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.

Kyle Busch Capitalizes on Late Caution for Richmond Win

[ via NASCAR Wire Service - by Reid Spencer ]

Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR

Pulling away from Dale Earnhardt Jr. after a restart with eight laps left in Saturday night’s Capital City 400 at Richmond International Raceway, Kyle Busch streaked to his fourth straight victory in the spring race at the .75-mile track.

The win was Busch’s first of the season and the 24th of his career, tying him with his brother, 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Kurt Busch, for 26th all-time.

Tony Stewart, the race leader before the fifth and final caution for debris in Turn 2, lost ground on the restart and finished third. Denny Hamlin ran fourth, followed by Kasey Kahne.

The race turned on the last caution, which Stewart said was called because of a plastic water bottle in Turn 2. Stewart was strong on long runs but uncharacteristically slow off the mark on restarts, and Busch took full advantage.

The first step was beating Stewart off pit road during the final four-tire stop on Lap 388 of 400 and gaining control of the restart.

“I don’t know where that last caution came from, but it was our saving grace,” Busch said in Victory Lane. “It was a gift. We came down pit road and (crew chief) Dave Rogers and the guys went to work and gave us a great pit stop, got me out front.

“(That) gave me the lead so I could restart the race how I wanted to. That was the win right there.”

As he approached the finish line, Busch radioed to his crew: “What up, boys — we’re back!”

It was a stellar weekend for the race winner, who won Friday night’s Nationwide Series event as a car owner, with brother Kurt behind the wheel of the Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota.

Earnhardt, who took over second in the standings — five points behind series leader and 18th-place finish Greg Biffle — experienced brake problems for much of the race, but used the late restart to improve his position after Stewart fell back.

“We had some brake problems all race long,” Earnhardt explained. “I had a great restart, and I ran really great for one lap, and the pedal went back to the floor. I just had to pump it up all the way down the straightaway and I didn’t have any front brakes getting into the corner, so I couldn’t get in real hard.

“It would just get loose locking the rears up. So even with the brakes working, I think the No. 18 (Busch) was just a little bit better than us all night.”

Slow pit stops cost Stewart track position on more than one occasion, but it was the final caution that proved the undoing of the defending Cup champion, who has three Richmond victories but none since 2002.

“When the caution is for a plastic bottle on the backstretch, it’s hard to feel good about losing that one,” said Stewart, who led Busch by more than a second when the yellow flag waved. “And we gave it away on pit road. So we did everything we could to throw it away; it got taken away from us.

“That’s the best car I’ve had at Richmond in a long time. So I’m really proud of that and (crew chief) Steve Addington, and I’m proud of our guys. But we’ve got some work to do on pit stops right now. I don’t know what their malfunction was but I’m pretty ticked off about it tonight.”

A caution for Jeff Burton’s crash into the Turn 3 wall on Lap 311 interrupted a cycle of green-flag pit stops and scrambled the running order.

Jimmie Johnson, who came to pit road when the caution flew, was penalized for a tire violation on his pit stop — after one of his crewmen rolled a tire unattended toward the pit wall — and had to restart on Lap 319 from the tail end of the field.

That same restart proved disastrous for Edwards, who was black-flagged for jumping the start after he put the power down, in NASCAR’s judgment, before reaching the double red restart lines on the outside wall.

Forced to serve a pass-through penalty, Edwards dropped to 15th, 17 seconds behind Stewart. On lap 372, Stewart put Edwards a lap down and pulled away from Busch in second place to a lead of nearly two seconds.

Johnson rallied to finish sixth, but Edwards, who led a race-high 210 laps, had to settle for 10th, after getting back on the lead lap as the free-pass car under the last caution.

Carl Edwards Trains with SWAT Team

I have never wanted to be a harness this bad in my life - Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Carl Edwards is no stranger to attacking the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition on the track, but on Wednesday he received a new kind of lesson in taking down the opposition.

Edwards, along with Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage, took part in a special training session with Sgt. Todd Plowman and members of Fort Worth’s SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) team at the Fort Worth Police & Fire Training Center.

Edwards experienced the high-risk job of serving as a member of the Fort Worth SWAT team. During the crash course, Edwards observed as Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage fired a 40mm Grenade Launcher, Benelli M4 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun and Colt M4 Commando 5.56mm carbine with suppressor.

Edwards opted for some of the other training exercises that included rappelling down the side of a six-story building and facing “live” situations in a hostile environment simulator and having to defuse the situation with armed force. He also appropriately arrived to the event in the Fort Worth SWAT team’s Bearcat tactics vehicle and later took it for a spin.

For Edwards, who is used to pushing the limits in a stock car, the opportunity to experience the specialized training methods of the Fort Worth SWAT team offered a new challenge but the same type of rush. Rappelling Master Instructor Daniel McCreery briefed Edwards on the technique and the NASCAR star opted to relish the moment by going to the top floor of the six-story building to begin his descent. Following Edwards, McCreery came down in SWAT-like fashion by descending headfirst down the side of the building.

“I was taking that first step with the rappelling, stepping out that window,” said Edwards, who was in Fort Worth to promote the April 14 Samsung Mobile 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. “That’s a lot like driving the car 205 miles per hour down in a corner for the first time of the weekend at Texas. You’re like, ‘Man, I hope this works out. I hope all the nuts and bolts are tight.’ … These guys make it look so easy and after doing it I can tell you it isn’t as easy as it looks, especially if you’re going down headfirst like that.”

Another highlight of the event came when Edwards took part in a live tactical “scenario.” Edwards was briefed with the Fort Worth SWAT team regarding the situation that had arisen that was dubbed, “Operation Gossage.” SWAT intelligence had learned that Gossage was being held “hostage” by none other than defending Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart in a “NASCAR safe house.” The suspect was panicked about defending his Sprint Cup Series crown and was armed with Gossage in hand.

With Edwards observing the scene with Sgt. Plowman, members of the Fort Worth SWAT team swarmed the house firing a flash-bang grenade to rescue Gossage during the simulated hostage situation.

“I think as much as he pays us to win his races he is worth saving,” Edwards said with a chuckle. “I can’t really imagine what it’s like living your whole life knowing that your phone can ring and you have to go to a situation that can be very, very difficult or impossible. That’s a different way of living your life and it’s one that when you need that help and you need their help, we are fortunate that they are there.”

Edwards proved to be the ideal student. His experience to reacting quickly and the ability to handle the adrenaline rush are some of the characteristics that are found within the members of the Fort Worth SWAT team and caught the eye of Sgt. Plowman.

“Carl did an excellent job today,” Sgt. Plowman said. “With him being a NASCAR driver, you can tell he’s an adrenaline junkie and that’s our kind of guy, so he was right at home with us. He asked a lot of questions about our work and showed a lot of interest in what we do and we respect that. His enthusiasm throughout the entire event was awesome and we had a great time with him.”

Edwards’ next stop in Texas will be for the April 14th Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Edwards has seen his share of success at “The Great American Speedway!” as his three victories are the most among Sprint Cup Series drivers and in 2008 he became the first driver to sweep both Texas Cup races in the same season.

Edwards turned in a pair of solid performances last year at Texas Motor Speedway with a third-place finish in April’s Samsung Mobile 500 and runner-up performance in November’s AAA Texas 500.

“This Texas race is awesome,” Edwards said of the Samsung Mobile 500. “Our 99 team is the only three-time winner here at Texas Motor Speedway so that’s huge. I think a 500-mile race Saturday night under the lights in Texas is exciting. This is what people are excited about and hopefully we can get a victory there. We know how to win here and we just would like to go do it.”

Tickets for the Samsung Mobile 500 are available by contacting the Texas Motor Speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500, or by visiting www.texasmotorspeedway.com

[ credit Texas Motor Speedway ]

Get to Know Your Driver Through His Stomach: Carl Edwards

From time to time – I like to throw these rapid-fire gastronomical questions at a driver if I get the chance. I don’t like to interrupt folks from the traveling media who have “important” questions to ask… but once those folks are done I can sometimes sneak these questions in. I had the chance during the Banquet week in Las Vegas back in December to ask a few drivers about their dietary habits. I will feature these over the coming weeks of the off-season. In this installment we talk to Carl Edwards:

Question	Carl Edwards’ Answers

Orange Juice: Pulp or No-Pulp?	pulp

Grilled Cheese: White Bread or Wheat Bread	wheat bread

Chocolate Milk Shake: w/ Chocolate Ice Cream OR w/ Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Syrup	Vanilla w/ Chocolate Syrup

BBQ – Dry Rub or Sauce	sauce

at a cookout – Hotdog or Hamburger	hamburger

How do you like your eggs	scrambled

Favorite Pizza Topping	Canadian Bacon

Favorite Junk Food	Chocolate

Favorite Health Food	Subway (said with a grin)

Silly Season Does Not Have Time for Christmas Shopping

There really isn’t an off-season in NASCAR. While myself and most of the NASCAR Media have been on vacation – the last big deals on the table have been struck.

Earlier this week Best Buy confirmed the rumors that they were leaving Richard Petty Motorsports. Early rumors actually said that the recently fired Kurt Busch may be heading to the #43 car but Best Buy took their sponsorship dollars to Jack Roush and will be sharing space on the #99 car of Carl Edwards with a number of other associate sponsors. Next season Carl will be selling: UPS, AFLAC, Best Buy, Valvoline, Scott’s – and I am sure I am fogetting a few in there somewhere. I havn’t seen one guy shill this many products since Gene Simmons.

Turns out AJ Allmendinger is leaving the #43 and RPM and will be in KuBu’s old #22 seat at Penske with Shell/Pennzoil staying put. This will put Allmendinger in the best equipment he’s ever driven and Shell will be glad to have a driver without all the extra baggage that came with the elder Busch.

“I have always admired Roger Penske and the way his teams compete and win in every series where they race,” said Allmendinger in a press release. “It is a privilege for me to represent such iconic and respected brands as Shell and Pennzoil, AAA and Dodge. I am honored to join Penske Racing and I will do my very best to continue to build on the standard of excellence established across the organization.”

AJ has shows a ton of improvement in the Cup Series and with the cars that Penske will put under him – I expect him to be the next driver to get his first Sprint Cup Victory.

Kurt Busch also has a home in 2012. He will replace Landon Cassill in the #51 for Pheonix Racing. Fox Sports’ Lee Spencer reportedthat Busch visited the Phoenix Racing Shop on Wendesday night in Spartanburg, SC and made a handshake deal with owner James Finch. “I went to the shop, and on the Christmas tree was a sign that read, ‘All we want from Santa is a winning driver,’ ” Finch said. “We will be at the Daytona test next month and start with the (Budweiser) Shootout.

I told Kurt, ‘I won’t fire you, and you won’t quit. We’ll do whatever it takes — roll in the mud if we have to to win. I’ve worked construction all my life just so I could race and have a good time. I’ve worked with iron workers, I worked with construction workers, so working with a driver is not going to be a problem. As I said earlier, all we want to do is win”.

Kurt Busch was tweeting on Thursday about the deal saying: “I’ve had a lot of great offers come my way but racing with Finch was exactly what I was looking for. I needed some fun this year……..Old southwest tour days. Finch’s team reminds me of that. Old school racing is exactly what I was looking for.”

There are a few drivers still looking for rides: David Ragan, David Reutimann and Brian Vickers – the deals that Busch and Allmendinger signed this week took the two best remaining seats in the Cup Series. It may mean the two Davids and Vickers may be looking for rides in the Nationwide or Truck series – if they want to run with a team that is compeditive.

Lastly, I have been “out of it” this week. I am in the Carolinas for some work meetings and then will be visiting Family and Friends over Christmas. I grew up here so I literally have a full schedule trying to squeeze in visits with everyone in these few days that I am here. Sorry for the lack of posts on Queers4Gears – usually this time of year that is not a big deal….. but Silly Season just would not wait.

Driver Quotes – NASCAR in Vegas

This morning after the NMPA Myers Brothers Luncheon all 12 Chase Drivers had a media availability. I didn’t have a chance to make around the entire room and talk to everyone… but here are some of the quotes: for the record I did not ask all of these questions… there was a gaggle gathered around each driver. I grabbed a few pics as well

Kevin Harvick

Question: Other team owner has said it takes about 6 months to find a rhythm with a new crew chief… any prediction on how long it will take you to find that?

Harvick: “I expect to go to Daytona and have a chance to win… that’s my expectation. I worked with Shane before in 2006 and 2007 and he’s been at the shop – so it’s not like we are brining in someone that was totally out of our system it might take a while – but for us I expect to have results right off the bat. We didn’t do this to waste six months.”

Question: Did the deal with Gil Martin just run its course?

Harvick: “I went in and asked the question, do we need to do something different. Gil has been a great leader for our team but it was time to evaluate. We had two good seasons but in the end we want to win a Championship –so it was time to evaluate. We are looking at everyone on the team and seeing who’s doing good and who’s doing bad. I don’t think anyone was doing a bad job, but we want to win a Championship. It wasn’t all about the #29, it was about RCR and what we need to do to make all three teams better as an organization. That makes my team better, Jeff’s team better and Paul’s team better – and we all need to pull together – what do we need to do (as a team) to take that next step. We also brought in Drew from Roush – they had a lot of speed in their cars and it brining kind of an outside thought process in can open up a lot of minds and new directions. It wasn’t that Gill did anything wrong or we had a fight – this is what we think is going to take in a direction to get better. This is the first big decision we have all made together.”

Jeff Gordon:

On xmas as a father. “I definitely look at a lot different now and I think that’s what makes me and my wife such a good combination for parents. She wants to see all the excitement that Christmas brings and I sit there wanting to make sure they (the kids) don’t get too spoiled and that they understand the meaning of Christmas…. That it is more than ‘I want that’ and it seems that what it (Christmas) has become. My son is getting old enough to get more of an understanding but at this point my daughter only seems to know “Elf on the Shelf” – we have used the heck out that Elf on the Shelf for parenting.

On his Best moment of 2011 – the 85^th win in Atlanta and his Worst moment…. Gordon said, “Toss up between the Brickyard and New Hampshire. New Hampshire was in the Chase and it was important for us to get that win and I think by not getting that win it shifted some momentum for us in the Chase. But at the Brickyard we were so awesome, so fast and to not win it was a big disappointment.”

Question: Where is the 85^th win poster hanging – at home or in the shop?

Gordon: “It’s in my office. Most of my trophies are at the office…. I haven’t had trophies at home for years because I was homeless for a while. But when we built the new house we put in a trophy case and I have the four Championship Trophies, three Daytona 500 trophies and four Brickyard 400 trophies, two Goodyear trophies and some helmets from over the years that are significant to me…..but everything else is at the shop in my Office.

Jimmie Johnson –

Question: What the #1 thing you need to do to get back on top next year?

Johnson: “I think we worked hard last year to get speed in our cars and on work on our pit stops – and we got that in time for the Chase – we had the speed in both areas and then we had some mistakes – I made some mistakes, we had some wrecks. We made our mistakes in The Chase and took ourselves out of it. Next we have Kenny Francis coming in with some new ideas and I feel that in ’11 we made our race team stronger – so we have the tools to win another Championship.

Question: With all the crew chiefs moving around, can you talk about your long relationship with Chad – what the length of that relationship means to you?

Johnson: “It hasn’t always been rosy for the ten years we’ve been together – but one thing we have always promised each other is that we will always be 100% honest with each other. I mean he says things that piss me off and I am sure I do the same thing to him but through all of that have developed a great relationship that’s built on the right things. We have been through some tough times but we never decided to bail on each other. At the end of the day, I am a loyal person, I am not going to give up on him and I know he’s not going to give up on me.”

Hot Carl Edwards

Question: Looking back to the time this season when your future contract was still up in the air – was it as distracting as some in the media suggested?

Edwards: “I wasn’t distracted – We were actually running really well at that time but it did take a lot of my time….it was a lot of work but it did show me that I can compartmentalize things and maybe almost help me with the racing because once got to the track I was so excited to get in the race car and not have to think about that (contact talks.) The odd thing is that it doesn’t even feel like that happened this year… it seems long ago… once it was done, it was done and I didn’t have to think about it. I was glad to have that out of the way.”

Question: Do you consider yourself the favorite to win the Chase next year?

Edwards: “Of course.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI

Question: You finished 5^th this year, what do you have to do in 2012 to improve?

Brad: “There certainly is a long list, and I know what is on the list, but I’m not sharing.”

There was also a funny exchange between NMPA President Rea White and Brad. Her name is pronounced “reee” but Brad pronounced it “ree-ah.” He apologized; they laughed and exchanged stories about people miss-pronouncing their names. Neither Brad or Rea correct people when they get it wrong.

Kyle Busch:

Question: What do you do better than Kurt and what does Kurt do better than you?

Kyle Busch: “I don’t think we both do anything very well, you know what… we both have a lot of work to do.

Question: Have you been testing and do you have plans to test the TRD engines over the off-season?

Kyle Busch: “I have not been testing. We ran it at Homestead and things felt good on it…not too much different than what we had at Joe Gibbs Racing. It’s certainly a change, hopefully for the better. Some guys are doing some testing, I think Logano mostly over the next couple of weeks.

Andy Lally:

I asked Andy to expand on a point he made in his speech when he accepted the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award. He was the only guy in the hunt for that award this year… but he said that put even more pressure on him… he wanted people (other drivers) to think he earned it and didn’t win it because he was the only guy eligible.

Lally: “It was a really tough year in regard to the Rookie Chase because there really wasn’t a rookie chase. I would have much preferred another three or four guys to race against and go through that experience with. With the recent lack of rookies coming forward there’s obvious criticism coming from everywhere and I read it all. I listen to it all but it doesn’t really affect me. I register it in my brain and put it in the back of my mind but it still sits there a little bit. But I wanted to figure out how I could make an impression on these people (other drivers) and that’s a tricky thing when there’s a lot of criticism coming from everywhere like: ‘where did this guy come from’ or ‘this guy doesn’t deserve to be here’….stuff like that. Everybody out there needs to know that I worked my ass off to get here and it was not through the traditional ladder that NASCAR drivers typically arrive from but I have had a long career and I’ve paid my dues to get to this point. I would have loved a better performance and to get more Top-Tens but it was still an amazingly magical and frustrating year to battle with these guys that have been here for years and that I have the utmost respect for.

Question: My friends that like NASCAR hate road racing and my friends that like road racing hate NASCAR….. What’s up with that?

Lally: You can find this cross-section of people in all aspect of life. All it is… the people that hate on the other side… its ignorance. They haven’t taken the time to see what it really takes to run in the front of either one of those series. It is just like any other sport… a football player doesn’t respect a guy that stands at a plate and swings a stick at a ball. When it comes down to it, we are all trying to do our best at our own particular job and they guys that make it to the top of any of those sports are amazing athletes and you have to be open minded to have an appreciation for all types of talent. There are fans of both that can sorta cross-pollinate each other… and can appreciate the aspects of what each other do. Having done both… even before I did both I just knew the guys out front are extremely talented.

Gaynalysis: Pride and Shame

The Gaynalysis is just one gay NASCAR fan’s take on the race weekend. You can read the “straight” recap of the Championship Race by clicking here:

credit: Kevin R Tengesdal

I guess all the boys and girls in NASCAR Nation were more nice than naughty this year seeing as how we all got what asked for…. A race that will never be forgotten.

Rarely does anything in life live up to the hype but at Homestead Miami Speedway, Hot Carl and Tony delivered on every level. In twenty years you will hear callers to NASCAR radio shows say they watched this race to certify their bonifides as long time fans. We were all truly witness to history.

Smoke dodged two bullets and drove from the back twice…. You would have thought someone told him there were free Cheeseburgers up front. According to NASCAR’s loop data, Tony passed 118 cars on Sunday.

Seeing as how there were only 43 cars in the field and handful of them parked it behind the wall it would appear Stewart passed everyone in the field 3 times. His four-wide dives on the restarts will be featured on highlight reels for years to come.

Before the Chase kicked off in Chicago, Stewart himself gave his team no chance, going so far as call himself a bumbling idiot. Stewart-Hass Racing told crew chief Darian Grubb that he would not have his job atop the #14 pit box in 2012 and the team seemed resolved to run their best in the Chase and move onto next year.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Daytona…. Grubb and Smoke put together one of the best runs in NASCAR history – winning five of the ten Chase races.

Hot Carl Edwards gave everything his six-pack abs could muster; starting on the pole and leading the most laps. After the race Edwards said he did his best but in the end it was a second and half short.

In a day and time when it seems good sportsmanship has been lost in sports and life Carl Edwards showed everyone how to lose with class and grace.

Hot Carl shouldn’t be too hard on himself (that’s my job) he had an average finish of 4.7 in the Chase…. and didn’t win. Not even Jimmie “I run good in the Chase” Johnson wasn’t able to match that number in any of his five years with the Cup.

That race, the Champion and the runner-up give NASCAR something to be proud of…. and after what happened before the race… we needed it.

I hate to be the Debbie Downer here… but I can’t talk about my pride after that race without talking about my shame before it started.

Credit: By Chris Trotman, Getty Images for NASCAR

The First and Second Ladies of the United States were the Grand Marshals of the race and were in Homestead to spread awareness for “Joining Forces,” an organization that works to support military families and encourage employers to hire veterans and their spouses.

And how did NASCAR fans great Michelle Obama and Jill Biden? With Boo’s.

SHAME on you.

It made me sad to be a NASCAR fan. I don’t give a crap what your politics are… the First Lady of the United States was an invited guest there to support the families of our Military Members… and she gets boo’d?

Who does that?

Who raised these people?

Michelle Obama never ran for anything. She has not inserted herself into the political battles of her husband. Like most First Ladies she has taken on a cause for social improvement. Nancy Regan wanted to get our kids off drugs and Michelle Obama wants to get our kids off junk food.

As the Editor of a gay NASCAR fan site – I seem to constantly be defending NASCAR to people who think we are all a bunch of ignorant rednecks. The actions by some fans on Sunday are not making my arguments any easier… they are instead enforcing those negative stereotypes of NASCAR nation.

This morning NASCAR did get a lot of play in the national “non-sporting” press…. Unfortunately, the reports made no mention of what might be the greatest race ever. Instead, we got to see the footage of our First Lady getting boo’d in an endless loop.

Thanks y’all! In the t’words of Jim Utter – Shaking my damn head!

That sad episode made me more thankful for the race that followed. I am never gonna forget this one.

Kurt Busch plays Angry Birds

So the season is done and we have a Champion not named Jimmie. Tony Stewart was the last guy to win the Cup before JJ went on his five-straight tear… and now he adds the second book end.

Lastly, we can’t close this last Gaynalysis without talking about the Busch brothers. Neither will get to attend the banquet in their hometown of Las Vegas. Only the Top-10 drivers are invited and Kurt finished P11 with Kyle P12 in the standings.

Early in the race Kurt lost the transmission of the #22. As he pulled it into the garage a mysterious black Chevy Tahoe blocked his path. (we can assume it was a secret service vehicle, but that is not confirmed) Kurt saluted the Tahoe with the middle finger that his brother was posted for using in Texas late last year.

NASCAR did not penalize Kurt for his “angry birds” moment and ESPN never issued a statement or apology for airing the incident.

Stay Classy Kurt Busch!

Adversity Can’t Stop Stewart from Winning 3rd Cup Title

[ credit Reid Spencer - The Sporting News Wire Service ]

Credit: By Chris Graythen, Getty Images

Tony Stewart won the biggest game of winner-take-all in the history of NASCAR racing.

Rebounding from a succession of setbacks, Stewart took the checkered flag in Sunday’s rain-interrupted Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship in a tiebreaker over race runner-up Carl Edwards.

With four new tires to Edwards’ two—thanks to a strategic gamble that paid off when rain hit the 1.5-mile speedway for the second time on Lap 213 of 267—Stewart gradually pulled away after a restart on Lap 231 and claimed his third Cup title, bookending the five straight championships won by Jimmie Johnson from 2006 to 2010. Stewart also won in 2002.

The victory was Stewart’s fifth of the season—all coming in the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup—and the 44th of his career. The bonus points for winning allowed Stewart to make up the three-point lead Edwards held with one event left. Stewart and Edwards ended the Chase tied at the top of the standings, but Stewart claimed the title with five victories this season to Edwards’ one.

Martin Truex Jr. ran third Sunday, followed by Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon.

Stewart, who left Joe Gibbs Racing to become co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009, became the first owner-driver to win the title since Alan Kulwicki accomplished the feat in 1992.

“We said all week, (if) we just go out and win the race, we didn’t have to worry about what he did—and that’s what we did,” Stewart said in victory lane, as rain pelted the winning team. “If this doesn’t go down as one of the greatest championship battles in history, I don’t know what will.”

Magnanimous in victory, Stewart turned the page from the relentless ribbing he had given Edwards during the weeks leading up to the finale.

“Great guy, and we’ve been giving him a rough time this week, but it was all in an effort to do what we did and that’s to win this championship,” Stewart said. “But it shows how classy a guy he is. He was the first one to me over there (to offer congratulations), and he just said, ‘Promise me one thing: You’ll enjoy this, and I hope you and I are in this position again next year.’

Credit: By John Harrelson, Getty Images for NASCAR

“So much class. A great guy.”

Edwards’ average finish in the Chase was 4.9, bettering the record 5.0 Johnson fashioned in winning the 2007 championship—but it wasn’t good enough to win the closest championship in NASCAR history and the first (since position-based scoring was introduced in 1975) in which a driver has come from behind to win the title by winning the final race.

Stewart’s crew chief, Darian Grubb, forced Edwards’ hand late in the race by getting 56 laps out of a tank of fuel. Stewart came to pit road for the last time on Lap 211—10 laps later than Edwards—with the option to go the rest of the way without pitting.

When rain hit for the second time on Lap 213. Edwards had to pit under caution but faced the choice of taking four tires and losing track position and possibly the championship, if rain washed out the race. The race went green for the final 37 laps, and Edwards did everything in his power to overtake his rival—but in vain.

“We led the most laps (119), and Tony still managed, you know, him and Darian to do a good job with their strategy,” Edwards said. “That’s all I had at the end. That’s as hard as I can drive. I told my wife, if I can’t win this thing, I’ll be the best loser NASCAR has ever had, so I’m going to try very hard to keep my head up and know that we’ll go next year and be just as hard to beat next year and just as hard the year after that.

“But I just hope everybody is proud of the way we performed and our effort. I appreciate everyone’s support—all the folks that helped me get to this position—and I wish so bad we had that trophy, but just wasn’t meant to be tonight.”

Stewart’s quest for a third title was derailed early when contact with debris—of origin unknown—punched a hole in the grille of his No. 14 Chevrolet the size of a small saucer. Stewart fell to 40th in the running order, while his crew made repairs under caution on Lap 17.

By Lap 32, Stewart had worked his way up to 23rd.

“They’re going to feel like (expletive), after we kick their ass after this,” Stewart radioed during the run through traffic.

Dave Blaney’s spin off Turn 4 on Lap 34 halted the progress of the No. 14 Chevy. Stewart brought the car back to pit road under the yellow, and during a lengthy pit stop, his crew applied tape to hold the grille in place.

Stewart dropped to 38th in the process, but during a long green-flag run that included a cycle of pits stops, Stewart passed car after car, typically powering harder and farther into Turn 3 than any other driver on the track.

“They (Edwards’ team) are going to really feel worse when we’ve been to the back twice,” Stewart said.

On Lap 67, Stewart passed Denny Hamlin for 12th.

“Where are we at in this contest?” Stewart asked Grubb.

Told he was running 12th, Stewart replied, “Ah, yes, this is not over!”

True to his word, Stewart continued his charge toward the front of the field, and by the time rain forced a long delay 109 laps into the race, Stewart had climbed to fifth, with only Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Truex between him and Edwards, who picked up his 87th lap led right before the stoppage.

Notes: Mark Martin finished 24th in his last trip in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. … David Reutimann ran 18th in his last ride in the No. 00 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota. … Clint Bowyer was sixth in his swan song in the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevy. … Kasey Kahne came home seventh in his last ride in the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, and teammate Brian Vickers was 17th in his last turn in the No. 83.

If NASCAR’s electronic fuel injection plans stay on schedule, the Ford 400 will be the last Cup race run with carbureted engines. … Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 11th to end his third straight winless season and run his drought to 129 races. … Johnson finished 32nd Sunday and finished sixth in the final standings, the first time in his career he has ended a season outside the top five.

Kahne Wins at Phoenix; Edwards, Stewart Race to Dead Heat

[ credit Reid Spencer - The Sporting News Wire Service ]

Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR

It was Ali-Frazier in the Garden. It was Celtics-Lakers with Bird and Magic.

It was NASCAR’s dream. Punch and counterpunch—the top two drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup trading shots in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Yes, Kasey Kahne won the race—his first victory of the season and the 12th of his career—but Edwards and Stewart dominated the action as their battle for the 2011 championship remained as close as it was at the start of the day.

In a race between the only two drivers mathematically alive for the Cup championship, Edwards finished second and Stewart third, but Stewart led the most laps for the second straight week and leaves Phoenix three points behind Edwards as the drivers prepare to settle the issue in the season finale next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Jeff Burton ran fourth at Phoenix with Ryan Newman in fifth. AJ Allmendinger, David Reutimann, Marcos Ambrose, Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer completed the top 10.

“We couldn’t ask for anything more,” Edwards said. “It’s going to be fun. It’s neat to be able to go to Homestead and race it out. I’m sure these guys (Stewart’s team) are going to be good down there—they’re fast on the mile-and-a-halfs.

“I’m just proud of my guys today. They did a great job on pit road. Tony was really fast, and we got our car tuned in, and we were able to go up there and race with them and compete. It was just a good hard-fought day, and I’m really pumped about Homestead.”

Stewart appeared poised to win his fifth race in the Chase before the handling on his No. 14 Chevrolet deteriorated slightly in the final 100 laps.

“We just came up two spots shy,” Stewart said. “It was just a little too loose on entry those last two runs there. I thought that Darian (crew chief Darian Grubb) made a really good call there with just gas only at the end (on Stewart’s final pit stop on Lap 294), and we were able to run Jeff (Burton) down there and get back to third.

“Every point counts right now, and that’s why we raced Carl so hard and Kasey so hard to make sure we led enough laps to lead the most laps today (160). We are going for every single point we can get.”

Credit: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Stewart said the formula for winning the title is simple.

“Just keep doing what we’re doing,” Stewart said. “We’re going to keep the pressure on him, and we’re going to make him sweat it out.”

Seven more drivers, all of whom started the Chase nine weeks ago with hopes of hoisting the Sprint Cup, were eliminated from championship contention. Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch joined Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Newman in a group that will be fighting for positions in the standings but not for a title.

In Johnson’s case, the run of consecutive championships ends at five.

Kahne, who will be Johnson’s teammate next year, chalked up a win for Red Bull Racing, whose owner/sponsor is withdrawing from that role at the end of the season, leaving the future of the organization in doubt.

Kahne pitted early during a late cycle of green-flag stops and took the lead on Lap 299 of 312 when Keselowski came to pit road. Edwards chased him for the final 14 circuits but finished .802 seconds behind.

“We have great cars,” said Kahne, who will leave Red Bull and its uncertain future for a stable seat at Hendrick Motorsports next season. “I feel like each week I’m going to the racetrack with as good a car as anybody out there, which has been really nice this season.

“We haven’t won in a while (since September 2009 at Atlanta). We put the whole race together today and then had a little luck. Everything that falls into winning a race, we had it today.”

Leading only those final 14 laps, Kahne stole the spotlight from the slugfest between Edwards and Stewart, but the action between the contenders overshadowed even Kahne’s win.

After a bold pass to the outside gave Stewart the lead over Kenseth, the polesitter, on Lap 36, Stewart began to rack up laps led, like so many sharp body blows to Edwards’ title hopes. But Edwards refused to fall.

Stewart dominated the first half of the race, but on Lap 167, Edwards passed Kenseth to lead for the first time. On that same Lap Stewart surged past Kenseth into second.

Edwards held Stewart at bay after a restart on Lap 173, but Stewart returned the favor after Brian Vickers wrecked Kenseth—belated revenge for an altercation at Martinsville—in Turn 3 on Lap 177.

Brian Vickers waited two weeks to take his shot, but when he got it, he made it count.

Still irked by an incident at Martinsville, where Kenseth ran Vickers into the Turn 3 wall after the drivers banged doors for several laps in succession, Vickers returned the favor in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

On Lap 177 of 312, Vickers knocked Kenseth into the Turn 3 wall at the one-mile track. Kenseth was angry, and he chided NASCAR for doing nothing about it.

“You have someone that has been telling everybody for four or five weeks (actually two) that, as soon as he got a chance at a fast racetrack, he was going to make it hurt and wipe us out—and they do nothing about it,” Kenseth said. “It was so premeditated, it just surprises me that they didn’t do anything.

“I’m disappointed, but I expected it. We aren’t racing street stocks at a quarter-mile track, so they need to figure out how to get the drivers to settle their difference in a different way and talk about it or figure it out or do something instead of using your car as a battering ram somewhere this fast.”

Kenseth said he wasn’t tempted to escalate the warfare between the drivers.

“No, not at all,” Kenseth said. “I don’t stoop to that level. When we had our problem at Martinsville, it was heat of the moment, and he hit me eight or nine times. … Hindsight, I should have let him go and left him alone because you realize who he is and what he is and all that. You probably should leave him alone and go on. I would never sit down there and wait for somebody and take a cheap shot like that. You can hurt someone like that and that isn’t sportsmanlike and that isn’t something I would do.”

In the end, Stewart powered around Edwards on Lap 182, clearing him off Turn 4 with a make-yourself-stay-in-the-gas-and-hold-your-breath determination that brought fans in the grandstands to their feet.

Edwards chased Stewart for 39 laps thereafter, getting an eyeful of the TV panel on Stewart’s No. 14 as he tried everything in his repertoire to make a pass. Robby Gordon’s crash in Turn 3 on Lap 220, however, changed the game in Edwards’ favor.

On Lap 225, Stewart and Edwards restarted third and fourth, respectively behind Kurt Busch and Paul Menard, both of whom had used two-tire stops to get to the front of the field. Edwards moved forward, but Stewart fell back, as his handling started to suffer.

With an aggressive pass of Burton with nine laps left, however, Stewart made sure that Edwards wouldn’t leave Phoenix with a net gain in points—not even one.

“It may come to that,” Stewart said after the race.

Stewart Wins 4th Chase Race – Trims Edwards’ Lead to 3 Points

[ by Reid Spencer - The Sporting News Wire Service ]

Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Tony Stewart backed up his smack talk with a convincing victory in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, the eighth race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

With his fourth victory in the Chase and the 43rd of his career, Stewart put a dent in runner-up Carl Edwards’ series lead, scoring maximum points (48) to trim Edwards’ advantage from eight to three points with two races left in the season.

After winning last week at Martinsville, Stewart promised Edwards a sleepless three weeks during the stretch run for the title. On Sunday afternoon, Stewart let his car do the talking, taking the lead from Edwards on a Lap 275 restart and coming back to the front through a cycle of green-flag pit stops late in the race.

“I don’t think we have to say anything,” Stewart said in victory lane. “I think our performance today spoke for itself. He knows we’re there—trust me. … Carl kept us honest today. We got all the bonus points we could get and we got the win, so we gained more than we needed to gain on the average for the week.

“It doesn’t take much right now. It’s one spot, if a guy wins the race. We’re doing exactly what we need to do. I’m really confident right now.”

Stewart didn’t regain the lead until Lap 330 of 334, when Jeff Burton lost his fuel-mileage gamble and ran out of gas with just over four laps left.

Edwards, whose lone win this year came at Las Vegas in March, found consolation in retaining the points lead and in putting distance between himself and third-place Kevin Harvick (33 points back) and fourth-place Matt Kenseth (38 points back).

“Although we would have loved to have won today, to be three points ahead, and then to have the third- and fourth-place guys father behind, it looks like it’s truly going to come down to Tony and I, and that’s going to be a lot of fun,” Edwards said.

Kasey Kahne ran third, followed by Kenseth

and Greg Biffle. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished sixth and seventh, respectively.

Kahne thought he might have a chance to win Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway—until he got a close-up look at the way Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards were racing.

“I watched Tony and Carl,” said Kahne, who finished third behind Stewart and Edwards. “They’re going for it. Tony raced me as hard as he ever raced me. I had to race as hard as I could. They’re trying to get as many points as they can.

“It’s intense, trying to win these races right now. It’s super close.”

Kahne, who will leave Red Bull Racing for Hendrick Motorsports next year, posted his fifth top-six finish in the past six Sprint

Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR

Cup races, but he just wasn’t fast enough to overtake the championship contenders ahead of him.

If Kahne has concrete plans for the future, his current team doesn’t. Red Bull Racing is for sale, and the sponsor/owner of the team won’t continue in that role.

“The Red Bull team just keeps doing a good job,” Kahne said. “They’re working hard. It’s pretty impressive for a lot of them—not knowing their future, not knowing what’s going on there, if there will be a two-car team or one-car team—to keep putting the cars on the track like they are.”

Kahne, who hasn’t won a race this year, gained a spot to 14th in the standings with Sunday’s strong finish. He trails 13th-place Clint Bowyer by 18 points with two races left.

Right about now, reality should be hitting Jimmie Johnson in the face.

Trailing Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup leader Carl Edwards by 55 points with two races left, Johnson will need a miracle—make that a pocket full of miracles—to extend his streak of consecutive Cup championships from five to six.

Johnson had a fast car in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway—until he spun off Turn 4 on Lap 239 and slid sideways through the tri-oval grass.

Johnson was slapped with a commitment-line violation for driving straight to his pit box from the infield and restarted as the last car on the lead lap. Ultimately, he finished 14th.

Lack of handling contributed to the spin off Turn 4, Johnson said.

“Just a loose car,” he said. “I fought a loose racecar all night long, and I lost it off of 4. And I think sliding through the grass did some damage underneath the car.

“It may have been the rear end or something, because it didn’t really drive really good after that. We were loose, but fast beforehand and then after the spin, that really hurt the car.”

Stewart had led 142 laps by the time Joey Logano’s Toyota dropped oil on the backstretch on Lap 261, causing the fourth caution of the race. Edwards, Stewart and the five cars behind took right-side tires only on Lap 263.

Edwards got a huge jump on the restart on Lap 267 and pulled away to a lead of more than one second before NASCAR called the fifth caution on Lap 270 for debris in Turn 3. The first 13 cars stayed out under the yellow, and Stewart stayed with Edwards on a restart on Lap 275, moving around the No. 99 Ford to the outside.

“I think if I could have stayed in front of him, I’d have been able to get him,” Edwards said. “The restart before that, he spun his tires, and I felt really good about that one, (but) he timed it just right on that last restart and hung on my door.

“I give those guys credit. They’ve done a good job, but now we get to pull out all the stops here. We’ve been hanging on, we’re leading these points, we get to pull out all the stops these last two races, and there couldn’t be a better place to finish it than Homestead. I think folks ought to stay tuned. It’s going to get pretty exciting, and I’m just glad Tony and I are out there, and we can race for this thing.”

Notes: Subbing for Kyle Busch, who was parked by NASCAR for wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr. under caution in Friday’s truck race at Texas, Michael McDowell finished 33rd, three laps down. … Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman were eliminated from title contention.

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