NHRA – Don Schumacher names new crew chief for Johnny Gray
*(RacingWire) — *Johnny Gray will have a new crew chief on his Don Schumacher Racing Funny Car when the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series makes its next stop at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals next weekend.
MotoGP – Stoner takes Italian GP pole
(RacingWire) – Casey Stoner qualified in the pole position for the MotoGP Grand Prix of Italy at Mugello Circuit. American Ben Spies qualified his Yamaha third and Italian Marco Simoncelli made his countryman cheer with a third place qualifying attempt.
The MotoGP Grand Prix of Italy is Sunday at 8am ET.
Ryan Newman Sides with the Boss, Says Not a Fan of Blocking
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman are making it clear, they don’t think blocking is cool. Last weekend Stewart took matters into his own hands by expressing displeasure with the way drivers, specifically Brian Vickers, were racing.
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[/media-credit]Stewart sent a message, one he reiterated in Daytona: from now on if you block, you’re getting wrecked. Now Newman is offering his opinion and like his boss and teammate, feels blocking is unnecessary.
“I’m not a fan at all of blocking,” said Newman. “If you don’t block on an oval, you shouldn’t block on a road course; and there are a lot of guys who get in the bad habit of blocking on a road course. Especially in turn 7 and turn 11 at Infineon.”
The pair’s frustrations carry over from last weekend’s first road course race. Stewart drilled Vickers into the tire barriers in turn 11 and admitted it was intentional. It wasn’t just last weekend however, Stewart hasn’t been happy with the way his competitors has been racing for a while.
Newman found out what Stewart was talking about last weekend. Just as Stewart did before him, Newman tried to take matters into his own hands but it didn’t work out for him either.
“I had guys that blocked me and I let them know about it and I got turned around twice in turn 11,” he said. “So, the blocking part is not cool at all. And it’s something that we as drivers have to address and gain a little more respect out of each other so that we’re not doing that. We can have great racing and great passing there without the blocking.”
The problem according to both Newman and Stewart is that blocking doesn’t just take place at road courses or restrictor plate tracks. Although Stewart did acknowledged that with the new two-car drafting you don’t see much blocking anymore. Newman however, says there’s a fine balance between road courses and ovals.
“There are times when I’m blocked at Dover or Charlotte or places like that and it’s much less often than it is at the road courses,” he said. “The road course is the most you’ll ever get blocked or blocking is a part of what we do as whole. Go back to 1979 when Donnie [Allison] ran Cale [Yarborough] down. He was block of sorts. You saw what happened because of it.”
But unlike the 1979 Daytona 500, the incident that has Stewart so upset didn’t happen on the last lap.
“But it’s every lap is like a last lap,” explained Newman. “You look at the way our competition is, we race every lap like it’s the last lap. There are times when it does slow down a little bit. California and Michigan, big places, Pocono, where you can only do so much. There comes a point where you have to save your racecar and save your tires and save your brakes.”
As Newman explains, double-file restarts have changed everything. It might be exciting for the fans but the drivers have gotten more aggressive or in Newman’s words, more demanding.
“We’re literally going for everything we possibly can,” he said. “And if that means somebody else’s throat, that’s part of it sometimes. Going for their throat and ripping their throat out are two different things.”
The term respect is one that is often thrown about. Though it’s been more thrown out when it comes to actions on the track some drivers might say. General theory being race how you would like to be raced. Instead, drivers are getting better at taking and having a hard time receiving – payback.
Stewart and Newman are two that aren’t going to take it any longer. If drivers aren’t willing to come together and come to an understanding than what occurred in Sonoma might just continue and it means “boys, have at it,” has only just begun.
Joey Logano Goes From Spinning to Winning the Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona
Joey Logano finally found victory lane in a restrictor plate race after being the man who pushed the eventual winners the last few plate races. His victory in the 10th annual Subway Jalapeño 250 at Daytona International Speedway came after a wild race in which he had to start in the rear of the field.
The green flag flew Friday night over four Kevin Harvick Inc. cars who qualified in the first four positions. The race though wasn’t about big packs as it quickly became a race of two-by-two with drivers finding partners and pairing up.
It took only 27 laps for the first caution to come out as Logano spun in turn three following the first bump drafting gone bad incident of the night. He would restart at the rear of the field after pitting before pit road was open, Logano would also have to battle back from a loose wheel.
Throughout the middle portion of the race an interesting leader emerged. Working with Tony Stewart the bright green No. 7 of Danica Patrick repeatedly found her way to the front of the field. Patrick led the field on five different occasions for 13 laps.
The second caution
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[/media-credit]of the night flew after Ricky Carmichael lost a left rear tire and hit the backstretch wall. Carmichael would be done for the evening but Danny Efland who also spun was able to continue on.
In what is quickly becoming a trend this season, Kenny Wallace became the newest driver penalized for changing lanes before the start/finish line. Wallace would serve a pass through penalty but recovered for a seventh place finish.
The third caution of the night came from a hard hit by Eric McClure. Drafting with his teammate Mike Bliss, McClure was hooked heading into turn one and hit the wall head on. McClure was taken to a local hospital for tests but is said to be doing fine.
As drivers like Patrick, Stewart and others flexed their muscles, a driver who could have been a contender for the win wouldn’t be around to see it. With less than 25 laps to go Clint Bowyer was hooked by his team owner/teammate Kevin Harvick, sending him head on into the backstretch wall. His race was done for the evening.
As the race for the win started to heat up the sixth and final caution of the night gave everyone a breather after teammates Joe Nemechek and Kevin Conway scraped the turn three wall. It would set up a seven-lap fight to the finish.
Sadler and Stewart would lead on the restart but with five laps to go it was Patrick back out in front with her drafting partner Aric Almirola. Looking to pull off an improbable win, Patrick and Almirola started driving away but were swallowed up by the field with three laps to go.
As the white flag flew though it would be the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Logano and Kyle Busch who charged through the field. Logano and Busch fought to the checkered flag with the Turner Motorsports teammates of Jason Leffler and Reed Sorenson jumping in between. Logano held off Leffler, Sorenson and Busch for his ninth career Nationwide Series win.
But behind him carnage was breaking out. Patrick, Stewart, Steven Wallace, Mike Wallace and others wrecked coming to the finish line. All would be OK but lost their top five finishes.
The night though, belonged to Joey Logano and the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Logano captured his first win of the 2011 season and his first at Daytona. He only led one lap. Reed Sorenson remains the point leader as his lead increased over Elliott Sadler. Sorenson also captured an extra $100,000 in the “Dash 4 Cash” program.
