Racing Men Of Nascar

Kasey Kahne won Sunday night in California and by doing so gave himself an opportunity to make it into the Chase. Question is, how good is that chance? In order for him to make it he has to run a perfect race at Richmond gaining every point that he can and someone else in the top 8 has to have some bad luck. The only two drivers who have clinched their spots are 1 and 2. Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson are definitely in no matter what happens. That also means that any driver between 3 and 10 could fall out of the Top 10 and Kasey Kahne would get in. If you’re interested in a good breakdown of what needs to happen, it is all spelled out here.

On a side note, I haven’t posted a lot this season as I was moving across country. I am in Arizona now and look forward to posting my thoughts for the rest of the season. Also, I am planning on getting tickets to PIR in November so I will be taking a lot of pictures to add to my thoughts.

Happy Racing!

With four laps left to go in the Sheetrock 400, Jeff Gordon hit Matt Kenseth from behind and spun him into the backstretch. Nascar’s response was basically that it was just hard racing and Kenseth was a slower car. I’m guessing what they are saying is he should have just let Jeff Gordon go by instead of trying to, ummmm, RACE?? At the end of the race, fans showed their disapproval of Jeff Gordon’s tactics by throwing garbage at him on the track. While I don’t necessarily agree or disagree with Gordon’s move, I think any fan caught throwing something on the track should be banned from the track for life. Come on, this is what these men do, it’s called RACING not “move out of the way, please so I may pass you�. Not to mention the fact that Kenseth did the exact same thing to Gordon at Bristol not to long ago.

Needless to say, Matt Kenseth was a little hot about the whole thing. He said he knows for sure it was intentional and that’s OK. Which I’m sure means he’ll handle it at another race, lol. Jeff Burton came right out and said that Kensth will want “retributionâ€? for the wreck. He also said “If NASCAR doesn’t handle it, then we need to handle it, and that’s OK.’’ So it looks like there is an interesting Gordon/Kenseth feud shaping up which could make the Race To The Chase very interesting.

Stewart may end fence climbs
Mark Long
Associated Press
Jul. 2, 2006 06:50 PM

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Tony Stewart may have climbed his last fence.

It’s not because he’s tired of winning. The two-time Nextel Cup champion is concerned about injuries and suspects such antics wear him out.

“This is going to kill me,� Stewart said shortly after climbing the fence at Daytona International Speedway to celebrate his second consecutive victory in the Pepsi 400 on Saturday night.

The victory capped another stellar weekend at Daytona for Stewart. He also won the International Race of Champions road course event Thursday and finished 12th in the Busch Series race Friday.

He raced more than 700 miles in three days and drove about a hundred more with numerous practice and qualifying sessions in sweltering heat and humidity.

“I’m just happy I survived,� Stewart said. “Maybe I’m not in as bad of shape as I thought I was.�

Stewart felt ill Thursday after completing an IROC practice, two Busch Series practices, two Cup practices and then the IROC race. He didn’t feel a whole lot better Friday during the Busch race and Cup qualifying.

He seemed just fine Saturday.

Stewart led more than half the 160-lap event, surged back in front with two laps remaining and held off a late charge from Kyle and Kurt Busch. The Busch brothers finished second and third. Road racing specialist and pole-sitter Boris Said was fourth, followed by Matt Kenseth.

When it was over, Stewart celebrated with his trademark fence climb, but made the mistake of jumping into the crowd - where he found himself overwhelmed by rowdy fans. He had to be rescued by his crew and several NASCAR officials, who cleared a path for the NASCAR champion.

“I don’t know why I do half the stupid stuff I do,� said Stewart, who started climbing fences following his Pepsi 400 victory last July. “I felt good after the end of the race until I got stupid and went up the flag stand again.

“(But) there was no way I was going to let those race fans down. I was either going to get all the way up or I was going to fall off and fall on my butt. But I wasn’t going to stop. It was every bit as big, if not bigger, than it was last year.�

This race was nothing like the one last year, when he led all but nine laps.

Stewart was out front when Jimmie Johnson crashed into Bobby Labonte with 14 laps to go to bring out just the fourth caution in what had been an unusually calm race. It set up one final round of pit stops, and Stewart dropped to 10th on the restart.

He used a sweeping move on the low side of the track to jump into second, and was preparing to pass Said when a wreck brought out another caution. On the restart, Stewart dropped way back and then steamed by Said for the victory.

It was his second win of the season and ended a slump that began six races ago when he broke his shoulder blade in an accident in Charlotte, N.C.

Stewart had finishes of 42nd, 25th, third, 41st and 28th since the accident, and dropped from fourth to seventh in the standings. The victory pushed him back up to fifth, 299 points behind series leader Jimmie Johnson.

Now, Stewart hopes the Daytona win propels him as it did last season, when he captured three of the next five races and vaulted to the top of the points standings.

“I hope it’s that way and I hope it’s the same momentum,� Stewart said. “But more than anything, even if we didn’t win - if we just stayed in the top five or top 10 and didn’t crash or blow up - it was going to be a good night for us. This is the kind of night that leads you to hope that maybe history can repeat itself.�

But maybe without any more fence climbs.

“As long as he keeps his helmet on, we’re good,� team president J.D. Gibbs said. “Keep the gray matter.�

Jeeff Gordon announced his engagement to his girlfriend to Ingrid Vandebosch on Sunday at Sonoma and also zoomed into the top 10 in the points standings in the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship. With his first place win on the road course and his first win of the season this had to make Jeff a pretty happy camper. Especially after failing to make the chase last year. Only 10 races to go until the Chase starts and here are the current standings:

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Kasey Kahne
4. Mark Martin
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
6. Jeff Burton
7. Tony Stewart
8. Jeff Gordon
9. Greg Biffle
10. Kevin Harvick

Vickers to drive for Red Bull
Posted 6/26/2006 11:48 AM ET
The Associated Press

Brian Vickers will drive for Team Red Bull in 2007, positioning himself to be the future of Toyota as the Japanese automaker prepares for its Nextel Cup debut, The Associated Press has learned.

The hiring was confirmed to the AP on Sunday night by Red Bull officials at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

“Brian brings not only youth, but also championship credentials to the Red Bull seat,� general manager Marty Gaunt said. “More importantly, he shares the same vision held by Team Red Bull and he becomes a key building block in the foundation of our team.�

Vickers asked earlier this month to be released from his contract with Hendrick Motorsports, where he has driven since 2003. His request was granted, clearing the way for Vickers to emerge from the shadow of his successful Hendrick teammates to drive for a start-up company that will build its organization around the promising 22-year-old.

“I hope this makes us - me and Team Red Bull - champions,� Vickers said by phone from Sonoma, Calif., following his 14th-place finish in the NASCAR race…full story

Kurt Busch has won the pole at the Infineon Raceway, they are doing the road course in Sonoma this week. As a hardcore Nascar fan I would say that the road courses are my least favorite. I think they are boring and take away from the sport. If we wanted to watch road races we’d be watching F1, right?

There is an interesting article on road racing here.

Court Case in The News
(AP) - A seven year old boy was at the center of a courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy had history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulations requiring that family unity be maintained to the degree possible.

The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live
with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried out that they also beat him.

After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him. After two recesses to check legal references and confer with child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to Jeff Gordon.

He had seen Jeff Gordon race and knows he couldn’t beat anyone!

Casey Mears is leaving Chip Ganassi racing and will be racing for Rick Hendrick next season through 2009. Brian Vickers asked for and was granted a release from the #25 car and Casey Mears will be replacing him. What does this mean? Well, Casey is considered a great driver although he hasn’t won a Nextel Cup race. The interesting thing about this change is that he will now be a teammate of Kyle Busch. As we all know, Busch and Mears have a little “history� of not getting along. Mears says that he will have no problem with his new teammate. While this remains to be seen and could be a serious factor, I think that Casey Mears is a great fit for HM and we will be seeing some great things from him in the next few years. Congratulations Casey and Hendricks Motorsports!

Tony Stewart flipped his car at Talladega today after trying to drive down in front of Kenny Wallace. He went airborne and then skidded on his roof for about a hundred yards. It took a few minutes to get him out of the car and then he went straight to the infield care center, apparently unhurt. Afterwards he was interviewed and he said it was no big deal. He jokingly commented on how much debris there is on the racetrack that you really notice when you’re upside down and it’s coming in through your window, lolol. He also took full responsibility for the accident and apologized to everyone involved.

Of course, we all know this is no big deal for Tony Stewart, he just did the same thing in a midget car a few months ago. He probably felt a LOT safer in that big ole Busch car!!

>>>I just wanted to make a comment here, we have been having some technical difficulties which have made it difficult to update the site properly. We should have everything worked out next week, there will be a few changes made in the site structure and it will be back to business as usual!

With four laps to go in the Food City 500 at Bristol, Kurt Busch bump passed Matt Kenseth to take the lead. Kurt Busch ended up winning the race but the real story at Bristol, as always, was the drivers tempers.

The biggest incident that stands out is Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon. In the final laps of the race, Mat Kenseth was working his way back to the front after fading back from the Kurt Busch push. He got behind Jeff Gordon who was in third and bumped him, knocking him all the way back to 21st place. Needless to say, Jeff Gordon was a little irked. Matt Kenseth tried to approach him after the race to apologize and Jeff Gordon pushed him back about two feet. Jeff was still wearing his helmet and Hans device, Kenseth backed off and later said that he was wrong to approach Jeff right after the race. He said he should have known that Jeff would still be upset and should have let him cool down.

Bristol is known for being a rookie-killer also. The only rookie this year to finish all 500 laps was Denny Hamlin who finished 14th. Martin Truex, Jr. caught the worst of it when he was schooled by Jeff Gordon first who spun him out when he was a lap down and didn’t let Gordon go by. Next he came back out on the track and tried to pin Jeff Gordon up against the wall. Tony Stewart who was directly behind him and running in the top 5 spun him out again. Did he learn his lesson? We’ll find out soon enough!