Allmendinger is Out Indefinitely!!

By Sherri Breaton

Penske Driver A.J. Allmendinger was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR
Photo courtesy of NASCAR.com

Despite it being an off week in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, there was still lots of news happening around the tracks.

 A. J. Allmendinger has been suspended indefinitely from NASCAR following his failure to pass the “B” test sample provided following a positive “A” test a few weeks ago for a banned “stimulant”. Allmendinger maintains that he did not knowingly ingest any banned substance and has even suggested that he may have come from a stimulant. He recently signed on with sponsor “Fuel in a Bottle”. It is unclear if this could have been the cause.

His business manager, Tara Ragan, said that the driver is still waiting for information to determine what caused the positive test. NASCAR has since revealed that the substance was amphetamine:

 “He has no idea why the test was positive, and he has never knowingly taken any prohibited substance. A.J. is collecting his medicines and supplements for testing to determine whether an over-the-counter product caused his positive test” Ragan stated following the test outcome.

Allmendinger has chosen to enter the “Road to Recovery” path to reinstatement. David Black, NASCAR’s substance abuse program administrator said that the timetable for Allmendinger's potential return is unclear. It can take Allmendinger anywhere from a few months to more than a year to be reinstated.

Black also went on to state that he would be surprised to learn that the positive result came from a supplement. As Black explained to ESPN:

“On every positive test we have, we look to rule out the possibility of a supplement being involved. Of course, we have not identified the drug (this has since changed) but I'm not aware of any commercial products that would have influenced the test outcome."

NASCAR's substance abuse policy bans stimulants including amphetamine, methamphetamine, Ecstasy (MDMA), Eve (MDEA), MDA, PMA, Phentermine and other amphetamine derivatives and related compounds.

Just hours after the revelation became public, Allmendinger took to Twitter to say a few words (all words sic’d):

"I just want to say thank you first and foremost for all if u sticking by me. Please dont think me being means i havent been reading all ur / Support. And man, it means more than u eill ever know. Im sorry we even have to have this going on. But i promise..i will do whatever it / Takes to get to the bottom of this and get back our there no matter what. Thanks guys."

Typically, the grammar police of Twitterland kicked the poor guy when he was down and in no time he was being ridiculed for his poor English skills. He later tweeted:

"Hey..sorry to u guys jumping on my spelling..it wasnt a "pr" statement..it was me typing from my heart...sorry it wasnt perfect".

Sam Hornish Jr., who subbed for Allmendinger at Daytona and New Hampshire, will again drive the No. 22 car this weekend at Indianapolis and in the following race at Pocono.

Kasey Kahne is riding on a post win high after stealing a win away from Denny Hamlin in New Hampshire July 15^th, 2012. A major communication screw up between Hamlin and crew chief Darian Grubb in the pits cost Hamelin the win after he had been leading 150 of the 300 one-mile laps.

Kasey Kahne celebrates in victory lane at Louden holding the
traditional "lobsta"
Photo courtesy of NASCAR.com

"Darian asked me how much of the tires I felt I'd used up. I felt like I had used up a substantial amount," Hamlin said. "(I said) give me tires and no adjustments. He thought I meant four tires. Nothing's a given. Even though it looked like we had one in the bag if we took two tires, you never know."  Apparently Hamlin only wanted two tires.

Kahne took advantage of the foul up and on the restart jumped in to first on lap 240 while Hamlin restarted 13^th.   The victory for Kahne made him start looking like an actual Cup contender and helped his chances of qualifying for the Chase (the last 10 races of the season in which the top 10 drivers in the point standings win automatic berths). Two additional spots go to the drivers with the most wins who are ranked 11th to 20th in points.

Kahne went from 16th to 12th, and his two wins are more than anyone in the second group of 10. The win was the fifth of the year for Hendrick Motorsports in 19 races. Seven remain before the Chase begins at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., on Sept. 16.

Just when NASCAR fans can not possibly take any more ridicule directed at them, 72 year old Linda Chase of Michigan gives them more ammo. Last month police discovered that Ms. Chase had been keeping her 67 year old friend Charles Zigler’s mummified dead body in his apartment since approximately 2010. Once a week she would dress him, clean him and sit with him so that they could enjoy the NASCAR race on TV. Oh she was also cashing his social security checks probably to pay for the beer and Doritos. Who say’s we NASCAR fans aren’t “die hard”??

On a more “lively” note, NASCAR Chairman, Brian France made a statement about his commitment to making changes in the sport:

"There aren't a whole lot of people who don't want to see more lead changes, or a photo finish, or slamming and banging coming out of the fourth turn."

"It's a contact sport and if you have a chance to win and are in second place on the last lap, would I expect there to be some contact if you have a faster car? Absolutely...we want to see what everybody else wants to see - excitement."

Bring it!

Sunday we resume racing as we go green at the Brickyard in Indy for the Curtiss Shaver 400. Let’s see who is fast enough to kiss the bricks when the checkered flag flies!

The Lowe's 48 Team of Jimmie Johnson kissing the bricks
at the Brickyard
Photo courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports

Agree? Disagree?

Drop me line at In Play! Magazine on Facebook

Welcome to the Club Kasey!

By Sherri Breaton

Opening Ceremonies for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motorspeedway
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

When Kasey Kahne drove into Victory Lane at the Coca-Cola 600 on May 27^th, he earned his wings into the winning club that is Hendrick Motorsports. He now joins the ranks of the many great drivers that helped achieve 200 plus Cup victories.

''It's something I've been looking forward to for a long time,'' Kahne said after winning NASCAR’s longest race for the third time.

Kasey Kahne captures the checkered flag at the 2012 Coca-Cola 600
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

Kahne crossed the finish line nearly five seconds ahead of Denny Hamlin followed by Kyle

Busch in third and current points leader Greg Biffle fourth. It was Kahne's 13th career win

and first since last November in Phoenix.

For much of this race, it looked as if Biffle was untouchable. He led 204 laps and dominated the race early on. His car seemed to be performing the best in the Charlotte NC heat. Once the sun went down and night fell, the track cooled but Kahne got HOT! Kahne led 96 laps, including the final 42.

''Kasey's car was just better at night,'' Biffle said.

It was just a matter of time for Kahne to get a win this season. Up until now he basically had a streak of bad luck with his cars. Once they figured things out all he had to do was what he does best-DRIVE IT! Congrats Kasey for one of hopefully many wins in the future for you and your team!

Kasey Kahne with his first trip to Victory Lane with his new team at Hendrick's
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

What the heck happened to the stellar pit crew of Jimmie Johnson? After taking home last week’s top honours at the All Star Pit Crew Challenge, their performance this week cost their driver a possible victory. When Johnson attempted to make his final pit stop of the long night on Lap 354 of the 400-lap event at Charlotte Motor Speedway, he was running third behind race winner Kahne and Denny Hamlin.

Crew Chief Chad Knaus has requested a two tire pit stop in an attempt to save Johnson time to get off pit road and jump in front of the current leaders. Then things got ugly. Once the jack drops that is the cue to the driver that he is good to go. Well the jack dropped and Johnson took off...with his gas man Brandon Harder and his fuel can still stuck to the car.

I looked at my husband and said “I can’t wait to hear the radio transmission from Knaus after this. He is going to be flipping out.” A few moments later we watched the replay of an animated Chad on the pit box and listened to the following.

"Go! Go! Go! STOP! STOP! STOP! ", Knaus yelled over the radio as he watched the chaos ensue. "Oh my God! We just destroyed our [#*&%ing] day!"

The Gas Man for the #48 walks away after a major pit crew foul up
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

NASCAR tends to frown upon cars leaving pit road with equipment and/or people still stuck to the cars.

So the powers that be at NASCAR handed him a scolding. The Lowe’s 48 car was ordered to serve a stop-and-go penalty. This ended up dropping his position to 13^th place and a lap down from the lead lap. Johnson was never able to recover the momentum he needed and finished just outside the top 10 in 11^th place.

Of note, Danica Patrick was the first woman to drive the 600 since Janet Guthrie in 1976. She finished the race five laps down in 30th place, which was her best finish in her three Sprint Cup races so far. Her sole goal for the race was to just finish and she managed to accomplish just that. It really is a long race and she had a poor starting position due to a lousy qualifier but she stuck it out to the end. Kudos to Danica!

The race was the quickest ever for the 600 at 3 hours, 51 minutes, 14 seconds, nearly five minutes faster than the mark set in 1995.

This week we are headed to the “Monster Mile” at Dover International Speedway for the Fedex 400 Autism Speaks to see if 2011 winner Matt Kenseth can pull off a repeat.

Agree? Disagree?

Drop me line at In Play! Magazine on Facebook

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.

Agree? Disagree?

Drop me line at In Play! Magazine on Facebook

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

Agree? Disagree?

Drop me line at In Play! Magazine on Facebook

Newman Wins, Hendrick Team Has Disappointing Day

Ryan Newman Wins the Goody's Fast Relief 500
Photo via Nascar.com 

All of the puzzle pieces were intact for a spectacular historic 200th NASCAR Sprint Cup victory for Hendrick Motorsports in Sunday's Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. The team won its very first race in 1984 here and were looking to capitalize on this beautiful sunny day in Virginia. Mr. Hendrick was all smiles watching his stable of drivers have a great run. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon already have 13 Martinsville victories between them.  The duo was a force to be reckoned with again today leading 440 of the scheduled 500 laps.

Then the proverbial bottom fell out.

The beginning of the end for this race for the Hendrick
Team
Photo courtesy of Nascar.com

A late race caution came just as Gordon had taken over the lead from Johnson. On the green-white-checkered restart, Johnson was on the outside and Gordon on the inside with Clint Bowyer behind who got shoved by Ryan Newman. Bowyer made the “wtf” move of the race deciding to go three-wide under Gordon in Turn 1. Johnson inevitably squished into Gordon, who in turn got into Bowyer. Goodbye victory lane for all three of them as they could not recover from the resulting wreck. Ryan Newman, in the Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet came out of virtually nowhere and held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. and AJ Allmendinger on the next and final restart. Gordon, who had led 328 laps, finished the race 14th, two positions behind Johnson, who led 112 laps. Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamelin, Matt Kenseth, Eric Almirola, Newman’s team mate/owner Tony Stewart rounded out the top ten.

Although Jr. had a fantastic showing once again, karma does not seem to be on Kasey Kahne’s side! Kahne, who had been racing in the top five, drove into the garage during the caution and later parked his car with engine failure, continuing what has been a gut wrenching season for the Hendrick driver.

Needless to say as a Team Hendrick fan this was not a good race. Martinsville has always been a sentimental place as this was the track that Rick Hendrick’s son Ricky, along with his brother John and his twin daughters along with 6 others died in a plane crash enroute to the track. The team always tries to pull together a win here in honour of all those lost. Today was not the day.

While many were angry with Bowyer’s bonehead move, many more were angry with the #10 driver David Reutimann. Following several laps of him hobbling around at ridiculously low speeds, he inexplicably drove past pit road and stalled on the front stretch. It was this move that caused the chain reaction mentioned early that took out the race leaders - all in the name of points.

Reutimann himself was genuinely unimpressed with his actions stating, “I don't even know how the race ended up finishing, but I just hate that I was involved in anything that changed the complexion of the race so I got to apologize to the guys that it affected.” He should have gotten out of the way and pitted. If nothing else, safety of all things comes to mind!

All that aside, congratulations to Ryan Newman on his 16th victory in 374 career race starts. The last time Ryan won was in New Hampshire July 2011. Tony Stewart probably has a smile a mile wide tonight and rightfully so!! 

Greg Biffle is still sitting on top of the leader board with, *GASP* Dale Earnhardt Jr. in SECOND place! I cannot believe my eyes! It’s about time we see him start to shine again!

Next week is an off week so that the teams may celebrate Easter with their families, then its on to the land of ten gallon hands and lots of bull (well riding anyway)...TEXAS!!! 

Ryan Newman does a victory burnout in the
#39 Outback Steakhouse Chevy
Photo via Nascar.com

Ryan Newman winner of the
Goody's Fast Relief 500
Photo via Nascar.com

By Sherri Breaton

Agree? Disagree?

Drop me line at In Play! Magazine on Facebook