NASCAR Chase Numbers to Watch for at New Hampshire

Photo Credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images

One race down, nine to go. The 10-race 2014 NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup is entering its second event this weekend with Brad Keselowski claiming a crucial victory. Securing himself a spot from the Challenger to the Contender round in the 2014 Chase, Keselowski's win is quite an impressive score for the Penske Racing driver. For the three years that Chicagoland has played host to the opening round of the NASCAR Chase, the winner has gone on to win the championship twice. Of course, with a new Chase system in place, it's hard to determine how much of an advantage an early Chase victory would be for winding up in contention for the trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

One more important note leftover from the Chicagoland race is that the average finish for championship winners at the track was 2.33. For Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon, the historical calculations could bode well to their championship chances for 2014.

Here is a review of last week's race at Chicagoland comparing the 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase contenders run to historical data. Despite the all-new ladder Chase system, I still believe maintaining the highest possible result throughout the 10 races is key. For many driver's, improving on their 2013 and career average finish was paramount at the MyAFibStory.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. After the 2014 race Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr as well as Joey Logano rose to the Chase occasion by bettering both their 2013 result and average finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the track. Aric Almirola's mechanical misfortunes at Chicagoland resulted in the driver of the #43 Ford Fusion furthest negative decline based on historic criteria.

Driver		Chicagoland 2013	Career	Finish	2014 vs 2013	2014 vs Career
Jeff Gordon		6	11.6	2	4	9.6
Jimmie Johnson		5	8.9	12	-7	-3.1
Dale Earnhardt Jr.		35	15.8	11	24	4.8
Brad Keselowski		7	12.6	1	6	11.6
Kasey Kahne		12	18.3	13	-1	5.3
Joey Logano		37	19.4	4	33	15.4
Carl Edwards		11	16	20	-9	-4
AJ Allmendinger		21	17.6	22	-1	-4.4
Ryan Newman		10	14.5	15	-5	-0.5
Kevin Harvick		3	9.9	5	-2	4.9
Kyle Busch		2	12.4	7	-5	5.4
Denny Hamlin		33	20.5	6	27	14.5
Aric Almirola		13	15	41	-28	-26
Matt Kenseth		1	11.8	10	-9	1.8
Greg Biffle		16	18	23	-7	-5
Kurt Busch		4	17.2	8	-4	9.2

For the second race 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase event, the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway has been part of the 10-race play-off style championship since its inception in 2004. This year's championship contender Matt Kenseth is seeking to defend his 2013 win. Comparing Career average finishes at New Hampshire, Kenseth's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin holds the advantage. The driver of the #11 Toyota race car has placed in an average spot of 8.9 since joining the Sprint Cup series in 2006. Hamlin will start fourth on Sunday for the Sylvania 300.

The average finish for past championship winners at New Hampshire Motor Speedway has been ninth place. The worst finish at the track for a driver during a successful title run occurred in 2006 when Jimmie Johnson crossed the line in 39th place. In fact, two of Johnson's championships resulted in New Hampshire being his worst track in the Chase. The race in New England was also won twice by the year's champion with Kurt Busch in 2004 and Tony Stewart in 2011.

The 16 Chase contender along with 27 additional cars will race for 300 miles around the 1.058-mile oval track. As the final important number to state, start time for Sunday's event is 2:15 PM Eastern time.

Predicting the 2014 NASCAR Chase Future Through Past Finishes

For ten years, NASCAR has been operating the Chase in the Sprint Cup series as a playoff for major league stock car racing. For 2014 though, the Chase has received a substantial makeover. Up to 16 drivers in contention, three rounds involving drivers getting knocked out and Homestead-Miami Speedway becoming a guaranteed showdown for four finalists is new traits found in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chasse. The only lingering leftover from the last chase format is the 10 races used to decide the championship’s outcome.

Attempting to predict the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup, I have considered the prospect computing race results of the 16 drivers participating in this year’s hunt. Using the historical finishes or average finishes, I came up with three interesting outcomes. Keep note that I am not taking into consideration the bonus points for victory in calculations. Using the Challenger, Contender and Eliminator rounds, I compiled the average finishes of each driver. With this information, I have extracted some entertaining accounts of where the 16 Chase drivers could end up in the 2014 championship fight. While I tried to make this a decent math lesson for myself, please do not put money on this information (I most certainly would not put my money on the line).

The following scenarios is work compiled as merely an entertaining exercise to see if the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase champion could be arrived to even before the first race at Chicagoland Speedway has received a green flag:

Potential Chase Outcome Scenario #1: Based on 2013 Finishes

Let’s say if for some miraculous reason drivers somehow finish races in identical or similar positions as 2013, the conclusion will be highly favourable for three of the four Hendrick Motorsports cars heading into homestead. In this study, in addition to average finishes, I have taken into account 2013 wins by some drivers as automatic entry into the next Chase round. This allowed Brad Keselowski to advance through the Contender round and given Jeff Gordon a chance to compete for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in this possible Chase.

Since AJ Allmendinger did not run in all 10 races in 2013, I substituted 2014 results at the tracks where he did not run last fall.

Finalists	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
	Jimmie Johnson
	Kevin Harvick
	Jeff Gordon
Eliminated in Eliminator Round	Brad Keselowski
	Carl Edwards
	Matt Kenseth
	Kurt Busch
Eliminated in Contender Round	Joey Logano
	Ryan Newman
	Kyle Busch
	Greg Biffle
Eliminated in Challenger Round	Kasey Kahne
	AJ Allmendinger
	Denny Hamlin
	Aric Almirola

　

Potential Chase Outcome Scenario #2: Last Race Run by Driver at Track

In this one, I used data from the last time drivers completed at a specific track on the Chase schedule. Eight of those race tracks have already held 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup races. In the case of Chicagoland Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, I used the 2013 races for both ovals.

Finalists	Kevin Harvick
	Jeff Gordon
	Jimmie Johnson
	Matt Kenseth
Eliminated in Eliminator Round	Greg Biffle
	Carl Edwards
	Kyle Busch
	Brad Keselowski
Eliminated in Contender Round	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
	Joey Logano
	Ryan Newman
	Denny Hamlin
Eliminated in Challenger Round	Kasey Kahne
	Kurt Busch
	AJ Allmendinger
	Aric Almirola

　

Potential Chase Outcome Scenario #3: Average Career Finishes Mixed with Last Race Finishes

Since I thought that average career finishes might not have been entirely accurate, I decided to weigh their recent results on a driver’s average. In the case of Denny Hamlin, the result was no change. For Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Aric Almirola, the computation of measuring career finishes against recent finishes showed a around five-position overall improvement for the final 10 Chase race tracks. Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch have shown the largest negative change with their recent finishes measuring poorly to their career averages.

Finalists	Carl Edwards
	Jeff Gordon
	Jimmie Johnson
	Kyle Busch
Eliminated in Eliminator Round	Kevin Harvick
	Kasey Kahne
	Denny Hamlin
	Aric Almirola
Eliminated in Contender Round	Brad Keselowski
	Ryan Newman
	Kurt Busch
	Matt Kenseth
Eliminated in Challenger Round	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
	AJ Allmendinger
	Greg Biffle
	Joey Logano

　

These three possible NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase outcomes are largely based on what has happened. One thing to know about the future is that it doesn’t always take advice from the past. There are so many variables beyond previous finishes to consider. The 2014 Chase has three drivers competing with their first full season with a different organization than in previous years. Also, Carl Edwards and long-time team Roush Fenway Racing are parting company at the end of this season potentially influencing the #99 Ford in a strongly positive or negative way. Tracks like Talladega Superspeedway and even Martinsville Speedway have to potential to radically shift the points balance.

With Chicagoland Speedway readying to host the first race of the 2014 Chase, all 16 drivers will be trying to register the right numbers to compete for the Sprint Cup at Homestead-Miami.

Information and photo source: NASCAR, Richmond International Raceway

All-Star All the Time: Johnson Wins Million Dollar Race

Photo Credit: Brian Lawdermilk/HHP - Pool/Getty Images

Since 1986, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has recognized some of the sports superstars with the running of an All-Star race. Held up Charlotte Motor Speedway for all but one year (Atlanta in 1987), the All-Star race is NASCAR’s top series’ title sponsors reward to event winners.

For 2012, 20 winner of 2011 and 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events were granted an instant pass into the latest Sprint All-Star event worth a million dollars to the race’s ultimate victor. Prior to the event, a 40-lap race of non-recent Sprint Cup Series winners was held resulting in three additional places. By winning the Sprint Showdown, Dale Earnhardt Jr and the #88 Dale Jr Foundation Chevrolet was granted the for entry into the All-Star race. Finishing behind Earnhardt Jr, AJ Allmendinger’s charge to 2^nd place was rewarded with the second pass. The third and final entrant in the 2012 Sprint All-Star event at Charlotte Motor Speedway was Bobby Labonte who gained access to the race by being the Fan Vote Favourite.

A 23-car field led by Kyle Busch and the #18 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing, the 23-car field started for what would be a total 90-lap race (divided into four 20-lap segments and a final 10-lap sprint). In the first segment of the 2012 Sprint All-Star race, Kyle Busch led the first 14 laps until the #48 Lowes Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson motored by the Toyota. Johnson would storm to win in the first 20-lap segment of the event. Winning the initial segment of the Sprint All-Star event, Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsport team would play strategy by pitting through the end of the remaining 20-lap races. The win of a race segment by Johnson and other segment winner gave the drivers a top spot in the final 10-lap run.

Photo Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR

In the second segment, the #17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Matt Kenseth took the victory from Denny Hamlin in the few 3 laps of the 20-lap race. The success at the end of the segment for Roush Fenway Racing was accompanied with some disappointment when the #99 team car of Carl Edwards suffered an engine problem 7 laps into the second race. Using special engines developed for the short non-points race, Roush Fenway Racing would also lose the #16 Ford of Greg Biffle to a spectacular engine explosion during the mid-way point of the third race segment. The issues with the Roush Fenway Racing Ford engines would be the only race incidents that would result in yellow flags during the segments.

Dominating the third segment for almost the entire event, Brad Kieslowski’s #2 Miller Lite Dodge was being reeled-in by the #5 Chevrolet driven by Kasey Kahne. Driving a back-up after crashing in qualifying, Kahne sized up the blue Penske Racing-fielded Dodge through the final laps never able to find a full advantage on Keselowski. Through the final corner of the final lap of the segment, Kasey Kahne swung his Chevrolet under Brad Keselowski on a run to the finish line. By a matter of inches, Keselowski’s Dodge held into a victory in the third segment.

Photo Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Segment four was possibility the biggest crowd-pleaser as NASCAR Sprint Cup’s Most Popular Driver showed some major fight. Early in the run, Sprint Showdown winner Dale Earnhardt Jr found the edge on front-starting #51 Chevrolet piloted by Kurt Busch. Going onto victory in the fourth and final segment, Earnhardt Jr and the #88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports bucked the trend of usually unimpressive All-Star races. During the entire 2012 Sprint All-Star race, Dale Earnhardt Jr was able to pass fast cars with the #88 car in the Charlotte Motor Speedway event.

Setting up the final 10-lap run for the Sprint All-Star race, the winners of the previous segments were rewarded with top starting positions (at risk if they lose spots during a pit stop). After a mandatory trip down pit road for all NASCAR Sprint Cup contenders, the top-four leaders chose to stop-and-go preserving their race positions. With Jimmie Johnson starting at the front, the #48 Lowes Chevrolet needed only a strong restart to chart a path to victory. As Johnson accomplished a textbook launch, the outside front row starting car spun its tires. Holding off Brad Keselowski handsomely through the final laps, Jimmie Johnson powered the #48 Chevrolet to his third All-Star race victory (last win coming in 2006).

The win #48 team concludes what has been a fully strong week for the organization who appeared to be struggling through the early part of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Winning Hendrick Motorsport’s 200^th Cup race last Saturday at Darlington, the crew also won the annual pit competition held in conjunction with the NASCAR all-star race weekend. The victory celebration for the Sprint All-Star was complete with Johnson taking the Checkered Flag from the flagman while during a burn-out and team owner Rick Hendrick riding on the race car.

Rounding out the top five in the 2012 Sprint All-Star race is Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr.



2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup
Sprint All-Star Race
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Race Results

1	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's Patriotic Chevrolet
2	2	Brad Keselowski	Miller Lite Dodge
3	17	Matt Kenseth	Fifth Third Bank Ford
4	18	Kyle Busch	M&M's Toyota
5	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	DaleJrFndtn/NationalGuard/DietMtnDew Chev
6	29	Kevin Harvick	Budweiser / Rheem Chevrolet
7	9	Marcos Ambrose	DeWalt Ford
8	51	Kurt Busch	Monster Energy Chevrolet
9	5	Kasey Kahne	Farmers Insurance Chevrolet
10	39	Ryan Newman	Tornados Chevrolet
11	22	AJ Allmendinger	Pennzoil Dodge
12	78	Regan Smith	Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
13	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont Chevrolet
14	15	Clint Bowyer	5-hour Energy Toyota
15	21	Trevor Bayne	Good Sam / Camping World Ford
16	27	Paul Menard	Menards / CertainTeed Chevrolet
17	14	Tony Stewart	Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
18	34	David Ragan	US Shredder Ford
19	47	Bobby Labonte	KingsFrd Toyota
20	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Office Toyota
21	55	Mark Martin	Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota
22	16	Greg Biffle	3M / American Red Cross Ford
23	99	Carl Edwards	Fastenal Ford

Jimmie Johnson Gives Hendrick 200th Win at Darlington

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

The only trip to the Darlington Raceway, the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series becomes one with its roots at one of stock car racing’s oldest paved speedways. A tricky 1.366-mile track presents its own character that can often outwit the best personalities in motorsports.

Becoming a Mother’s Day weekend event in recent years, the Southern 500 race sponsored by Bojangles started Saturday night under sentimentality that quickly turn to the business of racing 500 miles. On pole, Greg Biffle continues has early season stride in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup race when the green flag flew on the Bojangles Southern 500. The Roush Fenway Racing #16 Ford Fusion would lead the first 48 laps of the evening kicking out what would be a 173-lap stretch of green flag racing.

When the first round of pit stops cycled with Kasey Kahne, Landon Cassill and Jimmie Johnson credited with leading a lap through the exchange, the #18 Toyota of Kyle Busch took for 21 laps. Greg Biffle would reassume the lead of the Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on lap 73 and would hold it for an additional 26 circuits.

Aside from the leader, intense attention was devoted to deeper in the field to the #10 Chevrolet being driven by Danica Patrick. Only her second career NASCAR Sprint Cup event, Patrick’s run with the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet in the Bojangles Southern 500 was more productive than her debut at the Daytona 500. Caught in the lap 1 multi-car wreck at the Daytona International Speedway race, Darlington would see Patrick endure the rigors of an entire NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition. Though Danica Patrick finished the race with an intact Chevrolet Impala, she would finish 6 laps down in 31^st spot. Not helping her attempt to adapt to the premier stock car tour was the long green flag run that gave Patrick and other competitors few opportunities to fine-tune their car setups.

Photo Credit: Brian Czobat autostock, USA

On lap 101, the #48 Chevrolet made its way to the top spot in the hands of Jimmie Johnson. Though the first 10 races of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the four-car team of Hendrick Motorsports has set out on a quest for the organization’s 200^th series win. While Johnson and other within the Rick Hendrick group came close to delivering the win number 200, the feat had been eluded early in the season with some efforts coming within laps of the monumental victory. Showing his strength before the one-third mark of the event at Darlington Raceway, the question was will the Bojangles Southern 500 for the site for a major Hendrick Motorsports celebration?

A caution for debris on lap 173 slowed the record pace of the race. After the long competitive run under green, the first cautions as well as several cautions following brought relief to many race cars lapped through the event. By lap 184, only 14 cars resided on the lead lap at Darlington Raceway as the field led predominantly by Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle and Kyle Busch dominated. At points in the event, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr had their Saturday night race rescued by the NASCAR free pass. By the end of the race, 21 cars would be fortunate enough to be classified on the lead lap after 500 miles.

The #22 Dodge of AJ Allmendinger and the #1 Chevrolet of Jamie McMurray were not among the lead lap finishers after a wreck on lap 317. Also part of late-race mayhem was the #39 car of Ryan Newman. Four cautions through the race’s final 49 scheduled laps would force the hands of various teams contending on the less than predictable Darlington Raceway surface.

Photo Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR

 
In the final laps, the battle for the win was between the #48 Lowes Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch’s #18 Doublemint Toyota. Trading the lead several time on-track, Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports-owned car grew much stronger than the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Kyle Busch taking the lead affirmatively on lap 325. Leading the final 44 laps that included a final green-white-checkered challenge from the #14 Chevrolet of Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson sailed to victory of the Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington.

In what was one of the biggest celebrations seen for a long-time from the Hendrick Motorsports crew, Jimmie Johnson kicked off the festivities by a wild burn-out on the Darlington Raceway frontstretch. When concluded, talked about his run that involved leading a total of 134 laps. “We led a lot and we ran away once we had the clean air. But once we lost it, man, it was tough to make anything happen deep in the pack. And luckily we had a good enough car that I could work my way through there and still got it done.” said Johnson in post-race interview.

Owner of the #48 race team, Rick Hendrick talked about his race organization‘s milestone saying, “I can’t believe we won 200 of these things. I can’t believe it took this long after 199. I want to remember all those folks we lost. And everybody that helped this thing happen.” However, a telling comment on Johnson’s NASCAR Sprint Cup team owner motivation comes from the Hendrick Motorsports driver."You have got to love that man (Rick Hendrick), he just said 200 is great but let’s go get 250. So that tells you where his head is, I love it. Oh man, what a day.” said Jimmie Johnson.

Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR

After 368 laps, Denny Hamlin surged into the runner-up spot with his #11 Toyota taking the position from Tony Stewart who finished the Bojangles Southern 500 in 3^rd with a Hendrick Motorsports-prepped customer car. Rounding out the top-5 of the Darlington event was Kyle Busch and the #56 Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. Just before of the top-10, Roush Fenway Racing Fords piloted by Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards took top-10 runs. The pole-sitting Roush Fenway contender would come home 12^th holding onto the points lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.

While Jimmie Johnson and his #48 team enjoyed a triumphant victory, the other Hendrick Motorsports cars had a mixed night. Kasey Kahne finished 8^th while Dale Earnhardt Jr brought his #88 Chevrolet across the line 17^th. Suffering a flat rear tire around the mid-point of the event, Jeff Gordon once again met misfortunate on the race track finishing 35^th. “It’s the same old story. We’re running good. We have fast race cars. We’re doing everything we can as a team and just having things like that happen to us.” said Gordon.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ next race is the exhibition event at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 19^th serving as the prelude to the Coca-Cola 600 set for Memorial day Sunday night the following week.



2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup
Bojangles Southern 500
Darlington Raceway
Race Results

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Sponsor/Car Make
1	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet
2	11	Denny Hamlin	Sport Clips Toyota
3	14	Tony Stewart	Office Depot / MOBIL 1 Chevrolet
4	18	Kyle Busch	Wrigley Doublemint Toyota
5	56	Martin Truex Jr.	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota
6	17	Matt Kenseth	Zest Ford
7	99	Carl Edwards	Ford EcoBoost Fusion Ford
8	5	Kasey Kahne	Rockwell Tools Chevrolet
9	9	Marcos Ambrose	DeWalt Ford
10	20	Joey Logano	The Home Depot Toyota
11	15	Clint Bowyer	5-hour Energy Toyota
12	16	Greg Biffle	3M / OH / ES Ford
13	27	Paul Menard	Menards / Pittsburgh Paints Chevrolet
14	78	Regan Smith	Furniture Row / CSX Play it Safe Chevrolet
15	2	Brad Keselowski	Miller Lite Dodge
16	29	Kevin Harvick	Budweiser Chevrolet
17	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Diet Mountain Dew / National Guard Chevrolet
18	31	Jeff Burton	BB&T Chevrolet
19	43	Aric Almirola	Gravely Mower Ford
20	55	Mark Martin	Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota
21	51	Kurt Busch	Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet
22	13	Casey Mears	GEICO Ford
23	39	Ryan Newman	WIX Chevrolet
24	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Target Chevrolet
25	38	David Gilliland	A&W All American Food Ford
26	83	Landon Cassill	Burger King / Dr. Pepper Toyota
27	36	Dave Blaney	SealWrap.com Chevrolet
28	34	David Ragan	Peanut Patch / Margaret Holmes Ford
29	47	Bobby Labonte	Scott Products Toyota
30	32	Reed Sorenson	Southern Pride Trucking Ford
31	10	Danica Patrick	GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
32	73	Travis Kvapil	Burger King / Dr. Pepper Toyota
33	22	AJ Allmendinger	Shell Pennzoil Dodge
34	1	Jamie McMurray	Bass Pro Shops / Allstate Chevrolet
35	24	Jeff Gordon	Drive to End Hunger / AARP Chevrolet
36	93	David Reutimann	Burger King / Dr. Pepper Toyota
37	49	JJ Yeley	America Israel Racing / JPO Absorbents Toyota
38	74	Cole Whitt	Turn One Racing Chevrolet
39	30	David Stremme	Inception Motorsports Toyota
40	87	Joe Nemechek	AM/FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves Toyota
41	52	Mike Skinner	CrusaderStaffing.com Toyota
42	79	Scott Speed	Team Kyle / KOMA Unwind Ford
43	26	Josh Wise	Morristown Drivers Service Ford

Biffle Blasts By Johnson for Texas Cup Win

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

The Texas Motor Speedway event Saturday night was the first time since the Daytona 500 that the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series would race 500 miles in 2012. Back in February, the Daytona International Speedway 500-mile race was not completed until almost 35 hours after its scheduled start time thanks to a rare rain delay and an event that took 3 hours, 36 minutes to completed, minus a two-hour red flag. With exception to a strong wind, Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway was readied under ideal weather conditions on Saturday night immediately withdrawing any probability of this 7^th race on the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be like the Daytona 500.

As the #56 NAPA Toyota Camry took for the first pole of the year, Martin Truex Jr joined Mark Martin in adding to the Michael Waltrip Racing tally of qualifying victories in 2012. When the green flag released the 43-car field for the 334-lap Samsung Mobile 500, Truex Jr made use of his top-fielded position to lead the first 31 laps.

While the Michael Waltrip Racing #56 Toyota was able to hold the first place position early, pre-race favourite team Roush Fenway Racing began living up to the promise they were showing in practice at Texas Motor Speedway early. Third-fastest in qualifying, Greg Biffle climbed to lead on lap 32 in the #16 Ford. Roush Fenway Racing partner Matt Kenseth in the #17 car would also lead briefly during a pit stop staying near the front all night through the Samsung Mobile 500.

With the first pit stops for the NASCAR Sprint Cup teams occurring under green flag conditions, drivers and teams would have no idea they were going to make these higher-stress service stops so often in the Samsung Mobile 500. The yellow flag slowed the field of fuel-injected stock cars on just two occasions at Texas. With the lowest previous amount of cautions being five and three earlier Texas Motor Speedway Cup races ending up with 12, the Samsung Mobile 500 would run under green for the final 234 lap.

Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR

As the Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway continued at a record pace under green onward from lap 100, the battle for the lead was chiefly centered on three drivers. Martin Truex Jr, Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson would lead during sizable portions of the last two-thirds of the event. A late race pit miscue took Truex Jr and the #56 car out of the running for victory of the Texas race.

Leaving Biffle and Johnson to battle for the Samsung Mobile 500 trophy, the #48 Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson was determined to grant car owner Rick Hendrick has 200^th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Leading Saturday’s event for the longest continuous duration of 102 laps, Johnson would roll past lap 300 of the Samsung Mobile 500 in the top position. However, the trip past 300-mark of the Texas event featured a Ford Fusion stalking Johnson. Inching closer on the #48 Lowes Chevy, Greg Biffle would be carrying a full head of steam through the final stint of the race. With just over 30 laps remaining, Greg Biffle stormed past Jimmie Johnson and would sail the #16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford to victory at Texas.

Photo Credit: Nigel KinradeAutostock

Greg Biffle’s victory puts to rest a 49 race winless streak extending back to the Kansas Speedway in 2010. The win in the Samsung Mobile 500 pads the points lead Biffle has accumulated during the first 7 races of 2012. The race was strong for the three major Roush Fenway Racing cars with Biffle’s victory being the topper. Matt Kenseth came across the line 5^th and the #99 car Carl Edwards emerged from a 20^th place starting position to grab 8^th after 500 miles. Greg Biffle leads Matt Kenseth in the current NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings by 19 points following the Texas Motor Speedway event.

With the 200^th win for Hendrick Motorsports foiled at Texas, Johnson hung on to his #48 Chevrolet for the runner-up position in a race that was actually a successful outing for the four-car Chevy team. Jeff Gordon finished 4^th and Kasey Kahne earned his first top-10 finish for Hendrick Motorsports with a 7^th place run. Fast but misfortunate during Sprint Cup races up to Texas, the strong race for Kahne and the #5 car could be the ingredient for a turnaround this season. Completing the Hendrick Motorsports quartet, the #88 car of Dale Earnhardt Jr cracked the top-10 for the fifth time in 2012. Dale Earnhardt Jr is currently tied with Matt Kenseth in the overall driver’s point count after 7 races in what has been NASCAR’s most popular driver’s most aggressive starts to the season since joining Hendrick Motorsports.
The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ next race will be a 400-mile, Sunday afternoon affair at Kansas Speedway.



2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup
Samsung Mobile 500
Texas Motor Speedway
Race Results

Pos #	Car #	Drivers	Sponsor/ Car Make
1	16	Greg Biffle	Filtrete Ford
2	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet
3	55	Mark Martin	Aaron's Best of the Best Toyota
4	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont Chevrolet
5	17	Matt Kenseth	Best Buy Ford
6	56	Martin Truex, Jr.	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota
7	5	Kasey Kahne	Farmers Insurance Chevrolet
8	99	Carl Edwards	Fastenal Ford
9	29	Kevin Harvick	Budweiser Chevrolet
10	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet
11	18	Kyle Busch	Interstate Batteries Toyota
12	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Office/March of Dimes Toyota
13	51	Kurt Busch	Phoenix Construction Services, Inc. Chevrolet
14	1	Jamie McMurray	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet
15	22	AJ Allmendinger	Shell Pennzoil Dodge
16	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Target Chevrolet
17	15	Clint Bowyer	5-hour Energy Toyota
18	27	Paul Menard	Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet
19	20	Joey Logano	Dollar General Toyota
20	9	Marcos Ambrose	Stanley Ford
21	39	Ryan Newman	US ARMY Chevrolet
22	43	Aric Almirola	Smithfield Ford
23	78	Regan Smith	Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet
24	14	Tony Stewart	Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy/Office Depot Chevrolet
25	13	Casey Mears	GEICO Ford
26	10	David Reutimann	Accell Construction Chevrolet
27	47	Bobby Labonte	Bush's Beans/Tom Thumb Toyota
28	21	Trevor Bayne	Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford
29	31	Jeff Burton	Caterpillar Chevrolet
30	83	Landon Cassill	Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota
31	38	David Gilliland	Mod Space Ford
32	32	Reed Sorenson	JaniKing Ford
33	49	JJ Yeley	JPO Absorbents Toyota
34	33	Tony Raines	Precon Marine Chevrolet
35	34	David Ragan	Scorpion Truck Bed Liners Ford
36	2	Brad Keselowski	Miller Lite Dodge
37	36	Dave Blaney	Jimmie Johnson's Anything With An Engine Chevrolet
38	93	Travis Kvapil	Dr. Pepper Toyota
39	26	Josh Wise	Morristown Driver's Service Ford
40	19	Mike Bliss	Humphrey Smith Racing, LLC Toyota
41	98	Michael McDowell	Curb Records Ford
42	23	Scott Riggs	North TX Pipe/Embassy Suites Chevrolet
43	95	Scott Speed	TWD Drywall Ford