Bowyer wins the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”230″]
[/media-credit]Clint Bowyer saved enough fuel over the final 56 laps to win Saturday nights NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“Who thought in a million years I’d walk into the situation I’ve walked into?” Bowyer said in victory lane.
Bowyer beat Denny Hamlin by .417 seconds in route to his third win of the season and the first in the chase.
Jimmie Johnson finished third, Greg Biffle fourth and Kyle Busch finished fifth.
Points leader Brad Keselowski, who ran out of fuel before his final pit stop, finished 11th and now holds a 7 point advantage over Johnson in the series standings.
“It’s blackjack, you’re not going to win every hand. When you got a bad deal you have to try not to have too many chips on the table.” Keselowski said.
Across the United States, homecoming is a traditionally celebrated at high schools and colleges through the month of October. Race weekend in Charlotte has the same feel. After all, the Charlotte, NC area is home to many of the teams and the fall race is an opportunity for the teams to gather with old friends and enjoy the weekend.
Charlotte found itself in the middle of homecoming, without it’s king. On Thursday, the news came that fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. would miss the next two races. The loss of Earnhardt felt like losing the star quarterback the day prior to the big game.
Second String
Regan Smith was given the opportunity to drive the No.88 car during the absence of Earnhardt. Smith was the last to take the track on Thursday during the first practice session due to the changes that had to be made to the car. Watching Smith in his garage, I saw the image of a young man waiting anxiously to open his Christmas presents. It was clear that he was eager to go.
This was not a good weekend for the legion of 88 fans. Smith qualified 26th for the Bank of America 500 and quickly made his way through the field, moving into the top ten and appearing to be poised go further, when the engine blew. One was left to wonder what could have been.
“Needed one more stop and I think we would have had it dialed in and then just chased the weather from that point on. It’s disappointing. It’s a good team, it’s a good car and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports does a great job. I’m looking forward to next week.” Smith said.
The Points
I would love to see Nascar tweak the points system used in the Chase. As it currently stands, it is extremely difficult for a team to recover from a bad weekend. Jeff Gordon is a prime example. Gordon suffered a bad day on the first race of the Chase in Chicago. Since then he has continued the solid run that he had the last six weeks of the season, which got him into the playoffs. However, the hole was too deep.
My recommendation is that during the Chase, the 12 drivers that are competing, are given points differently than the rest of the field. There would only be 12 points available, and only 3 points for a victory bonus. The Chase driver that has the worst finish in the event but would be scored the equivalent of twelfth versus, say 35th. This would allow drivers to dig their way out after a bad day and would hopefully have more drivers eligible going to Homestead.
The Track
Every time I spend time at the track, I find interesting things and lots of interesting observations –
Grit Chips – Samples were given out of Jeff Foxworthy’s new Grit Chips. Chips made from grits. What else could a southern boy love? The chips are glouten free, for those that are limited in their diets, and are delicious. I was told they began shipping to stores this past week – look for them.
Entertainment – Charlotte Motor Speedway always does a great job with their pre-race entertainment and Saturday was no different. Big & Rich got the crowd fired up and it was interesting to see daredevil Nik Wallenda walk a tight rope from the top of the grandstands to victory lane. However, for me, honoring America’s finest is always a highlight of any weekend at the track. No thank you ever seems sufficient when you see those that have given so much, including the members of the Wounded Warriors project that played a big part in the pre-race.
Fans – The fans are what racing is all about. Sports like to claim thy have the best fans, but I would argue with any of them when it comes to Nascar. Race fans are like no other. They love to have a good time, but I find them very generous as well. I am always amazed when I am working around the track how many will offer a cold drink on hot day or something to eat. For those of us that do this – thank you to each and everyone one of you!
| Unofficial Race Results | |||||
| Bank of America 500, Charlotte | |||||
| http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=31 | |||||
| ========================================= | |||||
| Pos. | St. | No. | Driver | Make | Points |
| ========================================= | |||||
| 1 | – | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 47 |
| 2 | – | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 43 |
| 3 | – | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 42 |
| 4 | – | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 41 |
| 5 | – | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 39 |
| 6 | – | 55 | Mark Martin | Toyota | 39 |
| 7 | – | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 37 |
| 8 | – | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 36 |
| 9 | – | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | 35 |
| 10 | – | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 34 |
| 11 | – | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | 35 |
| 12 | – | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 32 |
| 13 | – | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 31 |
| 14 | – | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | 30 |
| 15 | – | 22 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | 0 |
| 16 | – | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 28 |
| 17 | – | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 27 |
| 18 | – | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 27 |
| 19 | – | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | 25 |
| 20 | – | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 24 |
| 21 | – | 78 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 23 |
| 22 | – | 21 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 0 |
| 23 | – | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | 21 |
| 24 | – | 51 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 20 |
| 25 | – | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | 19 |
| 26 | – | 83 | Landon Cassill | Toyota | 18 |
| 27 | – | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 17 |
| 28 | – | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | 16 |
| 29 | – | 13 | Casey Mears | Ford | 15 |
| 30 | – | 10 | David Reutimann | Chevrolet | 14 |
| 31 | – | 98 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 13 |
| 32 | – | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | 12 |
| 33 | – | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 12 |
| 34 | – | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | 10 |
| 35 | – | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 0 |
| 36 | – | 32 | Timmy Hill | Ford | 8 |
| 37 | – | 30 | David Stremme | Toyota | 7 |
| 38 | – | 88 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 39 | – | 119 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | 0 |
| 40 | – | 195 | Scott Speed | Ford | 4 |
| 41 | – | 191 | Reed Sorenson | Toyota | 0 |
| 42 | – | 37 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | 2 |
| 43 | – | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | 1 |
Elliott Sadler declares ‘this is fun for me’ as championship battle nears conclusion
[media-credit name=”Greg Arthur” align=”alignright” width=”222″]
[/media-credit]With the final four races of the Nationwide Series ahead, before the crowing of a champion commences in Homestead-Miami, Elliott Sadler continues to move ever closer to seeing that it’s him.
Sadler finished third on Friday night in Charlotte, after leading on four different occasions for 22 laps. He had started from the pole. Sadler’s 14th top five finish of the year was enough to gain nine points on Ricky Stenhouse Jr., extending his lead to 13 heading into Kansas.
“It was a good run for us. Anytime you gain points on your competitors, to run like we did, we led laps, sat on the pole, finished third, we’re going call this a good night,” said Sadler after the Dollar General 300, which he badly wanted to win for his mother, Bell, who was in attendance with the rest of the Sadler family. It was the first time in a long time that Sadler’s had his family at the track and his mother is a breast cancer survivor.
“We didn’t get the win but we did finish third in our pink car and felt like we learned some things tonight that’s going to help us for the other mile-and-a-half’s left. So, all in all, going to call it a good day.”
Three of the season’s final four races are at mile-and-a-half tracks. Sadler and the men he’s battling in the championship, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and teammate Austin Dillon, have each won at one of those tracks. Sadler won in Phoenix, Stenhouse in Texas, while Dillon swept the races in Kentucky. The two continue to put distance on Dillon for the championship however, looking to make it a repeat of last season in Homestead, the two settling it between themselves.
Thus far, Sadler holds the advantage. That’s if there’s any advantage at all. Both have been in this position before, both have the experience and the equipment to get it done. Yet whereas Stenhouse already has a title under his belt, Sadler doesn’t see any pressure for himself to do the same.
“I’m going to be honest with you, this is fun. This is fun for me; I’ve been in a lot different situation in a racecar than what I am right now,” he said on Friday night. “I’ve got a great race team, I’ve got a hell of a owner that’s all about racing. We’re all pulling the string the same direction; our teams all work well together. This is fun, it’s fun being competitive every weekend and running for a championship if you’re competitive, that’s what we do, this is what it’s all about.
“I’m definitely cherishing this moment, I cherished last year even though we didn’t win the championship, it was fun being in that battle. And I’m doing it again this year, this is what racings all about. Showing up knowing you’re going to be competitive. Knowing under pressure you better do your job, don’t make any mistakes, get on pit road like your suppose to, didn’t make any mistakes with lapped cars. But at the end of the day, this is what we do.
“So to me I’m looking at it as fun, this is what you dream of as a kid. To have a kick ass race team that shows up every week that’s behind you one hundred percent and you get to go out and battle every weekend. So that’s my mentality for it.”
A mentality that drives Sadler in stretching his lead because he knows it’s far from over, no lead is safe. Not just because of the adage that anything can happened, but because there is still one unpredictable race ahead, one with a big question mark.
Next weekend’s race at Kansas will be on a new track surface as it was recently repaved. There will be a test session on Thursday, which will give drivers their first look at the new speedway. Through 29 weekend this season Sadler, Stenhouse and Dillon have shown how evenly matched they are, never seeming to finish far from each other. On display again Friday as Sadler and company took just gas only on their final stop in hopes of not giving up track position or risking a mistake on pit road. He finished third, Dillon was sixth and Stenhouse seventh.
Now, so late in the season it’s all about taking what you can get making the right calls, keeping yourself in contention and near your contenders. Suddenly Kansas and it’s uncertainty becomes a big part in determining this season’s champion.
“Texas, we’ve already raced there this year, we’ve already raced at Phoenix, which we were able to win Phoenix,” said Sadler looking at the upcoming schedule and what he expects. “Ricky won at Texas, so we know what’s going to happen there. Homestead is the normal old Homestead that we know a lot about. So, I would say Kansas right now is the last kind of wildcard race.”
And when it comes to mile-and-a-half tracks, all three of the contenders have respectable average finishes. Something Sadler is well aware of, predicting all three will continue to run around each other and keep the fight close. This one, he says, is going all the way down to Homestead.
As such, states Sadler, “That means you better have your mess together and run in the top four or five or you’re going to lose points to the other two guys.”
