Gateway Int'l Raceway - Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250

Danni

RESULTS
1. Carl Edwards
25. David (34LD)
28. Brandon (DNF - TRANSMISSION)
30. Scott (DNF - ACCIDENT)

It's so exciting to watch one of your drivers make a charge to the front, throw down the fastest laps on the track and lead the field. Race night in St. Louis was just that! David backed up what he showed off in practice and immediately the #99 team declared their place in the Nationwide series. We loved every minute of it! David led twice for a total of 33 laps, clearly the dominant car. But unfortunately, as the term, "That's racin'" implies, sometimes things just don't turn out right.

It all started during a mid-race pit stop. The rear impact wrench malfunctioned and lost David several spots in the running order, putting him back in traffic where trouble usually starts. On the restart, he ran into the back of Reed Sorenson, causing quite the jam-up behind him. Those two have a slight history in Cup, but I'm not too sure what David was thinking right there. While Scott was attempting to pass Sorenson on the bottom, rookie Landon Cassill ran into the back of the #29 Holiday Inn Chevy, turning Scott sharply up into Sorenson and hard into the wall. Mike Bliss also joined in the melee when Scott's impact sent him back down into other cars. Bliss hit so hard his wheel came off! It was pretty horrifying to watch and despite the disappointment I was just relieved to see Scott and Mike get out of their cars okay. The massive crash brought out the red flag for nearly 25 minutes, but it wasn't the end of hell breaking loose.

David continued his march forward, now with Brad Keselowski trailing him. He got up to 4th place and then reached Jamie McMurray. Cue frustration! Shy of running into the back of him, David tried everything he could to pass the part-time #17 car. McMurray acted like he wasn't even there, constantly shutting the door on him even though he must have known that the Dream Machine was much better than him! Lap after lap passed. Eventually, Keselowski got impatient and went to the outside of David. After a couple more laps it was obvious Keselowski wasn't going to go anywhere. Coming off of Turn 4, David was going to beat him down the straight when all of a sudden, he swung up into the #88 and hooked himself into the wall.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't blame Brad. It was very clear that David turned into him. It was numbing to watch - you didn't know whether to scream or cry, so you just sat there and stared at the sparks. David limped back to the garage for repairs. It all happened live, too. That always makes things worse.

Wait. No. It got worse. Friggin' McMurray broke an oil belt a handful of laps after the next restart. He acted nonchalant, even perky, about it when he was interviewed in the garage area. I think it was that that made me want to rip his head off and throw it across the infield! He acted like he didn't even care that he broke! So why was he blocking like hell?! UGH!!

So by now I was seething and wallowing in misery. Brandon running like typical crap added to my boiling mood. But like a good race fan I stayed until the end. David got back out on track to pick up a couple more positions. It doesn't sound like much but those six points could be crucial come Homestead.

Carl Edwards won his second race of the year. I know a lot of people say, "Oh, Carl. What a 'golly-gee shucks' goody two shoes." But you know what? He's one of the only drivers that will mention a competitor in Victory Lane and that's exactly what he did Saturday night. He stood there, in what should've been his time to shine, and acknowledged that David had the best car. I really appreciated that! The #99 crew got some more attention from Keselowski, who also said that David was the fastest one out there and he was intent on following him to the front. He explained the wreck like it happened and you could tell he felt bad. Really, if Keselowski wanted to crash David he had plenty of opportunities to plow into his bumper. He didn't. Keselowski might have an arrogant streak, but he didn't mean harm on David.

As expected, David lost a lot of points. It's pretty discouraging to look at, but I know that the #99 Aaron's Dream Machine Team can overcome it!

POINT STANDINGS
1. Clint Bowyer
4. David -266

Gateway Qualifying

Danni

RESULTS
1. Jamie McMurray
14. David
28. Scott
36. Brandon

Standalone Nationwide races are always interesting to watch because you can gauge the series regulars' talent without constantly staring at the Cup drivers. Plus it doesn't hurt that David looked pretty darn good in practice.

Not entirely sure what happened to Scott since we missed qualifying, but I'm sure he find his way to the front somehow!

Chicagoland Speedway - LifeLock.com 400

Danni

RESULTS
1. Kyle Busch
6. Brian
9. Martin
14. David
16. Dale Jr.
28. Kurt
33. Casey (1LD)
36. Michael (2LD)

Uncertainty was the main emotion going through the drivers' and crews' heads as the cars went around on their paces laps Saturday evening. It was the first time Chicagoland had ever held a night race and the teams had not gotten a chance to practice during the twilight hours. To make things worse, rain had washed much of the rubber laid down by the Nationwide series the night before. But despite everything, I'd call Chicagoland's inaugural race under the lights a success - a breathtaking sunset, side-by-side racing and an exciting finish!

The race went green until the competition caution on Lap 35 with Kyle Busch leading every lap (big surprise!). In another ten laps the yellow would fly again for Denny Hamlin's stopped car, but a long green run would dominate for over 50 laps following. Brian, Martin, Kurt and David were coming on strong approaching pit stops, while Dale Jr., Casey and Michael struggled. Things got bad for Kurt when he entered pit lane too fast because Travis Kvapil had knocked the cone down, making it difficult for Kurt to see where to slow down. He had to make a pass-through under green, dropping him a lap behind the leaders.

The next caution was unfortunately for Michael spinning into the frontstretch grass. While running behind Pat Carpentier and above Jeff Burton, Michael reacted to Carpentier scraping the wall by cutting down in front of Burton and getting turned. It didn't look too bad but apparently the wet grass damaged the splitter and made for a long night for the #55 team.

In the meantime, David was running some of the best laps on the track despite being unhappy with the way the car handled on exit. Some strategy played out, with some teams taking two tires. In this fashion, Kurt got his lap back when he was able to stay in front of the leader as a debris caution flew. But in a stroke of bad luck that seems to have plagued the #2 team all year, he had just gotten back into the top-15 when the engine dropped a cylinder. From then on it was just survival. It was also during this yellow that Martin got nailed for speeding after mistakenly following leader Carl Edwards down pit road when he was supposed to stay out. Considering his finish, he raced his butt off the remainder of the night!

There were enough debris cautions to keep anyone from completely running away with the race (and to prevent fuel mileage strategy!). In the closing laps, it was clear things would get interesting. Kyle Busch had been leading much of the race, but got passed by Edwards. Then Edwards came down pit road unexpectedly for what he thought was a flat tire (it turned out to be a broken splitter). With just under 20 to go, it was clear that Kyle's handling was waning and Jimmie Johnson was coming fast. He eventually passed the #18 and drove away. It looked like a certain win for the #48 crew when David Gilliland blew an engine with only 6 lap remaining, setting up a 2-lap shootout. Johnson led the field to the green slow - too slow! Kyle stayed on his bumper and literally pushed him to go, then had enough momentum to pass Johnson on the high side. It was amazing to watch, although I did feel pretty badly for Jimmie. In his excitement for his 7th Cup win of the season, Kyle got stuck in the soaked frontstretch grass and had to be pushed out by his crew!

It was an excellent night for Brian and David. David was having a lot of problems passing lapped traffic on restarts and probably deserved a better finish, but 14th isn't something to be ashamed of by a long shot! Even Junior was able to crawl his way forward to a decent result. On the other hand, it looked to be another dismal race for Casey. It's hard to tell why...and easy enough to speculate. I think everyone had heard of Hendrick's "lame duck" drivers being barred from meetings and such. But does that translate to sub-par equipment? Casey did hit the wall in practice so that may have had something to do with it and the spread out cautions kept him a lap down. It's just depressing to see him run so poorly.

The Cup guys get a well-deserved weekend off and they certainly need it. Indianapolis is a tough track to decipher, especially with them introducing it to the new car. Then on to the Chase!

#44 Quotes of the Race

During a late caution, discussing the four tire stop.

Ryan: "I should've been a little more aggressive there, but I don't know what it's going to be like with 45 laps on the left sides, you know. We have to run another 35 [laps]."

David: "You're telling me you're scared, right?"

Ryan: "Yeah, 10-4. I'm scared. All right, coming to the green. You're doing great. I know I've said that 100 times... but you're really doing a good job."

David: "I never get tired of hearing it."



POINT STANDINGS
1. Kyle Busch
2. Dale Jr. -262
14. Brian -693 (-95 from Chase)
17. Martin -831
18. Kurt -843
24. Casey -1099
27. David -1164
30. Michael -1318

NNS Chicagoland Speedway - Dollar General 300

Jess

RESULTS
1. Kyle Busch
4. Brian
5. David
41. Brandon (DNF - driveshaft)

Please ESPN...we need Dale Jarrett back. Rusty Wallace is starting to get on my last freaking nerve with his big mouth!! He went on a complete rant about how NASCAR needs to do something because Toyota has an advantage and makes twenty-two more horsepower than Chevrolet (he had a piece of paper telling him this - okay, now where did this paper come from I wonder?). Of course this riot against Toyota is created mainly by the #20 car and more specifically Kyle Busch winning six races already this season. I understand that it's frustrating, especially to the Nationwide teams that have a hard enough time competing against Cup-funded cars to begin with and now they have to deal with the best driver in NASCAR right now driving the best cars in NASCAR. However, it's completely unfair for Rusty to lump all the Toyotas together! If all the engines have so much more horsepower than the other manufacturers, why isn't his brother Mike Wallace winning all these races? Jason Leffler? Heck, David Reutimann? This is where Rusty flounders but that's never stopped him from opening his mouth. He wants NASCAR to level the playing field aka. take horsepower away from Toyota. I'm sorry, but that would be ridiculous and unjust to all the Toyotas that aren't under the Joe Gibbs Racing banner. Because you see, that makes all the difference. Joe Gibbs Racing builds amazing engines! Yes it's frustrating to see them dominate, but it's their hard work paying off. I think because it's Toyota people (or the closed-minded and/or racist/xenophobic people, rather) have a big problem with it (the same ones that laughed at Toyota last year, too). No doubt Rusty has something against it because he can't figure out how to get his own organization running well - he acts like Toyota is the only thing holding him back from dominating! He just needs to be quiet, stop letting his bias show in the booth and realize that this is NASCAR, not some kiddie sport where everything is easy.

There.

The last time Tony Stewart started on the outside row next to David I was incredibly pissed off by the time they made one lap, since Stewart pinched David down like an asshole and took the air off him, snatching the lead away. Maybe I'm just cynical regarding Stewart because I don't trust him, but it looked like he was thinking about attempting the same thing this time around as well, but luckily for David he got the jump and Stewart missed a shift and nearly caused a pileup when Kevin Harvick rear-ended him. David sailed away (oh that feels so good! ) and kept on sailing. No one could touch him!! It was wonderful and lovely and boy did I bask in the glow of seeing that little Aaron's Dream Machine out front!

Sadly my joy faded a little when Brandon quickly fell off the lead lap and was in the garage shortly afterward. The official reason for being out of the race was a driveshaft, but was that just an excuse for a start-and-park? Brandon is far too talented to have to put up with start-and-park organizations (I realize that a lot of teams do it to save up money to race again, since they don't have sponsorship) and equipment that fails twenty laps into the race. There is no race report up on his site or Specialty Racing's site so I have no idea what happened. This just wasn't what I'd hoped for being his first race in a long time...

David led the field through the start of green-flag pit stops, where unfortunately Brian sped big-time coming onto pit road (he had to pit early as a result of a loose wheel). When he was caught by NASCAR he didn't put up a fight because he knew that he hadn't gotten the #10 slowed down enough. Chicagoland actually appears to have a very tricky entrance to pit road under green conditions. David was one of the last cars to pit and then the caution came out for Jason Leffler's spin while he was still on pit lane. Thankfully he had enough of a gap on the other cars and wouldn't lose any positions. He was the technically the leader on the restart but visually he had a lot of cars in front of him since it was a tail-end of the lead lap restart (always very frightening! ). For a short time he methodically worked his way through traffic but Matt Kenseth was spun by Bobby Hamilton Jr. (both cars trying to stay ahead of David), bringing out the caution and giving David clear vision on the next restart.

Jeff Burton would take over the top spot on lap 88. The rest of the night for the #99 team would be a battle to keep up with the changing racetrack (he became very tight and brushed the wall a bit) and get the best finish they could obtain. Brian would make an impressive recovery from two laps down and in the closing laps raced David for the 4th spot. In his post-race interview David looked a little bummed but remarked that it's a good day when you're disappointed with a top 5.

Kyle Busch won. Yet again. As always, as much as I wish someone else would get a chance I love his burnouts and how he never fails to bow to the grandstands!

POINT STANDINGS
1. Clint Bowyer
3. David -217

Chicagoland Qualifying

Danni

CUP RESULTS
1. Kyle Busch
2. Dale Jr.
15. Brian
18. Kurt
19. Martin
25. Casey
28. Michael
29. David

Qualifying was canceled due to a nasty line of thunderstorms that rolled through. Sounds like a broken record, doesn't it?

NNS RESULTS
1. David!
8. Brian
38. Brandon

Of course David gets the pole while we're on another college trip to Syracuse and we didn't record it!! Nevertheless, I'm absolutely thrilled for him and the #99 crew! Hopefully they'll make the best of the track position, lead some laps and be in a good spot when it counts.

It appears that Brandon will have a tough time tonight. The #61 has no sponsor and only made the field because of owner points. It's just a shame to see someone who has won a race in the past in a ride where he'll be lucky to make it all the way to the end of the race.

Brandon Gets a Nationwide Ride!

Jess

Yesterday it was announced that Brandon Whitt will be taking over the #61 Specialty Racing car, replacing Kevin Lepage. It's always a little awkward when one driver gets fired for another, but I've been wondering if Lepage's job has been in jeopardy since his bonehead move at Talladega in April and his nasty reaction to follow.

While I'm excited about Brandon's return to racing I was hoping he'd be with a more successful organization - and more importantly one with a full-time sponsor - but I can't complain too much because at least he has a chance. Looking at Lepage's stats this year his average finish is 26.4, which isn't too bad for an underfunded team, so I'm hoping Brandon's talent and youthful enthusiasm will put some spice into the #61. In any event it sure will be nice to see him on the track again...I've missed him sorely in the truck series these past few years.

Daytona Int'l Speedway - Coke Zero 400

Jess

RESULTS
1. Kyle Busch
4. Kurt
8. Dale Jr.
11. Brian
17. Martin
21. David
27. Michael
34. Casey (10 LD - accident)

What a race!!

It was interesting and a little depressing to watch Jon Wood head straight to the garage to make his car race-worthy (and also dropping him many laps down). I know why NASCAR likes impoud races for Daytona and Talladega but it really does mess around with the star cars and their balance of qualifying and racing setups. Poor AJ Allmendinger took a hard hit only twenty laps into the race because of a tire failure - likely due to an aggressive qualifying setup they were waiting until a caution came out to switch into race trim.

Dale Jr. didn't take the lead until right before that yellow was thrown, which was a little surprising. However, he would head the field for fifty-one laps in total during the night, receiving those ten bonus points for leading the most circuts.

Meanwhile in the #44 camp, David was happy with how his UPS machine was handling and didn't ask for any adjustments for the first two stops. After leading pit road the second time he reported that the engine was lugging when he would exit the stall (something I believe has happened to him before). It wasn't much of a concern at the time as far as I could tell. But things turned ugly when after restarting 9th, David couldn't hold his position and said that something was wrong with the engine - switching ignition boxes didn't help. He fell all the way to the back and lost the draft, then lost a cylinder and was black-flagged for not making minimum speed. Ryan asked David to go straight to the garage but David suggested the crew check the plug wires on pit road first. That turned out to be the problem and in five laps the #44 was back on the track and the engine was humming away.

Elliott Sadler blew a tire some time later - David was the lucky dog! Four laps down. Soon after there was a multi-car accident including Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman and David Gilliland (which Casey just barely missed!! Unfortunately Brian got a piece of it since he ran into the back of the #31, but the Red Bull boys were able to fix the car) and David was now three laps down. By now things were starting to get a little more cheery over the radio. A few laps later another caution flew for Jamie McMurray's spin - two laps down - and then literally minutes later David was only one lap down when Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman took a ride.

David's caution to get back onto the lead lap sadly involved one of our drivers. Casey really had nowhere to go when the line started checking up and Jeff Burton spun yet again. He was hit in the rear bumper and made heavy contact with the wall.

Back in the running, David began to search for a way to the front. He was doing well when suddenly it all came to a halt with less than ten laps to go. Basically all hell broke loose - it's so hard to lay the blame on any one person at restrictor plate tracks because everyone is so jumbled and so close together. David was knocked sideways by Regan Smith, collidied with Denny Hamlin and went off-roading in the grass under turn 3. I'll admit I was very impressed with David's car control and how well he kept the #44 going straight, but he reported that the UPS Camry was badly hurt. His night of hope turned into a few more laps of survival.

Well, usually the last few laps at Daytona are ones of survival.

Using his amazing restrictor plate skills, Michael had sliced and diced his way to the top 10 and was looking to win the race. On the restart Jeff Gordon was tagged by Carl Edwards when he attempted a block, but he spun harmlessly off to the apron and NASCAR kept the race green (something they like to do in the last couple laps so the fans get a good finish). However, anyone with a brain and a pair of eyes knew something was going to give, since all the cars were pretty much trying to wreck! Like in slow motion I saw one hit go too far...Travis Kvapil hit Sam Hornish Jr. who hit Michael. That was all it took and cars were zipping everywhere! I was angry and frustrated that Michael got wrecked but that's the game at Daytona. Michael has been on the wrecked side and the winning side.

Here was when things got interesting. NASCAR "freezes" the field, but one has to maintain "reasonable" speed to keep his position. Other drivers were passing David under caution and Shawn was telling him to speed up so they wouldn't pass. Apparently Michael was doing the same thing and he was passed by many. What is reasonable speed? I don't really have an issue with the position Michael finished in because it was where I figured he'd be, but I wish NASCAR would be more specific with their definitions of a reasonable speed. Is it pit road speed (55 MPH at Daytona) or pace car / caution speed (around 70 MPH?). This was resolve much of the confusion that goes along with big wrecks, especially coming to the checkers.

NASCAR determined the winner by video (which TNT quickly brought up - that was impressive), and that winner was none other than Kyle Busch. The crowd booed, sore losers as they are, and some threw cans, redneck and stupid as they are. But when Kyle still got out to salute the fans (how cool is that?) there were plenty of cheers and those are the fans that matter.

Big brother Kurt finished well and ended his bad weekend on a good note. Maybe this backup car is as good as his 500 car!

I also have to add that I adored TNT's Wide Open coverage. Love love LOVE!! Plus, some of the commercials (the extended RC Toyota cars, the Larry McReynolds Subway spot) were absolutely hysterical!

#44 Quotes of the Race

(Under caution in the process of getting his laps back)

David: "What do I gotta do here, do I shove these guys around...what do I do?"

Ryan: "Use long gears and be nice and smooth on the throttle here. Just try not to loose the main bulk of the draft and be real smart with the throttle and stuff. We'll see how it shakes out here...you gotta be aggressive the first little bit, get by the riff-raff, make sure you get up there with the good cars where you belong. We're four down now so if we get a couple more cautions, something crazy, we'll get back on the lead lap."

David: "Okay, so my role here is not shoving the 55 and the 00 around and trying to get up through there, is that what you're telling me?"

Ryan: "You just do whatever you gotta do so you can be in that big group. We don't want to lose the draft."

Shawn: "I don't think MW's car is that bad, David, I think he got back there with the wrong cars."

(And another one around ten minutes later, just because it's funny )

Shawn: "David, Carl said he was just trying to clean his grille, he didn't want you to get mad at him."

David: "10-4, it's cool, no worries."

Shawn: "That's what I told him, I said that David didn't say nothing so I guess it's okay."

(When they pitted Ryan had the crew fix some rear end damage)

Ryan: "When did we get that left rear damage?"

David: "Everyone started wrecking and I slowed down. Whoever was behind me just ran into us."

Ryan: "Okay, 10-4. I thought it was when the 99 cleaned off his grille...I was thinking he did a hell of a job! (laughs)"

POINT STANDINGS - updated 7/8/08 for Martin's 150 point penalty
1. Kyle Busch
2. Dale Jr. -182
16. Brian -653 (-112 from the Chase)
17. Kurt -732
18. Martin -779 (*now -238 from the Chase...ouch. Also lost crew chief Bono and car chief for six weeks)
24. Casey -968
27. David -1090
29. Michael -1178

NNS Daytona Int'l Speedway - Winn-Dixie 250

Danni

RESULTS
1. Denny Hamlin
3. Dale Jr.
7. Scott
14. David
37. Brian (DNF - transmission)

Daytona always gets hyped up no matter what month the race takes place in, but sometimes it turns out to be rather boring. Unfortunately, last night's race was just that case. Despite the wicker bill that extends from one side of the roof to the other that promotes good racing and easy passing, it looked like most drivers had a handful. I'm not sure if it's just the downward spiral of Nationwide competition or what. A lot of drivers were complaining about the rough surface of the track and I have to agree with them - cars were doing the "wave" pretty much everywhere. It's cool to watch and gives the track character, but it sure doesn't give much in the way of racing since it's so hard to drive side-by-side on anymore.

As always, the beginning of the race was wild and a little frightening to watch. I figured rookie pole-sitter Bryan Clauson was screwed since he had a lot of aggressive drivers behind him and I was right - he never led a lap. Following Dale Jr.'s progression to the front of the pack was cringe-worthy at best. He simply hit cars out of his way, often in the middle of the corners where NASCAR frowns upon bump-drafting. I hate that. I can get quite annoyed with Junior when he pretty much bullies his way through the field in the Nationwide series. It also seems that NASCAR was ignoring a lot of the corner hits from all the drivers, not just Junior.

For the second race in a row, David brought out the first caution flag by making contact with another car. He was going backwards at the time, whether because of handling or to get away from the crazy mess that was the front of the pack. I watched Josh Wise pass him off of Turn 2 and go high too early... and then Josh was spinning along the backstretch! I was pretty upset because Josh is part of MWR, but he said that he pushed up into David. From the replays it's hard to tell if David hit him at all - barely a touch at most but it doesn't take a lot at Daytona.

Long green runs and a stretched out field dominated the race. I guess that could make drivers happy because it prevents the Big One, but watching the leaders drive away single file wasn't entertaining at all. After some oil was found on the track, David took two tires and restarted second. It didn't help him all that much since he was immediately shuffled, and although he fought his way back and rode in second for a while, he shot to the back again when Kyle Busch bumped into the back of him in the corner for no reason. I like Kyle but that was ridiculous! NASCAR simply gave him a warning. I guess even if they had black-flagged him it wouldn't have helped David's team out. Once he went to the back (probably as a result of his old tires) and green flag pit stops cycled through, there was nothing the #99 team could do to get to the front.

To make my mood worse, on the green stops, Brian's car broke something as he tried to exit his stall. It looked a lot like a tranny failure but could have been a couple things - they weren't quite sure.

The first three cars - Denny Hamlin, Busch and Dale Jr. - were way ahead in single file as the laps wound down. It looked to be one of the most boring finishes I've ever seens at Daytona when all of the sudden the #16 of Colin Braun just lost it off of Turn 2 with 2 to go. Last chance for excitement!

But really, the green-white-checkers brought nothing new. Carl Edwards almost caused a wreck when he cut into Mike Bliss, but it mostly just killed everybody's momentum behind them and allowed the same three leaders to pull away again. David had a really hard time making any ground and that was compounded when Clauson drifted up into the side of him. Somehow Scott was able to sneak through and get a top-10 before the final turn wreck occurred.

It could not have been more awkward - Steven Wallace crashed Mike Wallace. In reality, it didn't surprise me much because I have watched all three Wallaces, including Kenny, race each other extremely hard. So it was bound to happen. I'm not saying Steven did it intentionally, but it was still a hard pill to swallow for Mike and he did not hide that he was mad. However, to his credit, he was very professional in his interview, never named names and pretty much said that everyone saw what happened so he didn't have to explain. And in the sensitive fashion that I've grown so fond of at ESPN, Jamie Little was stupid enough to try to provoke Mike by pressing him about Steven being a family member. Mike looked irritated at Jamie and rightfully so! He reiterated what he'd said and stated that it wasn't his business to air dirty laundry on TV (and to the likes of ESPN, I'm sure). Ugh! How many times to we have to hit the ESPN reporters with a "DUH" stick before they get a clue?

By the end of the race I was in a sour mindset. The #20 wins again. Big surprise. But instead of bitching about the Toyota engines having 15, 20, 50 more horsepower (yeah, it varies according to who you ask ) than the Chevrolet engines, Junior brought up a great point - he said that the Gibbs cars are focused less on getting the "bullet" shapes and more on how to get the cars to handle the best. Wow! Ya think? Finally, someone with an open, intelligent mind!

David's finish was crippling in the points. He dropped two spots and lost quite a chunk on the championship. I know that one bad race for Clint and it could all tighten back up again (he's only 24 points away from 2nd). Man, Clint's luck has to run out sooner or later! Maybe that new R07 engine he was whining about not getting yet will be exactly the opposite of what he wants - poof! All joking aside, there seems to be a Chevy driver campaign for it, but they might not like what they wish for since new engines have a tendency to fail.

Hopefully tonight's race will be more of a race and less of a single file parade. It'll be interesting now that the drivers know about the two-car charge tactic that was so amazing to watch at Talladega!

POINT STANDINGS
1. Clint Bowyer
4. David -226

Daytona Qualifying

Jess

CUP RESULTS
1. Paul Menard
3. Dale Jr.
16. Casey
30. Brian
31. Michael
36. David
37. Martin
38. Kurt

Let's just say I'm happy that where you start the race doesn't really matter all that much.

Martin and Kurt have not had wonderful weekends so far. On Thursday, Martin's primary car was confiscated by NASCAR because the roof didn't fit the template. What was the #1 team thinking, with Martin so close to making the Chase?! Haven't these guys figured out yet that NASCAR will catch you if you mess with this car? Martin is really unhappy with his team, saying someone made a "big mistake"...meanwhile Bono Manion is trying to do damage control (yesterday I sensed some attitude in his tone, today he was much more subdued). Quite simply, they are expecting some big fines - when NASCAR takes your car they mean business (the last time they did this to the #66 and #70 cars there were huge fines, 150 points taken away and six-week suspensions for the crew chiefs and car chiefs!!). So if Martin misses the Chase, we can point the finger at the person who thought they could pull the wool over NASCAR's eyes.

During practice yesterday Kurt was making a fuel-milage run and was on the same set of tires he'd started with. The right-front tire lasted thirty-nine laps...and then blew out and sent him hard into the transition between the SAFER barrier and the concrete wall. It was a scary wreck and badly damaged the car that was fastest on the charts - and oh, it was also the one that finished 2nd in the Daytona 500.

NATIONWIDE RESULTS
1. Bryan Clauson
5. Dale Jr.
11. Brian
12. David
13. Scott

Pretty cool for Bryan Clauson to get his first pole at a place as awesome as Daytona! What's not so cool is that he's younger than me...!

Our boys did well and I'm so excited for the race tonight! I just love Daytona!!

New Hampshire Motor Speedway - Lenox Industrial Tools 301

Danni

RESULTS
1. Kurt!
2. Michael!
4. Martin
7. Casey
16. Brian
19. David
24. Dale Jr.

Although it looks simple enough, New Hampshire is a very challenging track for both the drivers and the crew chiefs. With a rookie like Pat Carpentier on the pole, I'm sure a lot of people were expecting a disasterous start of the race, but Patrick was very impressive. He not only led the first lap, but three more afterwards! When he finally got passed by Kevin Harvick, he still maintained a top-10 run for quite some time.

Junior would eventually pass Harvick for the lead and drove around at the front for 29 circuits. Green flag pit stops began. Usually the leader waits some time before pitting, but there is a point when it's too long. It appeared that a combination of this and a prolonged stop dropped Dale considerably in the running order by the time the cycle ended.

The first caution came out when Dario Franchitti spun. I cringed to see that David was involved! It was ruled a racing incident - David went up slightly as Franchitti went down. I did feel for Franchitti because he was running right around 20th when it happened. However, the caution was a savior for Michael, who had been racing the leader hard to stay on the lead lap.

Then the wild pit strategy commenced. Casey stayed out, claiming that his car was perfect, and Brian also denied a pit stop to restart in 2nd. While the #83 struggled slightly with old tires, Casey shot away from the field and led for 53 laps before the next caution came out. It always makes me smile to see someone who get fired from his team perform so well - kind of like a "Look what you'll be missing!" statement. It also helps in showcasing yourself to future rides.

With about 100 to go, none of our drivers were doing poorly. Michael was right around 25th - not stellar, but certainly better than the beginning of the year! David was in the top-20, while Kurt was just outside the top-10. It was also around this time that weather became another topic, as a large thundercell was making it's way toward the track. Liking where my guys were sitting, I had no issue with rain, but it kind of irritated me to think that the race didn't go green until 2:15 when it could have started at 1:30. But more on that in a later blog.

Everyone else was aware of the skies and it was pretty obvious as things picked up on the track. David nearly got wrecked by Aric Almirola but was saved when Jamie McMurray got into the back the #8 and shot him up the track. Almirola would later get spun by Kasey Kahne, bringing out another yellow. Interestingly enough, a handful of laps after the next restart, Kahne got turned around by Almirola! Now, I didn't hear anything from the booth about the apparent retaliation penalty, but Jayski's race rundown shows Almirola getting a safety violation penalty (no reason given) and coming to pit road on Lap 284, which was when the rain started. So I have no idea what happened there.

The race began a long green flag run and tensions were high because nobody could make it all the way on fuel, yet no one wanted to pit for fear of rain. On Lap 271, a very strange incident occurred. Dale Jr. suddenly pulled down from the middle of the track in Turn 4 to dive onto pit lane when McMurray, who had been running low, plowed into the back of him, also taking out David Ragan as he tried to get by. I was disappointed and confused - what happened to the communication? It's common knowledge to indicate on the backstretch that you're going to pit that time by or have the spotter alert the others. It also was odd that Junior cut so sharply onto pit road, so much that he would have nearly hit the cone if he hadn't been wrecked. Matt Kenseth nearly ran into him as well. So even though McMurray took total blame for the crash (what else was he supposed to do... he wrecked Junior ), I saw plenty of things the #88 team did wrong. Ironically, McMurray ended up sustaining the most damage while Junior was able to finish on the lead lap.

So in an odd twist of fate, Dale Jr. thanked Michael for allowing him to win at Michigan by bringing out a caution that allowed Michael to pit for fuel and stay out in 2nd during the following caution some nine laps later. Kurt and Martin also took advantage of the Lap 271 yellow and also had enough fuel to complete the race, so they stayed out on Lap 280 as well - they restarted 1st and 4th, respectively. It was smart strategy and paid off even more when only two laps of racing occurred before the final caution came out when Clint Bowyer and Sam Hornish wrecked. The yellow was then prolonged when Juan Pablo Montoya decided he didn't like being raced and hooked Kyle Busch under caution, nearly taking out several other cars (including David) in the process. But sadly for Montoya, he wasn't good enough to not get involved in the crash himself, for Kyle turned the wheel the other way and hit the side of the #42, spinning him. I was infuriated with Montoya - they showed the entire span from the restart to the hook and I saw absolutely nothing wrong with what Kyle did. He didn't race Montoya rough! Ugh! I guess you could say that Kyle got the last laugh when NASCAR penalized Montoya two laps for rough driving, but Kyle was the one with the wrecked car.

Then the rain began pouring down. From looking at the radar, it was clear that NASCAR would call the race and I wasn't surprised at how quickly it happened. I was thrilled for Kurt and Michael because they really needed finishes like these. Unfortunately, the bad weather prevented much of a post-race (except for the monstrosity that was the NASCAR.com one, but I won't even give them that attention). There is also some controversy about the top-3, which included JJ Yeley, a driver who has struggled tremendously this year. People are saying they only finished so well because of the rain. While it is true that they may not have finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd without the rain, they were pretty much guaranteeed top-5s because they had enough fuel while everyone else had to pit. So it wasn't a rain race - just another fuel mileage race. And no, just because several of my drivers benefitted as a result does not make me like mileage races! But they played the game that has become NASCAR this year so they deserve to be where they finished!

Some of the drivers got hurt by the fuel strategy, including Brian and David. Brian took two tires while David took four and though their finishes are not bad, they were both running better. David was his typical strong and steady self and it was great to see the #44 team back in regular form!

Everyone benefitted in the point standings, especially Martin, who got very close to the Chase, and Michael, who made a leap up the ladder and is now a solid 152 points ahead of 36th in owner standings! Hopefully both will continue the good runs and good luck and make big strides in the coming weeks.

#44 Quotes of the Race

During a caution.

Ryan: "All right, nice and smooth. Use long gears. How are you feeling? All right?"

David: "10-4."

Ryan: "We'll be staying out. I don't know if you need a drink or something."

David: "Yeah, like you'd let me stop if I needed a drink!"

Ryan: "No, I'll send Nate [possibly Nathan Kennedy, a mechanic on the team] to give you one! [Pause] Nice job, man. You're doing great."

POINT STANDINGS
1. Kyle Busch
3. Dale Jr. -144
14. Martin -551 (-71 from the Chase)
16. Brian -593 (-113 from the Chase)
18. Kurt -702
23. Casey -839
27. David -1000
29. Michael -1075