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Jimmie Johnson’s Drive for Five Secures Legacy

By
SM Staff
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On Sunday at Homestead, Jimmie Johnson became Captain Kirk again, boldly going where no man has gone before.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]He’s passed Cale Yarborough for consecutive titles, passed Hall of Famers Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson on the win list and is one win away from catching another in Lee Petty.

He’s passed his teammate Jeff Gordon for titles, and now he’s the only driver at the top of the heap looking up at Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

To the delight of some, and the dismay of more, Jimmie Johnson has one for the thumb, a fifth straight Sprint Cup championship.

Observers of the sport say Johnson fatigue may be setting in, and fans may be tuning out because of the dominance of the No. 48 team. Sure it disgusts some, that’ll happen if you win too much.

“People tell me they hate me but they respect me,” Johnson revealed Sunday night.

“In the moment I think it’s tough for fans to maybe look at what we’ve accomplished because they want their guy to win.”

No matter what your position is on Double J, he’s history alive and racing in NASCAR.

The 48 team is the Yankees, the Celtics, and the Canadiens in firesuits.

They’re the guys your grandfather bores you to tears with as he brags about their dominance with a story that begins with “Back in the Day.”

Today, this year and this time, is the day.

Johnson is the dynasty you’ll bore the kids to death with.

Jimmie Johnson will never be confused with the most charismatic guy. He’ll never be accused of being the most controversial guy, but when the rubber hits the road, he’s unmatched.

Even Johnson will acknowledge that the dynasty of the 48 team will be seen through history’s larger prism.

“I know what we’ve done today is respected sports-wide. Not just our little bubble that we live in, but sports-wide.”

Five titles in five years, and they keep figuring out how to do it. They cruise to them, they come from behind and take them, and they squirm and find a way to escape when the boot is on their collective neck.

Just like everyone you heard about from “back in the day,” they just keep winning.

Someday, they’ll stop winning titles. Johnson and the 48 team can’t keep this up forever. Father time and emerging talent or the efforts of another team will undo them.

Astronaut Gordon Cooper used to ask people “who was the best pilot you ever saw?”

He would then smile and say “You’re looking at him.”

Today, before this time becomes back in the day, Jimmie Johnson is the best driver anybody ever saw.

Why?

Because you’re looking at him.

Surprising and Not Surprising: Homestead-Miami Ford 400

By
SM Staff
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The final showdown, Ford Championship weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, lived up to the hype and finally determined the 2010 Sprint Cup Champion.   Here are the surprising and not surprising moments from this year’s last race of the season:

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]Surprising:  The most surprising aspect of this final showdown, with three viable championship contenders, was the up and down nature of the race for all of them.  Even with the best qualifying lap of the three contenders, there were times when Jimmie Johnson struggled, especially during a few fateful pit stops.  Denny Hamlin had trouble early in the race, with a spin that damaged the splitter and hurt the handling of his race car.  After a particularly stellar pit stop, Kevin Harvick was ready to lead and collect his five bonus points, until being pulled back in by the NASCAR officials for a pit road speeding penalty.  The 2010 Sprint Cup championship truly was up for grabs until the final laps of the race concluded.

Not Surprising:  In spite of the drama, the pit crew swap with Jeff Gordon’s crew, and the fact that he arrived in Homestead-Miami behind in the points, Jimmie Johnson made history yet again with his fifth consecutive Sprint Cup Championship.  With his wife Chandra and four month old daughter Genevieve, sporting her own pink “48 Kid” headset to protect her tender ears, Johnson celebrated yet again, emotionally but proudly hoisting the coveted Cup above his head, surrounded by his extended Hendrick Motorsports team.  Johnson finished the Ford 400 in the second position, securing the championship by just 39 points over Hamlin and 41 points ahead of Kevin Harvick.

Surprising:  While Johnson secured the Cup for Hendrick Motorsports, it was surprising how poorly the rest of his teammates fared in the last race of the season.  Mark Martin finished 16th after starting in the eighth position.  Dale Earnhardt, Jr., battling his car and seemingly his crew chief as well, finished in the 27th spot.  Worst of all, Jeff Gordon lost a cylinder and then eventually blew his engine, finishing 37th and falling from sixth to ninth in the point standings.

Not Surprising:  A Ford prevailed for Ford Championship weekend and Roush Fenway Ford driver Carl Edwards was able to back flip his way into Victory Lane for the second time in as many races.  Edwards thrilled the crowd, with whom he celebrated as is his newest tradition, as well as his wife Kate and baby daughter Annie who were also on hand for the festivities.  Edwards described his race win, the 18th of his career, as “pretty damn awesome.”

Surprising:   It was surprising that the battle between Joey Logano and Juan Pablo Montoya, both of whom crashed into each other on the track right in front of then point leader Denny Hamlin, spilled over vociferously into the garage area, at least if Twitter chatter is to be believed.  Logano definitely said that he was “sick of it” and apparently of Montoya, who he accused of crashing him “twice now this season.”  Logano finished 39th and Montoya finished 35th as a result of their on and off track disagreements.

Not Surprising:  Kyle Busch, fresh off his prediction that he would be assisting his JGR teammate as best he could, got into it with Kevin Harvick late in the race.  Busch got the worst of the deal, however, when Harvick refused to lift, hooked Busch and sent him crashing.   Busch’s car burst into flames, with the driver thankfully making a quick exit with an assist from the emergency personnel.  After the race, Harvick had some unkind words to share about Busch, saying that Busch raced him “like a clown” all day.  As for Busch, he finished 32nd to Harvick’s third place finish, as well as losing one spot in the point standings, falling to the eighth position.

Surprising:   In the midst of the most tumultuous times at Richard Petty Motorsports, with the drivers and teams set to learn their fate and future in the upcoming week, two drivers shone in the 2010 finale.  A.J. Allmendinger, who qualified fifth, spent much of the race at the front of the pack, finishing in the fifth position.  Better yet, Aric Almirola, behind the wheel of the No. 9 car recently vacated by Kasey Kahne, rallied from his 24th starting spot to finish fourth, one of the best finishes to date for the young driver.

Not Surprising:   Kasey Kahne, now driving the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, started from the pole position and finished well, securing a sixth place finish.  Kahne and crew both, however, will have to face medical procedures after this race finale.  Kahne is scheduled to have both knees operated on in the off season and one of Kahne’s crew members, the rear tire carrier, was hit by Harvick during one of the pit stops, sending him to the hospital for a leg injury as well.

Surprising:  Stewart Haas Racing overcame adversity in a surprising way in this season’s finale, with both Newman and Stewart both finishing in the top ten at Homestead-Miami Speedway, seventh and eighth respectively.  This was especially significant for Stewart, who was a lap down and had to claim the ‘lucky dog’ at one point in the race.  The last time that both SHR cars finished in the top ten together was in October at Auto Club Speedway when Smoke won and Newman finished fifth.  Stewart also gained two positions in the point standings, climbing to seventh, while Newman finished 15th in the point standings.

Not Surprising:  Matt Kenseth, behind the wheel of his No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion, had a top ten finish to show for his 400th career start.  Kenseth finished his 2010 season locking up the fifth spot in the point standings.

While Johnson hoisted his championship flag yet again with the Florida sunset in the background, the rest of the drivers, crews, and teams were packing up their cars and haulers for the last time this season.  Racers and fans alike will now look forward to the 2011 season and the next race, the Daytona 500, on February 20th, 2011.  Until then, have a blessed Thanksgiving and a wonderful holiday season!

5 Most Disapointing Drivers in 2010

By
SM Staff
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Every year it seems there are a few drivers who fans think will have a better year than they do. Drivers who seem to have a championship contending year right in the grasp and then fall flat on their face. Those drivers are called disappointing, and here are the top 5 disappointing drivers from 2010.

First your Honorable Mentions:

Martin Truex Jr’s 22nd place points finish is something he would like to forget. He came over to Michael Waltrip Racing with high expectations and a new crew chief in Pat Tryson. However, Truex really struggled all season. A rare bright spot with a victory in the Sprint Showdown may have kept the New Jersey native off this list.

Marcos Ambrose– His 18th place point’s finish and 3rd place run at Bristol in 2009 seem like ages ago. Ambrose really really struggled in his sophomore season on the circuit, in a season that saw a lot of DNF’s (8) and a devastating lack in judgment at Sonoma, had seen the once promising young star go from that to a guy who finished a dismal 26th in the standings. It seemed like every other race Ambrose was either crashing or having some sort of trouble. Now for the list.

#5- Juan Pablo Montoya– Montoya may be a surprise to some people that he is on this list. However, heading into the 2010 season Montoya was one of the favorites to win the championship. With an extremely impressive 2009 chase run and a nice beginning of the chase, fans of the Columbian thought a championship was in reach. However, it did not turn out that way. Montoya had eight DNF’s in 2010 making him one of the highest in that category. It seemed that every other week he would find some sort of trouble. He did have a nice month of August but by that time the chase was long gone for Montoya and left he and his team wondering what might have been. He went from finishing 8th in the standings to a disappointing 17th.

#4- Mark Martin– The 51 year old Batesville, Arkansas native had a really up and down year. A season ago Mark Martin had looked like the Mark Martin of old. He won five races, and finished runner-up in the point standings. He and crew chief Alan Gustafson had seemed to be clicking on all cylinders. He made that seem a reality even more when he sat on the pole for the Daytona 500. Then his season started. He would have a rocky season, including a stretch of eight races where Mr. Consistency didn’t have a top ten finish. Mark Martin would miss the chase for the first time in his career when running a full season.  He would go winless in 2010, although a strong finish to the season points toward a promising 2011 for Martin. However, whenever you go from winning five races and finishing second in the standings, to missing the chase and not winning a race, it is an extremely disappointing season.

#3- Brad Keselowski– The 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion had plenty to cheer about on that side of things. However, on the Cup side Brad Keselowski’s first full season in Sprint Cup was disappointing. Roger Penske let go of crew chief Roy McCauley and brought in Jay Guy to work with Keselowski. Everyone thought that this team, with the financial power of Roger Penske, the talent of Brad Keselowski and a new crew chief, would contend for the chase. Keselowski didn’t come close. He wouldn’t register a top ten run until Martinsville in October and would not get a top five finish at all. Some people say well it’s his first season, but still when you finish behind drivers like Paul Menard and David Ragan, that is something no one expected. His 25th in the standings has to be a disappointment.

#2- Dale Earnhardt, Jr– Much like Ragan, Earnhardt has found himself on this list before. What else can you say about the Kannapolis, North Carolina native, but “Wow!” His 2010 season looked to be great. He had a new crew chief, with Lance McGrew and new life in his step. When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series headed to Chicagoland in July, Dale Earnhardt Jr found himself a respectful 11th place in the standings. Yet, just four weeks later Dale Earnhardt’s chase hopes were cloudy. After four consecutive finishes of 23rd or worse, Junebug was now 16th and looking to rebound. However, four more weeks without a top ten finish gave JR Nation that disgusting feeling in their stomach that Earnhardt was yet again going to miss the chase for the 4th time in 6 years. From Richmond it did not get any better. He had two top tens in the last ten races, but also had 6 finishes of 22nd or worse. He ended up 21st in the standings and the one time up and coming star, has seemed to fade really quickly.  

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]#1- Kasey Kahne– You can say all you want about Richard Petty Motorsports, but much of Kahne’s struggles were brought on by himself. Six weeks into the season, Kahne and Rich Hendrick announced that he would drive Hendrick’s No. 5 Chevrolet in 2012. That gave a distraction to his team and organization. He also had a rocky season. He had a streak of four of five races in the top 6. Also fluttered into his season was a streak of five of six races with finishes of 20th or worse. I can’t kill the guy for leaving Richard Petty Motorsports but I can kill the guy for making his season worse than it should have been. Kahne did not win a race in 2010, coming off a season where he won two races and in the chase. Kahne’s rocky season came to a standstill after an altercation with his team at Charlotte in October, left him headed for Red Bull Racing six races early. His winless season and his early season distraction made 2010 a disappointing year for the Enumclaw, Washington native. Those are your top 5 most disappointing drivers for 2010. Let the debating begin!

Joey Logano and GameStop Team Wrap Up 2010 Season with Another Pole and Another Top-10 Finish

By
Official Release
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Saturday night’s 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway played out much like the rest of the season for the No. 20 GameStop Toyota. The day started with a pole position; Joey’s eighth pole of the season, and finished with a top-10 run, giving Joey top-10s in 24 of his 25 races this season.

Joey started the day by winning the pole for the Homestead 300, extending his season-best pole streak to eight poles in 2010. It is also Joey’s second pole at Homestead, his first coming in 2008. Logano lined up beside his Joe Gibbs racing teammate Kyle Busch at the drop of the green, falling behind Busch for the race’s first segment. Logano logged laps in second until the first round of stops and subsequent restart, when Joey took the lead for the first time.

Logano led the next 17 laps before losing the top spot to Kevin Harvick as Logano’s car tightened up between multiple caution flag periods.

Over the next 150 laps, the GameStop team, led by crew chief Kevin Kidd, made a plethora of adjustments to the No. 20 Toyota, from wedge and track bar adjustments, to air pressure changes and even taking out a rubber from the left rear.

The car continued to go from tight to loose to tight during the late stages when the team elected to pit and put on scuffs and save their final set of sticker tires for the end. On lap 163, the team came in for their final stop and got their sticker tires, restarting in 19th place for their final charge to the front.

Logano moved through the field quickly, taking just 10 laps to find himself back in the top 10. However, the GameStop Toyota got super tight over the races final 20 laps, forcing Logano to lose his momentum and eventually settle for a seventh at the checkers.

Logano finished the season with two wins, 15 top-fives and 24 top-10s in 25 season starts. In addition, Logano picked up a season-best eight pole awards, which was best among all NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers.

Joey Logano Thoughts:

“It’s not the way we wanted to wrap up our 2010 season, but that just goes to show how competitive that we are; a top 10 just isn’t good enough for us. We are not happy until we go out and win races. We really wanted to go out on top and in victory lane. But, since we weren’t able to win tonight, I’m glad Kyle (Busch) was able to get to victory lane and also wrap up the owner’s championship. That’s big for Joe Gibbs Racing. Congrats to those guys. They have had a great season.

“I am glad that we were able to get another pole though. That really goes to show how fast our cars are and how much power these JGR engines make. That is eight poles for me this year and nine for the No. 20 team. I never really considered myself much the qualifier, but we showed a really strong part of our organization with that. It’s not easy to go out there and put the car on the pole, and we were able to do it a bunch this year.

“All-in-all, it was a really good year for us as a team and for GameStop. We had a lot of ups and downs. We were able to pick up a couple of wins and earn the most poles despite missing 10 races. We finished in the top10 in driver points as well, which was cool considering I ran such a part-time schedule. “I just wish we could have had a few more wins, but what racecar driver doesn’t ever think that?”

Kevin Kidd Quotes:

“We just couldn’t quite find the handle on the GameStop Toyota tonight. We struggled with being tight at the beginning. We got the car handling well in the middle, but were stuck in dirty air, which really affects these cars. Then, we got the car a little too free late in the race when we put our scuff tires back on. When we got our sticker tires, the car was good and Joey was making his run through the field, but just got tight late in the run. At that point, we were stuck with what we had. We made the best of it and got another top 10.

“I’m really proud of Joey, the road crew, our over the wall guys and all of the guys back at the JGR shops. They all had a great season. And congrats to our teammates on the No. 18 team for winning the owner’s championship. Of course, we would have liked to have won more races, but I don’t think we ever thought we would put it on the pole so many times either. We had a fun year and really came together as a team. I’m proud to say I led this team and grew with them. Now, we’ll just build off of this year and work toward next season. We’ve got our work cut out for us with the new car, so come Monday, it will be back at it for 2011.”

The Future is Now for Roush Fenway; Stenhouse Jr. Brings Home Team’s 12th Raybestos Rookie Award

By
Official Release
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Rookie overcomes largest deficit in award’s history to win prestigious honor

Three Roush Fenway drivers finish in top-10 of final 2010 NNS Standings

CONCORD, N.C. (Nov. 22, 2010) – Youth was served for Roush Fenway Racing in the Nationwide season-finale at Homestead on Saturday afternoon, as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne each battled to top-five finishes.  The pair lead an organizational effort that saw four Roush Fenway Fords in the top 10 and Stenhouse leaving the event with the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award in hand.

Stenhouse’s late charge for the award capped the largest come-from-behind effort in the history of any NASCAR rookie of the year award. Never before in any series had a driver come back from 35 points down to win the honor. For Roush Fenway it marked the 12th time a driver has taken the award and the fifth time in the Nationwide Series. Stenhouse Jr. joins company with Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and David Ragan as drivers who have captured the honor for Roush Fenway.

“It’s special to win the Raybestos Rookie of the Year,” said Stenhouse after the race. “It is a huge honor. We came back from adversity early in the season. I wish we could have started the year where we are right now. This is good momentum going in the offseason for this whole team. Jack Roush has done an awesome job with this team. It has been a fun year and I learned a lot.”

Stenhouse will be honored tonight at the Nationwide Series Awards Banquet in Miami. Roush Fenway’s Carl Edwards, who finished second in the series standings and Paul Menard (fifth) will also be honored at the function. Trevor Bayne used his fifth-place finish at Homestead to secure a seventh-place finish in the points and will also be in attendance at the awards ceremony.

Roush Fenway ends the 2010 Nationwide Series with three drivers in the top 10 and the Raybestos Rookie Awards winner.

Roush Fenway Rookie of the Year Awards Winners

 

2000    Matt Kenseth – Sprint Cup

2007    David Ragan – Nationwide

2006    Danny O’Quinn – Nationwide

2005    Carl Edwards – Nationwide

2001    Greg Biffle – Nationwide

2008    Colin Braun – Truck

2006    Erik Darnell – Truck

2005    Todd Kluever – Truck

2003    Carl Edwards – Truck

2000    Kurt Busch – Truck

1998     Greg Biffle – Truck 

Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating nine motorsports teams.  Four in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with drivers Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; and five in the Nationwide Series with Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Trevor Bayne, Colin Braun, Brian Ickler, and Paul Menard.  For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log onto www.RoushFenway.com.  Become a fan of Roush Fenway Racing on Facebook by going to http://www.facebook.com/roushfenway and follow us on Twitter @roushfenway.  For sponsorship inquiries please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.

Edwards Ends 2010 with a Win

By
Official Release
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Mooresville, NC (November 22, 2010) Ford Championship weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway was filled with drama and uncertainty, but Roush Fenway Racing driver Carl Edwards made winning look easy by dominating the Ford 400 and earning his second consecutive win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Edwards led 190 of the 267 laps and crossed the finish line a full 1.6 seconds ahead of now 5-time Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson. With his victory last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, Edwards has now won back to back a total of five times in his career. Edwards and engine builder Roush Yates Engines are especially excited to win at Homestead because it gives them great momentum as they prepare for the 2011 season.

“For our team, to finish like this and be on the upswing that we are, this is as good as it gets,” said Edwards, driver of the #99 Aflac Ford Fusion. “We have a new engine that we are working on that just keeps getting better and better.”

Edwards is speaking of Ford’s new FR9 engine, built by Roush Yates Engines, that has been ran by Roush Fenway Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports drivers throughout the second half of the 2010 season. Carl’s second win with the FR9, coupled with two wins from Greg Biffle earlier this year, make Ford fans confident and eager to see what 2011 will bring when all Ford drivers will run Roush Yates’ FR9 for the entire season.

“I want to congratulate Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, and Matt Kenseth for finishing 4th, 5th, and 6th in the Chase for the Championship this year,” said Doug Yates, CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “I also want to commend Richard Petty Motorsports’ drivers A.J. Allmendinger and Aric Almirola for finishing out the season strong with 4th and 5th place runs. I can’t wait to get to Daytona next year with all of our drivers running the FR9.”

Carl Edwards wasn’t the only Roush Yates driver in Victory Lane this weekend. Charles Davis Jr. wrapped up his second consecutive Wingless ASCS Canyon Region Championship on Friday in the #50 Massey Motorsports car; earning Roush Yates Engines their sixth championship win of the season.

To learn more about the FR9 or any of the engines built at Roush Yates Engines, please contact Jeff Clark at 1-877-361-1545 or visit www.roushyatesparts.com. Roush Yates has won 88 races and 6 championships so far in 2010.

About Roush Yates

Roush Yates Engines designs, engineers and crafts high performance racing engines with the power to perform and the horsepower and durability you’d expect from legendary NASCAR pioneers Jack Roush and Robert Yates. The partnership of power and precision has come from merging the knowledge and experience of two legendary engine builders, both with a passion for winning today and powering up for tomorrow.

Roush Yates CEO, Doug Yates, leads a staff of 180 engineers and technicians who design, assemble, test, and service racing engines at two separate state-of-the-art facilities in Mooresville, North Carolina. Here, the best minds and latest technology are hard at work producing nearly 1,500 racing engines each year for teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, ARCA, Grand-Am, FIA GT3, Dirt Late Model, Dirt and Asphalt Modifieds, Sprint cars, and NHRA Pro Stock. At Roush Yates Engines, the mission is Power Performance, which is achieved through innovation design, precision engineering, and skilful craftsmanship. Building the best engines in racing today, providing service that’s second to none, and honoring a commitment to research and development are the heart of Roush Yates Engines.

Harvick Caps 2010 Nationwide Series Season with Second-Place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway

By
Official Release
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HOMESTEAD, Fla. (November 21, 2010) – Returning to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the first time since 2006 and for the first time in a Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Chevrolet, Kevin Harvick started the Ford 300 from the seventh position, led 17 laps and came up one position shy of his fourth Nationwide Series win of the 2010 season.

“We had a really good car, but we did not need the last caution late in the race,” said Harvick following 200 laps of racing. “On the final restart, my car got too tight and Kyle (Busch) was able to get out far enough that we could not catch him. We just came up a little short in the end.”

Strapping in to the No. 33 KHI Jimmy John’s Chevrolet for the final time of the 2010 season, Harvick started the Ford 300 from seventh and by lap 10 radioed crew chief Ernie Cope that the car was too tight. Taking over fourth on lap 16, the second caution of the race waved on lap 21. Making the first scheduled stop of the day, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment to help the handling of the car. With the No. 7 car opting not to pit, Harvick restarted the race fifth on lap 27.

Driving a fast car, Harvick was able to take over second on lap 29, but after another caution on lap 30, Harvick fell to fourth on the restart. Several laps later, the caution flag waved for the fourth time and again, the team opted to stay out on track and restarted the race fourth on lap 45. With a solid restart, Harvick moved to the lead for the first time of the race on lap 46 before slipping to second on lap 48.

As the race continued, Harvick radioed Cope on lap 56 that the car was getting too loose. Four laps later, the caution was again displayed for a spin on the frontstretch with Harvick riding in the second position. For the second time of the race, Harvick brought the No. 33 car to pit road for four tires, fuel and another air-pressure adjustment. A solid stop by the team gained Harvick a position on pit road and on lap 65, he restarted the race in the second position after a car opted to stay on track instead of pit. Again, Harvick quickly moved to the lead on lap 66 before falling to second on lap 68.

Settling in for green-flag conditions, the caution waved again on lap 91 with Harvick in the second position. Radioing the team that the car was a touch too tight, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment. As teams opted for various strategies, Harvick restarted third on lap 95 and moved into second on lap 97.

Continuing to battle eventual race winner Kyle Busch for the lead, Harvick continued to run second throughout most of the race.

The eighth caution of the race waved on lap 133 and with a loose-handling car, Harvick opted to pit for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment. With a slow stop after a crew member got tripped up on pit road as he was rolling a tire to the wall, Harvick lost two spots and restarted the race fourth on lap 138. Wasting no time, Harvick moved back into second on lap 139 behind Busch.

Having put on the last set of sticker tires and close to making it to the end of the race on fuel, Harvick immediately went into fuel conservation mode as he continued to run in second. With several late race cautions, Harvick was able to save fuel and with a fast car, moved back into the lead on lap 170. The race restarted for the final time on lap 177 and battling the No. 18 car for the lead, Harvick slipped to second on lap 178. In the final laps of the 200-lap event, the No. 33 car became too tight and Harvick crossed the finish line second behind Busch. The 2010 Nationwide Series Driver’s Champion Brad Keselowski finished third followed by the 2010 Raybestos Rookie of the Year Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne rounded out the top five.

The No. 33 KHI Nationwide Series team finished the season with a career best third-place finish with team co-owner DeLana Harvick in the Nationwide Series Owner’s Point Standings on the strength of three wins, four poles, 21 top-five and 30 top-10 finishes with five different drivers, Harvick, Elliott Sadler, Ron Hornaday, Mike Bliss and Max Papis.

About Jimmy John’s:

Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches was founded in 1983 by 19-year-old Jimmy John Liautaud in a converted garage in Charleston, IL. Since its inception, the company has grown to over 1,000 corporate and franchised locations in more than 37 states throughout the U.S. The company is known for its obsession with fresh, quality products and high-speed execution. For more information, visit www.jimmyjohns.com.

About Kevin Harvick Inc.:

Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), established in 2001 by Kevin and DeLana Harvick, is an 80,000 sq. ft. facility located in Kernersville, N.C. Home of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship team, KHI enters 2010 in its seventh full year of competition with two full-time Truck Series teams and one full-time Nationwide Series team. Four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday returns to the helm of the No. 33 Truck team looking for his fifth title and third championship for KHI (2009 and 2007), while Sprint Cup series stars Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler guide the No. 2 Truck team. Two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Harvick will again shine as the lead driver of the No. 33 Nationwide Series team as he continues to make his mark in motorsports and establish KHI as one of the top teams in NASCAR competition. For more information about KHI and its teams, please visit www.KevinHarvickInc.com.

Five Things To Take From NASCAR’s Season Finale

By
SM Staff
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Heading into Homestead Sunday, the six-year Chase carried with it one dubious statistic: no point leader heading into the season finale had lost the championship.

David Starr Eleventh at Homestead

By
Official Release
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Homestead, FL – November 19, 2010. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season came to an end on Friday evening at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, David Starr’s 2010 season ended on a positive note with the Texas native finishing eleventh in the Ford 200 and ninth in the drivers standings for the second straight season.

On Friday afternoon, David qualified the Zachry Toyota eighteenth a lap of 32.36 seconds at 166.8 mph. David’s time would place him on the outside of the ninth row for the start of the 134-lap race.

Starr would settle into eighteenth at the drop of the green flag but would soon begin working his way toward the front of the field, reaching the top-fifteen before lap twenty and up to fourteenth when the first caution flew on lap thirty. He radioed to the Jason Miller-led crew that he was tight from the center-off and the SS Green Light team made air pressure adjustments to assist in the handling of the No. 81 Zachry Toyota.

David restarted fifteenth and as the air pressures came up he again started working his way toward the front reaching the twelfth spot on lap sixty. David battled hard and as the green flag run went on his Tundra would continue to improve moving into the top-ten and reaching as high as eighth when the third caution flew on lap 105.

The race was halted by a nineteen minute red flag while track crews repaired the safety barriers on lap 113 when John Jackson spun in turn four and slammed into the sand barrels protecting the end of the pit wall. Jackson was not injured in the scary wreck. Following the stoppage, many of the lead lap trucks came to pit road for gas and tires. Miller elected to just take a splash of Sunoco fuel and was the first truck off of pit road lining up seventh on the restart.

Starr was trapped behind a couple of slower trucks that had stayed on the track and several trucks with fresh tires worked their way around the No. 81 dropping David back to eleventh place. David worked his way back to ninth when the final caution flew with seven laps to go. It was bad news for Starr, whose truck was much stronger on the longer runs. David lost two spots on the restart and finished eleventh at the checkers behind Kyle Busch.

“Our Zachry Toyota Tundra was pretty awesome tonight, man we just kept getting it better and better, right there with forty or fifty laps to go we were up in that lead pack, we were making it better and better, but we didn’t get the finish result we were looking for. I thought we had a top-five truck.” Starr said. “And right there with thirty to go the leaders took tires and that hurt us on the short runs at the end. We were better on the longer runs and then there were all those cautions at the end. The leaders had newer tires and that hurt us at the end of the race. But it is what it is. All in all it was a good job by everybody.”

“All in all it was not bad, it was a great season, a good race. I was excited because I thought we had a chance to do something really special tonight but it wasn’t to be. Everybody did a good job and I’m honored to be a part of this team, SS Green Light Racing; Bobby Dotter and Ken Smith gave us the opportunity and for me to come over here in mid-season and to finish in the top-ten in the points is very special.”

Crew Chief Jason Miller was hoping for a better result at the finish. “We needed about two seconds of gas and we had a set of scuffs we could have put on, but two laps before the caution we ran our fastest lap of the race and I wasn’t sure what that set of scuffs would do. In hindsight, maybe we should have taken two. We were better on longer runs. If the race had gone green, we would have had had a solid top-ten finish.”

In the nine races David raced with the SS Green Light team to finish out the 2010 NCWTS season he finished in the top-fifteen in all nine events including three top-tens and completed all but two of 1357 laps.

Next up for David Starr is the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series/NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Awards Banquet on Monday, Nov. 22 at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel.

For more information on SS Green Light Racing visit www.SSRacingonline.com or email: pr@ssracingonline.com.

Smith Finishes 17th in Sprint Cup Finale

By
Official Release
-

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Nov. 21, 2010) — Regan Smith and the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team had another strong performance, finishing 17th in Sunday’s NASCAR season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

It was the fourth top-20 result in the last seven races for Smith as it capped the best season in the short history of the Denver, Colo.-based team.

Smith, who started the 267-lap event from the 10th position, was running solidly in 12th place late in the race, but an untimely caution shortly after the last pit stop was costly as he lost five spots in track position.

“It would have been a lot better to end the season with a 12th-place finish, but there’s not much we could have done there at the end — we caught a bad break pitting just before a caution,” stated Smith. “But looking at the big picture, I truly feel that we’ve come on strong and definitely hit a new level of performance at the end of the season. We are all pumped about 2011.”

Crew chief Pete Rondeau said, “It was a good end to a rough week.”

Rondeau was referring to Monday’s highway accident in Colorado which resulted in heavy damage to the team’s transporter as it was returning from last Sunday’s race in Phoenix. With little time before the next race, the team managed to make contingency plans in a short period of time. Along with Richard Childress Racing graciously providing a fully-loaded transporter at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the Furniture Row team also received an outpouring of support from the NASCAR community.

“We are very thankful for the outside support,” added Rondeau. “I am also proud of everyone on this team for the extra effort given during a time of adversity. It definitely says plenty about the character of our Furniture Row Racing operation.”

The Ford 400 race winner at Homestead was Carl Edwards — his second straight victory. Rounding out the top-five in order were: Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola and AJ Allmendinger.

Johnson captured the season Sprint Cup title — his fifth straight championship. Denny Hamlin was second — 39 points behind and Harvick was third — 41 points behind.

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