NASCAR - Johnson Wins In Wild Finish At Talladega

In Play Magazine

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson bring the field to the green flag

at the start of the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway
Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

TALLADEGA, Ala. — In a wild, three-wide, six-car finish at Talladega Superspeedway, Jimmie Johnson nipped Clint Bowyer by a record-tying .002 seconds to win Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron’s 499 race.

With a push from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., Johnson surged past Bowyer about six inches from the finish line. The finish tied Ricky Craven’s victory over Kurt Busch at Darlington in 2003 for the closest since the introduction of electronic timing and scoring in 1993.

The victory was Johnson’s first of the season and the 54th of his career. Jeff Gordon ran third and Earnhardt was fourth.

Kevin Harvick, who was pushing Richard Childress Racing teammate Bowyer, finished fifth. Roush Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle finished sixth and seventh, and Mark Martin, who spent the afternoon in tandem with Hendrick teammate Gordon, finished eighth.

Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty images for NASCAR

Brian Vickers brings out the first caution of the day after spinning

on lap 29 in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway

A wreck on Lap 140 wiped out two of the top championship contenders, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch. Contact between Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Joey Logano and Busch triggered the incident. Pushed by Logano, Busch spun to the inside and wiped out Kenseth in the process.

The cars of AJ Allmendinger and Denny Hamlin also sustained damage but were able to continue.

“I was just going straight on the bottom following Kurt (Busch) and got hit in the right-rear and put me straight in the wall,” Kenseth said. “I don’t really know what happened to cause that.  Obviously, something happened beside me that got somebody into my right rear.  I didn’t even know it was coming, just driving straight hoping to miss the rest of the bullets and get to the end and just got in a wreck.”

Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR

Fans watch Jimmie Johnson cross the finish line .002 seconds

ahead of Clint Boywer at Talladega Superspeedway.

Johnson's win ties the record for closest finish in NASCAR history.

As the lead pack of cars headed into Turn 3 on Lap 90, fire erupted beneath David Ragan’s No. 6 Ford. As the field began to slow, contact from Kurt Busch’s No. 22 Dodge sent the No. 2 of Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski hard into the outside wall.

The Toyota of Kasey Kahne and the Fords of Marcos Ambrose and Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne were collected in the melee.

Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

Jimmie Johnson climbs out of the No.48 Lowe's Chevrolet in victory

lane after winning the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway

“That was one of the harder hits I’ve taken, just because it was so much of a frontal impact across the track, off the apron, all the way to the wall,” Bayne said. “I don’t know who got us.  I saw the 6 blowing up in front of us, so I keyed up the mic. I’m like, ‘It’s getting crazy in front of me, Greg’—I was on Greg Biffle’s radio at the time. As soon as I said that they blew up, Greg got off of me because I yelled, ‘Blowing up, blowing up.’

“He got off of me and at the same time the 2 car got hooked somehow. I don’t know that they triggered each other; I just saw the 2 get hooked at the same time the 6 was on fire. He (Keselowski) goes across the track, I saw him hit the outside wall, but then I don’t know who caught us in the right rear and sent us. But I thought we were safe. I was like, ‘Man, that was close,’ and about the time I said that I was headed toward the outside wall. So not a fun ride.”

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NASCAR-Last-Lap Pass Gives Harvick Win at Fontana

In Play Magazine

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

FONTANA, Calif.—Hometown boy (finally) makes good.

 

Kevin Harvick, who grew up in Bakersfield—about 150 miles from Auto Club Speedway—needed a last-lap pass of Jimmie Johnson to win for the first time at the 2-mile track, in his 18th attempt.

Harvick won Sunday’s Auto Club 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, powering his No. 29 Chevrolet to the outside of Johnson’s No. 48 Chevy through Turns 3 and 4 and beating Johnson to the finish line by .144 seconds. 

Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCARHonorary starter Sugar Ray Leonard waves the green flag

as Juan Pablo Montoya leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series field to

start the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

Harvick, who restarted fifth with nine laps remaining, surged to the front on the final two laps, passing Kyle Busch and Johnson in the process. The victory was Harvick’s first of the season and 15th of his career and moved him up six spots in the points standings to ninth.

Busch, who led a race-high 151 laps, came home third, followed by Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman. Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne and polesitter Juan Pablo Montoya completed the top 10. Edwards took over the series lead by nine points over Newman.

Busch held the lead until Lap 198, when Johnson passed him to the inside after the cars crossed the stripe. The duel between Busch and Johnson allowed Harvick to gain ground.

A caution on Lap 185 of 200, after Bobby Labonte blew a right front tire and slammed the Turn 4 wall, meant decision time for the crew chiefs. With Labonte’s wrecked car blocking the entrance to pit road, the pits remained closed until Lap 189, when Labonte’s car was dragged to the garage by a wrecker.

Busch, Johnson, Tony Stewart, Bowyer, Harvick, Newman and Edwards stayed on the track during the caution, with Kenseth leading a group of cars to pit road.

“Those guys just started to race,” Harvick said. “They got side by side, and we were able to pull up in there. The more laps we got on our tires, the better we were, but I was really nervous about that last call—staying out—but it all worked out in our favor, and we were able to make up ground.

Credit: Victor Decolongon/Getty Images for NASCARKevin Harvick passes Jimmie Johnson in Turn 4 of the final lap

to win the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

“(Crew chief) Gil (Martin) obviously knew that we were better after the tires had air in them (as pressure built during green-flag runs), and it all worked out today.”

Johnson’s battle with Busch opened the door for Harvick, who led one lap—the one that counted.

“If I could have gotten by the No. 18 (Busch) a lap sooner, maybe that would have made the difference, and I would have had enough of a margin to hold off the No. 29, but he was rolling on the top,” Johnson said. “I did all I could. I was dead sideways. I think I hit the fence one time off of (Turn) 2, chasing Kyle, with the right rear first because it was sliding off the corner.”

After a cycle of stops that began when Busch pitted from the lead on Lap 138, Busch held a 6.5-second lead over Stewart, who began to make up ground throughout the ensuing green-flag run. Stewart had erased all but 1.3 seconds of Busch’s advantage when another cycle of green-flag stops widened the lead to 2.5 seconds.



Andy Lally’s spin off Turn 4 on Lap 170, however, brought out the third caution of the race and bunched the field for a restart on Lap 175. Busch and Stewart took the green flag side-by-side, with Busch in the outside lane, and the driver of the No. 18 Toyota pulled away to a half-second lead within three laps.

Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCARKevin Harvick and crew chief Gil Martin give each other a champagne

shower after winning the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

Notes: Sunday’s race was Harvick’s 39th at Fontana in NASCAR’s top three series. He is winless in 17 NASCAR Nationwide Series and four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts. He finished third in Saturday’s Royal Purple 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. … Harvick’s victory was the first at Fontana for team owner Richard Childress. … Harvick teammate Paul Menard finished 16th, improving on his previous best finish of 18th at Fontana. Menard, who is seventh in the standings, has personal-best results at all five tracks this season. … Dale Earnhardt Jr. came home 12th and fell to 12th in points, 31 behind Edwards.

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NASCAR- Kyle Busch Completes Weekend Sweep At Bristol

In Play Magazine

Credit: Jeff Zelvansky/Getty Images
Carl Edwards and Paul Menard lead the field at the
beginning of the Jeff Byrd 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway

Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City

Bristol Motor Speedway

Sunday, Mar. 20

266.5 miles (500 laps)

By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(March 20, 2011)

BRISTOL, Tenn.—The question isn’t whether Kyle Busch will win at Bristol Motor Speedway—it’s whether anyone else can find a way to keep him out of victory lane.

 

First off pit road after stops under caution on Lap 429, Busch held off polesitter Carl edwards and defending race winner Jimmie Johnson to win his fifth straight race in NASCAR’s top three national series at the .533-mile short track.  



Credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images
David Reutimann, Brian Vickers and Denny Hamlin bring out the first caution
of the Jeff Byrd 500 on lap 29 at Bristol Motor Speedway



Busch’s victory in Sunday’s Jeff Byrd 500 was his 20th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, his first of the season and his second straight at Thunder Valley. Busch capped his second straight weekend sweep at Bristol, having won Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series event.



Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR
Kyle Busch and the No.18 crew pose with the
Jeff Byrd 500 trophy in victory lane at Bristol Motor Speedway



Last August, Busch became the first driver to win three national series races at the same track on the same weekend when he claimed victories in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck, NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Edwards finished second for the second time in four races this season, and Johnson finished third, also for the second time in 2011. Matt Kenseth was fourth and Paul Menard fifth. Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman completed the top 10.

   

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Late Surge Helps Gordon Break 66-Race Drought

In Play Magazine

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Trevor Bayne saw the fairy-tale start to his season come to an
end when he hit the wall in Turn 1 on Lap 50 of the
SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR

AVONDALE, Ariz.—Jeff Gordon didn’t just drive to end hunger Sunday—he drove to end a famine.

With a convincing victory in the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, where he beat runner-up Kyle Busch to the checkered flag by 1.137 seconds, Gordon ended a 66-race winless streak dating to April 2009 at Texas.



The win was Gordon’s second at the one-mile flat track and the 83rd of his career, tying him with Cale Yarborough for fifth on the NASCAR Sprint Cup victory list.

He won for the first time in his second start with crew chief Alan Gustafson and in his second race under "Drive to end hunger" sponsorship, an initiative of AARP.

"Pinch me, man. Pinch me," Gordon said in mock disbelief, after killing his engine in an ill-fated burnout on the frontstretch.

Five-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson finished third after starting 28th. Kevin Harvick came home fourth, a substantial improvement over his 42nd-place result in last week’s Daytona 500, and Ryan Newman claimed fifth.

Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, AJ Allmendinger and Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed the top 10.

In victory lane, Gordon was positively bubbly.



"God, it feels so amazing," the four-time Cup champion said. "I can’t tell you how amazing this feels. So thankful to (owner) Rick Hendrick, all that he does. It’s been a long time, I know. I’m going to savor this one so much, but I’ve got to say thanks to the fans.

"I mean not only the fans at home—I’ve been tweeting lately for the first time and all of the stuff that people have been saying, the motivation has been unbelievably inspiring. And then to see that crowd stick around to see my really lame burnout—because I stink at them—but they love that show. Man, we hope we can give them some more shows like that this year."

Taking the lead on Lap 304 of 312, Gordon prevented Busch from achieving the second weekend sweep of his career. Busch had won Friday’s Camping World Truck Series race and Saturday’s Nationwide Series event.

Polesitter Carl Edwards saw his chances to win the race come to an end early, when he
was involved in a five-car accident on Lap 59. Edwards finished 28th, 60 laps down.

Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images

On Sunday, however, he fell nine laps and one position short of matching the feat he accomplished at Bristol last August, when he became the first driver to win races in all three of NASCAR’s top national touring series at the same track on the same weekend.

"There’s always got to be the one car out there to ruin the whole weekend," Busch quipped. "Today it was the 24."

Gordon nosed to the inside of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota at the start-finish line and cleared him in Turn 1 to complete the winning pass.



"He was gaining on me really good, and I knew he was going to get to me eventually, and this place is so flat and it’s one groove that we all run the bottom," Busch said of the sequence where Gordon got to his bumper on Lap 304.

After passing Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon pulled away to win

the SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 by 1.137 seconds.

Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images

"He got so tucked up behind me in (Turns) 3 and 4, he got me loose, and I could not put the gas down," Busch said. "I mean, he was so far up underneath me that I could not go forward."

Busch, at least, could find some degree of consolation in taking over the lead in the series standings by three points over his brother, Kurt.



Gordon had to survive a number of early wrecks, including a 13-car pileup on the backstretch that blocked the track with crippled cars and stopped the action on Lap 67.



Jeff Gordon celebrates his SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 at
Phoenix International Raceway.
The victory was the 83rd of his career, tying him with
Cale Yarborough for fifth on the all-time wins list.
Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR



Slight contact between Matt Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford and Brian Vickers’ No. 83 Toyota cut Vickers’ left rear tire and ignited a wild wreck that damaged the cars of Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray, David Reutimann, Casey Mears, Travis Kvapil, David Gilliland, Bobby Labonte, Regan Smith, Andy Lally and Robby Gordon.



"We’re all better racecar drivers than this," a disgusted Bowyer said after the incident. "It’s pretty embarrassing, to be honest with you."

 

The wreck occurred eight laps after contact between Kyle Busch and the No. 99 Ford of polesitter Carl Edwards sent Edwards into the Turn 3 wall. Edwards, who entered the race with the points lead, was able to return to the race but finished 28th, 52 laps back.


"I’m not exactly sure what happened," Edwards said. "I’ll have to talk to Kyle about it. I thought at first he was just frustrated and he turned left to get back in line and he didn’t know I was there. But I watched the tape, and I think he really did get loose. He hit me hard, and I was left with nothing."

Busch acknowledged responsibility for the wreck, saying repeatedly he owed an apology to Edwards.

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Rookie Trevor Bayne wins the Daytona 500

By Matt Harding
In Play Magazine

In a photo finish, Trevor Bayne won the 53rd running of the Daytona 500. The green flag, commencing the race, waved at 1:29 p.m. EST. In a tribute during Lap 3, fans stood and raised three fingers while observing a lap of silence in memory of Dale Earnhardt, who died at the Daytona 500 in 2001.

Credit: Brandon Goodman/Getty Images for NASCAR
 Honorary Grand Marshals Michael Bay, Josh Duhamel and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
pose next to the No. 48 Wrecker from Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Fast forwarding to Lap 107, many lead changes later, and after 29 laps of green flag racing, the eighth caution of the day came out. The No. 42 car spun, but driver Juan Pablo Montoya managed to keep it straight and drive it onto pit road. The entire field followed, pitting on the next lap under the yellow flag.

Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR
Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann spin which brings out the fourth caution of the Daytona 500. The incident involved 14 cars on lap 30 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla.



Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Trevor Bayne and the No. 21 crew celebrates winning the 53rd Daytona 500
in the infield at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Moving ahead to yellow flag no. 14, one of Kasey Kahne's tires went flat. With 16 to go, Darrell Waltrip, FOX Sports commentator and former driver said, "It's gonna get a little wild and crazy now."

He was absolutely correct; Newman was in the lead from the green flag being pushed by Hamlin, but Kurt Busch was right on their tails. Would they remain green until the finish? In typical Daytona 500 fashion, on Lap 197, the answer was no. Kurt Busch slammed into the back of Regan Smith, sending him into the wall and out of the race.

The green-white-checker flag waved on the final scheduled lap. However, another wreck resulted in another try at a green-white-checker.

With a record number of lead changes and cautions at the Daytona 500, rookie Trevor Bayne came away with the victory in a stunning finish. The 53rd running of the Daytona 500, the first on the brand-new racing surface at Daytona International Speedway, featured a track-record 74 lead changes and 22 leaders.


The lead-change record was especially noteworthy, considering the previous mark lasted more than three decades. The prior lead change mark was 60, set in the 1974 Daytona 500.

See full race results here.

Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR
Trevor Bayne lifts the Harley J. Earl trophy with the No. 21 crew in victory lane after winning the 53rd Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla.

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NASCAR season starts with a bang

By Matt Harding
In Play Magazine

The Daytona 500 -- America's Race -- is under way! The 53rd annual Daytona 500 is 200 laps of 2.5-mile track, as always; Dale Earnhardt Jr. is on the pole and NASCAR honored his father, Dale Sr. during lap #3, Senior's old car number. Dale Earnhardt Sr. was killed 10 years ago during an accident at the Daytona 500.

In Play! Magazine will have a wrap up after the race. Stay tuned and enjoy the race!

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Englishman Towler Looks To Defend NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship

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Official NASCAR Online Racing Series Opens Its Second Season

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Feb. 15, 2011) – Following last year’s inaugural season of the first officially sanctioned online racing series, which saw the sport crown its first official European champion, NASCAR and iRacing are poised to launch the second season of the NASCAR iRacing.com Series Championship.

Today, February 15, online racing competition begins with the virtual race at Daytona International Speedway to launch the 18-race, 36-week season. Last season’s champion, Richard Towler of Hull, England, seeks to defend his title against 49 other top-rated drivers, including the top-20 finishers from last season and the top 30 from the 2010 NASCAR iRacing Pro Series.

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