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Dillon To Move To Sprint Cup Full Time In 2014

Michael J Smith — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:45:38 +0000

Austin Dillon will move to the Sprint Cup Series full time in 2014, according to AutoWeek. Dillon is slated to run in the Nationwide Series full time this year before making the move in 2014.

The plan seems to be to run Dillon in six to eight, possibly more, Cup races this season to prepare him for 2014.

Dillon will drive for Circle Sport, a satellite team of Richard Childress Racing, the team owned by his grandfather. Dillon will also drive one race for Phoenix Racing and owner James Finch.

Dillon made one start for Circle Sport in the Sprint Cup Series last season, finishing 24th in the No. 33 Chevy in the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Stephen Leicht, Tony Raines, Elliott Sadler, Hermie Sadler, and Cole Whitt also drove for Circle Sport in 2012, with Leicht winning Rookie Of The Year honors.

Childress indicated that he didn’t know how many Cup races his grandson would run, saying that it depended on sponsorship.

Austin’s younger brother Ty Dillon may also run some Cup races. In 2014, the younger Dillon will move from the Camping World Truck Series to the Nationwide Series full time.

Many speculate that the elder Dillon may drive the No. 3 Chevy, which hasn’t been run in Cup since 2001, when Dale Earnhardt Sr died in a last lap crash in the Daytona 500.

Dillon finished third in the Nationwide Series standings, winning two races last year. He will look to improve upon that in 2013.

Reutimann To Replace Busch In No. 51 At Pocono

Michael J Smith — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:54:11 +0000

Following Kurt Busch’s suspension that will cause him to miss this weekend’s Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway, Tommy Baldwin Racing announced that David Reutimann will fill in for Busch in the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevy. Reutimann was slated to drive the No. 10 TBR Chevy in the Pocono race. Instead, Dave Blaney will pilot that machine.

Tony Raines will take over driving duties in TBR’s No. 36 Chevy, which was to be driven by Blaney.

Team owner Tommy Baldwin said:

I understand the position James was put in this week. As an owner of a small team, I wanted to help him out. We talked and thought that this lineup would be best for both of our teams.

Busch was suspended following an incident with Sporting News reporter Bob Pockrass after the 5-Hour Energy 200 at Dover International Speedway.

Kenseth Survives To Win Bizarre Daytona 500

NASCAR Wire Service — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:35:02 +0000

Finally, nothing out of the ordinary happened.

In a Daytona 500 that featured the first postponement in its history, a ball of fire from a racecar vs. jet dryer collision under caution and a surfeit of wild action in the closing laps, Matt Kenseth won his second Daytona 500 when the tandem of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle couldn’t catch the race winner in a green-white-checkered-flag finish.

Earnhardt made a slingshot move around Greg Biffle to run second in the 54th running of the Great American Race at Daytona International Speedway. Biffle came home third, followed by Denny Hamlin and Jeff Burton, as a late caution necessitated two extra laps beyond the scheduled 200.

Paul Menard, Kevin Harvick, pole-sitter Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Mark Martin completed the top 10.

Earnhardt hooked up with Biffle and pushed the No. 16 Ford after a restart on Lap 201, but the pair could not make headway against Kenseth who moved to the front of the field and stayed there.

Earnhardt expected Biffle to pull out and make a move, but the move never came.

“I was waiting and waiting,” Earnhardt said. “It looked like he might have been trying to make a move on the back straightaway, but nothing materialized there. Then we came off (Turn) 4, and I kind of waited till the last minute for him to have his opportunity to try to pass Matt, and nothing was happening, so I just pulled out and went around him.”

Kenseth had plenty of power at the finish, despite problems with the cooling system that plagued him early in the race.

“We had a lot of problems — it was spewing water,” said Kenseth, who notched the 22nd NASCAR Sprint Cup victory of his career. “I have to give a lot of credit to (engine builder) Doug Yates and the guys at the engine shop. We had great horsepower.

“I could get a pretty good start on the bottom and either Denny or Dale Jr. could push me for a while and then they just couldn’t stay attached and I would get away from them just in time to get in front of Greg, and the two of us together could make some unbelievable speed. I have to thank Greg. We worked together really good all day long. He had a really fast car all day as well.”

A multicar wreck on Lap 188 thinned the herd considerably, taking out a handful of competitive cars. Jamie McMurray spun wildly near the entrance to Turn 1, and the chain-reaction collision wiped out the cars of Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne and Aric Almirola and damaged the machines of Edwards and Tony Stewart.

Another melee on Lap 196 set up the overtime. After contact from Joey Logano’s Toyota, the Ford of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. caromed into Stewart’s Chevrolet, turning the defending Cup champion sideways and igniting a pinball-style wreck that also involved Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman.

A strange weekend that saw the first weather postponement in the history of the Daytona 500 got downright bizarre during a round of pit stops under caution late in the race.

Juan Pablo Montoya brought his No. 42 Chevrolet to pit road under caution on Lap 160, complaining of transmission issues. His car fell victim to a strong vibration when he returned to the track, and Montoya slid out of control at the entrance to Turn 3 and slammed into a jet dryer, which was against the outside wall, blowing the track.

The collision ignited the jet fuel in the dryer and set both vehicles ablaze. Montoya and the driver of the service vehicle both escaped the wreckage, but the latter — Duane Barnes, from Michigan International Speedway — was taken to nearby Halifax Medical Center for further evaluation.

“Something failed in the rear of the car, and the car just spun into the jet dryer,” Montoya said after a visit to the care center. “I left the pits and felt a really weird vibration, and I came back in and checked the rear end and (they) said it was OK, and I got into the backstraight and we were going in fourth gear but wasn’t going that fast.

“Every time I got on the gas, I could feel the rear squeezing. When I was telling the spotter to have a look how the rear was moving, the car just turned right.”

NASCAR red-flagged the race as safety vehicles arrived on the scene and track workers attempted to put out the fire.

“There’s going to be a big speed bump heading into Turn 3,” crew chief Steve Letarte told Dale Earnhardt Jr., fearful that the blaze would melt the asphalt. “I will be shocked — shocked — if we can get this race restarted.”

Letarte was wrong.

Safety workers cleared the scene by hoisting the remains of the jet dryer on a tow truck with a boom to prevent further damage to the asphalt. After a stoppage of two hours, five minutes and 29 seconds, the event resumed just before midnight ET.

The race was barely one lap old when contact from the front bumper of Elliott Sadler’s Chevrolet turned the No. 48 Chevy of five-time champion Jimmie Johnson hard into the outside wall near the exit from the tri-oval.

Unable to avoid the wreck, David Ragan plowed into the side of Johnson’s car. Neither Johnson nor Ragan was able to continue; they retired from the race in the 42nd and 43rd positions, respectively.

The cars of defending race winner Trevor Bayne, Danica Patrick and Kurt Busch were severely damaged in the melee and all three headed to the garage for extensive repairs and later returned to the track.

“The steering’s off,” Patrick said, as she brought the No. 10 Chevy to pit road. Her crew repaired the rear suspension, but Patrick was 62 laps down when she reappeared on Lap 66. She wound up 38th in her Sprint Cup debut.

Notes: Martin Truex Jr. won the $200,000 bonus for leading the race at the halfway point . . . The top four drivers when Juan Montoya hit the jet dryer were Dave Blaney, Landon Cassill, Tony Raines and David Gilliland, none of whom had come to pit road with the rest of the lead-lap cars. Irreparable damage to the track or an ill-timed rain cell could have made a winner of Blaney. . . . Edwards and Kyle Busch had to restart from the rear when the race resumed for removing tear-offs from their windshields under the red flag.

Ambrose Makes It Three In A Row At The Glen

Michael J Smith — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:45:25 +0000

Marcos Ambrose won his third consecutive Nationwide Series race at Watkins Glen International, dominating the Zippo 200, leading 60 of 82 laps, including the final 30 laps.

Top 5: Ambrose, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Busch.

Ron Fellows, Nelson Piquet Jr, Jacques Villeneuve, Steven Wallace, and Michael McDowell rounded out the top 10.

Notables: JR Fitzpatrick (11th), Tayler Malsam (12th), Tony Ave (15th), Paul Menard (17th), Michael Annett (19th), Kenny Wallace (21st), Boris Said (22nd), Ryan Newman (25th), Trevor Bayne (29th), Brendan Gaughan (30th), Carl Edwards (33rd), Justin Allgaier (34th), and Jason Leffler (35th).

A 10-car pileup on lap 24 caused a red flag that stopped the race for 25 minutes. It appeared that Jason Leffler made contact with Colin Braun as he was coming back onto the track after getting wide coming off of Turn 1. The contact sent Leffler hard into the outside wall and sent Braun into the inside wall.

Leffler bounced off the wall and slid back into Trevor Bayne, sending Bayne spinning. Justin Allgaier then ran right into the back of Leffler. Allgaier’s badly damaged Dodge slid sideways, blocking part of the track. As the cars close to the incident attempted to stop, other cars ran into them, lifting them onto the hoods of the cars that hit them.

When the dust settled, 10 cars were involved including Said, Brendan Gaughan, Tony Raines, Victor Gonzales Jr, Bill Johnson, among others.

Edwards Wins First N’Wide Race Of Season

Michael J Smith — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 03:30:48 +0000

Carl Edwards won the NASCAR Nationwide Series Bucyrus 200 at Road America from the pole position to score his first victory of the season. Jacques Villeneuve took the lead with 12 laps to go. But, the caution flew, bunching up the field. Edwards passed Villeneuve with nine laps to go.

Another caution for a wreck set up a three-lap run to the finish. Ron Fellows took third from Brendan Gaughan. Villeneuve attempted to chase down Edwards. But, Villeneuve had body damage and a tire rub. He began to slip back with a mechanical issue. He finished 25th.

Top 5: Edwards, Fellows, Brendan Gaughan, Brad Keselowski and Owen Kelly.

Brad Coleman, JR Fitzpatrick, Jason Leffler, Steve Wallace, and Trevor Bayne rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Colin Braun (11th), Ron Hornaday (12th), Tayler Malsam (15th), Paul Menard (16th), Kenny Wallace (21st), Jacques Villeneuve (25th), Ricky Stenhouse (26th), and Justin Allgaier (35th).

An eleven-car pileup brought out the red flag on lap 29. The wreck started when Brian Scott got turned in the corner. It looked like Brendan Gaughan got into the back of him. Some cars slowed to avoid hitting him, stacking up the field.

Mike Bliss stopped to avoid hitting Michael McDowell and Alex Kennedy. Kennedy ended up in the kitty litter. Mike Wallace slowed to avoid hitting Bliss, while Tony Raines slowed to avoid hitting Wallace. Robb Brent slammed into Raines, who slammed into Wallace.

Then, Colin Braun made contact with Brent, turning him. Stanton Barrett turned to avoid them and ended up in the kitty litter. Kyle Kelley then hit Braun. The race was red-flagged for cleanup.

Hamlin Holds Off Busch To Win Royal Purple 200

Michael J Smith — Mon, 10 May 2010 03:15:30 +0000

Denny Hamlin held off Kyle Busch on the final restart to win the Royal Purple 200 Nationwide Series race at Darlington Raceway. Hamlin dominated, leading 111 of 147 laps. The victory was also the first for crew chief Kevin Kidd, since he took over for Dave Rodgers, who is Kyle Busch’s crew chief in the Sprint Cup Series.

Top 5: Hamlin, Busch, Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne, and Jason Leffler.

Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Brian Vickers, and Paul Menard finsihed sixth through 10th, respectively.

Notables: Michael Annett (11th), Steve Wallace (12th), Justin Allgaier (17th), Kenny Wallace (20th), Steve Arpin (29th), Matt Kenseth (30th), Greg Biffle (35th), Clint Bowyer (39th), and David Gilliland (41st).

Matt Kenseth was involved in two accidents, the second of which put him out of the race. Brian Scott spun in turn 4. Tony Raines turned down to avoid him and got into Kenseth. Kenseth spun into the inside wall. He hit hard, but was okay and waved to the crowd before entering the ambulance for his required trip to the infield care center. He finsihed 30th. Raines finished 18th.

Greg Biffle also had trouble at the track too tough to tame. He spun out of turn 2, hitting the wall. He suffered hevay damage. He finished 35th.

Ambrose Wins Zippo 200 at the Glen

Michael J Smith — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:36:28 +0000

Marcos Ambrose made a daring move entering the bus stop to pass Kyle Busch in the Zippo 200 at the Glen. He then held off Busch and Carl Edwards on two restarts to win the Nationwide Series race for the second year in a row.

Top 5: Ambrose, Busch, Edwards, Kevin Harvick, and Ron Fellows.

Jeff Burton, Greg Biffle, David Ragan, Brad Keselowski, and Scott Speed rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Boris Said (11th), Steve Wallace (12th), Robby Gordon (14th), Jeffrey Earnhardt (24th), Paul Menard (29th), Joey Logano (33rd), Denny Hamlin (34th), Ryan Newman (35th), and Brian Vickers (37th).

Robby Gordon and Joey Logano had a few incidents during the race. Gordon appeared to get loose going into Turn 1, and got into Logano, which cut Gordon’s tire down. Gordon then brushed the wall and sustained damage to the right front of his car but was able to continue.

With 11 laps to go, Tony Raines spun. Shortly after that, Gordon got into Logano, sending Logano off course and into a tire barrier. As Logano tried to make his way back, his car was shooting off flames, so he stopped on track and climbed out of the car. His day was over. He finished 33rd. Gordon was able to continue. He finshed 14th.

Logano said:

Apparently, we got in a little grudge match after I cut down his tire. … It’s a pretty raw deal. You can’t fix stupid, it’s forever. You put that in your memory bank.

Gordon responded saying:

We both had good cars and were just trying to improve our finishing position for the day. After the bus stop chicane, Joey wrecked the No. 34 of Tony Raines. This contact allowed me to get underneath him in Turn 9. He saw that I was going to pass him for the Lucky Dog position, so he tried to block me. This maneuver resulted in his right rear tire connecting with my left front. From there, I felt he would be okay because he was in the section where the outer loop was. Rather than going down the inner loop, he decided to cut across the grass, hitting the tire barrier.

Ragan Wins Aaron's 312

Michael J Smith — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:44:53 +0000

David Ragan passed Ryan Newman a few hundred feet from the start-finish line to win the Nationwide Series Aaron’s 312 from Talladega Superspeedway.

On the final lap, Newman led with a push from Dale Earnhardt Jr. Coming off turn 4, Jr peeked out to the outside. Newman went to block, and made some minor contact, killing Jr’s momentum. Ragan, with a push from Joey Logano, squeezed between Jr and Tony Raines and came up along side of Newman. The two made hard contact, but Ragan was able to keep his momentum and win the race.

Top 5: Ragan, Newman, Logano, Raines, Earnhardt Jr.

Jason Leffler, Jason Keller, Scott Lagasse Jr, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Busch finished sixth through 10th.

Notables: Carl Edwards (13th), Brian Vickers (20th), Steve Wallace (34th), Matt Kenseth (35th), and Michael Waltrip (40th).

Gordon On Pole For Goodys Fast Pain Relief

Michael J Smith — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 03:24:45 +0000

NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying for the Goodys Fast Pain Relief 500 from Martinsville Speedway was set by owner’s points due to rain. Jeff Gordon was awarded the pole position because he is the points leader.

Top 5: Gordon, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, and Carl Edwards.

Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, and Matt Kenseth will start sixth through 10th, respectively.

Notables: David Reutimann (11th), KEvin Harvick (12th), Jeff Burton (13th), Greg Biffle (18th), Dale Earnhardt Jr (19th), and Ryan Newman (27th).

Will Not Start: Sterlin Marlin, Tony Raines, Dennis Setzer, and Derrike Cope.

Busch Brothers Qualify 1,2 For Shelby 427

Michael J Smith — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:36:34 +0000

Kyle and Kurt Busch qualified first and second for the Shelby 427 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But, Kyle lost an engine in practice and will need to start from the rear of the field.

Jimmie Johnson, David Reutimann, and Marcos Ambrose will start third through fifth, respectively.

Rounding out the top 10 are Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, and Tony Stewart.

Notables: Jeff Burton (14th), Carl Edwards (16th), Greg Biffle (24th), Jeff Gordon (28th), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (31st), Denny Hamlin (34th), and Matt Kenseth (40th).

Go-Or-Go-Homers That Will Start: Stewart, Max Papis, Brad Keselowski, Regan Smith, AJ Allmendinger, Joe Nemechek, David Gilliland, and Todd Bodine.

Did Not Qualify: Travis Kvapil, Dave Blaney, Mike Garvey, Jeremy Mayfield, Sterlin Marlin, Scott Riggs, Tony Raines, and Dexter Bean.