Jeff Gordon

Matt Gerwitz asked:


NASCAR Weekly Report

5/17/09

Author:  Matt Gerwitz

http://www.RacingWeeklyNews.com, U. S. Sports Media, Inc
CONCORD, N.C. - Smoke was on fire Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway for the NASACAR Sprint Cup Series’ annual all-star race. Tony Stewart, whose nickname in the garage is “Smoke”, won his first race as an owner-driver by passing Matt Kenseth with two laps to go. Though the all-star race is not a points race, the winner’s purse over $1 million makes for some great competition and exciting racing. The winnings are sure to help the bottom line for Stewart-Haas racing which is running its inaugural season on NASCAR’s senior circuit.

Jeff Gordon had a very strong car, sticking to the bottom of the track most of the night. Inside of ten laps the number twenty-four was in a back-and-forth battle with Kyle Busch for the lead. With eight laps to go Gordon was three-wide with Busch in the middle and Ryan Newman on the high side. Assuming he was clear on the right, Gordon allowed himself to drift up at the same time Busch and Nedwman were coming down. The contact sent him into the grass, then up the track and into the wall. Asked afterwards about the contact, Gordon said that it was just a group of guys racing really hard.

Matt Kenseth finished second, Kurt Busch was third, Denny Hamiln fourth, and Carl Edwards fifth. Mark Martin, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top ten. The Sprint Cup Series returns to Lowe’s Motor Speedway next weekend for the Coca-Cola 600, long considered the series most difficult endurance race.

Meanwhile, the Camping World Trucks returned to action at Lowe’s on Friday night after taking off the last two weekends. Points leader Mike Skinner crashed just 35 laps in, ending his night and causing him to surrender the points lead to second place driver Ron Hornaday. For his part, Hornaday went on to win the 200 mile race and build a lead of 84 points over Skinner. At one point Hornaday was a lap down when he got caught in the pits by a caution flag. He battled back and took the lead from Matt Crafton on lap 106. Kyle Busch and Crafton both tried to catch Hornaday, but he clearly had the better truck and finished the job.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Nationwide Series was off this week, but there was still action in the front office. NASCAR announced on Wednesday that Michael Allen, crew chief for Terry Cook’s number 91 Chevolet has been fined for violations at Darlington on May 7th. The $2,500 fine is the result of three violations of the 2009 Nationwide Series rule book, all dealing with equipment that does not conform to the rules. Allen has not made any moves to appeal the fine. The Nationwide Series resumes this Saturday at Lowe’s, as Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Jason Leffler lead the field in the Carquest Auto Parts 300.

Source: http://www.RacingWeeklyNews.com, U. S. Sports Media, Inc



NORRIS

Julie Smith asked:


The 2007 NASCAR Nextel season came to its end Friday evening with NASCAR Award banquet at New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel where the driver, Jimmie Johnson who had a record breaking season, pilling up 1,663 points during the 10-race Chase Cup received the championship’s trophy. No less credit received the other Hendrick driver, Jeff Gordon who also posted numbers that would have been a sure ticket to Title Town in any other year, winning six races. A record money amount ($32.8M) was distributed between the top 10 drivers (over $1 million each).

Besides the recognition, Johnson definitely got the hang of being the champion for a consecutive year; he earned $7,317,499 from the Nextel Cup point’s fund, bringing his season winnings to $15,313,920; it also brings his career earnings to a $59.5 million. In addition to his winnings, he also received $350,000 for winning four special awards (The Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap, The Dow Automotive Strategic Call of the Race Award, the Sunoco Diamond Performance and the Goodyear Award).
Moreover, the 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet driver is now listed for the 2007 USA Sports Academy Athlete of the Year award presented by USATODAY.com and MSNBC.com. The chance for him to acquire another title this year is worth thanks to his four straight victories beginning in Martinsville and 10 victories through the post-season, a two digits record not seen since 1998.

The 2007 poll for male athletes includes: pitcher Josh Beckett (Boston Red Sox), quarterback Tom Brady from the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, Swiss tennis player Roger Federer, U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay, Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie, Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker, U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps and golfer Tiger Woods.

Fans worldwide select the athletes by voting online beginning December 1 and ending December 25. An overall winner is selected, along with male and female athletes of the year. Federer was the 2006 overall winner; Woods the ’06 male athlete of the year. Johnson finished third in last year’s voting. Hopefully, he will close his season with another award.



DARIUS

Stephen Lars asked:


an Mark Martin earned his third victory of the season in the Michigan International Speedway, at the LifeLock 400, fifteenth event of the year of the Sprint Cup Series of NASCAR. With this accomplishment, Martin was placed next to Kyle Busch, who also has three victories, as the drivers with the most wins in the current season. Although Martin departed from the 32nd position on the grid, with a great mastery of his car he was able to move quickly through the rest of the competitors until placing himself in the leaders group. Leading the competition there was the three-time champion Jimmie Johnson, followed by Greg Biffle who was immediately struck by Martin. From the moment that the driver of the Chevrolet No. 5 got in the third place, the race became a strong challenge among the three drivers, who were unwilling to yield to the strong pressure exerted on one another, this was one aspect that gave a twist to an emotionally charged race that with every lap that past by was being held with greater intensity. To reach this position, Mark Martin responded in detail to the instructions he was given by his team from the pits area, this was a very important factor for the driver of the Hendrick Motorsports team to successfully achieve his goal of moving forward and it was crucial as well in his strategy of saving fuel. Martin was aware that his car was not the fastest, so he followed a strategy of not going out to refuel while listening carefully to the directions of Alan Gustafson, the team leader, who aptly assisted Mark in the complicated task of saving gasoline without staying behind. Totally focused with the idea of surpassing anyone in front of him, Martin took his car to the fullest in spite of knowing that it could stop at any moment and that would be it. But it was not so; fortunately for him, his car responded in the best way. During the final laps, there was a strong fight between Johnson and Biffle, who disputed the top position, while Martin was following them closely, just waiting for the opportunity to pass them. Amid the clash between the leaders, they switched positions in several occasions and when there were just six laps remaining to complete 200 laps scheduled, Johnson, who had led for the most laps during the race, took the leading position once again. Johnson’s joy for being so close to winning the race didn’t last long, as only four laps later he ran out of fuel, also ending with his hopes for the victory. Biffle then took the lead, but then suffered the same misfortune; his car was turned off and stopped at the beginning of the final lap. This meant a great opportunity for Mark Martin, who with the last drops of fuel on his car, accelerated just prior to running with the same fate as the others, achieving to cross the finish line as first in an amazing way, followed by his teammate, Jeff Gordon, while Denny Hamlin came in third.

LANCE

Stephen Lars asked:


lly, Jimmie Johnson, the current champion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup, won his second victory of the season and the number 42 of his career as a professional driver. This magnificent triumph of Johnson came in the thirteenth day of the Sprint Cup Series, in the event called the Dover 400, which was held at the Dover International Speedway. Johnson, who departed in the eighth position on the grid, with great shrewdness demonstrated once more his incredible driving skills and remained at the head of the fierce competition over 298 laps of the 400 scheduled. The daring driver of the Hendrick Motorsports team was able to maintain an absolute control of his vehicle, which responded in the best way when pushed to its maximum potential. Since the start of the competition, the intentions of the intrepid driver of the Chevrolet # 48 were evident; he was clearly trying to get to the head of the race. As soon as the race started, Johnson accelerated and surpassed the other drivers quickly, starting to set the pace of the race, which he headed over a considerable period of time. The struggle to occupy the first position was a strong and heated confrontation between Johnson, Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle. These three drivers captured the attention of the crowd that was at the Dover Circuit and their constant attempts to exceed each other put the excitement on the competition. Although at times there were changes in the drivers’ positions, the superiority of Jimmie Johnson over the other drivers, along with his absolute control over his car, made him stand out in a confrontation where only the strongest and that with the highest level of concentration could remain in his position throughout the lengthy race, which became increasingly complex due to the strong pressure that was putting the group that was setting the pace in the track. With his great ability and unbeatable skills, Jimmie Johnson proved why he has been the Sprint Cup champion for three consecutive seasons. Although this year has not been particularly great for him, since has won only two races so far in the tournament, Johnson remains firm on his goal to reach the top position of the standings once again; he is currently is in third place with 1789 points, behind Jeff Gordon, his teammate, who has added 1807 points, while Tony Stewart is in the first place with 1853 units. During all the race, Johnson was constant in his fight to win and being aware that his effort was paying off and that he was receiving all the support from his team, he took the risky decision of entering the pits area to make a change of tires when there were only 36 laps remaining. In doing so, he lost his position as leader, but when he came back to the track he started fighting for the lead again. Following his winner instincts, Johnson moved up as fast as he could to reach Stewart, joining him into a very even fight, in which Biffle also joined when there were only 10 laps to go. At this stage of the competition Johnson was unstoppable and his two closest pursuers were unable to do anything else but just observe how the three-time champion crossed the finish line as the checkered flag waved, crowning himself as the winner.

DUSTY

Stephen Lars asked:


an Mark Martin earned his third victory of the season in the Michigan International Speedway, at the LifeLock 400, fifteenth event of the year of the Sprint Cup Series of NASCAR. With this accomplishment, Martin was placed next to Kyle Busch, who also has three victories, as the drivers with the most wins in the current season. Although Martin departed from the 32nd position on the grid, with a great mastery of his car he was able to move quickly through the rest of the competitors until placing himself in the leaders group. Leading the competition there was the three-time champion Jimmie Johnson, followed by Greg Biffle who was immediately struck by Martin. From the moment that the driver of the Chevrolet No. 5 got in the third place, the race became a strong challenge among the three drivers, who were unwilling to yield to the strong pressure exerted on one another, this was one aspect that gave a twist to an emotionally charged race that with every lap that past by was being held with greater intensity. To reach this position, Mark Martin responded in detail to the instructions he was given by his team from the pits area, this was a very important factor for the driver of the Hendrick Motorsports team to successfully achieve his goal of moving forward and it was crucial as well in his strategy of saving fuel. Martin was aware that his car was not the fastest, so he followed a strategy of not going out to refuel while listening carefully to the directions of Alan Gustafson, the team leader, who aptly assisted Mark in the complicated task of saving gasoline without staying behind. Totally focused with the idea of surpassing anyone in front of him, Martin took his car to the fullest in spite of knowing that it could stop at any moment and that would be it. But it was not so; fortunately for him, his car responded in the best way. During the final laps, there was a strong fight between Johnson and Biffle, who disputed the top position, while Martin was following them closely, just waiting for the opportunity to pass them. Amid the clash between the leaders, they switched positions in several occasions and when there were just six laps remaining to complete 200 laps scheduled, Johnson, who had led for the most laps during the race, took the leading position once again. Johnson’s joy for being so close to winning the race didn’t last long, as only four laps later he ran out of fuel, also ending with his hopes for the victory. Biffle then took the lead, but then suffered the same misfortune; his car was turned off and stopped at the beginning of the final lap. This meant a great opportunity for Mark Martin, who with the last drops of fuel on his car, accelerated just prior to running with the same fate as the others, achieving to cross the finish line as first in an amazing way, followed by his teammate, Jeff Gordon, while Denny Hamlin came in third.

MILES

Matt Gerwitz asked:


NASCAR Weekend Report 5/25

Author:  Matt Gerwitz

U. S. Sports Media, Inc

CONCORD, N.C. - Lowe’s Motor Speedway was the setting again this week for NASCAR’s top two series, The Nationwide and the Sprint Cup, while the Camping World Truck series took the weekend off. The rain-filled Memorial Day weekend interrupted the racing schedule, cutting Saturday’s race short and delaying the Coca-Cola 600 until Monday. Qualifying for both races was completed on schedule.

Thursday night featured the Sprint drivers with Ryan Newman leading the way, turning a lap of 188.475 mph. The lap won him his eighth career pole at Lowe’s, his fifth for the Coca-Cola 600. Kyle Bush started in the number two spot followed by Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, and Kasey Kahne filling out the first three rows. Asked about the possibility of winning NASCAR’s longest race, Newman said, “”Yeah, right now, I’m going to call it even between me, the 18 and 24, and throw Tony Stewart in there on Sunday, too.”

Qualifying for Saturday’s Carquest Auto Parts 300 finished with Carl Edwards on the pole, Kyle Bush starting second, and Greg Biffle third. Busch was later forced to start at the back after an engine change but managed to charge his way back to the front. He took the lead from Carl Edwards on lap 41, holding it until Brian Vickers took it from him on lap 140. At lap 146 Vickers made a scheduled green flag stop, surrendering to the lead back to Busch who came in to the pits on lap 149. Meanwhile Mike Bliss stayed on the track making him the only car on the lead lap when caution came out on lap 153. On the restart Bliss was the leader but started behind eleven lapped cars, including Busch. Brendan Gaughan was the lucky dog and restarted second, taking the lead from Bliss, but Bliss battled back and passed Gaughan at lap 167. Three laps later the rain came, giving Bliss his first victory since 2004. Gaughan was the runner-up with Busch finishing third, Vickers fourth, and Logano fifth.

Sunday’s race never got underway as rain pounded the speedway, leaving parts of the infield covered with standing water. The race began at noon on Monday under cloudy skies that brought a red flag for rain just over seventy laps in. After nearly an hour-long delay the cars returned to the track for another 100 laps. Kyle Busch was again the dominant car but Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne, and Jaun Pablo Montoya all put the pressure on at various points during the race.

At 3:00 PM eastern NASCAR put out the yellow flag, brought all the cars in, shut off the engines and observed a moment of silence in honor of Memorial Day. Shortly after resuming the race, lap 177 brought out the second red flag for rain. A third and final rain delay came at lap 221 which cost Kyle Busch his second race of the weekend. As the rain began to fall all the leaders hit the pits in anticipation of going green again. David Reutimann, Ryan Newman and Robby Gordon chose to stay out, with Reutimann inheriting the lead. The delay turned into several hours and the race was finally called at about 6:25 PM. David Reutimann was declared the winner, giving Michael Waltrip Racing its first Sprint Cup victory. Ryan Newman finished second, followed by Robby Gordon in third, Carl Edwards fourth, and Brian Vickers third. The six through ten positions went to Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Juan Pablo Montoya, Joey Logano, and Matt Kenseth.

Source, http://www.RacingWeeklyNews.com, U. S. Sports Media, Inc



MONTY

Stephen Lars asked:




In a very exciting race, the young driver Kyle Busch skillfully imposed himself to the other drivers to become the champion once again, adding one more win to his record of 15 victories at the Sprint Cup, after not visiting the podium for a month. Before the race started, the rain was threatening to cancel the event, but fortunately, minutes before giving the start signal the rain stopped and allowed a good start.

With this new victory, the youngest of the Busch brothers has a record of three wins during the current season, which makes him the driver with most wins so far in the Sprint Cup 2009, adding a total of 50 titles throughout his participation in the Sprint Series along with the Nationwide Series and the Camping World Truck Series.

The competition began with a yellow flag to avoid accidents because the track was wet, but after the sixth round the track conditions bettered, giving way to the green flag to start the real competition that from that moment on captured the attention of all fans that were there. In the middle of the tough fight to occupy a privileged position, accidents were inevitable; for about 79 laps the event had to stop because during that period 15 different accidents occurred and affected the pace of competition.

These constants accidents had a negative impact on many drivers who had already taken an advantageous position. Among the drivers affected with this was the defending champion Jimmie Johnson, who had serious problems with the brakes of his car so he had to go to the pits area to resolve the damage and when he going back to the track, he exceeded the speed limit and was penalized for it, which caused him to lose positions, being relegated until he finished the challenge in the 36th position. Another driver that was terribly affected was Busch’s teammate, Denny Hamlin, who was the driver who led the greatest number of laps, 148 in total, but in the end he had some problems with the tires of his Toyota and also lost several positions to finish fourteenth.

The wise decision of Joe Gibbs Racing team of staying on the track with the same tires for a good period of time was one of the factors that contributed Kyle Busch to obtain the checkered flag. Furthermore, he did not go off the track to refuel often either and that way he managed to remain in a constant pace until he got at the head of the race. From that moment on, he forced the other drivers to chase him since he was not going to the pits area.

After a final and strategic refueling, Busch returned to the leading position and managed to remain there despite the fact that Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton, who finished in the second and third place respectively, were following him closely, but they could not prevent Kyle from rising to the top of the podium. With this result, Kyle Busch is now on the fifth place of the general standings with 1314 points, right under his teammate Hamlin who is in the fourth, while his brother Kurt went down to the second position and Jeff Gordon raised the first position with 1441 points.



BRET

Stephen Lars asked:


ddle of a sunny afternoon in Pennsylvania, the driver Tony Stewart, who has extensive experience in the Sprint Series and in the other categories of NASCAR and also owns his own team, Stewart Haas Racing, earned his first victory of the season when he amazingly imposed himself at the Pocono 500, fourteenth event of the year that was held at the Pocono Raceway. This victory also impressive due to a serious accident he suffered during the last training session causing that he had to use a backup car for the main event, being forced to start from the bottom in spite of having obtained the pole position, also has its historical significance since Stewart became the first owner and driver at the same time to win a race of the Sprint Cup in more than 10 years. Last time something like this took place was in 1998 when Ricky Ruud, one of the best drivers in NASCAR history, came to the top of the podium in Martinsville. Thanks to the good performance shown at the Pocono 500, Stewart has successfully been placed first in the drivers general standings with a considerable amount of 2043 points, which fills him with optimism to remain steadfast in his position and that opens the doors to remain firm in the run with high expectations of repeating the glorious feat of being crowned champion of the highest level of NASCAR for the third time. This time, the skills of the Chevrolet #14 driver lead him to move from the last position to the top spots, where he got involved in a tight contest with Carl Edwards, David Reutimann, Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman. Stewart was able to pass through them and for a period of 39 laps, he was in charge of setting the pace of the competition. As the race was passing by, the difficulty of the contest increased as none of the pilots lowered their level of competition; on the contrary, it increased to exert a strong pressure on one another with the intention of making each other lose concentration, but as it was demonstrated, the superiority of Stewart was unattainable. He bravely resisted the attacks and was not intimidated by any of his opponents. With an intelligent but somewhat risky strategy of not entering to the pits area, Tony Stewart avoided wasting time and was able to remain among the top positions, although this meant that he could run out of fuel. However, Stewart gave a great demonstration of his driving skills as a professional driver strategically accelerating and braking at the right time, taking all possible advantage of his car and making the most out of the fuel, which lasted to the whole event. Realizing that he could run out of fuel at any moment, Stewart took advantage of a moment when the other drivers left the track to refuel when there were 37 laps to finish the race and moved forward as fast as he could, leaving Edwards and Reutimann behind, who thinking that he wouldn’t be able to finish pushed him as much as they could, but Stewart was more clever, managing to get to the finish line where he was expected by the checkered flag that made him the winner.

COY

Richard Paul asked:


Jimmie Johnson does not receive the media attention that other drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr, Tony Stewart, or even Jeff Gordon demand. In fact, despite his accomplishments, Johnson sometimes takes a back seat to younger drivers such as Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch, as they are considered spitfire personalities as opposed to Johnson’s nice guy, sometimes robotic image.

Nevertheless, the three-time defending Sprint Cup champion does not allow it to bother him. He does not fret over his standing in the sport, but he will admit that he deserves some sort of recognition due to him and his team’s hard work, even though there may be more colorful personalities in the sport.

“This is my moment in the sun too. I’m out there doing my job, trying to win races. There are other guys that are the characters and start the fights and say things and keep it colorful and entertaining. And I certainly enjoy watching those guys do their thing as well but I’m here to do my job and try to win as many championships and races as I can,” he said in a recent interview.

Johnson is regarded as one of the good guys. Most of his fellow competitors admit that they have a difficult time disliking him because he is such a nice guy. He is not the driver that is going to intentionally wreck you, or punch you in the face if he feels that you said or did something that bruised his ego. There are times when Johnson may refrain from saying exactly how he feels because he is simply not the controversial sort of individual.

When asked if he was too nice for his own good, he responded by saying, “It’s a great problem to have. I think the world’s changing. The days of flash, I don’t think people are so interested in those stories anymore. So maybe it’s the year of number 48 in that respect, and the year of Jimmie that respect.”

While fans and media typically flock in droves to storylines that entail controversy and hullabaloo, it is nice to give the good guys their due as well. Having a nice guy image does not take away on track achievements. Johnson is still NASCAR’s top driver at the moment. After all, he owns three Sprint Cup championships and forty career wins in only seven full years on the circuit.

Jimmie Johnson is not the only nice guy in NASCAR that is sometimes disregarded. The 2003 champion Matt Kenseth often flies under the radar, even more so than Johnson. Kenseth opened the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season with wins at Daytona and California, yet he is not ‘The Story’ in NASCAR. Dale Earnhardt Jr’s rough week in Daytona, as well as a possible Jeff Gordon resurgence seems to pique the interest of media and fans alike.

When their careers come to a conclusion, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth will be in the Hall of Fame, and they will be remembered as a couple of NASCAR’s good guys, proving that ‘Nice guys finish last’ is nothing more than an off beam adage.



EVAN