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Published on Thursday, 23 May 2013 06:39
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Written by Phil Clark
Members of two of NASCAR's most influential families were inducted into the sport's Hall of Fame in ceremonies held yesterday in Charlotte. Dale Jarrett joined his father Ned in the hall, and master mechanic Maurice Petty becomes the third member of the Petty family to become members. Maurice, a master mechanic who was responsible for building the engines that led brother Richard to 200 career wins, joins Richard and their father Lee. Another Petty relative, cousin Dale Inman, is also a member of the hall. He was Richard Petty's crew chief. Three others were inducted yesterday, including two-time series champion Tim Flock, Jack Ingram and Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, who won 33 races during the fifties and early sixties. Roberts died after a wreck in 1964.
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Published on Monday, 13 May 2013 07:24
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Written by Phil Clark
Matt Kenseth is roaring back toward the top of the Sprint Cup points standings after his win Saturday night at Martinsville. Kenseth and teammate Kyle Busch were engaged in a side-by-side battle for the lead late in the race when Busch began to slow with a right rear tire going down. Kenseth then held off Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon for his third win of the season. He also won at Las Vegas and Kansas. David Ragan of Unadilla, who won last week at Talladega, had troubles early in Saturday night's race, and ended up finishing 49 laps down, in 39th place. Points leader Jimmie Johnson picked up three points on second place Carl Edwards after his fourth place finish. Edwards came in seventh, behind Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished ninth, but lost a spot in the standings, dropping from third to fourth.
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Published on Thursday, 09 May 2013 07:59
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Written by Phil Clark
A NASCAR panel has drastically reduced penalties against Joe Gibbs Racing and driver Matt Kenseth, imposed after Kenseth won in Kansas last month. At the time, following a post race inspection, Kenseth was docked 50 Sprint Cup points and stripped of the three bonus points he would have earned for Chase seeding. In yesterday's decision, Kenseth gets back all but 12 of the points, moving him from eleventh to fourth in the standings. He also gets back the three bonus points, awarded to drivers for each win over the first 26 races. In his appeal, team owner Joe Gibbs contended that, while he acknowledged the part in question was illegal, the penalties were too severe given that he leases the engines from Toyota and is not allowed to touch anything inside the engine. NASCAR claimed that one of the eight connecting rods was too light by three grams, but Toyota insisted that the oversight did not give Kenseth an advantage.
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Published on Monday, 06 May 2013 06:59
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Written by Phil Clark
Unadilla's David Ragan and teammate David Gilliland teamed up over the final 2-lap restart late yesterday to come in one-two in the rail-delayed Aaron's 499 over the Talladega Superspeedway. The two, with Ragan in the lead, shot past Carl Edwards on the final lap, giving Front Row Motorsports its first ever one-two finish in a Sprint Cup race. For Ragan, it's his second Sprint Cup race, both in restrictor-place races. The other came at Daytona in July, 2011. Jimmie Johnson finished fifth to keep his points lead over Edwards and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Clint Bowyer and Brad Keselowski round out the top five in this week's standings.
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Published on Tuesday, 30 April 2013 06:39
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Written by Phil Clark
There will be a familiar face in Talladega when NASCAR drivers line up for Sunday's Aaron's 400. Chipper Jones will serve as Grand Marshall, commanding the 43 drivers to 'start your engines' for the 1:00pm EST race. Jones, the retired and still popular Atlanta Braves third baseman, admits that he's always been a big NASCAR fan, and considers it a huge honor to be chosen Grand Marshall for the biggest spring racing event in the South. There will be a little local flavor as well. Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron will serve as the honorary pace car driver.
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Published on Monday, 29 April 2013 07:22
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Written by Phil Clark
Kevin Harvick made his way through traffic on the final restart Saturday night in Richmond to win the Toyoto Owners 400. Harvick, seventh when the two-lap overtime sprint began, beat Clint bowyer, Joey Logano and Juan Pablo Montoya to the finish line. Montoya, who led 67 laps, was the leader when the last caution came out, allowing the field to catch up. Jeff Burton rounded out the top five. Carl Edwards was the biggest mover in the points standings, up four places to number two with his sixth place finish. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was tenth and gained two positions to number three, Bowyer also move up three spots, to number five, with his runnerup finish. Jimmie Johnson, who finished 12th, leads Edwards by 43 points.
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Published on Thursday, 25 April 2013 07:02
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Written by Phil Clark
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Matt Kenseth was docked 50 drivers points yesterday when NASCAR came down hard on the number 20 team after the engine failed inspection following Sunday's win at Kansas Speedway. Besides losing 50 points, which is two more than the maximum a driver can earn in a Sprint Cup race, Kenseth's crew chief Jason Ratcliff was suspended for six races and fined $200,000 after the engine failed a secondary post-race inspection on Wednesday. Kenseth essentially lost the win, since he will lose the three bonus points he earned for the win that would have been applied in seeding for the Chase over the final ten races. And in a rare move, Joe Gibbs had his owner's license suspended for the next six races and he won't earn owner points during that time. The president of Toyota Racing Development took full blame for the violation, saying Toyota didn't properly and thoroughly inspect parts received from a European vendor. Gibbs Racing is expected to appeal yesterday's decisions.
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Published on Thursday, 25 April 2013 06:59
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Written by Phil Clark
There was plenty of news circulating around Joe Gibbs Racing yesterday. The team learned that Denny Hamlin will not make his return to Sprint Cup racing this weekend at his home track in Richmond after all. Hamlin, who has missed the last three races recovering from a compression fracture in his lower back, got the news yesterday following his latest examination. Doctors would not clear Hamlin to return. Earlier, Hamlin had told reporters that, if he is not cleared to race at Richmond, he will likely start the May 5th race at Talladega, then give way to a relief driver during the first caution. Hamlin injured his back when he crashed into a concrete barrier during the last lap of the March 24th race in California.
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Published on Monday, 22 April 2013 07:32
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Written by Phil Clark
Matt Kenseth drove his Toyota to the win yesterday in the STP 400 at Kansas Motor Speedway, holding off a charging Kasey Kahne over the final ten laps. Points leader Jimmie Johnson finished third, Martin Truex, Jr. was fourth and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five. Brad Keselowski moved into third in the points standings with his sixth place finish. Kahne picked up five spots in the standings, moving into second behind Johnson. Dale Earhnardt, Jr., who challenged for the lead at one point, remains fifth in points after coming in 16th yesterday. Greg Biffle dropped from third to fourth. Kyle Busch took the hardest hit among points leaders, dropping from second to seventh. Busch finished 38th after completing just 102 of the 267 laps.
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Published on Thursday, 18 April 2013 07:08
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Written by Phil Clark
Richard Petty doesn't think that two of this year's nominees should be inducted into racing's Hall of Fame. It's not that the two don't deserve to be in the hall eventually, Petty says, but he doesn't think that owners Richard Childress and Rick Hendrick should be inducted while they are still active in the sport. Petty favors inducting more of the pioneers of the sport, and cited his own brother, Maurice Petty, as an example. Richard Petty points out that it was Maurice who built the engines for the cars that Richard drove to seven NASCAR championships and 200 career wins.
