Bleacher Report - Articles by Mason Dunn

One Night, Two Wins for CE Falk

Mason Dunn — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 02:02:17 -0400

The quote, "when you're on, you're on," is the best description for talking about the way CE Falk went about bringing home his ninth and tenth wins of the 2009 season in NASCAR Whelen All-American Late Model Stock competition at Langley Speedway.

The track had changed the scheduled 100 lap event to twin 75s in an effort to make up some events that had been cancelled by weather.

Falk would show his strength early laying claim to the pole position for the first race and the outside pole position for the second race. Brother and teammate Wes Falk would qualify his Chevrolet 10th and 13th for the respective races.

Race one saw CE waste no time in taking the lead and showing the way but the road was not so smooth for Wes who encountered some bad luck early as the 17 of John Staton spun directly into the path of the hard charging 41 resulting in Wes' car climbing the side of Staton's bringing out the first caution and relegating Wes to a 19th place finish.

CE would continue on in dominating fashion opening up several large leads and showing some tremendous power on every restart before cruising to the first win of the night by just under two seconds over last week's winner Woody Howard. Mark Wertz, Danny Edwards and Greg Edwards would make up the rest of the top five.

After ample amount of time to rest and prepare for race number two the field retook the track just after midnight but the song remained the same.

After taking the lead from pole sitter Paul DeBolt on lap seven Falk never looked back showing no loss of power from race one. Meanwhile, Wes was having a much better race moving up to as high as seventh before losing brakes and having to run the race of his life to protect his eighth place finish.

CE Falk, who had impressed many by running away from former USAR standout Woody Howard by two seconds in race one, would top that in race two as he would battle through numerous restarts to top Howard once again, this time by just over four seconds. Greg Edwards, Mark Wertz and Dean Shiflett would round out the top five in race number two.

"We had two flawless races, the car was absolutely perfect. Our Avalon Pier/HorsePower Tee Shot Tour/Towne Bank Ford Fusion was incredible on both the short and long run," said an elated CE Falk glancing over at two trophies, "My team showed that they wouldn't let a bad week bring them down."

The night was also incredible for CE in the championship points battle as he would extend his lead over 2008 Champ Danny Edwards from six points to 22(652-630) with five races left on the schedule for the Crossroads Fuel Late Models. While Wes Falk is locked in a tight battle for sixth in points which he currently occupies by four points over Jeff Shiflett and eight points over Dean Shiflett.

In the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series points CE Falk would see a 56 point improvement in his National total, lifting it up to 742 points, and a 72 point boost in his Virginia State total, improving that to 720 points.

Next up for Falk Motorsports is another pair of 75 lap races next week, September 5, at Langley Speedway.

Fantasy NASCAR Report: New Hampshire Edition

Mason Dunn — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:19:48 -0400

Here are my weekly five picks for this weekend's race in Loudon, NH.

Denny Hamlin

Hamlin has been working hard at getting his season turned back in the right direction so that he can earn his fourth appearance in the Chase for the Cup in as many full-time seasons.

In his six career appearances at New Hampshire Hamlin has posted a victory(2007), an average finish of just about seventh, and an astounding worst finish of 15th place.

One key to Hamlin's success at this track has been his performance in qualifying. Hamlin has never started worst than 14th place with his worst qualifying effort leading to his worst finish, kinda weird saying that about a 15th place finish.

If Hamlin posts a top 10 qualifying effort, then look for him to be a factor for the win towards the end of the scheduled 300 lap distance. Hamlin also has some flat track roots from his time spent running Mini Stocks at the famously flat Langley Speedway.

2008 finish: Eighth

Jimmie Johnson

Don't think I've given Johnson the nod in any of my fantasy reports so far this season but looking at some of his stats and given his recent performances before his gas tank gave out I think this weekend will be another good one for Johnson.

I don't think New Hampshire has been a fuel mileage cringe recently and that is one thing Johnson would love to here.

With the exception of one 39th place fluke back in 2006, Johnson is much like Hamlin in the fact that his worst finish is 15th. Johnson has been very consistent on the flat track including pulling off the sweep back in 2003 and like Hamlin should he qualify in the top 10 Johnson will be a factor for the win.

2008 finish: Ninth

Tony Stewart

Owning his own team has probably been the best thing for Stewart at this point in his career and he is putting up a performance sheet that has made him the favorite to win his third career championship.

Last four races of this season Stewart has a win, two runner-up finishes and a seventh which is a big part of the reason he is leading the points.

Stewart has had an up and down career at New Hampshire including two wins, 10 top fives but also six finishes of 20th or worse. Stewart is approaching 1,000 laps led at the flat track up north and I wouldn't be surprised to see him hit that mark this weekend.

2008 finish: 13th

Elliott Sadler

Sadler showed he can still hang last week at the road course when he was one of three RPM cars in the top 10 at the end of the day and I definitely see that momentum continuing with the 19 team going into New Hampshire this weekend.

Sadler has had a mixed bag of performances at New Hampshire with that 19 team with some top fives and some outside the top 20. Should Sadler be able to stay on the lead lap for the whole day he will be present in the top 10 if not better by the end of the day.

2008 finish: Fifth

Underdog: Marcos Ambrose

Ambrose has been improving his oval program all season and given the recent momentum off his third place performance at Sonoma and his improvement at the flat tracks on the NASCAR schedule I look for Ambrose to bring home a solid finish and continue to climb up the points and into potential Chase contention.

New Hampshire requires a lot of patience and strategy, two things that Ambrose has much of from his days running the Bathurst 1000. While Ambrose has no appearances at New Hampshire his teammates in David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip have a few appearances and will definitely work with the Aussie in the scheduled practice sessions.

2008 finish: Did not attempt

Last Week

Had somewhat of a return to form with my picks last week as three of my picks were able to finish in the top 10 while Mark Martin and Kyle Busch went through some bad luck and were relegated towards the back of the field.

Good to see a good performance from my underdog pick which inspired me to give him the nod again this week.

Tony Stewart- Second

Juan Montoya- Sixth

Mark Martin- 35th

Marcos Ambrose- Third

Kyle Busch-22nd

Toyota/Save Mart 350 Studs and Duds

Mason Dunn — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:51:14 -0400

First road race of the 2009 season and it was a thriller filled with double-file restarts, spins, off-roading, near misses with the turn four wall, and lots of beating and banging. Here are some of the guys who left wine country with their heads held high or there faces covered with grapes.

Studs

Kasey Kahne

Anytime you can get the King back into Victory Lane is a great moment for any driver. Kahne showed that although the Dodges may appear to be weaker then their Chevy and Toyota opponents they are by no means done for and with rumors swirling of a switch to Toyota leading the RPM charge that consisted of three cars in the top 10 was the best thing Kahne could have done for himself and his team.

Kahne pulled himself within three points of Juan Montoya and a spot in this year's Chase for the Cup with his performance on Sunday. As it stands right now Kahne is the only Dodge other than current fourth place Kurt Busch with a legitimate shot at making the Chase and contending for a title.

Infineon finish: Winner

Points: 13th, 1914 (450 behind Stewart, three behind 12th place Montoya)

Tony Stewart

Stewart continued his story book season with his eighth top five and 12th top 10 of the season on Sunday extending his lead over second place Jeff Gordon to 84 points and making him seemingly a lock for the Chase. The runner-up finish on Sunday improved Stewart's average finish at Sonoma to 9.27 with a perfect lap completion percentage.

Stewart is currently posting a season average finish of 8.44 and the last time he had a season average finish of lower than 10, he won his second Sprint Cup championship. Sunday also continued Stewart's current streak of finishing races improving it to 40 races without a DNF.

Infineon finish: Second

Points: First, 2364 (84 ahead of Gordon, 450 ahead of 13th place Kahne)

AJ Allmendinger

Allmendinger continued his season of improvement on Sunday when he was one of the three RPM cars in the top 10 with a seventh place finish in his No. 44 Best Buy Dodge. Allmendinger, who has been running at the finish of all 16 races this season, climbed two spots up the Sprint Cup standings and is within 200 points of a spot in the top 20.

Allmendinger has a growing following amongst the NASCAR fan community and should these type of finishes continue more sponsors are going to take notice of this young driver giving him more security in his ride in the No. 44 over at RPM through next season and beyond.

Infineon finish: Seventh

Points: 29th, 1447 (917 behind Stewart, 470 behind 12th place Montoya)

Elliott Sadler

Sadler has had quiet improvement at the road course races on the NASCAR schedule and he continued that with a 10th place performance on Sunday and used that to propel himself four spots in the point standings into 23rd.

While 347 points may be a bit too much for Sadler to overcome to earn a spot in the Chase he is only 70 points behind 20th place Earnhardt Jr. and a top 20 points performance would be a good momentum boost for this team going into 2010 and beyond.

Infineon finish: 10th

Points: 23rd, 1570 (794 behind Stewart, 347 behind 12th place Montoya)

Juan Montoya

Montoya has shown his skill at the road course events in his short stock car career including a win in his very first season at Sonoma and he continued to impress on Sunday with his second sixth place performance at Sonoma in a row. The finish also vaulted the Columbian driver up into 12th, the final Chase qualification spot.

With rumors swirling of teammate Martin Truex Jr. leaving the team at the end of this season Montoya is making a case to become the franchise player for Earnardt Ganassi Racing in 2010 and beyond.

Infineon finish: Sixth

Points: 12th, 1917 (447 behind Stewart, 3 ahead of 13th place Kahne)

Duds

Reed Sorenson

Sorenson continued to appear to be the lame horse in the RPM stable as he was relegated to a 40th place finish while all three of his teammates brought back top 10 performances including the win by Kahne.

Now that the other three RPM teams are starting to perform better, Sorenson and the No. 43 team need to put in a lot of work to do the same and make sure that the economic crunch doesn't lead the powers that be at RPM to consider closing the doors on that team.

Infineon finish: 40th

Points: 27th, 1487 (877 behind Stewart, 430 behind 12th place Montoya)

Jeff Burton

A miserable 34th place performance for Burton and the No. 31 RCR team was not only a disappointing day for that reason but also because that finish dropped them out of the top 12 in points into 15th place 46 points behind 12th place Montoya.

Now there are no representatives of RCR in the top 12 in points as Burton and teammate Clint Bowyer are leading the RCR charge in 15th and 16th place respectively. Both these drivers need to have top ten performances at New Hampshire to remain legit contenders for a spot in the Chase.

Infineon finish: 34th

Points: 15th, 1871 (493 behind Stewart, 46 behind 12th place Montoya)

Scott Speed

Well the weekend started with optimism for this former F1 driver in his first Sprint Cup road course start but that optimism was quickly deflated when Speed was one of four drivers to DNQ for Sunday's race. Fortunately for Speed, Red Bull's checks are always accepted by NEMCO Motorsports so Speed would race in Joe Nemechek's No. 87 Toyota.

But Speed would still have a disappointing race day on the road course as early contact with fellow rookie Joey Logano would force Speed to visit pit road and a late spin stalling the car on the track would relegate Speed to a 37th place finish.

Infineon finish: 37th

Points: 35th, 1093 (1271 behind Stewart, 824 behind 12th place Montoya)

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt Jr. continued his seemingly less than average season with a 26th place finish on Sunday and continuing to show pretty much no improvement since the change was made atop the pit box swapping Eury Jr. in favor of Lance McGrew.

Hendrick's patience with this team has been surprising to a point, obviously he isn't going to get rid of Junior anytime soon due to the amount of sales that he brings in at the souvenir trailer but there has got to be a point where a fire needs to be lit underneath Junior's behind.

Infineon finish: 26th

Points: 20th, 1640, (724 behind Stewart, 277 behind 12th place Montoya)

David Stremme

Stremme continues to turn in poor performances week after week including this weekend's 39th place performance at Sonoma sitting 31st in points and proving himself to be the lame horse in the Penske stable. As I have said before if this continues Stremme's job with that No. 12 team may be in trouble.

Infineon finish: 39th

Points: 31st, 1362 (1002 behind Stewart, 555 behind 12th place Montoya)

Ted Christopher to Attempt Cup Race at New Hampshire

Mason Dunn — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:08:08 -0400

The 2008 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion, whom has raced and won in almost every type of car from SK Modifieds to Late Models to Camping World East Series, will make his return to Sprint Cup competition this weekend at New Hampshire behind the wheel of Kirk Shelmerdine's No. 27 Toyota.

Christopher will be one of 11 go-or-go-homers currently on the entry list for this weekend's event, meaning he must beat at least three of them in order to make Sunday's race.

Christopher has six Sprint Cup series starts on his resume with the last coming in September of 2006 in the Slyvania 300 at New Hampshire in the No. 27 for Shelmerdine. Christopher has also competed in Nationwide, Camping World Truck and even two Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona events during his illustrious racing career.

Milwaukee: Camping World and Nationwide Series Drivers to Watch

Mason Dunn — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:08:09 -0400

The Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series are off on there own this weekend in Milwaukee, Wisc. for the NorthernTool.com 250 and the Copart 200 while the Cup teams are off turning right in Sonoma.

So, who are going to be the drivers and teams to watch on Friday and Saturday night on the one-mile flat track? Well, let's take a quick look at three teams from each series to watch.

Camping World Truck Series (Copart 200)

Ron Hornaday Jr.

Hornaday Jr. currently sits second in the points rundown and is chasing his fourth overall series championship and the second for his current team, Kevin Harvick Incorporated. He and his No. 33 team have been consistent all season, minus the races at Dover and Texas, and has led laps in every race except for California.

Hornaday currently sits 39 points behind current leader Matt Crafton, and this weekend could be the best opportunity for him to eliminate that deficit and keep this title battle close. In 2008, Hornaday not only had a good performance in qualifying, sixth, but he was able to stay in the top ten all day and finished in the seventh position.

Timothy Peters

Flat, short track with difficult corners? Sounds like every track Timothy Peters grew up on while climbing up the racing ladder in Virginia and North Carolina. Also, the recent move out of his two-car garage in Danville, Va., and into the Red Horse Racing stable has got to be a huge load off the young man's mind.

In his first race with his new team, Peters was able to get his third top-10 of the season with an eighth-place finish at Michigan. The top 10 in points is within Peters' reach, and this weekend could just be his chance to get there. Peters did not compete in the 2008 race at Milwaukee.

Brian Ickler

This kid has been nothing but impressive every time he has gotten behind the wheel in 2009 by being competitive in each of his starts in the Camping World East, ARCA and Camping World Truck Series. Last week at the big track in Michigan, Ickler brought his No. 15 BBM Toyota home in the third position behind teammate Kyle Busch and race winner Colin Braun.

Nationwide Series(NothernTool.com 250)

Only two Cup series drivers are going to make the trek from California to Wisconsin on Saturday to compete in this race—Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.

Brad Keselowski

The 2008 polesitter is back for more this weekend and will look to improve upon his eighth-place finish last season as he continues to climb his way up the points, chopping away at the deficit between him and leaders Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. Keselowski is currently the highest full-time Nationwide driver without a full-time Cup ride in the point standings.

Keselowski led 25 of the 202 laps ran last summer, but unfortunately for him, they were not the last 25 laps—the ones the young JR Motorsports driver will look to lead on Saturday night when the green drops over the Nationwide Series.

Brad Coleman

With Joey Logano looking for more road course seat time this weekend in the Camping World West Series, Coleman gets a much-deserved start this weekend at the short track in Milwaukee. Coleman only has one start the season, but made the most of it with a fourth-place qualifying effort and a tenth-place performance at Nashville.

This week, Coleman will climb into the race winning car from Kentucky and have a great shot to take that team back to victory lane and improve upon his 25th-place performance from 2008.

Kyle Busch

Busch has been the model of consistency in the 2009 Nationwide Series, including last weekend's runner-up performance to teammate Joey Logano. Although Busch skipped this race in 2008, that is only more motivation for the young driver to put it all on the line to take home the trophy and pad points onto his lead over Carl Edwards.

Milwaukee is a track where corner entry and exit is pivotal to having a good performance ,and those are the kind of tracks where a driver like Busch typically will excel at. Johnny Sauter will be in the No. 18 car, shaking it down in the morning practice sessions while Busch is practicing in Sonoma.

This Week in NASCAR's Top Three: June 18, 2009

Mason Dunn — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:04:52 -0400

Camping World Truck Series

Last Week

Colin Braun took the lead with 24 laps to go to win his first CWTS race in 35 starts and bring the 50th CWTS trophy back to the Roush Fenway Racing garage. Braun overtook Kyle Busch for the lead while Busch was battling with lap traffic and never looked back. Rest of the top 10 were; No. 15 Brian Ickler, No. 88 Matt Crafton, No. 5 Mike Skinner, No. 81 Tayler Malsam, No. 33 Ron Hornaday Jr., No. 17 Timothy Peters, No. 8 Dennis Setzer, and No. 25 Terry Cook.

There were 10 lead changes amongst six drivers.

The race was slowed five times by the caution flag for a total of 20 laps.

Laps      Reason                                    Lucky Dog

9-13      No. 10 and 16 accident Turn 4 No. 47-Brandon Knupp

29-32    No. 07, 33 and 60 accident Turn 1       No. 57-Norm Benning

34-37    No. 5, 13, 15, 17, 24, 30 accident Turn 4 No. 33-Ron Hornaday Jr.

60-63    Debris, backstretch                 No. 84-Chris Fontaine

65-67    No. 4 accident backstretch                     No. 57-Norm Benning

The race saw a longest green flag run of 33 laps to close out the race and unlike recent trends only one caution for debris with 40 to go was displayed during the race.

Race No. 10 of 25(Copart 200)

2008 winner-Johnny Benson

2008 pole-Johnny Benson

The preliminary entry list released on 6-17 consisted of 34 drivers and teams, some notables include;

No. 4-Ricky Carmichael back in the Monster Energy Chevy

No. 12-Dexter Bean in the TBA Chevy

No. 15-Aric Almirola returns to the Zaxby's Toyota

No. 27-Duane Bischoff in the Partbuddy.com Chevy

No. 29-Mikey Kile makes his second CWTS start for Brad Keselowski Racing in the Greased Lightning Cleaning Products Chevy

No. 39-Ryan Sieg in the TBA Chevy

No. 40-Mike Bliss makes another start with Key Motorsports

No. 72-Mario Gosselin in the James Carter Attorney Chevy

No. 90-Gabi DiCarlo makes her second start of 2009 in the Great Clips Toyota

Teams will have three hours of practice from 12:00 - 3:00 PM EST on Friday before qualifying at 6:30 PM EST. The green flag will drop on the 200 lap race at 9:00 PM EST. SPEED will have race coverage starting with the pre-race show at 8:30 PM EST.

Raybestos Rookie Report

Brian Ickler took home the rookie of the race award last week at Michigan with an impressive third place finish vaulting him ahead of Brent Raymer into sixth in the current rookie rundown.

Tayler Malsam took over the rookie points lead with a 6th place finish as he now leads over Johnny Sauter by two points.

1. Tayler Malsam, 98

2. Johnny Sauter, 96, (-2)

3. James Buescher, 78, (-20)

4. J.R. Fitzpatrick, 60, (-38)

5. Ricky Carmichael, 54, (-44)

Driver Point Standings

Matt Crafton protected his points lead with a fourth place finish at Michigan as second place Ron Hornaday Jr. finished seventh and third place Mike Skinner finished fifth.

1. Matt Crafton, 1362

2. Ron Hornaday Jr., 1323, (-39)

3. Mike Skinner, 1318, (-44)

4. Todd Bodine, 1265, (-97)

5. Kyle Busch, 1180, (-182)

6. David Starr, 1179, (-183)

7. Terry Cook, 1157, (-205)

8. Tayler Malsam, 1157, (-205)

9. Rick Crawford, 1140, (-222)

10. Chad McCumbee, 1131, (-231)

Some CWTS News

Current CWTS driver Colin Braun and fellow Roush driver Ricky Stenhouse will be piloting Nationwide cars for Roush Fenway Racing in 2010 according to team owner Jack Roush.

KHI's Rick Carelli will be inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame at Irwindale Speedway in California on July 3. The former driver earned the 1991 NASCAR Southwest Touring Championship and the 1993 Camping World West Series Championships as well as racing in other series. Carelli is currently the General Manager for KHI and the spotter for Ron Hornaday Jr..

Johnny Benson has been released from the hospital following a hard crash in a Supermodified race at Berlin Raceway Saturday night. Benson suffered from some broken bones and minor burns as a result of the crash.

Both Chad McCumbee and Todd Bodine received two race extensions from their respective sponsors. McCumbee's sponsor tiwi has announced they will add the Milwaukee race as well as the July race at Kentucky to their sponsorship package with the No. 07. Bodine's sponsor Copart has also announced they will be back on the No. 30 at Milwaukee as well as another race to be announced later.

Colin Braun and Johnny Sauter will be pulling a tweaked form of double duty as they will race thier trucks this weekend at Milwaukee as well as practice the Nationwide cars of Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch while they are with their Sprint Cup rides at Sonoma. Braun will be in the No. 60 and Sauter in the No. 18 for practice.

A few drivers will pull the CWTS/Nationwide double header this weekend at Milwaukee:

Ron Hornaday Jr., No. 33 Copart Chevy(CWTS)/No. 33 Jimmy Johns Chevy(Nationwide)

Aric Almirola, No. 15 Zaxby's Toyota(CWTS)/No. 40 stoprepairbills.com Chevy(Nationwide)

Mike Bliss, No. 40 TBA Chevy(CWTS)/No. 1 Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resorts Chevy(Nationwide)

Terry Cook, No. 25 Cajun Industries/Harris Trucking Toyota(CWTS)/No. 91 MSRP Motorsports Chevy(Nationwide)

Nationwide Series

Last Week

Joey Logano backed up his win in 2008 at Kentucky in a big way by taking the pole and then finishing the race right where he started by winning the Meijer 300 Saturday night.

Estimated attendance: 70,000

Seven drivers exchanged the lead 16 times over the course of the race.

The race was slowed eight times by the caution flag for 31 laps including a late race red flag after Mike Bliss' wreck on the front stretch.

Laps Reason Lucky Dog

5-7 No. 29 spun Turn 4 None

24-27 Debris Turn 2 No. 01-Danny O'Quinn

71-74 Debris front stretch No. 29-Stephen Leicht

77-81 No. 42, 77 accident Turn 2 No. 23-Ken Butler

87-89 No. 09, 47, 73 accident Turn 4 No. 01-Danny O'Quinn

165-168 No. 07 accident T2 No. 15-Michael Annett

172-174 No. 62 spun Turn 4 No. 32-Burney Lamar

184-188 No. 1 accident front stretch No. 33-Kelly Bires

The race enjoyed a long green flag run of 76 laps from lap 89 to 165 after the multi-car crash in turn four.

Race No. 15 of 35(NorthernTool.com 250)

2008 winner: Carl Edwards

2008 pole: Brad Keselowski

According to the current entry list for Saturday's race there will be 47 teams fighting for 43 race positions, some notables include:

No. 0-JC Stout gets the start this week in the unsponsored Chevy

No. 04-Kertus Davis will drive the Johnny Davis owned Chevy

No. 5-Scott Wimmer in the Fastenal Chevy for Rick Hendrick

No. 10-Kelly Bires gets the start for Braun Racing

No. 20-Brad Coleman will make the start in the Rudy's.com Toyota

No. 33-Ron Hornaday will climb in the Jimmy Johns Chevy for KHI

No. 40-Aric Almirola makes his series debut in the Key Motorsports entry

All Nationwide on track activity will take place on Saturday as teams will practice from 10:00 AM-1:00 PM EST before qualifying at 5:35 PM EST. Green flag is schedule for 8:30 PM EST and ESPN2 will have coverage beginning at 7:30 PM EST.

Go-or-Go Home

Seventeen teams will complete to fill 13 spots for Saturday's NorthernTool.com 250.

Those teams are:

No. 0 JC Stout, No. 04 Kertus Davis, No. 5 Scott Wimmer, No. 05 Casey Atwood, No. 09 John Wes Townley, No. 26 Brian Keselowski, No. 31 Travis Kittleson, No. 41 Stanton Barrett, No. 49 Mark Green, No. 52 Kevin Lepage, No. 70 Shelby Howard, No. 73 Derrike Cope, No. 77 Peyton Sellers, No. 89 Morgan Sheperd, No. 90 Johnny Chapman, No. 91 Terry Cook, No. 96 Dennis Setzer.

Raybestos Rookie Report

Brendan Gaughan finished one spot ahead of fellow rookie Justin Allgaier and reclaimed a one point advantage over Allgaier atop the rookie of the year point standings. They finished fourth and fifth respectively in the race.

1. Brendan Gaughan, 149

2. Justin Allgaier, 148, (-1)

3. Michael McDowell, 132, (-17)

4. Scott Lagasse Jr., 124, (-25)

5. Michael Annett, 107, (-42)

Driver Point Standings

After another great performance ended with a runner-up finish current points leader Kyle Busch was able to pad a few points onto his lead with second place Carl Edwards finishing 20th.

1. Kyle Busch, 2211

2. Carl Edwards, 2074, (-137)

3. Brad Keselowski, 2003, (-208)

4. Jason Leffler, 1993, (-218)

5. Joey Logano, 1860, (-351)

6. Justin Allgaier, 1628, (-583)

7. Brendan Gaughan, 1620, (-591)

8. Jason Keller, 1613, (-598)

9. Mike Bliss, 1599, (-622)

10. Steve Wallace, 1543, (-678)

In the adjusted Nationwide-only point standings there is a change atop the board as Brad Keselowski uses a third place performance to take the lead over from Jason Leffler.

1. Brad Keselowski, 2003

2. Jason Leffler, 1993, (-10)

3. Justin Allgaier, 1628, (-375)

4. Brendan Gaughan, 1620, (-383)

5. Jason Keller, 1613, (-390)

6. Mike Bliss, 1599, (-404)

7. Steve Wallace, 1543, (-450)

8. Michael McDowell, 1541, (-452)

9. Scott Lagasse Jr., 1498, (-505)

10. Kenny Wallace, 1374, (-629)

Some Nationwide Series News

After the suspension of Bryan Berry, Trip Bruce, former crew chief of Johnny Benson while at Red Horse Racing, has been tapped to take over as crew chief for Brendan Gaughan over at Rusty Wallace Inc..

Able Body Labor has been announced as the title sponsor the the November Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, this is Able Body Labor's first such partnership in NASCAR.

Sprint Cup Series

Last Week

Mark Martin stole the victory on the final lap of yet another fuel mileage thriller Sunday as both Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle had the tanks run dry while leading. The win vaulted 50-year old Martin back into the top 12 in points in eighth position and was his third win of the season.

Estimated attendance: 90,000

Six drivers traded the lead a total of 11 times over the course of the race.

The race saw the yellow flag fly a total of three times and only spent 14 laps behind the pace car.

Laps Reason Lucky Dog

74-77 Debris No. 39-Ryan Newman

122-125 Debris No. 00-David Reutimann

151-156 No. 12 accident Turn 4 No. 17-Matt Kenseth

The race had a longest green flag run of 74 laps and ended on a 44 lap green flag run that caused many to stretch their fuel tanks to thin and either make late pit stops or run dry before the finish.

Race No. 16 of 36(Toyota/Save Mart 350)

2008 winner: Kyle Busch

2008 pole: Kasey Kahne

There are 47 teams on the entry list for this weekend's road course adventure, some notables include:

No. 02-Brandon Ash in the Efusjoin Energy Club Dodge

No. 08-Boris Said makes his season debut in the John Carter owned Ford

No. 09-Ron Fellows will race for James Finch

No. 4-P.J. Jones will pilot a second car for Robby Gordon Motorsports

No. 27-Tom Hubert will drive in place of Kirk Shelmerdine

No. 36-Brian Simo makes his first start for Tommy Baldwin

No. 37-Chris Cook fills in for Tony Raines

No. 55-Patrick Carpentier will fill in for Michael Waltrip

Should qualifying be rained out the four cars being sent home will be the No. 02, 08, 27, and 4.

Teams will have three practice sessions that will all be aired live on SPEED, Friday from 3:00 - 4:30 PM EST and Saturday from 12:30 - 1:15 PM and 1:50 - 2:50 PM EST.

Qualifying is scheduled for Friday at 6:35 PM EST and will be aired live on SPEED before the CWTS race. TNT will begin coverage on Sunday at 3:30 PM EST with the green flag scheduled to fly at approximately 5:16 PM EST.

Fight for the Top 35

John Andretti was able to regain 12 points over Scott Speed to bring the separation in the battle for the 35th spot in owner points back to 53 points (1060-1007). Speed will look to use his road course experience to gain some points back on Andretti at Sonoma.

Raybestos Rookie Report

Joey Logano continues to lead the rookie of the year point standings over Scott Speed by 19 points(168-149) with Max Papis in third with 57 points. Logano won his 12th Rookie of the Race award with a 25th place finish at Michigan.

Driver Point Standings

Tony Stewart, who finished seventh on Sunday, continues to lead the points after Michigan by only 47 points over second place Jeff Gordon. Mark Martin used his victory to vault from 13th back into the top 12 in eighth position and is tied for the most wins on the season with Kyle Busch with three victories each.

1. Tony Stewart, 2189

2. Jeff Gordon, 2142, (-47)

3. Jimmie Johnson, 2047, (-142)

4. Kurt Busch, 1961, (-228)

5. Ryan Newman, 1934, (-255)

6. Carl Edwards, 1927, (-262)

7. Greg Biffle, 1913, (-276)

8. Mark Martin, 1868, (-321)

9. Kyle Busch, 1860, (-329)

10. Denny Hamlin, 1849, (42 ahead of 13th)

11. Matt Kenseth, 1848, (41 ahead of 13th)

12. Jeff Burton, 1810, (3 ahead of 13th)

13. David Reutimann, 1807, (-3)

14. Juan Pablo Montoya, 1767, (-43)

15. Kasey Kahne, 1719, (-91)

16. Clint Bowyer, 1710, (-100)

17. Brian Vickers, 1674, (-136)

18. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 1555, (-255)

19. Jamie McMurray, 1548, (-262)

20. Marcos Ambrose, 1539, (-271)

Some Sprint Cup News

Joey Logano and Boris Said will be pulling double duty at the road course as they will run both the Sprint Cup and Camping World West Series events at Infineon Raceway.

After a final appeal, NASCAR decided to reduce Carl Long's suspension from 12 races to only eight but have remained firm on the topic of the $200,000 fine.

Officials from several different Chevrolet teams have confirmed that GM will begin cutting back it's support of Sprint Cup racing. This comes after the announcement that they will no longer provide support to Camping World Truck and Nationwide Series teams.

Chip Ganassi Racing has announced a second entry into the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway on July 4 with NASCAR drivers Kyle Busch and Scott Speed competing in the No. 02 Lexus Riley alongside the No. 01 team of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas.

Remember in your thoughts and prayers the family and friends of NASCAR Mexico driver Carlos Pardo whom lost his life in the closing laps of a race at Autodromo Miguel E. Abed when he made contact with the wall at the entrance of pit road going 120 MPH.

P.J. Jones to Run Infineon For RGM

Mason Dunn — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:31:04 -0400

P.J. Jones, who made his Sprint Cup debut in a six race stint for Harry Melling back in 1993, will attempt to make his first start since Watkins Glen in 2008 when he ran for Hall of Fame Racing this weekend in a second car for Robby Gordon Motorsports.

The No. 4 entry of RGM (owner's No. 204) was added after the initial entry list and much like the No. 7 will be a Jim Beam/Menard's sponsored Toyota. Should rain wash out qualifying Jones will be one of the four teams making the long trip back home along with the No. 02 of Brandon Ash, the No. 27 of Tom Hubert, and the No. 08 of Boris Said.

Jones recorded his career best finish in 2002 with a fourth place at Watkins Glen driving the No. 14 Conseco Pontiac for A.J. Foyt Enterprises. Jones has made numerous starts spread across NASCAR's top three divisions as well as in both Indy Racing League and the former Champ Car Series.

Career Sprint Cup statistics: 10 seasons, 26 starts, one top five, two top 10's, two laps led, Avg. start 33.0, Avg. finish 30.0, 18 DNQ's.

Fantasy NASCAR Report: Infineon Edition

Mason Dunn — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:05:40 -0400

Turning right on purpose for the first time this year as the Cup teams make the long trip cross country to Infineon Speedway out in Sonoma, CA for the Toyota/Save Mart 350. Here are my choices for five guys to consider for your fantasy team this week:

Tony Stewart

Tony has always been a factor on the road courses and has one of the best finishing averages with a 10.0 over his entire NASCAR career at Infineon in 10 races. Stewart in his career at Infineon ran for only one team, Joe Gibbs Racing, but ran in three different manufacturers—Pontiac, Chevrolet, and Toyota.

With two wins on his Infineon record and zero DNF's (worst finish of 28th), Stewart is the model of consistency and is as close to a safe pick as you can have for this weekend's race. Not to mention his impressive record at road courses in general in the Sprint Cup division.

Stewart has 20 road course races on his resume with six total wins, nine top fives, 14 top 10s, and zero DNFs. His career road course average finish is an impressive 7.85 at both Infineon and Watkins Glen

2008 Finish: 10th

Mark Martin

Mark has not run a road course event since his last full season in 2006 and in his last start at Infineon for Roush Racing he ended the day in the 13th position. Mark has 41 road course races on his resume and will be the most experienced driver in the field Sunday.

While four out of Mark's five road course wins came in the 90s at Watkins Glen, he was the winner of the 1997 race at Infineon and brought home his only DNF on his record.

Giving Mark's recent performance and momentum combined with the presence of Alan Gustafson on his pit box, I look for him to have a return to form this weekend at Infineon. In the process he will increase his 2009 Chase stock and solidify his contention for the overall championship.

2006 Finish: 13th

Juan Pablo Montoya

Montoya may have a short career as far as NASCAR is concerned but in the area of road course racing his resume is stout. In four career NASCAR road course races, Montoya has one win (in his debut at Infineon), three top 10s, and only one DNF after a late race accident in his Watkins Glen debut.

Montoya has an average finish of 3.5 at Infineon. With his recent driving improvement and his current bid for a top 12 position, it would be foolish to not consider Montoya a favorite for this weekend's race.

2008 Finish: Sixth

Kyle Busch

Busch enjoyed probably the best burnout the NASCAR world has ever seen last year following his win at Infineon when he literally made his car look like a space shuttle with the amount of smoke he was throwing up from his rear tires.

Kyle swept both the road course events of 2008 in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing and hasn't finished outside of the top 10 in a road course event since June of 2006 at Infineon.

Even with his 33rd and 40th in his first two road course races, Kyle has lowered his average road course finish to its current point of 13.75 after five top 10's in a row. Kyle needs to return to form to keep in Chase contention and this is a good week for him to turn the corner on his season.

2008 Finish: Winner

Underdog: Marcos Ambrose

Ambrose hasn't been in NASCAR long, but if he is known for one thing throughout the world it's road course racing. The veteran of the Bathurst 1000, one of the more famous road course events in the world, he will look to continue his climb up the top 20 in points.

He will look to use the road course events to pull himself back into Chase contention. Marcos does have two NASCAR road course events on his resume from last season, and although a transmission issue took him out of the Infineon race early, he rebounded at Watkins Glen to finish third, driving No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing.

If you need a driver to have better confidence in for your C-list, Ambrose may just be that driver.

2008 Finish: 42nd

Last Week

Michigan was a decent week for my picks with the exception of Allmendinger, who had some issues and was relegated to a 39th place finish.

Cousin Carl benefited from some fuel issues and was able to be the highest finishing blue oval in fourth place and Tony Stewart continued his dream season with a seventh place finish.

Kyle Busch: 13th

Tony Stewart: Seventh

David Ragan: 15th

Carl Edwards: Fourth

AJ Allmendinger: 39th

NASCAR Studs and Duds: LifeLock 400

Mason Dunn — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:33:11 -0400

Studs

Mark Martin

Mark is having the kind of year that in the past would be having him say the word "awesome" more times than any person could count and for good reason. After a lackluster start to the season, Martin and crew chief Alan Gustafson have turned on the jets and currently sit in a Chase position with three season wins, tied for most with Kyle Busch.

Martin was in the right place at the right time on Sunday after Biffle and Johnson drove each other to empty fuel tanks and Martin was able to take the lead for the first time all day entering Turn 3 on the white flag lap.

This puts Mark in a good position, especially if this momentum carries over as the series will return to Michigan and hit two road courses at which Mark has four career wins before the Chase field is set after Richmond.

Michigan finish: Winner

Points: Eighth, 1868, (321 behind Stewart, 61 ahead of 13th)

Denny Hamlin

Hamlin was struggling over the past several weeks, and it seemingly came to a head last week at Pocono when the car literally refused to run for him and relegated him to a 38th-place finish, dropping him to the bottom of the top 12 where he was hanging on by a thread.

Then Hamlin went to Michigan and rediscovered some, if not all of his swagger, and was able to bring his JGR Toyota home in a solid third place, boosting himself up two spots in the standings into 10th just behind his teammate Kyle Busch. Hamlin is still chasing his first win of the year.

Currently, Hamlin has his average start and finish at about where it was at the end of last year but is on pace to have a higher percentage of laps completed, the question is: Will this slight improvement in his stats result in a legit championship challenge?

Michigan finish: Third

Points: 10th, 1849, (340 behind Stewart, 42 ahead of 13th)

David Ragan

Not only did Ragan display obvious improvement in his car control skills and his ability to keep cool when he had the car pointed dead sideways coming off of turn two, he was also able to recover for a 15th place finish.

The day helped Ragan climb up three spots in the standings and will boost Ragan's overall confidence in his 2009 campaign and I look for him to make a strong case for a spot in the top 20 in points over the next few weeks.

If Ragan can get a run started and gain at least 45-50 points on those in the top 12, he may have a chance at stealing one of those Chase spots away, but at this point that still seems to be an outside chance.

Michigan finish: 15th

Points: 28th, 1383, (806 behind Stewart, 427 behind 12th)

Jamie McMurray

It was a good day for Roush Fenway for the most part and McMurray's 11th place finish was a big part of that, especially given his recent lack of performance sparking some, including myself, to think he is the leading candidate to be the cut or moved driver when Roush goes from five teams to four.

But even with those speculations about McMurray still is a serious contender for a spot in this year's Chase as he currently sits in 19th only 262 behind 12th place Burton, which is only about 27 points per race over the next 11 races before the Chase cut-off.

Maybe the talk of losing his job is the fire under the arse McMurray needs to step his game to the next level; only time will tell.

Michigan finish: 11th

Points: 19th, 1548, (641 behind Stewart, 262 behind 12th)

Greg Biffle

Biffle may not have won on Sunday, but he did have a victory in a confidence boosting return to form for both him and his No. 16 3M Ford Fusion. Biffle used fuel strategy to have himself in front with 10 to go trying to stretch two extra laps out of the fuel he had in the tank.

That was when Johnson caught up to Biffle, which in turn caused Biffle to get on the throttle a bit more. In the end, after taking the lead back from Johnson, who ran out taking the white flag, thought he had the win until his motor went silent while sailing down the back stretch.

Unfortunately for Biffle, Martin had gained enough and was in position right after Biffle ran out Martin was able to take over the lead and take the win. Fortunately for Biffle, he was in a position that he was able to coast around to the start-finish line and save a top five finish, something Johnson was unable to do.

Michigan finish: Fifth

Points: Seventh, 1913, (276 behind Stewart, 106 ahead of 13th)

Duds

Matt Kenseth

No one thought that at the end of the day at Michigan that Kenseth would be the driver pulling up the rear for Roush Fenway, and although 20th place doesn't seem like a horrible finish, point-wise for Kenseth it was.

The result of the day was a three-spot drop for Matt from eighth to eleventh only 41 points ahead of 13th place and could now be in legitimate danger of missing the 2009 Chase.

Hopefully, after the nearing arrival of the newest member of the Kenseth clan, Matt will be able to refocus and stay in contention for the 2009 championship.

Michigan finish: 20th

Points: 11th, 1848, (341 behind Stewart, 41 ahead of 13th)

Jimmie Johnson

Johnson was probably the most disappointed driver leaving the track on Sunday after putting himself in position to win, only to be bit once again by an empty fuel tank.

Johnson took the lead from Biffle with seven to go and began to set sail towards his third win of the season only to hear the engine fall silent as the white flag was displayed, leaving him helpless to coast around the two-mile track.

Unlike the fortune Biffle had when he went dry, Johnson dropped from first to 22nd in the time it took him to coast around with an empty gas tank and, although this didn't hurt his position in the points, it does deal a huge blow to his confidence in fuel mileage situations.

Michigan finish: 22nd

Points: Third, 2047, (142 behind Stewart, 240 ahead of 13th)

Jeff Burton

Jeff Burton seemed to take over Harvick's recent role as the RCR driver that went unnoticed all day and remained unnoticed in the final rundown as Burton finished what had to be a disappointing 26th at Michigan.

What is bad about this is Burton's current spot as the torch bearer for RCR and the only RCR team currently in a Chase position is in definite danger now as he sits only three points ahead of 13th-place David Reutimann and 43 ahead of the improving Juan Montoya.

Burton needs to rediscover his rhythm and fast before we have a Chase with no one representing RCR.

Michigan finish: 26th

Points: 12th, 1810, (379 behind Stewart, three ahead of 13th)

David Stremme

Stremme continues his slide down the points and is beginning to dangle dangerously close to the outside of the top 35 in owner points. His day at Michigan was ended early when he slid coming off turn four and was unable to save it before making hard contact with the water barrels at the end of pit road.

With 21 races left in the 2009 season, should results like this continue, Stremme's job at Penske Championship Racing will be in jeopardy next season if sometime this season Penske should decide he wants to go a different direction.

Michigan finish: 38th

Points: 32nd, 1316, (873 behind Stewart)

Martin Truex Jr.

Another week marked another disappointing performance from the No. 1 Earnhardt-Ganassi entry of Martin Truex Jr. while his teammate, Montoya, seems to be getting better as the weeks go on.

Could this be because the team knows something about Truex's future that the public does not, and has directed all effort and attention to Montoya's efforts? Who knows? But in time we may get some clue as to Truex's and the No. 1 team's futures for 2010 and beyond.

Michigan finish: 36th

Points: 22nd, 1502, (687 behind Stewart, 302 behind 12th)

The Racing Family Has Lost Another Brother

Mason Dunn — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:28:56 -0400

Following a very hard crash in the closing laps of Sunday's NASCAR Mexico Series race at Autodromo Miguel E. Abed, former series champion Carlos Pardo was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The race, which was concluded due to time limit constraints, was reverted back to the last completed lap and Pardo was declared the event winner.

"Carlos Pardo was a tremendous competitor and person," said Chad Little, Director of Racing Development, NASCAR Mexico. "On behalf of everybody in the NASCAR family, our thoughts and prayers go out to Carlos' family and friends."

Pardo had competed in 74 NASCAR Mexico Series events with a record of 10 wins and eight poles and claimed the 2004 series championship. His career also includes six Camping World East Series starts and the 2006 Nationwide Series race at Mexico City.

Ruben Pardo, Carlos' brother, also is a competitor in the Mexico series and has competed in Camping World East and Nationwide Series events as well.

The thoughts and prayers of the entire NASCAR community go out to Carlos Pardo's family and friends in this time of grieving.

Ganassi to Sign Danica Patrick?

Mason Dunn — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:02:54 -0400

I know what you're thinking, "Patrick in a Earnhardt Ganassi Chevy, does this mean Truex is definitely leaving?" Well not exactly.

Rumors are floating that Chip Ganassi is working on a deal that would not only keep open wheel's biggest name and face away from stock car racing, but continue her advancement in the Indy Racing League ranks.

While Ganassi hasn't returned any phone calls about the possibility of signing Patrick for a third car on the 2010 Target team, alongside Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti, Mike Hull, managing director of Target/Ganassi acknowledged the possibility.

"We've always entertained having a third driver if we could get the comparable funding that Target provides us," said Hull, "If Danica has something and wants to talk to us that would be great because I think she's ready to take that next step. But I can tell you we haven't spoken to her."

Patrick's current deal, a three-year contract with Andretti-Green Racing worth $21 million thanks to sponsor Motorola, expires at the end of this season. And while this rumored deal is for IRL if she were to sign with Ganassi and truly want to step into the stock car world, she could work on Ganassi for a shot at one of the EGR rides.

This Week in NASCAR's Top Three: June 10th, 2009

Mason Dunn — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:50:40 -0400

A quick overview of notes from last week's races, a look into this week's races, and the current news of all three of NASCAR's premier divisions.

Camping World Truck Series

Last week

Todd Bodine took his Copart.com Germain Racing Toyota back to Victory Lane for the second time this season and the 17th of his CWTS career after a late race gamble on fuel paid off.

Estimated attendance: 49,000

There were five lead changes amongst five drivers.

The race was only slowed twice by the caution flag for a total of 10 laps.

Laps Reason Lucky Dog

42-46 #16 accident T2 #10 James Buescher

123-127 Debris #24 David Starr

If you like long green flag runs then this was the race for you as they had three total green flag runs of 41, 77 and 39 laps respectively.

Race No. 9 of 25(Michigan 200)

2008 winner: Erik Darnell

2008 pole: Mike Skinner

According to the entry list that was released today(June 11), there are 34 teams making the trip north, ergo no teams will be sent home after qualifying. Some notes from that list:

No. 4 J.R. Fitzpatrick is back with new sponsor Auto Owners Insurance

No. 15 Brian Ickler is back in the BBM Samsung Instinct Toyota

No. 33 Ron Hornaday will have a new sponsor on board, Turtle Wax

No. 84 Chris Fontaine returns to the BDH Construction Chevy

Teams will take the track Friday from 10:15-11:25 a.m. and 1:30-3:00 p.m. for practice and then qualify Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. before taking the green flag for 100 laps(200 miles) at 2:00 PM. SPEED will have coverage beginning at 1:30 p.m.

Raybestos Rookie Report

After not only becoming the second rookie to capture the pole for TMS' spring event, Johnny Sauter led 42 laps en route to a sixth race finish and another rookie of the race award.

Malsam, second in rookie points, finished ninth and fell from being tied with Sauter to being four points behind Sauter in the current rundown(87-83)

1. Johnny Sauter 87

2. Tayler Malsam 83

3. James Buescher 73

4. Ricky Carmichael 54

5. J.R. Fitzpatrick 52

Driver Point Standings

After finishing second while Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday finished 10th and 19th respectively Matt Crafton has taken over the current driver standings with 17 races to go in the season.

1. Matt Crafton, 1202

2. Ron Hornaday Jr., 1172, (-30)

3. Mike Skinner, 1163, (-39)

4. Todd Bodine, 1136, (-66)

5. Brian Scott, 1067, (-135)

6. David Starr, 1049, (-153)

7. Johnny Benson Jr., 1047, (-155)

8. Chad McCumbee, 1040, (-162)

9. Terry Cook, 1023, (-179)

10. Rick Crawford, 1013, (-189)

Some CWTS News

Bad news-good news situation as it was announced that Red Horse Racing was closing the doors on the No. 1 CWTS team of driver Johnny Benson, currently seventh in the driver points.

While it's unfortunate to see the 2008 champion ride-less, there's good news for fans of Timothy Peters: Peters and his sponsor Strutmasters.com have joined Red Horse Racing for the rest of the season.

Andy Ponstein and the Corrie Stott Racing No. 02 will have Potencia Energy Drink back as a sponsr this weekend at Michigan International Speedway.

The No. 02 also announced that 19-year-old Dillon Oliver will make his second CWTS start next week at Milwaukee.

Kyle Busch will be making start number two of four on the weekend in the Michigan 200 after a day of rest from the Rowdy Busch 125 at Berlin Speedway.

The Wednesday night event was won by Brian Campbell, Busch finished fifth.

It was announced today that AAA Insurance has been named the title sponsor of the upcoming CWTS race at O'Reilly Raceway Park. The length of the current contract is two years.

Sun Studio and Memphis Motorsports Park have announced that starting this summer with the MemphisTravel.com 200 presented by O'Reilly Auto Parts on Saturday, June 27, the race's pole winner will receive a sleek, black Sun Studio acoustic guitar. The guitar will be awarded in two ceremonies on race day, at the NASCAR hauler after qualifying and on stage during driver introductions.

Nationwide Series

Last Week

Kyle Busch won last week but you already knew that due to all the attention given to his post-race celebration. That's as far as I'm going on that in this article.

Estimated attendance: 30,000

The race saw the lead change hands 12 times amongst eight drivers.

The cars were slowed four times by the caution flag for 24 laps. The red flag was also displayed for 13 minutes during the final caution.

Laps Reason Lucky Dog

5-12 4 car accident T4 #96 Willie Allen

25-27 #15 accident frontstretch None

114-120 #26 accident T2 #47 Michael McDowell

126-131 5 car accident T4 #6 Erik Darnell

The race had two really good long green flag runs with the first going 87 laps and the final run going for 94 laps.

Race No. 14 of 25(Meijer 300)

2008 winner: Joey Logano

2008 pole: Joey Logano

According to the latest entry list 48 teams will be making the trip out to Kentucky meaning that five teams will have to make the disappointing trip home Saturday night after qualifying. Here are some notable entries:

No. 19 J C Stout returns to the series for his second start

No. 31 Travis Kittleson is back in the Rick Ware entry

No. 33 Kelly Bires takes the wheel of the Copart KHI entry this week

No. 72 Benny Gordon was a late entry to the race

No. 81 will be piloted by Bobby Hamliton Jr.

No. 91 Jeff Green is in for MSRP Motorsports

Teams will take the track for two and a half hours of total practice Friday afternoon from 5 to 8 p.m. before qualifying a day later at 5:10 PM for the 200 lap race scheduled to go green at 8:30 PM. Television coverage will begin at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

Go-or-Go Home

Eighteen drivers will compete with each other for the 13 open spots during Saturday evening's qualifying session.

Those teams are:

No. 0 Mark Green, No. 05 Casey Atwood, No. 09 John Wes Townley, No. 19 J C Stout, No. 31 Travis Kittleson, No. 40 Scott Wimmer, No. 41 Stanton Barrett, No. 42 Kenny Hendrick, No. 49 Kertus Davis, No. 52 Kevin Lepage, No. 58 Chris Horn, No. 70 Shelby Howard, No. 72 Benny Gordon, No. 73 Derrike Cope, No. 89 Morgan Sheperd, No. 90 Johnny Chapman, No. 91 Jeff Green, No. 96 Dennis Setzer

Raybestos Rookie Report

Justin Allgaier was able to take sole possession of the rookie points lead after finishing 13th while now second place Brendan Gaughan finished 24th. Allgaier, however, was not the rookie of the race as that distinction went to eighth place finisher Michael McDowell.

1. Justin Allgaier, 132

2. Brendan Gaughan, 131, (-1)

3. Michael McDowell, 127, (-5)

4. Scott Lagasse Jr., 117, (-15)

5. Michael Annett, 94, (-38)

Driver Point Standings

After taking home the victory Kyle Busch added a few points to his lead over second place Carl Edwards who finished third. Nationwide regulars Leffler and Keselowski are still in contention for this championship after finishing fifth and second respectively.

1. Kyle Busch, 2031

2. Carl Edwards, 1966, (-65)

3. Jason Leffler, 1843, (-188)

4. Brad Keselowski, 1838, (-193)

5. Joey Logano, 1670, (-361)

6. Mike Bliss, 1520, (-511)

7. Jason Keller, 1519, (-512)

8. Justin Allgaier, 1468, (-563)

9. Michael McDowell, 1465, (-566)

10. Brendan Gaughan, 1455, (-576)

In the adjusted Nationwide-only standings Leffler takes over the lead and two Wallaces and a Lagasse join the top 10.

1. Jason Leffler, 1843

2. Brad Keselowski, 1838, (-5)

3. Mike Bliss, 1520, (-323)

4. Jason Keller, 1519, (-324)

5. Justin Allgaier, 1468, (-375)

6. Michael McDowell, 1465, (-378)

7. Brendan Gaughan, 1455, (-388)

8. Steve Wallace, 1422, (-421)

9. Scott Lagasse Jr., 1374, (-469)

10. Kenny Wallace, 1322, (-521)

Some Nationwide Series News

Richard Petty Motorsports recently announced a partnership with Nationwide series team Braun Racing for five races this season. Kasey Kahne will run four events starting with the July 3 race at Daytona. Elliott Sadler will run in the July 27 race at New Hampshire.

Kenny Wallace is putting his fans first in a unique way. Wallace will be driving a car for the August 30th race at Montreal with sponsorship from his best friends, his fans. For $20 per name, fans can have their name on the #28 Chevy for the road course event at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The car will carry a special scheme designed by Wallace himself. Each "sponsor" will receive an autographed picture of the car after the race. Fans have until July 31st to sign up at kennywallace.com/sponsorkenny.

Westerman Companies which has been a long-time sponsor of Key Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will make their first-ever appearance as primary sponsor of a Nationwide Series car with Key Motorsports and the No. 40 of Scott Wimmer.

Sun Drop has added to their sponsorship of the No. 01 of JD Motorsports and will be on Danny O'Quinn Jr.'s entry at Kentucky. It will be the third race in four weeks Sun Drop has been the primary sponsor of the 01.

Kyle Busch will be having his Kyle Busch Foundation joining NOS Energy Drink aboard his No. 18 entry for the Kentucky Nationwide race.

Sprint Cup Series

Last Week

It was arguably the one of the most exciting race of the season for numerous reasons.

First, it was our first look at double-file restarts and the new lucky dog policies. Unfortunately, there were not many cautions in the race.

Also, we saw a fuel mileage gamble race that came down to the very end and wound up with Tony Stewart claiming the first win for an owner/driver in almost 11 years.

There were 22 lead changes among 12 different drivers.

The race was slowed 5 times by caution for 20 laps.

Laps Reason Lucky Dog

3-4 #11 stopped None

14-16 #11 stopped None

105-108 Debris #96 Bobby Labonte

114-117 Debris #19 Elliott Sadler

159-165 Debris/slight rain #55 Michael Waltrip

The longest green flag run of the race was 99 laps between the second and third caution flags.

Race No. 15 of 36(Lifelock 400)

2008 winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

2008 pole: Kyle Busch(was set by points)

There are 44 entries on this weekend's entry list meaning only one team will be forced to sit out. If qualifying is once again rained out it will be the No. 13 of Max Papis going home. Some notes from the entry list:

No. 13 Max Papis returns after taking last weekend off

No. 21 Bill Elliott will return with the Wood Bros.

No. 36 Patrick Carpentier gets his second turn in the Tommy Baldwin entry

Cup teams will have one practice session Friday from 11:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. before qualifying live on SPEED at 3:00 p.m. There will then be two practice sessions Saturday from 11:00 - 11:45 a.m. and 12:20 - 1:20 p.m. before the green flag drops Sunday at approx. 2:16 p.m.

Fight for the Top 35

Last week Scott Speed chipped nine more points off John Andretti's lead for the 35th and final locked-in position and brought the margin down to 41 points. Speed only has to beat one driver this weekend to get himself into the race.

Raybestos Rookie Report

Joey Logano took home his 11th rookie of the race honor by virtue of his 23rd place finish last week at Pocono. Scott Speed finished 32nd and fellow rookie Dexter Bean ended his Cup debut with a 36th place finish, four laps down to the leader. Logano now has a 17 point advantage over Speed in the Rookie of the Year rundown.

Driver Point Standings

After winning his first points paying race of the season, Stewart adds a bit to his current lead and locks in 10 bonus points for the Chase. Mark Martin currently sits one point behind 12th place Hamlin for the last Chase qualifying position.

1. Tony Stewart, 2043

2. Jeff Gordon, 1972, (-71)

3. Jimmie Johnson, 1940, (-103)

4. Ryan Newman, 1840, (-203)

5. Kurt Busch, 1819, (-224)

6. Carl Edwards, 1762, (-281)

7. Greg Biffle, 1753, (-290)

8. Matt Kenseth, 1745, (-298)

9. Kyle Busch, 1731, (-312)

10. Jeff Burton, 1725, (47 ahead of 13th)

11. David Reutimann, 1701, (23 ahead of 13th)

12. Denny Hamlin, 1679, (1 ahead of 13th)

13. Mark Martin, 1678, (-1)

14. Kasey Kahne, 1619, (-59)

15. Juan Pablo Montoya, 1617, (-61)

16. Clint Bowyer, 1576, (-103)

17. Brian Vickers, 1536, (-143)

18. Marcos Ambrose, 1469, (-210)

19. Martin Truex Jr., 1447, (-232)

20. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 1434, (-245)

Some Sprint Cup News

Drivers Logano, Reutimann, Ragan, and Papis completed a two-day test session at Infineon Raceway in preparation for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Wednesday at the 10-turn, 1.99-mile road course. The drivers took laps in late-model stock cars that were supplied by Pioneer Motorsports out of Northern California. Logano and Boris Said will also compete in the Camping World West Series Race at Infineon as well as the Cup race.

Speaking of Said, he will be making his first Cup start of the 2009 season in the EM Motorsports No. 08 Ford owned by Georgia businessman John Carter.

Brian Vickers and Red Bull Racing have agreed to a multiyear contract to keep Vickers in the #83 Toyota, sources confirmed Wednesday.

While terms of the deal have not been disclosed an official announcement is expected later this week.

Michael Waltrip Racing announced that they will place Patrick Carpentier in the No. 55 NAPA Toyota for the road course races at Infineon and Watkins Glen as a substitute for owner/driver Michael Waltrip.

Kasey Kahne was one of many drivers turning laps on Monday at Bristol Motor Speedway in prepareation for the August debut of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at the half-mile short track. Kahne took laps in the #96 Troyer house car and was eighth fastest on the charts with a speed of 15.371.

Talk is that Kahne will drive the car in the race in August.

Sad news as Richard Petty Motorsports has laid off nine of their employees and reduced salaries throughout the organization as a result of Chrysler's bankruptcy filing. Team co-owner Richard Petty has stated that the bankruptcy slowed the money flow from the Dodge organization over the past few weeks.

NASCAR Drivers Feeling the Heat, Take Two

Mason Dunn — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:19:31 -0400

As we sit 14 races into the 2009 Sprint Cup season and rumors begin to swirl around the Cup garage about who will be where with what sponsor in 2010 I wanted to take a look at some drivers who may be feeling the Silly Season pressure for various reasons. Now in no way am I saying these drivers should be fired, I think they all deserver to finish the season and make a case to either keep their ride or earn a ride somewhere else should they lose their current rides.

Begin Slideshow

Fantasy NASCAR Report: Michigan Edition

Mason Dunn — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:31:36 -0400

Welcome back for another week of my predictions for NASCAR's premier division as the boys make the trip up to Michigan for the Lifelock 400, race 15 of the 36 race schedule.

Carl Edwards

My choice of photo for this article is a dead giveaway for my first pick this week and given his recent history at this track combined with recent performances including his impressive runner-up finish last week at Pocono.

In the last four races at MIS Carl has brought in two wins and four top tens making for an average finish of fourth. In the last four races, Carl led a combined 168 of the 806 total laps. Edwards has a very impressive average finish of 3.75 in his four career June appearances in the Lifelock 400.

Given his recent history at Michigan in June, starting position should have no real effect on his overall performance as even when he qualified 31st (his personal worst at Michigan) he still was able to bring the car home in second place.

Looking at his recent performances combined with his stellar history at MIS there should be nearly no doubt that Edwards will be a factor on Sunday and will bring home a solid performance for any fantasy team.

2008 finish: Seventh

David Ragan

Ragan has only competed in four career races at MIS but those have all been solid performances and given the recent turn around that has begun over at Roush Fenway I wouldn't be surprised to see Ragan continue his impressive streak.

If his trend of improving his finish each time he appears at the track (21st, 18th, eighth, and third) continues then the chances of Ragan bringing home his first career Cup win in Ford's backyard are believable odds.

One thing that will be important for Ragan is his starting position as the last two races when he finished inside the top 10 he was also able to qualify the car inside the top 20. Ragan has also lead nine laps in the last two races.

2008 finish: Third

Tony Stewart

Why the heck not? Tony is arguably the hottest driver in NASCAR competition right now especially after bringing home the first win for an owner/driver in a points race since Ricky Rudd did the same thing at Martinsville in September of 1998.

The last time Stewart was in this kind of form was in 2005 when he won he second Cup title and in that year he finished second in the June Michigan race followed by back-to-back wins at Sonoma and Daytona.

In his career in June races at Michigan Stewart has only two DNF's(wreck in 2006 and ran out of gas in 1999) which are part of the reason why his career average in June is a 13.4.

Smoke loved the return to Victory Lane and now that he has gotten the taste for those Chase bonus points the thirst for more just has to be quenched especially since if the Chase started today Tony would fall from first to tied for fourth with Gordon, Ku. Busch and Reutimann.

2008 finish: Fifth

Kyle Busch

Well Mr. Busch sure has had a tumultuous few weeks culminating in that guitar incident last week in victory lane at Nashville and including some sub-par performances at Pocono and Dover (22nd and 23rd respectively).

Those tides will turn this weekend at Michigan as Kyle begins to dangle closer and closer to the outside looking in group of the Chase. Kyle's three wins would currently put him first in the Chase but Kyle knows he must first make it there and the pressure of only being 53 points ahead of 13th with 12 races to go until the cut-off will result in raceday results.

He has only one DNF on his record at MIS and has an average finish of 10.5 in his four career June races, unfortunately none of those in the top five(best being a sixth place finish). Kyle has never won a Cup race at Michigan and that is a stat he wants to change.

Kyle may be pulling quadruple duty this weekend but I can't see fatigue being a factor come Sunday as I predict an early exit for Kyle from either the CWTS or Nationwide race giving him extra time to recover.

2008 finish: 13th

Underdog: A.J. Allmendinger

A.J. has my vote for the most improved driver over the course of the first half of the 2009 season and was nearing another impressive top 10 finish last week at Pocono before he fell victim to his gas tank.

While he only has three career starts at MIS with an average finish of 26th those starts were with his former team over at Red Bull Racing. Allmendinger seems more at home over at Richard Petty Motorsports and in the seat of the No. 44 Dodge and I look for him to improve that stat or at least be the best of the "underdog" drivers.

2008 finish: 19th

Last Week

Well due to a bit of my own ignorance, smacked myself hard for this one, I picked a driver for my underdog pick that wasn't even on the entry list. So good one on my part.

Other than that I was able to pick the winner, Mr. Stewart, but saw my other picks (Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin, and Martin) have different issues relegating them to sub-par performances.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.-27th

Denny Hamlin-38th

Mark Martin-19th

Max Papis-DNS

Tony Stewart-Winner

Pocono 500 Studs and Duds

Mason Dunn — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:18:32 -0400

Here is a look at the people who left Pocono smelling like roses and the guys who left wondering what the heck happened to their weekends.

Studs

Tony Stewart

From first to worst back to first all over the course of one weekend. The weekend started with rain all day Friday placing Stewart on the pole based on owner points but that didn't last past Saturday as Stewart was forced to a backup car after a wreck in practice and had to start shotgun on the field.

But even after all that and all the travelling to and from Eldora for rain and racing in the Dream, Stewart and his crew chief Darian Grubb found a way to get the absolute most out of their gas and bring home the first ever points win for Stewart Haas Racing and be the first owner/driver to win a points race since Ricky Rudd.

Not to mention the extra points over the rest of the field, a bit of extra security on his Chase qualification chances and the 10 point bonus coming his way after Richmond.

Pocono finish: Winner

Points: Leader, 2043

Marcos Ambrose

Pocono seemed to many like the kind of track that the former road racing specialist Marcos Ambrose would have a great chance of being successful on and those people were right. Ambrose started mid pack and through the course of the day combined with some help from the gas situation brought his car home just outside of the top five in sixth place.

With this finish, gaining points on the top 12, Ambrose has become a legitimate contender for a Chase spot after the quickly approaching September race at Richmond where the Chase field will be set.

Ambrose currently sits only 210 points out of the Chase behind current 12th place Denny Hamlin. With 12 races left before the cut-off Ambrose needs to gain just 17 points per race over each of his contenders to climb from 18th into the top 12.

Pocono finish: Sixth

Points: 18th, 1469, (574 behind Stewart, 210 behind 12th place Hamlin)

David Reutimann

This has been a great weekend all around for Michael Waltrip Racing and it came to a head with Reutimann's impressive third-place performance at the tricky triangle in Pennsylvania.

With that third place finish "The Franchise" climbed himself back into the top 12 in points with a 23 point advantage over 13th place Mark Martin and 342 points behind Tony Stewart, a margin that should he make the Chase will completely disappear due to Stewart and Reutimann both having one win.

Combine the recent performances this "young" driver has been producing with the recent positive P/R he has received for spearheading the pro-Carl Long cause by donating $5,000 to help Long and his crew cheif pay they're $200,000 fine and Reutimann has got some great job security.

Pocono finish: Third

Points: 11th, 1701, (342 behind Stewart, 23 ahead of 13th place Martin)

Carl Edwards

Edwards is getting closer and closer to getting his first win of 2009 and Roush Fenway's first win since Kenseth took home back-to-back wins to start off the season. The thing that has to be reaffirming to Edwards from today's race was even after recent issues with teammate Greg Biffle not only did the two of them run and work well together but they also did the same with teammate Matt Kenseth.

Performances like this combined with Edwards public image and marketability is pretty much a guarantee that he will not be the driver leaving Roush Fenway when NASCAR imposes the four team rule forcing Roush to put the axe on one of his teams.

Carl gained some ground on 13th place Mark Martin putting him 84 points ahead and while that is by no means a safe distance for Edwards anytime you can pad the difference is a confidence builder at the end of the day.

Pocono finish: Second

Points: Sixth, 1762, (281 behind Stewart, 84 ahead of Martin)

NASCAR

Sure we didn't get a whole lot of chances to get a good look at the new double-file restart policy but what we did see was great. It did produce more two-wide and even some three-wide racing making those restart laps more exciting for the fans.

Also the new wave-around policy was interesting to see as the field took the green seeing numerous teams dive down pit road because they couldn't pit under caution in order to get a lap back. This policy will help teams more and keep more teams on the lead lap in races with more cautions but didn't help too much today due to the lack of cautions.

NASCAR definitely chose the right weekend to implement this policy but it will not encounter a real test until the series visits a track like Richmond, Bristol or Martinsville.

Duds

Denny Hamlin

If it wasn't for bad luck then Hamlin and his No. 11 FedEx Toyota wouldn't have any luck during this middle stretch of the 2009 Sprint Cup season. Hamlin, who is attempting to make the Chase for the fourth consecutive time since entering full-time competition in 2006, has fallen to 12th place in the current standings only one point ahead of 13th place Martin.

Twice at the beginning of the race Hamlin lost power and came to a stop on the race track prompting NASCAR to show the caution and it seemed like his day was doomed to a 43rd place finish.

Luckily for him even though he said "I'm done" to his team over the radio they did not agree and were able to get him back on the track and pick up five spots to finish 38th and remain in the top 12.

Pocono finish: 38th

Points: 12th, 1679 (364 behind Stewart, 1 ahead of Martin)

Mark Martin

Mark had a strong car all day long and was present in the top 10 for most if not the entire day but as a part of the late race fuel drama Martin had to stop and fell to the bottom of the top 20 finishing a disappointing 19th place and finding himself on the outside looking in on the Chase.

Sure it is only one point but guys like Martin will tell you it is much easier to defend points then it is to try to gain them and with the performances at Pocono Kasey Kahne and Juan Montoya are not far behind Martin giving more competition for a spot in the Chase.

Pocono finish: 19th

Points: 13th, 1678 (365 behind Stewart, 1 behind Hamlin)

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

After last week's change atop the pit box and a rather impressive 12th place finish at Dover many, including myself, thought that maybe some things would turn around for Junior and he would at least string together some top 10 finishes over the next couple of weeks.

Well Junior may have proved those thoughts wrong and have more critics saying that maybe the problem wasn't Eury Jr. when he was seemingly absent from the TNT broadcast most of the day and wound up outside the top 20 in the 27th position as the smoke cleared at Pocono.

Junior sit 20th in points and the Chase seems like an unattainable goal at this point with a 245 point deficit between him and Hamlin and 12 races to recover an average of 20 points a race. While that doesn't seem like a huge margin he is fighting against eight other drivers trying to fight their way into the top 12 the telling stat is that he only beat two people ahead of him in points, Kurt Busch(37th) and Denny Hamlin(38th).

Pocono finish: 27th

Points: 20th, 1434 (611 behind Stewart, 261 behind Hamlin)

David Stremme

Another dismal performance from the No. 12 team has definitely made Stremme a part of the background noise at Penske Championship Racing and has put his job there in danger. With one teammate(Kurt Busch) sitting 5th in the standings and another(Sam Hornish Jr.) making gains every week including a top 10 finish today, Stremme is the dead weight and don't think Penske doesn't notice.

With rookie talent Justin Allgaier showing great potential in the Nationwide series don't be surprised if he becomes the driver of the No. 12 either before this season ends or in 2010 unless Stremme shows some immediate improvement in his performances. If Stremme is lucky he will swap rides with Allgaier so at least he is still in a car in 2010.

The one plus Stremme has is the fact that he currently has the No. 12 in the top 35 with a 271 point advantage over the 35th place No. 34 team and a 312 point advantage over the No. 82 team. But he did lose six points to the 82 this week and should the 34 and 82 turn on the jets and Stremme continue to falter don't be surprised to see Stremme qualifying with the go-or-go homers before season end.

Pocono finish: 34th

Points: 30th, 1267 (776 behind Stewart)

John Andretti

Andretti had another chance to not only gain some points on the cars ahead of him in the owner's points but to put some more points between himself and the No. 82 of Scott Speed but after struggling to finish 35th two laps down to the leader that didn't happen.

Speed finished three spots ahead of Andretti gaining nine points and pulling back to within 41 points of Andretti and Andretti's status as a locked-in competitor. The last thing Andretti needs right now is to fall into the go-or-go home group and have to spend over 50 percent of the available practice time on a qualifying set and then stress over making the race.

Hopefully Andretti can capitalize on Speed's unfamiliarity with some upcoming tracks like New Hampshire and Chicagoland to get a more comfortable separation between himself and that Red Bull No. 82.

Pocono finish: 35th

Points: 36th, 862 (1181 behind Stewart)

Fantasy NASCAR Report: Pocono Edition

Mason Dunn — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:51:51 -0400

Here are five drivers to watch in this Sunday's Pocono 500 from the long and very difficult tri-oval in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

Mark Martin

Mark has more experience at Pocono than most of the drivers in this weekend's event have wins. Martin has competed in 44 races over his career at Pocono, and in that span has only seen five DNF's, placed on his record, as well as three poles including one in the June race in 1991.

Martin is a shining example of patience and it is going to take a lot of patience to have a car that at the end of a long 500 mile day can be a competitor to take home the trophy. Not to mention he has Hendrick equipment underneath him and four top 10s in his four race Pocono career driving a Chevy.

Denny Hamlin

Hamlin may be seventh in points only a on-track position from surpassing his JGR teammate Kyle Busch in the standings but that doesn't mean that Hamlin is one bit satisfied with his currently win-less season.

Hamlin swept the Pocono races in his rookie season and I expect him to bring back the type of performance that he exhibited in his first win in which he won the pole, spun early and came back to win the race with a crumpled left-rear fender.

Sure he won those races in the old car but he still has Mike Ford on top of his pit box and Ford will make sure this weekend's car is as competitive as the car that won two races was.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Really conflicted on this pick, but I'm going to go on a limb with Junior and here is why. Obviously there is a lot of pressure on Junior with the crew chief change and still being the only driver in the HMS stable without a win this season and I believe that pressure will be the extra motivation he needs to bring home a solid top five or top 10 finish on Sunday.

Junior knows last week was just that, last week. Should he slump back into his old performances before the change then more people will start to say that it was never Eury and that the reason for the poor performance was him and that is the last thing Junior wants.

Look for Junior to treat this weekend as a new beginning with a new crew chief at a track that anything can happen at and truly anyone can win.

Tony Stewart

What a confidence booster last week must of been for Tony and the entire team over at Stewart Haas Racing. After being in a position to challenge for the win and finishing second thus taking over the points lead and being the first owner/driver to do so for over 500 races look for him to take down another point on his checklist.

Smoke already has a "win" in the non-points All-Star event but after numerous runner-up finishes you know the competitor inside of Stewart is not one bit of happy with silver. Stewart will look to this weekend to put that check mark next to win as an owner and get some bonus points for the Chase.

Underdog: Max Papis

One thing that Pocono is a lot like is a road course, and Papis is a very skilled road course driver. With three turns that are very different, I look for Papis to take advantage of his skills and not only make the race, but to bring home a top 20 finish.

For you Yahoo users this guy would be a great choice for one of your two C-List drivers for this week alongside of Joey Logano. If Papis makes the race give heavy consideration to running him. I look for him to bring home a solid finish plus it will save starts on some of your better C-List drivers like Logano, Allmendinger and Labonte.

Last Week-Dover

Were it not for a splitter problem causing the sensation of a vibration for Kyle Busch, I feel he would of been a fourth driver fighting for the win there at the finish. But like any race, anything can happen, and it did for Busch.

Carl carried the banner for my picks bringing home my only top 10 with a seventh place finish.

Carl Edwards-Seventh

Jeff Burton-16th

Martin Truex Jr.-21st

Kyle Busch-23rd

Mike Skinner-41st

This Week in NASCAR's Top Three: June 4, 2009

Mason Dunn — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:58:15 -0400

News and notes for NASCAR's top three series after a tough weekend at the Monster Mile in the first state of Delaware.

Obviously the main piece of news out of NASCAR this week is the inception of double-file restarts starting this weekend with the Sprint Cup race from Pocono. For more information see here.

Camping World Truck Series

Last Week

First off, a congratulations to first-time winner Brian Scott. A late race gamble on tires paid off for the young driver, as he became the fourth different driver to score his first CWTS win at Dover, and the 10th different Dover winner in as many races.

Scott also became the series' youngest first time winner with the win coming only 18 days past his 20th birthday, eclipsing the mark Kyle Busch set in 2005.

Other drivers to notch their first CWTS win at Dover are: Scott Speed (2008), Chad Chaffin, and Jason Leffler

Now, a look back at some facts from last week's race at Dover.

Estimated attendance: 28,000

There were 12 lead changes amongst nine drivers.

The race was slowed by a total of 10 cautions for 49 laps of the 200 total.

Caution    Laps       Reason                                        Lucky Dog

1             3-5        No. 4 accident, backstretch           None

2             8-11      Debris                                           No. 48-Wayne Edwards

3             17-20     No. 11 accident, backstretch        No. 57-Norm Benning

4             35-39     No. 33 accident, Turn One            No. 00-Tim Bainey Jr.

5             47-51     Competition                                 No. 11-TJ Bell

6             78-85     Debris                                      No. 9-Max Papis

7           102-106   No. 10 accident, Turn Four           No. 81-Tayler Malsam

8           134-139   Debris                                          No. 81-Tayler Malsam

9           144-146   Debris                                          No. 1-Johnny Benson

10         185-190   No. 51 accident Turn Two             No. 00-Tim Bainey Jr.

The race saw a longest green flag run of 39 laps on the next to last green flag run of the day before the 10th caution was displayed.

Race No. 8 of 25(WinStar World Casino 400)

2008 Winner: Ron Hornaday Jr.

2008 Pole: Justin Marks

There are currently only 33 trucks on the entry list for the WinStar World Casino 400 race this Friday at the Texas Motor Speedway. Some notable entries include:

No. 4-Ricky Carmichael makes his first start since late April in the KHI Monster Energy Chevy

No. 15-Aric Almirola will drive the BBM Samsung Instinct Toyota

No. 21-Marc Mitchell will drive the GunBroker Racing Dodge

No. 51-Brian Ickler will sub for Kyle Busch in the Miccosukee Resort/Samsung Instinct Toyota

No. 73-JJ Yeley returns in the County Building Centers/Circle M Inspection Chevy

No. 75-Ryan Mathews will drive the Ray Hackett Racing Ford

No. 89-Nick Tucker in the Blue Ox Chevy was added to the final list

Don't let the race name confuse you this race will be 167 laps or roughly 250.5 miles in total scheduled distance.

Teams will have two practice sessions on Thursday to prepare for this weekends race from 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM and 12:45 PM - 2:00 PM before qualifying later in the day at 6:00 PM. The green flag is scheduled to drop at 8:00 PM(9:00 PM Eastern).

SPEED's coverage will begin with the prerace show at 8:30 PM and the race at 9:00 PM(both times Eastern).

Go Or Go Home

As of this moment due to the entry list being three cars short of a full 36 truck field there will be no teams going home after Thursday qualifying. But in case that should change here are the current teams that will need to qualify on time.

No. 8-Dennis Setzer TBA Chevy Owner-Dave Malcolmson

No. 12-Mario Gosselin James Carter, Attorney Chevy Owner-Michelle Gosselin

NO. 72-John Jackson TBA Chevy Owner-James Carter

No. 73-JJ Yeley County Building Centers/Circle M Inspectors Chevy Owner-Ron Crosby

No. 75-Ryan Mathews JandRSupply.com Ford Owner-Ray Hackett

No. 76-Ryan Hackett JandRSupply.com Ford Owner-Ray Hackett

Raybestos Rookie Report

Heading into Texas Tayler Malsam and Johnny Sauter find themselves tied for the points lead with 71 points. Six points back in third is James Buescher with KHI teammates J.R. Fitzpatrick in fourth with 52 and Ricky Carmichael in fifth with 45.

The top three have been in all seven races while Fitzpatrick and Carmichael have only competed in five of the scheduled seven. Carmichael will be getting the start this week in the No. 4 Chevy.

Last week Johnny Sauter used a fifth place finish to take home the Rookie of the Race award and gain two points on Tayler Malsam as he would finish 12th behind fellow rookie Fitzpatrick.

Driver Point Standings

Ron Hornaday continues to lead the overall point standings with 1056 despite running into some road bumps at Dover. The win on Saturday vaulted Brian Scott up to fifth in points. Also look for everyone fifth on back to at least tenth to gain a spot as current fourth place Kyle Busch will be absent from the No. 51 Toyota this weekend.

Heres a quick look at the current top ten in points.

1. Ron Hornaday Jr., 1056

2. Mike Skinner, 1029 (-27)

3. Matt Crafton, 1027 (-29)

4. Kyle Busch, 1000 (-56)

5. Brian Scott, 949 (-107)

6. Todd Bodine, 946 (-110)

7. Terry Cook, 920 (-136)

8. Chad McCumbee, 916 (-140)

9. David Starr, 903 (-153)

10. Johnny Benson, 887 (-169)

Some CWTS News

The upcoming CWTS race at Memphis Motorsports Park has recently gained a new identity after being without a sponsor for much of the year. The inaugural MemphisTravel.com 200 presented by O'Reilly Auto Parts will take place on June 27th at the .750 mile track in the heart of Tennessee.

Good news for fans of Virginia native Timothy Peters as Strutmasters.com has announced that they will continue their support of the driver and the Premier Racing No. 17 Toyota for the rest of 2009.

Nationwide Series

Last Week

Congrats go out to Brad Keselowski who was able to rebound from the devastation of his first ever Sprint Cup DNQ and bring home the win in the Helluva Good! 200 Saturday afternoon at Dover.

Now for a look back at last week's race from Dover.

Estimated attendance-35,000

There were only seven lead changes amongst five drivers.

Only one car failed to qualify and that was the No. 31 of Rick Ware Racing driven by fourth generation driver Jeffery Earnhardt.

The race was slowed by nine cautions for 50 laps, one-fourth of the 200 lap distance.

Caution Laps Reason Lucky Dog

1 3-7 No. 77 accident, Turn One None

2 29-34 No. 09, 23 accident, backstretch No. 26-Brian Keselowski

3 74-78 No. 52 accident, backstretch No. 81-Bobby Hamliton Jr.

4 86-89 No. 10, 38 accident, Turn Three No. 11-Scott Lagasse Jr.

5 93-96 No. 5 accident Turn One No. 26-Brian Keselowski

6 130-138 No. 5 accident Turn Three No. 26-Brian Keselowski

7 146-150 No. 33 accident Turn Four No. 66-Steve Wallace

8 160-166 No. 11, 47 accident, frontstretch No. 11-Scott Lagasse Jr.

9 194-198 Debris None, less than 10 to go

The race saw a longest green flag run of 40 laps during the first half of the race before the #52 of Kevin Lepage brought out the caution flag on lap 74.

Props go to Brian Keselowski for fighting hard all race and putting himself in position to earn the Lucky Dog three times this race, half of the total LD's given out on Saturday.

Race No. 13 of 35(Federated Auto Parts 300)

2008 winner: Brad Keselowski

2008 pole: Joey Logano

The entry list for this weekend's stand-alone event in Nashville has 45 cars on it which means that two of the go-or-go home cars will be getting sent to the house after qualifying Saturday afternoon. Some notable entries include:

NO. 2-Sean Caisse will be in the Richard Childress Racing entry

No. 07-Mike Harmon withdrew his No. 84 and replace Patrick Carpentier on the entry list

No. 16-Ricky Stenhouse will be in the CitiFinancial Ford

No. 31-Daryl Harr returns to the seat of the Rick Ware No. 31

No. 33-Cale Gale will be making his season debut in the No. 33

No. 81-Bobby Hamilton Jr. once again replaces D.J. Kennington on the entry list

No. 85-Justin Ashburn will be in the 31-W Insulation Ford

No. 91-Kelly Bires is listed as the driver of the MSPR entry

No. 99-Trevor Bayne, the former DEI development driver will be in the MWR entry

Teams will get roughly three hours worth of practice time Friday evening before qualifying Saturday at 1:35 PM(2:35 PM EST) before the race at 6:30 PM(7:30 PM EST). The race is scheduled for 225 laps to make up the 300 mile distance.

Go or Go Home

With 46 teams on the entry list that will have 15 drivers fighting for 12 spots, forcing three teams to head to the house after qualifying on Saturday, here is the list of drivers facing that potential fate.

No. 0-Mark Green

No. 2-Sean Caisse

No. 05-Casey Atwood

No. 09-John Wes Townley

No. 23-Robert Richardson Jr.

No. 31-Daryl Harr

No. 41-Justin Hobgood

No. 49-Kertus Davis

No. 52-Kevin Lepage

No. 70-Shelby Howard

No. 85-Justin Ashburn

No. 89-Morgan Sheperd

No. 90-Johnny Chapman

No. 91-Kelly Bires

No. 96-TBA

Raybestos Rookie Report

After Justin Allgaier was the top finishing rookie at Dover Brendan Gaughan and Allgaier enter this weekend's race tied atop the rookie post standings. Allgaier will have extra incentive this weekend as his 23rd birthday falls on race day.

Allgaier, Michael McDowell and Gaughan finished 10th, 11th and 12th respectively at Dover. Allgaier and Gaughan have 124 points while McDowell sits third with 113, Lagasse Jr. is fourth with 108 and Michael Annett in fifth with 89 points.

Driver Point Standings

After a late race tire going down causing contact from his teammate Joey Logano, Kyle Busch was relegated to a 17th place finish and gave up 33 points to current second place Carl Edwards in the current rundown.

Only change in the top 10 was the swap of positions done by Brendan Gaughan and David Ragan for 7th and 8th place.

1. Kyle Busch, 1,836

2. Carl Edwards, 1,796, (-40)

3. Jason Leffler, 1,683, (-153)

4. Joey Logano, 1,670, (-166)

5. Brad Keselowski, 1,663, (-173)

6. Jason Keller, 1,434, (-402)

7. Brendan Gaughan, 1,364, (-472)

8. David Ragan, 1,358, (-478)

9. Mike Bliss, 1,355, (-481)

10. Justin Allgaier, 1,344, (-492)

In the amended, Nationwide-only point standings Jason Leffler moves past two Cup regulars to the front with Keselowski in second.

1. Jason Leffler, 1683

2. Brad Keselowski, 1663, (-20)

3. Jason Keller, 1434, (-249)

4. Brendan Gaughan, 1364, (-319)

5. Mike Bliss, 1355, (-328)

6. Justin Allgaier, 1344, (-339)

7. Michael McDowell, 1318, (-365)

8. Steve Wallace, 1276, (-407)

9. Scott Lagasse Jr., 1244, (-439)

10. Kenny Wallace, 1202, (-481)

Some Nationwide News

The No. 31 team of Rick Ware Racing has announced that PeelsPlus.com has joined their team as an co-primary sponsor at Nashville.

With the addition of veteran Sprint Cup crew chief Peter Sospenzo to head up the pit box for the No. 13 GEICO Camry of Max Papis which allows general manager Mike Hillman Sr. to work with the No. 15 Pilot Travel Centers/HYPE Energy Drinks Camry and rookie Michael Annett in the Nationwide Series.

Portions of the Circuit Gilles Villenueve will be resurfaced before the August date on the Nationwide series schedule to allow for better negotiation of the track's demanding bends on a smoother surface.

This weekend's race sponsor, Federated Auto Parts, will also be appearing as the primary sponsor of Scott Wimmer in the No. 40 entry for Key Motorsports on Saturday.

Casey Atwood will be sporting the colors of Western Kentucky University on his hood and rear bumper this weekend. The hood will feature the waving red flag seen at many WKU sporting events.

Jeremy Clements will serve as Kyle Busch's substitute driver this weekend at Nashville for practice and possibly qualifying while Busch is in Pocono.

RCR will have two drivers at Nashville this weekend with ARCA winner Sean Caisse in the No. 2 and Stephen Leicht in the No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevy. Caisse will also drive a yet-to-be-determined number of other races for RCR in the Nationwide series.

Former DEI development driver Trevor Bayne has signed an eight race deal to run the No. 99 for Michael Waltrip Racing. Bayne has one start in 2009 at Bristol where he started 26th and finished 23rd.

The month of June will feature four different drivers carrying the banner for KHI in the Nationwide series with Cale Gale this weekend, Kelly Bires at Kentucky, Ron Hornaday at Milwaukee and Harvick himself at New Hampshire.

Sprint Cup Series

Last Week

Jimmie Johnson returned to victory lane after a late race battle with Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle for the win in the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover. Johnson found himself towards the back of the top 10 after a slow pit stop before the final restart and made his way through the pack on four fresh tires to bring home the win.

Now a look back at some notes from Dover.

Estimated attendance-100,000

There were 25 lead changes amongst 11 drivers.

The race was slowed by 10 cautions for 43 laps just about one-tenth of the scheduled 400 lap distance.

Caution Laps Reason Lucky Dog

1 32-35 Competition No. 37-Tony Raines

2 45-48 Debris None

3 118-123 Debris No. 83-Brian Vickers

4 165-169 Debris No. 00-David Reutimann

5 233-236 No. 11 accident, Turn Four No. 18-Kyle Busch

6 277-280 Debris No. 26-Jamie McMurray

7 286-290 No. 98, 7 accident, backstretch No. 33-Clint Bowyer

8 332-335 Debris No. 47-Marcos Ambrose

9 365-368 Debris No. 29-Kevin Harvick

10 371-373 No. 5, 00, 12 accident, frontstretch No. 77-Sam Hornish

The race had a longest green flag run of 70 laps until one of the astonishing six debris cautions came out on lap 118.

Race No. 14 of 36(Pocono 500)

The entry list for this weekend's Pocono 500 consist of 46 drivers with most of the drivers being the same consistent flow of Sprint Cup entrants. Notable entries are:

No. 09-Sterling Marlin will be in the car with Bliss in Texas and Keselowski in Nashville

No. 36-Patrick Carpentier will be in the TBR entry with Mike Skinner in Texas

No. 64-Mike Wallace will be in the Gunselman Motorsports entry

Teams will have three sessions of practice between Friday and Saturday, all televised by SPEED, one session Friday from 12:00-1:30 PM and two sessions on Saturday at 10:00-10:45 PM and 11:20-12:20 PM.

Qualifying will be Friday afternoon at 3:45 PM on SPEED with the green flag dropping Sunday at 2:16 with TNT's coverage beginning at 12:30 PM.

Fight for the Top-35

The fight continues to get interesting between the No. 34 of John Andretti and the No. 83 of Scott Speed as Andretti has only a 50 point margin over Speed for the 35th position in owner's points. Should Speed miss this weekend's event it will take a lot of work for him to get back into a position to challenge for a spot in the top-35.

Raybestos Rookie report

Logano took home his 10th rookie of the race honor with a 15th place finish last weekend at Dover and has extended his current points lead to 16 points over second place Speed. Should Logano take the honor home seven more times go ahead and hand him the trophy.

Speed, who has the other three rookie of the race honors, sits second and has Papis attempting to make up ground on him in the current rookie standings. Remember the final rookie standings is based on their best 17 finishes of the season.

Driver Point Standings

With a runner-up finish last weekend along with Jeff Gordon struggling to a 26th place finish, Tony Stewart took over the spot atop the Sprint Cup standings and became the first owner/driver in over 500 races to leave the track the points leader.

1. Tony Stewart, 1853

2. Jeff Gordon, 1807, (-46)

3. Jimmie Johnson, 1789, (-64)

4. Kurt Busch, 1762, (-91)

5. Ryan Newman, 1680, (-173)

6. Kyle Busch, 1634, (-219)

7. Denny Hamlin, 1630, (-223)

8. Matt Kenseth, 1625, (-228)

9. Greg Biffle, 1618, (-235)

10. Jeff Burton, 1587, (51 ahead of 13th)

11. Carl Edwards, 1582, (46 ahead of 13th)

12. Mark Martin, 1567, (31 ahead of 13th)

13. David Reutimann, 1536, (-31)

14. Kasey Kahne, 1501, (-66)

15. Juan Pablo Montoya, 1475, (-98)

16. Clint Bowyer, 1449, (-117)

17. Brian Vickers, 1436, (-130)

Some Sprint Cup News

Logano will be pulling double-duty at Sonoma when he races the Camping World West series race in an attempt to get more road course experience before his first ever Sprint Cup road course event.

Persistent rain forced the postponement of the fifth annual Prelude to the Dream yesterday to its new date on September 9. a decision regarding the broadcast will be made at a later date. Jeff Gordon has pulled out of the event due to his back and Marcos Ambrose will likely be taking his place.

Peter Sospenzo has become the new crew chief for Max Papis' Sprint Cup efforts on the No. 13 GEICO entry of Germain Racing.

NASCAR Going to Double-File Restarts

Mason Dunn — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:13:43 -0400

Starting with this weekend's races, NASCAR will officially be adopting double-file restarts for all restarts in the Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck series.

"We've heard the fans loud and clear: 'Double-file restarts, shootout style' are coming to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series," said NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France. "This addition to the race format is good for competition and good for the fans."

"I'm excited about it," said two-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart. "The good thing is that when they drop the green, you're going to be racing with the guys you're racing for position instead of trying to clear lapped cars.

Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick said, "I think it's great that NASCAR is listening to the fans. These new restart procedures are going to make our sport even more exciting than it already is. This will not only benefit the lead-lap cars, but also the cars that go a lap down, so you get the best of both worlds."

NASCAR has been using the double-file restart policy in its annual All-Star event and it created a very unpredictable finish in this year's race a few weeks ago, sparking conversation about using that for the entire season.

"The last 10 laps of the recent Sprint All-Star race at Lowe's Motor Speedway proved that the double-file restart concept works well," said Jerry Gappens, executive vice president and general manager of New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "Short tracks have been doing this for years, and I have no doubt that it will enhance the excitement of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing. I applaud NASCAR's decision to implement this change immediately. Close competition gives our fans a great entertainment value."

Under the previous format, cars on the lead lap would restart in a single-file line while cars that had been lapped would start in a line next to them.

Under the new format, the race leader will have the option to restart on the inside or outside lane. The second-place driver would then restart next to the leader.

Regardless of where the leader starts, drivers in odd number positions (third, fifth, seventh places, etc.) will restart on the inside lane, while drivers in even number positions (fourth, sixth, eighth places, etc.) will restart on the outside.

All restarts will use the same format regardless of the number of laps remaining in the race.

The first-place driver will continue to control the timing of restarts in a designated zone on the track. Likewise, cars are to stay in line until they reach the start/finish line.

The first eligible car a lap or more down will continue to earn one lap back following a caution, which is known as the "free pass." However, a new element beginning this week will be that the "free pass" will remain in effect the entire race.

Much like the policy used by Indy Racing League, lapped cars choosing to remain on the track will be "waved around" the caution car and will restart the race in respective track position, thus picking up a lap on the leader provided the leader also pits.

This will also remove lapped cars from behind the pace car, allowing the leaders to take the green without interference.

More information and reactions from drivers and teams will come soon, and we'll see how this experiment will work in creating more exciting finishes this weekend at Pocono and in the coming weeks in NASCAR's top-three divisions.

Source: NASCAR.com

Spring Semester Rookie Progress Reports: Part One—Camping World Trucks

Mason Dunn — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:57:30 -0400

Well, it's June and the race season is about 1/3 of the way through for NASCAR's top three series.

Let's take a minute to look at each rookie and grade his performance for the 2009 season and his prospects for the future.

With each class I'll start at the top of the current rookie standings and work my way down, including the rookies that have run in at least half of the scheduled events.

Camping World Truck Series

1. Tayler Malsam (71) Malsam has been a fairly consistent driver seven races into the 2009 CWTS schedule with an average finish of 13th and a reasonable worst finish of 24th. Malsam has been able to avoid the DNF bug.

If Malsam can improve his qualifying efforts and continue to stay on the lead lap in every race he will only continue to climb up the overall points standings and be a serious threat for the rookie of the year award.

I can only give Malsam a B+ for his season due to a lack of top five finishes. He will be a great prospect in the future but he needs a few more years in the truck series before any team seriously considers him for a Nationwide or Sprint Cup ride.

Grade: B+

Stats: Starts-7, Top Fives-0, Top 10s-2, Top 20s-6, Avg. Start-15.8, Avg. Finish-13.1, Best-8th, Worst-24th, 99.7 percent laps completed, 12th in points (869)

2. Johnny Sauter(71) Sauter has had a good season with the exception of the season-opening race at Daytona where he wreck before halfway point. Sauter does have a top-five finish already this season.

While currently tied with Malsam under the current rookie point standings, he finds himself 16th in points with 807. His 249-point deficit to current points leader Ron Hornaday may seem unrecoverable but he does have 18 races left this season and with a little luck he could be right back in contention.

Sauter may be a rookie in the truck series but he has been driving for several seasons in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series. At 31, the prospects of him returning to the Cup series looks bleak but he could become a Hornaday-like fixture in the truck series.

Grade: B

Stats: Starts-7, Top Fives-1, Top 10s-2, Top 20s-5, Avg. Start-13, Avg. Finish-16.5, Best-5th, Worst-27th, 93.9 percent laps completed, 16th in points (807)

3. James Buescher(65) Buescher started the 2009 season with a bang by winning the ARCA season opener at Daytona and but he finished 25th in the truck series opener the following week.

Buescher has been steadily improving his truck performance in with a very impressive finish when he fought door-to-door with teammate Rick Crawford to the finish line at Charlotte. James, take it from me, keep fighting like that and you'll have a bright future; Crawford was only mad cause you almost made him look bad.

Only 19, if Buescher continues improving with Circle Bar Racing and aligns himself with a strong Cup team, he will definitely be a contender to win a Rookie of the Year award in the Cup series and possibly win some races.

Grade: C+

Stats: Starts-7, Top Fives-0, Top 10s-0, Top 20s-5, Avg. Start-15.1, Avg. Finish-15.8, Best-11th, Worst-25th, 91.1 percent laps completed, 15th in points (808)

4. J.R. Fitzpatrick(52) Fitzpatrick started his season with the group over at TRG Motorsports but after sponsorship dollars weren't coming through, for reasons unbeknown to me, he was replaced by David Gilliland in hopes Gilliland would bring in sponsors.

Luckily for Fitzpatrick, KHI saw the talent in him that his fans see and have brought him over. Unfortunately, like most KHI development drivers he will be sharing the ride with a few other drivers including fellow rookie Ricky Carmichael.

Should KHI see fit to give Fitzpatrick 12 more starts to bring him to 17, the amount used in the final rookie point standings, look for him to be a contender for Rookie of the Year. If KHI invests in this guy with a good amount of seat time in the truck and Nationwide series he will become a great Cup prospect in a few years.

Grade: B

Stats: Starts-5, Top Fives-1, Top 10s-1, Top 20s-2, Avg. Start-17.3, Avg. Finish-16, Best-4th, Worst-22nd, 98.9 percent laps completed, 21st in points (589)

5. Ricky Carmichael(45) Carmichael, another member of KHI's development program, has shown that although luck has not been on his side this season he's definitely improving and adjusting well in his transition from two wheels to four and from dirt to asphalt.

Unfortunately, Carmichael has not been in a truck since late April which will definitely hurt his development, but we will get to see him back behind the wheel of his No. 4 Monster Energy Chevy this weekend at Texas.

The smart thing for KHI to do at this point would be to start another truck team even if just part-time to get Carmichael and Fitzpatrick more seat time. If they do this, look for Carmichael to be ready to become either a fixture in the truck series or a member of KHI's Nationwide driver fleet.

Grade: C-

Stats: Starts-5, Top Fives-0, Top 10s-1, Top 20s-1, Avg. Start-11.1, Avg. Finish-21, Best-8th, Worst-29th, 82.8 percent laps completed, 23rd in points (503)

6. Brent Raymer(30) Raymer, currently driving for his own team, has done a decent job for a rookie on one of the lower-end budgets in the truck series. While he has not been able to finish in the top 20, he has kept the team going with only one DNFs was due to an accident.

If Raymer can pull in some sponsorship dollars to help fund his operation and garner more attention from higher level teams he has the potential to compete for top 15s, if not top 10s, by the end of this season or next year.

While this may sound crazy due to his age, it's possible the 23-year-old driver will get a legitimate shot at a Sprint Cup ride. He could become a long-term competitor in either the truck or Nationwide series with the right team behind him.

Grade: D

Stats: Starts-6, Top Fives-0, Top 10s-0, Top 20s-0, Avg. Start-27.5, Avg. Finish-29.5, Best-22nd, Worst-35th, 43.9 percent laps completed, 27th in points (452)

This year's class of rookies in the Camping World Truck Series definitely has potential in the Sprint Cup series and as potential fixtures in the truck and Nationwide series.

Thanks for reading, Part Two-Nationwide Series will come tomorrow with Part Three-Sprint Cup series coming either sometime tomorrow or Wednesday during my downtime before I head to Eldora for the Prelude to the Dream.

Autism Speaks 400: Winners and Losers

Mason Dunn — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:25:06 -0400

Interesting day at the infamous Monster Mile in our nation's first state here's a look at those who left smiling and those who got bit by the monster.

Winners

Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie and his crew chief Chad Knaus had an impressive return to form Sunday at Dover with an obviously dominant car and recovering from losing numerous positions on pit road late in the race to beat Tony Stewart for the win in the Autism Speaks 400.

His thrilling battle in the closing laps with then race leader Tony Stewart was definitely one for the highlight reels and as Greg Biffle said post-race proof this cars do provide exciting finishes.

Jimmie was the dominant car the entire race and by winning this his fourth career Dover win puts tied for fourth all-time and tied for first amongst active drivers with teammates Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin. The win also gives Johnson a higher sense of security for making the 2009 Chase as he is now 253 points ahead of David Reutimann in 13th place.

Dover finish: Winner

Points: Third, 1789, (64 behind Tony Stewart)

Tony Stewart

For the first time in over 500 races and driver/owner leaves the racetrack as the leader in the Sprint Cup standings. The last driver to accomplish this feat was the late Alan Kulwicki almost 17 years ago in November of 1992.

In the post-race conference while reflecting on his day Stewart said, "... there's no shame in running second to a guy that lead most the laps all day." Smoke later posted on his twitter feed that while the points are great he has got to get a win.

He has his non-points win from the All-Star race now he is itching to get the real deal in a points paying event and with the current string of finishes both the 14 and 39 teams have put together don't be surprised if it comes very soon.

Dover finish: Second

Points: New Leader, 1853, (46 ahead of Gordon)

John Andretti

I know what your thinking, "how do you consider the guy who finished 34th 147 laps down after an accident a winner?" Allow me to explain.

This is a very minor win for John Andretti and the 34 team but it is still a win. After losing some points to the 36th place team of Scott Speed last week with a substitute driver while Andretti was off chasing milk, Andretti returned and began to make up ground by gaining nine points back.

While nine points may not seem like a lot now but should Andretti have a similar result position-wise next week at Pocono and see Scott Speed DNQ, because Pocono is a very difficult track for first-timers, that 50 points would increase to 111 giving the 34 a chance to breath.

Dover finish: 34th

Owner points: 35th, 938, (50 ahead of No. 82 Red Bull)

Roush Fenway Racing

After some apparent struggles of late and receiving a meager B- during Fox's air filling progress reports during the Charlotte rain delay Roush Fenway Racing had reasons to smile after 400 laps at the Monster Mile. Fox's only reason for giving them a B- was the fact that Matt Kenseth opened up the season by winning Daytona and California.

For one they had one of their drivers in the mix to win in the last 10 laps as Greg Biffle was leading before being overtaken by Stewart and Johnson and finishing third. Also right behind him in fourth was teammate Matt Kenseth.

Also with Carl Edwards finishing seventh and McMurray and Ragan putting in 14th and 24th place finishes respectively Roush Fenway Racing as a team completed all but one lap.

Dover finishes: Biffle-Third

Kenseth-Fourth

Edwards-Seventh

McMurray-14th

Ragan-24th

Points: Kenseth-Eighth, 1625, (228 behind Stewart)

Biffle-Ninth, 1618, (235 behind Stewart)

Edwards-11th, 1582, (271 behind Stewart)

McMurray-22nd, 1289, (278 behind 12th place Mark Martin)

Ragan-31st, 1180, (387 behind Martin)

Autism Awareness

Weekends like this only continue to prove the well-known fact that NASCAR is one of the most charitable organizations in sports today.

By naming the race the Autism Speaks 400 and having PSAs done by NASCAR personalities throughout the race broadcast NASCAR and its partners did wonderful work to spread autism awareness throughout the country and the world.

The placing of the Autism Speaks puzzle piece on logos, programs, tickets, cars, etc. have made the Autism Speaks foundation a household name and will help them in their efforts to find the causes, preventions, treatments and cures for autism.

Losers

Denny Hamlin

After having a strong car and spending most of the early stages of the race in the top 10 Hamlin fell victim to a blown right front tire while running in the second position on lap 232.

Although the crew worked feverishly to get Denny back on the track to attempt to gain some points back the damage was just too much and the 11 team was relegated to a 36th place finish dropping them two slots in the points to seventh.

Obviously a disappointing day for the whole team over at JGR and this isn't the last time they will be mentioned in this article because of it.

Dover finish: 36th

Points: Seventh, 1630, (223 behind Stewart)

Robby Gordon

After a roller coaster week in Charlotte where Gordon went from the excitement and joy of a third place finish in NASCAR's hometown to the despair of a 50 point penalty and crew chief fine and probation a wreck at Dover only worsened the current storm cloud following Robby Gordon.

Robby's day came to an end after David Stremme got loose coming off of turn two which resulted in Gordon and Paul Menard making very hard contact with the inside retaining wall on the back stretch. Luckily for Gordon, who got the worst of the impact, the track had just added safer barriers to that wall.

Dover finish: 33rd

Points: 34th, 1031, (93 points ahead of 35th place Andretti)

Kyle Busch

Busch has been riding a wave of bad luck especially last weekend when it came to weather and in Saturday's Nationwide race when a tire going down caused contact between him and teammate Logano relegating Busch to a 17th place finish.

That bad luck continued on Sunday and came to a head late in the race when he felt a vibration in the car and came down for new right side tires think one was either loose or going flat. Unfortunately for his team that was not the problem rather a section of the front splitter had become unattached from the car and was flapping around.

Had he known it was just a flapping splitter it would of saved him from that two tire stop and had him finishing somewhere on the lead lap rather than 23rd one lap down to the leaders.

Dover finish: 23rd

Points: Sixth, 1634, (219 behind Stewart)

David Stremme

Poor Stremme found himself involved with two accidents at Dover the first being the aforementioned wreck that sent Menard and Gordon hard into the inside wall on lap 286.

The second on lap 370 was caused when contact from the No. 5 of Mark Martin sent Stremme hard into the inside wall down the front stretch before sliding across the track in turn one and being narrowly avoided by the oncoming David Reutimann.

Stremme has had a rough season consisting of only four top 20 and two top 15 finishes and currently finds himself 29th in points virtually eliminated from Chase contention. Looks like the Dover Monster had his way with Stremme on this day.

Dover finish: 31st

Points: 29th, 1206, (361 behind Martin)

Brad Keselowski

After having impressive finishes in his most recent Sprint Cup races, including a win at Talladega, Keselowski experienced one of the worst lows in Cup racing today, a DNQ.

Back behind the wheel of the 25 development team for Hendrick Motorsports Keselowski laid down a qualifying time of 23.643 seconds at 152.265 miles per hour the 42nd fastest lap time of the session. Unfortunately he was ninth of the 12 go or go home cars and the first to miss the race.

Fortunately for Brad he made up for this loss by winning the Nationwide race on Saturday. Chalk this weekend up as a learning experience and move on.

Dover finish: DNQ

Points: 40th, 479, (1374 behind Stewart)

TransPort Group Announces Plans to Build Racing Complex in Denver

Mason Dunn — Thu, 28 May 2009 10:52:42 -0400

Plans have been announced for the construction of a new motorsports complex in northeast Aurora, Colo. by Colorado Springs developer Bill Schuck.

The planned $200-million race track will feature a one-mile oval speedway, a four-mile road course and a full karting facility. It is expected to seat between 65,000 and 100,000 people and will be located on 1,500 acres of TransPort property east of Pena Boulevard.

The track is planned as a private venture that is scheduled to break ground sometime in the year 2010 and host numerous racing events including stock cars, open wheel, midgets, and various forms of road racing.

Wednesday, developers said that they decided to move forward with their plans under the influence of the recent passage of the Colorado Tourism Act (Senate Bill 173). This Act could provide the group with access to up to $50 million in state sales tax revenue to pay off construction bonds over a 30-year period.

While this bill has been passed by the state Senate, it has yet to be signed by Governor Bill Ritter.

The group, TransPort, has said they plan to ask Ritter and other government officials to help apply discretionary stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to their cause.

The Florida-based International Speedway Corp. have been public for more then two years about their desire to build a track in the metro area, but have said that any such venture would have to be a public-private partnership.

Fantasy NASCAR Report: Dover

Mason Dunn — Thu, 28 May 2009 01:04:55 -0400

Here are my five picks for drivers that will bring home solid finishes for your fantasy team this weekend at the Monster Mile in Delaware.

Carl Edwards

Carl has always been a consistent driver on the concrete mile and his team has consistently brought good equipment to Dover, as seen last year when he and teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth were battling for the win.

Edwards has nine career starts at the Monster Mile and owns one win, five top fives, and nine top 20s, with no DNFs. His worst finish (18th) came in his Dover debut in the fall of 2004.

Kyle Busch

When can you not consider putting this guy on your roster? He is pulling triple duty this week which yes may mean a lot of wear and tear on him come Sunday, but I think this week the extra track time will only help Busch come Sunday.

Busch only has two career DNFs at Dover, spring 2008 and fall 2006, both due to engine problems. Aside from that he owns one win, five top fives, and a 17th place finish in eight career starts at Dover.

Martin Truex Jr.

Martin has been having a tough season and the rumors are already abound of the possibility of him leaving EGR for one of a few different teams and if EGR wishes to have a chance of retaining him they better make sure they bring their best piece to the track this weekend.

Truex won this race back in the 2007 campaign and justifiably should expect to be a threat to win this race again. Frankly if his car isn't a piece he feels like he can win in then it should be the final sign he needs to leave EGR.

Jeff Burton

Sure RCR has been struggling of late and Jeff Burton is just the driver to turn this program around and turn at least two of their teams into Chase contenders, since Casey Mears doesn't have what it takes and Kevin Harvick is almost mathematically out of contention.

Burton's worst finish at the Monster Mile since 2005 is a mere 12th place (twice) and includes a win during the fall race of 2006. Look for Burton to have RCR's best piece and notes from all three of his teammates in an effort to reboot this program for the rest of 2009.

Underdog: Mike Skinner

Yeah that's right I'm going with Mike Skinner. It's a risky pick since the Tommy Baldwin owned team is not in the top 35, but I believe Skinner's experience combined with Baldwin's knowledge will put this team into the field and with some luck in the top 20 at the drop of the checkered flag.

Last Week: Coca Cola 340.5

Was expecting a little more out of my picks and I feel that had the rains not come when they did, guys like Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth would of put up a fight for the top five.

Besides, who saw David Reutimann winning that race? Not even me and I like Reutimann.

Tony Stewart: 19th

Matt Kenseth: 10th

Ryan Newman: Second

Kyle Busch: Sixth

AJ Allmendinger: 32nd

Coca Cola 340.5: Winners and Losers

Mason Dunn — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:32:13 -0400

Here is a look at the guys who either came out on top or got drenched after a long Memorial Day weekend in NASCAR's hometown at the Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Winners

David Reutimann

That final rain delay had to seem like it was lasting an eternity to Reutimann who notched his first career Sprint Cup win in his 75th start for Michael Waltrip Racing. The win was also the first Cup series win for Toyota to come from a team other than Joe Gibbs Racing.

The win improve Reutimann's chances of making this year's Chase and solidified him as a definite threat to bring home the big trophy at the end of the year.

Charlotte finish: Winner

Points: 13th, 1422 (300 behind Jeff Gordon [1st], six behind Mark Martin [12th])

Michael Waltrip Racing

What a day for MWR finally breaking through and getting their first win in their second full season of competition. This win brings a renewed sense of motivation to everyone in the Waltrip Racing shop and will help better their organization as a whole.

Not to mention this win could help make the possible Truex-MWR deal that has been rumored about for weeks a reality.

Charlotte finish: No. 00-Winner, No. 55-30th

Points: No. 00-13th, 1422 (300 behind Gordon, six behind Mark Martin)

No. 55-31st, 1095 (627 behind Gordon)

Ryan Newman

Following Reutimann and gambling with staying out on the final caution paid off for Newman, who was mired back in the pack after a pit road penalty for loose lug nuts under an earlier caution.

Newman's recent rise has turned Stewart Haas Racing into a two team threat for the 2009 championship, spurring a lot of talk and questions about the possibility of SHR expanding to a third team in 2010.

Charlotte finish: Second

Points: Seventh, 1538 (184 behind Gordon, 116 ahead of 13th place)

Brian Vickers

Red Bull Racing has been having a tough year and to have Vickers have as competitive a car as he had on Monday, and if not for the rain would have been fighting with Kyle Busch for the win at the end, had to be a reassuring day for both driver and team.

With the deadline coming on Vickers' option with Red Bull Racing the ball really is in Vickers' court, as I can't see Red Bull letting this driver go after all he has done for them.

Charlotte finish: Fifth

Points: 16th, 1348 (374 behind Gordon, 80 behind 12th place)

Joey Logano

After a very slow start to his rookie season, Logano has had a turn around of late putting forth some impressive top 10 finishes since Talladega, including a ninth place finish at Charlotte.

Logano is now solidly in the top 35 in owner points working his way towards the top 20 in driver points and holds a 15 point advantage over Scott Speed in the current rookie of the year rundown.

Charlotte finish: Ninth

Points: 25th, 1145 (577 behind Gordon, 283 behind 12th)

Losers

A little harder to pick losers for this week since most teams got bit by the rain since there were very few non-rain cautions and 26 cars still on the lead lap when the race was called official.

Clint Bowyer

Bowyer dropped four positions down the current driver points standings from 13th to 17th and lost a lot of ground on earning a spot in the 2009 Chase. Clint was one of many still stuck one lap down when the final caution came out and wound up in the 36th position.

Clint needs a good bit of help to make this year's Chase and a win would be the best thing for him and the RCR No. 33 team, but I don't see that win coming at Dover this weekend.

Charlotte finish: 36th

Points: 17th, 1319 (403 behind Gordon, 109 behind 12th)

Kevin Harvick

When it rains it really does seem to pour for Kevin Harvick and his No. 29 team as they just suffered all weekend at Charlotte.

Between dealing with the rain that plagued the race weekend, then contact with another car, a flat tire that sent him into the wall, and a pit road speeding penalty, it just wasn't Harvick's weekend.

After this weekend and falling two more spots in the points, the Chase seems almost unreachable for Harvick.

Charlotte finish: 36th

Points: 23rd, 1149 (573 behind Gordon, 279 behind 12th)

Robby Gordon

After finishing third on Monday evening Gordon got some upsetting news while going through post-race inspection as he was told that his rear end housing was being taken back to NASCAR's R&D center in Concord for further inspection.

Work came down today that Gordon would be penalized 50 driver/owner points and his crew cheif has been fined $50,000 for having a rear axle housing that exceeded the maximum toe of plus or minus one degree (violation of section 20-10.6H).

Even with the penalty Gordon still holds a 140 point advantage over the current 35th place team in owner points after the No. 34 team finished 39th.

Charlotte finish: Third

Points: 34th, 1017 (705 behind Gordon)

This Week in NASCAR's Top Three: May 26, 2009

Mason Dunn — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:21:33 -0400

News and notes after a long and rainy Memorial Day weekend from Lowe's Motorspeedway in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Camping World Truck Series

40 teams are currently on the preliminary entry list for the AAA Insurance 200 this Friday at Dover International Speedway, among those are:

No. 00-Tim Bainey Jr., Aaron's Chevy debut

No. 4 J.R. Fitzpatrick, debut with KHI

No. 7 David Gilliland

No. 9 Max Papis

No. 15 Brian Ickler

No. 31 Scott Wimmer, second CWTS start, first in 2009

No. 51 Kyle Busch, going for win #3 of 2009

Aric Almirola is slated to jump behind the wheel of the No. 15 Samsung Instinct Toyota for BBM at Texas on June 5. Almirola last drove for BBM back in 2007 at Memphis. He has one previous Cup start and four CWTS starts at Texas.

Win-Tron Racing is all set to make thier CWTS debut this weekend at Dover with Scott Wimmer behind the wheel and Michael Chaffee as the crew chief. They plan to run an additional 3-5 races during the remainder of the 2009 season.

Max Papis will pull double duty at the Monster Mile as he will be competing in the CWTS in the No. 9 Toyota Tundra and attempting to qualify his No. 13 GEICO Camry for the seventh of his twenty scheduled Cup races with Germain Racing.

Ray Hackett Racing has announced that they will bring two trucks for this weekend's race at Dover with Ryan Hackett driving the No. 75 and Brandon Whitt in the No. 76. Both trucks are Ford F-150s.

Heading into this weekend's race Tayler Malsam still holds a five point advantage over James Buescher in the Raybestos Rookie standings. The 2008 AAA Insurance 200 was won by then Raybestos Rookie Scott Speed and Kurt Busch was the only Raybestos Rookie to win a pole position in nine races at Dover back in 2000.

Numerous teams will be carrying the Autism Speaks blue puzzle piece logo on their trucks as a sign of support for the nation's leading autism science and advocacy organization. Participating teams include:

Johnny Benson, No. 1 Toyota Tundra

Max Papis, No. 9 GEICO Toyota Tundra

TJ Bell, No. 11 VisitPIT.com Toyota Tundra

James Buescher, No. 10 International MaxxForce Diesel Ford F-150

Rick Crawford, No. 14 International Truck & Engines Ford F-150

Brian Scott, No. 16 Albertsons Toyota Tundra

David Starr, No. 24 Autism Speaks/ HT Motorsports Toyota Tundra

Terry Cook, No. 25 Cajun Industries Toyora Tundra

Todd Bodine, No. 30 Copart Toyota Tundra

Nationwide Series

Forty-eight cars make up the preliminary entry list for Saturday's Helluva Good 200 at Dover. Some notes include:

David Green will drive the No. 04 and will be eligible for the past champions provisional

Ryan Newman will be in the No. 5 for JR Motorsports

Patrick Carpentier is the listed driver for the No. 07 but another driver is expected

Kelly Bires is listed in the Braun Racing No. 10

Jeffrey Earnhardt will attempt his series debut in the No. 31

DJ Kennington will be back in the No. 81 for MacDonald Motorsports

The No. 42 team is on the list but noted as being withdrawn

Mike Bliss was the winner after the race was called short of the scheduled distance on lap 171 because of rain showers. Bliss took the lead when the caution came out on lap 151 and was the only car that had not pitted, making him the only car on the lead lap. It is his second career Nationwide win with the first one at Lowe's back in October in 2004.

Points after the CARQUEST Auto Parts 300:

1. No.18 Kyle Busch 1714

2. No. 60 Carl Edwards 1641 (-73)

3. No. 38 Jason Leffler 1541 (-173)

4. No. 20 Joey Logano 1495 (-219)

5. No. 88 Brad Keselowski 1473 (-241)

6. No. 27 Jason Keller 1296 (-418)

7. No. 6 David Ragan 1285 (-429)

8. No. 62 Brendan Gaughan 1237 (-477)

9. No. 1 Mike Bliss 1234 (-480)

10. No. 12 Justin Allgaier 1210 (-504)

Adjusted Nationwide regular only points:

1. No. 38 Jason Leffler 1541

2. No. 88 Brad Keselowski 1473 (-68)

3. No. 27 Jason Keller 1296 (-245)

4. No. 62 Brendan Gaughan 1237 (-304)

5. No. 1 Mike Bliss 1234 (-307)

6. No. 12 Justin Allgaier 1210 (-331)

7. No. 64 Steve Wallace 1200 (-341)

8. No. 47 Michael McDowell 1188 (-353)

9. No. 11 Scott Lagasse Jr. 1162 (-369)

10. No. 28 Kenny Wallace 1133 (-408)

Bottom part of the top 30 in owner points:

28. No. 01 Lori Morgan 902 (+12)

29. No. 26 Dusty Whitney 892 (+2)

30. No. 61 Charlie Shoffner 890

31. No. 23 Johnny Davis 884 (-6)

32. No. 40 Curtis Key 854 (-36)

Toyota holds a one point advantage in the manufacturer standings over Ford (71-70) with Chevy five points behind in third. Dodge brings up the rear with 35 points.

Brendan Gaughan is the current leader in the rookie race. This season has seen 11 rookie drivers with five making all 11 starts.

1. Brendan Gaughan 115

2. Justin Allgaier 112 (-3)

3. Michael McDowell 103 (-12)

4. Scott Lagasse Jr. 101 (-14)

5. Michael Annett 81 (-34)

Jason Leffler will be hitting a personal milestone this weekend as he makes his 200th career Nationwide Series start at Dover International Speedway. Leffler made his series debut in 1999 at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

He ran numerous partial schedules before signing with Braun Racing mid-way through the 2005 season. He has two wins, 29 top-five and 67 top-ten finishes, eight poles and 563 laps led.

NASCAR kept four cars after the Charlotte race in an effort to keep aerodynamic improvements in check. One car from each manufacturer was rechecked: No. 29-Jeff Burton's Chevy, No. 98-Paul Menard's Ford, No. 32-Brian Vickers' Toyota and No. 12-Justin Allgaier's Dodge. The cars all passed inspection, so there were no issues with any of the bodies.

Auggie Vidovich has been announced as Carl Edwards backup driver for Nationwide races that conflict with Edwards' Cup schedule the first of which being at Nashville Speedway in two weeks.

Edwards plans to race but Vidovich will practice and qualify the Roush Fenway Ford when Edwards is unable to make it. A backup driver for Kyle Busch has yet to be determined.

Much like teams in the Truck series, several Nationwide series teams will be running Autism Speaks logos at the race at Dover. Those teams are:

Michael Annett, No. 15 Pilot Travel Centers Toyota

Eric McClure, No. 24 Hefty Odor Block Ford

Kenny Wallace, No. 28 U.S. Border Patrol Chevy

Clint Bowyer, No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevy

Kertus Davis, No. 49 Get More Vacations.com Chevy

Morgan Sheperd, No. 89 Eldora Speedway/Prelude to the Dream Chevy

Sprint Cup Series

David Reutimann pulled out the unthinkable by winning the rain delayed and then rain shortened Coca-Cola 600 Monday evening at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Reutimann, Ryan Newman and Robby Gordon were the only teams to stay out when the caution came out for rain on lap 227 putting them at the front of the field when the race was eventually called.

There were 14 lead changes among 10 drivers and 6 cautions for 40 laps.

Points after the Coca-Cola 600

1. No. 24 Jeff Gordon 1722

2. No. 14 Tony Stewart 1678 (-44)

3. No. 2 Kurt Busch 1607 (-115)

4. No. 48 Jimmie Johnson 1594 (-128)

5. No. 11 Denny Hamlin 1575 (-147)

6. No. 18 Kyle Busch 1540 (-182)

7. No. 39 Ryan Newman 1538 (-184)

8. No. 31 Jeff Burton 1472 (-250)

9. No. 17 Matt Kenseth 1460 (-262)

10. No. 16 Greg Biffle 1448 (-274)

11. No. 99 Carl Edwards 1431 (-291)

12. No. 5 Mark Martin 1428 (-294)

Contenders for the top-12/chase

12. No. 00 David Reutimann 1422 6 points out of 12th

13. No. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 1387 (-31)

14. No. 9 Kasey Kahne 1351 (-77)

15. No. 83 Brian Vickers 1348 (-80)

Infraction Sheet - Charlotte

Car No. Lap Reason Penalty

No. 36 0 Engine Change Tail end(TE)

No. 29 17 Pitting on a closed pit road TE

No. 29 41 Pitting on a closed pit road TE

No. 39 43 Lug nut(s) not installed Must come in

No. 34 43 Excessive speed entering pits TE

No. 5 72 Rolling a tire(s) beyond center of pit road TE

No. 7 74 Pitting on a closed pit road TE

No. 55 75 Pitting on a closed pit road TE

No. 13 75 Pitting on a closed pit road TE

No. 29 77 Pitting on a closed pit road TE

No. 29 128 Excessive speed entering pits Pass Thru(PT)

No. 71 131 Excessive speed entering pits PT

No. 66 167 Pitting on a closed pit road TE

No. 29 167 Pitting on a closed pit road TE

No. 66 168 Excessive speed exiting pits TE

No. 13 177 Pitting on a closed pit road TE

No. 47 223 Rolling a tire(s) beyond center of pit road TE

(NASCAR Statistics)(5-25-2009)

Lucky Dogs - Who got a lap back on each caution

Caution 1: no driver down a lap

Cuation 2: no driver down a lap on the track

Caution 3: no driver down a lap on the track

Caution 4: no driver down a lap on the track

Caution 5: No. 6-Ragan, 24th

Caution 6: No. 47-Ambrose, 26th

(5-25-2009)

Top 35 in Owner Points

34. No. 7-Robby Gordon 1017 +181

35. No. 34-Earnhardt Ganassi 882 +46

36. No. 82-Red Bull 836 -46

37. No. 71-TRG 756 -126

Rumors abound saying that Penske Racing could run a fourth team car this season, running the #22 Dodge with Justin Allgaier as the possible driver.

Scott Riggs has officially parted ways with Tommy Baldwin Racing and TBR has already found a group of drivers to fill in for the rest of the 2009 season. Mike Skinner will assume majority of the driving duties driving 17 of the remaining 24 races on the 2009 schedule.

Patrick Carpentier will be behind the wheel during both Poconos, the June 28 race at New Hampshire, the September 12 race at Richmond and wrap up with the September 27 race at Dover. Brian Simo will navigate the car for both the road course events.

During post-race inspection, NASCAR confiscated No. 7-Robby Gordon's rear-end housing and took it back to its R&D Center in Concord, NC for further evaluation.

The Dover entry list has RaceSavers.com listed as the sponsor for the No. 47 of Marcos Ambrose for the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway.

It has been reported that Brian Vickers is close to re-upping his current deal with Red Bull Racing. Both sides hols an option that has to be exercised by June 1.

Kasey Kahne will be running Dodge's new engine package this weekend at Dover in his No. 9 Budweiser entry. RPM has been slow in introducing the new R6P8 engine that the other Dodge team, Penske Racing, has used all season.

Bleacher Report Goes to the Dirt Track

Mason Dunn — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:18:21 -0400

Got an email today informing me that my request for a media credential for this year's installment of Tony Stewart's Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway has been approved.

Now that step one is over now I just need to figure out a way to get myself from North Carolina over to Ohio for the race here in a few weeks so I can write some great stories for the community here at Bleacher Report.

Just wanted to share the news with you guys, I'm pretty pumped about the opportunity.

Fantasy NASCAR Report: Charlotte Edition

Mason Dunn — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:08:36 -0400

Here are my five drivers to watch this week going into the longest race of the NASCAR season, the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Tony Stewart

This guy has got to be having a ball after getting his first win as an owner for both himself and recently freed partner Gene Haas.

Six times in the 25-year history of the All-Star race, the winner has gone on to take the Coca-Cola 600 the following weekend. Stewart had a strong piece underneath him and will definitely take what he and teammate Newman learned into use on Sunday.

Matt Kenseth

Matt found himself in the right place at the right time after Newman, Busch, and Gordon locked each other on the front straight and were in place to win until Stewart came along with two laps to go.

Long races are Kenseth's strong point and, with a spotter like Mike Calinoff, look for Kenseth to have the best long-term strategy to put himself in a position just like he was in the middle of segment four.

Ryan Newman

It helps having a teammate like Stewart and unofficial teammates like those at Hendrick Motorsports, and it showed when Newman made a late race surge in segment four of the All-Star race.

Look for Newman to parlay that success this weekend and continue his ascent up the point standings toward locking himself solidly into the Chase.

Kyle Busch

We learned that, if the race comes down to a late race restart, Busch knows how to get up and go, giving him a distinct advantage should there be a late race caution or even a green-white-checker finish.

Busch has slipped down the point standings and will look to start a resurgence, earning him some Chase bonus points.

Underdog: AJ Allmendinger

AJ is slowly gaining confidence at Lowe's Motor Speedway with his recent performances in the All-Star Showdown race, having won it last season.

Although he currently owns an average finish of 27 at the 1.5 mile track, look for him to improve that and beat his current best finish there of 15th from the 2007 Bank of America 500.

Last Week: All-Star Race

Last week was a little bit different for me since I picked a few more drivers then usual.

One of my Showdown picks was able to transfer into the main event, but only because of the fan vote.

Showdown picks:

David Reutimann: Fourth

Joey Logano: Fifth

AJ Allmendinger: Seventh

Marcos Ambrose: 10th

Joe Nemechek: 20th

For the main event, I only picked three drivers. Had I picked five, I probably would have included Stewart.

Kyle Busch was in contention late for the win but contact with Jeff Gordon's machine relegated him to a seventh place finish. Mark Martin brought home my best finish with a sixth place at the conclusion.

Mark Martin: Sixth

Kyle Busch: Seventh

Jimmie Johnson: 13th

NASCAR News and Rumors: May 18-24

Mason Dunn — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:47:00 -0400

Camping World Trucks

J.R. Fitzpatrick has reportedly found a new home. Fitzpatrick, whom was driving for TRG Motorsports, has been recently replaced in the No. 7 truck by TRG's Sprint Cup driver David Gilliland has reportedly come to terms with Kevin Harvick Inc. in a deal that is expected to include a combination of CWTS and Nationwide starts.

Johnny Benson has announced that he will be making eight appearances in the International Supermodified Association (ISMA) starting this Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl in Connecticut. Benson will drive the number 21 in honor of his father, who is a former supermodified champion.

Tyler Maslam earned the title of Rookie of the Race last week at Lowe's Motor Speedway with his career best eighth place finish. Unofficially the Randy Moss Motorsports driver has a five point lead n the Rookie of the Year standings over Circle Bar driver James Buescher (62-57).

Some stats from last week's race:

Hornaday's win was his 40th in his career in his 231st career start.
The win was the 19th CWTS win for KHI—14th for Hornaday—and KHI's 23rd NASCAR victory.
Hornaday pulled an unusual sweep on Friday in Charlotte by leading both practices and winning the race.
Nine of the top 10 in points changed after last week's race.
The top 10 was evenly split—five Chevys and five Toyotas, while Rick Crawford was the best finishing Ford(11th) and Jason White was the best finishing Dodge(23rd).

Top 10 after the NC Education Lottery 200:

1. Ron Hornaday Jr. 966, one win

2. Mike Skinner 882, (-84) one win

3. Matt Crafton 877, (-89)

4. Kyle Busch 852, (-114) two wins

5. Todd Bodine 837, (-129) one win

6. Terry Cook 786, (-180)

7. Johnny Benson 779, (-187)

8. Chad McCumbee 770, (-196)

9. Stacy Compton 762, (-204)

10. Brian Scott 759, (-207)

Other winners: Kevin Harvick (1)

Nationwide

51 teams have put in entry forms for this week's CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Here is the list of the go or go home teams for this weekend's race:

Car # Driver

0 Mark Green

5 Dale Earnhardt Jr.

05 Casey Atwood

09 John Wes Townley

19 J C Stout

31 Stanton Barrett

36 Marc Davis

40 Scott Wimer

42 David Gilliland

49 Kertus Davis

50 Jeremy Clements

52 Kevin Lepage

73 Derrike Cope

75 Brandon Knupp

77 Peyton Sellers

84 Mike Harmon

89 Morgan Sheperd

90 Johnny Chapman

91 Terry Cook

96 Dennis Setzer

98 Paul Menard

21 teams fighting for 13 spots in the race lineup, so unfortunately eight teams will be making the sad but short trip home after qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

Jeff Burton will make his own piece of history this weekend when he makes his 300th career Nationwide series start at Lowe's. Burton made his debut at Martinsville Speedway on March 13, 1998.

A sentimental favorite is slated to return to the Nationwide series this weekend as Sun Drop Citrus Soda, former associate sponsor of legend Dale Earnhardt, will be on the hood No. 01 Chevy of JD Motorsports and driver Danny O'Quinn Jr..

JC Stout will be attempting an impressive feat this weekend as he attempts to make this weekend's race with an all-volunteer crew on the No. 19 Stellar-Quest Racing entry. This is the organization's first attempt.

There will be a little local flavor on the No. 81 car of Kevin Hamlin as he will be sporting decals supporting the Carolina Hurricanes who are currently competing in the Eastern Conference finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Team owner Randy MacDonald was quoted as saying, "I've been going to the Hurricanes games since they arrived in Greensboro in 1997. When (they won) Thursday's dramatic 3-2 game, we had to incorporate the 'Canes into the race at LMS."

Justin Allgaier currently has a seven point advantage in the Rookie of the Year standings over Brendan Gaughan (102-95) with Michael McDowell and Scott Lagasse Jr. tied for third with 94 points each.

Joe Gibbs Racing development driver Matt DiBenedetto is slated to make his Nationwide series debut in October at Memphis Motorsports Park. DiBenedetto, who won in only his second Camping World Series East start at Tri-County Speedway, turns 18 in July.

A $50,000 Nationwide Insurance "Dash 4 Cash" bonus will push the June 13 Kentucky Speedway purse to all-time track high of $1,507,996.

Could this weekend see the first full time Nationwide only driver win a Nationwide race? Only time will tell but the entry list does consist of 12 full time Cup drivers that is just over one-fifth of the total entry list.

Top ten in points going into the CARQUEST 300:

1. Kyle Busch 1,539 3 wins

2. Carl Edwards 1,502 (-37)

3. Jason Leffler 1,386 (-153)

4. Joey Logano 1,340 (-199) 1 win

5. Brad Keselowski 1,331 (-208)

6. Jason Keller 1,181 (-358)

7. David Ragan 1,139 (-400) 1 win

8. Scott Lagasse Jr. 1,095 (-444)

9. Justin Allgaier 1,089 (-450)

10. Steve Wallace 1,088 (-451)

Other winners: Tony Stewart(1), Greg Biffle(2), Kevin Harvick(1), Matt Kenseth(1)

Nationwide-only adjusted points (wins=highest finishing Nationwide only driver)

1. Jason Leffler 1386 4 wins

2. Brad Keselowski 1331 (-55) 3 wins

3. Jason Keller 1181 (-205) 1 wins

4. Scott Lagasse Jr. 1095 (-291)

5. Justin Allgaier 1089 (-297) 1 wins

6. Steve Wallace 1088 (-298)

7. Michael McDowell 1085 (-301)

8. Brendan Gaughan 1062 (-324) 1 wins

9. Mike Bliss 1044 (-342)

10. Kenny Wallace 1019 (-367)

Note: I consider Brad Keselowski a Nationwide-only driver since that is his focus and his part-time Cup schedule is development only and is not negating his Rookie of the Year status for the Cup series.

Sprint Cup

46 teams are currently on the entry list for this weekend's Coca Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Here are the go-or-go home drivers for this weekend:

06 David Starr (53 in owners points/2 attempts)

09 Mike Bliss (2009 Race Winner as owner)(40/11)

13 Max Papis (47/4)

21 Bill Elliott (Past Champ 1988)(49/3)

36 Scott Riggs (41/11)

41 J.J. Yeley (44/11)

64 Todd Bodine (48/9)

66 Dave Blaney (43/11)

71 David Gilliland (37/11)

82 Scott Speed (36/11)

87 Joe Nemechek (39/11)

If qualifying is rained out or cancelled for any reason the eight that would make it are Bliss, Elliott, Speed, Gilliland, Nemechek, Riggs, Blaney and Yeley while Bodine, Papis and Starr would head to the house.

The bottom of the top 35 in Owner Points has a bit of separation between those in and those currently out:

34. Gordon/Robby Gordon 847, +120

35. Raines/Earnhardt Ganassi 831, 104 points ahead of 36th

36. Speed/Red Bull 727, 104 points out of 35th

37. Gilliland/TRG 674, -157

Shea Trucking has signed a two-race associate sponsorship deal with Tommy Baldwin Racing to be on the No. 36 Toyota for Charlotte and Dover. The company logos will be featured on the C-post and the TV panel.

After undergoing a recent procedure to ease the pain in his back, Gordon feels that he is ready to go for 600 miles on Sunday at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Gordon underwent a facet block procedure on Monday which is performed to confirm that a facet joint is the source of pain and decrease the pain and inflammation in a facet joint or joints.

Rumors are swirling that NASCAR Media Group may be prepping for a NASCAR Network as they move into their new $45 million home, $30 million in state-of-the-art equipment, $15 million in construction, next to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in downtown Charlotte where it will occupy two floors. The group does reportedly have all the equipment necessary to start a network.

CompUSA will be on the No. 71 of TRG Motorsports for the Charlotte race but the team is still looking for long-term sponsors for both their Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck teams.

Mark Martin has logged more miles—23,205 total—as Lowe's than any other track on the Sprint Cup circuit. That is only 1,795 miles shy of the distance around the equator.

Matt Kenseth will be carrying the R+L Carriers on his No. 17 Ford this weekend and Reed Sorenson will be sporting his Air Force colors on the No. 43 Dodge at Charlotte.

Joey Logano holds a nine point advantage over fellow rookie Scott Speed in the Rookie of the Year standings (109-100). As of this point, it remains a two horse race since third place Max Papis has only run three races and Dexter Bean has only made one attempt.

Some stats from the 25th edition of the All-Star race:

Tony Stewart won the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race pocketing $1,058,656. It was Stewart's first All-Star Race win in his 11th try.
First win for Stewart-Haas Racing
Stewart led only once for the final two laps.
Stewart is the seventh driver to win a million plus in the All-Star Race.
Stewart did not finish in the top five in any of the first three segments. Segment One - ninth, Segment Two - eighth, Segment Three - sixth.
Stewart joined Geoff Bodine as the only owner-drivers to win the All-Star Race. Bodine accomplished that feat in 1994.
The win was the 14th All-Star win for Chevrolet.
Six times the winner of the All-Star race has gone on to win the Coca-Cola 600 the following week.
Segment One Winner: Jimmie Johnson -- $25,000
Segment Two Winner: Kyle Busch -- $25,000
Segment Three Winner: Jeff Gordon -- $125,000

Top 12 in Sprint Cup standings:

1. Jeff Gordon 1601, one win

2. Tony Stewart 1572 (-29)

3. Kurt Busch 1546, (-55) one win

4. Jimmie Johnson 1465, (-136) one win

5. Denny Hamlin 1445 (-156)

6. Jeff Burton 1384 (-217)

7. Kyle Busch 1380 (-221), three wins

8. Ryan Newman 1363 (-238)

9. Greg Biffle 1345 (-256)

10. Matt Kenseth 1326 (-275), two wins

11. Mark Martin 1316 (-285), two wins

12. Carl Edwards 1271 (-330)

Other winners: Brad Keselowski (1)

Should be another exciting weekend of racing from the Queen City as the drivers prepare for the longest race of the season.

What Other Drivers Have Pulled a "Kyle Busch"?

Mason Dunn — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:28:17 -0400

With all this recent talk about Kyle Busch running in the Camping World East/West combined race last weekend at Iowa Speedway, it got me wondering, who else has raced in lower divisions during their time in one of NASCAR's top three series?

May 17, 2009: On the same day that Busch was in Iowa, fellow Cup driver Paul Menard was competing in the ARCA series at Toledo. On lap 42 Menard put the shove on ARCA regular Patrick Sheltra sending him spinning into the wall and dropping him to sixth in points.
January 25, 2009: Camping World Truck series driver Ron Hornaday Jr. made an in-car appearance at the Toyota All-Star Showdown. Around the middle of the race Hornaday sparked a wreck that caused damage to numerous regulars. He also caused another 12-car wreck when he over drove the corner and made hard contact with the 15 of Brian Ickler.
May 18, 2008: Kasey Kahne made an appearance in last year's East/West combination race bringing home a second place finish behind Brian Ickler.
May 20, 2007: Kevin Harvick drove in the 2007 East/West combination race and finished second to then 16-year-old phenom Joey Logano.
Numerous times: Multiple times NASCAR drivers have returned to their dirt roots and ran races such as the world famous Chili Bowl. For example in 2009 NASCAR was represented in the dirt by J.J. Yeley, Jason Leffler, Justin Allgaier, Kasey Kahne, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Bryan Clauson. Tony Stewart has also won this event twice since beginning his NASCAR career.

Now obviously this isn't a complete list as I have not been able to find a "complete" list of these kind of events so if there is one or two that you know of feel free to comment and let us know.

Also I want to know what most people said about these drivers when they competed in what some have called the "lesser" series and if you said the same thing then that you did about Kyle Busch.

Seven NASCAR Drivers Deserving of Another Shot

Mason Dunn — Sat, 16 May 2009 05:40:37 -0400

Recently some teams have found it necessary for numerous reasons to make driver changes in NASCAR's premier division and in my opinion some of the drivers chosen either don't deserve to be where they are or have other drivers that are more deserving of the shot at the big time. In this slideshow I'm going to look at ten drivers in NASCAR's other two divisions that deserve to be giving one of these shots.

Begin Slideshow

Who Will Come Out on Top in the Sprint All-Star Race?

Mason Dunn — Sat, 16 May 2009 00:28:05 -0400

The Sprint All-Star race. An event consider by many to be the best "all-star" event in all of sports.

Now what the big questions are is first who is going to get to transferred into the main event from the evenings first race, the Sprint Showdown?

Thirty-five teams will take the green flag and fight tooth and nail for 40 total laps, two segments of 20 laps each, to be one of the two teams that will earn their way into the main event.

This year's edition of the Sprint Showdown will feature a few reigning winners and runner-ups whom have transferred into the main event through this means before.

2008 winner A.J. Allmendinger and runner-up Sam Hornish will start tenth and eighth respectively.

2007 winner Martin Truex Jr. will be taking the green flag from the sixth position.

2006 winner Scott Riggs will start from the fifth position with 2005 winner Brian Vickers starting in the 31st position.

At the conclusion of Showdown practice it was A.J. Allmendinger showing the way with a fast time of 29.634 seconds. The rest of the top five in practice were Martin Truex Jr., Casey Mears, Joe Nemechek and Elliott Sadler.

Now since it will be hard to pick just two drivers to say these guys are going to transfer due to the "unknown" factor that is always present on the All-Star night I am going to do like I do every week and pick four drivers and one underdog.

A.J. Allmendinger

Yeah I am onioning up and picking last year's showdown winner to repeat his performance and why not? A.J. has only been performing exponentially better then he did at this time last year and is determined to make it back into the main event.

Fastest in practice and loving his new home in that 44 car for Richard Petty Motorsports look for the guy they call "Dinger" to win this one for the King.

David Reutimann

"The Franchise" as he has become known around the MWR shop will continue to be the franchise player and will have the best shot to represent MWR in the main event of the evening.

While Reutimann doesn't have the best of records at the mile and a half in Charlotte I feel that the adrenaline boost of racing for money and glory will give him that extra push he needs.

Marcos Ambrose

Has the guy not been impressive over the last couple of weeks bringing home solid finishes and being that guy that is kinda lingering with the chance of competing for the win.

Look for Ambrose to put a strong case to represent the rookie class of 2009 in this year's main event.

Joey Logano

This kid may just be starting to come into his own and bringing home solid top ten finishes, I feel the combination of two teammates that do well at tracks like Lowe's and the adrenaline boost of short-track style racing under the lights will motivate him into competing for one of those top two spots.

Underdog: Joe Nemechek

I feel ole Front Row Joe is definitely due a good finish and I wouldn't be surprised after the way he ran in practice today to seem he place that Chevy of his into the main event.

If he does it will be a great boost for him and his team and help with their seemingly never-ending search for sponsorship dollars. Let's just hope if he makes it in Red Bull doesn't come running over with another check.

Now that we've covered the Sprint Showdown there is still one more spot in the main event that will go to the winner of the Sprint Fan Vote.

With the polls closing Saturday night and early word being that A.J. Allmendinger, Bill Elliott and Joey Logano are leading the vote getter's I wouldn't be surprised to see this vote go to Bill Elliott in the end.

Obviously I did include two of those three drivers in my picks to earn their transfer spots through the Showdown and even if Logano doesn't finish in the top two I get the feeling that Elliott will edge the 18 year old out in the polls.

So that brings us to the main event totalling in 100 laps spread across four segments.

The first segment, the longest of the night, will consist of 50 laps with a mandatory green flag pit stop at the half-way mark. In this segment the team with the best 20-25 lap setup will find their way to the front and stay there.

The following two segments are 20 laps a piece and be separated by only a caution flag where teams have the options of pitting. This would make one think that the team that can make the tires last 40 laps and not have to utilize that pit stop will be in the front at the end but there is that final 10 lap shootout at the end.

This 10 lap shootout will favor drivers like Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart who love hanging their cars out there on the edge and not leaving anything out there on the track.

The race will consist of former All-Star race winners Kasey Kahne(2008), Kevin Harvick(2007), Jimmie Johnson(2006,2003), Mark Martin(2005,1998), Matt Kenseth(2004), Ryan Newman(2002), Jeff Gordon(2001,1997,1995) and Dale Earnhardt Jr.(2000). Every race winner since 2000 will be starting this event and all will present a challenge for the win.

Obviously this is a difficult race to pick for and an even harder race to label someone the "underdog" so I'm going to pick out my top three drivers that I think this year's format will play to their strengths in the end.

Kyle Busch

Hard to pick against the guy in a race where the format is all-or-nothing either bring home the money or bring home the car in a box trying to get the money.

The short sprints for the final three segments will benefit Kyle since short fast runs where he leaves nothing on the table is just the kind of runs he loves.

Jimmie Johnson

While I'm not saying its some kind of conspiracy that Johnson has been dominant at the track that bears the name of his sponsor, Lowe's, you definitely can't deny that Jimmie and his crew chief, Chad Knaus, seem to have this place figured out.

Jimmie already has three titles in a row, tying Yarborough's mark look for him to make a case for tying another mark by winning his third All-Star race tying the mark currently held by teammate Jeff Gordon and the late Dale Earnhardt.

Mark Martin

Mark "The Kid" Martin also has the chance to tie the mark of three All-Star victories and become the oldest winner of the All-Star event.

Martin, who will be 50 years and 127 days old on Saturday, will be gunning for them young kids and looking to show them how a real "all-star" does it. Not to mention he has that Hendrick equipment and access to the same notes as teammates Gordon and Johnson.

No matter what at the end of the night the true winners will be us, the fans. This race will have unbridled excitement and is almost guaranteed to have some moment, hopefully the finish, that we will be talking about for years.