Jeff Hanley Scores OSCAAR Super Late Model Victory after early race incident
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[/media-credit]Following early race contact between Jeff Hanley and George Wilson, Hanley would have to restart at the rear of the field. However, Hanley would work his way through the field and take the victory.
The incident between Hanley and Wilson continues a chapter of OSCAAR incidents that have happened in the past. In victory lane, Hanley stated that Wilson caused it by coming across his nose and didn’t understand why he was put to back as he did not cause the incident.
“You poke the bear and this is what happens,” Hanley added in victory lane. He also added that he will not be running future OSCAAR races.
To add to the headlines of the race, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series driver J.R. Fitzpatrick was making his first OSCAAR Super Late Model start driving Roy Passer’s car.
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[/media-credit]Following the qualifying heats, Hanley would be awarded the pole ahead of Derrike Tiemersma, Wilson, Rob Clarke, Wayne Issacs, Shawn Chenoweth, Brandon Watson, Fitzpatrick, Glenn Watson, Jesse Kennedy, Kyle Passer, Todd Campbell, Charlie Gallant, Rob Poole, Shane Maginnis, Chris Burrows, Ian Bourque, the 81, Brandon Vanderwel, Tyler Hawn, the 98, Quinn Misener, Jim Bowman, Mike Bricknell and Paul Milligan.
Hanley would grab the early lead over Tiemersma while Wilson battled with Clarke for second. However, their battle would be short lived as the first caution would fly for Bowman going around.
On the restart, Hanley would once again grab the lead, leaving Tiemersma and Wilson to battle for second when there’d be another caution for Vanderwel and Hawn wrecking.
On the restart, Wilson would get alongside Hanley for the lead, however the third caution would then fly for Glenn Watson going around. Campbell also suffered heavy front end damage in the incident and was done for the race.
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[/media-credit]So three laps into the 50 lap feature, it’d be Wilson leading Hanley, Clarke, Tiemersma, Fitzpatrick, Chenoweth, Issac, Brandon Watson, Kennedy, Passer and Poole.
On the restart would be where the contact would take place between Wilson and Hanley, resulting in Wilson making hard contact with the inside wall on the front stretch. Wilson would be done for the event, well Hanley would be sent to the rear of the field. The incident can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSL5YC8cz1s, as videotaped by Justin Jones.
So three laps into the feature, it’d be last year’s Velocity 250 winner Rob Clarke leading Tiemersma, Fitzpatrick, Chenoweth, Issac, Kennedy, Passer, Poole, Maginnis, Bourque and the 81.
On the restart, Clarke would jump out to the lead while Tiemersma and Fitzpatrick battled for second. Their battle would be short lived as the fifth caution would fly for Misener going for a spin. Under caution, points leader Brandon Watson would come down pit road.
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[/media-credit]On the restart, there’d be another caution as Dave Taylor would run into problems. Under caution, Misener and Brandon Watson would both come down pit road.
With only five laps complete in the event, Derrike Tiemersma had grabbed the lead ahead of Rob Clarke on the restart. J.R. Fitzpatrick ran third, followed by Shawn Chenoweth, Jesse Kennedy, Shane Maginnis, Ian Bourque, the 81, Rob Poole and Jeff Hanley.
On the restart, Clarke would grab the lead ahead of Tiemersma, Fitzpatrick, Chenoweth, Kennedy and Hanley. The top six would run in that order till the seventh caution at lap 17 for the 81 going around. Under caution, Poole would make his way down pit road.
With 33 laps to go, Clarke led Tiemersma, Fitzpatrick, Chenoweth, Kennedy, Hanley, Maginnis and Bourque.
On the restart, Clarke would continue to lead while Fitzpatrick slipped past Tiemersma for second, with Hanley now up to the fourth position ahead of Kennedy and Chenoweth. Hanley would pass Tiemersma for third on lap 19 just before the eighth caution on lap 19 for Hawn stopping up in turn two. Under caution, Bowman and Hawn would make their way down pit road.
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[/media-credit]On the restart, Clarke would lead over Fitzpatrick and Tiemersma while Kennedy and Hanley battled for fourth. Hanley would clear Kennedy for fourth on lap 20 just before the ninth caution for Bourque and Chenoweth wrecking. Under caution, Bourque, Chenoweth, Poole and Tiemersma would make their way down pit road.
With 30 laps to go, it’d be Clarke leading Fitzpatrick, Hanley, Kennedy, Gallant, Brandon Watson, Glenn Watson, Maginnis, Passer and Burrows.
On the restart, Clarke would continue to lead while Fitzpatrick and Hanley battled for second. Hanley would clear Fitzpatrick for second on lap 22.
On lap 24, Clarke would continue leading, now ahead of Hanley, Fitzpatrick, Kennedy and Brandon Watson while Gallant battled with Glenn Watson for sixth. Gallant would pass Glenn Watson for sixth on lap 25.
On lap 33, the yellow flag almost came up when Burrows drove up into the Issacs, though both drivers managed to continue. Poole almost got involved in the incident, slipping past them both, sliding it sideways, though managed to keep it straight and keep going. However, the race would not end without caution as the 10th caution would fly on lap 34 for Burrows stopping on track as a result of the damage.
With 16 laps to go, it’d be Clarke leading Hanley, Fitzpatrick, Kennedy, Brandon Watson, Gallant, Glenn Watson, Chenoweth, Passer, Poole, Maginnis, Tiemersma and Bourque.
On the restart, Hanley would grab the lead from Clarke while Fitzpatrick battled with Kennedy for third. Kennedy would clear Fitzpatrick for third on lap 36. Brandon Watson would try to pass Fitzpatrick for fourth on lap 40, though no dice. Instead, Watson would slip back to the ninth position by lap 42 after being passed by Glenn Watson, Gallant, Chenoweth and Tiemersma. Chenoweth would bump Watson back to 10th on lap 44.
The final stretch would belong to Jeff Hanley as he would take the win in convincing fashion. After the race, Hanley gave the trophy away to a little boy.
Rob Clarke finished second, followed by Jesse Kennedy, J.R. Fitzpatrick and Charlie Gallant.
Glenn Watson finished sixth, followed by Shawn Chenoweth, Glenn Watson, Kyle Passer and Rob Poole.
The top 10 finish for Poole marked the end to a long trying day after breaking a drive shaft in practice. Speaking of Poole, stay tuned to Rob Poole Racing as they may have a NASCAR Canadian Tire Series driver driving the No. 45 car at Kawartha Speedway this Friday due to Poole having to work.
Combination of Hamlin and Grubb continue to live up to great expectations
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[/media-credit]The 2012 Sprint Cup Series season started with a running tally of how many races Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin would win. A simple bet amongst outsiders interested to see how Stewart would do with new crew chief Steve Addington, while his championship winning crew chief from last season, Darian Grubb, joined Hamlin at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Hamlin struck first in Phoenix, Stewart followed up the following week in Las Vegas. The two went back and forth through the middle of the season, but both stalled out as the Chase neared. Until Stewart suddenly faded and again wrote himself off and Hamlin found the Chase magic.
Four wins entering the Chase, the top seed and nods of being the favorite. So far, so good with the playoffs just two weeks old. Dominating and winning will do that to for a team, a team that has last year’s championship leader atop the pit box. Making Sunday’s results, and Hamlin’s strong words, carrying a lot of meaning.
“Doesn’t hurt to have a little confidence in your team. I know we made couple of big mistakes over the last two weeks but I said we were fast enough to make it up and we were. I’m going to have these guys back until they die, this is my team. Just excited about everything,” said Hamlin in Victory Lane, noting his lightning fast racecar.
“You don’t wan to sound too cocky, but I knew what we were capable of. Our car was extremely strong and I have a really good knack for this racetrack. The two together with a crew chief like Darian, it’s a winning combination.”
Hamlin led 193 of 300 laps on Sunday in New Hampshire. His fifth win of the season, and third in five weeks has him sitting pretty in points. Much needed after a disappointing ending to Chicago last weekend. Third in points, seven behind new point leader Jimmie Johnson heading into Dover. And Dover is a different story.
One which can be talked about next week. The story right now is the combination of Hamlin and Grubb. Because for as much as preseason predictions and hopes can be drummed up, these two are living large and making them all look good.
They are the favorite. They are the best team in the NSCS right now. It’s a matter of doing what they did on Sunday, execute to perfection and finish the job. If he does that, he’ll be the champion. Regardless of what Johnson is doing, regardless of everyone believing he’s in control of the championship; because Hamlin is winning and has the confidence.
“There’s a lot of reason why you handle things differently. But, you learn from over time, what it takes to build a championship team and what makes these guys tick,” said Hamlin to reporters about his FedEx team. “You don’t think as a driver that your emotion has any bearing on how they perform but it really does. I find over the seven years that I’ve been here, it’s just that they really feed off of you attitude and your outlook. And obviously when I have confidence, they have a ton of confidence.
“I just learned that over time and really for me, I just learned to handle the bad days better and knowing that I’m one of the handful of drivers that have a great ride, an awesome sponsor, and have a championship-winning team backing me.
“So, I can handle the bad days when I put the grand scheme of things in a bigger picture.”
Amazing how much Hamlin has changed in just a short time. Confidence to overcome whatever hurdles can be thrown his way. Such as Friday in qualifying, being 32nd fastest after being in his own league in all the practice sessions. In the past, Hamlin might have folded for the weekend, but this weekend he stood by the confidence he from last weekend, saying he could win. They did, as each man did their job to perfection. When they don’t, they man up and bring the team that much closer.
The driver believes in himself, in the team – as already stated – and most importantly, in the crew chief. Grubb is as big a story as Hamlin, part of the winning combination Hamlin noted in Victory Lane. He won five races with Stewart last season. All five races were in the Chase. He’s won five alone with Hamlin already this season and there are still eight races left.
“It’s a lot of fun just to bring a piece like that to the racetrack. The whole Joe Gibbs organization did an awesome job preparing that one especially for Loudon,” Grubb said. “It’s the best car in our ship. We knew it was going to give us our best chance to win and as we ran here in the spring we knew we had a shot at it.
“So, wanted to make sure we gave Denny every chance to get that out there. We are just disappointed we didn’t show the qualifying effort because I think we could have won everything this weekend. But that just made the show that much better with Denny being able to drive from the back and put on a show there.”
And for now, Hamlin and Grubb are the show, looking good for those still keeping score on his performance matchup with Stewart. For their title hopes, a few weeks ago it just sound good, now it looks good.
Yet, it could all change again next weekend, or the week after that. It is the Chase, they are the best in the business, and it won’t come easy.
Except, it’s not stopping Hamlin from standing tall and pointing for the stars. Just as he did late Sunday afternoon, after climbing emerging from his victory smoke on the New Hampshire frontstretch.
The Final Word – That Hamlin is such a sweet little Bambino
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[/media-credit]Babe Hamlin? Okay, it might not roll off the tongue as nice as Denny Hamlin but, like George Herman Ruth of old, Hamlin was bold enough to call his shot and was good enough to pull it off in winning at New Hampshire last Sunday. Yes, I still don’t love him, I may still think of him as a bit of a SOB, but you got to admit that this SOB has style.
The race still was not one of those visual fiestas, such as what we expect to see in a couple of weeks in Talladega, but it was not bad for a one trick pony event. For much of it, Hamlin led, so you had to find the pop elsewhere. Kyle Busch might not have made the Chase, but it was great to watch him near the front until his engine went pop, and so did a couple of veins in the lad’s neck in frustration.
We watched to see where the dozen Chasers sat as the crawl went across the top of the screen, to see whose car and heart got broke this time. For the most part none were ever found outside the top twenty. You can’t write a guy off just yet until he at least slips a good 50 points out, and none are quite there yet. Jimmie Johnson is a point up on Brad Keselowski, with Hamlin seven back, Tony Stewart is 10 in the distance, as Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne remain within 15. Jeff Gordon is in the rear, but even though he is 45 points off the pace even he made up some ground on Sunday.
It was more a day about what might have been. Might someone catch Hamlin? No, as it turned out. Might someone wreck? Not really. Might someone find their hopes good and dashed? Unless you consider Martin Truex Jr and Greg Biffle finishing 17th and 18th a disaster, not so much. Just about the only thing we might have watched for, and got rewarded for doing so, was to see if Hamlin could make good on his promise. He ran out of gas and finished 16th in Chicago so he declared he was going to come back to win it all this time out. Could he, did he? Damn right he did. It marked his 5th win of the season, and the 22nd of his Cup career. In his seventh full season, the 31-year old has never finished outside the top twelve. A SOB with style, indeed.
While Hamlin did win at New Hampshire previously five years ago, we are discovering past success or a lack of it does not mean a whole bunch. That might not be the case in Dover. Jimmie Johnson has won seven in 21 tries at that venue. Seven. Add his ten Top Fives and 15 Top Tens, and one starts to get the feeling that odds are Jimmie is going to have a good weekend.
As for Hamlin, he has four Top Tens in 13 attempts. It might not look promising, but after that called shot, maybe he will now promise some young boy that he will win at Dover on Sunday. Whatever happens, it might be wise for Joe Gibbs not to trade him anywhere, or he might not win the Sprint Cup title for another 86 years. Enjoy the week.
Chasing the Chase – Week 2: Hamlin and Johnson step up
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[/media-credit]After Denny Hamlin ran out of gas on the final lap of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway, he then guaranteed a win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
“If you’re going to say something like that, you’ve got to run extremely well. This team just gave me a great car this weekend and it was just untouchable here. That’s all I can say is it was easy to drive. Didn’t handle the greatest, but had great speed. This is what you dream of as a race car driver to have cars like these.” Hamlin said.
Hamlin kept that promise and came from the 32nd starting position to the lead before the 100th lap had been made.
Hamlin led 193 of the 300 laps in route to his fifth win of the season and the 100th win all-time for Joe Gibbs Racing, becoming only the sixth team in NASCAR Sprint Cup history to reach 100 victories.
Jimmie Johnson had the second best car of the day. Johnson finished second and took over the series points lead by 1 over Brad Keselowski, who finished 6th.
“We had a great race car, just not an amazing car like the No. 11 had. We were best in class today; did a great job. We really expected the No. 11 to be tough here today, and he was. I was telling the guys on the radio on the way in, to only leave seven points on the table in two races is pretty good. We missed that win last week, and this week, and we didn’t lead the most this weekend, but it is probably seven total.” Johnson said.
“We’d like to be just a little bit faster than where we were today but this is what a championship team does. They take weekends where they’re not the best and they make something out of it. Probably could have got a top five or so if that last yellow wouldn’t have come out but ended up sixth so we can’t complain.” Keselowski said.
Jeff Gordon rebounds and finished third. But he only gained two points on the leaders. Gordon remains 12th in the standings, 45 points behind.
“There is no doubt we can get ourselves back into this. We’re a strong team, with fast race cars. We just have to consistently put those results together that we’re capable of, and who knows where we can get to in the points.” Gordon said.
Clint Bowyer finished 4th, Kasey Kahne 5th, Keselowski 6th and Tony Stewart finished 7th.
“Our 5-hour Energy Toyota was, like I said, solid, but we needed a little bit more. I fought loose in and off most of the day. Never really did get our rear grip where we needed it. It was a solid finish and kept us in the game going to Dover.” Bowyer said.
After battling handling issues all race long, Kevin Harvick finished 11th and moved up two positions, to eighth in the standings, 31 points behind.
“This was a solid points day for the Budweiser Chevrolet team. We struggled to find the perfect setup for the car today, but the crew didn’t give up and as long as we continue to produce consistent results we should be in a good position as we approach the end of the season.” Harvick said.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 13th, 26 points behind.
The worst finishers at New Hampshire were Roush teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth along with Michael Waltrip Racings (MWR) Martin Truex Jr.
Kenseth finished 14th, four spots better than last week but and remains in the 11th position, 35 points behind.
“On a long run we had about a 10th-place car, which is probably a little bit better than we usually do here. But on short runs we weren’t very good at all and then we got that caution there at the end and that didn’t work in our favor. We were a little bit better on a long run, but weren’t that great overall and was maybe a 10th-place car.” Kenseth said.
Truex Jr. finished 17th and drops on spot to 10th, 34 points behind.
Biffle finished 18th and drops one spot in the standings to 9th, 33 points behind.
“We were doing really well in the middle part of the race and I thought, ‘Man, we’ve got something. We’re going.’ We got up to 10th and then just went straight backwards. I don’t know what happened.” Biffle said.
Official Chase Standings/Stats
After race 2 of 10
Sylvania 300, New Hampshire
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/chase.php
| Pos. | Driver | (+/-) | Wins | Top-5 | Top-10 | Bon. | Avg St | Ave Fin | Laps | Ttl Laps | Points | Bnd |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10.5 | 2 | 567 | 567 | 2096 | 0 |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | -1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 3.5 | 567 | 567 | 2095 | -1 |
| 3 | Denny Hamlin | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 8.5 | 567 | 567 | 2089 | -7 |
| 4 | Tony Stewart | -1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 6.5 | 567 | 567 | 2086 | -10 |
| 5 | Kasey Kahne | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 567 | 567 | 2081 | -15 |
| 6 | Clint Bowyer | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10.5 | 7 | 567 | 567 | 2081 | -15 |
| 7 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 10.5 | 567 | 567 | 2070 | -26 |
| 8 | Kevin Harvick | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25.5 | 11.5 | 567 | 567 | 2065 | -31 |
| 9 | Greg Biffle | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.5 | 15.5 | 567 | 567 | 2063 | -33 |
| 10 | Martin Truex Jr. | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13.5 | 13 | 567 | 567 | 2062 | -34 |
| 11 | Matt Kenseth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 566 | 567 | 2061 | -35 |
| 12 | Jeff Gordon | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 19 | 490 | 567 | 2051 | -45 |
*Note: These stats consist of only the final 10 chase races.
(http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/chase.php)
Biggest loser(s) after race 2: Martin Truex Jr. and Matt Kenseth. Kenseth lost nine more points to the series lead. Truex Jr. dropped one spot in the standings and also dropped 13 more points from the lead.
Biggest gainer after race 2: Kevin Harvick gained two positions in the standings, yet lost 7 points to the lead.
Biggest movers after race 2 (+/-): Not much movement this week, but Johnson and Hamlin both place themselves atop the list.
Meeting My NASCAR Idols
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[/media-credit]Idols.
Everyone has them; they could be superstar athletes or everyday people. I have been privileged enough to meet three of my idols over the past month. Every encounter I was star struck. Talking to someone that you admire, care for and respect creates an incredible feeling inside of you. I have felt that feeling inside of me three times in the past month. Incredible. That’s how I describe every meeting.
One year ago I was no where I am today. I wasn’t a NASCAR writer, I wasn’t that big on twitter and I hadn’t formed any connections over social media yet and I wasn’t sure what I wanted out of life or the future. A year later, I have accomplished way more things than I ever have and I believe I’m on a path to success. A year ago, I didn’t have a lot of idols. I had Kyle and Samantha Busch as idols but the reasons they were my idols then aren’t the same as why their my idols today. In the past year, I’ve learned so much, I have grown and I have found inspiration to follow in my life.
My first idol run in was in Charlotte, North Carolina at the No.5 and No.24 Hendrick Motorsports shop. As I was finishing my visit at the shop, I turned around and saw Marty Smith. Smith is a famed NASCAR reporter for ESPN and I have idolized him for a long time. They way Smith grew in the NASCAR Media world is astonishing. He went from writing for a small newspaper, to being recognized by bigger NASCAR sites and he has made a career out of it, much like I want to do. Marty is my favorite NASCAR journalist and I have admired him for a long time. Saying a simple “hello” to one of my idols was an amazing experience. Marty and I chatted for awhile and I left the room with a huge smile. A random run-in left me with the experience of meeting one of my idols. That started a chain reaction of run inns with my idols.
I didn’t expect much of my next run in but I left feeling overjoyed. Kyle Busch was coming to my hometown as a guest and I was awed just thinking of Busch in my hometown. Kyle Busch started racing full-time in the Sprint Cup Series the same year I became a fan of NASCAR. Three years later, a coincidence left me with Busch as my favorite driver. I had previously met Busch and his lovely wife Samantha at Watkins Glen in 2011 but that experience does not match up to this one. Kyle started speaking on the stage to my fellow race fans and I quickly spotted his wife Samantha in the corner of the room. Ever since I began using social media, especially twitter I got to know Samantha and she quickly became one of my idols. After Kyle finished speaking, I made a quick move over to Samantha and the most amazing conversation of my life began. The first thing that awed me was when Samantha recognized me. She greeted me by saying “Are you Jason” and I quickly responded yes! The conversation with Samantha I thought would be brief, but I was wrong. Samantha chatted with my friend and I for at least 20 minutes. We shared stories and laughed and I got to know Samantha a whole lot more. Her personality was great and she is the nicest person I have ever met. My friend and I were talking to Samantha like she was a friend. And I felt she was. Every conversation has to end even the most amazing ones and this one ended with a hug.
The next one of my idols I had to meet was Kyle himself. I chatted with Kyle’s other half but now it was time to talk to the race car driver himself. In every autograph session, the chat was brief but it will never be forgotten. As Kyle signed my die-cast car, I talked with him quickly and moved on. Then it hit me. I had just met two of my idols and two people I hope to be like someday.
In the past month, I have met three of my idols. That is something very few people can say and I’m proud to say it. One thing Marty, Samantha and Kyle have in common is that they all have incredible lives and having a great life like they do is one thing I plan to strive for. One thing no one can ever take away from is that I met three of my idols and that is something I’ll remember my whole life. My journey into the NASCAR world is just beginning and I plan on expanding my journey throughout my whole life. Meeting three of my idols is just the start into what I hope to be a long, successful career.
