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McMurray wins the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

By
Barry Albert
-

Jamie McMurray held off Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson in the final 21 laps to win the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

After winning the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400, McMurray added another big race win to his belt this season. McMurray started in 27th position and took home his third big win of the season at Charlotte.  

“Yes, it has been an unbelievable year. I certainly can’t thank Chip (Ganassi) and everybody enough. We’ve had a really good season and we’ve been blessed to have some really good runs in some bigger races. Really, really excited about our success this season.” McMurray said.  

Busch and Johnson battled for second place in the final 10-laps of the race. Both drivers raced hard, but clean. Busch held off Johnson for second place.   Busch led a race-high 218 laps and was not happy about finishing second.  

“Nobody can put it perspective for me, it’s very, very disappointing.” Busch said.   Points leader Jimmie Johnson had an up and down day. On lap 33, Johnson got loose and spun out. He kept it out of the wall and was able to get to pit road without any damage. Johnson battles back from 37th to finish third.  

“We had a really loose race car and I was trying to run the middle lane down in one and two and lost it. Then I had to drive backwards and out the side window and everything to keep it off the inside wall and luckily I did that. We stayed on the lead lap and just went to work from there. The track slowly started coming our direction and that is when we got fast and was able to drive up to the front.” Johnson said.  

Pole sitter Jeff Gordon started having alternator trouble on lap 190. Gordon loses power and loses a lap while switching over to the backup battery. Gordon received the lucky dog after a spin by Marcos Ambrose. The crew changed both batteries during the stop but the alternator still was not working. Gordon later was too fast entering pit-road and went down a lap again. Gordon finished 23rd and now sits 156 points out in the series standings.  

“We had about everything go wrong that could go wrong. Track position being crucial at this place. I’ve never seen it so sensitive. We lost a little bit of track position and then we had the battery issue which took me a little while to figure out.” Gordon said.   Pre-race winner pick, Kurt Busch battled a loose car early. Busch got loose and spun on lap 24. Busch finished in 30th place, 237 points out in the series standings.  

“Just a really confusing night for this Miller Lite Dodge Charger.  It’s really tough to explain.” Busch said. “We fought loose on exit early in the race and it cost us when I just nicked the wall off of (turn) 4. After that, we were all over the place. Loose, tight, loose again.”  

Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer got together on lap 246 coming out of turn two. Burton came down on Bowyer and Burton slide sideways down to the apron of the track. A lot of smoke, but no major contact was made and bother drivers were able to continue on.  

Kasey Kahne got loose on lap 123 and hits the wall, also collecting Sam Hornish Jr. Both sustained heavy damage and went to the garage. JJ Yeley later returned to the speedway driving the No 9.   Johnson now holds a 41 point lead in the series standings over Hamlin with five races remaining.    

Unofficial Race Results

Bank of America 500, Charlotte Motor Speedway

October 16, 2010 – Race 31 of 36

Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status
1 27 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 190 5 334 Running
2 6 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 180 10 334 Running
3 10 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 170 5 334 Running
4 23 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 165 5 334 Running
5 22 16 Greg Biffle Ford 160 5 334 Running
6 17 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 155 5 334 Running
7 12 20 Joey Logano Toyota 151 5 334 Running
8 24 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 147 5 334 Running
9 16 0 David Reutimann Toyota 138 0 334 Running
10 26 6 David Ragan Ford 134 0 334 Running
11 34 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 135 5 334 Running
12 2 99 Carl Edwards Ford 132 5 334 Running
13 32 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 124 0 334 Running
14 4 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 126 5 334 Running
15 13 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 118 0 334 Running
16 14 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 115 0 334 Running
17 20 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 117 5 334 Running
18 7 83 Reed Sorenson Toyota 114 5 334 Running
19 21 82 Scott Speed Toyota 106 0 334 Running
20 18 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 108 5 334 Running
21 29 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 100 0 334 Running
22 30 110 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 97 0 333 Running
23 1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 99 5 333 Running
24 5 98 Paul Menard Ford 91 0 333 Running
25 3 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 93 5 333 Running
26 9 19 Elliott Sadler Ford 85 0 332 Running
27 31 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge 82 0 332 Running
28 36 38 David Gilliland Ford 84 5 332 Running
29 8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 76 0 331 Running
30 15 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 73 0 331 Running
31 42 34 Travis Kvapil Ford 70 0 331 Running
32 41 37 Dave Blaney Ford 67 0 331 Running
33 39 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 64 0 327 Running
34 38 71 Andy Lally Chevrolet 61 0 315 Running
35 37 21 Bill Elliott Ford 58 0 305 Running
36 11 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 55 0 272 Running
37 35 26 Patrick Carpentier Ford 57 5 217 Accident
38 25 9 Kasey Kahne Ford 49 0 214 Running
39 33 46 Michael McDowell Chevrolet 51 5 127 R.Gear
40 19 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 43 0 122 Accident
41 43 164 Jeff Green Toyota 40 0 91 Trans.
42 28 9 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 37 0 89 R. Gear
43 40 36 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 34 0 73 Ignition

NASCAR: Danica Patrick Looks For Driving Coach

By
SM Staff
-

It is no secret that Danica Patrick’s into NASCAR has not gone as well as anticipated. There are those who have criticized her not only her approach, but even her mere participation.

However, there may be hope at the end of the line for us all. Patrick may be getting a coach who can help change her fortunes.

Patrick’s coach going forward could be NASCAR veteran Mark Martin.

“It would be nice if somebody could help me, whoever it is — I would take any help,” Patrick said on ESPN.com. “Like he [Martin] said, you need somebody to get in the car and say this is the setup, go drive it after they’ve driven it. It’s one thing to say drive this line, do this or that, but when you don’t have maybe the car that can do that, it’s just words, so it would be nice for someone to throw me in a car after they’ve driven it so I get a real feel for it.”

Patrick has spoken to Martin on two separate occasions. They spoke for about an hour when they first met at Phoenix Raceway in 2006 and then again following her wreck at Dover International Speedway, a couple weeks ago.

She says she’d be welcome to Martin’s advice, if he can fit it in his schedule.

“He’s incredibly busy, obviously, with a full season and I would take anything he’d be willing to give,” she said.

For Patrick, having a veteran driver to help her find the feel of the race car would be a good start. It would allow her to observe what she needs to find in the car and be more competitive. It was said that during a test, Kelly Bires set up the car. Afterwards, she drove the car and ran lap times around his.

However, this could be seen as a scapegoat for Patrick. Part of the learning process for a stock car driver, is being able to find the feel of the car via the seat of their pants. Then they must apply the right changes necessary to fit the driving style. One of the requirements for success is to have the best set-up. By allowing Patrick to skip this critical step, could this hurt her process in that part of the development?

Despite the foregoing negativity, having Martin as a coach would be a good thing. She could use Martin’s experience to discuss potential problems in future races and receive advice.

Considering she had no stock car experience before running the Nationwide Series, Patrick is doing well. A lot of drivers already have that feel prior to finding it at the short track ranks. Therefore, having to go through the process at a higher degree of competition will make the issues more apparent.

She also showed improvement during her race at the Auto Club Speedway, running in the top 15, before being taken out.

There’s also been talk that running both series has hindered her ability to find that feel, which could be true due to using differing driving styles. These next two months running the weekly Nationwide, could either prove or disprove that theory.

However, it could also show her growth as a driver and the fact that she is finding the feel through hard work.

NASCAR going green; E15 fuel next season

By
SM Staff
-

NASCAR chairman Brian France announced on Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway that NASCAR’s all three of its national series will move from unleaded fuel to an ethanol blend next season.

The switch to Sunoco Green E15 is another step by NASCAR to “go green”.

E15 blend is a mixture of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline. The ethanol portion is produced from renewable resources at Sunoco’s facility in Marcus Hook, Pa.

“This is the most visible thing that we can do to let our partners and our fans know that NASCAR is taking a slow, steady march as an industry.” France said.

“When we said we had to accelerate our green efforts, this was a centerpiece.” France said. “It’s certainly the most visible thing we can do. It’s also one of the more difficult things that we do.”

Jamie Allison, director, Ford North America Motorsports, provided a statement from Ford Racing’s perspective on this new initiative.

“Safe. Green. Smart. Quality. These are the four pillars of Ford Motor Company and it’s our mission that we are committed to on a daily basis. The journey toward more environmentally-friendly solutions in the automotive business and motorsports is never-ending and we applaud NASCAR for taking this important step toward an ethanol blend of fuel.”

Keselowski cruises NNS to victory at Charlotte

By
Barry Albert
-

Brad Keselowski cruised to his 11th career Nationwide Series win and fifth of the season on Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“It was a great run. The start of the race was pretty frustrating. We started third, had a great qualifying effort.” Keselowski said. “I’m so mentally exhausted after this race. I might be bias, but this was the best race that I’ve seen in my life. That was awesome!”

The final caution flag came out on lap 187. The race was restarted with an 8-lap shootout between Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Lagano and Justin Allgaier.   Keselowski cleared Truex Jr. with five laps remaining and cruised to victory by 1.138 seconds to win his first race at Charlotte.  

“I have never been so disappointed to run second. It looked like if those last couple cautions hadn’t come out, we were going to be in good shape. Just a little too tight after that last run there. It’s a shame because on the green flag runs we were really fast and really just called off the adjustments and then we got too tight later.” Truex Jr. said.  

Kyle Busch dominated the three quarters of the race and led a race high of 84 laps. Busch and Justin Allgaier made contact late in the race.  Busch faded back and finished in sixth place.  

Allgaier finished third, Logano fourth and Clint Bowyer finished fifth.  

“The Penske Dodge Challenger was awesome. These Verizon guys do a great job week in and week out. We don’t always get the results, but tonight they worked their tails off and we got a good finish.” Allgaier said.  

Danica Patrick scraped the wall on lap 11. Patrick battled back to finish 21st.  

“It seems like every time we have a chance to have a great finish we crash.” Patrick said. “And every time we have a pretty average night we finish and we finish in the 20s.”
   

Lap Notables:   On lap 187, Steve Wallace gets into the wall on the backstretch.   On lap 182, Brian Scott spins on the frontstretch and drags his trunk-lid down the track.   On lap 72, Robert Richardson Jr. got loose in turn two and backed into the outside wall collecting Ryan Truex.   On lap 64, Brian Scott got loose and spun coming out of turn four.   On lap 10, Michael Annett got loose between turns one and two, collecting Joe Nemechek and Shelby Howard. Nemechek suffered heavy damage.   Parker Kligerman, No 26, making his first start at Charlotte brought out the first caution flag of the night on lap 2. Parker lost control in turn four and backed into the outside wall.    

Unofficial Race Results

Dollar General 300, Charlotte Motor Speedway

Race 31 of 35 – October 15, 2010

Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status
1 3 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 190 5 200 Running
2 5 100 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 175 5 200 Running
3 9 12 Justin Allgaier Dodge 165 0 200 Running
4 4 20 Joey Logano Toyota 165 5 200 Running
5 1 21 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 160 5 200 Running
6 10 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 160 10 200 Running
7 7 32 Reed Sorenson Toyota 146 0 200 Running
8 15 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 147 5 200 Running
9 2 1 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 138 0 200 Running
10 14 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 139 5 200 Running
11 21 62 Brendan Gaughan Toyota 130 0 200 Running
12 19 11 David Reutimann Toyota 127 0 200 Running
13 11 60 Carl Edwards Ford 124 0 200 Running
14 13 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. * Ford 121 0 200 Running
15 24 38 Jason Leffler Toyota 118 0 200 Running
16 30 10 James Buescher * Toyota 120 5 200 Running
17 25 17 Trevor Bayne Ford 112 0 200 Running
18 39 43 Josh Wise Dodge 109 0 200 Running
19 12 16 Colin Braun * Ford 106 0 200 Running
20 34 34 Tony Raines Chevrolet 103 0 198 Running
21 18 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 100 0 198 Running
22 23 25 Kelly Bires Ford 97 0 198 Running
23 43 24 Eric McClure Ford 94 0 198 Running
24 27 5 David Starr Chevrolet 91 0 197 Running
25 35 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 88 0 197 Running
26 31 81 Michael McDowell Dodge 85 0 196 Running
27 42 28 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 82 0 195 Running
28 22 9 Brian Scott * Ford 79 0 192 Running
29 16 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 76 0 188 In Pit
30 38 27 Hermie Sadler Ford 73 0 188 Running
31 40 40 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 70 0 176 Running
32 37 35 Jason Keller Chevrolet 67 0 170 Running
33 41 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 64 0 130 In Pit
34 20 104 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 61 0 118 In Pit
35 6 98 Paul Menard Ford 63 5 117 Out
36 32 15 Michael Annett Toyota 55 0 73 In Pit
37 17 99 Ryan Truex Toyota 52 0 72 In Pit
38 28 156 Kevin Lepage Toyota 49 0 25 In Pit
39 29 70 Shelby Howard Chevrolet 46 0 19 In Pit
40 26 49 Mark Green Chevrolet 43 0 12 Out
41 36 87 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 40 0 10 In Pit
42 33 136 Jeff Green Chevrolet 37 0 4 In Pit
43 8 26 Parker Kligerman Dodge 34 0 3 In Pit

Bowyer takes Dollar General 300 pole

By
Barry Albert
-

Brad Keppel

Clint Bowyer captured the pole for Friday nights Nationwide Series Dollar General 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a lap of 182.174 MPH (29.642secs).

Ryan Newman qualified second, Brad Keselowski third, Joey Logano fourth and Martin Truex Jr. qualified fifth.

“A solid lap for this Discount Tire Dodge Challenger.  I’m pretty happy with our effort.  The 21 ran a heck of a lap.  I think that we needed to be a little bit tighter.  It looks like we’ll start somewhere near the front which will give us a good pit stall for tonight.  We’re fast and we start up front.  All is good.” Keselowski said.

Danica Patrick qualified 18th.

Starting Lineup

Dollar General 300, Charlotte Motor Speedway

October 15, 2010 | Race 31 of 35

Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time Behind
1 21 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 182.174 29.642  
2 1 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 181.732 29.714 -0.072
3 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 181.629 29.731 -0.089
4 20 Joey Logano Toyota 181.385 29.771 -0.129
5 100 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 181.36 29.775 -0.133
6 98 Paul Menard Ford 180.475 29.921 -0.279
7 32 Reed Sorenson Toyota 180.288 29.952 -0.31
8 26 Parker Kligerman Dodge 180.234 29.961 -0.319
9 12 Justin Allgaier Dodge 179.904 30.016 -0.374
10 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 179.874 30.021 -0.379
11 60 Carl Edwards Ford 179.533 30.078 -0.436
12 16 Colin Braun* Ford 179.372 30.105 -0.463
13 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.* Ford 179.176 30.138 -0.496
14 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 179.158 30.141 -0.499
15 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 179.087 30.153 -0.511
16 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 178.956 30.175 -0.533
17 99 Ryan Truex Toyota 178.861 30.191 -0.549
18 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 178.548 30.244 -0.602
19 11 David Reutimann Toyota 178.512 30.25 -0.608
20 104 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 178.459 30.259 -0.617
21 62 Brendan Gaughan Toyota 177.754 30.379 -0.737
22 9 Brian Scott* Ford 177.596 30.406 -0.764
23 25 Kelly Bires Ford 177.462 30.429 -0.787
24 38 Jason Leffler Toyota 177.375 30.444 -0.802
25 17 Trevor Bayne Ford 177.311 30.455 -0.813
26 49 Mark Green Chevrolet 177.119 30.488 -0.846
27 5 David Starr Chevrolet 177.107 30.49 -0.848
28 156 Kevin Lepage Toyota 177.032 30.503 -0.861
29 70 Shelby Howard Chevrolet 176.922 30.522 -0.88
30 10 James Buescher* Toyota 176.806 30.542 -0.9
31 81 Michael McDowell Dodge 176.58 30.581 -0.939
32 15 Michael Annett Toyota 176.401 30.612 -0.97
33 136 Jeff Green Chevrolet 176.292 30.631 -0.989
34 34 Tony Raines Chevrolet 175.85 30.708 -1.066
35 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 175.41 30.785 -1.143
36 87 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 175.33 30.799 -1.157
37 35 Jason Keller Chevrolet 175.296 30.805 -1.163
38 27 Hermie Sadler Ford 174.854 30.883 -1.241
39 43 Josh Wise Dodge 174.531 30.94 -1.298
40 40 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 173.812 31.068 -1.426
41 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 170.702 31.634 -1.992
42 28 Kenny Wallace+ Chevrolet 158.144 34.146 -4.504
43 24 Eric McClure Ford 173.438 31.135 -1.493

 

Double-Dippers – NASCAR To Address Issue of Cup Drivers in Nationwide Series

By
SM Staff
-

On Tuesday, NASCAR held a meeting with Nationwide Series owners to discuss a variety of issues surrounding the series.

One issue was the topic of “double-dippers,” drivers who compete in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series. Series Director Joe Balash said at Auto Club Speedway that they’d be discussing every option available.

Some owners were waiting for this meeting to happen so they could start to determine who they want driving their cars. With the new car, rising costs and fewer people willing to put up money, this meeting was important in that it could easily determine how the Nationwide Series is known down the road.

This year, as in year’s past, the issue has been the failure of Nationwide-only drivers to win races: Justin Allgaier is the only one to win a race this year and appears to be without a ride for next year due to his struggle to find sponsorship. With the lack of success of Nationwide-only drivers, sponsors who are looking into the series want a Cup driver to get them exposure.

The Nationwide Series is known for developing drivers and allowing them to grow into Cup drivers. Without funding, however, drivers can’t get the opportunity to compete and follow what was formerly known as the A-B-C (ARCA-Busch [now Nationwide]-Cup) program.

A couple different scenarios have been suggested to NASCAR, and each one was to be brought up for discussion on Tuesday.

In the first scenario, any driver who is in the top 35 in the Sprint Cup Points Standings would not be allowed to compete under the same structure as the Nationwide-only teams. This would allow the best Nationwide-only driver to be determined by the end of the year.

However, the negative side to that will be people questioning the validity of the championship. You’ll have those saying that, “Yes, so-and-so is the champion; however, this guy did this, so rightfully it is his.” Basically, it’d be the same game that was played when the Sprint Cup Chase to the Championship came out. Over time, that scenario has diminished with people complaining about validity; however, it took time, and in some people’s eyes, ended up taking a shot at NASCAR’s character.   

The second scenario discussed would limit Sprint Cup drivers to participating in only one Nationwide Series practice session for each race while Nationwide-only drivers would get two practice sessions. With the new car going into full effect for next year and no additional testing planned after Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway in February, this proposal would give the Nationwide regulars a better opportunity to set up their cars.

The disadvantage is that, at times, Cup drivers have gotten no practice and still been able to set up their cars. They’ve done it by having a better feel for their cars during the race or during the previous Sprint Cup practices. Sprint Cup drivers are also more experienced, giving them an advantage in knowing what they need to do to run upfront.

The last scenario would limit the number of races per year that Sprint Cup drivers can enter. Some would set the limit as low as five, while others would set it at 12. Regardless, Nationwide-only drivers would get more opportunities behind the wheel due to the decreased availability of Sprint Cup drivers, hopefully allowing them to win more races and gain confidence by competing against drivers of similar ability.

The disadvantage to this scenario is that Sprint Cup drivers bring fans to the races and provide the Nationwide Series the majority of its current fan base. Eliminating these drivers for x-amount of races could possibly hurt the fan base, which in return would hurt ticket revenues and sponsorship money.

Regardless which scenario comes into play, Balash says they will look at everything.

“We’ll analyze points, no points, car rules, closed-top fuel systems and more,” Balash said. “Our thoughts are to position the Nationwide car so it drives and feels like a Nationwide car where one Nationwide shop is competing against another Nationwide shop. We can accomplish that by eliminating the rear sway bar, to save money with tapered spacers and new gear rules.

“The key is to make the cars safer, eliminate additional costs and make our series unique on the racetrack.”

Gordon captures the Bank of America 500 pole

By
Barry Albert
-

Jeff Gordon captured the pole for Saturday nights Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a lap of 191.544 mph (28.192 secs).

This will continue his streak of at least one pole in 18 consecutive seasons.

“We’ve had a weird year when it comes to qualifying this DuPont Chevrolet this year. We’ve had times when I thought we really had a shot at it but got knocked off and then other times we’ve just been stuck right in 15th or 16th.” Gordon said.  “That was just a great effort by a great team.”

Carl Edwards qualified second, A.J. Allmendinger third, Mark Martin fourth and Paul Menard qualified fifth.

“I was just telling them that I’ve got my own billboard up there in turns one and two, so you have to run well when you’ve got your own billboard.  We were close to getting the first spot, but that was a really good lap.” Edwards said.

“It was ok. I bit off a little more than I could chew in turn one. I was uncharacteristically optimistic about turn one so I left my foot on the floor a little too long before I got there.” Martin said.

Kyle Busch qualified sixth.  “Charlotte’s my favorite place to race at.  I’ve yet to win a Cup race here, but been pretty successful in Nationwide and Truck racing.  Tonight’s qualifying effort was good.  Wished it was a little bit better than that, but we’ll take what we got there with a good, solid top-10 effort.  We’ll go on into the race and we can see the front from there.” Busch said.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified eighth.  “We were good off the trailer and it felt like we could run a good lap.” Earnhardt Jr. said.

Last years race winner and current series points leader Jimmie Johnson starts 10th.

What Does Cale Yarborough Have to Do to Get in the Hall of Fame

By
SM Staff
-

The announcement of the 2011class for the NASCAR Hall of Fame was interesting if not perplexing.  Chosen were David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Lee Petty, Ned Jarrett, and Bud Moore.  Pearson was as much of a lock to be voted in this year as anyone could have been.  Reports indicate he nearly made it last year, so this year was a certainty.  Surprising was the Jarrett and Moore selections, not that they didn’t deserve the honor.  They certainly do.  But what is confusing is how can you lock William Caleb Yarborough out two years in a row. 

I had openly campaigned for Pearson, Yarborough, and Allison.  Those were the heroes of my youth, and with each approaching or past 70, I wanted to see them get into the Hall before anything happened to them.  Two out of three made it, but what about Cale?  Humpy Wheeler, former boss at Charlotte Motor Speedway, said it was personal feelings that drove the voters to Jarrett, Moore, and Petty and against Darrell Waltrip and Yarborough, the other two favorites.  Is there something I’m missing here?

Yarborough has the third most wins in series history and is the only one of two drivers to win three consecutive Sprint Cup championships.  So why did Petty, Jarrett, and Moore get in and Yarborough did not?  It probably had to do with exposure.  Yarborough is seldom seen around NASCAR’s speedways and last made an appearance in congratulating Jimmie Johnson for tying his consecutive championship record, a record Johnson has since eclipsed.  Maybe Yarborough could be called the forgotten man.

Truth is, this was a tough decision for the voters to make and Wheeler is probably right in that personal feelings had a lot to do with it.  Petty was a pioneer in the sport and the father of NASCAR’s “King,” Richard Petty.  Jarrett was a popular personality on NASCAR’s television and radio broadcasts for years.  Moore was a crusty World War II veteran who led his drivers to 63 wins and two championships.  And that’s the problem.

The powers that be just don’t induct enough people into the Hall of Fame.  At the rate of five per year, most of our heroes will have gone on to their reward before they make the Hall.  There should also be separate categories for drivers, crew chiefs, pit crew members, car owners, and media greats.  The Hall should have had an initial 20 people inducted and then chosen five a year from each category.  Some will not live long enough to see their heroes in the Hall, and that’s a shame.

So those of us who watched Yarborough wrestle a race car around the track to win will have to wait another year…or three.  And if NASCAR continues to only induct five per year, we may never see him join the elite group he deserves.

Elliott Sadler Looks For New Opportunity With Kevin Harvick Inc.

By
SM Staff
-

Elliott Sadler has been in a slump lately where nothing has gone right as he only has one top 10 this year. So when it came to his announcement as towards what he was going to do next year, it was no surprise that he was leaving Richard Petty Motorsports.

However, the coming months would prove to change things even more as it’d be announced that he’d possibly be running the Camping World Truck Series or Nationwide Series next year for Kevin Harvick Incorporated (KHI).

A lot of people would consider this to be a bad thing as they’d consider it a bad step down in the chain. However, for Sadler, it all did with a change of perspective.

“If I leave and go to the Truck or Nationwide series, I’m not going there to run one year and end my career. I am going to restart it and do something else,” Sadler said on NASCAR.com. “Yes, it is a direction change, but my ego isn’t too big that it says I have to be a Cup driver or I can’t race. I don’t want to be a Cup driver that just rides around. That is not in my nature; I’m way too competitive of a person.

“I don’t care what division I race in as long as I am competitive and I’m having fun. I just want to win races and have a chance at a championship so we’ve got our fingers crossed.”

This past year running some Truck races for Kevin Harvick has offered that to Sadler. Sadler has made six starts for KHI, posting one win, two top-fives and three top-10s.

Another thing that Sadler likes about working with Harvick is the confidence that Harvick instills in his drivers.

“You know, when I felt like people might have turned their backs on me and done other stuff and left me in a tough situation, Kevin stepped up to the plate,” Sadler said. “He’s like, ‘Man, I believe in you, you can get this done. I want you to run my equipment.’ It has been a great situation. Kevin has done a lot to revive my career and give me confidence. He’s a great motivator right now.”

That motivational quality in Harvick is something that Ron Hornaday went through with Harvick when he joined the organization. The wheels had fallen off Hornaday’s career as he was being bounced around middle-field Nationwide teams. Once he got with KHI, everything took off and he has since won two more Truck championships.

So far all that’s been announced is Hornaday will be back to run the complete Truck Series schedule again while Sadler will be driving at least four races. Harvick would like to work Sadler into running more races, however it is known that he won’t do anything unless he knows that he’ll have the funding to be able to do it.

“Right now, he’s obviously a part of our Truck Series program and has run the Nationwide races,” Harvick said on NASCAR.com. “We’d love to have him play more of a role with the organization.”

The 2011 Plans for KHI should be finalized within the next month, Harvick added.

For Sadler, he is looking at all of his options and right now is considering this to be a way to restart his career and prove himself again.

“People have been asking me about that a lot lately and honestly I look at it like this,” Sadler said. “Jeff Burton said when he left Roush Racing and went to [Richard Childress Racing] he felt like he was restarting his career not going somewhere else to end it. I’m going here to start my career over to redo it and that’s kind of where I am at, too.”

NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: The Nationwide Series at Charlotte

By
SM Staff
-

NASCAR’s Nationwide Series will be taking on the Charlotte Motor Speedway’s 1.5 mile oval for Friday night’s Dollar General 300. This race will feature the series’ new Car of Tomorrow, (COT) making its fourth and final appearance of the season. Meanwhile series teams will searching for a way to slow down the domination of Joe Gibbs Racing and Danica Patrick continues her Indy Car to NASCAR transition.

THE STORY BREAKDOWN

The Nationwide Series COT will be making its final appearance for the 2010 season Friday night following three previous races that netted the new car high praise from the drivers, team owners, officials and the fans. This car was, of course, about placing modern day driver safety innovations, developed by the Sprint Cup COT cars, into the Nationwide vehicles.

But a bonus came from the invention of this new Nationwide Series COT. From the very beginning the new car was very fast and very drivable and that translated to very close and exciting racing. The new car was gradually integrated into the Nationwide Series this year via four carefully picked races to allow for any fine tuning that may have been needed. The new COT will race the series full time in 2011 beginning in February.

There’s only one more change that would make this COT program complete: Chevrolet caves in to the wishes of the Nationwide Series fans and puts their hot looking Camaro on the race track.

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If you had to use one word to describe the Nationwide Series performance of Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch awesome would be a good choice. So far in 2010 their #18 team has amassed 12 wins, 20 top five finishes and 22 top ten finishes. The Charlotte Motor Speedway is yet another stopping point that has felt the Kyle Busch domination. In 14 previous starts there he has a series high six wins and has won at Charlotte four times in his last five starts.

Busch is third in the series’ points standings but that’s only because he’s not running the full schedule this year. However, his efforts have placed Joe Gibbs Racing on top of the coveted owner’s points championship. Going into Friday night’s race, JGR holds a 149 point advantage over Jodi Geshickter the owner of record for the Penske Racing Dodge driven by Brad Keselowski.

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It’s hard to imagine that such a prolific team owner as Roger Penske has never won a championship in a NASCAR national touring series. This is especially true in light of the accomplishments he has enjoyed in other forms of racing.

But it looks like the elusive NASCAR championship is finally coming his way. His Nationwide Series team, led by driver Brad Keselowski, is coming into the Charlotte race with a 384 point lead over season rival Carl Edwards.

With five races left in the season, it appears that it’s time to notify the official engraver of NASCAR to start the engraving process on the championship trophy. He may need the extra time to figure out how to space all those letters in the driver’s name.

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Danica Patrick will be continuing her transition from Indy car to NASCAR this Friday night. She will once again be participating in the NASCAR learning curve behind the wheel of the #7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. She will also be making her first ever start at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Patrick looked strong during the Nationwide Series race last Saturday at the Auto Club Speedway. She practiced and qualified well there. She was also well on her way to achieving her pre race goal of a top 15 finish before she got caught up in a late race crash not of her making with only seven laps left. Her 30th place finish in California is no where indicative of the job she did before the crash.

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THE RACE BREAKDOWN

The Dollar General 300 is 200 laps/300 miles around the Charlotte Motor Speedway’s 1.5 mile quad oval.

The race has 45 entries vying for the 43 starting berths.

14 of those entries are double duty drivers or those who also compete full time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

15 entries are on the go or go home list meaning they are not guaranteed a starting berth in the race because they are currently outside of the top 30 in NASCAR Nationwide Series owner’s points. These teams will have to earn a berth in the race based on their qualifying speeds.

The Dollar General 300 will be broadcast live by the ESPN2 Network beginning at 730 pm eastern time.

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