Briscoe Dominates at Texas, Wins Another for the Captain June 5, 2010
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Ryan Briscoe takes the checkered flag of the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Ryan Briscoe started from the pole, but took the lead back from Danica Patrick and last week’s Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti to win his first IZOD IndyCar Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
After the field made a round of late-race green-flag pit stops, Briscoe used a push to pass boost his speed exiting turn four to overtake Patrick and sailed away with the lead, capping off a total of 102 laps led in the 228-lap event.
“I’m surprised I didn’t have anything thrown at me,” Briscoe joked after the race. Patrick “gave us a good run for our money tonight. It was fun racing side-by-side with her.” (more…)
IRL Engine Announcement Leaves Many Unanswered Questions June 5, 2010
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Members of the IRL's ICONIC Advisory Committee, from left: Retired Air Force general Bill Looney, TMS president and general manager Eddie Gossage, former IRL vice president of competition Tony Cotman, IRL president of operations and competition Brian Barnhart, former driver and current team owner Gil de Ferran and IRL CEO Randy Bernard.
Members from the Indy Racing League’s “Innovative, Open-Wheel, New, Industry-Relevant, Cost-Effective” (ICONIC) Advisory Committee addressed the league’s new engine initiative at Texas Motor Speedway, but the briefing left more questions than answers.
Few technical specifics were addressed in the 30-minute press conference, which was cut short before reporters had the opportunity to ask about which, if any, engine manufacturers had expressed interest in joining Honda in the Izod IndyCar Series.
As previously announced after the Indianapolis 500, the league will implement new race engines in the IndyCar Series, beginning in 2012. League rules will dictate engines of no more than six cylinders, a displacement of up to 2.4 liters. The engines will be fueled with ethanol and will be equipped with turbo chargers. The current Honda engine is a naturally aspired 3.5 liter, V8.
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Bodine Wins Sixth Truck Series Race at Texas June 4, 2010
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Todd Bodine celebrates his sixth NASCAR Truck Series win at Texas Motor Speedway. Photo courtesy NASCAR.
Todd Bodine ended a 24-race-long winless streak at Texas Motor Speedway Friday, a track where he’s now won six races, the most of any driver in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at the track.
Bodine led 106 of 169 laps, a career high at TMS, while he held off Ron Hornaday during a green-white-checker overtime restart at the Fort Worth track. It’s the seventh Truck Series race at TMS to end under NASCAR’s overtime rule and it gave Bodine his sixth win at the track. That’s more wins than any driver in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup and the IRL Izod IndyCar Series and is tied with Kyle Busch’s record of six wins at TMS, five in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and one in the trucks. (more…)
IndyCar Final Practice Before Truck Race Great Move by TMS June 4, 2010
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentIt’s about an hour before the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, and the Izod IndyCar Series is out on the track for final practice.
Qualifying was earlier today and Ryan Briscoe took the pole. About this time tomorrow is when the green flag will drop, so I doubt there’s too much teams can glean from this session, other than basic setup and handling concerns.
Regardless, it’s a brilliant move. Fans are slowly but surely filing into the grandstands for the NASCAR race, and they’re getting a sneak peak at what’s in store for tomorrow. While most fans at TMS that come to the Truck Series race will inevitably be at Saturday’s IndyCar Series race, anybody that wasn’t planning on it will sure be enticed to make the trip back out to Fort Worth.
This may be an unintended consequence of the schedule, but it’s a great strategy.
Briscoe Wins Pole, Franchitti Starts Second at Texas June 4, 2010
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TMS track president Eddie Gossage presents Ryan Briscoe with a helmet trophy after the Penske driver won the pole for the Firestone 550. Photo courtesy IRL.
Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe will start Saturday’s Firestone 550 from the pole position, giving the team its sixth consecutive pole in the seven Izod IndyCar Series races of 2010.
While qualifying was conducted in the heat of the day Friday afternoon, the race will begin as the sun is setting and finish under the lights in Fort Worth.
Last week’s Indianapolis 500 winner, Dario Franchitti will start on the outside pole, putting two drivers who sometimes get overlooked in the mainstream consciousness by their famous wives – Briscoe recently married his wife, ESPN reporter Nicole (Manske) Briscoe and Franchitti is married to actress Ashley Judd – in the spotlight for the Izod IndyCar Series’ second longest race of the year. (more…)
Armchair Crew Chief Live from Texas Motor Speedway June 4, 2010
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The Armchair Crew Chief will be covering all the action at Texas Motor Speedway’s double header weekend. Friday, the Izod IndyCar Series will qualify, followed by the Winstar World Casino 400. Then Saturday, the IndyCar Series field takes to the track for the Izod IndyCar Series Firestone 550.
Make sure to check in with Armchaircrewchief.com and follow me on Twitter @armchaircrchief
Hamlin Wins Second Monday Race of 2010 April 19, 2010
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Denny Hamlin crosses the start/finish line to take the checkered flag and win the Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Photo courtesy NASCAR
In the second rained-delayed race of the year, Denny Hamlin – bum knee and all – took his team to Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway.
It’s only the second time a Cup race was run on a Monday at the Ft. Worth track and despite the delay, a significant number of fans still attended the event, which featured not only the Cup race, but also Saturday’s rain-delayed Nationwide Series race.
Hamlin held off a charging Jimmie Johnson to take the checkered flag for his second Monday win of the year, the first after having surgery on his left knee to repair a torn ACL. (more…)
Jimmie Johnson – A Deserving Champion November 22, 2009
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Jimmie Johnson will likely drive away with his fourth consecutive championship in 2009.
Jimmie Johnson deserves to win the 2009 championship. After winning Sunday at Phoenix, he’ll have to finish 25th or better to clinch an unprecedented fourth consecutive Sprint Cup championship. It’s certainly far from a done deal going into Homestead Miami Speedway – the race at Texas showed us that – but if the No. 48 team approaches the season finale like it has approached every other race this season, NASCAR fans will get to see history made.
A champion wins. Sunday’s Phoenix win was Johnson’s seventh of the season. He also has four poles this year. After he was involved in a wreck on lap three that resulted in losing more than 100 points of his lead on second place Mark Martin, Johnson, crew chief Chad Knaus and the rest of the team did what they always do, going out and qualifying third at Phoenix, leading 238 of 312 laps and cruising to victory. His lead over Martin is now 108 points going into the last race, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be resting on their laurels this week. (more…)
Kurt Busch Win Nets NASCAR Fan $1 Million November 8, 2009
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Kurt Busch celebrates his victory - and winning a fan $1 million - at Texas Motor Speedway by driving backwards around the track.
Kyle Busch didn’t make history by winning all three Texas Motor Speedway races this weekend, but Jimmie Johnson’s seemingly insurmountable lead in the points standings now seems surmountable and Kurt Busch’s win at the Dickies 500 earned a NASCAR fan $1 million.
The two Busch brothers battled each other throughout the race. Kyle led 232 of 334 laps, but Kurt was always within reach of his younger brother.
On the final run of green-flag pit stops, Kurt stayed out an extra two laps. He lost positions, but with the strategy, needed less fuel to make it to the end. Kurt said he was saving fuel in the race and knew, barring a miracle, his brother couldn’t make it, enabling him to cruise to the victory.
As for Johnson, on lap three, David Reutimann tapped the rear quarter of Sam Hornish Jr.’s No. 77 Dodge in between turns one and two, sending Hornish up the track and into championship leader Jimmie Johnson. (more…)
The Trick to Texas – Turns Two and Four November 8, 2009
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentIf you’re looking for where the action will be during Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway, keep your eyes on turns two and four.
The trick about this 1.5-mile oval is that at the exit of turns two and four, the transition from the banked turned to the relatively flat straightaway comes very quickly…especially at 180 mph.
“You lose the banking in a hurry,” explained Sprint Cup Series pace car driver and former NASCAR racer Brett Bodine. “You’re not done turning the car, your speeds get faster and faster, but you’re losing banking. Prior to getting to that part of the racetrack, you have to be in the perfect position to get off of there and keep the throttle down and stay wide open.” (more…)