Harvick Dominates In Rain-Delayed Pocono Debut

Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(August 7, 2011)
LONG POND, Pa.—Thanks to fuel-saving technique and opportune late cautions, Kevin Harvick had enough gas to survive a green-white-checkered-flag finish in Sunday’s rain-delayed Good Sam RV Emergency Road Service 125 and win the Camping World Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway.

The victory was Harvick’s first in three starts in the series this year and the 10th of his career. Kyle Busch finished second, followed by James Buescher, points leader Johnny Sauter and Austin Dillon.

When the race went three laps beyond its scheduled distance of 50 laps, the only question was whether Harvick had enough fuel in his tank to go the extra 7.5 miles. There was no question about the quality of his ride.

“I didn’t have anything for Kevin,” said Buescher, who lost second place to Busch on Lap 46. “He was in a league of his own.”

Harvick didn’t come to the pits on Sunday, having changed tires for the last time on Lap 15 under caution for rain the day before. The race was suspended two laps later. Harvick said his truck was so strong that he didn’t want to sacrifice track position for fresh rubber.

“I think you saw the 18 (Busch) drive back up through there with tires,” Harvick said. “Tires still meant something. Our truck was just so fast that there was really no reason to give up the track position to come and get tires, since we were good on fuel.

“That’s one of the shortest races I’ve raced in a long time, and the strategy changes a little bit. You’ve got to get out there quick and try to put yourself in position quick on strategy, and you don’t have a lot of chances to make things happen if you’re off the pace.

“They (the team) just did a great job of hitting it right off the truck, and that makes life easy.”

NASCAR called the fourth caution of the race on Lap 32, after a smoking chunk of Nelson Piquet Jr.’s flat right front tire sheared off in the middle of the racing surface on the Long Pond straight.

The caution laps provided cover for those who might have been short on fuel—notably Harvick.

Nevertheless, Harvick, wary of the possibility of a green-white-checkered-flag finish, began shutting off his engine entering Turn 1 to save fuel. But a caution on Lap 37 for a wreck involving David Starr, Brendan Gaughan and Peyton Sellers necessitated the fifth caution and gave Harvick the cushion he needed to make it to the finish of the race.

On Lap 42, Sellers stalled on the access to pit road to cause the sixth caution. Harvick pulled away on the restart on Lap 46, while Busch and Buescher battled for the second position. Harvick held a comfortable advantage, when contact from Dillon’s Chevrolet sent Todd Bodine’s Toyota spinning on Lap 49 to send the race to overtime.


2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Pocono, Pennsylvania
Pocono Raceway
Race Results

2 Kevin Harvick Ollie's Bargain Outlet Chevrolet
18 Kyle Busch CocoaVia.com Toyota
31 James Buescher Wolfpack Rentals Chevrolet
13 Johnny Sauter SafeAuto/Carrier/Curb Records Chevrolet
3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet
22 Joey Coulter DarrellGwynnFoundation/RCRGraphicsCenter Chevrolet
32 Mark Martin Exide Batteries Chevrolet
88 Matt Crafton Menards/Ideal Door Chevrolet
33 Ron Hornaday, Jr. UTZ Snacks Chevrolet
17 Timothy Peters Red Horse Racing Toyota
9 Max Papis GEICO Toyota
5 Todd Bodine International/Monaco RVs Toyota
29 Parker Kligerman Penske Truck Rental Ram
8 Nelson Piquet, Jr. Bozzano/Jontex Chevrolet
60 Cole Whitt Fuel Doctor/Red Bull Chevrolet
6 Justin Lofton CollegeComplete.com Toyota
23 Jason White Gunbroker.com Chevrolet
81 David Starr Zachry Toyota
7 Miguel Paludo Stemco Duroline Toyota
4 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Chevrolet
39 Ryan Sieg S&W Services Chevrolet
62 Brendan Gaughan South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota
28 Wes Burton FDNY Racing Chevrolet
57 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet
66 Peyton Sellers Skills USA Chevrolet
7 Chad McCumbee SS Green Light Racing Toyota
84 Chris Fontaine Stingray Chevrolet/Glenden Enterprises Chevrolet
38 Mike Garvey Sieg Racing Chevrolet
93 Shane Sieg S&W Services Chevrolet
75 James Hylton Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet
89 Chris Lafferty Lafferty Performance/Blue Ox Chevrolet

Logano to Launch from Pole at Pocono Cup Race

 

Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

 

Taking his second pole of the season, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Joey Logano will lead the 43-car NASCAR Sprint Cup field to green for Sunday's Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono Raceway. Rounding the 2.5-mile oval in 52.309 seconds, the #20 Toyota grabbed the pole position from the #56 Toyota driven by Martin Truex Jr. Logano's top time would hold up against the effort mounted by Kasey Kahne #4 Red Bull Toyota for the time trial triumph.

 

With Joey Logano's name mixed in the NASCAR Sprint cup Silly Season, the 21-year old driver of the #20 Home Depot Toyota is looking to renovate his season with a top finish. Prior to this week, the strongest rumours had current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point leader Carl Edwards signing to drive the #20 for 2012. As Edwards and Roush Fenway Racing announced a multi-year deal on Thursday, Logano's role in the Joe Gibbs Racing team has gained some security.

 

After a Toyota Camry sweep of the top-three for the Good Sam RV Insurance 500, the resigned Carl Edwards sailed his #99 Ford Fusion to a 4th place at Pocono Raceway. In the June Pocono event, the #99 Roush Fenway Racing team lost their considerable lead in the series points due to a mechanical problem costing the team several laps in the event. Kurt Busch's #22 Dodge and the #11 Toyota of Denny Hamlin will start from the third row at Pocono. The fourth row will be an all-Richard Childress Racing pairing with recent Indianapolis Motor Speedway Brickyard 400 winner Paul Menard having position over Jeff Burton. Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick completes the top-10 for Sunday's race.

 

 

 

2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup

Pocono, Pennsylvania

Good Sam RV Insurance 500

Starting Line-up

 

1. 20 Joey Logano Home Depot Toyota
2. 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota
3. 56 Martin Truex, Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota
4. 99 Carl Edwards Ortho Home Defense Max Ford
5. 22 Kurt Busch Shell/Pennzoil Dodge
6. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota
7. 27 Paul Menard CertainTeed/Menards Chevrolet
8. 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet
9. 16 Greg Biffle 3M/811 Ford
10. 29 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet
11. 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Toyota
12. 39 Ryan Newman Tornados Chevrolet
13. 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Dodge
14. 33 Clint Bowyer Good Sam Club Chevrolet
15. 6 David Ragan UPS Ford
16. 1 Jamie McMurray Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet
17. 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet
18. 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Chevrolet
19. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet
20. 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Ford
21. 36 Dave Blaney Golden Corral Chevrolet
22. 47 Bobby Labonte Reese Towpower/Highland Toyota
23. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet
24. 34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford
25. 5 Mark Martin GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
26. 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota
27. 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford
28. 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet
29. 43 AJ Allmendinger Best Buy Ford
30. 66 Todd Bodine HP Racing, LLC Toyota
31. 24 Jeff Gordon Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet
32. 13 Casey Mears GEICO Toyota
33. 00 David Reutimann Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota
34. 55 JJ Yeley Front Row Motorsports Ford
35. 46 Erik Darnell Red Line Ford
36. 51 Landon Cassill PhoenixConstruction/SecurityBenefit Chev
37. 30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet
38. 7 Robby Gordon SPEED Energy Dodge
39. 38 Travis Kvapil Long John Silver's Ford
40. 37 Scott Speed Max Q Motorsports Ford
41. 32 Jason White Gunbroker.com Ford
42. 71 Andy Lally Interstate Moving Services Ford
43. 87 Joe Nemechek AM FM Energy Toyota

Gordon Ties Waltrip, Allison With 84th Win at Ponoco



Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR




By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(June 12, 2011)

LONG POND, Pa. — Jeff Gordon may be starting to feel his age, but he certainly didn’t show it in Sunday’s 5-Hour Energy 500 at Pocono Raceway.

“I’m just so excited to be a part of this sport,” Gordon said in victory lane, after taking the checkered flag 2.965 seconds ahead of runner-up Kurt Busch. “I’m going to be 40 this year (Aug. 4). I’m an old man now.”

Statistically, the old man already is an important part of NASCAR Sprint Cup history. His victory Sunday was his second of the year, his fifth at the tricky 2.5-mile triangular track and the 84th of his career, tying Gordon with Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison for third on the all-time list.

As NASCAR’s elder statesman and four-time champion later pointed out, the race was won on pit road. The No. 24 Chevrolet crew got Gordon out ahead of Busch on a stop under caution for debris on Lap 156 of 200, enabling Gordon to streak away from eventual seventh-place finisher Juan Pablo Montoya after a restart on Lap 160.

During a green-flag stop on Lap 177, the No. 24 crew again performed flawlessly, increasing the cushion Gordon held over Busch.

“If we can just get out front, I think we’ll be OK,” Gordon had told crew chief Alan Gustafson before the Lap 160 pit stop — and that’s exactly what happened.

“You guys won that one in the pits—way to go,” Gordon radioed to his crew after crossing the finish line.

Kyle Busch ran third, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Busch’s No. 18 Toyota, however, failed postrace inspection, with the left front being too low when measured by NASCAR’s height stick. If penalties are forthcoming, they will be announced later in the week.

Montoya, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr. completed the top 10. Series points leader Carl Edwards suffered an engine failure 58 laps into the race and finished 37th. Edwards’ lead in the standings shrank to six points over second-place Johnson and 10 over third-place Earnhardt.

Clean air proved decisive, as Kurt Busch, the polesitter, couldn’t close on Gordon significantly during the final 41-lap green-flag run.

“It was a great, hard-fought battle with Jeff Gordon at the end,” Busch said. “It started about 130 laps in, about 70 to go, where we were able to take the lead, stretch it out. Then there was a caution (the fourth debris caution of the race, on Lap 155). The 24 beat us out of the pits.

“I thought we could gain on him after 15 laps into the run. We were able to do that most of the day. We were able to do that again at the end, but we just couldn't close the gap far enough. The old ‘Golden Boy’ had it in him today.

“Neither one of us slipped those final few laps. It was just one of those, ‘I'm giving it all I got, and I can’t close the gap.’ ”

Denny Hamlin, a four-time winner at Pocono, led a race-high 76 laps, but a broken valve stem forced him back to the pits after a stop on Lap 160 and relegated him to 19th at the finish. Hamlin lost one position in the standings to 12th, as Gordon jumped past him into 11th, his highest position since winning at Phoenix in the second race of the season.

After a disappointing stretch that started with a crash in Las Vegas in week No. 3, Gordon feels his team is beginning to realize its potential.

“We were embarrassed by the way we were running,” Gordon said. “When I came on board with Alan (the result of a crew chief swap in the offseason), I knew that they were special and amazing. Phoenix came a little sooner than we thought, but I felt like we could do that this year.

“Then we went on a streak where we just weren’t competitive, but what it takes is a team that believes in you, and you believe in them, and you work together to get there. That’s what we did today.”

Biffle Breaks Through at Pocono, Dedicates Win to Roush

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR


On Tuesday, NASCAR Sprint Cup team owner Jack Roush was involved in a private jet crash as he was attending an air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. While Roush had always confirmed with suffering injuries, it was initially played down as non-serious. Over the next few days, the reports of several facial surgeries has understandably sparked widespread concerns in the NASCAR community for the multi-car team owner. Arriving at Pocono Raceway, the four-car Roush-Fenway operation joined the rest of the NASCAR Sprint Cup field for the Sunoco Red Cross 500 with their leader.

Apart from Jack Roush's injuries, the team has been battling an on-track losing streak stemming back to the fall 2009 race at Talladega by than team driver Jamie McMurray (McMurray has since won twice in 2010 with new team Earnhardt/Ganassi Racing). In qualifying, Greg Biffle #16 Ford was the highest-placed Roush-Fenway Racing runner in 12th place on the starting grid. Outpaced by pole sitter Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya in Chevrolet's, the race showed no signs of altering the fortunes of the Roush-Fenway Racing team.

Delayed briefly by a rain shower, the start of the Sunoco Red Cross 500 allowed Tony Stewart to lead the first 2 laps around the 2.5 mile before the Hendrick Motorsport customer team would be overhauled by the full-fledged Hendrick Motorsport cars. Taking the lead first for the team is the #24 Chevy of Jeff Gordon held the position until a competition caution was thrown on lap 17. When the green flag returned, the #48 Lowes Chevy of Jimmie Johnson had taken the 1st place spot through a fast pit stop. Out front, the #48 car put on a show of dominance. Aided by a long green flag which ran more than 255 miles, Johnson led 96 laps maintaining a more than 3 second interval on his teammate Jeff Gordon running in 2nd place.

Through the long green run at Pocono Raceway divided the racers from each other, the high, sustained speeds eventually claimed several cars including the #47 of Marcos Ambrose who found his Toyota engine give up after only 46 laps. By the time a debris caution flew on lap 122, 9 NASCAR Sprint Cup series cars were reported as retired.

Providing a breather to the competition (including Dale Earnhardt Jr. who was the free pass recipient following Johnson's torrent pace), the Pocono race was broken wide open as multiple pit strategies. June's Pocono race winner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Denny Hamlin found his way back to the front in the #11 FedEx Toyota but would experience a much shorter thrill of leading this race spending just 19 laps out front. A second debris caution on lap 146 sent drivers and teams back to pit road with Juan Pablo Montoya grabbing the lead in the #42 Chevy. After a brief bout on the restart, Jeff Gordon reclaimed the lead and was feeling quite keen as rain showers once again approach the Pocono Raceway. With rain sprinkles reported on isolated corners of the race track, the yellow flag would fly when Dale Earnhardt Jr's #88 Chevy went for a spin in turn 1.

Earnhardt Jr. continued but a more serious incident on lap 165 resulted when Jimmie Johnson's attempt in bump drafting the #2 Dodge of Kurt Busch ended with Busch spinning. The #33 Chevrolet of Clint Bowyer and Elliott Sadler's #19 Ford also collected damage in the only multi-car wreck. In fact, there was concern for Sadler as he left his destroyed Air Force Ford.

Taking some daring moves, the field was mixed up again by several different types of pit stops. By lap 171, Sam Hornish Jr. landed in the 1st place position in the #77 Dodge staying on track. At one point, rain fell in the latter stage of the event making it appear possible the 4th season driver Hornish Jr. was going to pull off an upset victory. As rain-shortened wins are already unpopular, Sam Hornish's presence in NASCAR Sprint Cup victory lane could have non-supporters fuming. While two red flags temporarily stopped the caution lap pace for a total of 45 minutes, the race restarted with the #77 quickly passed by a Roush-Fenway Ford in the hands of Greg Biffle. While Biffle was able to flirt with the lead for a few laps throughout the 500 mile distance, his #16 Ford launched into the lead with 20 laps to go and never looked back. Winning by nearly 3.6 seconds over Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle and the entire #16 Roush-Fenway Racing team trekked to victory lane to celebrate the glorious result in Sunoco Red Cross 500.

In 3rd place, Carl Edwards added some strength to the Roush-Fenway Racing success at Pocono. NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Kevin Harvick's 4th place run allowed the Richard Childress Racing driver to pad a differential over 2nd place Jeff Gordon. Harvick stands 189 ahead of Gordon who minimized harm by finishing 6th in the event.

In a race that took almost five hours to complete, the Ponoco Raceway has been the subject of debate for where is stands in the future of NASCAR. While many concur there will be a stop at the 2.5 mile triangular race track, considerations for shortening races down to 400 miles or perhaps even removing one of the dates are still speculated for 2011 but nothing is firm.


2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup
Sunoco Red Cross 500
Pocono Raceway
Race Results

Pos # Car # Driver Sponsor/Car make

1 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford
2 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Old Spice Chevrolet
3 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford
4 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet
5 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota
6 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet
7 5 Mark Martin Hendrickcars.com / GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
8 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet
9 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota
10 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Chevrolet


Other Notable

11 77 Sam Hornish Jr. PPG / Olympic Dodge
16 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet
18 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Ford
22 1 Jamie McMurray AXE Twist Chevrolet
23 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Toyota
27 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy / National Guard Chevrolet
33 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite / Vortex Dodge
39 47 Marcos Ambrose Clorox / Kleenex Toyota

Elliott Sadler Scores Confidence-Building Pocono Truck Series Win

Photo Credit: Drew Hallowell/Getty Images for NASCAR

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

LONG POND, Pa.—Elliott Sadler isn't ready to be written off.

On Saturday at Pocono Raceway, he showed why. Pulling away on the second attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish, Sadler won the Pocono Mountains 125 Camping World Truck Series race from the pole, his first victory since 2004 in any of NASCAR's top three touring series.

Sadler, 35, beat Kasey Kahne to the finish line by .445 seconds in a race that went five laps past its scheduled distance of 50 laps at the 2.5-mile triangular track. With his first truck series victory, Sadler is the 21st driver to win at least one race in each of NASCAR's top three divisions. Matt Crafton finished third, followed by Aric Almirola and rookie Justin Lofton in the truck series' first visit to Pocono.

Sadler's win vindicated the faith of team owner Kevin Harvick and provided a welcome highlight in a two-year stretch that has seen Sadler struggle in a Sprint Cup car at Richard Petty Motorsports. Sadler announced July 9 that he will leave the No. 19 RPM Ford at the end of the season.

"It's hard to put in words what this means to me," said Sadler, whose last NASCAR win was Sept. 5, 2004 in a Cup car at Fontana, Calif. "To have a tough couple years like we've had in the Cup series, and things not go like we want to, as far as running up front, and winning races and leading laps and things like that. …

"You sit at home a lot, wondering if you're ever going to make it back to victory lane. Are you ever going to have that situation again? Are you ever going to be in that position again? This, to me—I know it's recent, and it's today—but this is the biggest win in my career.

"There's a lot of naysayers out there, and there's a lot of people that write me off, not giving me a chance to make a comeback and be a strong presence again in this sport. To be able to come here and sit on the pole and win the race and race against people like Kasey Kahne and Denny Hamlin (who finished ninth), who I think are two of the best racecar drivers we have in our sport, means a great deal to me."

Notes: Sadler drove Harvick's No. 2 Chevrolet to the lead in the series owners' standings. The No. 2 truck leads the No. 18 of Kyle Busch, driven by Kahne on Saturday, by two points. … Todd Bodine, who tops the drivers' standings, rallied from a spin on Lap 41 to finish 12th. Bodine leaves Pocono 149 points ahead of Almirola in second.

Tony Stewart starts on Pocono Sprint Cup Race Pole

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

One week following an interesting Brickyard 400 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Sprint Cup series takes on another 2.5 mile track in the form of the triangular-shaped Pocono Raceway.

Through Friday afternoon qualifying for the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 saw driver/owner Tony Stewart sailing his Chevrolet on to the pole for Sunday's event. Taking top spot at 171.393 miles per hour for the his 2nd pole of 2010, driver Stewart remains winless after 20 races. The Pocono qualifying session proved strong for the Stewart/Haas team as Ryan Newman placed the organization's #39 Chevrolet into 5th on the starting grid.

Starting second, Juan Pablo Montoya rolls into this weekend with some popular scars from the past race at Indy. With a car to beat at the historic track, a mistake in pit strategy and a late race crash which collected Dale Earnhardt Jr saw the #42 Target Chevy of Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing end in the garage. The intense Montoya secluded himself immediately following his car's retirement from the Brickyard 400 but he returns to Pocono hungry for his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup win on an oval.

With less of a trouble finding victory lane, Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin has five wins in the #20 FedEx Toyota including the NASCAR Sprint Cup's June event at Pocono. Hamlin will be starting the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 in 3rd spot ahead of Jeff Gordon, Newman and Jimmie Johnson.

NASCAR Sprint Cup's Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 is planned to receive its command to start engines at 1 P.M. Eastern time. However, weather forecasts are threatening the Long Pond, Pennsylvania track race Sunday. A 60% chance of thunderstorms exist in the area according to the Weather Channel.

Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500

NASCAR Sprint Cup
Pocono Raceway

1) 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet
2) 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet
3) 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota
4) 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet
5) 39 Ryan Newman U.S.Army Chevrolet
6) 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Chevrolet
7) 43 A J Allmendinger Insignia HDTV Ford
8) 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet
9) 1 Jamie McMurray AXE Twist Chevrolet
10) 5 Mark Martin Hendrickcars.com / GoDaddy.com Chevrolet


Other Notables

13) 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite / Vortex Dodge
14) 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet
17) 20 Joey Logano Home Depot Toyota
20) 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy / National Guard Chevrolet
21) 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Toyota
40) 33 Clint Bowyer The Hartford Chevrolet