Brad Keselowski Gets By With a Little Help From a Friend

By Sherri Breaton

Brad Kesolowski wins the 2012 Aaron's 400
at Talladega Super Speedway
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

Everybody knows that the guy usually running second at Talladega Super Speedway normally wins. It’s rare for the leader on the last lap to take the checkered flag. However, Brad Keselowski once again proved that he is an unpredictable force to be reckoned with at the Aaron’s 400 yesterday. He could not have envisioned that ending any better had he not already had a dream about it. Hmmmmm calling Brad on the psychic hotline tomorrow.....

"I had this whole plan if I ever got in that situation where I was leading; I thought about it and thought about it, dreamed about what to do, and sure enough, going into (turn) three, it was just me and Kyle," Keselowski said. "I knew the move I wanted to pull. It worked because the guy running second should have the advantage, but I had this move all worked up in my mind."

The Super Speedway at Talladega
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

 That little move gave him his second career win at Talladega as well as his second win of the 2012 Cup race season. Had it not been for the unlikely drafting partner of Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth was set to win. Kyle gave a huge push to Keselowski enabling the victory and leaving the Daytona 500 winner to watch from behind. Following the race Busch had nothing but praise for the winner’s driving ability.

"He's no dummy, that's for sure," said Busch, for the second time in as many days ended up the ugly stepsister. Kyle was the leader on the last lap of Saturday's Nationwide Series race, and was schooled by the kid Logano, who beat him to the finish line.

Matt Kenseth was more involved in his self imposed pity party after literally handing the win to Keselowski.

"I think we had the winning car, really just didn't have the winning driver," Kenseth said and continued, "I wasn't too fast. I was just too stupid I guess at the end to keep a win." Poor guy.

Kasey Kahne finished fourth and was followed by Biffle, Clint Bowyer and David Ragan. Trevor Bayne was eighth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. ninth and Jeff Burton rounded out the top 10.

I am really starting to think this cloud of “200^th win” is hanging heavy over the Hendrick’s teams. Not that two top ten finishers is anything to scoff at but I just wish ONE of them would get Mr. Hendrick the win and get on with it.  The other two Hendrick drivers had a dismal weekend once again. Jeff Gordon got caught up on a wreck and Jimmie Johnson had engine failure this week.

Bump drafting at its finest
Photo courtesy of Tyler Barrick Getty Images 

Bump drafting and tandem racing is always nerve racking to watch. To see these drivers practically hooked onto each others bumpers in a chain like a locomotive going around the track at speeds up to 200 MPH is restrictor plate mayhem at it’s finest.

For those fans who love to see them wreck the Aaron’s 400 ended a three race drought of multi- car wrecks. The last multi-car wreck was in Martinsville when Clint Bowyer took out Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson in the final ten laps. For the record I am not one of them. It is potentially life threatening for any one of these drivers involved in a wreck as witnessed in Saturday’s Nationwide race. Fans watched in horror as driver Eric McClure was airlifted unresponsive to a local hospital for treatment following a hard hit to the “soft wall” that sent the wall flying back three feet. He has since been listed in stable condition.

With 45 laps to go Aric Almirola ran out of gas and the cars following close behind were not able to clear in time. The chain-reaction crash involved Jeff Gordon, Carlo Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, J.P. Montoya, Terry Labonte, Landon Cassill and Dave Blaney. This was only the first of four multi-car wrecks in the final laps, including another nine-car crash that involved Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Logano (Again), Paul Menard, Michael Waltrip, A.J. Allmendinger, Robert Richardson Jr. and Denny Hamelin. 


You have to hand it to defending champion Tony Stewart for his commentary on the recently clean races and those fans who crave “more action”. Tony had this to say following the race.

"Honestly, I think if we haven't crashed at least 50 percent of the field by the end of the race, we need to extend the race until we crash at least 50 percent of the cars. It's not fair to these fans to see any more wrecks than that, any more torn-up cars. I mean, we still had over half the cars running at the end, and it shouldn't be that way. I'm upset that we didn't crash more cars. That's what we're here for. I feel bad if I don't spend at least $150,000 in torn-up race cars going back to the shop. We've definitely got to do a better job at that." He finished 24^th following a wreck.

Ouch!
Photo courtesy of Getty Images 

Love him or hate him, there is no “grey area” with Tony. Mr. Stewart, please do not ever change.

Greg Biffle still sits on top of the overall leader board followed by Matt Kenseth and OH WOW Dale Earnhardt Jr. in third place!


Next week we are onto Darlington for a Mother’s Day showdown.

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The Biff Brings it Home In Texas!

Greg Biffle wins the Samsung Mobile 500
at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday night.
Photo Courtesy of Nascar.com

 Greg Biffle robbed Rick Hendrick once again of his 200^th   career Cup win at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday night to end a winless streak of 49 races as he drove past Jimmie Johnson (who only lead 156 of 334 laps), with 30 laps remaining to capture the checkered flag at the Samsung Mobile 500. Poor Rick. That box of "200th victory hats" still awaits, yet second place is nothing to sneeze at and Jimmie and the rest of the Hendrick stable are holding their own so far this season! While as a die hard Hendrick Fan, it's hard to feel bitter about Greg Biffle winning the race. He is the younger generation of Nascar's Mark Martin. Plain and simple, he is a nice guy. He loves puppies. He puts out an annual calendar of Nascar drivers and their respective dogs; many of them rescues. He is an avid animal lover and he and his wife Nicole are huge supporters of local shelters and the need to find homes for strays. How can you not love them?

There were only two cautions for 10 slowed-down laps, both for debris, and the race finished with a record 234 consecutive laps of green-flag racing.

At the end of the race Biffle said his hands were hurting from fighting the wheel through the wind. He expressed that there were no major incidents because every driver was dealing with the same conditions and maybe more cautious because of the.

The aforementioned Mark Martin finished third in a Michael Waltrip-owned Toyota, followed by Jeff Gordon, then Roush driver Matt Kenseth. Polesitter Martin Truex Jr., another Waltrip car, was sixth after leading 69 . Kasey Kahne, the first-year Hendrick driver, finished seventh ahead of another Roush driver, Carl Edwards. Harvick and Earnhardt rounded out the top 10.

Kasey Kahne winner of the Camping World Truck Series Race
At Rockingham
photo courtesy of Nascar.com

Incidentally, Kasey Kahne had an even more impressive weekend aside from his finish at Texas last night. Kasey climbed through the field after starting in the back to win Sunday's Camping World Truck Series race at Rockingham Speedway, the first NASCAR race at the track since 2004. I feel very confident that Kasey will continue to shine once again on the track. He has had a rough few years but change is about to come for the young gun! My friend Patti lights candles every Sunday I swear!

Next week, Kansas Motor Speedway! Another track on my bucket list!

By Sherri Breaton

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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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