the Water Cooler This Week
Kyle Busch not only manipulates fuel mileage to win a road race, but absolutely dominates. Any doubters of the No. 18 team, based on their performance during the two weeks prior to Sonoma, have their foot in their mouths now. During those two races, the Busch and the boys had a good car, but fell on the wrong side of racing luck. Eliminate a spotter mistake and being bitten by fuel strategy, and those doubters don’t exist. Many people also said that Kyle Busch is a driver that should not be considered a road racer. People’s memories are so short. Kyle did happen to win the Nationwide Series race at Mexico City earlier this season. These doubts only prove that this is a ‘what have you done for me lately’ sport now, more than ever.
Silly Season’s crazy sinews make another turn Sunday, as DEI says they are ready to begin running Aric Almirola full-time. This is not a bad decision, considering the driver has not run horribly, but do they really want Mark Martin walking out of their stable? As DEI says this, Rick Hendrick is non-committal about Casey Mears’ future in the No. 5 car beyond this season; sparking speculation that Martin may move to that team and pull together one final attempt at a full season. This brings up several questions that need to be answered, if indeed Martin bolts for Hendrick.
What is the future of Casey Mears’ Cup career if he couldn’t make it at arguably the best organization in NASCAR? What will the sponsor lineup look like at DEI? Can Martin revitalize the No. 5? Or who will take the wheel if Mears’ is canned and Martin doesn’t make the jump?
Another topic discussed this week will be Joey Logano. Yes, he did have another great run in the Nationwide Series race at Milwaukee, finishing second; but he also managed to rough up race dominator Brad Keselowski on the track and points leader Clint Bowyer on pit road. These are the first noticeable mistakes the kid has made on the track, for his sake, they better not bite him back. Surprisingly, he is not running the entire rest of the season in the No. 20 Toyota, as Tony Stewart is scheduled to be behind the wheel the next two weeks. What is up with that? If Gibbs expects him to be ready enough to possibly run a few Cup races later this season, he needs to be in the car every week, learning how to not run into Brad Keselowski. If NASCAR has not yet approved Logano to run the superspeedways, they need to, because he will never learn how to draft on the sidelines, no matter how good NASCAR 09 is.
Kevin Harvick’s overzealous move on David Gilliland and Jamie McMurray, that ended up eliminating Harvick, McMurray, and Tony Stewart from contention, seemed to not only be a throwback move of Harvick’s from 2001, but also seemed to ironically resemble the move that Martin Truex, Jr. made at Watkins Glen that wrecked Harvick, Montoya, and RCR teammate Jeff Burton. The ensuing yelling and helmet shoving match between Montoya and Harvick became the NASCAR fight of ’07, as weak as it was – funny how the tables turn.
The Hindenburg Award for Foul Fortune
This has to go to either Juan Pablo Montoya, whose back bumper made contact with the front bumper of Marcos Ambrose, causing Montoya to spin and lose valuable track position or Tony Stewart getting wrecked out of not only a Top 5 finish, but also the Top 12 in the points by Harvick.
A runner-up, though, has to go to all the road course ringers, most of whom ran well at times on Sunday. Ambrose broke a shock and got spun out by Elliott Sadler, ending his day. Boris Said had mechanical trouble on his self-owned car, relegating him to a 41st place finish. Ron Fellows got wrecked out of a Top 10 run by Kevin Harvick. Scott Pruett’s mediocre run was mellowed as Tony Stewart bulldozed him to a 38th place finish. Max Papis never was in contention and was put even further back by getting tangled up in the Kurt Busch-Robby Gordon wreck. Brian Simo suffered a mechanical failure early in the event.
The “Seven Come Fore Eleven” Award For Fine Fortune
David Gilliland is a good candidate, pitting before two cautions and benefiting from later cautions, helping the No. 38 team to score the best Yates Racing finish since Dale Jarrett’s Talladega win in 2005 and Gilliland’s best finish of his career.
Matt Kenseth’s name was not mentioned the entire race, until he out of no where appeared in the Top 10 with just a few laps remaining. This allowed the 17 team to climb into the Top 12 in the points, something that seemed a silly thought a few races ago.
Worth Noting
Jeff Gordon struggled with an ill-handling race car for much of the Infineon race, but managed a third place run, after barely running in the Top 15 for much of the event. This allowed him to pull away from some of the stragglers in the back of the Chase standings.
David Ragan is no longer 13th in the points, but easily could have fallen further back in the standings, considering his lack of road racing experience. Instead, he garnered a solid Top 25 finish and avoided wrecking out, like David Reutimann.
The TNT boys did an awesome job covering Elliott Sadler being able to drive on a tire that was going down, during the final two laps. He was sitting in fourth under the red flag when he felt the tire going down. But he kept the car from wrecking and stayed out of the way of others, finishing 19th…and then wrecking in turn 1 of the cool down lap. Two thumbs up!
After practically being pushed out of his No. 26 Crown Royal driver’s seat, by the media, (including me), Jamie McMurray has two consecutive solid runs. He proved his road racing prowess at Infineon, before being taken out by Harvick, and nearly won Michigan, finishing in the Top 10. His future at Roush Fenway may still be in doubt, but he is at least doing his best to quell any rumors and prove that he deserves a winning ride.
In his Cup debut, Marcos Ambrose ran solidly in the Top 5, before breaking a shock and getting spun out, ending his day. This run is a shot in the arm to a struggling Wood Brothers team, one of the most legendary in the sport, who need good runs to build their confidence and get their sponsors on TV. It also is good to see another foreign-born driver running well in a sport that is not yet known for its wealth of diversity.
A big “what the heck?” goes to full-time road course aces on the Cup circuit. Where were Sam Hornish, Jr. and Patrick Carpentier during the race? They never showed their teeth, running in the back of the pack. Surprisingly, Dario Franchitti easily failed to qualify for the event, raising more frustration for a struggling Ganassi operation. This also goes to show that you need more than just a driver to run well at any track the Cup circus goes to.
Overall Rating: On a scale of one to six wine bottles, this race gets four. Why not? There were enough cautions to keep the field bunched up and there were enough story lines, (like Ambrose’s strong run), to make things interesting.
Next Up: New Hampshire. This is one race track that I hope loses a date. Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin both died here and the racing is boring. Clint Bowyer did win his first race there and needs another shot in the arm, after a good run at Sonoma. Reed Sorenson returns to the No. 41 car at a track that he runs well at. This could be a good place for him to get his season back on track and save his future. Matt McLaughlin returns to the seat next week, while I will return to my normal duties as writer of the TV column. Check it out every Tuesday!
frontstretch.com
Nationwide Series Breakdown: Camping World RV Rental 250
Bryan Davis Keith
In a Nutshell: Brad Keselowski had the field at Milwaukee covered on Saturday night, leading 145 of the first 171 laps run. That all changed, however, when young phenom Joey Logano slammed into Keselowski in a turn while battling for the lead, caving in the left front fender on Keselowski’s No. 88 Chevrolet. The damage took the handling, and a shot at the win, away from the No. 88. Logano, however, couldn’t hold off a hard-charging Carl Edwards, who bumped Clint Bowyer for the lead late and broke through to score his first Nationwide Series win since Nashville in 2007 in his debut with new crew chief Drew Blickensderfer.
Edwards, who apologized in victory lane for his contact with Bowyer, refrained from his traditional backflip celebration to pay his respects to departed drag racer Scott Kalitta. Joey Logano, Bowyer, David Ragan and David Reutimann rounded out the Top 5. Bowyer’s third place run allowed him to stretch his points lead to 188 over second place Brad Keselowski.
Who Should Have Won: Brad Keselowski. For the majority of Saturday’s race, the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet was what Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 has been all season; dominant. Keselowski held off numerous hard charges on restarts and proved to be nearly untouchable on the long run, aided by stellar pit work all night long from the U.S. Navy crew. Keselowski’s pursuit of his second Nationwide Series win in three weeks was derailed, though, by the No. 20 of Joe Gibbs Racing. Again. This time, Joey Logano was responsible. While battling for the lead fiercely, Logano overdrove a corner and slammed into Keselowski’s Chevrolet, causing significant aerodynamic damage to the left front of Keselowski’s Chevrolet. Though Keselowski managed to finish eighth, he lost valuable championship points to leader Clint Bowyer because of Logano’s reckless maneuver. Those hoping for a Logano/Keselowski rivalry to emerge got a boost after this Saturday night.
Worth Noting:
Joey Logano, more than in any of his previous Nationwide Series starts, showed how inexperienced a rookie he is on Saturday. His contact with Brad Keselowski on the track, as well as with Clint Bowyer on pit road demonstrated a lack of track presence on numerous occasions, as well as a lack of patience. Yet, despite all that, Logano led laps, challenged for the win and finished second, his third Top-10 in four starts. The last four races have made it very clear that Logano is well worth the hype he is receiving and is a name that NASCAR fans are going to hear for a long time to come. One can’t help but question why Joe Gibbs Racing is reportedly opting to bench Logano for the next three weeks to allow their Cup drivers to come back to the Nationwide Series ranks.
Scott Wimmer was racing in front of his home crowd Saturday night, and Wimmer delivered another performance to remind them why he’s driving for Richard Childress Racing. Wimmer started 12th and adjusted on his Chevrolet throughout the race, running in the Top 10 all night and scoring a sixth place finish. Wimmer’s run was his third consecutive Top 10 in the No. 29, and also kept the No. 29 team third in the owner standings (behind Joe Gibbs’ No. 20 and the No. 2, Wimmer’s teammate at RCR).
Better Luck Next Time:
Halfway through the race, JR Motorsports was posed to enjoy a banner evening. Brad Keselowski had the dominant car of the race, while development driver Landon Cassill had his No. 5 Chevrolet in the third position, poised to score his strongest career finish. That all soured in the race’s second half. Keselowski was all but wrecked out of the lead and left to struggle to score a Top 10 finish. Cassill, meanwhile, was unable to follow-up on his third place run in the Truck Series race at Milwaukee when his engine dropped a cylinder. He finished 22nd. Though they collectively ran extremely well at the Milwaukee Mile, neither JR Motorsports team had much to show for it at race’s end.
Florida short-track veteran Travis Kittleson found himself out of his full-time USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series ride early this season, and turned to Mac Hill Motorsports for a part-time Nationwide Series campaign in an effort to move up in the NASCAR ranks. Saturday night didn’t do Kittleson any favors. Kittleson spun his No. 56 Chevrolet twice during the race, the second of which smashed the back end of his underfunded machine. Kittleson’s three race deal with Mac Hill Motorsports ended with the race in Milwaukee, and his 31st place finish may well not be enough to land another ride in the Nationwide Series.
In recent weeks, there have been few drivers hotter on the Nationwide Series circuit than David Stremme. Kiss that momentum goodbye. After qualifying 17th, a lap that driver David Stremme found disappointing, Stremme struggled to stay in the Top 15, and spun out early. Bogged down in traffic, Stremme couldn’t find the handle on his car, and on lap 157 spun again and did considerable damage to his car, leaving him with a 34th place finish. Stremme was less than complimentary of the “idiots” in the back of the Nationwide Series field, claiming after being stuck back there that he knew why they “wreck every week.” He blamed his problems on a broken shock in his car. Stremme now sits less than 100 points inside the Top 10 in points ahead of Nationwide Series regulars Jason Leffler and Jason Keller.
Underdog Performer of the Race:
With a lot of higher budget Cup teams on the sidelines the last few weekends, long time journeyman driver Stanton Barrett has managed to race his self-owned No. 30 Chevrolet to an impressive set of finishes. Barrett fell down a lap early on Saturday night, but got a Lucky Dog pass and rallied to score a solid 17th place finish. Milwaukee marked the third consecutive race for Barrett and his No. 30 team, its longest streak of consecutive starts of the season, and also his third consecutive Top 25 finish. Barrett has run over half the races in the Nationwide Series so far this season, and has proven capable of fielding competitive race cars for himself. This Hollywood stuntman has still got some speed in him.
Quotables:
“The back flip is something that I do because I’m real excited to win and I feel like doing it when I win. Today, with what happened with Mr. Kalitta and the way I passed Clint, I just didn’t feel like doing a back flip. I felt bad for the fans, they were a little upset about it, but hopefully we’ll come back here next year and we’ll do it again and I’ll give them a really nice one.” – Carl Edwards in the Nationwide Series Victory Lane for the first time since June of 2007
“We just pretty much got wrecked by the 9 there. I don’t know what he was doing or didn’t see me or what. We were well up alongside of him and he just came down, turned into our door of our No. 16 CitiFinancial Ford Fusion and spun us around and that was that. We got back out there, it wasn’t too bad, I thought we were still in good shape and tried to pass the 33 on the outside and he turned up into us and wrecked us again. It’s unfortunate that those two guys had to do that and be that way. I guess that’s part of racing and I certainly won’t forget that.” – Colin Braun on fellow competitors Chase Miller and Cale Gale after an eventful race
“The contact was definitely my fault.” – Joey Logano on his incident with Brad Keselowski
Up Next: The NASCAR Nationwide Series next heads to Loudon, New Hampshire on Saturday, June 28, for the Camping World RV Sales 200. Coverage from the Magic Mile begins at 230 PM on ABC and 3 PM on MRN.
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Tracking the Trucks : Camping World RV Sales 200
Beth Lunkenheimer
In a Nutshell: Johnny Benson took the checkered flag 2.530 seconds ahead of Matt Crafton to win the Camping World RV Sales 200 Friday night at the Milwaukee Mile. Benson took the lead coming off of pit road under caution for light drizzle and held on to win his third consecutive race at the West Allis, WI track. Landon Cassill, Erik Darnell and Todd Bodine rounded out the Top 5.
Who Should Have Won: Johnny Benson. Benson and the No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles team looked decent during both practices, running fifth in the first session and thirteenth in the final. The points leader started on the pole and led 130 of 200 laps on his way to victory lane.
Questions You Should Be Asking After the Race:
1. How did Michael Annett fare in his Craftsman Truck Series debut?
Bill Davis Racing Development Driver Michael Annett made his Craftsman Truck Series debut Friday night at the Milwaukee Mile. It wasn’t Annett’s first time behind the wheel of the No. 22 Toyota. He practiced and qualified the truck in place of Scott Speed at Texas Motor Speedway a few weeks ago.
Michael Annett’s truck was mediocre at best during both practice sessions. Starting in 14th, Annett started working his way through the field. Early in the race, the driver of the No. 22 got loose and made contact with the No. 9 of Justin Marks and spun right in front of Todd Bodine. He restarted 32nd on the lead lap and managed to work his way up through the field to a sixth place finishing position.
Michael Annett’s debut was a success. He qualified decent and ran well despite an early race spin. Scott Speed and Annett will share the driving duties of the No. 22 for the rest of the season; expect the No. 22 back in victory lane with Annett behind the wheel before the end of the season.
2. Does Johnny Benson have what it takes to win the championship?
For the second week in a row, Johnny Benson sits atop the points standings, and there’s no doubt he and the No. 23 team are running extremely well this season. At this point last season, Benson found himself in sixth place, 424 points behind then leader Mike Skinner. He and the No. 23 team are in the perfect position to contend for a championship right now.
“I think it’s a huge plus to be leading the points right now, for sure,” said Benson. “That’s what our goal is — to win the championship. That’s what it’s been the last two years. We’ve run second. We’ve run third. We’ve won a fair amount of races. I guess that’s good. I think this year has definitely started off way better than it has the last two years, but we’ve had a couple issues too. But, we’ve been consistently fast, and that’s really what you have to ask for — to be fast. And then just make sure things play out the way you want them to play out as the race goes.”
Johnny Benson definitely has what it takes to become the next Craftsman Truck Series champion. He and the No. 23 team can run strong races, and his pit crew has the ability to get the job done on pit road. While it’s still early to be awarding the championship to anyone, consistency will be the key this year, and so far Johnny Benson is on the right track.
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: 5
No. of Rookies to Finish in the Top 10: 0
Rookie Of The Race: Marc Mitchell, finished 15th
Worth Noting / Points Shuffle:
In 14 races at the Milwaukee Mile, no winner has ever started outside the Top 8. Johnny Benson continued that streak by winning from the pole Friday night.
The race was read flagged for about half an hour for heavy lightning after the field was put under caution for light drizzle.
Mike Bliss was behind the wheel of the No. 51 Miccosukee Resorts Toyota Tundra in place of Kyle Busch. Bliss qualified 19th and finished 12th.
Chrissy Wallace and Jon Wes Townley each made their second starts in the Craftsman Truck Series Friday night. Wallace, behind the wheel on the No. 03 Toyota for Germain Racing finished 20th, three laps down; she finished 18th in her debut at Martinsville in March. Townley piloted the No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford for Roush Racing and finished 18th, also three laps down; Townley finished 27th in his debut at Mansfield Speedway in May.
With his win, Johnny Benson extended his points lead to 50 over Todd Bodine. Matt Crafton moved up one spot to third while Ron Hornaday, Jr. dropped a position to fourth. Rick Crawford remains in fifth, 109 points behind Benson.
Mike Skinner remains in sixth, 134 points out of the lead. Terry Cook and Erik Darnell each moved up two spots to seventh and eighth respectively. Jack Sprague dropped one spot to ninth after helping bring out the fourth caution of the night, and Chad McCumbee, who received heavy damage after contact with Chrissy Wallace caused the No. 8 to spin into the outside wall, rounds out the Top 10.
Quotable:
“It feels great. That pit stop is what won this thing. I cannot believe we won three in a row here. Gotta really thank the fans. That lightning was unbelievable.” Johnny Benson
“These guys build a great truck. I can’t thank these guys enough. It’s awesome to be in this position now.” Matt Crafton, finished 2nd
“You have got to be kidding me!” Jack Sprague on his radio when he spun in front of the field to bring out the fourth caution
Up Next:
The Craftsman Truck Series heads to Memphis Motorsports Park for the O’Reilly 200 next Saturday night. Last season, Travis Kvapil won this race; Kvapil made contact with leader Brad Keselowski with seven laps remaining to take the lead and the win. Coverage begins at 8:30 pm EST on SPEED; the race can also be heard on your local MRN affiliate.
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