Elliott Sadler Wins At Phoenix; Breaks Long Winless Streak!
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[/media-credit]Elliott Sadler played pit strategy on the final yellow flag of the day, thwarting a potential blowout victory for Kevin Harvick.
Harvick led the most laps, but decided to go with four tires on the final pit stop and was never able to get up and challenge the front contenders.
This is Sadler’s first NASCAR victory since winning the Pop Secret 500 back in 2004 when he drove the #38 M&M’s Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. This is Sadler’s first Nationwide Series victory since the 1998 AcDelco 200 at Rockingham.
Brad Keselowski finished second, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished third, Austin Dillon edged Kevin Harvick at the line to take the fourth position, so that rounded out the top-5.
“We just came up short there. Elliott was able to get by us there early in the run. Our car would kind of level back off to his after a few laps, but the first few laps we just couldn’t keep pace with him. They did a great job and my team did a great job.” Keselowski said.
“We just couldn’t get going on restarts. We would get down to turn one and it felt like we were on ice for 15 laps and then once we got going we were really fast. We have to get back to the shop and do our homework. It is pretty disappointing. We wanted to come here and win and felt this was a track we always have run well at, we just couldn’t get it done today.” Stenhouse said.
Sam Hornish Jr. failed to defend his win from last fall, he finished sixth. Hornish admitted later during the race that he struggled with brake issues all race long.
Trevor Bayne, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, and Michael Annett rounded out the top-10.
Hamlin started the race on pole and led some of the early laps, but spent most of the latter stages of the race following Kevin Harvick before Kasey Kahne took the second position. Kahne on the other hand got shuffled back during all of the pit strategy and unfortunately hit the wall off turn 2. He later fell down a lap and finished in 18th despite running in the top-5 for a majority of the event.
During a long green flag run, Kenny Wallace cut a right-front tire and ended his day on the 102nd lap. Wallace, who started the race in the third spot was looking to break his winless streak that dates back to the 2001 Sam’s Club 200 at Rockingham.
“Man, I tell you what — the right front tire blew out like a bomb. It started pushing about four laps before that and I was telling my guys it was starting to push bad.” Wallace said.
Danica Patrick finished the race 3 laps down in the 21st spot.
Congratulations to Elliott Sadler on an awesome win and we hope to see you guys tomorrow for the Subway Fresh Fit 500!
| Unofficial Race Results | |||||
| Bashas’ Supermarkets 200, Phoenix International Raceway | |||||
| http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=2 | |||||
| ========================================= | |||||
| Pos. | St. | No. | Driver | Make | Points |
| ========================================= | |||||
| 1 | 8 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | Chevrolet | 47 |
| 2 | 7 | 22 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | 0 |
| 3 | 2 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 41 |
| 4 | 9 | 3 | Austin Dillon * | Chevrolet | 40 |
| 5 | 12 | 33 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 6 | 6 | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | 38 |
| 7 | 5 | 60 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 38 |
| 8 | 10 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | 0 |
| 9 | 1 | 18 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 0 |
| 10 | 21 | 43 | Michael Annett | Ford | 34 |
| 11 | 14 | 54 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 0 |
| 12 | 25 | 30 | James Buescher | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 13 | 17 | 88 | Cole Whitt * | Chevrolet | 31 |
| 14 | 11 | 11 | Brian Scott | Toyota | 30 |
| 15 | 13 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 29 |
| 16 | 19 | 44 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | 28 |
| 17 | 22 | 108 | Casey Roderick * | Ford | 27 |
| 18 | 4 | 38 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 19 | 18 | 81 | Jason Bowles * | Dodge | 25 |
| 20 | 24 | 19 | Tayler Malsam | Toyota | 24 |
| 21 | 30 | 7 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 23 |
| 22 | 28 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Chevrolet | 22 |
| 23 | 32 | 23 | Jamie Dick | Chevrolet | 21 |
| 24 | 15 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | 20 |
| 25 | 31 | 39 | Joey Gase * | Ford | 19 |
| 26 | 36 | 40 | Erik Darnell | Chevrolet | 18 |
| 27 | 39 | 124 | Benny Gordon | Chevrolet | 17 |
| 28 | 37 | 14 | Eric McClure | Toyota | 16 |
| 29 | 41 | 50 | T.J. Bell | Ford | 15 |
| 30 | 38 | 52 | Tim Schendel | Chevrolet | 14 |
| 31 | 34 | 41 | Blake Koch | Ford | 13 |
| 32 | 23 | 1 | Mike Wallace | Chevrolet | 12 |
| 33 | 40 | 4 | Daryl Harr | Chevrolet | 11 |
| 34 | 42 | 70 | Charles Lewandoski | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 35 | 35 | 28 | David Green | Dodge | 9 |
| 36 | 3 | 9 | Kenny Wallace | Toyota | 8 |
| 37 | 16 | 27 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | 0 |
| 38 | 29 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 39 | 43 | 174 | Mike Harmon | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 40 | 33 | 42 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 41 | 26 | 46 | Chase Miller | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 42 | 20 | 47 | Scott Speed | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 43 | 27 | 10 | Jeff Green | Toyota | 1 |
Matty’s Picks 2012 – Race No. 3 – March 4, 2012 Subway Fresh Fit 500 – Phoenix International Raceway
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[/media-credit]Enter Clint Eastwood; I recon so…
After the fiasco in Florida last week, I am happy we’re heading to a place that averages just 12 days of rain the entire year. Not counting my chickens before they hatch here, March, historically has been the wettest out of any month. Between the historical rainfall data, and the absolutely perfect weather forecast for Phoenix this weekend, I am confident we’ll be seeing a race on Sunday afternoon.
This will be the second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on the freshly face-lifted Phoenix International Raceway, and I am hoping a bit of new rubber will have worked its way into the 1-mile tri-oval’ish track in the desert. With the track being re-paved in the summer of 2011, PIR worked its tail off to try and give the cup drivers the absolute best racing conditions possible for the 2011 Kobalt Tools 500. PIR made numerous attempts to foster passing on the new surface including “tons of laps” by driving schools on soft tires.
Before this weekend’s Subway Fresh Fit 500, PIR has taken strides again to foster passing and work in their new racing surface’s upper groove. Phoenix International Raceway hired Colorado-based Bandimere Speedway to have a tire rotator machine work additional rubber into PIR’s upper groove. The program was conducted Feb. 25-27, one week before this weekend’s big event.
“The goal was to present the best possible racing surface to NASCAR and the drivers for this weekend’s races,” said Phoenix International Raceway President, Bryan R. Sperber. “This is a very important race in the NASCAR season and we wanted to make sure that the track was ready to perform.”
I like the races at Phoenix, and am looking forward to what Sunday will bring…
Daytona 500 Recap
Where do I start? Despite Mother Nature not cooperating on my Quarter-Century Birthday last week, I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. Between the hype of Danica’s debut in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the re-birth of “the pack”, and simply the fact that it was the Daytona 500, last weekend’s race had a lot of hoopla surrounding it. The fact that last week’s Daytona 500 would be run in primetime on Monday night, Danica’s crash on lap number two, Brad Keselowski picking up 100,000 followers on Twitter, and the “fire heard round the world” all took the place of FOX’s regularly scheduled dramas on Monday night.
By now, everyone has heard the stories of the fire, Danica’s troubles, Twitter followers and everything other than racing, so I will skip to the recap of my picks. As you may recall, because Daytona tends to be a craps-shoot to pick drivers, my picks last week were determined by the random draw of playing cards.
My Dark Horse pick last week was a rookie in the Great American Race, however he looked like a seasoned veteran as he dodged accidents and hung around the top 15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. remained patient in the pack for the majority of the laps on Monday night, but my quest to start the season off with a strong Dark Horse finish came to a halt with just four laps to go in the Daytona 500. Stenhouse was caught up in a multi-car accident with just four laps to go. The No. 6 EcoBoost Ford came home 20th.
Two NASCAR Series Champions got the start last week for Matty’s picks, and two series champions were caught up in the same racing accident.
Tony Stewart was picked via my random card draw last week, and was on pace for a strong finish just like Stenhouse, but couldn’t avoid the final incident of the marathon weekend. I was happy when the cards fell last Friday and I ended up with Smoke as a starter, but again Stewart will come out of Speedweeks without the Harley J. Earl trophy. Smoke found the front of the pack for laps 59 and 60 gaining confidence in his Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, and with a move of an experienced veteran, slipped back into safer waters for the remainder of the laps on Monday night.
It was just that move that may have caused Stewart his troubles at the end of the 500, as he was collected in the mid-pack accident with just three laps to go. Smoke brought his battered Chevy home 16th, and sent me home crying with no points last week.
Phoenix Picks
Winner Pick
Kasey Khane wanted nothing more than sending Red Bull Racing on its way with a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win last fall. When the Chase came down to the wire, Khane was in the hunt in a handful of the last 10 races, just lacked that last extra nudge to put him in Victory Lane. That extra nudge came at Phoenix International Raceway in November when he sent Red Bull Racing out of NASCAR with a victory.
Kasey Khane has this new racing surface at PIR figured out, and his speeds have been great all weekend. If it wasn’t for Khane pushing his Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet just a bit too hard entering turn number 3 on his qualifying lap earlier today, he would be starting P1 tomorrow afternoon. He was 5th fastest in the first practice on Friday and followed up his mishap on his first qualifying lap with a time quick enough for 10th on the starting grid for tomorrow. 10th just happens to be where he started last fall when he claimed victory on the new configuration.
Khane has been under a microscope since his announcement that he would be moving to Hendrick Motorsports last season, and the time has come for him to shine. The No.5 car has to be the favorite for Sunday, so if you’re able to give him a start, DO IT!
Dark Horse Pick
I hate to call a guy with an average finish of 12.0 at PIR a Dark Horse, but with just 312 laps to do business on Sunday, starting positions are critical. He was my Dark Horse for the race in November and he did not let me down, finishing 4th after starting 14th.
Jeff Burton was one of 36 drivers that tested Goodyear tires on PIR’s new racing surface, and he was the fastest driver on the track over the two-day test. He laid down a lap good enough for the 11th spot on the grid earlier today in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying. Its been a while since Burton has visited Victory Lane at PIR (2001), but watch for the No.31 to be close to the front when the dust settles in the desert tomorrow afternoon.
That’s all for this week so until next time, you stay classy NASCAR NATION!
