Nascar Blog

Kurt Busch won the pole in Vegas with a record speed of 188.719, as a matter of fact, 18 drivers broke the old record. There is also some more good news for Busch and Jeff Gordon, who qualified second, two of the previous winners here won from the front row, and five of the 12 races were won from a starting spot in the top 10.

Jeff Gordon said he believed the big increase in qualifying speed was because of a new tire combination from Goodyear.

Here is Kurt’s qualifying run:

Here is Jeff Gordon’s qualifying run:

Here is how they qualified:
1 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 188.719 28.614 Leader
2 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Pepsi Max / DuPont 188.646 28.625 -0.011
3 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Tornados 188.180 28.696 -0.082
4 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet National Guard / Amp Energy 188.173 28.697 -0.083
5 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M’s 188.153 28.700 -0.086
6 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot 187.611 28.783 -0.169
7 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 187.598 28.785 -0.171
8 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 187.500 28.800 -0.186
9 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Old Spice / Office Depot 186.942 28.886 -0.272
10 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target 186.793 28.909 -0.295
11 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Crown Royal 186.748 28.916 -0.302
12 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac / Kellogg’s 186.554 28.946 -0.332
13 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Cheerios / Hamburger Helper 186.548 28.947 -0.333
14 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Mobil 1 186.445 28.963 -0.349
15 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota FrontRowJoe.com 186.355 28.977 -0.363
16 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge Penske Racing 186.245 28.994 -0.380
17 00 David Reutimann Toyota Tums 186.233 28.996 -0.382
18 6 David Ragan Ford UPS 186.188 29.003 -0.389
19 9 Kasey Kahne Ford Budweiser 185.995 29.033 -0.419
20 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools 185.963 29.038 -0.424
21 13 Max Papis Toyota GEICO 185.497 29.111 -0.497
22 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 185.395 29.127 -0.513
23 82 Scott Speed Toyota Red Bull 185.236 29.152 -0.538
24 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet McDonald’s 185.109 29.172 -0.558
25 34 Travis Kvapil Ford Long John Silver’s 185.058 29.180 -0.566
26 98 Paul Menard Ford Moen / Menards 184.773 29.225 -0.611
27 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Ground 184.615 29.250 -0.636
28 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies 184.590 29.254 -0.640
29 71 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet TaxSlayer.com 184.552 29.260 -0.646
30 36 Mike Bliss Chevrolet KimKardashian Fragrance / Sephora.com 184.540 29.262 -0.648
31 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 184.458 29.275 -0.661
32 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota Kingsford / Scott Products 184.445 29.277 -0.663
33 55 Michael McDowell Toyota Prism Motorsports 184.439 29.278 -0.664
34 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Pennzoil Ultra 184.080 29.335 -0.721
35 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA Gold Filters 183.961 29.354 -0.740
36 66 Dave Blaney Toyota Prism Motorsports 183.955 29.355 -0.741
37 19 Elliott Sadler Ford Stanley 183.467 29.433 -0.819
38 38 David Gilliland Ford Taco Bell 181.965 29.676 -1.062
39 37 Kevin Conway Ford Extenze 181.843 29.696 -1.082
40 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford Valvoline 181.026 29.830 -1.216
41 26 Boris Said Ford Sacred Power / Southern Pride Trucking 176.586 30.580 -1.966
42 7 Robby Gordon Toyota Monster Energy - - -
43 09 Aric Almirola Chevrolet Phoenix Racing 183.038 29.542 -0.928

Did Not Qualify
44 190 Casey Mears Chevrolet Keyed-Up Motorsports 182.248 29.630 -1.016
45 46 Terry Cook* Dodge Whitney Motorsports 180.705 29.883 -1.269

This is a week or so late, but congratulations to Jeff Gordon and Ingrid, they are expecting their second child in about 6 months.

Hey fans, Ingrid and I wanted to be the first to tell you (ok maybe not the first, but not far from it) the exciting news that Ingrid is 12 weeks pregnant and expecting our second child. We’re very excited and can’t wait to expand our family to four. Ella is also very excited and can’t stop talking about how much she’s looking forward to being a big sister.
JG Source:EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS FROM JEFF!

Congrats! Let’s hope for a boy, so that maybe we can have another Gordon racing another Earnhardt again one day.

This year’s Bud Shootout was okay, the bigger restrictor plate didn’t seem to make much difference as far as the race went for me. Harvick won after fighting the flu, I think he said he had no practice time in the car; maybe he should try that more often. It was funny that it didn’t end under green, which I believe is in the rulebook, but, it ended under caution when Greg Biffle lost it while Jeff Gordon was pushing him.

We’ll see if the bigger plate and the changes while help during the Daytona qualifying races and the 500 next week.

“I was sick on Thursday and didn’t even get to see a lap in the car, but this thing was a rocket, man,” said Harvick, the fourth back-to-back winner in Shootout history.

Kasey Kahne came home second in the non-points Cup event, followed by Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. Gordon, Joey Logano, Brian Vickers, Tony Stewart and Juan Montoya completed the top 10 as the race ended under caution one lap beyond the scheduled 75 laps. Source:

Here is how they finished:
1 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil
2 9 Kasey Kahne Ford Budweiser
3 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker
4 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M’s
5 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Express
6 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont
7 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot
8 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull
9 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Old Spice / Office Depot
10 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target
11 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet National Guard / Amp Energy
12 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar
13 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s
14 82 Ken Schrader Toyota Red Bull
15 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M
16 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Crown Royal
17 99 Carl Edwards Ford Scotts Turf Builder
18 71 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet TRG Motorsports
19 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Haas Automation
20 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet GoDaddy.com PE
21 151 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts
22 34 John Andretti Ford Window World Cares
23 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite PE
24 175 Derrike Cope Dodge Asset Protect/ Strutmasterspro.com

The bad guy won. No, I’m not talking about Jimmie Johnson just yet, in the battle of the Transformers, Megatron, Jeff Gordon, beat Optimus Prime, Ryan Newman, with Jeff finishing 4th to Ryan’s 11th. I’m sure there are lots of people who see Jimmie as the bad guy, as he has won 3 of the first five Chase races, and this week, he was fastest in both practices, won the pole and won the race. Not much you can do against a performance like that, Jeff Gordon has certainly been trying, but it looks like it is going to come down to whether Johnson makes a big mistake or has a mechanical failure. There’s always Talladega.

Mark Martin and Juan Montoya both lost a lot of ground, both because of an incident on a restart in which Martin ran into the back of Montoya, and Jeff Gordon is now in the third spot, 45 points behind Martin and 135 behind Johnson. While I still think it’s possible for Stewart, Busch or Montoya to win the Cup, I think it is more likely that Johnson, Martin or Gordon will win it. Things will become clearer after Martinsville next week, with the big question mark of Talladega coming up the next week.

My little boy has already requested the Jeff Gordon Megatron diecast car when it comes out, so, at least we have one present figured out.

Here is how they finished:
1 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 195/10 334 Running
2 4 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Carhartt 175/5 334 Running
3 3 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 170/5 334 Running
4 9 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen / DuPont 165/5 334 Running
5 12 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot 155/0 334 Running
6 11 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Scary Fast Count Chocula 150/0 334 Running
7 42 07 Casey Mears Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s 146/0 334 Running
8 10 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M’s / Susan G Komen for the Cure 142/0 334 Running
9 25 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet DJ Hero 138/0 334 Running
10 15 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 139/5 334 Running
11 6 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen / U.S. Army 130/0 334 Running
12 8 25 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 127/0 334 Running
13 5 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Old Spice / Office Depot 124/0 334 Running
14 34 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 121/0 334 Running
15 21 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine 118/0 334 Running
16 23 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M / Industrial Distribution Group 115/0 334 Running
17 2 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet Pop-Tarts / Carquest 117/5 334 Running
18 32 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 109/0 334 Running
19 27 12 David Stremme Dodge Penske Racing 106/0 334 Running
20 29 6 David Ragan Ford UPS 103/0 334 Running
21 37 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge Super 8 100/0 334 Running
22 13 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota Clorox / Kingsford / Bush’s Beans 97/0 334 Running
23 26 44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge Best Buy 94/0 334 Running
24 7 171 Mike Bliss Chevrolet TaxSlayer.com 91/0 334 Running
25 14 202 David Gilliland Toyota Farm Bureau Insurance 88/0 334 Running
26 38 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Stanley / Susan G Komen for the Cure 85/0 332 Running
27 31 98 Paul Menard Ford Johns Manville / Menards 82/0 332 Running
28 16 82 Scott Speed Toyota Red Bull 79/0 332 Running
29 36 21 Bill Elliott Ford Warriors in Pink Powered by Ford 76/0 332 Running
30 19 7 Robby Gordon Toyota Freightliner Trucks 73/0 332 Running
31 24 96 Bobby Labonte Ford Ask.com / Search for the Cure 70/0 331 Running
32 33 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA / Susan G Komen for the Cure 72/5 331 Running
33 20 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Jeremiah Weed Southern Style Sweet Tea Vodka 64/0 331 Running
34 30 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 61/0 330 Running
35 18 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Lysol 58/0 330 Running
36 41 34 John Andretti Chevrolet Taco Bell 55/0 330 Running
37 43 08 Terry Labonte Toyota Carter / Simo Racing 57/5 329 Running
38 39 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Amp Energy / National Guard 49/0 304 Running
39 28 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac 46/0 301 Out of Race
40 22 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Mobil 1 43/0 298 Running
41 40 113 Max Papis Toyota GEICO 40/0 286 In Pit
42 17 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Office 42/5 192 Out of Race
43 35 187 Joe Nemechek Toyota NEMCO Motorsports 34/0 26 In Pit

Here are the Chase points standings:
1 — Jimmie Johnson 5923
2 — Mark Martin 5833 -90
3 +2 Jeff Gordon 5788 -135
4 — Tony Stewart 5768 -155
5 +1 Kurt Busch 5746 -177
6 -3 Juan Montoya 5728 -195
7 — Greg Biffle 5655 -268
8 +2 Ryan Newman 5635 -288
9 +2 Kasey Kahne 5592 -331
10 -2 Carl Edwards 5582 -341
11 -2 Denny Hamlin 5551 -372
12 — Brian Vickers 5438 -485

The field is set and ready to go for Loudon this weekend.

1 Mark Martin 5040
2 Tony Stewart 5030
3 Jimmie Johnson 5030
4 Denny Hamlin 5020
5 Kasey Kahne 5020
6 Jeff Gordon 5010
7 Kurt Busch 5010
8 Brian Vickers 5010
9 Carl Edwards 5000
10 Ryan Newman 5000
11 Juan Montoya 5000
12 Greg Biffle 5000

Whose your pick and why?

I’m going with Gordon of course, he has been pretty consistent this year, the chase races aren’t typically his best but I think they can do it this year. He would be going for his 7th title under the old point system, but I guess I’ll get over that one day. All he needs is to run up front the first few races and return to dominating at Fontana, Charlotte, Martinsville and Talladega, that’s not much to ask, is it?

I missed these from the race in Sonoma, an interview session with Jeff Gordon for a lucky bunch of people, plus some other Gordon videos and videos from the race thrown in for good measure.

Looked like Tony Stewart might get his first win on Sunday, but a hard charging Jimmie Johnson had a different ending in mind.

Jimmie Johnson won the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway this past Sunday and even though he dominated most of the race, a bad pit stop forced him to restart in eighth and race his way past Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and others to take the lead with only a couple or three laps to go. I wasn’t really rooting for anyone at the end, but it was some good racing, Jimmie was coming like a rocket ship and Tony kept trying to keep him out of his groove to slow his momentum, but there was only so much Tony could do. Once Jimmie was past him, there was no way Tony was going to catch him to lay the bumper on him, so it was all over but the celebrating.

Tony did take the points lead from Jeff Gordon, who finished in 26th a couple laps down, but the points lead doesn’t really matter anymore, Gordon has dominated all year long during the chase before and still not won the championship. All Gordon needs to do now is win more races and get some bonus points to start off good in the chase and keep running good the rest of the way. Of course, that’s all everyone needs to do and it’s always easier said than done.

After the big story this past week of Dale Earnhardt Jr. being separated from his cousin Tony Eury Jr., they managed a respectable 12th place finish, but I believe Dale averages at least a mid pack finish at this track, and he has 7 out of 18 top tens here with one win, so there’s nothing for Jr. nation to celebrate about yet. There was also mention of a little conversation between Dale and Kyle Busch because Kyle had told the media Dale’s problems never seem to be his, always the crew chief. No one knows what they said to each other, but I bet Dale would clean his clock if Kyle got too mouthy with him.

Here is how they finished:

1 8 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools 195/10 400 Running
2 31 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Office Depot / Old Spice 175/5 400 Running
3 5 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M Nexcare 170/5 400 Running
4 14 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Dewalt 165/5 400 Running
5 19 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 155/0 400 Running
6 2 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 150/0 400 Running
7 13 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac 151/5 400 Running
8 11 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet U.S. Army 142/0 400 Running
9 17 07 Casey Mears Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s 138/0 400 Running
10 28 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet Kellogg’s / Carquest 139/5 400 Running
11 25 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet The Hartford 130/0 400 Running
12 22 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Amp Energy / National Guard 127/0 400 Running
13 12 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Mobil 1 124/0 400 Running
14 18 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 121/0 400 Running
15 21 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot 118/0 400 Running
16 32 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 115/0 400 Running
17 35 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 112/0 400 Running
18 1 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine 114/5 400 Running
19 4 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge U.S. Air Force 111/5 400 Running
20 20 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota RaceSavers.com 103/0 400 Running
21 15 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 100/0 399 Running
22 33 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies 97/0 399 Running
23 6 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M’s 94/0 399 Running
24 26 6 David Ragan Ford UPS 91/0 399 Running
25 9 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 88/0 399 Running
26 42 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 85/0 398 Running
27 10 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Stanley Tools 87/5 398 Running
28 27 96 Bobby Labonte Ford Ask.com / AutismSpeaks.com 79/0 397 Running
29 7 44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge Auto Value / Bumper to Bumper 76/0 396 Running
30 3 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target 78/5 395 Running
31 30 12 David Stremme Dodge Penske Racing 70/0 370 Accident
32 36 98 Paul Menard Ford Pittsburgh Paints / Menards 67/0 363 Running
33 40 7 Robby Gordon Toyota Richmond Water Heaters 64/0 282 Accident
34 43 34 John Andretti Chevrolet Taco Bell 61/0 253 Accident
35 29 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA 58/0 250 Engine
36 16 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Office 55/0 232 Accident
37 23 82 Scott Speed Toyota Red Bull 52/0 118 Engine
38 38 187 Joe Nemechek Toyota G.P.’s Enterprises / Huckleberry’s BBQ / LubePro’s 49/0 67 Drive Shaft
39 39 66 Dave Blaney Toyota Prism Motorsports 46/0 66 Transmission
40 37 09 Mike Bliss Dodge Phoenix Racing 43/0 56 Electrical
41 34 36 Mike Skinner Toyota Tommy Baldwin Racing 40/0 51 Engine
42 41 37 Tony Raines Chevrolet Long John Silver’s 37/0 42 Accident
43 24 171 David Gilliland Chevrolet CompUSA 39/5 38 Engine

And here are the current chase for the cup point standings:
1. +1 Tony Stewart 1,853 —
2. -1 Jeff Gordon 1,807 -46
3. +1 Jimmie Johnson 1,789 -64
4. -1 Kurt Busch 1,762 -91
5. +2 Ryan Newman 1,680 -173
6. — Kyle Busch 1,634 -219
7. -2 Denny Hamlin 1,630 -223
8. +1 Matt Kenseth 1,625 -228
9. +1 Greg Biffle 1,618 -235
10. -2 Jeff Burton 1,587 -266
11. — Carl Edwards 1,582 -271
12. — Mark Martin 1,567 -286

Here are the videos from the All Star Showdown and the All Star race from Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte. This one I’m sure will be popular.

As I said on Twitter yesterday, you either have a good day or a bad day at Talladega, and Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and others were involved in a big early wreck Sunday, bringing an early end to many drivers day. Check out the video:

This, of course, is one of the reasons that there are many first time winners at Talladega, and Brad Keselowski has joined that list. When the big one happens, there are always drivers who are favorites to win the race that get put out, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick and others, allowing the drivers who don’t win as much, a shot at the title. The very first race at Talladega, Richard Petty and other didn’t think the tires could take the track and wanted to skip that race and Nascar let them allowing Richard Brickhouse to get the win.

Here is a shot of the other big one from Talladega Sunday.

Of course we can’t forget the big finish in which Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski drove past Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to take first and second. Brad tried to go high, Carl blocked, he went low and got the position on him and he tried to block him again, spinning Edwards, who then flipped over the hood of Ryan Newman sending him flying into the safety fence where 7 or 8 fans were injured. I really hate the fact that anyone got hurt, but it was one heck of a finish. Carl Edwards climbed out of his car and jogged across the finish line ala Talladega Nights.

Nascar is thinking about passing out penalties for aggressive driving and blocking after Sunday’s events, saying, “We might have to start making some judgment calls of our own and issue penalties for drivers who blatantly block and abuse the bump drafting. We’re going to take whatever measures we need to in order to ensure the races are as safe as possible for everyone.” I wouldn’t mind seeing them try to do something about the blocking, but, aggressive driving is an exciting part of Nascar.

Just when you think Nascar is getting boring and predictable, you get an exciting race such as this one.
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