Busch Fastest In Happy Hour As Well……Sending A Message?
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[/media-credit]There were some surprises in Happy Hour today in preparation for Sunday’s AdvoCare 500, but it had nothing to do with the winner of Happy Hour. Kyle Busch once again displayed his dominance of the entire weekend by winning Happy Hour as well. He was followed by Kasey Kahne (last years winner), Joey Logano, Aric Almirola, and Jeff Gordon.
I was most surprised by the performance pulled by Gordon. Gordon has not shown us quite yet that he has a handle on this new pavement. He did terrible during the first race with the new pavement back in the fall of 2011 primarily due to brake failure, and managed to get an 8th place finish here in the spring. Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, and Kurt Busch rounded out the Top 10.
Brad Keselowski was 9th quickest and Jimmie Johnson was 11th. They both will need to pick it up if they want to contend for a win tomorrow. Keselowski has an advantage to start the race as he starts 14th, and Johnson starts in 24th.
With a new chassis, Jeff Burton was 22nd quickest. Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth both struggled with loose race cars and were 23rd and 27th quickest, respectively.
This race could potentially just be a race between non-contenders while the two championship chasers will be racing each other in the middle of the pack. Who is going to end up on top? We shall see!
FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR SPEED TIME BEHIND
1 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M’s 135.252 26.617 Leader
2 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet Farmers Insurance 135.166 26.634 -0.017
3 20 Joey Logano Toyota Dollar General 135.003 26.666 -0.049
4 43 Aric Almirola Ford Farmland 134.958 26.675 -0.058
5 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 134.912 26.684 -0.067
6 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 134.796 26.707 -0.090
7 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 5-hour Energy 134.791 26.708 -0.091
8 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Ground 134.766 26.713 -0.096
9 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge Miller Lite 134.549 26.756 -0.139
10 78 Kurt Busch Chevrolet Furniture Row 134.519 26.762 -0.145
11 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools 134.459 26.774 -0.157
12 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Diet Mountain Dew / National Guard 134.404 26.785 -0.168
13 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Quicken Loans 134.404 26.785 -0.168
14 83 Landon Cassill Toyota Burger King 134.374 26.791 -0.174
15 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Mobil 1 / Office Depot 134.328 26.800 -0.183
16 16 Greg Biffle Ford Filtrete 134.228 26.820 -0.203
17 55 Mark Martin Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine 134.198 26.826 -0.209
18 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota Burger King 134.133 26.839 -0.222
19 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet Menards / Rheem 134.123 26.841 -0.224
20 99 Carl Edwards Ford Fastenal 134.123 26.841 -0.224
21 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target 134.023 26.861 -0.244
22 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 133.993 26.867 -0.250
23 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Budweiser 133.964 26.873 -0.256
24 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Shell / Pennzoil 133.943 26.877 -0.260
25 51 Regan Smith Chevrolet Phoenix Construction 133.784 26.909 -0.292
26 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford Black & Decker 133.615 26.943 -0.326
27 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Ford EcoBoost 133.591 26.948 -0.331
28 13 Casey Mears Ford GEICO 133.531 26.960 -0.343
29 10 Danica Patrick Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 133.230 27.021 -0.404
30 38 David Gilliland Ford Loan Mart 133.220 27.023 -0.406
31 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Allstate 133.210 27.025 -0.408
32 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota Vektor Vodka 133.121 27.043 -0.426
33 30 David Stremme Toyota Inception Motorsports 132.988 27.070 -0.453
34 34 David Ragan Ford CertainTeed / 31-W Insulation 132.939 27.080 -0.463
35 191 Jason Leffler Toyota Plinker Tactical / Value Place 132.582 27.153 -0.536
36 98 Michael McDowell Ford Phil Parsons Racing 132.504 27.169 -0.552
37 119 Mike Bliss Toyota Plinker Tactical / Value Place 132.265 27.218 -0.601
38 26 Josh Wise* Ford MDS Transport 132.149 27.242 -0.625
39 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet Accell Construction 132.096 27.253 -0.636
40 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota AM-FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves / aloft hotel tempe 132.008 27.271 -0.654
41 33 Stephen Leicht* Chevrolet Little Joes Autos.com 131.608 27.354 -0.737
42 144 David Reutimann Ford No Label Watcher 131.569 27.362 -0.745
43 32 Timmy Hill Ford U.S. Chrome / TMone 130.757 27.532 -0.915
* Denotes Rookie
Logano captures the NNS Great Clips 200 pole at Phoenix; Sadler wrecks
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[/media-credit]Joey Logano wants to leave JGR with a bang and nothing would sound better than to win another race for the famed Super Bowl winning coach and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion winning car owner, Joe Gibbs. Logano is off to a good start this weekend after posting a lap of 27.14, which beat Kyle Busch by just four tenths of a second. Austin Dillon, Sam Hornish Jr., and Brian Vickers rounded out the top-5.
Vickers is particularly happy this weekend. He will drive full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Nationwide Series next season in 2013, and is excited about defending his championship from ten years ago. Sam Hornish Jr. wants to prove to Roger Penske that he is worthy enough to force Penske to make a fourth team for 2013. Penske cited economic uncertainty as the reason why Hornish was let go the first time after the 2010 season. Hornish has since built a reputation off his Nationwide Series performances, and his run-ins with Danica Patrick.
Austin Dillon is coming into this weekend with good news as well after it was announced he will be running in the Daytona 500 next season driving RCR’s No.33. He is hoping to pull out a victory here in the desert. Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jason Leffler, and Brian Scott rounded out the top-10.
Stenhouse was unhappy about his lap after complaining of his car’s very loose condition. “We had a bad lap because I got loose. I nearly wrecked it.”
He can breathe a little easier though. At least he didn’t crash like Elliott Sadler. Sadler entered Turn 3 on his qualifying lap in the marbles and ended up in the wall. Sadler came up off the dog leg a little too abruptly, and it cost him as he ended up in the marbles as soon as he entered the turn. The two came into this race tied for the championship lead. Sadler will have to race his way through the field and be smart. He won here in the spring. Brian Scott starts this race from the tenth position after collecting his second career Truck Series victory last evening. He hopes to create his own sweep.
| Starting Lineup | |||||
| Great Clips 200, Phoenix Int’l Raceway | |||||
| http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/qual.php?race=32 | |||||
| =========================================== | |||||
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Make | Speed | Time |
| =========================================== | |||||
| 1 | 18 | Joey Logano | Toyota | 132.621 | 27.145 |
| 2 | 54 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 132.445 | 27.181 |
| 3 | 3 | Austin Dillon* | Chevrolet | 132.261 | 27.219 |
| 4 | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | 132.047 | 27.263 |
| 5 | 20 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | 132.033 | 27.266 |
| 6 | 22 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | 131.989 | 27.275 |
| 7 | 38 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 131.844 | 27.305 |
| 8 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 131.675 | 27.34 |
| 9 | 30 | Jason Leffler | Chevrolet | 131.593 | 27.357 |
| 10 | 11 | Brian Scott | Toyota | 131.31 | 27.416 |
| 11 | 33 | Brendan Gaughan | Chevrolet | 131.081 | 27.464 |
| 12 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 130.957 | 27.49 |
| 13 | 88 | Cole Whitt* | Chevrolet | 130.938 | 27.494 |
| 14 | 7 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 130.895 | 27.503 |
| 15 | 19 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | 130.895 | 27.503 |
| 16 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | Chevrolet | 130.624 | 27.56 |
| 17 | 43 | Michael Annett | Ford | 130.439 | 27.599 |
| 18 | 14 | Eric McClure | Toyota | 130.077 | 27.676 |
| 19 | 10 | Jeff Green | Toyota | 130.044 | 27.683 |
| 20 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | 129.861 | 27.722 |
| 21 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Chevrolet | 129.734 | 27.749 |
| 22 | 199 | Alex Bowman | Toyota | 129.613 | 27.775 |
| 23 | 108 | Paulie Harraka | Ford | 129.227 | 27.858 |
| 24 | 100 | Blake Koch | Toyota | 129.208 | 27.862 |
| 25 | 40 | Erik Darnell | Chevrolet | 129.037 | 27.899 |
| 26 | 86 | Kevin Lepage | Ford | 128.921 | 27.924 |
| 27 | 81 | Jason Bowles* | Toyota | 128.852 | 27.939 |
| 28 | 47 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | 128.852 | 27.939 |
| 29 | 42 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | 128.778 | 27.955 |
| 30 | 46 | Chase Miller | Chevrolet | 128.292 | 28.061 |
| 31 | 191 | Tony Raines | Toyota | 128.041 | 28.116 |
| 32 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Chevrolet | 128.023 | 28.12 |
| 33 | 73 | Derrike Cope | Chevrolet | 127.547 | 28.225 |
| 34 | 1 | Mike Wallace | Chevrolet | 127.083 | 28.328 |
| 35 | 15 | Timmy Hill | Ford | 127.083 | 28.328 |
| 36 | 23 | Jamie Dick | Chevrolet | 126.778 | 28.396 |
| 37 | 39 | Dexter Stacey | Ford | 126.011 | 28.569 |
| 38 | 4 | Daryl Harr | Chevrolet | 124.675 | 28.875 |
| 39 | 44 | John Blankenship | Chevrolet | 122.917 | 29.288 |
| 40 | 41 | Noel Dowler+ | Ford | 121.741 | 29.571 |
| 41 | 124 | Derek White+ | Toyota | 120.144 | 29.964 |
| 42 | 70 | Nur Ali+ | Chevrolet | 102.837 | 35.007 |
| 43 | 174 | Mike Harmon | Chevrolet | 126.121 | 28.544 |
Kyle Busch Continues Dominance; Burton Crashes Again
[media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Noel Lanier” align=”alignright” width=”225″]
[/media-credit]Kyle Busch was blistering quick last evening as he set the track record in winning the pole and his dominance of the weekend continued as he led practice this morning with a blistering lap of 26.55. Busch ran 35 laps during the session. Denny Hamlin was second quickest to make it a clean sweep for JGR Racing. Hamlin ran 14 laps and set a lap of 26.67. Both are favorites to win the race this weekend.
Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano rounded out the top-5. Truex is starting on the outside of the front row for the race tomorrow. Keselowski struggled during his qualifying lap primarily due to the cloud coverage in the area, but ran 24 laps and was very happy with his run. Joey Logano has had decent cars here in the past, but has never really been there at the end of the race to show it. He starts tomorrow in 15th, behind Keselowski.
Paul Menard, Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-10. Bowyer is the last driver other than the top two that still has a mathematical chance to win the Chase. He sits 36 points back. For those who follow the old system, Johnson leads Keselowski by 19 points, and Greg Biffle by 46.
Speaking of Jimmie Johnson, he has not had a good weekend so far. He struggled in practice this morning, only running as high as 24th on the sheets with a fastest lap of 26.91. He is a 4-time winner here in Phoenix and it just seems like he hasn’t completely gotten used to the new surface despite finishing in the top-5 here in the spring.
[media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Noel Lanier” align=”alignright” width=”234″]
[/media-credit]Jeff Burton has also had a weekend to forget. He wrecked his primary car on Friday, and had brake issues on his No.31 in practice today. Burton’s team opted to change chassis on the No.31 and will use their backup for the Cup event tomorrow. At the time of the accident, Burton was 20th quickest on the track.
Is this going to be a JGR weekend? We shall see tomorrow!
