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Out of the Tunnel Pocast Show 49

This week I had some stuff to get off my chest… I had to go off on some of the Danica haters, Jimmie conspirisist and the luddites who sit beside me in movie theaters.

Plus, I recap all of the action from the All-Star race and give some ideas how to breath some new life into what was once a special night.

You can listen to the show three ways:

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Johnson Wins Record Fourth NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race

[ via NASCAR Wire Service - by Reid Spencer ]

credit Geoff Burke / Getty Images for NASCAR

The Brothers Busch won the first four segments of Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but Jimmie Johnson took the one the counted—the 10-lap dash to the finish—and continued to build his legacy, not to mentioned his bank account.

Speeding away from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne after a restart on Lap 81 of 90, Johnson won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series all-star exhibition race for a record fourth time, beating charging Joey Logano to the stripe by 1.722 seconds.

Kyle Busch, who won the second and third segments of 20-laps each, ran third, followed by Kahne and Kurt Busch. The elder Busch brother won the first and fourth segments and was first onto pit road before the final dash but exited fifth with a less-than-stellar pit stop.

Despite changes to his pit crew this week, Johnson’s over-the-wall gang performed an 11-second pit stop that got him out of the pits on the front row, beside Kahne, for the final restart. Ultimately, that made all the difference.

With the victory, Johnson broke a tie with teammate Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Sr. for most wins in the non-points race, won his second straight All-Star Race and collected $1 million for his efforts.

“To beat Jeff and Earnhardt, two guys I’ve looked up to my whole life—two massive icons of our sport—this means the world to me,” said Johnson, who started 18th after sliding through his pit box and drawing a penalty for a loose lug nut during Friday’s qualifying session.

“I really didn’t think we had a shot at winning tonight, starting (18th), but we had a great race car and worked our way through there and got the job done. Over time, honestly, it’s just dedication and drive from every member at Hendrick Motorsports, every member on this No. 48 team. We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished, but we know we’ve got to keep pushing harder and pushing one another.”

Kyle Busch thought he had the fastest car, but a slower-than-usual four-tire stop put his No. 18 Toyota on the second row for the final restart.

“We just didn’t get the best pit stop there at the end to get us out on the front row, and when you’re back behind cars, you’re getting beat up on,” Busch said. “It is what it is. We’ll just take this as a good learning day and hopefully bring back some speed like this to the (Coca-Cola) 600 (May 26).”

NASCAR’s luck with weather held Saturday night, with a large enough window to complete the race with just one delay.

With Kurt Busch leading from the outset, NASCAR called a caution because of rain after Lap 8 and red-flagged the race after 13 laps when the shower intensified. The drivers came to pit road, parked in their stalls and waited.

The rain didn’t come soon enough, however, to save reigning Cup champion Brad Keselowski. On the second lap, transmission troubles sent his No. 2 Penske Racing Ford to the garage.

“Something just broke in the back half of the drive train, either the transmission or drive shaft gear – I’m not sure which one – but it’s one of those deals, unfortunately,” Keselowski said. “We’ll try to learn from it and move on.”

With Keselowski in the garage, the race resumed after a stoppage of 41 minutes 28 seconds. Kurt Busch pulled away from brother Kyle Busch to win the first 20-lap segment by .751 seconds.

Kyle Busch kept the second segment in the family, pulling away from Clint Bowyer after a restart on Lap 29—after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. bounced off the Turn 4 wall and knocked Mark Martin for a loop through the grass in the quad-oval.

Jamie McMurray led wire-to-wire to win the Sprint Showdown and transfer into the main event. McMurray, who started second, took two tires during the halfway competition caution after 20 laps and pulled away to beat Cup rookie Stenhouse to the finish line by 1.226 seconds.

Stenhouse transferred into the All-Star Race as the second-place finisher. His romantic interest, Danica Patrick, finished ninth in the Showdown but punched her ticket into the All-Star Race as the winner of the Sprint Fan vote.

“Obviously being out front is massive,” McMurray said during the break between the Showdown and the main event. “When I got by (polesitter) Martin (Truex Jr.) at the start of the race… I was trying to take it easy because I didn’t know with the track being green how quickly the tires would fall off, and even running at like 80 percent it was amazing what a difference just being in clean air was.

“I had a really good car in practice (Friday). I thought honestly the 56 (Truex) and I had the two best cars looking at times yesterday, and then the two tire stop was the right call for us. It got us up front.”

McMurray’s words proved prophetic. Being out front for the final 10-lap run was crucial to Johnson’s record run.

 

Race in Peace Dick Trickle

For those outside of NASCAR, his name was punch line for every hack comedian…. for those us of who love racing….  Dick Trickle was the guy that defined what we mean when we talk about a “real racer.”

Rest in Peace Dick.  The thoughts of everyone at Q4G go out to Dick’s family and friends.

credit Getty

Matt Kenseth Surges to Third 2013 Victory at Darlington

[ via NASCAR Wire Service - by Reid Spencer ]

credit Rainier Ehrhardt / Getty Images

Unsinkable.

Unsinkable Matt Kenseth capped a banner week for unsinkable Joe Gibbs Racing with a victory in Saturday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway with a substitute crew chief on his pit box—the unsinkable Wally Brown.

The past four days could hardly have been better for JGR, with Wednesday bringing a substantial reduction in penalties on appeal for an engine infraction Apr, 21 at Kansas. On Friday, Gibbs cars ran 1-2-3 in the Nationwide Series race at Darlington, and the organization followed that Saturday with a 1-2 finish from Kenseth and Denny Hamlin in the 11th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season.

Kenseth took the lead from JGR teammate Kyle Busch on Lap 355 of 367 and pulled away to win by 3.155 seconds over Hamlin, as Busch faded to sixth. Hamlin also had much to celebrate in his first full race back from a compression fracture to his first lumbar vertebra, sustained during a last-lap crash at Fontana, Calif., in late March.

It was a race of significant numbers. Jeff Gordon finished third in his 700th Cup start, all consecutive. Jimmie Johnson ran fourth and extended his series lead to a massive 44 points over seventh-place finisher Carl Edwards. In a race that saw just four drivers pace the field, Kyle Busch led 265 laps but faded to sixth at the finish, thanks to a cut tire on the final 30-lap green-flag run.

Journeyman Brown won his first race as a Cup crew chief, after serving with four different drivers before his one-week shot on the pit box with Kenseth, who will get regular crew chief Jason Ratcliff back next week at Charlotte after Ratcliff’s six-race suspension for an underweight connecting rod was reduced to one event on appeal.

But the day belonged to Kenseth, whose resilience under trying circumstances was emblematic of the organization he joined this season.

“Honestly, I’ve only dreamed about winning the Southern 500,” said Kenseth, who notched his first victory at Darlington, his third of the season and the 27th of his career. “This to me probably feels bigger than any win in my career. I really feel bad that Jason isn’t here. This is obviously his team and his effort, but Wally did a great job filling in.

“We had a fifth- or sixth-place car, fighting loose, (and) those last two adjustments (on pit road) were just awesome.”

For Hamlin, second place was the best he could have hoped for, given the strength of Kenseth’s car in the closing laps.

“For me, we kept grinding away,” Hamlin said, clearly tired from the effort of his first race back at one of NASCAR racing’s most demanding tracks. “Pit crew picked us up some spots, obviously, throughout the night.

“It was one of those days where we got our car better, pit crew picked us up positions, took us to the most optimum spot we could get to—and that was second.”

From a physical standpoint, Hamlin admitted the race took its toll.

“Really, it’s just like starting your season over,” he said. “To start it back over at Darlington for 500 miles, there’s some muscles that have gotten weak. I’ve gotten pretty sore and tired, mentally tired as well. We’ll have a couple of weeks really to rest until the next long event (Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte), and we’ll be good to go then.”

A caution for Regan Smith’s spin off Turn 2 on Lap 302 of 367—only the second yellow of the race—interrupted a cycle of green-flag pit stops. After Juan Pablo Montoya took a free pass as the highest scored lap car, and Harvick availed himself of a wave-around, there were 11 cars on the lead lap for a restart on Lap 309.

By then, Kyle Busch had led 218 laps and had dominated the race ever since he wrested the lead from his brother, polesitter Kurt Busch on Lap 74. But the pit stops on Lap 303 put the lead-lap cars on the edge of their fuel windows.

They need not have worried. On Lap 311, Casey Mears tangled with Kurt Busch and reigning series champion Brad Keselowski off Turn 4 to cause the third caution. All but the top-four cars came to pit road for fuel under the yellow, leaving Kyle Busch, Kenseth, Kasey Kahne and Gordon out front on slightly older tires.

Johnson was first off pit road with new tires and quickly moved to third. Busch fended off a challenge from Kahne right after the restart and held a lead of .850 seconds when an accident involving David Reutimann and Josh Wise brought out the fourth caution and gave the lead-lappers a chance to pit for tires.

Kahne briefly took the lead after a restart on Lap 333, but one lap later, Kahne’s Chevy slapped the wall near the apex of Turns 1 and 2 and the race went yellow for the fifth time.

The result was the same. Busch pulled away after the restart and opened a comfortable advantage, this time over Kenseth, only to have Kenseth run him down and pass him on Lap 355.

 

Out of the Tunnel Podcast Show 48

This week Adam and I welcome a very special guest for the full hour:  Stephen Rhodes – a life long short-track racer and 2003 NASCAR Truck series veteran… who just happens to be openly gay.

Stephen talks to us about his start on dirt, transition to asphalt, his time in the Truck Series and his plans to get back into the Truck series for the 2014 Season.

The timing was perfect, as last week, Viv Bernstein’s blog called out NASCAR for being silent after Jason Collins/NBA came out of the closet.  We discuss what it’s like for an openly gay driver in the garage and would that affect a driver’s ability to attract sponsors.

And of course, we talk about all the drama from the “Big Two” at Talladega.  Plus we all weigh in on if NASCAR will fine Ryan Newman for his post-race comments; questioning if “they” should have restarted the race after the caution.

All that, plus…. what’s up our butts

You can listen to the show three ways:

1)  You can subscribe and listen on iTunes!

2)  click play to listen now on Q4G - 

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David Ragan beats Goliaths in astonishing Cup race at Talladega

[ via NASCAR Wire Service - by Reid Spencer ]

credit David Smith / Getty Images for NASCAR

In the type of stunning victory that has typified racing at Talladega Superspeedway since its inception, David Ragan led an extraordinary 1-2 finish for Front Row Motorsports, which had never won a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race before Sunday.

David Gilliland pushed Ragan, his teammate, to the lead on the final circuit in a green-white checkered-flag finish that took Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 four laps past its scheduled distance of 188 laps. Gilliland came home second, followed by pole sitter Carl Edwards, Michael Waltrip and series leader Jimmie Johnson.

As Ragan put it, two Davids beat the Goliaths of NASCAR racing in one of the sport’s most unlikely finishes ever.

Ragan’s victory followed a massive wreck that took the race to overtime–and to near-darkness, in what truly was truly was a Talladega night. In fact, NASCAR gave the drivers a chance to change their tinted visors for clear ones during the final caution.

Afterwards, Ragan tried to put the win in perspective.

“I can only imagine what it felt like back in 1988 when Mark Martin got that first win for Jack Roush or when Geoff Bodine won that first race for Hendrick Motorsports,” said Ragan, who scored his only Sprint Cup win at Daytona in July 2011, his last season with Jack Roush. “I’m sure it was just as special.

“A lot of these guys have been to Victory Lane in the Sprint Cup Series and late model racing, short tracks, ARCA – all kinds of series – but to do it here at Talladega in 2013, like I said, it’s a true David vs. Goliath story. I couldn’t be more proud to play my own role.”

Ragan restarted 10th and Gilliland 11th for the final two-lap sprint. As the cars raced into Turn 1, they were barely visible from the frontstretch grandstand, but the teammates managed to find each other on the track. For the first time in NASCAR’s new Gen-6 car, Gilliland pushed another car through the corners–to the amazement of Edwards, whose jaw dropped in the post-race news conference as Gilliland described the final two laps.

“We got restarted there, and it was sprinkling, and it was dark and there was (speedy-dry) on the track so it got on the windshield where it was wet but I could see, and I could see David there and he came down,” Gilliland said. “Michael Waltrip was behind me, giving me a good run and just carried a lot of momentum up through there and got hooked up with David and figured he’s got the best chance of anybody sticking together with him out there and just worked our way up there.

“It got real tight getting into (Turn) 3 and 4 with Carl there. I know David was sideways and out of the gas, and Carl was right up on his door, and could have gone a number of ways. But, thankfully I just stayed on his bumper. I pushed him all the way through the corners. It’s the first time I’ve ever done that with this car, with these style of cars, because with these type of cars in practice I’ve pushed people down the back straight and it actually kind of gets underneath that little lip underneath the back bumper cover and I’ve always been kind of scared getting into the corner. As the front car compresses, the back part of the nose doesn’t have anywhere to go because the splitter is already on the racetrack.

“But I just pushed him all the way around there and Carl about stalled out a little bit, and we were just able to carry some good momentum and come home one?two.”

On Lap 183, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. tried a four-wide move to the outside, but contact with J.J. Yeley’s car triggered a multicar melee that wiped out Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Danica Patrick and Clint Bowyer, among others.

That set up the two-lap dash in overtime with Matt Kenseth in the lead and Edwards beside him on the front row. Kenseth, who led 142 laps dropped to eighth at the finish.

Michael McDowell blew a tire and hit the wall on Lap 174 to cause the fourth caution of the race and bunch a field that had become segmented during a series of green-flag pit stops that ended on Lap 168. When NASCAR threw the yellow, Johnson led a six-car breakaway that included Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Edwards, Bowyer and Waltrip.

credit Kevin Cox / Getty (click to see full size)

The caution, however, brought 19 other lead-lap cars back into play and the massive wreck at the end of the backstretch changed the game completely.

NASCAR slowed the race on Lap 122 and stopped it after Lap 125 when showers that had been forecast for race day arrived shortly after 3 p.m. ET. Edwards had nosed ahead of Stenhouse moments earlier and was ahead at the last scoring loop the cars crossed before the yellow.

That left the Fords of Edwards, Stenhouse, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski at the front of the field when NASCAR red-flagged the race, forcing drivers and fans to wait and see whether the event would resume.

After a stoppage of 3 hours, 36 minutes, the race restarted after pit stops, and Kenseth quickly surged to the front.

As the cars approached Turn 1 on lap 43, a tap from Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Toyota turned Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 Chevrolet into the outside wall and triggered a wreck that damaged 16 cars, among them the Chevys of Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick, the Toyota of Brian Vickers (after a driver change with Denny Hamlin) and the Ford of Greg Biffle.

“I know I got in the back of the 5 (Kahne), and I guess I was trying to go to the outside of him,” Busch said. ‘But he just moved up in front of me, and I wasn’t expecting it, and I tried to go to the outside of him, and before I could get to the outside of him I got in the back of him.

“I just hate that I caused a hell of a melee for everybody. I hate that. A lot of cars got torn up, and it’s way too early in the race to be doing any of those sorts of moves, whether he made it or I made it. Just I hate it that we all got crashed in that deal.”

Both Kahne and Busch visited the infield care center after the wreck, and both were released in short order.

“I just kind of got shot through the center (of the field) there, just a lot of momentum coming from behind,” Kahne said of the action immediately before the crash. “Felt the No. 18 pushing me, and next thing I know, I was spinning
.
“You just can’t push with these cars. We learned that at Daytona. He was pushing me and spun me in the wall, and then (it) happened again, so that is what it is.”

Kahne said he and Busch didn’t speak in the care center.

“No, I didn’t talk to him,” Kahne said. “I think we both probably understand what happened, and we’ll figure it out from there.”

Notes: Johnson’s margin in the Cup standings over second-place Edwards shrank by two points to 41. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (17th Sunday) is third, 59 points behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate… Paul Menard finished 26th with a sour engine but gained two spots to eighth in the standings because other drivers in Chase-eligible positions had bigger issues… Ragan and Gilliland won a combined $608,261 for their 1-2 finish, a welcome payday for a team run by owner Bob Jenkins predominantly out of his own pocket.

Out Athletes Stir Debate in NASCAR

commentary – by Michael T. Myers

On Monday, you couldn’t turn on a television or the internet without seeing the news that a pro-athlete had finally come out of the closet.

Jason Collins, a 12 year veteran in the NBA told the world he was gay in a Sports Illustrated column.  “I’m a 34 year old NBA center, I’m black and I’m Gay,” Collins said.

So how does this all tie into NASCAR…. I am not sure, but free lance journalist Viv Bernstein posted a blog on Monday that stirred up some strong feelings in NASCAR and on my Twitter timeline.

Typically, even on a busy work day I check in on Twitter a few times.  This week, I’m in Denver for training classes and wasn’t able to check Twitter until after I got out of class…. and my timeline had ASSPLODED.

It took me a few minutes to trace it back to Bernstein’s blog titled, “NASCAR’s Silence on Jason Collins Says It All.”

Says what all?

Bernstein’s assertion is that the sanctioning body and NASCAR drivers should have made public statements on Monday supporting Jason Collins,  and that lack of comments, sent a clear message to any gay people working in the sport.

Appearing on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, Bernstein was pressed by Dave Moody as to what message she thought NASCAR was sending with their silence, “Stay in the closet.”

I find this to be absurd on many levels.   Mostly because I know many gay people who work in NASCAR.  Some of them are out publicly, some are out to friends and family.  None of them have relayed any stories of intolerance at the track.

Two years ago I profiled an openly gay couple that works for Michael Waltrip Racing.  When Craig Wadsworth was asked if had ever been given a hard time while working in the garage, he said, “I don’t have any problems at all – they all know it (that I’m gay) and nobody seems to mind.”

Ty Norris, the Vice President of Michael Waltrip Racing told Q4G, “Michael Waltrip Racing is a reflection of all society. We are a welcoming workplace who cares only about the quality of people’s performance and Craig is an exemplary employee.”

I have been very OUT at the track since 2009 and I have only encountered one incident of homophobia.

In fact, the overwhelming acceptance that NASCAR, the drivers, other media, the tracks and fans have shown Queers4Gears is amazing and should shatter any stero-type Bernstein’s blog seems to enforce.

Bernstein used the expression “Crickets” several times on Twitter to stress that no one in the NASCAR world was talking about the gay issue.  But, that’s not exactly accurate.

The fact is, our current Sprint Cup Champion and one of the highest profile drivers in America, spoke out a few short weeks ago about how he thought an openly gay driver would be accepted in NASCAR.  In an exclusive interview with Queers4Gears, Keselowski said, ”I don’t think anyone cares (if a driver is gay.) If you can win, you’ll have a ride in NASCAR.  If you can win, people will want to be a part of what you can do.”

That doesn’t sound like Crickets.

The Keselowski interview was picked up by several national publications and it upset the loony “God Hate F*gs” Church so much that Westboro came to the race in Kansas to protest NASCAR and Keselowski.  The sentiment in the garage and on social media was almost universal…..”those protesters do not represent my Christian values.  A few fans invited the protesters to “get out.”

At the time, NASCAR’s Chief Communication Officer, Bret Jewkes told Q4G that they agree with Keselowski’s statement and they will stand behind their driver.

That doesn’t sound like Crickets.

Bernstein wrote, that she wasn’t sure if NASCAR’s silence about Collins was a “nod to Nascar’s predominantly conservative Southern fan base.”

I think the statement by Keselowski to Q4G and NASCAR’s willingness to stand with him, are a nod to the fact that NASCAR is indeed inclusive.

Is there room for improvement?  Sure – that’s what I am trying to do here!

I organized a counter protest of sorts and asked NASCAR fans who didn’t agree with Westboro’s anti-gay rhetoric to support me in the Las Vegas AIDS Walk.  NASCAR fans responded – I raised over $3,400.00 and was the third highest fundraiser in the entire AIDS Walk.

You know the old adage – a persons money does their talking……….. and in this case, NASCAR fans supported an openly gay blogger in a big way.

That doesn’t sound like Crickets.

I will agree with Berstein that Monday presented an opportunity for someone from NASCAR to come out in support of Collins.  But I don’t agree that there is any timeline for issuing a response.   While a statement on Monday, could have ridden the social-media wave, it also could have been lost in the weeds of a million tweets.

About 24 hours after the Collins story broke – NASCAR issued two statements:

Marcus Jadotte, NASCAR’s Vice President of Public Affairs and Multicultural Development said,  “NASCAR is a recognized leader in diversity and inclusion initiatives in professional sports and home to the best drivers in the world. We want our athletes and our sport to look like America, and exclusion or intolerance of any kind – whether behind the wheel, on pit road, or in the garage – is not a part of that formula.”

Brett Jewkes, NASCAR’s Chief Communication Officer tweeted, “Over past 24 hrs reporters sought/got comment on NASCAR’s diversity efforts, of which we’re very proud. We admire Jason Collins’ courage.”

I was okay with waiting a day to hear what NASCAR had to say.  If you are keeping score at home, that’s TWO statements from NASCAR’s Chief Communication Officer in less than a month affirming NASCAR’s commitment to diversity….. specifically in regards to a gay driver.

That doesn’t sound like crickets to me.

Finally, I want to say how important it was for Jason Collins to come out of the closet.  It’s true that being gay in 2013 just isn’t that big of a deal…. but it once was. I just turned 40 and I didn’t come out until my late 20′s.  I could not have imagined coming out when I was younger to anyone…..

But, do you know what made it possible for me to come out?  Other people coming out.

I am not only talking about about celebrities… but the average gay citizen.

The reason attitudes have changed over the past decade is that people came out of the closet.   Everyday people then realized some of their family and friends were gay, and that made the topic of “gay rights” personal.

I have talked to tons of people that told me just knowing a gay person changed their mind on gay issues.  No longer were gays the butt of some joke on a sit-com, but gays are people that we all know and love.

The more people that come out – the easier it is for others to come out.  As more people come out – attitudes in our culture will shift even more.  I am hoping these changing attitudes will prevent anymore gay teens from taking their own lives and they will understand that It Gets Better. It sure did for me.

We still have a lot of work to do, but I am grateful for how far society has come.

Perhaps, just perhaps, as the machismo world of pro-sports accepts Jason Collins,  other gay athletes will come out.

And that can only be a good thing.

Out of the Tunnel Show 47

This week Adam is back and talking more than ever!

Oh the drama!  Fines, Fines, Fines, fights, nut shots, arrests…. oh, and there was also one hell of a race.

All that, plus… What’s up our butts!

You can listen to the show three ways:

1.  on iTunes!  Be sure to subscribe and rate us on iTunes.

2. Click Play to Listen:   

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3.  Download the show directly to your device

Kevin Harvick Wins Thrilling Richmond Race in Overtime

[ via NASCAR Wire Service - by Reid Spencer ]

credit Streeter Lecks / Getty Images for NASCAR

Kevin Harvick sped away on fresh tires to win Sunday night’s Toyota Owners 400 in a green-white-checkered-flag finish at Richmond International Raceway, leaving a grup of drivers with widely divergent emotions in his wake.

Harvick beat Clint Bowyer to the finish line by .343 seconds to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season, his second at Richmond and the 20th of his career.

Joey Logano ran third, Juan Pablo Montoya came home fourth after leading until the final caution, and Jeff Burton finished fifth after staying out on old tires for the final two-lap run that took the event six laps beyond its posted distance.

Harvick came to pit road for tires on Lap 396, after Brian Vickers’ slapped the Turn 3 wall to cause the 11th caution of the race. Harvick’s No. 29 Richard Childress racing Chevrolet made short work of three drivers who had stayed out after the race restarted on lap 405.

Though he lost the chance to break a 94-race drought since his Cup victory at Watkins Glen in August 2010, Montoya was elated just to get a top-five finish after struggling mightily for more than a year.

Not so elated were Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart, who repeatedly swapped shots with their Chevys on the cool-down lap. Stewart was fifth on the final restart but dropped to 18th at the finish after Busch rubbed him out of the racing groove during a two-lap free-for-all that saw prolific contact throughout the field.

Harvick, however was all smiles when he climbed out of his car in Victory Lane.

“My car launched, and I was able to drive it in the first corner and hope for the best down there,” said Harvick, who surged into the lead through Turns 3 and 4 after establishing his position in the first corner on the final restart. “I figured four, eight, 12…how many ever tires that were on the outside of me would be better than none. It all worked out, and here we are.”

The decision to come to pit road for tires under the final caution was a no-brainer, as Harvick and crew chief Gil Martin saw it.

“When the tires fall off almost two seconds, you’ve got to come in and get tires,” he said. “There’s not very many guys that stayed out. It all worked out tonight. We’ve been on the other side of it this year, so to be in Victory Lane is great.”

Bowyer led 113 laps but didn’t have a car that could stay with Harvick at the end.

“We had a good car—we just didn’t have a great car,” Bowyer said. “It seemed like we were just too tight on the throttle. It would quite turn and come up off (the corner). It really got wild there at the end. I was just lucky enough to be on the bottom (for the final restart).

“They started making holes up there in front of me, and the seas parted, and I just followed suit behind Harvick. It was a good run.”

What remained a two-man battle for more than half the race evolved into an unpredictable nexus of varying strategy and unexpected attrition.

When Kyle Busch passed Matt Kenseth for the top spot on Lap 254, that was the first time all evening that a driver other than Kenseth or Bowyer had led a lap. Busch made it stick, leading 39 straight laps under green until Travis Kvapil smacked the wall on Lap 292 to cause the sixth caution of the night.

But brother Kurt Busch won the race off pit road under the yellow and led the field to a restart on Lap 299. Busch held the point during an intense battle against Carl Edwards until NASCAR called the seventh caution on Lap 308 when Kvapil’s car dropped fluid on the track.

Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Kenseth and Ryan Newman stayed out under the yellow on 16-lap-old tires. Jimmie Johnson paced the rest of the lead-lap cars to pit road and took two tires. Six laps after a restart on Lap 321, the entire tenor of the race changed dramatically.

After contact with Martin Truex Jr.’s Toyota on the restart, Johnson faded on the restart. Running to the inside of Johnson on entering Turn 1 on Lap 327, Tony Stewart slid sideways into Johnson’s Chevrolet. As Johnson slid to the inside of the track in Turn 2, Kyle Busch’s Toyota nosed into him.

That was just the start of frenetic action at the .75-mile high-speed short track. Montoya led a pack of six cars who stayed out under the caution to a restart on Lap 334, but on Lap 338, a brutal wreck off Turn 2 involving Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers slowed the field again.

One lap after a restart on Lap 344, Truex spun in Turn 3 while battling Kurt Busch in close quarters for the second position. Montoya retained the lead until Brian Vickers’ wreck on Lap 395 set up the overtime.

Notes: Despite Johnson’s troubles, the five-time champion gained ground on his closest pursuers in the standings with a 12th-place finish at RIR. He now leads second-place Carl Edwards (sixth Saturday) by 43 points and Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10th at Richmond) by 46… Reigning Cup champion Brad Keselowski finished 33rd on the bottom end of a roller-coaster day that saw him recover from a scrape with the turn 2 wall only to drop a cylinder in the late going.

Q4G Interview: Meet Race Car Driver Justin Mullikin

Justin Mullikin

Credit: Mary Schill

Queers4Gears’ Adam Lovelace interviews NASCAR Grand National Sportsmen driver Justin Mullikin.

Meet 27 year old Justin Mullikin, of Holmen, Wisconsin. Justin is an out and open race car driver running in the NASCAR Grand National Sportsmen division, which falls under the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, at Lacrosse Speedway in West Salem, Wisconsin. We caught up with Justin, whose season opens this weekend at Lacrosse Speedway, to get his story. Follow Justin and his season at his JM Racing page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mullikinracing

How and when did you get started in racing?

I started in 2005 on a whim.  A close friend of mine raced in the 4-cyl Hornet class at LaCrosse Speedway and I started mostly to prove him wrong in that I could do better than him (which was no small feat. He was quite a well respected and tough competitor.)  So I scanned the local papers and came upon a 1994 Nissan Sentra that was well rusted and had zero brakes (there is a story in itself on driving it home). After two seasons racing in that division I was able to amass an unheard of amount of top 3 finishes up until that point. I finished outside the top 3 twice over a two year span. For the record, both years there were over 110 individual drivers, with roughly 70 people racing on a weekly basis. At the end of the 2006 season I sold my car to another competitor (my $200 investment became a $1500 car based on what I was able to do with it) and purchased a Thunderstock which was the next division up from what I was running.  That idea did not last long, it was a wreck of a car that I traded for an old non-running truck. This was the start of something I am known for, chassis work. I had that car for about 3 months, completely gutted, rebuilt and sold to a driver that traveled 3.5 hours to get the car. I purchased my first sportsmen car at that point and decided that I would go to the 3rd tier division and try my hand at transitioning from a front wheel drive class on a 1/4 mile track to a V8, rear-wheel drive class on a very fast 5/8 mile track. Lacrosse Speedway has a 5/8 mile outer track and an inner 1/4 mile track that utilizes a portion of the front stretch and turn one of the big track. Six years later I am on my third car in this division

Justin Mullikin

Credit: Forte Design

Tell us about your stats: best finishes, awards, season ending standings: 

Several wins, a number of top 5`s and top 10`s. I really don’t keep track of the number of each. This past season I was chosen, by the track officials and tech directors, for the Competition Achievement Award, which is basically an award for someone who had an outstanding achievement at the track, is well respected by competitors and has an overall positive impact on the speedway.

What racing series do you follow?

I follow all of the NASCAR series (top 3 and regional), and the Formula One Championship.

Who is your favorite driver?

Regan Smith, Jenson Button,  Jeff Gordon, & Johanna Long.

What is your favorite track?

This is a hard one. I tend to prefer the short tracks, specifically Martinsville and North Wilkesboro; however, Texas, Rockingham, Charlotte and Infineon rank near the top as well.

Other than your own, do you attend any other races?

When my schedule permits I attend the local dirt track, a 1/3mile true oval about 30 miles north of here.  This season I will also be attending a track that has recently re-opened, a 1/3 mile flat, tight, asphalt track.

What are your future racing plans? Anything in the works?

This season I am currently looking to get a few starts in a late model under my belt; beyond that, perhaps a full season in late models, or in a touring late model series. The ultimate goal would be to progress to a level where I could compete in the ARCA series and see where that might take me.

Do you find any difficulties in being a race car driver that happens to be gay?

For the most part I have not had any issues. There is the occasional comment that gets back to me; however I typically don’t care if someone who has no meaning to me has anything to say.  I did have an issue early on in my racing with another driver who happened to be my best friend when we were children. That was resolved after a bit of rough driving on my part and a good friend of mine saying to him something to the effect of, “Have you seen the front end on his car? You’re going to lose this battle” (in reference to my being known for having the most durable overbuilt front ends on my cars, in the event I needed to assist someone to get out of my way).

Justin Mullikin 2013

Credit: Justin Mullikin

After you are a big time drive, will you always remember us here at Queers 4 Gears??

Of course I will. How could I forget this site, and the frequent references someone makes about Kasey Kahne?

Now for some VERY important questions

Favorite movie?

First and foremost, Casino, then Titanic (it’s perhaps the best done movie ever), The Underworld Series, Eragon, Silent Hill

Favorite TV show?

Rupaul’s Drag Race (I am a sucker for a hilarious competition), Finding Bigfoot

Do you ever smile for pictures? (Asked because I never see him smile for pictures)

Hilarious given the fact that I rarely do!

Ever gotten a speeding ticket?

Not a single ticket on my record

Your last concert?

Marilyn Manson at the Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee

Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?

Nope. I rarely wear shoes, I am usually seen in flip flops (including at the track)

iPhone, Android, Blackberry, pager, or bag phone?

Iphone all the way

Two-car tandem or pack racing?

Anything is better than the 2013 Daytona 500. I tend to prefer pack racing, however the two car tandem was enjoyable to watch as well.

Follow Adam Lovelace on Twitter at @aclovelace