Nifty at 50: Martin wins at Phoenix April 30, 2009
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NASCAR Official Rodney Wise waves the checkered flag for Mark Martin, driver of the #5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet as he crosses the finish line to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on April 18, 2009 in Avondale, AZ.
Who says NASCAR is a young man’s sport?
It’s been 97 races since his last trip to Victory Lane, but 50-year-old Mark Martin made his win at Phoenix International Raceway a good one, starting from the pole, leading the most laps, and by winning the Subway Fresh Fit 500, became the third oldest driver to win a race in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Martin, who after two years of driving a limited schedule in the Cup Series, signed with Hendrick Motorsports to drive the famed No. 5 car for the full 2009 season. His start to the season has been slow, at one point being on the bubble of the top 35 in owners points, but after a string of top ten finishes and three poles this season so far, Martin finally got in Victory Lane.
“He makes dreams come true,” Martin said of team owner Rick Hendrick, later adding, “It’s been an incredible ride since stepping out of the 6 car, and you know, having a chance to re-energize myself and realize how much I love it…The performance level that I have and the cars that I’m get to go drive right now, I love it. I feel really lucky.”
Martin, the old school driver he is, didn’t do the burnout today’s drivers do to celebrate a victory, but nevertheless, fans lined the catch fence to salute him, flashbulbs going off all around him. As he celebrated with his team in Victory Lane, he was congratulated by former Roush Fenway Racing teammates Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth, and even Jack Roush himself, among many others. (more…)
Gordon conquers Texas April 5, 2009
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Jeff Gordon does a victory burnout after winning the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 5, 2009.
Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead Miami Speedway are the only tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit where Jeff Gordon has never won a race.
Texas was also the only track where Gordon had ever finished dead last, a displeasure he’s experienced twice, including at last year’s edition of the Samsung 500.
So on a day when rock band Foreigner performed its famous song “Feels Like the First Time” for fans before the race, it seemed only fitting that Gordon, starting from second position, took the lead on the first lap, stayed up front the whole race, and broke a 47-race losing streak by winning the Samsung 500, his first Texas win in 17 starts.
“It feels like the first time I’ve ever won, period,” Gordon said. (more…)
Ky. Busch makes history at TMS April 4, 2009
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Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota, takes a victory lap after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 4, 2009 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Kyle Busch had NOS on the hood of his car, but the way he drove his No. 18 Toyota at the O’Reilly 300, he may have had a little NOS under the hood as well.
Busch started from the pole and lead 178 of 300 laps, a Nationwide Series record for laps lead at Texas Motor Speedway. His win makes him the first Nationwide Series driver to win from the pole at the track, and the first to win three consecutive TMS races in the series.
He started the race strong and never let up. By the time the first caution came out on lap 68, Busch had lapped all but the top 11 cars in the 43-car field. (more…)
Engine rule keeps Busch from burning out April 4, 2009
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentKyle Busch didn’t celebrate his win at the O’Reilly 300 with a burnout Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. NASCAR implemented a new rule in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series to cut costs for teams by requiring they use no more than two engines every three races.
In order to save the engine, Busch refrained from the burnout.
“You’ll have to talk to NASCAR about that one,” Busch said after the win. “There’s not anything we can do about it. I did [miss doing burnouts], that was one of the first times I haven’t done a burnout after a race.”
Instead, Busch took a page from his brother Kurt’s playbook, driving his car backwards down the front stretch, although he said he wasn’t copying his sibling.
“I backed up because I didn’t want to leave out the people down in turn one,” Busch said. “I just backed up and got back to those guys [on turn one] and [drove] forward along the front straightaway instead of wasting a whole lap.”
Johnson, Hamlin tie for fastest in final practice April 4, 2009
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentJimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin tied for fastest in final practice for Sunday’s Samsung 500. Johnson ran 47 laps, Hamlin ran 38, but both drivers’ first laps were their fastest at an average speed of 183.717 mph.
Tomorrow’s pole sitter David Reutimann led the first practice session with a speed of 186.213 mph, on his first of 25 laps, but fell to 17th on the happy hour chart.
NASCAR banquet may be moving to Vegas April 3, 2009
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentThe buzz around Texas Motor Speedway has been that NASCAR has sealed a deal to move the season-ending champion’s banquet from New York City to Las Vegas.
For Vegas natives Kyle and Kurt Busch, the potential move comes as exciting news.
“It’d be special being that I’m from there,” Kyle Busch said. “Vegas will be a little bit different…but at least the weather might be a little warmer.”
Drivers, owners, crews, and sponsors have been converging on the Big Apple to reflect on the previous season and honor the sport’s new champion for 27 years. But the threat of cold weather and the enormous expense of sending thousands to New York has made Vegas an increasingly better option. (more…)
Teams change grill to make pit stop cleaning faster April 3, 2009
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A crew member from Greg Biffle's No. 16 team cleans the new grill during a pit stop at the Auto Club 500 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
Getting air into the radiator of a Sprint Cup car is crucial to keeping the eight cylinder engines roaring. Before the days of NASCAR’s new car, crew members would use a brush attached to a long pole to scrap away any trash or other debris that got in the grill.
On the new car, the grill is located up underneath the nose of the car. The splitter pushes air into the grill, improving cooling. But because of the location of the grill, crew members had trouble keeping it clean.
It’s a subtle difference, but astute observers have noticed a difference to the front end of Sprint Cup cars. The grill has been lowered and angled, making a triangle with the top and back portions of the nose piece.
“When the COT first came about, [the grill] used to be a squared off piece that fit the actual contour of the nose, but then we found out it’s really hard for a tire changer during a pit stop to clean that thing out,” Tony Stewart’s crew chief Darian Grubb explained. “By angling it 45 degrees, it makes it so the changer can stick his hand between the struts and wipe with one wipe and get it clean.”
Despite creating a worse aerodynamic condition, it hasn’t stopped any of the cars in the field for Sunday’s Samsung 500 from running the new grill because, Grubb said, the aerodynamic loss is very slight.
“It’s more just for the preference of the tire changers and tire carriers so they can get around there and clean the grill during a pit stop,” he said.
Information key to Stewart-Haas/Hendrick connection April 3, 2009
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Darian Grubb (L) speaks with Hendrick Motorsports engineer Scott Maxim (C) and Tony Stewart during rain delayed practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 at the Martinsville Speedway on March 28, 2009.
NASCAR teams run on information. The success of large organizations is based on the teams’ ability to compare notes and data about the racecars.
For a two-car team like Stewart-Haas Racing, driving Hendrick Motorsports cars and engines, and having access to the team’s wealth of information has been crucial to the team’s early success.
But sharing that information is not a one-way street, and as driver/owner Tony Stewart and teammate Ryan Newman continue to improve, Hendrick Motorsports hopes to glean the same kind of information from Stewart-Haas that it’s giving them.
“We’ve all been wondering when those cars were going to run better,” said Hendrick’s Jimmie Johnson, referring to the years prior when the team was Haas CNC Racing, and didn’t have two superstar drivers behind the wheel. (more…)
Reutimann on pole for TMS’s Samsung 500 April 3, 2009
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentMichael Waltrip Racing’s No. 00 car was making headlines at the qualifying session for the 2008 edition of the Samsung 500 not for a good run, but for the horrific wreck that sent driver Michael McDowell barrel rolling eight times down the two-and-a-half story banking of Texas Motor Speedway’s turns one and two.
At Friday’s qualifying for this year’s Samsung 500, the No. 00 was making headlines again, this time for driver David Reutimann’s pole-winning lap.
“Franchise” as Reutimann’s team has come to call him, [it’s even printed on his car over the window] earned his second career Sprint Cup pole Friday. It’s his fourth top 10 start of 2009, a marked changed for a team that just two years ago, didn’t even make this race. (more…)
Change suits Bowyer just fine April 3, 2009
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Clint Bowyer went in to 2009 with a lot of changes. He moved from his established Richard Childress Racing team to the organization’s new fourth team, and along with that came a new crew chief, pit crew and sponsor.
Despite all the changes, Bowyer said the momentum gained at Daytona has put the No. 33 team on the right track.
“I feel like we’ve just done a very good job of getting the thing started off right,” Bowyer said. It’s so easy for a new team to get down before they ever even get a chance and I’m excited about getting the year started off right.”
And things have started off pretty well for Bowyer. He currently sits second in points, securely locked into this weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway. (more…)