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Lap by Lap: Party at the Poconos 400 presented by Wal-Mart won by Jimmie Johnson

Photo Credit: Kirk Schroll

After suffering a penalty late in the race last week, Jimmie Johnson would bounce back this week, dominating at Pocono Raceway.

 

Green flag

Lap 1 Edwards leads into turn one ahead of Kenseth

Lap 2 Kasey Kahne is off the pace and on to pit road

Lap 3 Johnson moves into second behind Edwards

Lap 4 Edwards leads Johnson Kenseth Earnhardt Bowyer Ky Busch Harvick Keselowski Almirola Menard

Lap 6 Earnhardt Jr. passes Kenseth for third

Lap 10 Johnson passes Edwards for the lead

Lap 12 Johnson leads Edwards, Earnhardt, Harvick, Kenseth, Keselowski, Ky Busch, Bowyer, Almirola, Ku Busch

Lap 15 Ky Busch passes Keselowski, Ku Busch passes Bowyer and Almirola

Lap 16 Almirola passes Bowyer

Lap 17 Johnson leads Edwards Earnhardt Harvick Kenseth Ky Busch Keselowski Ku Busch Almirola Bowyer

Lap 20 Stewart passes Bowyer for 10th

Lap 21 Stewart passes Almirola for ninth

Lap 23 Keselowski passes Ky Busch

Lap 24 Johnson leads Edwards Earnhardt Harvick Kenseth Keselowski Ky Busch Ku Busch Stewart Almirola

Lap 26 Pit stops begin as many drivers hit pit road

Lap 27 Johnson makes his way down pit road from the lead, followed by his teammate Earnhardt. Keselowski to the race lead

Lap 28 Gordon and Logano to pit road

Lap 29 Keselowski and Patrick pit. McMurray to the lead.

Lap 30 McMurray pits, handing the lead back to Johnson as the cycle completes

Lap 31 Johnson leads Edwards by 3.3 seconds

Lap 45 Johnson leads Edwards Earnhardt Harvick Kenseth Ky Busch Keselowski Ku Busch Stewart Biffle

Lap 51 Johnson leads Edwards Earnhardt Harvick Kenseth Ky Busch Keselowski Ku Busch Stewart Biffle

Lap 55 Truex, Burton, McMurray and Harvick pit…..Ku Busch, Kenseth and Ky Busch pit

Lap 56 Bowyer, Stewart, J Gordon and Edwards pit

Lap 57 Earnhardt and Hamlin pit

Lap 58 Johnson pits from the lead……Montoya and Patrick also pits as Keselowski leads

Lap 59 Logano, Newman and Keselowski pit. Johnson goes back to the lead

Lap 64 Johnson leads Edwards Earnhardt Harvick Kenseth Keselowski Ku Busch Stewart Ky Busch Biffle

Caution lap 65 debris. Leaders head down pit road. Johnson leads Earnhardt Edwards Kenseth off pit road. Newman stays out so he assumes the lead. Patrick gets the lucky dog.

Restart lap 71 as Newman and Johnson are side-by-sde for the lead. Newman leads off of turn one.

Lap 73 Johnson leads Newman Earnhardt Kenseth Harvick Keselowski Edwards Ky Busch Ku Busch Hamlin

Lap 75 Hamlin passes Ku Busch

Lap 90 Keselowski passes Harvick

Lap 92 Harvick passes Kenseth as Newman makes his scheduled pit stop from second spot

Lap 94 Johnson leads Earnhardt Keselowski Kenseth Harvick Edwards Ky Busch Ku Busch Hamlin Montoya….Truex pits

Lap 98 Logano, Bowyer, Hamlin and Kenseth pit. Kenseth has problems on the left rear.

Lap 99 Ky Busch, Stewart, Harvick, Earnhardt and Keselowski pit

Lap 100 Johnson pits out of the lead. McMurray also pits. Harvick makes a pass thru for being too fast on pit road.

Lap 101 Newman leads Johnson as pit cycle completes itself.

48 laps to go Newman leads Johnson Keselowski Earnhardt Kenseth Ku Busch Hamlin Ky Busch Edwards Montoya

47 laps to go Johnson takes the lead from Newman

45 laps to go Ky Busch passes Hamlin

38 to go Newman pits

Caution lap 123 debris. Dinger gets the lucky dog. Johnson leads Hamlin Earnhardt Keselowski Ky Busch Biffle off pit road. Newman stays out to take over the lead. Edwards pits with one to go, giving up his track position, to top off.

Restart 31 to go as Newman and Johnson are side-by-side for the lead. Johnson leads off of turn one ahead of Newman

30 to go Johnson leads Newman Earnhardt Hamlin Keselowski Kenseth Stewart Ky Busch Biffle Montoya

Caution 28 to go Kenseth and Montoya both go for a spin in the tunnel turn while battling for position. Montoya got loose and got into Kenseth, sending them both around

Restart 24 to go as Newman and Johnson are side-by-side…three wide for the lead briefly with Newman, Earnhardt and Johnson. Johnson pulls ahead off of turn one. Both Keselowski and Stewart get really really loose off of the tunnel turn and both make incredible saves.

23 to go Blaney goes for a spin after contact from Almirola

Restart 19 to go as Johnson and Newman are side-by-side, three-wide for the lead as Earnhardt makes a dive….Johnson leads Earnhardt off of turn one

17 to go Johnson leads Earnhardt Ky Busch Hamlin Newman Biffle Ku Busch Stewart Burton Logano

15 to go Newman passes Hamlin back

Caution 13 to go A.J. Allmendinger has problems – think it’s suspension related

Restart 9 to go teammates Earnhardt and Johnson are side-by-side for the lead going into turn one……Johnson pulls off of turn one

8 to go Johnson leads Earnhardt Ky Busch Biffle Newman Stewart Hamlin……

7 to go caution as Blaney gets into the wall

Restart 4 to go Johnson leads the field into turn one as Biffle and Earnhardt are side-by-side for second. Biffle passes Earnhardt for second

3 to go Johnson leads Biffle Earnhardt Stewart Ky Busch Newman Ku Busch Hamlin Harvick Burton

FL Newman passes Ky Busch out of the tunnel turn. Menard had a tire go down going into turn two.

Jimmie Johnson wins the Party of the Poconos 500. Biffle Earnhardt Stewart Newman Ky Busch Ku Busch Hamlin Harvick Logano Burton Gordon McMurray Montoya.

After Texas slips away, Ty Dillon still confident RCR will ‘win a lot of races’

Photo Credit: Don Dunn

Perched on the window of his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, helmet still on Ty Dillon put his head in his hands.

In disbelief and frustration. Dillon had the best truck Friday night at the Texas Motor Speedway and was the leader coming down for the last restart with 23 laps to go. He had led a race high 76 laps but was passed by eventual winner Jeb Burton quickly after the restart and just as he closed back in and got to the back bumper of Burton, the checkered flag was in the air.

“Man if we had one more corner or something, a straightaway, I just needed a little bit more time,” said a disappointed Dillon afterwards. “If I could make a request to move the straightaway down like Talladega, I think I will right now.”

His restart wasn’t horrible, Dillon noted that he didn’t spin the tires and went through all the gears. When the two went into turn one Dillon was a nose ahead of Burton before losing the lead later that lap. Saying he couldn’t blame it on anyone, it came down to drafting as Burton had the 88 of Matt Crafton stuck behind him and pushing him down the backstretch, whereas Dillon was all alone on the outside.

“It was a great race, Jeb did a great job he’s deserving of that, he’s worked hard, he’s a great driver … that’s cool for him. Man, I want that hat and I want them six shooters [you get in Victory Lane]. I’ve ran really well here at Texas and I feel like it’s about my time, isn’t it?”

The Richard Childress Racing trucks of Dillon and teammate Brendan Gaughan, who’s a four-time TMS winner, were the class of the field. With Dillon’s 76 laps led, Gaughan paced the field for 44 circuits and finished fifth. It was Gaughan who Dillon learned the most from on Friday, watching as the experienced Gaughan motored past him midway through the race.

It was at that point Dillon joked he wished he had that experience. Dillon went on to praise his teammate for what he brings to RCR and how he’s made people better. Both drivers sit in the top 10 in points – Gaughan third, Dillon seventh respectively – heading into Kentucky later this month.

“There’s definitely going to be a lot of momentum coming from this, especially leading so many laps. RCR dominated the race, pretty much,” Dillon said. “ECR power, so proud of those guys, we’ve really turned our program around. Last year we were good, but this year we’re pretty awesome. We’re going to win a lot of races, as shown tonight.”

Dillon’s performance isn’t deceiving of that confidence, but his statistics can be. With how well he’s run, it’s surprising to see him as far back in the points as he is, considering he’s started just one race outside the top 10 and up until Dover his worst finish of the year was 18th.

He’s racing like a veteran however, and looking to add to his lone career win from last fall in Atlanta.

“We’ve changed some things and gotten our trucks where they really race good,” Dillon said of the company.

“We keep running like that we’ll get our fair share of wins, the cards will fall into our hands a little bit better. We’ll get ‘em next time.”

Chase Elliott and Erik Jones Make ARCA History With One, Two Finish at Pocono

Photo Credit: USA Today Sports

Two seventeen year olds, Chase Elliott and Erik Jones battled royally at the Tricky Triangle to score a one, two finish in the Pocono ARCA 200.

And in so doing, they made history, becoming the youngest winner and runner up finisher in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.

“It was a lot of fun,” Chase Elliott said of his race win after starting from the 32nd position. “We had to start in the back and had some work to do.”

“Lance (McGrew, crew chief) made some good calls getting us off sequence,” Elliott continued. “Being able to take advantage of that and get out in front when the cautions fell, I feel worked out to our advantage.”

“We got out front and stayed there so it worked out.”

The driver of the No. 9 Aaron’s-Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet admitted that it did not hurt having his father Bill coaching him prior to the race and from atop the hauler, especially with his history of winning at Pocono.

“I talked to him a lot by phone and then at the track,” Elliott said. “He gave me some good advice about this place.”

“But the big thing is that he never raced on this surface so a lot of things are different than how they used to be,” Elliott continued. “A lot of things have changed but it is still the same old Pocono and he helped me a lot.”

What did it mean to have his father with him in Victory Lane at Pocono?

“It means a ton to me,” Elliott said. “It wasn’t a little over ten years ago that I was in Victory Lane with Dad and I’ve got some pictures from that.”

“I just think that’s really cool,” Elliott continued. “To come up here to Pocono where Dad raced and to get that opportunity is really cool.”

“I knew it would mean a lot to win and we were fortunate that it worked out.”

Proud father Bill Elliott did have some first words for his young race winner in Victory Lane. And Chase Elliott definitely heeded that advice.

“First thing he said that he was going to keep the champagne because I wasn’t old enough to drink it,” Elliott said. “But I think it meant a lot for dad to go back to Victory Lane with me.”

“I’m not a dad but I feel like that would be cool,” Chase Elliott said. “I’m glad I could take him there today and hope to do it a lot more this year.”

Bill Elliott was indeed proud of his young son, who has become the focus of his racing expertise.

“Someone showed me a picture when I was in Victory Lane in 2002 and here is Chase in Victory Lane now in 2013,” Bill Elliott said. “He did a good job.”

“Everything came together and he did real well,” Elliott continued. “It’s a dream come true for me.”

“He’s done a good job in all he’s raced,” Elliott said. “This is just another era.”

Bill Elliott acknowledged that he was one who pushed the ARCA Series to consider relaxing their rules to allow 16 and 17 year olds to race in the series.

“The kids today have so much more experience and there was a real void there at age 16 or 17,” Elliott said. “ARCA is giving these kids a little extra time to get their feet wet.”

Bill Elliott was not the only proud parent with his son’s historic ARCA win.

“I’m just really thrilled for him,” mom Cindy Elliott said. “They tell me that he is the youngest winner.”

“So, I’m just thrilled for him and for the team and for Lance McGrew, winning now in every division,” Cindy Elliott continued. “What they’ve accomplished today is just wonderful.”

Crew chief Lance McGrew was also very proud of his young racer and felt fortunate that he could showcase his skills on the big track of Pocono.

“Chase is an extremely talented race car driver,” McGrew said. “He is young but he was born and bred that way.”

“He’s got years and years of experience,” McGrew continued. “We were fortunate enough that ARCA made a rule change this season to where we could run on a bigger race track.”

“I felt like with the backing we had and Chase’s experience that we could come here and do well,” McGrew said. “And we did.”

Seventeen year old Erik Jones, behind the wheel of the No. 15 ToyotaCare Toyota, finished runner up to Chase Elliott. And he had to battle his own demons and mistakes before being able to move forward to contend for the lead.

“We ran ourselves out of fuel right before the first pit stop on Lap 42,” Jones said. “We had the whole field lapped at that time.”

“We had to start at the tail end and a violation coming off pit road,” We just didn’t have time to run him back down.”

“We’ll come back in August and see if we can get the win.”

Veteran driver Frank Kimmel, in the No. 44 Ansell-Menards Toyota, finished third. And he was feeling very good about that finish after just getting a few laps on the track because of the rain.

“Pretty good day,” Kimmel said. “We were one of the teams that didn’t test so we just had about three laps before the race.”

“I smacked the wall and I thought I had a flat,” Kimmel continued. “That kind of ruined our day and I couldn’t run with those two.”

“So, we rode it out.”

Kimmel had nothing but praise for the youngsters who beat him on the race track. And yes, he acknowledged that they were really young, with both of them combined having less years of life than he had alone.

“What a remarkable deal these young kids are,” Kimmel said. “I have underwear that old.”

“Chase is a chip off the old block,” Kimmel continued. “I asked Bill (Elliott) who Chase’s  father was because he’s an awfully nice kid.”

“These young kids are a lot of fun to race with.”

Tom Hessert, behind the wheel of the No. 77 Barbera’s Autoland Dodge, and Mason Mitchell, driving the No. 99 Happy Cheeks-BeavEx-Reliance Tool Ford, rounded out the top five finishers in the Pocono ARCA 200.

 

 

 

CASTRONEVES WINS AT TEXAS TO TAKE IZOD INDYCAR SERIES POINTS LEAD

Photo Credit: John Cote/IndyCar.com

Sadler says JGR team needs to run better, aiming for Iowa turnaround

Elliott Sadler probably expected things to be a little different at this point in the season after making the decision to leave Richard Childress Racing for the dominant Joe Gibbs Racing following the 2012 season.

Different in the sense that Sadler could be sitting better than seventh in points heading into Saturday night’s event in Iowa, which he won last August. Different because he joined a team that has shown to be superior to others in the Nationwide Series, except the No. 11 team has been anything but after 11 races. He’s winless and in a deep championship hole, both of which brings the DuPont Pioneer 250 at the perfect time.

“Iowa is probably my best track. I would say that and Bristol are my two best tracks,” noted Sadler earlier this week. “Mentally as I show up, I know where I want to be on the track, where I need to be on the gas, on the brake, how my car needs to feel in practice to be in the race. It is a really good track to me.”

Sadler feels comfortable enough that when he goes to Iowa, he knows he’ll be successful. And that’s what he needs this weekend in order to get his season turned around. Sitting 64 markers out of the championship lead and coming off a crash in Dover, Sadler is the best driver at Iowa.

He’s won three straight poles –including the track record last August – with his worst finish at the track is fifth. That gives him an average finish of 2.8 on the half-mile speedway.

The goose eggs in the win and pole columns on his record for 2013 could disappear on Saturday. But Sadler acknowledges that wins are nice but his JGR team needs to run better first, bringing up their season average finish of 12.8 and just his five top 10 finishes on the year.

“We were a little caught off guard at Dover. We ran well at Darlington, some of the other tracks,” he said. “Early in the year, we felt really good about that particular setup as far as intermediate tracks and stuff were concerned.”

Their position hasn’t been for a lack of trying. A blown engine at Bristol resulted in their worst finish of the year, while bad luck and bad adjustments kept them out of the top 10 on others.

“We were caught off guard at Dover. We struggled the entire weekend, through practice, qualifying and the race. We really have dug ourselves a pretty big hole here. We are a lot of points behind, seventh in the points. Honestly, points don’t mean a hill of beans to me right now. We need to run better, be more competitive on a weekly basis.

“I think going to Iowa, we can get some good optimism going with our race team, get some good direction going. We can go there and be competitive and run good. That’s what our team needs right now, to kind of get back on the ball, get back in the game. I can’t think of a better place to go.”