Jimmie Johnson wins fourth Cup race at Brickyard

Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images for NASCAR

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal presents the Curtiss Shaver 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 29, 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Tyler Barrick/Getty Images)

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- Team owner Rick Hendrick may have had better days -- but not many.

Hendrick joined his No. 48 team in kissing the bricks at the finish line after driver Jimmie Johnson won Sunday's Crown Royal 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, taking the checkered flag 4.758 seconds ahead of runner-up Kyle Busch and tying teammate Jeff Gordon for most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at the Brickyard -- four.

The victory was Johnson's third of the season -- all but assuring he will remain the only driver to have qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup each year since the inception of NASCAR's playoff format in 2004. Johnson won for the 58th time, leaving him eighth on the all-time list and second to Gordon among active drivers.

"Man, you just hope to race here -- to come here and win is a huge honor," Johnson said. "And to win four -- four wins! I'm at a loss for words."

A fourth-place finish propelled Hendrick teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. into the lead in the series standings, after Matt Kenseth, the points leader entering the race, wrecked out in 35th place.

The last time Earnhardt led the Cup standings was October 2004 after Talladega, but he held the top spot for only two days, thanks to a 25-point NASCAR penalty for cursing during a post-race television interview. He now leads by 14 points over Kenseth.

Greg Biffle came home third, followed by Earnhardt and Gordon. Pole-sitter Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart completed the top 10.

Johnson was asked whether he was already thinking of a fifth victory at Indy -- something no one has done either in NASCAR or IndyCar -- but Johnson prefers to take one thing at a time. Next on his list is a sixth Cup title.

"I'd love to be a five-time winner here, but I'd also like to win a sixth championship this year," said Johnson, who string of titles was ended at five straight by Stewart last year. "That's the thing that's on my mind right now."

Each previous time Johnson has won at the Brickyard, he has gone on to win the series championship -- in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

Busch had an exceptional car, but it was no match for the rocket ship of Johnson, who put Chevrolet in the Indy winner's circle for the 10th straight year.

"If it wasn't for the 48, we were probably in our own zip code on the rest of the field," Busch said. "But Jimmie Johnson was in his own country today, so we couldn't keep up with him.

"He was really, really fast, and you could see it, too, on the restarts, when he could make it through the corners and he just put his car anywhere he wanted and would just slam on the gas pedal and take off from me. His car was down and digging."

Racing side-by-side with Trevor Bayne on Lap 132, Joey Logano spun his No. 20 Toyota, bounced off the No. 47 Camry of Bobby Labonte and wiped out the No. 17 Ford of Kenseth, who was running near the outside wall, trying to slip past the wreck.

"The farther you got back (in the field), the dumber people drove, and it got us in some bad spots," Kenseth said.

Carl Edwards' first race with new crew chief Chad Norris went awry nearly from the outset. Edwards started second and contested the lead with Denny Hamlin for half a lap, but lost power and slowed on Lap 12 and brought his car to pit road.

By the time the No. 99 crew had the issue straightened out -- after a green-flag pit stop followed by another under yellow on Lap 42 -- Edwards was four laps down and effectively out of contention -- not the sort of effort he needed in a winless season with a Chase position on the line. Edwards finished 29th.

The disappointing result left Edwards 12th in the standings and 61 points behind 10th-place Clint Bowyer (15th Sunday) with six races left before the Chase field is set at Richmond.

RACE RESULTS

1. (6) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 160, $430,461.

2. (7) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 160, $362,108.

3. (5) Greg Biffle, Ford, 160, $293,525.

4. (20) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 160, $263,750.

5. (9) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 160, $266,961.

6. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 160, $250,091.

7. (11) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 160, $230,058.

8. (17) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 160, $212,539.

9. (22) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 160, $214,470.

10. (28) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 160, $230,175.

11. (19) Mark Martin, Toyota, 160, $170,175.

12. (15) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 160, $172,850.

13. (27) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 160, $205,236.

14. (8) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 160, $167,300.

15. (33) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 160, $186,139.

16. (24) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 160, $197,475.

17. (18) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 160, $155,525.

18. (14) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 160, $180,483.

19. (4) Aric Almirola, Ford, 160, $191,411.

20. (23) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 160, $181,208.

21. (12) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 160, $180,966.

22. (16) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 160, $180,908.

23. (32) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 160, $148,725.

24. (26) David Stremme, Toyota, 160, $163,783.

25. (38) Landon Cassill, Toyota, 160, $173,395.

26. (29) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 160, $167,858.

27. (31) David Gilliland, Ford, 160, $156,008.

28. (36) David Ragan, Ford, 160, $152,397.

29. (2) Carl Edwards, Ford, 156, $189,591.

30. (42) Ken Schrader, Ford, 156, $148,825.

31. (37) Stephen Leicht, Chevrolet, 154, $148,275.

32. (21) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 151, $180,350.

33. (3) Joey Logano, Toyota, 144, $148,525.

34. (25) Casey Mears, Ford, 137, $137,725.

35. (10) Matt Kenseth, Ford, Accident, 132, $186,011.

36. (13) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, Engine, 126, $145,375.

37. (30) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, Accident, 40, $145,300.

38. (34) Scott Speed, Ford, Brakes, 23, $137,170.

39. (41) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, Transmission, 20, $133,325.

40. (35) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, Brakes, 19, $133,245.

41. (40) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 14, $133,070.

42. (39) Mike Skinner, Ford, Rear Gear, 11, $132,975.

43. (43) Mike Bliss, Toyota, Engine, 5, $133,356.

RACE STATISTICS

Average Speed of Race Winner: 137.68 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 54 Mins, 19 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 4.758 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 5 for 25 laps.

Lead Changes: 17 among 9 drivers.

Lap Leaders: D. Hamlin 1-26; Kyle Busch 27-28; J. Johnson 29-41; D. Hamlin 42; B. Keselowski 43-45; J. Johnson 46-71; J. Gordon 72; M. Kenseth 73; B. Labonte 74; L. Cassill 75; B. Keselowski 76-89; J. Johnson 90-95; B. Keselowski 96-100; J. Johnson 101-125; Kyle Busch 126; L. Cassill 127; G. Biffle 128-131; J. Johnson 132-160.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): J. Johnson 5 times for 99 laps; D. Hamlin 2 times for 27 laps; B. Keselowski 3 times for 22 laps; G. Biffle 1 time for 4 laps; Kyle Busch 2 times for 3 laps; L. Cassill 2 times for 2 laps; M. Kenseth 1 time for 1 lap; J. Gordon 1 time for 1 lap; B. Labonte 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 12 in Points: D. Earnhardt Jr. - 731; M. Kenseth - 717; G. Biffle - 709; J. Johnson - 704; D. Hamlin - 667; K. Harvick - 653; M. Truex Jr. - 653; T. Stewart - 652; B. Keselowski - 649; C. Bowyer - 643; Kyle Busch - 588; C. Edwards - 582.

NNS Recap: Opportunistic Brad Keselowski seizes inaugural Nationwide win at Indy

Credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images for NASCAR

Brad Keselowski, driver of the #22 Snap-On Tools Dodge, kisses the bricks after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series Indiana 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 28, 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images for NASCAR)

July 28, 2012

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- Taking advantage of a NASCAR penalty to Elliott Sadler, Brad Keselowski cruised to victory in Saturday's Indy 250, the inaugural appearance for NASCAR's Nationwide Series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Keselowski beat Penske Racing teammate Sam Hornish Jr. to the finish line by 3.3 seconds after NASCAR penalized points leader Sadler for jumping the last restart of the race on Lap 83, after Kyle Busch's spin in Turn 1 brought out the fifth caution on Lap 79.

Sadler, who got a push into the lead from Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Dillon approaching the stripe, asserted that race leader Keselowski had spun his tires coming to green.

"It's so wrong to penalize me for a mistake they made," Sadler radioed to his crew. "NASCAR just took the championship away from me. They just took the damn championship right out of our hands."

Reluctantly, Sadler served a pass-through penalty on Lap 89 and dropped behind the other lead-lap cars. Charging through traffic, Sadler finished 15th to minimize the damage to his points lead, which shrank to one point over Dillon, who finished fifth.

Ty Dillon, Austin's brother, ran third, followed by Denny Hamlin. Michael Annett finished sixth and pocketed $100,000 from Nationwide's Dash 4 Cash program. Annett, Hornish, Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (ninth Saturday) earned Dash 4 Cash eligibility for next week's race at Iowa.

Thanks to Sadler's misfortune, Keselowski became the first Nationwide winner at the big track.

"I've been watching races here since I was a kid in Michigan," Keselowski said. "Everybody knows how special Indy is, and any win you can have here, whether it's the (Indianapolis) 500 or the Brickyard here (Sunday), the first Nationwide race -- every race is special.

"This is the 100th win for (owner) Roger Penske in NASCAR, so that's really special for him. I'm glad to be able to be the guy that delivered."

If Hornish had to finish second, there was consolation in being beaten by a teammate -- but only so much.

"There's always next week, but there'll never be another inaugural Nationwide race at Indy," said Hornish, a former winner of the Indy 500 during his tenure in open-wheel racing.

Contact from Danica Patrick's Chevrolet sent Reed Sorenson spinning on Lap 39. Sorenson slid sideways, blocking the track in front of Patrick, who T-boned the unfortunate Ford. Patrick's car was demolished, and the driver who posted six top-10 finishes in seven IndyCar starts exited the Nationwide event in 35th place.

"It's just unfortunate for our day -- it's a big race, a big weekend," Patrick said. "We were just trying to pick 'em off one by one (Patrick was running 20th at the time). . . . We just got shuffled back on that restart there (on Lap 22), picked the wrong line and got shuffled back.

"I got into the center of the corner, I got pretty close, and I might have tapped him -- I'm not sure. He was slowing it down quite a bit, so I didn't mean to take him out. . . . I was trying to go around him, and when I went around him, I think he hooked right, maybe, or something like that. Just a bummer. There was plenty racing left to work with, but what can you do?"

RACE RESULTS

1. (8) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 100, $58,225.

2. (13) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 100, $51,293.

3. (3) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 100, $49,743.

4. (4) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 100, $34,125.

5. (7) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 100, $38,343.

6. (21) Michael Annett, Ford, 100, $32,868.

7. (6) Joey Logano, Toyota, 100, $24,975.

8. (9) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 100, $24,100.

9. (10) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 100, $31,968.

10. (16) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 100, $32,643.

11. (12) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 100, $28,393.

12. (14) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 100, $28,143.

13. (19) Travis Pastrana, Toyota, 100, $27,868.

14. (15) Brian Scott, Toyota, 100, $27,543.

15. (5) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 100, $28,518.

16. (24) Jason Bowles, Toyota, 100, $27,193.

17. (40) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 100, $27,043.

18. (28) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 100, $26,893.

19. (26) Kenny Wallace, Toyota, 100, $26,693.

20. (23) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 100, $27,243.

21. (39) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 100, $26,418.

22. (2) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 100, $22,025.

23. (37) Timmy Hill, Ford, 100, $26,143.

24. (34) Eric McClure, Toyota, 100, $26,018.

25. (1) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 99, $23,375.

26. (25) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 99, $25,893.

27. (11) Ryan Blaney, Chevrolet, 99, $19,275.

28. (41) Tim Schendel, Chevrolet, 99, $19,200.

29. (22) Tayler Malsam, Toyota, 99, $25,568.

30. (17) Johanna Long, Chevrolet, 90, $25,793.

31. (42) Robert Richardson Jr., Chevrolet, 79, $25,393.

32. (29) Kyle Fowler, Ford, Engine, 72, $25,268.

33. (27) Reed Sorenson, Ford, Accident, 49, $18,740.

34. (18) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, Electrical, 41, $18,705.

35. (20) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, Accident, 38, $25,108.

36. (35) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 23, $18,580.

37. (38) Scott Riggs, Ford, Rear Gear, 18, $18,545.

38. (33) Erik Darnell, Chevrolet, Engine, 17, $18,461.

39. (43) TJ Bell, Chevrolet, Overheating, 10, $18,300.

40. (36) Kevin Lepage, Ford, Drive Shaft, 8, $18,190.

41. (30) Chase Miller, Chevrolet, Vibration, 6, $18,130.

42. (31) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, Electrical, 4, $18,100.

43. (32) Stephen Leicht, Chevrolet, Engine, 0, $18,035.

RACE STATISTICS

Average Speed of Race Winner: 126.05 mph.

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 59 Mins, 00 Secs. Margin of Victory: 3.304 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 5 for 24 laps.

Lead Changes: 9 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders: K. Kahne 0; Kyle Busch 1-17; J. Green 18; D. Hamlin 19-22; B. Keselowski 23-26; Kyle Busch 27-36; K. Kahne 37-40; Kyle Busch 41-64; S. Hornish Jr. 65-71; B. Keselowski 72-100.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Busch 3 times for 51 laps; B. Keselowski 2 times for 33 laps; S. Hornish Jr. 1 time for 7 laps; D. Hamlin 1 time for 4 laps; K. Kahne 1 time for 4 laps; J. Green 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in Points: E. Sadler - 704; A. Dillon - 703; R. Stenhouse Jr. - 691; S. Hornish Jr. - 676; J. Allgaier - 629; M. Annett - 607; C. Whitt - 577; M. Bliss - 524; B. Scott - 460; D. Patrick - 452.

NNS Recap: Elliott Sadler shakes off sickness for Chicagoland Nationwide win

Credit: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Elliott Sadler, driver of the #2 Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet, celebrates winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series STP 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 22, 2012, in Joliet, Ill.

July 22, 2012

By Jerry Bonkowski

Special for NASCAR Wire Service

JOLIET, Ill. -- Elliott Sadler went from sick to stupendous, rallying late to capture Sunday's STP 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.

Sadler, who also won the $100,000 Nationwide Dash 4 Cash bonus for the victory, had battled a flu bug for the previous three days, at one point spending 36 hours in bed. But when he arrived at the track Saturday, he felt the worst was behind him and was ready to practice and then race on Sunday.

"I'm still not 100 percent, but it feels good to win here in Chicago," Sadler said. "My wife and I came here with another couple, which also happens to be my doctor, and we had to put him to work.

"We drank a lot of fluids and I had to have a few IVs just to stay hydrated."

Give third-place finisher Justin Allgaier a big assist to Sadler's win, as he blocked runner-up Ricky Stenhouse Jr. several times in the green-white-checkered finish that turned the scheduled 200-lap event into a 201-lap finish.

"We were trying to get to Elliott and working both the high and low line," said Allgaier, who won this race last season. "At the end, we just couldn't hold off Ricky, but I'm very proud of this Brandt Chevy team and what we were able to do today."

Stenhouse eventually got past coming out of Turn 2 in the final lap, but didn't have enough in his car to pass Sadler. Stenhouse had dominated much of the race, including winning the pole earlier Sunday.

The final battle to the finish line was set up when, with seven laps remaining, Sam Hornish Jr. tapped the rear of Kyle Busch's car, sending it careening into Brendan Gaughan and putting both vehicles into the wall, bringing out the caution. While it was a tough break for both Gaughan and Busch, the incident was the best thing to happen for Stenhouse, as it set up a two-lap drag race to the checkered flag.

"I feel real bad about it," Hornish said. "I looked down because it looked like one of our hood pins was coming loose, then I looked up and got right into the back of Kyle's car. I get along real well with Kyle and, while he had already gotten on his plane and flown out, I apologized to (team manager) Rick Ren and also apologized to Brendan."

Busch finished 27th while Gaughan wound up right behind in 28th.

Stenhouse's bid for the victory was hurt when Brad Sweet spun for the second time in the race with 33 laps remaining, Stenhouse was caught on pit lane as the caution flag fell, dropping him from first to 10th when the race returned to green flag conditions.

Sadler assumed the lead at that point and never yielded in the remainder of the event.

"We were in the right place at the right time," Sadler said. "Ricky had the strongest car all day, but we kept working at it and eventually got into the right position.

"It was a big win, we won the Dash 4 Cash ($100,000 bonus), we kept our lead in the points and we go now to Indianapolis next week for the first-ever Nationwide Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway."

Still, Stenhouse got a great jump on the restart, rode around the track on the high line and began his quest to regain the lead, passing six cars and gaining three spots in the following two laps. He halved Sadler's two-second lead to just one in seven laps and the pole-sitter appeared as if he would finish off what he started, but it was not to be.

Allgaier made a bid on the second-to-last lap to overtake Sadler, but didn't have a strong enough car. While he held off Stenhouse as long as he could, Allgaier eventually yielded to the pole-sitter.

Stenhouse wound up leading 135 of the 201 laps, while Sadler led 35.

Allgaier finished third, followed by an outstanding run by series veteran Kenny Wallace and Michael Annett.

Rounding out the top 10 were Austin Dillon, Parker Kligerman, Hornish, Cole Whitt and Ryan Truex.

Danica Patrick finished 14th, the last car on the lead lap.

The points standings stayed the same, with Sadler remaining atop the Nationwide hill. He leads Austin Dillon by 11 points, followed by Stenhouse (19 points back), Hornish (minus-42) and Allgaier (minus-78).

RACE RESULTS

1. (15) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 201, $88,468.

2. (1) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 201, $75,593.

3. (16) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 201, $43,468.

4. (11) Kenny Wallace, Toyota, 201, $26,950.

5. (14) Michael Annett, Ford, 201, $31,043.

6. (2) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 201, $30,343.

7. (5) Parker Kligerman, Dodge, 201, $27,203.

8. (3) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 201, $26,713.

9. (8) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 201, $24,618.

10. (9) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 201, $24,943.

11. (6) Brian Scott, Toyota, 201, $23,368.

12. (7) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 201, $23,018.

13. (22) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 201, $22,293.

14. (13) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 201, $21,768.

15. (18) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 200, $22,093.

16. (24) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 200, $21,893.

17. (32) Travis Pastrana, Toyota, 200, $23,768.

18. (25) Timmy Hill, Ford, 200, $21,043.

19. (21) Brad Sweet, Chevrolet, 200, $20,918.

20. (28) Josh Richards, Ford, 199, $15,000.

21. (12) Johanna Long, Chevrolet, 199, $20,668.

22. (27) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 199, $20,518.

23. (17) Jason Bowles, Toyota, 198, $20,368.

24. (19) Eric McClure, Toyota, 198, $20,243.

25. (30) Tayler Malsam, Toyota, 197, $20,578.

26. (35) Tanner Berryhill, Toyota, 194, $13,500.

27. (4) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Accident, 193, $14,100.

28. (10) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, Accident, 192, $19,643.

29. (20) Jamie Dick, Chevrolet, 192, $13,050.

30. (26) Erik Darnell, Chevrolet, 179, $19,668.

31. (36) Benny Gordon, Chevrolet, Transmission, 60, $12,770.

32. (33) Danny Efland, Chevrolet, Engine, 47, $12,635.

33. (37) Tim Schendel, Chevrolet, Engine, 28, $12,525.

34. (41) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Handling, 19, $12,415.

35. (40) Matt Carter, Chevrolet, Handling, 18, $12,310.

36. (29) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, Ignition, 14, $12,275.

37. (39) Tim Andrews, Ford, Rear Gear, 13, $12,240.

38. (38) TJ Bell, Chevrolet, Vibration, 13, $12,186.

39. (42) Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, Overheating, 12, $12,070.

40. (34) Chase Miller, Chevrolet, Vibration, 11, $12,030.

41. (31) Stephen Leicht, Chevrolet, Clutch, 6, $11,965.

42. (43) Carl Long, Chevrolet, Overheating, 4, $11,935.

43. (23) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 4, $11,887.

RACE STATISTICS

Average Speed of Race Winner: 130.929 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 18 Mins, 10 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 0.331 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 5 for 25 laps.

Lead Changes: 13 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders: R. Stenhouse Jr. 0; S. Hornish Jr. 1-6; R. Stenhouse Jr. 7-48; A. Dillon 49; C. Whitt 50-51; M. Bliss 52-55; R. Stenhouse Jr. 56-59; S. Hornish Jr. 60-75; R. Stenhouse Jr. 76-107; M. Annett 108; R. Stenhouse Jr. 109-165; E. Sadler 166-168; J. Allgaier 169; E. Sadler 170-201.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): R. Stenhouse Jr. 4 times for 135 laps; E. Sadler 2 times for 35 laps; S. Hornish Jr. 2 times for 22 laps; M. Bliss 1 time for 4 laps; C. Whitt 1 time for 2 laps; A. Dillon 1 time for 1 lap; J. Allgaier 1 time for 1 lap; M. Annett 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in Points: E. Sadler - 675; A. Dillon - 664; R. Stenhouse Jr. - 656; S. Hornish Jr. - 633; J. Allgaier - 597; M. Annett - 569; C. Whitt - 550; M. Bliss - 491; D. Patrick - 443; B. Scott - 430.

NCWTS Recap: Buescher claims third Trucks win with last-lap pass at Chicagoland

Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images for NASCAR

July 21, 2012

By Jerry Bonkowski
Special to NASCAR Wire Service

JOLIET, Ill. –- When James Buescher was forced to pit to change carburetors during the course of Saturday night's American Ethanol 225, any chance of winning appeared lost, especially when he got back on track two laps down.

Buescher not only made up those two laps, he needed just one lap –- the final one –- to grab the lead and go on to win his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series-leading third race of the season at Chicagoland Speedway.

Leading just six laps in the entire event, Buescher passed points leader Timothy Peters and then held off Brendan Gaughan, who led 83 of the 150 laps, to win his second race in the last three events.

"We had issues early on where we kept losing power, so we decided to pit, changed the carburetor and the car came to life," Buescher said. "From there, it was a matter of getting our laps back and going forward from there."

And then, with a smile on his face, Buescher added, "We just had to pass 20 other trucks to win."

Gaughan was looking to get his first Trucks win in nearly nine years, and it appeared he would do just that, given how strong he and his Chevrolet truck looked early on. After spinning his tires on a late restart, he valiantly rallied from sixth to settle for second place.

"I think about not winning (since 2003) every single day," Gaughan said. "I thought tonight might finally be our night. But still, to run the way we did, and the great equipment Richard Childress gave us, this was really a great run, especially since we're only racing a part-time schedule."

Rather than risk wrecking on the final lap, points leader Peters wisely played it safe, finishing third. Matt Crafton finished fourth and Parker Kligerman rounded out the top 5.

"We did the right thing, used the right strategy and padded our points lead," Peters said. "You can't ask for much more than that – other than winning."

Rounding out the top 10 were Cale Gale, Ron Hornaday Jr, Jason Leffler, Jason White and David Starr.

With six laps left, pole-sitter Justin Lofton slammed into the outside wall, bringing out the final caution of the race, setting up a shootout to the checkered flag between Peters and Buescher.

Gaughan, starting only his fourth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race of the season, was hoping for his first NCWTS win since Oct. 11, 2003 at Texas Motor Speedway, his sixth triumph of that season. Unfortunately, he would come up short, extending his current winless streak to 130 races.

Bryan Silas' spin on lap 8 brought out the first caution flag, right after Miguel Paludo and Ron Hornaday Jr. got together. Paludo bounced off Hornaday and slapped the wall, damaging the right side of his Silverado and forcing him to pit for right-side tires.

Eight laps later, although there was no resulting caution, Johnny Sauter bounced into Nelson Piquet Jr., causing heavy damage that cost Piquet a number of laps on pit road as the damage was repaired.

After getting back on the track, Piquet was forced back to pit road when the splitter on his truck snapped off, prompting a replacement and eventually causing him to miss 36 of the first 75 laps.

On Lap 45, Jason Leffler missed his pit box, forcing him to go all the way around the 1.5-mile track. Then to make matters worse, Leffler's crew struggled to perform necessary service. As a result, Leffler went from being a top-five truck prior to his mistake to nearly two laps down.

Others also suffered pit stop mishaps, most notably drivers having issues finding their appropriate pix box, including series veterans Todd Bodine and Ron Hornaday Jr.

The yellow caution flag came out for a second time on lap 71 for debris. On the resulting pit stop, Gaughan came in only for fuel, allowing him to retain his lead over the rest of the field.

When Jennifer Jo Cobb brought out the caution flag for the third time due to a single truck spin, Buescher was forced to pit for a lengthy stop as his team replaced a faulty carburetor.

Chris Fontaine brought out the fourth caution of the race with 51 laps remaining following a solo spin.

Joey Coulter had one of the fastest trucks throughout the two practice sessions, qualified on the outside pole and remained in the top five for much of the first two-thirds of the race, but got caught up in a wreck with 44 laps left. His crew quickly repaired the damage and got him back on track (in 18th position) without losing a lap.

Four drivers were sent to the back of the field to start the race: Parker Kligerman and Chad McCumbee, both for adjustments after impound, and points leader Timothy Peters for and engine change and Johnny Sauter for missing the pre-race drivers meeting.

Several drivers reached significant milestones in their respective careers:

--Just one lap before halfway through the 150-lap event, four-time series champion Hornaday became the second driver in NCWTS history to complete 50,000 laps in his career. Hornaday finished 6th.

--Todd Bodine, who made his 200th series start, became the first driver to earn at least 200 starts in each of NASCAR's three premier series: NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, finished 18th.

--David Starr became the fifth driver in series history to reach 300 starts. Starr finished 10th.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race - American Ethanol 225
Chicagoland Speedway
Joliet, Illinois
Saturday, July 21, 2012

1. (11) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 150, $44850.
2. (6) Brendan Gaughan(i), Chevrolet, 150, $32240.
3. (4) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 150, $23210.
4. (9) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 150, $17325.
5. (17) Parker Kligerman, RAM, 150, $15850.
6. (8) Cale Gale #, Chevrolet, 150, $15425.
7. (14) Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet, 150, $14275.
8. (5) Jason Leffler, Toyota, 150, $14200.
9. (13) Jason White, Ford, 150, $14125.
10. (21) David Starr, Toyota, 150, $15350.
11. (22) Rick Crawford, Chevrolet, 150, $11725.
12. (3) Ty Dillon #, Chevrolet, 150, $13850.
13. (19) Ross Chastain #, Toyota, 150, $13825.
14. (16) John Wes Townley #, Toyota, 150, $13775.
15. (2) Joey Coulter, Chevrolet, 150, $14800.
16. (20) Dakoda Armstrong #, Toyota, 150, $13650.
17. (10) Miguel Paludo, Chevrolet, 150, $13575.
18. (7) Todd Bodine, Toyota, 150, $13525.
19. (18) Paulie Harraka #, Ford, 150, $13475.
20. (28) Chad McCumbee, Chevrolet, 150, $11775.
21. (1) Justin Lofton, Chevrolet, 150, $14425.
22. (15) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 149, $13100.
23. (34) Jennifer Jo Cobb, RAM, 144, $11075.
24. (23) Bryan Silas #, Ford, 142, $11050.
25. (36) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 142, $11175.
26. (12) Nelson Piquet Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 94, $11000.
27. (33) Chris Fontaine, Chevrolet, Accident, 92, $10975.
28. (25) Clay Greenfield, RAM, Brakes, 90, $10950.
29. (29) C.E. Falk, Chevrolet, Vibration, 72, $10900.
30. (24) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, Engine, 45, $11375.
31. (30) Chris Jones, Chevrolet, Engine, 25, $10850.
32. (31) Blake Koch(i), RAM, Vibration, 13, $10825.
33. (27) Dennis Setzer, Chevrolet, Electrical, 10, $10800.
34. (35) T.J. Bell(i), RAM, Vibration, 3, $10775.
35. (26) Jeff Green(i), Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 2, $10750.
36. (32) Johnny Chapman, Toyota, Vibration, 2, $10716.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 119.363 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 53 Mins, 06 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.247 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 31 laps.
Lead Changes: 16 among 10 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Lofton 1-12; B. Gaughan(i) 13-46; R. Hornaday Jr. 47; M. Paludo 48-52; P. Kligerman 53-58; P. Harraka # 59-60; B. Gaughan(i) 61-100; J. Coulter 101-103; J. Lofton 104; T. Dillon # 105; J. Lofton 106-116; T. Dillon # 117-132; B. Gaughan(i) 133-141; T. Peters 142-143; J. Buescher 144-148; T. Peters 149; J. Buescher 150;.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): B. Gaughan(i) 3 times for 83 laps; J. Lofton 3 times for 24 laps; T. Dillon # 2 times for 17 laps; J. Buescher 2 times for 6 laps; P. Kligerman 1 time for 6 laps; M. Paludo 1 time for 5 laps; T. Peters 2 times for 3 laps; J. Coulter 1 time for 3 laps; P. Harraka # 1 time for 2 laps; R. Hornaday Jr. 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points: T. Peters - 395; T. Dillon # - 372; J. Lofton - 365; J. Buescher - 360; P. Kligerman - 346; M. Crafton - 345; R. Hornaday Jr. - 334; J. Coulter - 322; N. Piquet Jr. - 302; J. White - 295.

Kasey Kahne survives Denny Hamlin's epic charge, wins at Loudon

Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

July 15, 2012

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

LOUDON, N.H. -- Kasey Kahne spoiled Denny Hamlin's heroic drive through the field and held on to win Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, all but securing a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with his second victory of the season.

Kahne led the final 66 laps, as fast-closing Hamlin ran out of time after starting deep in the field on a restart on Lap 240. Hamlin had dominated the race, but a miscommunication on pit strategy cost him track position in the late going, and Hamlin ran out of time after securing the runner-up spot.

Clint Bowyer ran third, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman completed the top 10.

The victory was Kahne's first at the Magic Mile and the 14th of his career. Kahne is 12th in the standings -- and the only driver in positions 11-20 with two victories -- with seven races left before the Chase field is set at Richmond.

The two drivers in positions 11-20 with the most victories qualify for the Chase as wild cards, with the tiebreaker being position in the standings.

With a Chase spot likely in his future, Kahne already is looking ahead to the next race at the 1.058-mile track, which hosts the second race in the Cup series' 10-race playoff.

"We feel good about where we were when we got here," Kahne said. "We know what we need to work on, as far as taking notes from today, what the track did and how it changed. The track will be a touch different when we come back, but a lot of the characteristics will be the same.

"We'll be able to look at this track and really have a good game plan going into the Chase race here. We know some of the other cars that are going to run well, too, when we come back, so we need to be a little better, and I've got the right guy to work on that (crew chief Kenny Francis)."

After a cycle of green-flag pit stops just past the halfway point, Hamlin stretched his lead over Kahne to 5.5 seconds, as small rain cells moved toward the speedway. Hamlin then began picking off competitive cars, lapping Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray and Paul Menard in quick succession.

As Hamlin worked traffic, however, Kahne made inroads into his advantage, cutting the margin between the top two cars to 2.601 seconds on Lap 187. Hamlin's entire lead disappeared two laps later when NASCAR called a debris caution.

With a light drizzle misting the race track, pole-sitter Kyle Busch stayed out while the rest of the contenders came to pit road to refuel. Busch led the field to a restart on Lap 197 but quickly gave way to Hamlin, who opened a lead of 2.304 seconds over his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate by Lap 211.

Racing on tires that were 32 laps older than those of his rivals, Busch kept the rest of the field at bay, but he overshot his pit stall slightly during a green-flag stop on Lap 231 and lost second to Johnson, who short-pitted on the same lap.

A caution on Lap 232 for David Reutimann's blown engine scrambled the field. Hamlin, who took four tires on Lap 235, lost 12 spots on pit road and restarted 13th as Kahne and Earnhardt led the field to green with 62 laps left.

By Lap 253, Hamlin had climbed to sixth. On Lap 257, he got by Biffle in Turn 1 for fifth. Harvick succumbed to Hamlin's superior speed on Lap 263, and the No. 11 Toyota was fourth. Earnhardt was the next victim, surrendering third place on Lap 272. Five laps later, Hamlin ducked to the inside of Bowyer through Turns 1 and 2, took over the second position and took off after Kahne before he ran out of time.

Kahne was acutely aware of where Hamlin was but was confident in his ability to hold the lead as the laps ran down.

"I was definitely focused on the lapped cars I was going by and how I could clear them quick," Kahne said. "But I lost a ton of forward drive, amd I was getting pretty loose, and Denny was coming on four (tires).

"So I was paying attention to where he was, but I felt pretty good about the lead we had."

The miscommunication between Hamlin and Grubb centered around whether to take two tires or four on the final stop. Grubb wanted to go with two tires, which would have kept them on par with the rest of the field, but he thought Hamlin wanted fresh rubber on both sides -- hence, the four-tire call.

"Darian asked me how much of the tires I felt like I used up," Hamlin said. "I said I felt like I used them up a substantial amount. I'd been on the lefts for quite a few laps, and so my information to him was that, yeah, we'd used up the tires. He said, 'I think two's the call.'

"I said 'OK, just give me tires and no adjustments.' He took that as I meant four tires. Just that small communication messed us up a little bit, but nothing's a given. Even though it was pretty obvious that we had a win in the bag if we took two tires, you never know what could have happened.

"Either way, we had a great day, and we're going to build on it."

Notes: Matt Kenseth, who finished 13th Sunday, held the series lead by 16 points over second-place Earnhardt, with Biffle in third, 40 points back . . . Carl Edwards ran 18th and remained 11th in the standings, 46 points behind 10th-place Keselowski. Edwards, however, is winless this season and needs a victory to enter the wild-card conversation.

RACE RESULTS

1. (2) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 301, $220,275.

2. (3) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 301, $228,751.

3. (5) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 301, $161,549.

4. (9) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 301, $120,360.

5. (22) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 301, $141,130.

6. (8) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 301, $142,721.

7. (7) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 301, $135,771.

8. (12) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 301, $136,721.

9. (11) Greg Biffle, Ford, 301, $97,735.

10. (6) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 301, $128,968.

11. (4) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 301, $114,399.

12. (10) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 301, $134,110.

13. (27) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 301, $134,071.

14. (16) Joey Logano, Toyota, 301, $91,060.

15. (15) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 301, $83,235.

16. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 301, $132,168.

17. (13) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 301, $89,635.

18. (21) Carl Edwards, Ford, 301, $123,676.

19. (20) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 301, $108,593.

20. (28) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 300, $112,593.

21. (25) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 300, $118,510.

22. (24) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 300, $120,760.

23. (18) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 300, $105,718.

24. (14) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 299, $103,418.

25. (31) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 299, $109,476.

26. (17) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 298, $100,818.

27. (39) David Gilliland, Ford, 298, $89,993.

28. (23) Aric Almirola, Ford, 298, $114,971.

29. (29) Landon Cassill, Toyota, 297, $104,005.

30. (30) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 297, $96,457.

31. (37) Ken Schrader, Ford, 294, $84,710.

32. (43) Stephen Leicht, Chevrolet, 293, $83,435.

33. (26) David Reutimann, Chevrolet, Engine, 229, $73,735.

34. (19) David Ragan, Ford, Engine, 139, $73,535.

35. (40) David Stremme, Toyota, Vibration, 101, $73,335.

36. (33) Casey Mears, Ford, Vibration, 91, $73,110.

37. (32) Josh Wise, Ford, Brakes, 82, $72,905.

38. (34) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, Brakes, 71, $72,678.

39. (35) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, Brakes, 68, $69,850.

40. (36) Michael McDowell, Ford, Vibration, 63, $69,700.

41. (41) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, Vibration, 32, $69,525.

42. (42) Kelly Bires, Ford, Brakes, 19, $69,400.

43. (38) JJ Yeley, Toyota, Engine, 4, $69,767.

RACE STATISTICS

Average Speed of Race Winner: 116.226 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 44 Mins, 24 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 2.738 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 3 for 15 laps.

Lead Changes: 16 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders: Kyle Busch 1-66; D. Hamlin 67; J. Gordon 68; J. Johnson 69; Kurt Busch 70-71; D. Hamlin 72-89; J. Gordon 90-93; D. Hamlin 94-153; J. Johnson 154; B. Keselowski 155-156; Kyle Busch 157; D. Hamlin 158-190; B. Keselowski 191; Kyle Busch 192-196; D. Hamlin 197-234; C. Bowyer 235; K. Kahne 236-301.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): D. Hamlin 5 times for 150 laps; Kyle Busch 3 times for 72 laps; K. Kahne 1 time for 66 laps; J. Gordon 2 times for 5 laps; B. Keselowski 2 times for 3 laps; J. Johnson 2 times for 2 laps; Kurt Busch 1 time for 2 laps; C. Bowyer 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 12 in Points: M. Kenseth - 707; D. Earnhardt Jr. - 691; G. Biffle - 667; J. Johnson - 656; D. Hamlin - 628; K. Harvick - 622; T. Stewart - 618; M. Truex Jr. - 617; C. Bowyer - 614; B. Keselowski - 613; C. Edwards - 567; K. Kahne - 547.