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Pocono Raceway – Saturday update

By
Ed Coombs
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[media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]Saturday at the Pocono Raceway we got off to a very wet start to the day as heavy storms pounded us early Saturday morning. Things cleared up long enough to get Coors Light qualifying completed for the Sprint Cup Series but a persistent fog plagued the ARCA series race and it was called shortly after the halfway mark due to the misty weather and the fact the spotters could not even see turn 1 from the tower!

Sprint Cup qualifying was somewhat surprising to me as Kurt Busch won the pole with Paul Menard rounding out the front row. Jeff Gordon will start third.

Busch, who wrecked his primary car during practice Friday said, “Quite a bit of emotions today, especially after having to burst out the backup car after yesterday’s mishap. To go out there today, if it was raining, we would be starting last. And now, luckily the weather held out and we’re on the pole. An amazing swing of events. An honest thank you to my guys, especially the ones back at the shop preparing the cars. To pull a backup out that’s a pole-winning car, that’s something you really wouldn’t hear about back in the day. It would be all-right, we’re going to have to struggle through the weekend; it’s not the best piece (car). It’s great that we have that quality control in our system.”

Busch also made comments about how the Penske organization has changed since his tirades in Richmond and other tracks over the radio. “We haven’t changed a lot of things since Richmond,” Busch said. “It’s just been some procedures, some processes and maybe just looking at the data a little bit differently. It’s great to come back out and be on the pole again.”

Carl Edwards, who was fastest in happy hour qualified sixth. He said, “It was an okay run but I was just telling Bob and the guys that that is the fastest our car has been through three and four. I knew we got through one and two really well. The timing was a little shaky and we got a little loose. All I could think was, ‘man, this is a screaming lap and don’t overdrive three.’ I drove in there a little bit soft and this thing stuck. It had so much grip and I knew right then that I gave something up. I tried to get into third gear and get on the gas as early as I could. That is a pole winning car right there. I just needed to drive a pole winning three and four. I am excited about the race. It is nice to be disappointed about a sixth place qualifying position. It should be a really good run for us.”

One driver who was real happy was one of my dark horse picks for the weekend Marcos Ambrose. The affable Australian said, ““That was huge pickup for us. You think that one lap won’t make or break your season but Pocono is really tough. We had a tough Kansas and a tough practice yesterday and our team just dug deep. The car was fantastic. I guessed the shift points correctly and here we are. I am really proud of my guys. I have to thank Stanley and DeWalt and everybody for believing in me. Richard Petty too. He is my boss and I have to make him happy.”

Mike Skinner had a vicious wreck off turn 1 in qualifying slamming into the second generation SAFER barrier wall. Skinner was OK after the wreck but the clean up some time and it looked like the weather could close in on qualifying session but instead it impacted the ARCA race.

CHEVY NSCS AT POCONO ONE: QUALIFYING QUOTES & PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

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SM Archive
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Dodge Post-Qualifying Quotes — Pocono

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SM Archive
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TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Post-Qualifying Notes & Quotes Pocono Raceway

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SM Archive
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Ford Pocono Cup Qualifying

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SM Archive
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Kurt Busch Snags 14th Career Pole at Pocono; Paul Menard Scores Second

By
SM Staff
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[media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”209″][/media-credit]After crashing his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge in practice and having to pull out a backup car, Kurt Busch was despondent, especially thinking that if qualifying was rained out, he would start the 5-Hour Energy 500 at Pocono Raceway dead last.

But the racing gods were with him, the weather held, and Busch snagged his 14th career pole, with a speed of 171.579 mph and a time of 52.454 seconds. This was Busch’s first pole in 21 races at the ‘Tricky Triangle.’

“There were quite a bit of different emotions out there today, especially after having to bust out the backup car from yesterday’s  mishap,” Busch said. “If it were raining today, we’d be starting last.”

“Now luckily the weather held out and we’re on the pole,” Busch said. “It’s an amazing swing of events and an honest thank you to my guys. To pull the backup out as a pole winning car is really something you wouldn’t hear about back in the day.”

Busch’s pole also signified the third straight pole for Penkse Racing and his teammate Brad Keselowski was the winner of last weekend’s event at Kansas Speedway. Busch admitted in the media center after his pole run that Penske Racing has indeed turned a corner.

“We haven’t changed a lot of things since Richmond and it’s just been some procedures and processes and maybe looking at the data a bit differently,” Busch said. “It’s great to come back out and get on the pole again.”

Busch also referenced his superstition, feeling that he was stuck on the ‘unlucky 13’ pole.

“To be number 14 already, really feels good,” Busch said.

Busch’s crew chief, Steve Addington, echoed his driver’s feelings about the pole run.

“I want to thank everybody on this Shell/Pennzoil Dodge,” Addington said. “The work they did to get this car ready was awesome.”

“To lay down a lap like that is pretty impressive,” Addington continued. “And that guy that sits behind the steering wheel isn’t too damn bad either.”

Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet, scored the outside pole, with a speed of 171.422 mph and a time of 52.502 seconds. This was Menard’s fifth top-10 start of 2011 and his first such start in nine races at Pocono.

“We definitely thought it would rain out qualifying today,” Menard said. “So, we tried to post a good time early in practice and felt that would be our qualifying run.”

“We were hoping for rain, honestly,” Menard continued. “To qualify second and actually put a lap down was pretty cool. It was much more meaningful that way.”

Four-time champion Jeff Gordon posted his 22nd top-10 start at Pocono Raceway. He qualified third in his No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, with a speed of 171.350 mph and a time of 52.524 seconds.

“I’ll be honest, prior to that run, I was kind of hoping it was going to rain,” Gordon said with a laugh. “We made a couple of qualifying runs yesterday and we weren’t really thrilled with the pace.”

“The track was definitely a lot different as it was hot and slick,” Gordon continued. “We did our fastest laps in race trim and so we weren’t really sure what to expect today.”

“We looked at the lap times and seeing just how fast the track was today, it gets you anxious when you ran a 54.10 and guys were running in the 52s,” Gordon said. “It was interesting because right before I left the truck I told Alan (Gustafson), ‘It looks like half a second per corner’ and as a driver, a half a second a corner just isn’t fathomable.”

“As a driver, to go out there and do that and put up a good lap and be third, I’m thrilled,” Gordon said. “I’m very, very happy.”

Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota and past master of Pocono Raceway, qualified fourth with a speed of 171.174 mph and a time of 52.578 seconds.

Regan Smith, behind the wheel of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet, continued his hot qualifying hand and rounded out the top five, with a speed of 171.164 mph and a time of 52.581 seconds.

Starting Lineup
5-Hour Energy 500, Pocono Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=14
Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
1 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 171.579 52.454
2 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 171.422 52.502
3 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 171.35 52.524
4 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 171.174 52.578
5 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 171.165 52.581
6 99 Carl Edwards Ford 171.057 52.614
7 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 170.836 52.682
8 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 170.532 52.776
9 0 David Reutimann Toyota 170.348 52.833
10 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 170.2 52.879
11 6 David Ragan Ford 170.177 52.886
12 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 170.126 52.902
13 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 169.908 52.97
14 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 169.872 52.981
15 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 169.856 52.986
16 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 169.702 53.034
17 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 169.671 53.044
18 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 169.607 53.064
19 20 Joey Logano Toyota 169.52 53.091
20 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 169.501 53.097
21 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 169.447 53.114
22 46 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 169.444 53.115
23 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 169.441 53.116
24 71 Andy Lally* Ford 169.37 53.138
25 51 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 169.307 53.158
26 38 Sam Hornish Jr. Ford 169.278 53.167
27 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 169.224 53.184
28 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 169.176 53.199
29 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 169.17 53.201
30 34 David Gilliland Ford 169.119 53.217
31 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 169.113 53.219
32 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 169.084 53.228
33 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 168.932 53.276
34 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 168.89 53.289
35 13 Casey Mears Toyota 168.666 53.36
36 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 168.218 53.502
37 16 Greg Biffle Ford 167.773 53.644
38 37 Tony Raines Ford 167.395 53.765
39 181 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 167.264 53.807
40 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 167.057 53.874
41 32 Mike Bliss Ford 166.867 53.935
42 7 Scott Wimmer+ Dodge 162.414 55.414
43 150 T.J. Bell* Toyota 166.633 54.011

Brian Vickers Hopes Exhilaration of Daytona Skydive Carries Over to Pocono Win

By
SM Staff
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[media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”236″][/media-credit]Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, is still flying high after skydiving into Daytona International Speedway. He is now hoping that the exhilaration will just continue right into one of his better tracks Pocono Raceway.

“It was incredible,” Vickers said. “To be able to jump into Daytona was amazing.”

“Jumping into any other track would have been incredible but Daytona is the biggest event and the biggest track,” Vickers continued. “I thought it would be pretty appropriate and pretty cool to jump in there first.”

“To be able to see the track from that height was cool and it was beautiful,” Vickers said. “That picture is just burned in my mind for sure.”

Not only was the Daytona jump exhilarating for Vickers, but it was also a piece of unfinished business for the young driver. Finishing the Dover race this year also fell into that category as well.

“We had this scheduled last year and it got cancelled due to my health reasons,” Vickers said of his skydive. “So to be able to come back and finish it and to finish what we started meant a lot.”

“Jumping into Daytona and then finishing Dover were two very important things to me personally,” Vickers said. “Dover was the first race I missed so to finish that race and finish it well was important to me.  Skydiving at Daytona was something we started in 2010 and to go back and finish that was very special.”

Vickers is counting on that exhilarating feeling from his jump carrying right over into his run at Pocono Raceway, one of his favorite tracks. In fact, Pocono is one of Vickers better tracks, having spent 73.4 percent of the laps in the top 15 in his last ten starts at the ‘Tricky Triangle.’

Vickers has started in the top ten in eight of his twelve starts at Pocono and he has had four top-five and five top-10 finishes. Pocono Raceway ranks second as far as top average-finish tracks for Vickers, with an average finish of 14.3 there.

“Pocono has been a good track for me,” Vickers said. “We’ve run well. I’ve sat on poles, we’ve been fast and I’ve finished second but we haven’t won here so there is unfinished business here too for sure.”

Vickers acknowledges that, as good as he is at Pocono, he along with all of the other drivers, will face some significant challenges. Among those are facing yet another potential fuel mileage race, as well as the new ability to shift.

“This race has been fuel strategy before but sometimes it’s just been a battle at the end,” Vickers said. “It just depends.”

“You can’t just plan on doing fuel strategy because it just depends on when the last caution falls,” Vickers continued. “It just depends on how the race plays out.”

“The shifting is going to be power shifting again and I think it’s better for the racing,” Vickers said. “We’ll see more passing.”

“I never understood why they stopped us from shifting,” Vickers continued. “It didn’t save anything or serve any purpose to my knowledge and it was harder to pass. It was a great decision to start shifting again.”

Another issue making the Triangle tricky in Vickers’ opinion is the heat, which is a bit of a carryover from the Kansas inferno of last weekend. Yet, Vickers definitely feels that plays right into his hands.

“It’s been very hot lately and the last couple of races have been very hot,” Vickers said. “I love it because I’m in the best shape of my life. It’s just an advantage that I have.”

Vickers also admitted that the heat not only makes the drivers miserably physically but can also lead to some heated emotions as well.

“There have been a lot of hot tempers lately,” Vickers said. “That’s just the emotional part of our sport.”

“It’s also just the personalities of each individual,” Vickers continued. “The hot head or temper has never been my thing.”

Vickers also acknowledged that the length of the race, the Five Hour Energy 500, can also take its toll, physically and emotionally.

“It’s a very long race and it’s actually too long,” Vickers said. “I love Pocono and I want to see them keep their race dates but I think to do that, they’re going to have to shorten the race.”

“The fans here are amazing and they almost always fill the stands,” Vickers continued. “I really enjoy racing on the track, but it’s too long. But it is what it is for now.”

Vickers’ final challenge at the ‘Tricky Triangle’ is figuring out his qualifying order strategy.

“You want to go out early for qualifying so you have to sandbag a little bit,” Vickers said. “But if it rains, you want to be in the front. So, it’s tough.”

“A lot of it is just going to be playing the weather and whoever makes the best guess for the weather will have that advantage,” Vickers continued. “If it looks like it’s going to rain, they’ll go as fast as they can to qualify late.  But if it looks sunny and hot, you’ll see some guys lay off in practice.”

“It’s hard because you want to go fast,” Vickers said. “But there’s ways to do it without compromising the performance of the set up or the car.”

Vickers is also hoping, very earnestly, that Pocono will not only yield a good finish but will also help him continue to climb in the point standings. And, of course, he too has his eye on making the Chase, currently sitting 26th in the point standings, just 29 points shy of the 20th spot.

“We need to keep climbing,” Vickers said. “We got in a hole at the beginning of the year and we got into some wrecks early in the season. So, we need to get out of this hole.”

“I still think we can get there,” Vickers continued. “A win or two would put us in the Chase for the wild card and hopefully we can climb our way back up the hard way. But either way, I still think we have a shot at it.”

What was truly amazing to Vickers, however, was that he actually skydived into Daytona at 5,000 feet, which is just slightly longer than the front stretch of the Pocono Raceway at 3,740 feet.

“That’s crazy,” Vickers said. “It was exhilarating.”

 

Keys For Success — Pocono

By
SM Archive
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Ron Hornaday Wins the WinStar World Casino 400k at Texas Motor Speedway

By
SM Staff
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In a race that had a record number of leaders and lead changes, it was Ron Hornaday winning the WinStar World Casino 400k after a controversial call on the last lap.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”272″][/media-credit]On the final green white checkered finish, Johnny Sauter had the lead and chose to start on the outside. Before crossing the start finish line, Sauter came down in front of Hornaday, which is a no-no as according to the NASCAR rulebook. Rules states clearly that you must stay in your lane until you cross the line. As a result, Sauter was black flagged, handing the win over to Hornaday.

“I’m not going to go down that way and judge,” he said. “I saw him sliding down and once he figured it out, he went back up there. I kind of saved my stuff just in case that happened there. It’s just an unbelievable day. I’ll take it.”

The win marks the 48th career win for Hornaday and his third win at Texas Motor Speedway.

“The way our year has been going, we’re gaining on them, but we’re still not right yet,” he added. “These guys never lay back. Thanks to Kevin and Delana for believing in me.”

Sauter, meanwhile, was credited with a 22nd place finish as the last truck on the lead lap.

“He’s got a lane to race down there,” Sauter said of NASCAR’s call. “We both spun the tires. I was just trying to save the truck.”

Parker Kligermann, meanwhile, came home second as he scored his best career finish in 10 starts.

“I just wanna thank these guys right here,” Kligermann said. “We don’t go to the wind tunnel; we don’t do shake-rig testing. They gave me an awesome truck and its about making the best of these opportunities. I owe to them since Phoenix and to know that we’re one spot away from right there (victory lane), is good.”

David Mayhew also scored his best career finish in five starts as he finished third in his first start with Kevin Harvick Incorporated.

“We had a really good truck,” Mayhew said. “I gotta thank Kevin and Delana Harvick and all these guys at KHI. Without this opportunity, you won’t be able to run like guys like that. Those guys made awesome adjustments on pit road and kept working on it.”

For Brian Ickler, he was able to rebound to finish fourth after spinning out on lap 50 after contact with Todd Bodine.

“We had a good truck all weekend,” Ickler said. “Bodine and I got into it in there and we spun out but we came back up there. I gotta thank Kyle and Samantha for the opportunity. I get to this one more time at Iowa and can’t wait.”

Joey Coulter rounded out the top-five in fifth, matching the fifth place finish last week at Kansas. Ricky Carmichael finished sixth, followed by Ryan Sieg, Miguel Paludo, Justin Lofton and pole sitter James Buescher. Buescher came back to finish 10th after getting frontend damage midway through the race.

Buescher started the race from the pole, though on lap four, Austin Dillon took the lead before the first caution for oil on the track at lap five. The restart would come at lap 10 and Buescher would jump back to first, till lap 15 when Dillon grabbed it back.

The second caution came out on lap 23 for Chase Mattiolli going for a spin and all the leaders pitted with Steve Arpin, who was making his first ever Camping World Truck Series start, coming off pit road first. The restart came at lap 27 and by lap 31, Dillon was already back in the lead.

The third caution came out at lap 51 for Brian Ickler spinning and the leaders would pit again, though Dillon would hold serve. The restart came at lap 56, though another caution would come out at lap 59 for Ryan Sieg spinning. The restart would come at lap 63 and on lap 64, Johnny Sauter jumped into the lead.

The fifth caution came out at lap 66 for David Starr and Todd Bodine making contact.

“I shouldn’t had been back there racing them,” Bodine said. “I could’ve stayed behind him or went under and I chose the wrong one of the two.”

Some of the lead trucks pitted while nine didn’t, which handed the lead to Nelson Piquet Jr. when the restart came at lap 72. He was able to hold the lead till lap 75 when Miguel Paludo would take over the top spot, till he got passed by Joey Coulter at lap 83.

The sixth caution would come at lap 90 when Austin Dillon and Matt Crafton made contact as Crafton tried to slide up in front of Dillon, thinking he was clear.

“I guess he just got a run there the last second,” Crafton said. “He wasn’t there, he wasn’t there and then he was there and I tried to back off and tried to turn left, but couldn’t cause I was free and then I got hooked on the front straightaway. Kind of a hard way to go down.”

Once again, some drivers pitted while others stayed out, which handed the lead over to Ron Hornaday for the lap 95 restart, though he’d only hold it till lap 100 when Sauter would once again take it over.

The seventh caution would come out when Cole Whitt would blow up and everybody pitted, except Ryan Sieg who stayed out. The restart came with 55 to go and the race would only stay green for five laps as the eighth caution would fly when Justin Marks would go for a spin. Sieg pitted under the caution, giving the lead back to Hornaday. The restart came with 45 to go and with 37 to go, Sauter would go back to the front.

The ninth caution came out with 30 to go with Steve Arpin would get loose, making contact with Austin Dillon, sending them both into the grass. The restart came five laps later and Sauter would lead all the way to the final caution with seven to go when Clay Rogers got into the wall.

The race would go back to green with the green-white-checkered, which is where the call was made against Sauter. On the final lap, Travis Kvapil and Johanna Long made heavy contact with the wall as Kvapil got loose coming off of turn four.

Sauter now leads Whitt in the point standings by 12 points as they’re followed by Dillon, Crafton and Timothy Peters.

The next race for the Camping World Truck Series is on Thursday July 7th at Kentucky Speedway.

NASCAR’s Greatest and Most Memorable Race is Only a Dream Away

By
SM Staff
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Beneath the array of the brightly colored paint schemes, one would think they just woke up in the middle of some far away garden oasis. Colors are so vivid and full of explosive vibrancy that it makes even the Rose Parade look like a black and white picture. Your eyes long to adjust to the beauty of the beast, which stands at just a stone’s throw away.

As you begin looking around to see if anyone is watching, it is then you strengthen your nerves in hopes of getting the chance to climb between the twisted mazes of steel, which seems to be calling your name. You already know that once inside, the world that you have dreamed, talked, and bragged about will take you by force and whisk you away into a land that only the few who can handle it have conquered.

Your knees start to quiver as slowly step closer and closer and all of a sudden you’re heart begins thumping harder and harder as you look beyond the small side window, and see the  glistening metal eyelashes of the instrument cluster seductively inviting you to jump right in. You know at any moment you are about to enter a forbidden zone, as your senses begin to wonder what exactly it is going to takes place once the carbon fiber seat put its massive arms around you as the two of you become one.

Before reality sets in, you have already climbed inside and prepared yourself to see exactly what it is that compels these drivers to after crave the feeling of traveling at speeds in excess of 180 miles-per-hour. It doesn’t take long before the adrenaline starts pumping madly through your body as you reach over to push the start button, because you know at any moment the massive 850 hp, gas-guzzling monster will submit to your every desire. Your blood begins boiling as the first click from the starter energizes life into the fire-breathing dragon. Almost instantaneously the car begins shaking wildly and the veins in your body feel as though they are ready to burst as you rap the gas pedal, letting the engine know that you are now in control.

Your senses begin to speak in a foreign language, telling you to get ready for the ride of your life. Once you sink back into the seat, all you see are the rays from the sun trying to peek through the Plexiglas windshield, gently whispering to the rest of the car—we have a rookie. This is the moment of truth, and there is no backing out once this sleek racing machine has you in her grasp. Immediately your mind starts racing at the thought of letting the clutch out, and feeling the rush of 850 hungry ponies ready to explode out of the corral. The roar of the engine is so deafening you almost forget that this is your moment of glory, and no one is around to take it away.

The steering wheel begins to entice you as you slowly wrap your sweaty, glove covered fingers around its smooth, silky curves, along with your trembling legs begin to tremble while feeling the thunder of the Sunoco thirsty power plant slowly make its way out of the concrete covered pit stall. You look ahead and realize that there are no other cars around to help you through your paces, as you hear the racing gods calling out for you to mash the pedal, and hold on for dear life because you have just entered a zone that is beyond your wildest fantasies.

Is your mind playing tricks on you…or are you actually about ready to hit speeds that 60 years ago were unimaginable?? There is no speedometer to confirm what you believe—just the rush of the wind as it races through your tight-fitting helmet. A thought prances through your mind about what a great feeling each NASCAR driver must have as he makes his way around some the best tracks that America has to offer.

Then, in the twinkling of an eye, it’s all over. The rush of adrenaline is all gone in a matter of seconds and you begin to evaluate exactly what happened? Your body goes into a frenzy at the thought that the worse is about to happen and in a few short seconds it will all come to an abrupt halt. Time will continue as you roll around, looking for something to grab onto, and all you can hear is the annoying buzzing in your ears as you begin to scream in agony and pain…why me?

As you slowly open your eyes to make sure everything is alright it is then that you realize it was only a dream…

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