Ty Dillon to Start on Pole for ARCA Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona

Photo Credit: ARCA

Taking the pole at 185.533 miles per hour around Daytona International Speedway for the ARCA Racing Series Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200, The #41 Chevrolet of Ty Dillon claims the first competitive pole on the resurfaced 2.5 mile oval circuit. Handily beating the times of Venturini Motorsports drivers Kyle Fowler and Canadian Steve Aprin, 18 year-old Ty Dillion (the grandson of NASCAR Sprint Cup team owner Richard Childress and brother of 2011 NASCAR Camping World series driver Austin Dillon) has earned his second pole out of 4 total ARCA Racing Series starts.

Matt Merrell and Bobby Gerhart 5-time reigning winner of the ARCA 200 mile race at Daytona fills out the top-5 starters for Saturday afternoon. With 43 cars completing the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 grid, 4 countries of male and female racers will be suiting up for the 2011 edition of the event. Some notable names starting this event will be NASCAR regular Ricky Carmichael in 7th place, 2011 Toyota All-Star race winner Jason Bowles in 16th, Venezuela INDYCAR driver Milka Duno in 23rd and 9-time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel starting 26th. 76 years young, NASCAR Cup series winning car James Hylton will start the ARCA Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 in 35th place driving his #48 Ford. 

Assembled as the first stock car race to be run on the smooth, oval pavement, the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 for the ARCA Racing Series is likely to be closely examined by NASCAR as drafting speed, tire wear and the racing itself is less predictable than previous years. Judging qualifying for the ARCA race alone, single car speeds around the 2.5 oval Daytona International Speedway is 4 miles per hour faster than the time trial laps in 2010.

The first race kicking off the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway is set to start at 4:30 PM Saturday afternoon.


2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards
Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200
Daytona International Speedway


Pos #  | Car #  | Driver |  Origin  | Sponsor/Car Make  | Qualifying Time and Speed

1. 41 Ty Dillon/Lewisville NC UNOH Chevrolet
2. 15 Kyle Fowler/Smyrna GA Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet
3. 25 Steve Arpin/Fort Frances ON Mike's Hard Lemonade-Trent's Tire Toyota
4. 32 Matt Merrell/Portland TX Red Line Oil Toyota
5. 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Lucas Oil Slick Mist Chevrolet
6. 55 Hal Martin/Galliano LA NOLA Motorsports Park Toyota
7. 4 Ricky Carmichael/Tallahassee FL Monster Energy Chevrolet
8. 66 Mark Thompson/Cartersville GA Phoenix Air Toyota
9. 31 Tim George Jr./New York NY RCR Development Chevrolet
10. 52 Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ Federated Auto Parts Toyota
11. 28 Miguel Paludo/Nova Prata Brazil STEMCO-Duroline Toyota
12. 98 Kevin Swindell/Goodlettsville TN Curb Records-Eddie Sharp Racing Toyota
13. 16 Joey Coulter/Miami Springs FL Rip It Energy Fuel-Darrell Gwynn Foundation Chevrolet
14. 22 Dakoda Armstrong/New Castle IN Ferrellgas-Syngenta Dodge
15. 19 Brian Rose/Louisville KY Harris Trucking-ASE Toyota
16. 6 Jason Bowles/Ontario CA Eddie Sharp Racing Toyota
17. 14 John Ferrier/Middletown NY CGS Imaging Ford
18. 30 Terry Jones/Amherstburg Ontario Jones Group Dodge
19. 17 Chris Buescher/Prosper TX Roulo Brothers Racing Ford
20. 09 Benny Gordon/DuBois PA VSI Ford
21. 94 Brett Hudson/Owensboro KY Hudson Performance Drivelines Dodge
22. 11 Bryan Silas/Stuart FL National Speed Sport News-Fast Track Ford
23. 63 Milka Duno/Caracas Venezuela Citgo Lubricants Dodge
24. 12 Maryeve Dufault/Sorel Quebec TMR Dodge
25. 77 Joey Licata/Van Nuys CA Wrong Inc. Dodge
26. 44 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Ansell-Menards Ford
27. 82 Sean Corr/Goshen NY Empire Racing Ford
28. 1 Chad McCumbee/Supply NC ModSpace Ford
29. 18 Chris Lawson/Troutman NC Ideal Steel Custom Flame Cutting Dodge
30. 00 Ed Kennedy/Coppell TX Thunder 2 Lubricants-Daytona Lagoon Chevrolet
31. 36 Grant Enfinger/Fairhope AL BeasleyAllen.com-Excaliber Coach Dodge
32. 26 Tommy Joe Martins/Como MS Martins Motorsports Dodge
33. 23 Nick Igdalsky/Long Pond PA Fox Realty Chevrolet Provisional
34. 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN IndustrialDepot.com Ford Provisional
35. 48 James Hylton/Inman SC Radon.com Ford Provisional
36. 10 Ed Pompa/Ballston Spa NY Rifenburg Construction-Double H Ranch Chevrolet Provisional
37. 06 Barry Fitzgerald/Sykesville MD CanadianHeroes.com Chevrolet Provisional
38. 68 Steve Blackburn/Prestonsburg KY Honda of Prestonburg-Harley of Pikeville Dodge Provisional
39. 7 Brent Cross/Cortland NY Cummings Auto Machine-Quadraflex Chevrolet Provisional
40. 58 Chad Hackenbracht/New Philadelphia OH Tastee Apple Chevrolet Provisional
41. 75 Benny Chastain/Tallahassee FL Drive To End Hunger AARP Toyota Provisional
42. 3 Brent Brevak/Eau Claire WI Red's Auto Ford Provisional
43. 42 Scott Stenzel/Orlando FL Yellow Stripes Making The Driver Ford

McMurray and JR Motorsports Prevail at Atlanta Nationwide Series Event

Photo Credit: John Harrelson

By Reid Spencer


Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(September 4, 2010)

HAMPTON, Ga.—Jamie McMurray held off Kyle Busch and stopped Busch one spot short of a historic win Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Driving JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet, McMurray asserted his superiority over the final 40 of 195 laps to win the Nationwide Series Great Clips 300 at the 1.54-mile racetrack. The victory, the eighth of McMurray’s Nationwide career, was his first since November 2004 at Darlington.

Busch is tied with Sam Ard for the series’ single-season wins record with 10.

Carl Edwards ran third, followed by Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth. Joey Logano, Jason Leffler, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top 10. Series points leader Brad Keselowski finished 12th and saw his advantage over second-place Edwards trimmed to 332 points.

“We unloaded today and had pretty much the fastest car off the truck,” McMurray said. “It was just pretty loose, and we just did a really good job of adjusting on it.”

The good adjustments continued late into the race, McMurray said.

“At the end, Pops (crew chief Tony Eury Sr.) adjusted on it, and it was pretty fast, even on the short runs.”

McMurray led 43 of the final 47 laps, including the last 23.

“It’s the same thing every week,” McMurray said. “The car out front—the clean air’s huge.”

McMurray’s short-run speed proved decisive in a race that took a series of intriguing turns, including one sequence where only one car was scored on the lead lap.

Harvick took four tires under caution on Lap 62, while Busch and most other contenders chose to restart on old rubber when the field came to green on Lap 65. After restarting 12th, Harvick passed McMurray for the lead on Lap 70.

By Lap 112, he had the rest of the field at least one lap down, after Busch and other drivers on old tires came to the pits under green. Harvick gave up the lead to Busch when he made a green-flag stop for tires and fuel on Lap 120.

Harvick left the pits eight seconds behind Busch but cut that margin in half before Ryan Newman spun Trevor Bayne on the backstretch to cause the third caution of the race and bunch the field. McMurray was first out of the pits under caution and led the field to a restart on Lap 153.

McMurray stayed out front until contact from Stenhouse sent Reed Sorenson’s Toyota hard into the outside wall on Lap 168. Keselowski and 11th-place finisher Josh Wise stayed on the track under the caution, but they quickly surrendered the top two spots when the field restarted.

McMurray surged to the front with Busch in pursuit, but Busch was unable to make up significant ground in the closing laps and finished .286 seconds back.
“We just didn’t quite have enough there on short runs to keep up with them,” Busch said. “Once we got about 25 or 30 laps on (the tires), we could really start reeling them in and pass them. Typically, it’s always a long-run car that wins here—Harvick beat me last year with a long-run car—but that wasn’t the case tonight.”

Andrew Ranger Rolls to Win at Trois Rivieres

Photo Credit: Matthew Murnaghan/ NASCAR

Clinching his second NASCAR Canadian Tire Series championship last season, the young Andrew Ranger heard the call of the richer stock car racing scene of the United States. Spliting his time stock car racing between the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and the NASCAR K&N Racing Series for 2010, Ranger's open wheel road racing background came in extremely handy south of the 49th parallel taking victories at Infineon Raceway and Lime Rock Park. Returning as reigning champion to Canada when running a handful of NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races with a #27 Dodge, the Roxton Pond, Quebec native had already accomplished a flag-to-flag victory on the Honda Indy Weekend race. By doing so, Andrew Ranger completed an unreached feat of becoming the first driver to win in the both the NASCAR K&N East and West series as well as the Canadian Tire Series in a single year.
The 8th race of the 13 date 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series season, Trois Rivieres' GP3R 100 transpires on the oldest running temporary street course race in Canada. With history dating back to 1967, the 1.53 mile track played host to a Canadian whos-who of racing including Gilles Villeneuve, Alex Tagliani and Ron Fellows. Like the Toronto street course, the stock cars would be involved in a practically draining but brief 42-lap event.

Andrew Ranger returns just as the stock car racing tour concluded a two-race Western Canadian oval track stint. Apart from Ranger's appearance, the most concentrated focus has been on the tight 2010 championship fight between DJ Kennington and JR Ftzpatrick. After the Edmonton road race, the #84 Schick Hydro Chevrolet driven by Fitzpatrick held the lead in the points standings but Kennington has since launched himself into the points lead driving the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge. Qualifying 2nd, Fitzpatrick was positioned to make some serious gains on Kennington back on the road courses. In that same qualifying session, Ranger took his 3rd pole piloting the  #27 Jacobs Racing team's limited season.

Well-positioned at the beginning of the GP3R 100 on Circuit de Trois Rivieres, Andrew Ranger's attempt at a second NASCAR Canadian Tire Series victory for 2010 was hindered from the start.  Seeing opportunity immediately on lap 2, JR Fitzpatrick dived on Ranger through turn 6 allowing the #84 Chevy to grab the lead. Caught off-guard by the early race pass, Andrew Ranger slipped into the barrier. While suffering only minor damage along the drive side his #27 Dodge, Ranger lost a multitude of positions. By lap 6, Andrew Ranger was resuming the event in 6th place but was out of touch with the lead pack consisting of Fitzpatrick and the #02 Ford of Kerry Micks. The Ford/Chevrolet battle was fought valiantly at the front with leading 26 laps between the Micks and Fitzpatrick. By lap 13, the Dodge of Andrew Ranger continued his recovery emerging to 4th place chasing down Jason Hathaway seeded in 3rd place.

A caution for the stopped #77 vehicle of Isabelle Temblay allowed the teams to regroup on lap 16. With three yellow flags slowing the GP3R 100, the timing for each stop set up some priceless moments for the NSACAR Canadian Tire Series stars a golden opportunity to improve their position. Once the green flag flew following the first caution, Ranger successfully bypassed Hathaway's #3 Dodge for third.

Winding up at the halfway point, the race course challenged the mechanics of certain stock cars. Former Montreal Canadians hockey player Patrice Brisebois and Antony Simone were early race retirements. Also requiring extended service, the #4 Chevrolet of Don Thomson Jr. fell more than 12 laps off the lead. Thomson Jr. has been weathering an extremely tough 2010 season where the Home Hardware Chevrolet seems plagued with troubles.

JR Fitzpatrick led GP3R 100 event when caution fell for the second time for debris. The lap 28 restart would become the single definingmoment for the Trois Rivieres NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race. Three-wide between Fitzpatrick, Micks and Ranger, the fight prevailed in the favour of Andrew Ranger making a full recovery from his early race misadventure. Ranger's retaking of the lead position survived a the 3rd and final caution. Kerry Micks' Ford took second away from Fiztpatrick's Chevrolet.

Finishing 3rd, JR Fitzpatrick's race did not go the way the 2006 CASCAR Super Series champion would has preferred. Souring the podium effort was the knowledge that 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series title leader DJ Kennington finished one position behind Fitzpatrick's #84 car. However, gaining 15 points on Kennington, Fitzpatrick has closed the gap by a single point.

Finishing 3rd through 10th, Jeff Lapcevich, Scott Steckly, J.F. Dumoulin, Jason Hathaway, Peter Klutt and Mark Dilley crossed the Trois Rivieres finish line.



Next on the schedule for the 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series is the Dickies 200 at the Mosport Speedway oval this saturday.

Road Course Ace Ambrose Wins Watkins Glen Nationwide Race

Photo Credit: Chris Trotman/ Getty Images

Providing an opener to the Watkins Glen race weekend for the NASCAR tour, the 2010 Nationwide Series' Zippo 200 warms up the suburb's 2.45 mile road course. An 82 lap event, victory at the NASCAR Nationwide Series event is significant since the Zippo 200 is only 8 laps shorter than the NASCAR Sprint Cup race running Sunday. For this reason and the chance of catching the NASCAR regulars off-guard, the 2010 edition of this race brought out a slew of road racing experts including Ron Fellows, Nelson Piquet Jr, J.R. Fitzpatrick and Jacques Villeneuve.

A road racing ringer with the distinct honour of being a full season NASCAR Sprint Cup driver, the talents of Marcos Ambrose in a stock car was too much for his Sprint Cup JTG Racing team to ignore. Winning the 2 previous Nationwide series events at Watkins Glen, the Tasmanian driver was offered an opportunity to 3-peat at the race track against fierce competition from road ringer and other moonlighting Cup series driver. As the team fields a #47 Zippo-sponsored Toyota, Ambrose still preserved memories of the Sprint Cup race that got away from him at Infineon Raceway (If Marcos was ever able to forget it, someone with the media who be certain to remind him of the Sonoma mishap throughout this weekend). Winning pole for the upcoming race served as effective therapy to setting the past in the past.

On Saturday afternoon, the present effects the Zippo 200 started as 43 cars jockeyed for position off the start. Making contact into the first corner through the drop of the green flag, two Sprint Cup regulars came together for what would be the beginning of an eventful race at the Glen. The #60 Roush-Fenway Racing Ford driven by Carl Edwards brushed the side of the #33 Chevrolet owned and piloted by NASCAR Sprint Cup point leader Kevin Harvick. With minor damage applied to each race car, both cars continued while Marcos Ambrose led what would be the first 18 circuits around the track.

Under the first run, Edwards encountered the worst racing luck as his #60 Ford began to develop an engine issue. While the Roush-Fenway Racing team were determined to keep Edwards in the race, this would eventually prove a losing cause as the Ford was forced out of the Zippo 200 after completing 27 laps. With Carl Edwards out of the Watkins Glen event, this retirement cost the driver a 3rd straight road course win in NASCAR Nationwide Series competition.

A full-course yellow flew on lap 21 for debris following a first round of pit stops. Prior to this, the #33 of Kevin Harvick was served with a speeding penalty which dropped the top 5 car to rear of the NASCAR Nationwide field. Though Harvick would be able to climb back up the running order, he would not be a formidable match for the leading trio of Toyotas.

On the lap 23 restart, for the first caution at Watkins Glen, Joey Logano led for what would be a very short green flag run as a major crash out of turn 1 amounted to a massive 10-car wreck. Started when the #38 of Jason Leffler went wide of the first corner, his attempt to rejoin the pack resulted in contact with the #16 car of Colin Braun setting off a chain reaction within the narrow, guardrail-lined area of track. Trevor Bayne, Justin Allgaier and Brendan Gaughan are only a few participants involved in the melee. As drivers Steven Wallace and Kevin Harvick avoided serious damage through evasive actions on track, Roush-Fenway Racing development driver Billy Johnson's #6 Ford  failed to slow down significantly when he collided with the stalled Chevrolet of Tony Raines. Drilling Raines, Johnson lifted the #34 Chevrolet on top of the #6 Ford.  A 25 minute red flag period was required to remove the derelict race cars and repair the Armco retaining barriers.

Restarting the race after what would prove to be the only multi-car wreck, Joey Logano's #20 Toyota would be passed by teammate Kyle Busch on  lap 27 leading for 14 laps until the #47 of Marcos Ambrose applied pressure on the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Through an aggressive move heading into the inner loop chicane between turn 4 and 5, Ambrose used lapped traffic to his favour. As Busch's #18 Toyota slowed to pass the slower cars, the #47 Toyota practically drove flat-out storming to the lead. Taking the lead back on lap 41 with this move, Ambrose retained the top position for the remaining one-half distance.     

With Marcos Ambrose holding the lead even as two cautions bred for additional double-file restarts, the fight within the top 10 was alive. Losing 2nd to Logano, Kyle Busch was loathing his race car falling to 5th place as he received the checkered flag. Having also passed Busch, Kevin Harvick achieved a hard-fought 3rd place effort as he hustled from deep in the pack and averted the multi-car wreck to gain the podium spot.


Enjoying good days within the NASCAR Nationwide series are several of the part-time road racers. As Ambrose celebrated in Watkins Glen victory lane, Ron Fellows brought the #88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet home 6th while his Canadian teammate J.R. Fitzpatrick would also recover from a late race spin to finish 11th. Former Formula 1 drivers Nelson Piquet Jr as well as Jacques Villeneuve finished inside the top-10 with Piquet finishing 7th and Villeneuve placing in position behind.

A benefactor from Carl Edward's mechanical woes, NASCAR Nationwide series points leader Brad Keselowski would see the gap grow to 327 markers over his closest competitor Edwards.


2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series
Zippo 200
Watkins Glen International

1 47 Marcos Ambrose Kwik Fill/Red Apple/Zippo Toyota

2 20 Joey Logano GameStop Toyota

3 33 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John's Chevrolet

4 22      Brad Keselowski Ruby Tuesday/Discount Tire Dodge

5 18 Kyle Busch Combos Toyota

6 88 Ron Fellows GT Vodka Chevrolet

7 27 Nelson Piquet ArcSight/G2 Custom Apparel Ford

8 32 Jacques Villeneuve Dollar General Stores Toyota

9 66 Steve Wallace 5-hour Energy Toyota

10 181 Michael McDowell K-Love Dodge 

Other Notables 

11 7 J R Fitzpatrick Schick Hydro Chevrolet

22 09 Boris Said Zaxby's Ford

33 60 Carl Edwards Fastenal Ford 

34 12 Justin Allgaier Verizon Wireless Dodge

35 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota

33 4 60 Carl Edwards Fastenal Ford34 20 12 Justin Allgaier Verizon Wireless Dodge

Steckly Skates Past Kennington for Motoplex Speedway Win

Photo Credit: Matthew Murnaghan/NASCAR

Returning to a circle track, the 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series arrives to the half-mile oval Motoplex Speedway in Vernon, British Columbia to shake off their cobwebs within the A&W Cruisin' The Dub 300.

Five races in the books, the overall driver's points in the series reflects a spirited bout formulating between two Canadian wheel men identified with first name initials. Heading into Motoplex Speedway, young stock car hot-shoe J.R. Fitzpatrick held an advantage on the furiously determined D.J. Kennington by a fragile margin. With two wins on road course events in 2010, Fitzpatrick and his #84 Schick Hydro Chevy struts into the A&W Cruisin' The Dub 300 with momentum of the Edmonton Indy weekend win for the series. However, with Kennington winning the last oval round at St. Eustache, the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge had the advantage turn to their side. Reinforced by the pole position with a track record time, D.J. Kennington was well-positioned to make up some ground for in pursuit of his long-eluded Canadian national stock car championship.

As the 300 scheduled laps started at Motoplex Speedway, D.J. Kennington led the field around the half mile track for all the first 178 laps of the A&W Cruisin' The Dub 300. As Kennington presided out front, the big battle on the oval saw 2nd place change hands between four drivers. Scott Steckly, J.R. Fitzpatrick, Mark Dilley and Don Thomson Jr. were all involved in this fight for runner-up. With the first caution dropping on lap 107 for debris and the second on lap 133, Jason Hathaway driving the #3 Snap-on Tools/ Rockstar Energy Dodge was given a free pass back onto the lead lap. Hathaway would become a major factor in the second part of this 300 stock car race.

As Kennington led this NASCAR Canadian Tire Series event from the flag, a lap 177 caution involving a three car wreck provided a pivotal race change. With a pit stop due, the leaders pitted with the #17 first onto pit road but leaving out third. Jason Hathaway's team sent the #3 Dodge out first with the #84 Chevrolet sandwiched between the Dodge-branded stock cars. When the green returned, Fitzpatrick snuck by Hathaway for crucial one lap (earning 5 bonus points in the process) but would not be able to hold the spot as Hathaway retook the lead for an additional 28 laps. A thrilling chance for lead in 2010, the black and gold #17 Dodge chased down Jason Hathaway. With Kennington's speed, the lead change was inevitable that the #17 car would reclaim the top spot. As foreseen, D.J. Kenningston rolled past the #3 car on lap 220.

As Kennington reassumed the lead through the final stage of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race at Motoplex Speedway, his would not be able to leave his competitor behind through this second run. Searching for a 2010 victory, Scott Steckly's Canadian Tire Dodge made some swift moves promoting ratcheting up the heat on the Castrol Edge #17 car. In a matter of 8 laps, Steckly moved from 3rd to 1st taking the lead in lap 236. Remaining defiant to through the final laps, Kennington worked over the #22 Dodge hard but Scott Steckly masterfully prevented the #17 Dodge from leading any more than lap 257. With a lap 294 spin for John Gaunt, the leader was challenged by a green-white-checkered restart to resolve the A&W Cruisin' The Dub 300. Into extra laps, Steckly held off the charge of D.J. Kennington through the final to green flag laps rewarding the Canadian Tire-sponsored driver with his first 2010 win.

Through the final distance, Jason Hathaway found an opportunity to brilliantly steal the 2nd place finish from D.J. Kennington. Finishing 3rd, Kennington would benefit from a late struggle of J.R. Fitzpatrick who was holding on to his #84 Chevy to come home 7th. In the updated points standing for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, only 7 points now separate top-charting Fitzpatrick from D.J. Kennington. Rounding out the top-five finishers at the Motoplex Speedway was Don Thomson Jr and Mark Dilley.

Guided to Saskatoon for the series' next round at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series tour has only 4 days to ready for the Velocity Prairie Thunder.

Has the Return of the Spoiler Improved NASCAR Sprint Cup Competition?

Photo Credit: Undefined/NASCAR Media

Seven Sprint Cup races ago, NASCAR rules reverted the current spec stock cars to replace the rear deck wing with a rear spoiler blade. A welcomed change for Sprint Cup competition, the action was seen as NASCAR swallowing their pride as they were now willing to improve a highly critical aspect of the so-called COT car.

Since the COT(Car of Tomorrow) introduction, NASCAR's choice of a rear wing over the more conventional spoiler blade was scolded immediately. Fingering the wing as causing instability problems for the race vehicles, some alleged the wing caused at least two Sprint Cup cars to go violently airborne. The first coming at the 2009 spring Talladega race where Carl Edwards' #99 Ford sailed dangerously into the track's catch fence, a more recent incident involved a flip at Atlanta Motor Speedway's Kobalt Tools 500 this past March. At Atlanta, the #12 Dodge of Brad Keselowski was tagged by a disgruntled Carl Edwards.

Overall, the chief complaint of the wing was that the device discouraged passing. After 7 races, some on-track conclusions be now be made whether the fixed rear spoiler could improve Sprint Cup race competition. A quick way to evaluate the change is comparing the lead change count from the last 7 events of 2010. The following list compares the spoiler to the past 3 average race lead changes (past 2 races for Talladega Superspeedway and Texas Motor Speedway). The chart also compares the races with the new spec Sprint Cup car to the old spec vehicle which last ran in 2007.


Martinsville (Change: +8.33)

Spoiler: 24
Wing: 15.667
Year before COT: 12


Texas (Change: +12)

Spoiler: 29
Wing: 17
Year before COT: 13


Phoenix (Change: +8)

Spoiler: 20*
Wing: 12
Year before COT: 20

* 2010 Phoenix race was extended in length by 63 laps to 375 for the event.


Talladega (Change: +33.5)

Spoiler: 88
Wing: 54.5
Year before COT: 42


Richmond (Change: -3.66)

Spoiler: 12
Wing: 16.33
Year before COT: 12

Darlington (Change: -8.667)

Spoiler: 20
Wing: 28.667
Year before COT: 25


Dover (Change: +0.667)

Spoiler: 20
Wing: 19.33
Year before COT: 23


Judging the lead change data, the rear wing apparently triumphed in aiding an increase in 1st place with only Richmond and Darlington races showing a drop in lead passes. Of course these results are far from conclusive as other factors such as double-file restarts, green-flag pit stops or basic competitiveness of each race weigh in the compilation. However, it does seem to support the argument that the rear spoiler is the right move for the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. As the 2010 season continues, it remains to be seen if the lead change improvements will run deeper into the schedule.

NASCAR Sprint Cup: 2010 Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedweek Preview

Bristol Motor Speedway

Track Length: 0.533 Miles
Highest Banking: 36 Degrees
Listed Race Distance/Actual Race Distance: 266.5 miles
Laps: 500 laps
Previous NASCAR Sprint Cup Events Held: 98

2009 Race Winner: Kyle Busch
2009 Pole Winner: Mark Martin


Lead Changes in Past 5 Food City 500 Bristol Motor Speedway Races

2009: 13
2008: 17
2007: 14
2006: 19
2005: 14


Cautions in Past 5 Food City 500 Bristol Motor Speedway Races

2009: 9
2008: 10
2007: 15
2006: 18 2005: 14


Top 5 Lap Leaders In Last 10 Races

1. Kyle Busch 935 laps
2. Tony Stewart 769 laps
3. Matt Kenseth 706 laps
4. Kasey Kahne 305 laps
T5. Carl Edwards 282 laps
T5. Denny Hamlin 282 laps


Top 5 Average Finishers In Last 10 Races

1. Marcos Ambrose 6.5 (Only ran 3 races)
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr 8.5
3. Kyle Busch 10.2
4. Greg Biffle 11.1
5. Jeff Gordon 11.2


Wins at Car Make In Last 10 Races

Chevrolet: 3
Dodge: 1
Ford: 4
Toyota: 2


Cars Entered for 2010 Food City 500: 45