Matt Kenseth Wins the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway
At a track where passing is difficult, his second place starting position was pivotal. While other drivers had problems, Kenseth kept himself in a position to capitalize on their misfortune.
Tony Stewart was competitive at the beginning of the race but lost the handling on his car about halfway through the race. Stewart wasn’t able to contend for the win but was still able to salvage an eight place finish. He also gained two spots in the points and is now in fifth place.
Greg Biffle was also fast early in the race but a missing lug nut during a pit stop put him one lap down. Although he regained the lap, a late race scuffle with Stewart and a subsequent cut tire left Biffle with a fifteenth place finish.
Trevor Bayne had a strong top ten car throughout the race but a problem with a fuel cell caused him to run out of gas and go three laps down.
Five-time champion Jimmie Johnson provided the biggest surprise of the night. Johnson, who was racing for seventh position, crashed into the wall on lap 317 and destroyed the No. 48 Chevy, ending his night. Johnson dropped five positions in the points standings to eighth place, 35 points behind leader Carl Edwards.
When asked about the impact this would have on his quest for a sixth championship, Johnson said, “We just have to keep racing. That’s all there is to it. There’s five races left and a lot can happen in five races.”
Matt Kenseth has been steadily gaining ground and now sits third in the points standings. He was all smiles after the race.
“I’m happy to have won, obviously.” Kenseth continued, “I’m always thankful to get to victory lane. You never know if you’re ever gonna win another race or when your last win is, and I’m certainly thankful for them all and I greatly appreciate being in a position to be able to win races and these guys giving me the cars and the crew and the opportunity to do that.”
| Unofficial Race Results | |||||
| Bank of America 500, Charlotte Motor Speedway | |||||
| ========================================= | |||||
| Pos. | St. | No. | Driver | Make | Points |
| ========================================= | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | 47 |
| 2 | 25 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 44 |
| 3 | 3 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 42 |
| 4 | 8 | 4 | Kasey Kahne | Toyota | 40 |
| 5 | 12 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 39 |
| 6 | 14 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 38 |
| 7 | 4 | 43 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | 37 |
| 8 | 1 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 37 |
| 9 | 17 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 35 |
| 10 | 6 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 35 |
| 11 | 11 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | 34 |
| 12 | 16 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | 32 |
| 13 | 20 | 22 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | 31 |
| 14 | 32 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | 31 |
| 15 | 5 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 30 |
| 16 | 26 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | 28 |
| 17 | 7 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 27 |
| 18 | 28 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | 26 |
| 19 | 15 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 25 |
| 20 | 31 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | 24 |
| 21 | 23 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 23 |
| 22 | 38 | 38 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | 23 |
| 23 | 18 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 21 |
| 24 | 19 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | 20 |
| 25 | 21 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | 19 |
| 26 | 29 | 0 | David Reutimann | Toyota | 18 |
| 27 | 27 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 17 |
| 28 | 30 | 51 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 29 | 22 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | 15 |
| 30 | 42 | 32 | Mike Bliss | Ford | 0 |
| 31 | 10 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 0 |
| 32 | 24 | 13 | Casey Mears | Toyota | 12 |
| 33 | 41 | 71 | Hermie Sadler | Ford | 0 |
| 34 | 9 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 11 |
| 35 | 35 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 36 | 33 | 34 | David Gilliland | Ford | 8 |
| 37 | 13 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 38 | 43 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | 6 |
| 39 | 37 | 66 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | 5 |
| 40 | 34 | 55 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | 0 |
| 41 | 36 | 30 | David Stremme | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 42 | 40 | 277 | Andy Lally * | Ford | 2 |
| 43 | 39 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | 0 |
Hornaday wins at Las Vegas
Ron Hornaday Jr. survived Saturday’s crash-filled Camping World Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and captured his second straight victory.
Hornaday held off Matt Crafton and Timothy Peters in the closing laps for his first win at Las Vegas, fourth this season and the 51st of his career.
“Woo-hoo! I won Vegas!” Hornaday said.
The track was slick due to temperatures in the 90s which attributed to 10 caution flags with one red flag on lap 31 after a four-car pileup.
“There’s some teams out there with more horsepower, but they’re not going to outguess us or out-think us in the pit strategy. I tell you, I didn’t feel it being slick other than (a) 15-lap run.” Hornaday said.
Leaders Austin Dillon and James Buescher had trouble early and Hornaday is now only 21 points out of the series points lead with four races remaining.
Buescher and Blake Feese got together on lap 28. Buescher finished 21st, 40 laps down and drops to third in the standings, seven points out.
Dillon spun into the wall coming around Turn 4 on the third lap. He was able to make repairs and finish 17th and held onto the series points lead over Johnny Sauter by five points.
| Unofficial Race Results | |||||
| Smith’s 350, Las Vegas Motor Speedway | |||||
| ============================================== | |||||
| Pos. | St. | No. | Driver | Make | Points |
| ============================================== | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 2 | Ron Hornaday | Chevrolet | 48 |
| 2 | 5 | 88 | Matt Crafton | Chevrolet | 42 |
| 3 | 11 | 17 | Timothy Peters | Toyota | 42 |
| 4 | 4 | 13 | Johnny Sauter | Chevrolet | 41 |
| 5 | 13 | 5 | Todd Bodine | Toyota | 40 |
| 6 | 7 | 8 | Nelson Piquet Jr. * | Chevrolet | 38 |
| 7 | 20 | 119 | David Mayhew | Chevrolet | 37 |
| 8 | 12 | 60 | Cole Whitt * | Chevrolet | 36 |
| 9 | 21 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Toyota | 35 |
| 10 | 3 | 29 | Parker Kligerman * | Dodge | 34 |
| 11 | 22 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Chevrolet | 33 |
| 12 | 9 | 4 | Ricky Carmichael | Chevrolet | 32 |
| 13 | 19 | 32 | Blake Feese | Chevrolet | 31 |
| 14 | 23 | 23 | Jason White | Chevrolet | 30 |
| 15 | 33 | 57 | Norm Benning | Chevrolet | 29 |
| 16 | 16 | 81 | David Starr | Toyota | 29 |
| 17 | 2 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 27 |
| 18 | 26 | 10 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | Dodge | 0 |
| 19 | 14 | 6 | Justin Lofton | Chevrolet | 25 |
| 20 | 17 | 33 | Cale Gale | Chevrolet | 24 |
| 21 | 6 | 31 | James Buescher | Chevrolet | 23 |
| 22 | 18 | 22 | Joey Coulter * | Chevrolet | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 93 | B.J. McLeod | Chevrolet | 21 |
| 24 | 28 | 7 | Butch Miller | Toyota | 20 |
| 25 | 32 | 66 | Max Gresham | Chevrolet | 19 |
| 26 | 25 | 73 | Brent Raymer | Chevrolet | 18 |
| 27 | 10 | 7 | Miguel Paludo * | Toyota | 17 |
| 29 | 15 | 9 | Max Papis | Toyota | 15 |
| 29 | 8 | 18 | Brian Ickler | Toyota | 16 |
| 30 | 29 | 138 | Mike Garvey | Chevrolet | 14 |
| 31 | 31 | 0 | Wayne Edwards | Ford | 0 |
| 32 | 30 | 165 | Lance Fenton | Chevrolet | 12 |
| 33 | 27 | 127 | Chris Jones | Chevrolet | 11 |
| 34 | 34 | 175 | John Borneman III | Chevrolet | 0 |
NASCAR Mixes Chase, Charity and Gout Awareness at Charlotte
This weekend marks the midway point of NASCAR’s closest yet Chase for the championship, with just eight drivers within 20 points of the top of the leader board. Yet in the midst of the Chase, charity has also been a major theme at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the race weekend.
[media-credit name=”goutpitstop.com” align=”alignright” width=”223″]
[/media-credit]The major charitable focus, as expected in the month of October, has been for breast cancer awareness. Almost all of the race cars have been adorned with some sort of pink accents, from the recognizable pink ribbon logos, to pink lanyards and gloves worn by the NASCAR officials.
“Breast cancer awareness month is one of those unique opportunities in which the NASCAR industry and NASCAR fans rally together for such a special and important cause,” Sandy Marshall, executive director of The NASCAR Foundation, said. “Each year the program gets bigger.”
Other charities featured in the Chase race weekend at Charlotte include the USO on Clint Bowyer’s No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevy, as well as the No. 16 machine of Greg Biffle sporting a paint scheme for the 3M/Give Kids a Smile effort.
The most unique charitable initiative, however, is one led by Kevin ‘Bono’ Manion, crew chief for the No. 1 Bass Pro Shop/Arctic Cat Chevrolet driven by Jamie McMurray. Manion has been leading the charge for a new gout awareness campaign in conjunction with the Men’s Health Network and Takeda.
Manion suffers from gout, a form of arthritis that affects over 8.3 million people in the United States. It is often misunderstood as a disease afflicting those who are rich who indulge in too much food and alcohol.
“It’s an educational campaign to bring awareness to anyone suffering from gout,” Manion said. “I’ve had it for about ten years and for awhile I didn’t know what it was.”
“I suffered a lot until the pain got so unbearable that you couldn’t sleep because the sheets couldn’t touch your foot,” Manion continued. “I’ve heard of gout before but always thought of somebody that drank a lot or that it was a rich man’s disease.”
“I’m basically trying to get the word out there and to let others know that they are not alone.”
Manion has partnered in the awareness campaign with Men’s Health Network and Takeda. His participation as a spokesperson has not only helped to educate himself about the disease but also to reach others who may be suffering.
One of the biggest issues related to gout is the shock of receiving the diagnosis, particularly due to the stigma and stereotyping of the illness.
“When I got my diagnosis, I was surprised for sure,” Manion said. “I’m not a heavy drinker and don’t do those things that they say trigger a flare up.”
“When I went to the doctor finally, I thought I had a broken foot or a broken toe,” Manion continued. “I went to get X-rayed and they told me that I had gout instead.”
“It was surprising but you wouldn’t believe the people that I’ve met who are suffering too.”
Manion has learned many lessons after being diagnosed with gout. Other than having some occasional pain climbing up the ladder to the top of the pit box or running around on race weekend, he has been able to manage his symptoms.
“What I’ve learned is that you have to take care of yourself,” Manion said. “Like your race car, you’ve got to take care of your body”.
“As we get older, things change and for me I hopefully have not done any damage by not taking care of myself,” Manion continued. “Everyone’s different.”
“There’s surely ways to manage through medication, exercise and watching your diet,” Manion said. “But it’s basically being cautious of what’s going on.”
This weekend, Manion has spent time in the Fan Zone sharing his experience and educating race fans on this illness.
“A lot of people I’ve met haven’t been to the doctor so encouraging people to see their health care provider to get checked out,” Manion said. “We have information at the ‘Gout Pit Stop’ booth and people can also visit the website www.goutpitstop.com for more information as well.”
While Manion and many of the other drivers and teams in the sport focus on charitable endeavors throughout the race weekend, they have just one other goal in common. All want to chase the win in the Bank of America 500.
“Our goal is to win the race,” Manion said simply. “We have a great record and Jamie loves this place. We have a win here so with a 500 mile race, we hope to have a good car for the long haul.”
Carl Edwards Scores Victory at the Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage at Charlotte
Carl Edwards only led five laps in Friday’s race but they were the ones that mattered. On lap 195, with a little help from teammate Trevor Bayne, Edwards took the lead from Kyle Busch and never looked back, bringing his Roush Fenway Ford into Victory Lane.
“If Trevor hadn’t given me that push,” said Edwards, “we would have had a really hard time. So [it was] just a really, really good team effort.” This was his 37th victory in the Nationwide Series.
Kyle Busch finished second followed by Trevor Bayne in third, who scored his first top-five finish in three races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Elliot Sadler in fourth and Brian Scott rounded out the top five.
Elliot Sadler also claimed the Nationwide Insurance Dash4Cash $100,000 bonus and won $100,000 for NASCAR fan Joe Thornton of New Port riche, Fla.
“It’s a thrill just to come to the races, but to win the $100,000 I’m speechless,” Thornton said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do with it — my wife wants to pay the house off, we’ll see. It’s just unbelievable, you know.”
Sadler is now only 15 points behind points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Paul Menard, winner of the Coors Light Pole Award, brought the field to green Friday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway but only led the first 26 laps.
Brad Keselowski seemed to have the most dominant car of the night, leading 119 laps. But on lap 170 he suddenly slowed due to a tire going down.
In the end, it was a battle between Edwards and Kyle Busch with Trevor Bayne making a late charge in the final five laps. But Edwards was able to hold off Busch and the remainder of the field for the win.
Jack Roush, car owner of the No. 60 Fastenal Ford, was ecstatic and a little amazed after the race.
“I think I’m gonna lose my mind here,” he said. He continued, “Carl wrecked his car today and the car decided it wouldn’t give up. I’m going to talk to that car and I’m going to give that car a kiss tonight.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr retains the points lead followed by Elliot Sadler, Aric Almirola, Justin Allgaier and Reed Sorenson in fifth.
| Unofficial Race Results | |||||
| Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage, Charlotte Motor Speedway | |||||
| ========================================= | |||||
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Make | Points | |
| ========================================= | |||||
| 1 | 5 | 60 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 0 |
| 2 | 6 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 0 |
| 3 | 11 | 16 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 41 |
| 4 | 12 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | Chevrolet | 41 |
| 5 | 8 | 11 | Brian Scott | Toyota | 39 |
| 6 | 3 | 22 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | 0 |
| 7 | 10 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 37 |
| 8 | 1 | 33 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 9 | 2 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 36 |
| 10 | 9 | 32 | Brian Vickers | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 11 | 17 | 30 | Jason Leffler | Chevrolet | 33 |
| 12 | 7 | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | 32 |
| 13 | 19 | 66 | Steve Wallace | Toyota | 31 |
| 14 | 13 | 7 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | 30 |
| 15 | 14 | 88 | Aric Almirola | Chevrolet | 29 |
| 16 | 20 | 9 | Kenny Wallace | Toyota | 28 |
| 17 | 22 | 62 | Michael Annett | Toyota | 27 |
| 18 | 27 | 81 | Blake Koch * | Dodge | 26 |
| 19 | 4 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | 0 |
| 20 | 23 | 19 | Mike Bliss | Chevrolet | 24 |
| 21 | 32 | 15 | Timmy Hill * | Ford | 24 |
| 22 | 36 | 1 | Mike Wallace | Chevrolet | 22 |
| 23 | 31 | 150 | T.J. Bell | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 24 | 41 | 28 | Derrike Cope | Chevrolet | 20 |
| 25 | 39 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Chevrolet | 19 |
| 26 | 33 | 39 | Joey Gase | Ford | 18 |
| 27 | 37 | 52 | Kevin Lepage | Chevrolet | 17 |
| 28 | 18 | 38 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 29 | 24 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Chevrolet | 15 |
| 30 | 35 | 23 | Robert Richardson Jr. | Chevrolet | 14 |
| 31 | 34 | 14 | Eric McClure | Chevrolet | 13 |
| 32 | 15 | 182 | Reed Sorenson | Dodge | 12 |
| 33 | 38 | 40 | Charles Lewandoski * | Chevrolet | 11 |
| 34 | 16 | 99 | Ryan Truex * | Toyota | 0 |
| 35 | 42 | 70 | Angela Cope | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 36 | 40 | 87 | Kevin Conway | Toyota | 8 |
| 37 | 28 | 97 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | 7 |
| 38 | 25 | 104 | Tim Andrews | Ford | 6 |
| 39 | 26 | 103 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 40 | 30 | 141 | Johnny Chapman | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 41 | 21 | 147 | Scott Speed | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 42 | 29 | 142 | Erik Darnell | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 43 | 43 | 44 | Jeff Green | Chevrolet | 1 |
Drive to End Hunger Continues in Charlotte
Speedway Media was present at the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina in Charlotte Friday when Jeff Gordon presented the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina with a check for $10,000. The Food Bank of Metrolina received their $10,000 gift this past spring. This allowed the two food banks to help people in 32 North Carolina counties this year.
[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel ” align=”alignright” width=”225″]
[/media-credit]Gordon’s sponsorship by the ARRP’s Drive to End Hunger has been a huge success this season with over $12 million being raised and 3.4 million meals being paid for. The sponsorship has allowed NASCAR fans to help with something that many people were not aware of and that’s the fact that many elder Americans live in poverty and go hungry every day.
Gordon, who has his own, long established children’s foundation liked the program from its onset. He compared the sponsorship to his long established one with DuPont saying, “With DuPont I had to learn the company, learn the product. I had to learn the people and understand what they do. It took years to go through that process. I love them as a company, what they do.” “With this,” he said. “it didn’t take five minutes. This is a no brainer, this is easy to get behind for me, for me to understand and say lets go to work. Let’s make this happen.” He mentioned other charities that sponsor race cars as well. “It’s a great cause. Plus, the thing I love is the level they want to reach out there. You see many do one race. Or an organization represented on several cars, but it’s a short time basis. For them to do it for the number of races, and basically be a primary sponsor is amazing.”
The one thing that Gordon acknowledged was that he doesn’t have as much time as he would like for his own foundation but with this program its different because it’s a sponsor. “It’s a direct message to the fans on Sunday, on television,” he said. “When we win a race it’s a lot more than winning a race. We’re aware that there’s a cause. It’s already been for me something that never stops being involved.” “When it comes to the foundation work,” he said. “I’m so limited on my time. I’m going back (to Africa, a trip he took alone earlier this year) with Ingrid and Ella, Leo is too young to do that but, I have made time over the years, but I never have as much time as I would like. With this year I’m still able to do things for the children’s Foundation, but every week I’m able to represent the Drive to End Hunger.” It was obvious that Gordon has many fans that are older. Before taking time out with the media Gordon spoke with a gentleman who offered him words of encouragement. Gordon was very appreciative of the comments and expressed so.
More information about AARP’s Drive to End Hunger can be found at www.drivetoendhunger.org If you’re going to any of this season’s remaining races there will be displays to allow you to support the program. Pitch in, help out if you can. It is a real problem that we all can easily help with.
Edwards Wins Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage
courtesy of www.onpitroad.com
