Mayfield drug suspension goes to court May 29, 2009
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Jeremy Mayfield
Jeremy Mayfield and his attorney have filed a lawsuit to throw out his failed drug test and lift his suspension, moves that would pave the way for him to return to racing in the Spring Cup Series.
Mayfield said the combination of the over-the-counter allergy drug Claritin-D and the prescription drug Adderall, a psychostimulant used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder, caused the failed drug test.
NASCAR and the doctor that runs its drug testing program have maintained that Mayfield’s explanation for the failed drug test is not possible and that his failure was for something more serious – a recreational or performance-enhancing drug. But NASCAR has consistently refused to disclose the drug Mayfield tested positive for or provide a list of banned substances. (more…)
Eury Jr. out as No. 88 crew chief May 29, 2009
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Tony Eury Jr., left, has been replaced as Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief.
Rick Hendrick finally made a decision that needed to be made before Dale Earnhardt, Jr. ever got behind the wheel of the No. 88 – separating NASCAR’s most popular driver from his cousin and crew chief Tony Eury Jr.
After weeks of speculation, and a season-low 40th place finish at the Coke 600, Hendrick finally pulled the trigger, reassigning Eury to a research and development position and installing team manager Brian Whitesell this weekend at Dover, followed by Lance McGrew as interim crew chief beginning at Pocono.
The problem isn’t that Eury is a bad crew chief. Like I’ve said before, he’s just not at the same caliber as the other Hendrick crew chiefs.
Rain ruins Coke 600, Reutimann wins May 29, 2009
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David Reutimann, left, talks with his father and spotter, short-track legend Buzzie Reutimann, during the final rain delay of the Coca Cola 600. Reutimann won the rain-shortened race.
There’s not much to say about David Reutimann’s Coca Cola 600 win.
After a two-and-a-half hour rain delay on Sunday, the race was postponed to Monday afternoon, where persistent rains led to three more rain delays, the final one after 227 laps.
Reutimann’s No. 00 team, running 14th, gambled and stayed out when the leading 13 cars pitted. When the cars were brought down pit road for the rain delay, Reutimann stood by his car and waited. Two hours later, the race would be called and the 39-year-old driver would get his first Sprint Cup Series win.
It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t exciting. But when a race gets rain-delayed, somebody has to win it, and Reutimann’s team made the right strategy call.
“Man, it’s fun,” Reutimann said of the win. “But it felt like I was out on pit road for a month. I wanted either the sun to come out and it quit or just pour. It just kind of stayed in between.”
It was the first win for Michael Waltrip Racing, a team that has struggled to get on its feet since its namesake left Dale Earnhardt Inc. to start his own team. (more…)
Stewart gets first win as team owner May 21, 2009
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Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on May 16, 2009 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.
It was only a matter of time before Tony Stewart’s new team would end up in Victory Lane. While winning the Sprint All-Star Race may not be a points-paying event and a true “win” by many race fans’ standards, the win is a significant milestone in the fledgling team’s history.
Just ask the guy selling the T-shirts and hats.
Stewart passed Matt Kenseth with two laps to go of the final 10-lap shootout to earn his first win in the All-Star Race and as a team owner.
The win was monumental both for Stewart, and for the Stewart-Haas organization. It’s the first time the team has won a race dating back to its inception as Haas CNC racing in 2002.
“I was so happy for…those guys,” Stewart said of his pit crew, many of whom had never been to Victory Lane. “I know it probably sounds pretty lame to say, but my first reaction was I wish I could have seen the looks on their faces when we came off of 4 and we had the lead with two to go. I didn’t dare say anything on the radio. I didn’t say a word. But, man, I wanted to see what the pit box looked like those last two laps.” (more…)
2009 is the year of Hendrick/Stewart-Haas May 14, 2009
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Mark Martin hops out of his car to celebrate his Southern 500 victory.
Mark Martin’s resurgence this year is a testament to not only to the 50-year-old driver’s abundant talent, but the dominance of Hendrick Motorsports.
While Martin took his second checkered flag of the season Saturday night, six of the seven finishers of the Southern 500 were driving Hendrick Motorsports equipment, including part-time rookie Brad Keselowski, driving Hendrick’s No. 25 car, and the two-car Stewart Haas Racing team of Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman.
Martin, who spent most of his career driving for then Roush Racing, [now Roush Fenway Racing] has always had good equipment, but it’s the attention to detail that’s putting Martin in Victory Lane.
“When I go over there to that shop, I feel like I’ve gone to NASA and they’re getting me prepared to go to the moon…They treat every little pad, every little detail, everything about it – the helmet, the shield, the air to the helmet, the cooler, the cooling, every piece of it is handled as if it was the most important thing in our race,” Martin said. “This is quite an experience for me to get to be a part of this at this stage in my career.” (more…)
Ky. Busch gets Richmond birthday wish May 8, 2009
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Kyle Busch takes his signature bow after winning at Richmond
“What do you get a guy that has everything or buys anything he wants?” Kyle Busch asked after Saturday’s race at Richmond International Raceway.
How about a weekend sweep of the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series?
24-year-old Busch became only the second driver to win on his birthday when he took the checkered flag Saturday, following Cale Yarborough, who did it twice, on his 38th birthday in 1977 and six years later in 1983, when he turned 44.
The Crown Royal Presents the Russ Friedman 400 saw a track-record tying 15 cautions, but race fans got a clean finish in the last 40 laps. Busch got past Jeff Gordon on the outside of turn three on lap 352 and never looked back. (more…)
Aero changes, not engine, needed to keep plate racing safe May 8, 2009
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentThere’s not a lot of blame to go around for Carl Edwards wreck at Talladega Superspeedway – everything rests squarely on the shoulders of NASCAR.
When NASCAR introduced the Car of Tomorrow, its heavier body and bulkier profile was supposed to create more drag and keep the race cars on the ground – even at the restrictor plate sister tracks of Talladega and Daytona.
While the plates would remain, the cars and the racing would be safer. The front and rear bumpers now line up so when a driver bump drafts he avoids lifting a car’s rear wheels off the ground. The rear wing, which replaced the spoiler on the old car, along with the front air splitter, was supposed to create the proper aerodynamic forces to keep the car on the ground. The exciting bumper-to-bumper racing fans love and love to hate would be better than ever.
But other safety features on the car, like the roof flaps, cowl flaps, roof fins, and the shark fin that runs on the left side of the rear windshield were just transposed from the old car and not adjusted with the new NASCAR racecar. (more…)
Last-lap wreck puts Edwards in the fence, Keselowski in Victory Lane May 1, 2009
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Brad Keselowski, driver of the #09 Miccosukee Chevrolet, crossed the finish line before winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 26, 2009 in Talladega, Alabama.
“We’ll race like this until we kill somebody. Then [NASCAR] will change it.”
Those eerie words from Carl Edwards after he emerged from his wrecked, on-fire race car, which had just flown 15 feet in the air, hitting the catch fence before returning to the surface of the Talladega Superspeedway.
On the last restart, Ryan Newman led Dale Earnhardt Jr., and as Earnhardt pushed Newman around the track, they pulled away from the pack of cars. But Edwards made a charge to the front with help from an unlikely source, Brad Keselowski, who drives for Earnhardt in the Nationwide Series and was driving a car owned by James Finch.
The two charged toward the front of the field passing the duo of Newman and Earnhardt, and as Edwards and Keselowski raced through the tri-oval and towards the start-finish line, which is near turn one at Talladega, Keselowski made his move, faking out Edwards to get the bottom line of the track. As Edwards tried to block Keselowski, he spun out before going air-born. The still-spinning left rear wheel of Edwards’ No. 99 decimated the hood of Newman’s car, putting the car vertical before flipping over and hitting the fence. (more…)