Denny Hamlin Wins Martinsville Truck Race With Late Pass

 
Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Oct. 27, 2012

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

MARTINSVILLE, Va.—To Denny Hamlin, it was standard operating procedure at Martinsville Speedway.

To Matt Crafton, it was an unjustified bulldozer move.

Regardless of the point of view, Hamlin won Saturday's Kroger 200 with an aggressive pass after a restart with eight laps left and showed no regret in claiming his second victory at the .526-mile short track and his second win in 15 career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts.

Hamlin, who started from the rear because he missed the drivers' meeting —- thanks to a conflict with Sprint Cup practice -- finished 1.932 seconds ahead of Nelson Piquet Jr., who bulled his way into the runner-up position after restarting fourth on Lap 193 of 200. Joey Coulter ran third, followed by Crafton and Scott Riggs.

Irate at Hamlin's use of the front bumper, Crafton had some choice words for the driver of the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota after the race. With Hamlin parked on pit road, Crafton leaned into the driver's-side window to express his displeasure.

Hamlin's reaction was "What did he expect?"

"When you're the leader with a few laps to go, you've got to expect it," said Hamlin, who moved Crafton out of the way and took the lead for the first time with six laps left. "you can't wreck the guy — that's off-limits — but moving him off and out of the groove, that's standard protocol at this type of race track."

Crafton disagreed and took umbrage at the characterization of Hamlin's winning move as a pass.

"If you want to call that a pass—that's just moving somebody," Crafton said. "Running in the back of somebody, that doesn't take anything. Anybody can do that. I didn't let the tires come up quite clean enough on the last restart. I do admit that. That's part of it. I didn't get my tires cleaned up, but I did not run into the back of him."

Ty Dillon's one-point championship lead evaporated after his No. 3 Chevrolet blew a tire and nosed into the outside wall on Lap 151 to cause the fourth caution of the afternoon. After repeated trips to pit road for repairs, Dillon dropped to 28th, six laps down and could not improve on that position.

Dillon's woes transferred the series lead to James Buescher, who rallied from a lap down to finish sixth. Buescher grabbed a 21-point lead over second-place Dillon with three races left in the season.

Even though he lost a lap in the early going and didn't get it back until he received a free pass under the third caution midway through the race, Buescher was confident he could get back into contention.

"When we were a lap down, I did have all the faith in the world that we could turn it around and come back for a top-10 finish," Buescher said. "I knew that we just needed some adjustments. We hadn't stopped yet. We were still on the initial run, and I knew that we could get the back end in the track better.

"We were really loose and just needed to come to pit road for an adjustment and hit "reset." We did that. (Crew chief) Michael Shelton made good calls on what to do to get the truck better, and it was able to go forward the rest of the day."


NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race - KROGER 200
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville, Virginia
Saturday, October 27, 2012

       1. (5) Denny Hamlin(i), Toyota, 200, $32000.
       2. (4) Nelson Piquet Jr., Chevrolet, 200, $26840.
       3. (15) Joey Coulter, Chevrolet, 200, $16485.
       4. (7) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 200, $13400.
       5. (23) Scott Riggs(i), Chevrolet, 200, $9650.
       6. (10) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 200, $10450.
       7. (1) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 200, $12600.
       8. (11) Ryan Blaney, RAM, 200, $10250.
       9. (13) Parker Kligerman, Toyota, 200, $10200.
       10. (3) Brian Scott(i), Toyota, 200, $9175.
       11. (21) Max Gresham #, Chevrolet, 200, $8850.
       12. (2) Kevin Harvick(i), Chevrolet, 200, $7725.
       13. (27) Jason White, Ford, 200, $9925.
       14. (8) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 200, $10875.
       15. (20) Miguel Paludo, Chevrolet, 200, $10850.
       16. (19) David Starr, Toyota, 200, $9700.
       17. (24) Josh Richards(i), Ford, 200, $7400.
       18. (26) John Wes Townley #, Toyota, 200, $9600.
       19. (14) Justin Lofton, Chevrolet, 200, $9550.
       20. (36) Peyton Sellers, Chevrolet, 199, $7875.
       21. (9) Jeff Agnew, Chevrolet, 199, $9475.
       22. (12) Todd Bodine, Toyota, 198, $9450.
       23. (31) Ross Chastain #, Toyota, 198, $9425.
       24. (29) Caleb Holman #, Chevrolet, 198, $7150.
       25. (30) Clay Greenfield, RAM, 198, $7250.
       26. (28) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 197, $9325.
       27. (33) Tim George Jr., Chevrolet, 197, $9250.
       28. (6) Ty Dillon #, Chevrolet, 194, $7975.
       29. (32) Bryan Silas #, Ford, 193, $7925.
       30. (25) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 189, $7400.
       31. (35) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 188, $6450.
       32. (17) Ryan Truex(i), Chevrolet, Transmission, 158, $6425.
       33. (16) Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet, Oil Pump, 136, $6400.
       34. (18) Matt Merrell, Chevrolet, Transmission, 35, $6350.
       35. (22) Cale Gale #, Chevrolet, Transmission, 7, $6325.
       36. (34) Chris Fontaine, Chevrolet, Clutch, 5, $6292.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  69.579 mph.
Time of Race:  1 Hrs, 30 Mins, 43 Secs. Margin of Victory:  1.932 Seconds.
Caution Flags:  7 for 40 laps.
Lead Changes:  7 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders:   T. Peters 1-58; K. Harvick(i) 59-94; J. Sauter 95; K. Harvick(i) 96-151; T. Peters 152; K. Harvick(i) 153-161; M. Crafton 162-194; D. Hamlin(i) 195-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  K. Harvick(i) 3 times for 101 laps; T. Peters 2 times for 59 laps; M. Crafton 1 time for 33 laps; D. Hamlin(i) 1 time for 6 laps; J. Sauter 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points: J. Buescher - 716; T. Dillon # - 695; T. Peters - 691; P. Kligerman - 680; J. Coulter - 670; M. Crafton - 664; N. Piquet Jr. - 626; J. Lofton - 618; J. Sauter - 573; M. Paludo - 568.


--30--

Matt Kenseth survives wild Cup race on new pavement at Kansas

 

Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images

Oct. 21, 2012

 
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Fans who came to Kansas Speedway on Sunday thought they were attending a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

Instead, they witnessed the latest episode of "Survivor."

Matt Kenseth won a wild war of attrition, otherwise known as the Hollywood Casino 400, beating Martin Truex Jr. to the checkered flag by .495 seconds to claim his third victory of the season, his first at Kansas and the 24th of his career.

Paul Menard ran third, followed by polesitter Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart, who rallied from a 33rd-place starting position and spin on the backstretch during the race.

Kenseth won the race despite scraping the wall behind spinning Aric Almirola on after a restart on Lap 173.

"I thought it was over when I got in the fence when Aric wrecked under Mark (Martin)," Kenseth said. "I was watching them and trying to make sure I didn’t hit them and I flat-sided it pretty bad. It ended up working in our favor. They fixed the body as good as it was when we started, and we had to take less gas in that last pit stop, and the pit crew put me out front.

"I knew I hit it really hard but thought it was centered up in the door real good, and we had a similar thing happen at Homestead last year. As soon as we got the fender back where it was supposed to be, it was fine. I was happy, as hard as I hit it, that my steering wheel was still in the right place."

Throughout the day, however, other drivers found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. The slick, new racing surface at the 1.5-mile speedway produced a track-record 14 cautions for 66 caution laps, and no one was immune from disaster -- not even a five-time champion.

Jimmie Johnson's quest for a sixth Cup title appeared to have suffered a severe setback on Lap 135, when the No. 48 Chevrolet spun in heavy traffic and backed into the Turn 4 wall. After leading 44 laps, Johnson had just taken a wave-around for a restart on Lap 128, having been trapped a lap down when Aric Almirola smacked the Turn 2 wall, and the resulting caution interrupted a cycle of green-flag pit stops.

Johnson, however, stayed on the lead lap through a succession of pit stops under the yellow, and a liberal application of BearBond kept the No. 48 competitive. Astoundingly, Johnson and his team salvaged a ninth-place finish on a day that could have been much worse and remained seven points behind eighth-place finisher and series leader Brad Keselowski with four races left in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

"I'm very proud, but also disappointed," Johnson said. "I crashed the car. I spun out trying to get inside the 56 (Truex). He bobbled a little in front of me, and I thought that was an opportunity to jump in the gas real hard.

"When I did that, my car took off and I couldn't catch it. All-in-all, a good day, but it could have been a lot better. I think we could have been in Victory Lane, and stretched some points on these guys."

Keselowski, who fought his way forward from the 25th starting position was thankful for a day that ended with his No. 2 Dodge intact.

"I'm ready to go home and have a couple beers," Keselowski said after climbing from his car."It's just been a long day, Everybody has been asking all season long where the cautions have been. Well, they flew to Kansas and they've been hanging out here, because there was caution after caution, and it seemed like every wreck that happened today happened right in front of me.

"So, I'm glad to have survived the carnage and brought back a decent car in great shape and dodged a bullet of a race. That’s the only thing I can use to describe it."

Despite the conditions, the repaving job, which included a reconfiguration with graduated banking, drew favorable reviews -- not surprisingly -- from drivers who finished near the front of the field.

"I thought the track was great," Truex said. "The outside lane is going to come in really, really good -- probably by next year, I would say. Their winters here are pretty rough, and I expect it will weather the track in really nicely.

"Once the outside got working, it was actually pretty darn good. It’s going to be a cool race track here in the future, and they did a great job with it."

RACE RESULTS

 1. (12) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 267, $389611.
 2. (16) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 267, $231954.
 3. (14) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 267, $177615.
 4. (1) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 267, $156015.
 5. (33) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 267, $184840.
 6. (3) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 267, $146854.
 7. (39) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 267, $124015.
 8. (25) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 267, $144310.
 9. (7) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267, $148651.
10. (19) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 267, $147626.
11. (10) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 267, $147991.
12. (18) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 267, $128088.
13. (9) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267, $139471.
14. (17) Carl Edwards, Ford, 267, $140396.
15. (21) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 267, $129613.
16. (24) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 267, $126496.
17. (31) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 267, $121863.
18. (26) Landon Cassill, Toyota, 267, $121350.
19. (8) Joey Logano, Toyota, 267, $102305.
20. (37) David Ragan, Ford, 267, $111013.
21. (32) Trevor Bayne(i), Ford, 267, $92630.
22. (42) Timmy Hill(i), Ford, 267, $100205.
23. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 266, $105363.
24. (2) Mark Martin, Toyota, 266, $90505.
25. (29) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 265, $109738.
26. (15) Sam Hornish Jr.(i), Dodge, Accident, 234, $131030.
27. (11) Greg Biffle, Ford, 227, $97380.
28. (20) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 214, $127330.
29. (5) Aric Almirola, Ford, Accident, 212, $124491.
30. (6) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, Accident, 188, $130463.
31. (4) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Accident, 181, $131813.
32. (40) Danica Patrick(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 154, $84130.
33. (22) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, Accident, 140, $101752.
34. (35) Scott Speed, Ford, Electrical, 77, $83730.
35. (13) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 69, $91780.
36. (30) Mike Bliss(i), Toyota, Vibration, 47, $83305.
37. (28) Casey Mears, Ford, Accident, 29, $83080.
38. (43) Kelly Bires, Ford, Rear Gear, 28, $82857.
39. (41) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, Brakes, 25, $79325.
40. (36) Joe Nemechek(i), Toyota, Rear Gear, 22, $79080.
41. (34) Reed Sorenson(i), Toyota, Overheating, 18, $78805.
42. (27) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, Vibration, 11, $78635.
43. (23) Michael McDowell, Ford, Vibration, 7, $78907.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  115.086 mph.
Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 28 Mins, 48 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.495 Seconds.
Caution Flags:  14 for 66 laps.
Lead Changes:  16 among 10 drivers.
Lap Leaders:   K. Kahne 0; M. Martin 1-6; A. Almirola 7-33; D. Gilliland 34; A. Almirola 35-73; T. Kvapil 74; J. Johnson 75-118; A. Almirola 119-121; C. Bowyer 122-123; J. Gordon 124; C. Bowyer 125-127; M. Kenseth 128-156; J. Gordon 157; M. Martin 158-211; P. Menard 212-217; K. Kahne 218; M. Kenseth 219-267.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  M. Kenseth 2 times for 78 laps; A. Almirola 3 times for 69 laps; M. Martin 2 times for 60 laps; J. Johnson 1 time for 44 laps; P. Menard 1 time for 6 laps; C. Bowyer 2 times for 5 laps; J. Gordon 2 times for 2 laps; D. Gilliland 1 time for 1 lap; K. Kahne 1 time for 1 lap; T. Kvapil 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 12 in Points: B. Keselowski - 2,250; J. Johnson - 2,243; D. Hamlin - 2,230; C. Bowyer - 2,225; K. Kahne - 2,220; M. Truex Jr. - 2,207; T. Stewart - 2,203; J. Gordon - 2,199; M. Kenseth - 2,195; K. Harvick - 2,191; G. Biffle - 2,188; D. Earnhardt Jr. - 2,128.


 --30--

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rallies for improbable Nationwide win at Kansas

Oct. 20, 2012



By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rallied from two laps down to
win Saturday's Kansas Lottery 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at
Kansas Speedway and tighten the battle for the series championship.

During a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race six laps
beyond its scheduled distance of 200 laps, Stenhouse surged to the front
in the final turn after Kyle Busch ran out of fuel.

Austin Dillon ran second, .288 seconds behind Stenhouse. Polesitter Joey
Logano finished third, followed by Elliott Sadler and Cole Whitt.

In winning for the sixth time this season and the eighth time in his
career, Stenhouse cut Sadler's series lead from 13 points to six with
three races left in the season.

To get to Victory Lane, Stenhouse had to survive a collision with
Logano's No. 18 Toyota -- an incident team owner Jack Roush said was
Stenhouse's fault just past the halfway point.

"The guys did an awesome job getting the car back together, and we never
gave up," Stenhouse said. "Mike made great calls and adjustments to fix
how the car drove with the damage, and it was still one of the fastest
cars out there.

"I didn't see the win coming like this, but we will take it."

Saturday's event was the first NASCAR race on a track that was newly
repaved and reconfigured with graduated banking, and there were some
growing pains. The race produced a record 12 cautions for a total of 50
laps.

The championship battle took an ominous turn for Stenhouse, the
defending series champion, just after the midpoint of the race.
Stenhouse and polesitter Logano collided off Turn 2, damaging both cars,
but both were able to continue.

Stenhouse was following Logano closely just before the contact.

"We had a lot of debris on the grille, and we were 300 (degrees) on
water and oil, and I thought we would have to pit to come get that off
before we blew up," Stenhouse said. "I was trying to get behind him to
get the debris off and he checked up at the last second and I turned and
just drove right into the side of him. There wasn't much he could do
about it, and I thought it ruined our day, but we were able to bounce
back from it."

Stenhouse lost two laps during a green-flag pit stop but got them back
on a wave-around before a Lap 142 restart and a free pass as the
highest-scored lapped car under the 10th caution of the afternoon.

Back on the lead lap for a restart on Lap 167, Stenhouse had charged to
13th by the time Mike Bliss' slide through the tri-oval caused the
track-record-tying 11th caution. Stenhouse was two spots behind Sadler
in fifth when first-time Nationwide starter Hal Martin and Scott Lagasse
Jr. wrecked off Turn 2 on Lap 198.

Fearing they would run out of fuel in overtime, Sadler and Dillon both
pitted for a splash of fuel under the 12th caution. Stenhouse restarted
fourth and took the checkered flag when Kyle Busch ran out of fuel on
the final lap.

So ended another disappointing day for Busch, still trying to win for
the first time behind the wheel of the No. 54 Toyota he owns.

"That's our year, man -- nothing else to it than that," said Busch, who
rolled across the finish line in sixth place. "…What a frustrating defeat."

Notes: The race marked the first appearance for a Pakastani driver in a
NASCAR event. Nur Ali finished 33rd in his NASCAR debut after slamming
the Turn 3 wall on Lap 69… Derek White, who wrecked in Turn 4 on Lap 138
to cause the ninth yellow, was transported to a local hospital for
further evaluation… Danica Patrick (10th) posted her third top-10 finish
of the season, but she'll remember this race for a spectacular
three-wide pass of Sadler and Ryan Blaney for the sixth spot on Lap 171.

RACE RESULTS

1. (10) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 206, $91143.
2. (2) Austin Dillon #, Chevrolet, 206, $65718.
3. (1) Joey Logano(i), Toyota, 206, $50125.
4. (7) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 206, $38533.
5. (8) Cole Whitt #, Chevrolet, 206, $35158.
6. (6) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 206, $24190.
7. (21) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 206, $32208.
8. (14) Michael Annett, Ford, 206, $28508.
9. (12) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 206, $27418.
10. (13) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 206, $27783.
11. (27) Ryan Blaney(i), Dodge, 206, $26058.
12. (22) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 206, $25508.
13. (23) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 206, $24958.
14. (37) Danny Efland, Chevrolet, 206, $24448.
15. (15) Eric McClure, Toyota, 205, $24888.
16. (5) Paul Menard(i), Chevrolet, Fuel, 204, $20160.
17. (39) Erik Darnell, Chevrolet, 204, $23493.
18. (4) Kenny Wallace, Toyota, Fuel, 203, $23983.
19. (32) Joey Gase #, Chevrolet, 202, $16555.
20. (24) Jason Bowles #, Dodge, 201, $23488.
21. (29) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 200, $22703.
22. (33) Jennifer Jo Cobb(i), Chevrolet, 200, $16125.
23. (26) Brad Sweet #, Chevrolet, Engine, 199, $22458.
24. (19) Scott Lagasse Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 197, $15875.
25. (16) Hal Martin, Toyota, Accident, 182, $22683.
26. (3) Brian Scott, Toyota, 177, $23098.
27. (42) Dexter Stacey, Ford, 165, $21988.
28. (17) James Buescher(i), Chevrolet, Engine, 155, $21868.
29. (40) Derek White, Toyota, Accident, 130, $21718.
30. (31) Tony Raines(i), Chevrolet, Vibration, 123, $15440.
31. (9) Johanna Long #, Chevrolet, Accident, 109, $21473.
32. (43) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 75, $14895.
33. (41) Nur Ali, Chevrolet, Accident, 68, $21253.
34. (30) Scott Saunders, Ford, Accident, 31, $14675.
35. (11) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Water Pump, 24, $14565.
36. (25) Blake Koch, Toyota, Ignition, 24, $14455.
37. (36) Carl Long, Chevrolet, Overheating, 23, $14335.
38. (34) Timmy Hill, Ford, Engine, 14, $14275.
39. (35) Robert Richardson Jr., Chevrolet, Clutch, 14, $13940.
40. (28) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, Vibration, 9, $13830.
41. (38) Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 8, $13725.
42. (18) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 4, $13520.
43. (20) Chase Miller, Chevrolet, Ignition, 4, $13413.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 111.597 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 46 Mins, 08 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.288 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 12 for 50 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Logano(i) 1-34; R. Stenhouse Jr. 35-37; P. Menard(i)
38-44; R. Stenhouse Jr. 45-53; P. Menard(i) 54-58; R. Stenhouse Jr.
59-70; P. Menard(i) 71-112; A. Dillon # 113-117; P. Menard(i) 118-139;
J. Allgaier 140-142; P. Menard(i) 143-175; K. Busch(i) 176-183; P.
Menard(i) 184; K. Busch(i) 185-205; R. Stenhouse Jr. 206;.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): P. Menard(i) 6 times for
110 laps; J. Logano(i) 1 time for 34 laps; K. Busch(i) 2 times for 29
laps; R. Stenhouse Jr. 4 times for 25 laps; A. Dillon # 1 time for 5
laps; J. Allgaier 1 time for 3 laps.
Top 10 in Points: E. Sadler - 1,136; R. Stenhouse Jr. - 1,130; A. Dillon
# - 1,110; S. Hornish Jr. - 1,038; M. Annett - 986; J. Allgaier - 974;
C. Whitt # - 913; M. Bliss - 820; B. Scott - 758; D. Patrick - 742.


--30--

Bowyer saves just enough fuel to win Chase race at Charlotte

        Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images for NASCAR    

Bowyer saves just enough fuel to win Chase race at Charlotte

Oct. 13, 2012

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

CONCORD, N.C.—Clint Bowyer was burned up that he didn't have enough fuel to complete a righteous burnout.

But that was the only thing that went wrong in Saturday night's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Saving fuel over the final 56 laps of the closing green-flag run, Clint Bowyer snookered his Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup rivals in winning his third race of the season and the eighth of his career.

Bowyer, who won for the first time at Charlotte and the first time on an intermediate speedway, beat Denny Hamlin to the finish line by .417 seconds. Jimmie Johnson, who like Hamlin and Bowyer was saving fuel over the final run, came home third. The top three finishers trimmed a significant portion off Brad Keselowski's series lead.

"I want to do a burnout!" Bowyer lamented in Victory Lane. "Am I ever going to get to do a burnout?"

Keselowski ran out of fuel before his final pit stop and finished 11th. Keselowski leads Johnson by seven points and third-place Hamlin by 15 at the midpoint of the Chase. Bowyer climbed to fourth in the standings, 28 points back.

"Realistically, we're still in the thing," Bowyer said. "We've just got to keep doing what we're doing. Talladega (where Bowyer was the victim of a 25-car last-lap crash and finished 23rd) was a huge setback, but what a great way to bounce back and get pointed back in the right direction."

Bowyer moved from Richard Childress Racing to Michael Waltrip Racing this year, and the depth of success in their first season together has been a pleasant surprise.

"It makes you almost giddy," Bowyer said. "It's so much fun to come to the racetrack knowing that you've got cars that are capable of getting the job done . . . Who would have thought in a million years, after making the switch and coming over to a new family, and everything that was new, that we'd be in Victory Lane three times?

"With five races left, we're still in contention for a championship our first year together."

Greg Biffle ran fourth, Kyle Busch fifth and Mark Martin sixth, as only six cars finished on the lead lap

Keselowski, who started 20th, gained track position by pitting under the first caution on Lap 12 and then staying out when the rest of the lead-lap cars came to pit road under the third yellow on Lap 37. From Lap 42 through Lap 166, the race ran caution-free, and when NASCAR threw the fourth yellow for debris in Turn 1 on Lap 166, the caution restored all the lead-lap cars to the same tire cycle.

All except Johnson, that is. Curiously, Johnson was the only driver to take two tires (right sides) as opposed to four during pit stops on Lap 168. The No. 48 Chevrolet restarted the race in the lead on lap 173, but Johnson quickly lost six spots to cars with fresher rubber.

With a three-wide move to the outside on the restart, Biffle took the top spot, but his stint at the point was short-lived. Keselowski slipped past Biffle on lap 180, pulling Hamlin with him, and began logging laps at the front of the field.

A debris caution interrupted the proceedings on lap 223, but it didn't deter Keselowski, who led the field to a restart on Lap 228 and began to pull away from Kyle Busch. Johnson and Hamlin came to pit road to top off their fuel cells under the caution — whereas Keselowski did not.

Ultimately, that cost the driver of the No. 2 Dodge, who ran one lap too many before his next stop and ran out of fuel before getting back to pit road on Lap 276. Keselowski's car stalled in the pit box, and by the time he was back up to racing speed, he was 13th in the running order.

Johnson and Hamlin pitted on Laps 279 and 280, respectively, and were confident they could make it to the checkered flag without stopping again. They did — but so did Bowyer.

Neither Hamlin nor Johnson was particularly thrilled at having to back down his speed to save gas, but they were consoled by the dent they made in Keselowski's points advantage.

"We ran around in circles and were done," Johnson said sardonically when he entered the media center for his post-race press conference. "It's a tough way to race, for sure, but I'm happy that as a group and a team, we've figured out how to get better at fuel-mileage racing.

"It's something that we didn't have in our repertoire for a lot of years. So I'm very pleased with the progress we've made, that I've made in the car. My driving style just eats up fuel. Making good changes, and playing the game the way it needs to be played right now, and closed in a little bit on that No. 2 car (Keselowski)."

Subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was sidelined by a concussion, Regan Smith turned in a strong performance in the early going of the first race without an Earnhardt since 1979 and the first race without a driver from North Carolina since 1961.

Smith ran as high as ninth and was firmly in the 10th spot when his engine expired on Lap 61, ending his first run for Hendrick Motorsports.

"I think the important part was that we had a really fast race car," Smith said after exiting the No. 88 Chevrolet. "We had a good first adjustment there, went just a little too far with it and got a little too free.

"Needed one more stop and I think we would have had it dialed in . . . It's disappointing."

Smith will get his second shot in the car next weekend at Kansas Speedway.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race - Bank of America 500

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Concord, North Carolina

Saturday, October 13, 2012

1. (4) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 334, $251389.

2. (9) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 334, $220426.

3. (5) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 334, $192396.

4. (1) Greg Biffle, Ford, 334, $189410.

5. (8) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 334, $162818.

6. (2) Mark Martin, Toyota, 334, $109935.

7. (19) Carl Edwards, Ford, 333, $144701.

8. (10) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 333, $99010.

9. (12) Joey Logano, Toyota, 333, $96385.

10. (6) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 333, $115649.

11. (20) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 333, $151380.

12. (17) Aric Almirola, Ford, 333, $119146.

13. (32) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 333, $134610.

14. (7) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 333, $124296.

15. (14) Sam Hornish Jr.(i), Dodge, 333, $117935.

16. (11) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 333, $122871.

17. (30) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 333, $106793.

18. (13) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 332, $119246.

19. (22) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 332, $104701.

20. (3) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 332, $119443.

21. (21) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 332, $100143.

22. (16) Trevor Bayne(i), Ford, 332, $73285.

23. (36) David Gilliland, Ford, 331, $89043.

24. (38) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 330, $94968.

25. (41) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 330, $92668.

26. (37) Landon Cassill, Toyota, 329, $98530.

27. (24) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 328, $79860.

28. (39) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 327, $110635.

29. (27) Casey Mears, Ford, 327, $80607.

30. (34) David Reutimann, Chevrolet, 327, $72335.

31. (33) Michael McDowell, Ford, 326, $70135.

32. (15) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 324, $75685.

33. (18) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 303, $95468.

34. (25) David Ragan, Ford, 287, $67160.

35. (29) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.(i), Ford, Engine, 190, $67010.

36. (40) Timmy Hill(i), Ford, Engine, 182, $75110.

37. (31) David Stremme, Toyota, Rear Gear, 62, $66705.

38. (26) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, Engine, 61, $74828.

39. (28) Mike Bliss(i), Toyota, Rear Gear, 53, $63725.

40. (23) Scott Speed, Ford, Vibration, 50, $63600.

41. (43) Reed Sorenson(i), Toyota, Vibration, 32, $63450.

42. (35) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, Brakes, 30, $63325.

43. (42) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, Transmission, 25, $63713.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 154.935 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 14 Mins, 01 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.417 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 5 for 23 laps.

Lead Changes: 20 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders: G. Biffle 1-2; M. Martin 3-4; G. Biffle 5-37; B. Keselowski 38-41; M. Ambrose 42-43; B. Keselowski 44-71; J. Johnson 72-83; J. Gordon 84-85; B. Keselowski 86-97; J. Johnson 98-134; D. Hamlin 135-167; B. Keselowski 168; J. Johnson 169-172; G. Biffle 173-179; B. Keselowski 180-220; C. Bowyer 221-222; B. Keselowski 223-275; C. Bowyer 276-277; D. Hamlin 278-280; G. Biffle 281-309; C. Bowyer 310-334.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): B. Keselowski 6 times for 139 laps; G. Biffle 4 times for 71 laps; J. Johnson 3 times for 53 laps; D. Hamlin 2 times for 36 laps; C. Bowyer 3 times for 29 laps; J. Gordon 1 time for 2 laps; M. Martin 1 time for 2 laps; M. Ambrose 1 time for 2 laps.

Top 12 in Points: B. Keselowski - 2,214; J. Johnson - 2,207; D. Hamlin - 2,199; C. Bowyer - 2,186; K. Kahne - 2,179; G. Biffle - 2,171; M. Truex Jr. - 2,165; T. Stewart - 2,164; J. Gordon - 2,164; K. Harvick - 2,158; M. Kenseth - 2,147; D. Earnhardt Jr. - 2,128.

--30--

Logano wins at Charlotte, notches eighth Nationwide victory in 2012

 
Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR

Oct. 12, 2012

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

CONCORD, N.C.—You can call him the dominator.

Joey Logano buried the field in the final run of Friday night's Dollar General 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and won his eighth Nationwide Series race of the season in 18 starts.

Logano beat Kevin Harvick to the finish line by 2.760 seconds to win for the first time at Charlotte and the 17th time in his career. Series leader Elliott Sadler ran third and extended his advantage to 13 points over Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who came home seventh.

Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin completed the top five.

Logano changed his racing line after losing the lead to Harvick on Lap 155. That, coupled with a loose handling condition for Harvick, proved the difference.

"I didn't have an option," Logano said. 'I was getting beat, and I knew I had to do something. I moved to the top, and I was like, 'Hey, there's something here.' Just kind of had to adjust my style and get this little No. 20 car rocking and get these guys in Victory Lane one more time.

"I still have a few more left."

Brad Keselowski took the lead from Joey Logano at the midpoint of the race and quickly pulled away to a lead of more than one second. Stenhouse got by Logano for the second spot on Lap 116 but couldn't make headway on the leader.

When Stenhouse's car began to fade slightly as the run progressed, Logano retook second, but a caution for debris on Lap 131 gave the lead-lap cars a chance to pit for tires and fuel and bunched the field for the restart on Lap 137.

Sadler gained two positions to second on the exchange of stops, but Stenhouse fell seven spots to 10th with an uncharacteristically slow pit stop marked by indecision as to whether to straighten the right side of the rear spoiler. Stenhouse had bent the spoiler during a slight brush with the outside wall.

It was Logano who led the field to a restart on Lap 137, but Harvick tracked him down and passed the No. 20 Toyota in traffic on Lap 155. On Lap 162, however, both Logano and Keselowski shot past Harvick into the top two spots, after the handling of Harvick's Chevrolet began to deteriorate.

After the Lap 137 restart, all drivers had to stop for fuel before the end of the race, which proved Keselowski's undoing. His crew failed to engage the gas can and did not get fuel in the car on a splash-and-go with 10 laps left. That set up Logano for the decisive win.

Harvick said passing in most Charlotte night races is difficult, but Friday's event was an exception.

"Tonight was a different story," Harvick said. "You could run all over the race track — run the top, the bottom and the middle. For us, as the night went on, our car got looser up off the corner, and the 20 (Logano) seemed to get a little bit better. We just lost a little bit of pace there, but all in all, it was a good night for us."