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California Dreaming or was it a nightmare?

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SM Staff
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The shortest race of the year 2 hours and 39 minutes was perhaps the longest for fans viewing on TV. California showed once again why it has been reduced to only one race.

The weekend at California was marred by rain, weepers and long drawn out green flag runs. Though many at the track said the racing was better than normal and excellent in most cases, the TV audience saw little of it. Between long commercial breaks that missed cautions and on track action, along with very poor camera work the day proved to be a dull grey day until the last 10 laps of the race.

The final stop and the end of the race was as good as it gets. Kyle Busch took the green flag with 9 laps to go on old tires with Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart following close behind. Johnson took the lead on lap 198 with a low side pass on the Interstate Batteries Camry. The racing between them allowed Harvick to catch the pair and overtake Busch whose Camry had developed a progressively tight condition.

Kevin Harvick flexed his muscle and let the 5 time series champion know he was there and he would not go quietly. Harvick who ran up to the back bumper of the 48 Lowes Chevrolet on the back stretch managed to loosen the champ up just enough to make his pass on the high side coming out of 4 and then out ran the 5 time champ back to the checkers.

The champion showed his composure and showed his class with gracious congratulations to the winner and acknowledged that Harvick was undoubtedly the class of the field on the final run. Harvick when told they lead one lap stated, “Yeah but it was the one that counted.”

The class of the field for most of the race was Kyle Busch. Busch lead for 151 laps and finished third. But Kyle’s weekend did not start out typical for Kyle Busch. He wrecked his primary car on his first lap on the track when he hit a wet spot coming out of turn 4. Relegated to a back up he and his team fought to regain their momentum in a [media-credit name=”Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”272″][/media-credit]shortened practice session leading up to qualifying. Busch pulled off an 8th place qualifying run and never looked back.

He dominated the race until the last restart when Jimmie Johnson would take the lead on the low side coming out of 3. Busch would say later that the car just continued to tighten up on the exit of the corner and at the end he had used up everything he had.

Joe Gibbs Racing experienced another weekend of engine failures with Joey Logano losing one after happy hour and Denny Hamlin losing one during the race. When Coach Gibbs was asked if the recent fire and explosion at their engine shop was playing a role in the failures he stated that it was not and they simply needed to work on their durability.

Another standout this week was Brian Vickers. In his first strong performance after his health issues forced him to vacate his seat last year, Vickers pulled off a strong top ten finish with 8th.

Tony Stewart had a strong run until the last restart of the race when he faded to 13th. Smoke was obviously upset and declined comment following the race. Smoke showed dominance and skills that are found in few driver seats in the series however. When informed the change he wanted was maxed out he said simply, I will figure it out from here. And he did with smooth skill and confidence. The late race fade was certainly not indicative of his performance.

Dale Earnhardt Jr, showed a consistency that we have never seen from him throughout his career with a 12th place finish. Earnhardt credited his crew and his equipment with the success and stated that if he had qualified better he would have had a better finish. “If we just qualify better, we’ll be all right,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s not allowed us to show as good as we really are. … We’re a top-10 team. We’re doing pretty good.” He stated that he had a top 5 car for about 60 percent of the race. Even with the strong finish, Earnhardt dropped to 12th in the points going into Martinsville.

TV broadcasters raved about the finish of this race. The finish was incredible. It was exciting. It was action filled and it took place in 10 laps. The first 390 were not exciting. The last 10 laps don’t make a good race. The race was boring. Whether it’s the track or whether it’s the new car on the track, doesn’t change it. The people in California deserve their date but something has to be done to improve the competition on the track. Shortening the race by 100 laps didn’t improve the competition only the length of the boredom.

Thoughts and best wishes go to Joe Slingerland, the rear tire changer for the Hendrick Motorsports Amp Energy Chevrolet, who was injured on the first pit stop of the day.  The tire changer apparently suffered a hamstring injury during the first pit stop and was taken to the infield care center by stretcher. Steve Letarte reported on Sirus Radio that he would be checked out by an orthopedic specialist on Monday in Charlotte.

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Congratulations to Kevin Harvick and his Richard Childress team on their exciting victory in Sunday’s race. Also congratulations to Kyle Busch on his Saturday victory in the Nationwide series race.

That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

Point Leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Sees Positives in Both His Team and Nationwide Series

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SM Staff
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According to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. he’s more focused this year.

Thats good to hear since it should help eliminate a possible repeat of what Stenhouse did last season. He wrecked, a lot and was taken out of the car by team owner Jack Roush. His second chance led to things starting to click for the young driver and he ended the season as one of the hottest drivers in the Nationwide Series.

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”290″][/media-credit]It’s carried over into 2011 and following his fourth place finish in Saturday’s Royal Purple 300 at the Auto Club Speedway moved him to the series points lead. To think that just a year ago, Stenhouse could have been just weeks away from losing his ride, to now leading the series point standings and turning quite a few heads.

“That is good,” said Stenhouse on Saturday, “because I think last time I was here they were talking about me for a different reason.”

Indeed. Now the talk has turned to what accomplishments he might compile this year. Much like Bristol last weekend, Stenhouse was able to drive his No. 6 Roush Ford to the front and lead the race. At Auto Club Speedway he did so by driving past both teammate Carl Edwards and eventual winner Kyle Busch with 50 laps to go.

While he would lose the lead a few laps later, it came only after Edwards had to work for it. Stenhouse was able to pull along the No. 60 of Edwards who said he could see Stenhouse driving the wheels off his car and was having a hard time getting to his bumper.

“It is good to be up front and leading,” said Stenhouse.

“These guys work hard every week. Our Mustangs have been fast. We finally got the finish we deserved this week. We feel like we have had top five’s the first four races and let it slip away with mistakes we made or just the way it worked out with fuel or cautions. It was a good day for us and we will carry this momentum into Texas.”

Stenhouse said he wasn’t looking forward to California since he doesn’t particularly run well there. Now though, he’s looking forward to Texas and the rest of the season. The NNS takes a week off as the Camping World Truck Series and Sprint Cup Series heads to Martinsville next weekend.

Stenhouse and 42 other NNS drivers will get back to racing at Texas two weeks from now. The O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 will be no different than most NNS races and the first five of the 2011 season – Cup drivers will be in the field and most likely in victory lane.

They’ll get majority of the attention but so will Stenhouse being the point leader. He says he knew his team was capable of competing like this since Daytona and credits many things for the turnaround. They have new cars this year and they’re working closely with the engineering group from the organization’s Cup program.

And like many Ford drivers, Stenhouse says the new FR9 engines have been awesome. Plus, keeping the same team as last year has made things easy.

But what his point lead really comes through is NASCAR’s new pick a series rule. Cup drivers can no longer run for the NNS championship and don’t receive points; they can still take home the trophies though much to the chagrin of many in the sport.

When Busch won Saturday it was his third of the NNS season in just five races. Tony Stewart and Mark Martin won the other two races. The question has already been raised of whether the NNS champion of 2011 will be winless.

Stenhouse and other NNS regulars are doing their best to avoid that and Stenhouse says he likes the new format.

“I think Nationwide Insurance has done an awesome job of making our own identity,” he said.

“I feel like looking at the races, I don’t know if it is the new points system getting in our minds that a Nationwide regular is going to win the championship, but it seems like the regulars have been in the top five and running strong. I think it has upped the competition and everyone is trying a little harder.”

Not only has the other competitors up their game but Stenhouse says he has as well. Running with the Cup drivers, as he was on Saturday, makes him race harder because of how high the bar has been set.

He’s enjoying racing against them and is learning a lot too.

Stenhouse hopes things continue going as they are and while he says he hasn’t begun to think about points or whom he’s racing for the championship, he did say it’s nice to be leading and hopes he can begin to open it up.

Talladega Superspeedway Unveils New Shower and Restroom Facility for Family and South Parks

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Kevin Harvick No. 2 Truck Series Advance: Martinsville Speedway

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James Buescher Martinsville Speedway Preview

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Simona de Silvestro Gets Best Career Finish of Fourth at St. Petersburg

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SM Staff
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At the end of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Simona de Silvestro finished fourth behind Dario Franchitti, Will Power and Tony Kanaan.

In the final laps, she tried to make the move on Kanaan for third, though could not complete the pass.

[media-credit name=”cg photography” align=”alignright” width=”255″][/media-credit]”We kind of battled like the last 15 laps to get in,” she said. “You know, it was kind of a high risk to try to pass him because it was so dirty on the inside of [turn] one. I had one shot that I think I could have made it, but I almost overshot it. So I think I’m really happy with fourth because we started 17th.   And, with how we started the weekend, it wasn’t how I would thought we would end the race here. You know, I’m just really happy with my new engineer. We started working together on Friday, and to be running fourth today is something pretty special.”

Silvestro started the race with a new engineer after her previous engineer left the team, so there was extra grastification in getting a top five finish. 

“It’s huge. Like I said, I never thought on Friday that we would be running so well during the race,” she said. “We were keeping up with the leaders, and my new engineer….. communication in the beginning was pretty tough because I never worked with him. But this morning it seemed like it really clicked and we really tried to figure it out. It was a tough moment for the team last weekend. We were scrambling to try to find a new engineer, and I think we made the right choice. Brent Harvey is pretty awesome. When he talks to me on the radio, he’s really calming me down, so I think we’ll make a good team.”

Part of getting that communication with Brett Harvey involved having to make some final changes to the car following the morning warm-up.

“We struggled with the new tires with our car,” she said. “We couldn’t quite figure it out, and then this morning we pretty much changed a couple of things on the car and suddenly it was there. I finally had the feel for the car.

“And I think it was mostly the communication between my engineer and me that started to click this morning. Before, he was trying to understand me, I was trying to understand him. And for me, it always has been a big part of it – for my engineer and I to have really great communication. And, this morning, I thought, “okay, that’s what we are going to do,” and it just kind of went in the right direction.”

If given a couple more laps, Silvestro says she may have been able to get by Kanaan.

“I definitely had a couple of boosts left,” she said. “Maybe I should have used one a little bit earlier, but I got close to TK a couple of times because he was making a couple of mistakes. But, like I said, it was really risky to try to make the move. I was running fourth and I never really quite got the shot that I was next to him. I didn’t take any crazy chances to ruin our race because the [race to the] championship is really long.”

Right off the bat, she had to work hard for her position as with starting back in the pack in 17th, she had to avoid the first lap wreck that involved Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves, Mike Conway, Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon.

“I started way back, so I couldn’t see anything really because there was so much dust,” she continued. “But, I kind of made it through. And, I think I saw Marco – I saw a car kind of going up in the air.  I tried to find a hole and I did. I came out in ninth position, so I think I made the right move. Maybe I was a little bit lucky, also, through turn one at the start of the race.”

IndyCar put forth a new rule this year to start each race with double-file restarts, which made the race interesting for Silvestro near the end.

“I got the inside and pretty much everybody kind of came down on me and I had nowhere to go,” she said. “I kind of made a little bit of contact with Will because I was pretty much on the rumble strip.  But I thought the double‑file restarts were pretty fun because it actually gave us a chance to actually make positions.   Last year, we would start single file every time, it would be hard. You would be just following the leader. I think it [the restarts] made it exciting and I really enjoyed it.”

With this being her best career finish, she includes this race in her career highlights, along with making the Indy 500 last year.

“Today is definitely going to go right up there, because I think it was one of the best races I’ve done,” she said. “I didn’t really make many mistakes and I really liked that. Being a female driver, I really get along with Danica, but it’s not like we compare notes or anything. I think she’s doing a great job.   At the end I think we are just here to try to beat every other driver.”

 This also marks a big moment for the entire team as they are considered one of the smaller IndyCar teams.

“I think even last year when I was racing there, we struggled towards the end to get the sponsorship together,” she said. “But he worked hard and he has a great group of people on the team. They are like a big family. It’s a pretty small team but we really get along really well. And my manager, Imran Safiulla, put the whole Nuclear Clean Energy deal together. Those folks are going to be with me for the next couple of years.

“I’m really lucky; not many drivers have this opportunity. And, with an industry like this supporting and choosing you as a spokesperson, it’s something pretty special.”

Austin Dillon To Make Sprint Cup Debut Later This Season

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SM Staff
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Austin Dillon has already made a name for himself in the Camping World Truck Series, though is now looking to make his move up the ranks. Dillon announced yesterday at Auto Club Speedway that he would make his debut later this year in the No. 98 car owned by Mike Curb.

Dillon will have sponsorship support from The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation’s Centennial Celebration and the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be part of the Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration as a Co-Chair of the National Youth Leadership Committee,” said Dillon. “President Reagan was always one of my grandfather’s, Richard Childress, heroes, so I grew up hearing about the President’s strong leadership abilities and family values. Those are two qualities I carry with me in my career as a NASCAR driver by being a strong leader for my team and making my family proud of my accomplishments on and off the track.”

The Ronald Reagan Centennial is a year long celebration of the 100th birthday of the 40th President of the United States of America. A series of events, partnerships and initiatives sponsored by the Foundation are planned to happen throughout this year. Regan was the first president to attend a race as in 1984, he gave the command to start motors for the Firecracker 400 at Daytona and on that day, Richard Petty won his 200th race.

“President Reagan was the first sitting U.S. President to attend a NASCAR race,” said Stewart McLaurin, Executive Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Centennial Celebration. “As many Americans take a moment this year to remember the life, lessons, and legacy of President Reagan in their own way, we are grateful for this partnership and we are honored by the leadership Austin will bring to the national youth leadership council.”

Last year, Dillon earned seven poles in the Camping World Truck Series, breaking a 12-year-old rookie record. He also captured his first career victory at Iowa, followed by a win at Las Vegas, on his way to winning Rookie of the Year and finishing fifth in the standings.

The decision has yet to be made whether the first start will come at Kansas or Phoenix, but Dillon is comfortable either way.

“Those are the two races that I feel like I have some experience [at the tracks], and we can go race with these guys and we can run up there and compete with them,” Austin Dillon said. “We want to go to a place where we want to be on a level playing field.

“Phoenix, they’re doing the new pavement, might be the place or Kansas, where I have some laps at. It is going to be a learning experience.”

When Dillon makes his Cup start for Mike Curb, it’ll mark the 100th start for Curb. Curb has a connection with Dillon’s grandfather Richard Childress, as he reunited Childress back with Earnhardt in the mid-1980s.

“I am proud to be associated with Richard Childress and Austin Dillon as he makes his first Sprint Cup start,” said Curb. “I am proud that my company Curb Records is also involved in this wonderful tribute to President Reagan’s 100th Centennial Celebration. I had the opportunity to serve President Ronald Reagan in several capacities including Co-Chairman of his successful 1980 Presidential campaign.  I also want to thank our partners at FullCircle Ventures for putting this program together.”

The car is set to be Richard Childress Racing prepared with an Earnhardt-Childress Racing motor and pitted by Dillon’s truck team.

“This is such an opportunity with the Reagan opportunity, we couldn’t turn it down,” Childress said. “You never know if you’re ready until you do it. He’s got some good experience at some of the tracks, and we’re going to just try him a race and see how it goes.”

Childress says longterm plans have Dillon running full-time in Nationwide next year with younger brother Ty Dillon running the truck.

NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: KEVIN HARVICK STUNS THE COMPETITION AT FONTANA

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SM Staff
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On late Saturday afternoon Kevin Harvick was being interviewed on the Auto Club Speedway’s pit road. He had just driven his self owned Chevrolet to a third place finish in the Royal Purple 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. After leading a race high 64 laps, Harvick said “I hate to give one away. We just can’t seem to get going here, (at the Auto Club Speedway), but I am pleased that we were competitive.”

24 hours later Harvick’s “get going” problem was resolved and he found himself standing in the speedway’s Gatorade victory lane after scoring a stunning last ditch effort win in the Auto Club 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Through out much of the Auto Club 400 it appeared that Kyle Busch was going to use his giant broom to sweep a NASCAR weekend for the second time in as many races. Busch led a race high 151 laps and was pretty much formidable all through this event.

But the fourth and final caution flag came, when Bobby Labonte hit the fourth turn wall, with only 13 laps left. That set up a double file, shoot out style, restart between Busch and Jimmie Johnson. The race returned to green flag status with only nine laps left. Busch again jumped into the lead and again appeared to be on the way to the sweep. But Johnson ran him down and, with a low line pass on the front stretch, took the lead with only four laps remaining.

But once again the completely obvious assumption was not meant to be and the Fontana finish wasn’t quite complete yet. While Busch and Johnson were racing each hard, Havick was in third reeling them in. On the white flag lap he moved around Busch to take command of second. Now the battle between the “California kids”, Johnson from El Cajon versus Bakerfield’s Harvick, was on.

Going into turn four, with the checkers ready to wave in the air, Harvick gave Johnson’s rear bumper a light tap. It created just enough racing room for Harvick to pass his race rival on the high side and then slide in front of him coming off of turn four. Harvick literally stole the show in the final 100 yards of the race while an crowd of 88,000 were on their feet cheering the two combatants on.

Harvick scored his first win of the 2011 season, his 15th career win, and his first at the Auto Club Speedway. Of equal importance is the way the win elevated his status in NASCAR’s recently reconfigured championship points system. He got off to a terrible start following the season opener at Daytona. In the last four races since then Harvick has moved from 37th to 9th in the standings and is back on track to again make the Chase For The Championship line up.

Following Harvick, Johnson and Busch under the checkers to complete the top five were Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman. Carl Edwards, who left California as the new series’ points leader, brought his Ford home in sixth while Clint Bowyer, Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne and Coors Light pole winner Juan Pablo Montoya completed the top ten.

After collecting his trophy, and a winner’s check worth $331,961, “Happy” Harvick said Those guys got to racing side by side and it allowed us to get to them. The more laps we ran on our tires, (to build up air pressure), the better we were. It’s pretty cool to win here at home.”

Harvick also admitted that he was a little nervous about crew chief Gil Martin’s call not to come in for tires during the final yellow flag pit stop opportunity. When asked who makes the final call on those situations, Harvick smiled and said “it depends on what day of the week it is.”

Jimmie Johnson called the Auto Club 400 “a great race” and added “If I could have gotten around Kyle Busch one lap sooner that would have made the difference and I would have had the room to hold off the 29, (Harvick). I did everything I could even though I was sometimes sideways. I think I actually scraped the wall while chasing Kyle but, overall, it was a great day for the Lowes team.”

After what could only be deemed a disappointing third place finish, Kyle Busch said “sometimes you lose some but it’s frustrating to lose one like that. We simply lost some of our rubber grip on the track. But from where we started, (8th on the grid), it’s a good outcome.”

Three Drivers To Make Milestone Starts In Goody’s Fast Relief 500

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Ron Hornaday Truck Series Advance: Martinsville Speedway

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