Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 12 Charlotte Motor Speedway – NASCAR Sprint All Star Race – May 19, 2012
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[/media-credit]The stars have come home to Charlotte for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint All Star Race, and this year brings new drivers, a new format, but the same old distinction. A million dollars rides on the driver able to cross the finish line first following 90 or so laps at The Beast of the Southeast. Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All Star Race will be run in 4-20 lap segments, with the four segment-winners staging at the front of the field for the final 10-lap shootout to the wire for the cool million. 90 or more laps will make up the All Star race this year, as only green flag laps count in the final 10-lap shootout.
Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race wins, with three under his belt already. Carl Edwards made his mark on Charlotte Motor Speedway last season when he practically ripped the front end of his Ford Fusion off from the rest of the car, following his turn through the front-stretch grass in celebration of his first NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race win.
Some big names still need to race (or be voted) into the big dance on Saturday Night, namely Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Burton, and Jamie McMurray. The way to earn a ticket to the big dance – finish in the top two of the Sprint Showdown is a surefire way, the other – be at the top of the Sprint Fan Vote. Much like Friday and Saturday night home-track races, there’s an A-main and a B-main tonight in Concord. The Sprint Showdown will be ran in two segments of 20 laps each, with the top two finishers moving onto tonight’s A-main.
With the absence of NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship points comes an extreme level of action and daring driving. Settling for second is never a thought in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race, making it one of my favorite race weekends of the entire Sprint Cup season.
Darlington Recap
The Lady in Black tamed my recent hot streak of winner picks last week, a result of the toughness Darlington Raceway brings to the sport.
I picked last week’s pole-sitter, Greg Biffle to win the Bojangles’ Southern 500, a move that looked fairly promising for 74 or so laps last Saturday Night. Biffle’s car seemed to go away as the laps ticked away, battling loose conditions through the latter of the laps at Darlington. He ran in the top-10 for the majority of the race, but the late-race caution set the field up for a green-white-checkered finsh. Biffle restarted 10th, but his 3M Ford Fusion was too much of a handful to muscle into the top-10, ultimately crossing the finish line in 12th.
My Dark Horse last week qualified for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 in the sixth spot, and ended the race one spot better in fifth. Martin Truex Jr. also battled a loose condition throughout the duration of the race and ran as high as first, but only faltered back to 11th last week. He lead a season high 25 laps and managed to hold his 5th place spot in the championship points standings.
All-Star Picks
There is so much to pick for tonight’s All-Star festivities, so I will try to keep my picks short and sweet this week…
Sprint Showdown
Kicking off tonight’s on-track activities is the B-main or LCQ (if you’re used to motorcycle racing), otherwise known as the Sprint Showdown. The Showdown is packed with guys eager to have a shot at racing for the cool million, but its Martin Truex Jr. and Jeff Burton that will punch their tickets to the big dance by racing their way into the A-main. Both will start in the top-5 for the Showdown and practiced well on Friday.
Fan Vote
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not race his way into the Sprint All-Star race, but will have a shot at the million via JR Nation. The will vote in droves following his third-place effort in the Sprint Showdown, but JR will start last on the grid for the NASCAR All-Star Race by receiving the 2012 fan vote for the second straight year.
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
Here’s the segment winners first:
1- Kyle Busch
2- Jimmie Johnson
3- Jeff Gordon
4 – Tony Stewart
Starting in the top-4 spots of the 10-lap shootout for tonight’s million-dollar purse will be one Toyota and three Chevrolets. In the end, it will be Stewart claiming victory in the All-Star race. He was at Thursday night’s Pit Crew Challenge, and was disappointed when his Stewart-Haas Racing crew was knocked out of the competition in the semi-finals. The defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion is out for revenge tonight and will go home a million dollars richer when the checkered falls.
That’s all for this week, so until next week’s Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500, and Coke 600…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!
Race No. 1: Vortex Brake Pads 200 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park
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[/media-credit]After months of waiting, it is finally here – the first race of the 2012 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series season takes the green flag tomorrow afternoon with the Vortex Brake Pads 200 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
Known as Mosport International Raceway in years past, the track has gone under new ownership and upgrades in the winter, including a new pedestrian bridge. Ron Fellows and team took ownership of the track near the end of last year and have been working feverishly through the winter to have the track ready for this weekend.
“It’s really enjoyable to be a part of it. Mosport has been a big part of my life,” Fellows said at the Canadian Motorsports Expo back in February. “I went to the first race in 1969 as an 11 year old kid and that’s where I got bitten by the bug to go racing for myself and have had a lot of firsts at Mosport in terms of big wins for me so the place has meant a lot to me. For me, to get an opportunity to be part of the ownership team with Carlo Fidani and Alan Boughton, it’s pretty special.”
It was then announced last February that the track would be renamed Canadian Tire Motorsports Park as part of a new marketing partnership between the ownerships group and Canadian Tire.
“For the Canadian Tire Series to do their season opener at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park is absolutely ideal scenario for us,” Fellows added. “And then having a marketing partner like Canadian Tire, we feel it’s going to grow Mosport and create a lot more auto racing interest.”
Going into this weekend, one of the favorites is J.R. Fitzpatrick after the success he has had there. In his past five starts, he has two wins and five top fives while leading 91 of 257 laps. Fitzpatrick ran some NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races to start the year, however with sponsorship not materializing, he chose to focus on the Canadian Tire Series.
“We’re going for the win,” he said back at the end of March. “I think there’s only two of us that are two time winners at that place and we’re both going to be at that race so it’s going to be exciting. That’s one of my favourite tracks and to be one of the guys everybody watches every week when we go there, it’s kind of a cool feeling.”
The other two-time winner on the road course is Andrew Ranger. Ranger has two wins and three top fives in four starts. Ranger returns to run the full schedule once again in 2012 after spending some time in the United States running some NASCAR Nationwide Series races. Ranger will team up with GC Motorsports International, who has fielded Natiownide Series cars for David Ragan and Fitzpatrick in the past.
“I am happy with the faith entrusted in me by GCMI, Quebec Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram Dealers Co-op,” the Quebec native says. “I know the Canadian Tire Series tracks well, and look forward to competing in front of a home town crowd.”
The Canadian Tire Series has had five races on the Mosport road course – Fitzpatrick has won two, Ranger has won two and DJ Kennington has[media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”112″]
[/media-credit] won one. In five starts, the 2010 series champion has a win and four top fives.
“This is where we got our first series road course win in the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge” Kennington says. “It would be really nice to get another one, especially with Castrol presenting the event this weekend” he added.
Defending series champion Scott Steckly returns for another year as he looks to defend his championship. In five starts at Mosport, Steckly has three top fives with an average finish of 10.6. Steckly will once again have support from Canadian Tire.
“I’m grateful for the support I’ve received from Canadian Tire and their continued support of motorsports in Canada,” Steckly says. “I am honoured to be part of such an incredible team and looking forward to another fantastic year on the track in 2012.”
Jeff Lapcevich is also returning to the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series full-time in 2012, with sponsorship once again from Tim Hortons. In five starts at Mosport, he has one top five finish and an average finish of 7.4. When he’s not behind the wheel, he is at Sunset Speedway supporting his son, 12-year-old Cayden Lapcevich, as he embarks on his rookie season in the Super Stock division.
Isabelle Tremblay is set for sophomore season in the Canadian Tire Series as she looks to improve on her eighth place finish at Mosport last year. She has only confirmed so far to run four events this year, however is optimistic that marketing partners can be brought on to run the full season.
“This new partnership with Martin Roy is going to be very good for both us” Tremblay says. “He is very professional, has great experience in racing and I’m confident we’re going to work very well together.”
The race at Mosport also marks the beginning of a partnership that will play out this season between Kerry Micks and Mark Dilley. The two series veterans will share the driving duties of the No. 02 Leland/BDI Ford owned by Micks Motorsports in an attempt to win the owner’s championship. Micks will run the five road courses while Dilley runs the seven ovals.
“(It’s) is going to be very different year, for sure,” Micks says. “It will be the first time for Mark and I not to run a full season in our own rides. It will definitely be a change of scenery to sit on the box and cheer for the other at the different events. I have not stood on the box and watched someone else race my car.”
In five starts at Mosport, Micks has a top 10 and an average finish of 15.2.
The race is set to take the green flag on Sunday May 20 at 1:30pm EST with practice and qualifying taking place today (May 19). There will be an autograph session held at 11:15pm on Sunday.
Lofton Conquers Charlotte to earn his first career win
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[/media-credit]Charlotte NC – Justin Lofton earned his first career victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway, joining two other rookie winners in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) in 2012. It was the 55th start for the Westmoreland CA native. At age 26, Lofton held off a hard charging Brad Keselowski to take the checkers.
Lofton’s best career finish had been third twice, most recently at the Daytona International Speedway in the NCWTS season-opener. Owner Eddie Sharp invested all his cards and funds to this team. “I’m just tickled to be apart of it,” said Sharp, who at the end of last year bought a good portion of equipment from KHI Motorsports. “I love being in this series, and I love being a part of NASCAR,” said Sharp.
“The stars aligned,” said Lofton, who attributes some of his win to timing. He gives credit to Todd Bodine as his mentor. With this win, Lofton takes over the points lead in the NCWTS by one point over Timothy Peters. “This is definitely my favorite place now,” said Lofton. He will ride the wave of confidence to Dover and Texas.
The Camping World Truck Series delivered four-wide door to door racing and an action packed event. With a distance of 134 lap scheduled in the 10th Annual North Carolina Education Lottery 200, the fans witnessed nail biting competition, multiple cautions and on track shuffling.
An after race discussion between Ron Hornaday Jr. and Brad Keselowski had the potential of fireworks, but was quickly simmered down by multiple officials. An altercation between their cars on tone of the final restarts led to a raunchy discussion between the two on pit lane.
Keselowski spoke to the media regarding his second-place finish, he was very proud of his team’s effort and a “phenomenally good car,” Keselowski said. In reference to his incident with Hornaday, Keselowski was looking for a little respect. The second place finish is Keselowski’s second top-10 of 2012. A win in the NCWTS still eludes the Rochester Hills, Michigan driver.
Third place finisher Todd ‘Onion’ Bodine had a decent run. This is the fourth top-10 for Todd Bodine in 9 starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Rounding out the top five was the No. 18 of Jason Leffler and the No. 9 of Hornaday. Finishing in sixth was Jason White. Joey Coulter would cross the finish line in seventh; his evening was not without interest. He had lost a lap when the radiator clamp broke, pushing out water on the RCR Chevrolet.
Jeb Burton, son of former Sprint Cup competitor Ward Burton was the top finishing rookie. He ran the raced and finished the event in eighth place. Burton is trying to get more track time and is in search of a full-time sponsor. He is trying to keep a positive outlook and advance his career in the NCWTS.
The top-ten included point’s leader Timothy Peters and the polesitter Ty Dillon.
Race leaders included Ryan Sieg, Keselowski, Dillon, Lofton and James Beuscher. Ty Dillon led the field to the green flag. Dillon who pilots the No. 3 Bass Pro Shop Chevrolet in the Truck Series earned his pole award with a speed of 181.616. This is his first pole in eight Camping World Truck Series Races, and his fourth top-ten start in 2012
Notable cautions include an incident between Paulie Harraka in the No. 5 and David Reutimann, which sent the No. 5 spinning down the track. The Child Help Ford went back up the track and sustained rear end damage after striking the outside retaining wall. The No. 31 machine of James Buescher was involved. He would return to the track and finish 22nd.
The No. 14 of Brennan Newberry brought out multiple cautions during the event. The Bakersfield, CA native received some driver side door damage in the initial incident, but suffered throughout the event. He finished in 27th.
The NCWTS returns to on-track action at Dover International Speedway on June 1.
| Unofficial Race Results | |||||
| NC Education Lottery 200, Charlotte | |||||
| http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=5 | |||||
| ========================================= | |||||
| Pos. | St. | No. | Driver | Make | Points |
| ========================================= | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 6 | Justin Lofton | Chevrolet | 48 |
| 2 | 9 | 119 | Brad Keselowski | Ram | 0 |
| 3 | 17 | 11 | Todd Bodine | Toyota | 41 |
| 4 | 5 | 18 | Jason Leffler | Toyota | 40 |
| 5 | 15 | 9 | Ron Hornaday | Chevrolet | 40 |
| 6 | 7 | 23 | Jason White | Ford | 38 |
| 7 | 3 | 22 | Joey Coulter | Chevrolet | 37 |
| 8 | 21 | 27 | Jeb Burton * | Chevrolet | 36 |
| 9 | 4 | 17 | Timothy Peters | Toyota | 36 |
| 10 | 1 | 3 | Ty Dillon * | Chevrolet | 35 |
| 11 | 14 | 29 | Parker Kligerman | Ram | 33 |
| 12 | 11 | 2 | Brendan Gaughan | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 13 | 24 | 98 | Dakoda Armstrong * | Toyota | 31 |
| 14 | 12 | 32 | Miguel Paludo | Chevrolet | 30 |
| 15 | 6 | 88 | Matt Crafton | Toyota | 29 |
| 16 | 22 | 9 | John Wes Townley * | Toyota | 28 |
| 17 | 34 | 81 | David Starr | Toyota | 27 |
| 18 | 31 | 92 | David Reutimann | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 19 | 8 | 33 | Cale Gale * | Chevrolet | 25 |
| 20 | 26 | 99 | Bryan Silas * | Ford | 24 |
| 21 | 35 | 275 | Caleb Holman * | Chevrolet | 23 |
| 22 | 10 | 31 | James Buescher | Chevrolet | 23 |
| 23 | 28 | 101 | Jake Crum | Chevrolet | 21 |
| 24 | 23 | 24 | Max Gresham * | Chevrolet | 20 |
| 25 | 13 | 13 | Johnny Sauter | Toyota | 19 |
| 26 | 25 | 10 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | Ram | 18 |
| 27 | 29 | 214 | Brennan Newberry | Chevrolet | 17 |
| 28 | 27 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Chevrolet | 17 |
| 29 | 16 | 30 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Chevrolet | 15 |
| 30 | 20 | 5 | Paulie Harraka * | Ford | 14 |
| 31 | 30 | 60 | Chad McCumbee | Chevrolet | 13 |
| 32 | 32 | 84 | Chris Fontaine | Chevrolet | 12 |
| 33 | 19 | 7 | John King * | Toyota | 11 |
| 34 | 36 | 138 | Dennis Setzer | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 35 | 18 | 8 | Ross Chastain * | Toyota | 9 |
| 36 | 33 | 168 | Clay Greenfield | Ram | 9 |
