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Harvick Passes Torch to Edwards
RacingOne Staff
Posted Saturday, November 3, 2007
Harvick (left) celebrates his 32nd career win and Edwards hoists the series trophy.
Defending NASCAR Busch Series champion Kevin Harvick won Saturday's O'Reilly Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway and in the process Carl Edwards clinched the 2007 series title with an 11th-place finish.
Harvick was able to take the lead when Greg Biffle pitted on lap 166 for what he thought was a tire going down. Once out front, Harvick cruised to his fourth series win at TMS.
The victory for Harvick was the 32nd of his career and it broke the tie with Jack Ingram for second place on the all-time win list.
“Just to be up there with Jack Ingram and Martin Martin and all the guys that have made the Busch Series what it is, is pretty special,” Harvick said. “I really enjoy running this series and I always enjoy winning.”
After multiple accidents and finishes of 25th or worse in the last three races, Edwards finally locked up his huge lead in the series standings at the track in which he captured his fourth of seven career NEXTEL Cup victories.
"To win it here at Texas, this track has a lot of memories here for me," Edwards said. "It’s just a really good feeling. Hopefully, it’s one of many but we’re going to try and do it again next year and try to do even better."
The championship was the first NASCAR title for Edwards and the second for Ford and Roush-Fenway Racing in the series.
"Carl's had a great year in the Busch Grand National Series, P.K. (Pierre Kuettel) has done a great job," Roush said. "We certainly made it look closer than we needed it to at the end of the schedule. We were a better race team than we have looked like lately."
Kyle Busch finished second for his fourth runner-up finish in 18 starts this season.
"Pretty disappointing to finish second," Busch said.
Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth followed Harvick and Busch across the finish line to give Cup regulars a sweep of the top five.
Brad Keselowski captured his career-best finish with a sixth-place effort behind the wheel of the No. 88 Chevrolet.
Tony Stewart finished seventh after leading the most laps (114) and suffering damage to the right front of his No. 18 Chevrolet.
Jeff Burton, Tony Raines and Stephen Leicht rounded out the top 10.
The NASCAR Busch Series will now head to Phoenix International Raceway next Saturday for the Arizona.Travel 200.
Bloomquist Charges From Rear To Capture First A-Main Of 'Outlaws World Finals'
Posted Saturday, Nov 03, 2007
Concord, NC — By Kevin Kovac, WoO LMS P.R. Director
Scott Bloomquist made a little more history on Friday night.
The legendary driver from Mooresburg, Tenn., added another milestone to his already bulging resume, roaring from the rear of the field after an early pit stop to capture the first 50-lap Late Model A-Main of the inaugural ‘Outlaws World Finals’ at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
After completing his memorable rally by passing Ricky Elliott of Seaford, Del., for the lead on lap 44, Bloomquist established a pair of victory records. He broke a tie with Rick Eckert of York, Pa., to become the winningest driver on the WoO LMS since 2004 (with 16 triumphs), and his fourth career checkered flag at The Dirt Track gave him sole possession of the four-tenths-mile oval’s alltime dirt Late Model feature win mark over Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C.
Elliott, who inherited the lead on lap 30 when race-long pacesetter Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., retired with a broke right-rear axle, held on to finish second in Charles Jarvis’s Rocket No. 45. He was 1.885 seconds behind Bloomquist’s homebuilt ‘Team Zero’ mount at the finish line.
Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., advanced from the 15th starting spot to finish third in NASCAR star Bobby Labonte’s Lifelong Locks MasterSbilt, followed by 18th-starter Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., in the Valvoline Rocket and ninth-starter Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., in the Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket.
With his fourth-place run, Francis set himself up to be officially crowned the 2007 WoO LMS champion during Saturday night’s ‘World Finals’ grand finale. He ended the race with an insurmountable 82-point lead over Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who was hampered by a blown right-rear tire and bent spindle and finished 14th.
Bloomquist, who turns 44 on Nov. 14, had some trouble of his own early in the caution-filled event. Unhappy with the performance of his Miller Bros. Coal No. 0, he took the machine pitside for servicing during a lap-six caution period.
“When we first took off, the car was a little bit off,” said Bloomquist, who started 19th. “I dropped back, and then I went in and we made a few adjustments real quick.”
Bloomquist, who wasn’t afraid to pit because he didn’t face the prospect of giving up many positions, told his chief mechanic, Tommy Hicks, to tweak the shocks on his mount. That slight change was enough to get ‘Bloomer’ back in the game.
“It was a really good car, and the track kinda came around to me,” said Bloomquist, who cracked the top five on lap 30 when Miller suddenly pulled up lame in turn two. “I think the tires came in, and everything worked.”
Elliott, 42, ultimately fell victim to Bloomquist’s onslaught. A winner of an Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series big-block Modified 100 at The Dirt Track on April 3, 2004, Elliott relinquished his hold on the outside groove on lap 44 in an attempt to pass a lapped car and watched Bloomquist use that top lane to drive into the lead for good.
“I just wasn’t gonna leave the top (groove),” lamented Elliott, who started 10th and was one of the event’s handful of drivers who used American Racer tires. “When I got to Ricky (Weeks), I had to come off (to lap him). I went down to pass him, and that gave (Bloomquist) position (high) on me.
“By the time I could get moved back up to the top, he had position on me. He out-drove me.
“But the guy running second always has the advantage when the track is this fast,” added Elliott, who matched his career-best WoO LMS finish of second, on July 8, 2005, at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway. “The car that’s leading this race is gonna be faster out in clean air. You need a ‘circumstance’ to move (positions) around, because when the car’s out front in clean air and has so much downforce on the nose, it drives better.”
Bloomquist was thrilled that he was able to take advantage of that lapped-traffic “circumstance” to register his third WoO LMS victory of the season. He previously won the Circle K Colossal 100 on April 21 at The Dirt Track and the ‘Firecracker 100’ on June 30 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa.
“The way the track was when the race started, it was hard to really say (if his prospects were strong),” said Bloomquist, whose $10,225 paycheck pushed his earnings in nine WoO LMS A-Main starts this season to $108,888. “But as the groove widened out…I just never say die. We’re gonna keep on it until either it happens, or we’re in the fence.
“I love this racetrack when it’s smooth,” added the 2004 WoO LMS champion. “The cushion gave it a little bit of character, made it where you could definitely make a mistake and had to operate on a thin line.
“All in all, what a great race – and what a great racetrack.”
Bloomquist’s victory, which came in front of a near capacity crowd on hand to see the WoO Late Models and Sprint Cars running on the same program for the first time in the history of the series, had him feeling confident about his chances for a sweep of the ‘World Finals’ A-Mains.
“I wouldn’t bet on somebody else,” Bloomquist said with a sly smile when asked for a Saturday-night prediction.
Pearson, meanwhile, climbed as high as second, on a lap-30 restart. But he lost the position to Bloomquist on another restart one circuit later and had to settle for show money.
“We gambled on tires,” said the 35-year-old Pearson, who used soft rubber. “That’s the only choice we had starting so far back. We were a little bit worried about the Sprint Cars blowing the mud off the bottom, but luckily they left enough down there that we could run around the bottom and pass cars to get close to the front.
“But around lap 40, I knew we were done. The bottom kinda slowed down and top got faster.”
Francis, 40, was slowed throughout the race’s second half by an engine problem, but he persevered to finish a solid fourth.
“We ran on six cylinders from lap (22) on,” said Francis. “It broke a push rod and a rocker arm. I guess it broke a push rod on one cylinder and flipped over and hit the other one, so the one and three cylinders were dead.
“The car was just unbelievable tonight. I really think had we not been on six (cylinders), we could’ve had something for ‘em. We just couldn’t go fast enough on the straightaways.”
When Francis learned that his 82-point lead over Frank was enough to assure himself of a first-ever WoO LMS championship celebration on Saturday night, he was all smiles.
“It’s just a lot of relief now,” said Francis, who finished second in the WoO LMS standings in 2004 and 2005. “We’ll change the motor tomorrow. We’re having some fun tonight!”
Frank, 45, needed to finish at least five spots ahead of Francis to keep his hopes for the title alive in Saturday night’s A-Main, but he fell short. He started 12th and never was a factor.
“The right-rear tire just blew out (on lap six),” said Frank. “Then we got wrecked when we were in the back and got the spindle bent, so it was towed-out pretty good. It was just a bad night all around.”
Frank conceded the marathon title chase to Francis after the race.
“I congratulated him,” Frank said of Francis. “He deserved it (the title). He ran hard all year and did what he had to do.”
The 19-year-old Richards managed to finish fifth despite struggling throughout the A-Main to handle a car that was “way too loose,” and Eckert, who is winless on the ’07 tour and used a provisional to start 24th in Friday’s 50-lapper, placed sixth in a car that sputtered constantly due to a spark-plug wire that popped off at the start of the event.
Finishing in positions 7-10 was Matt Miller of Waterville, Ohio; Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., who started 22nd and was the race’s highest-finishing Rookie of the Year contender; Eric Jacobsen of Sea Cliffs Beach, Calif., who raced as high as third in his new Bloomquist Chassis but lost spots when he hopped the cushion on at least three occasions; and Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga.
Ten caution flags slowed the event, but there were no serious accidents.
The National Interstate Insurance Hard Luck Award (worth $50) was presented to Jeremy Miller, who led laps 1-30 after starting from the outside pole in Charles Buckler’s Rocket No. 24M.
“It was the same bad luck we had at VMS (Virginia Motor Speedway on July 20) and Sharon (Speedway on July 28),” said a disappointed Miller, who continues to seek his first career WoO LMS victory. “This could’ve been three of ‘em in the win column for us, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”
Winners of Friday night’s heat race, which were aligned by the results of Thursday night’s first-round time trials, included Jacobsen, Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio, Matt Miller, Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., Jeremy Miller and Madden, who finished 12th in the A-Main but was running second on lap 17 when an ignition malfunction forced him to bring out a caution flag and then switch to his secondary ignition.
The B-Mains were captured by Bloomquist and Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich., and Tim Tungate of Campbellsville, Ky., topped the C-Main.
Dan Schlieper of Sullivan, Wis., and Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., rode out wild barrel-rolls in separate turn-one incidents during heat action. Both drivers had their cars bicycle and then flip on restarts.
Schlieper wasn’t injured, but O’Neal, who drove the No. 16 normally campaigned by Kentucky’s Justin Rattliff, complained of neck and back pain and was transported to a local hospital for testing. O’Neal was released when no problems were found and returned to the track shortly after Friday’s program was completed.
The ‘Outlaws World Finals’ continues on Saturday (Nov. 3) with the second and final night of WoO Late Model and Sprint Car programs.
Saturday’s competition will be televised live by the SPEED cable network from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Time.
Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘World Finals’ A-Main 1 (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (19) Scott Bloomquist/50 $10,225
2. (10) Ricky Elliott/50 $5,625
3. (15) Earl Pearson Jr./50 $3,000
4. (18) Steve Francis/50 $2,500
5. (9) Josh Richards/50 $2,000
6. (24) Rick Eckert/50 $1,700
7. (6) Matt Miller/50 $1,400
8. (22) Brian Shirley/50 $1,550
9. (5) Eric Jacobsen/50 $1,200
10. (8) Shane Clanton/50 $1,100
11. (11) Darrell Lanigan/50 $1,050
12. (3) Chris Madden/50 $1,000
13. (16) Austin Dillon/50 $950
14. (12) Chub Frank/50 $900
15. (17) Eddie Carrier Jr./50 $850
16. (13) Ricky Weeks/49 $800
17. (25) Junior Pearce/45 $770
18. (26) Ben Adkins/34 $750
19. (2) Jeremy Miller/30 $780
20. (7) Steve Shaver/24 $800
21. (1) Jonathan Davenport/22 $700
22. (14) Randy Korte/22 $700
23. (4) Donnie Moran/16 $700
24. (20) Jeep VanWormer/14 $700
25. (21) Michael England/9 $700
26. (23) Clint Smith/2 $700
Time of Race: 43 Mins., 18.839 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 1.885 ecs.
Yellow Flags: 10 (Laps 3, 6, 9, 16, 17, 22, 23, 30, 32, 47)
Lap Leaders: J. Miller (1-30); Elliott (31-43); Bloomquist (44-50)
Provisional Starters: C. Smith, Eckert (WoO); Pearce, Adkins (track)
Rookie of the Race: Shirley ($250)
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Elliott ($500)
National Interstate Insurance Fast Time Award: Steve Shaver ($100)
National Interstate Insurance Hard Luck Award: J. Miller ($50)
Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($100): Tommy Hicks (Scott Bloomquist)
Donnie Moran Holds Off 2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Champ Steve Francis For Saturday-Night ‘Outlaws World Finals’ Win
Posted Sunday, Nov 04, 2007
Concord, NC — By Kevin Kovac, WoO LMS P.R. Director
Donnie Moran has a penchant for coming up big in historic dirt Late Model events.
The Dresden, Ohio, superstar did it in 2001 when he won the only dirt Late Model race that offered a $1 million top prize, and he made his mark on the division’s history again on Saturday night by capturing the first-ever dirt Late Model feature televised live on a cable network.
With a huge crowd of over 14,000 looking on from the grandstands and a national television audience watching on SPEED, Moran held off 2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion Steve Francis to win the second 50-lap A-Main of the inaugural ‘Outlaws World Finals’ at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
“God must work in mysterious ways,” Moran said with a smile when asked about his success in milestone events. “We won the first $100,000 purse race ever (for dirt Late Models), we won the Million (at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway) – and now here we are racing for the first time ever on live T.V., and we won again.
“I can’t explain why we’ve done so well in these special shows. I’m just thankful I’ve got good people behind me, a good, wonderful family that supports me, and it’s all worked out exceptionally well.”
Moran, 45, started from the pole position in his PBM Performance Products MasterSbilt car, but that didn’t give him an easy path to victory. He slipped back as far as fifth before rallying to grab the lead on lap 18 from Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., then lost the top spot to Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., on lap 29 before making another comeback to regain command for good on lap 37.
Ashland, Ky.’s Francis, who clinched his first career WoO LMS with a fourth-place finish in Friday night’s 50-lap A-Main, slid by Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., and Clanton for second place on lap 38 and spent the remaining circuits chasing Moran. Francis tossed his Valvoline Rocket to the outside of Moran rounding turns three and four on the final lap, but Moran slid in front of Francis on the straightaway and triumphed by a mere 0.154 of a second.
WoO LMS Rookie of the Year Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., charged from the 22nd starting spot to finish a strong third in his Gypsum Express Rocket, followed by 19th-starter Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., in the Drywall Systems Rocket and Lanigan in his familiar gottarace.com Rocket.
“I knew he was there because I could hear him a little bit,” Moran said of Francis, who started 10th. “But I just tried to keep my composure, work my line and hopefully keep it there to the end.
“Him and I have raced together since I was in my early 20s and he was a teenager, and we’re not gonna wreck each other. But we’re gonna give everything we have, and that’s what he did on the last lap. What did he have to lose?”
Indeed, Francis, 40, was racing without any concern about points for the first time all season, and he let it all hang out on the final circuit after being unable to shake Moran from his desired bottom groove.
“We couldn’t go on the restarts very good, but once we got going I could run (Moran) down,” said Francis. “He was in the (inside) lane I wanted to be in, though, and I couldn’t really do anything with him, so on the last lap I threw a ‘Hail-Mary’ at him to try whatever it took to win.
“My only shot was a ‘Hail-Mary’ on the last lap, but we fell a little short. I had to lift when he slid up because I was gonna catch him in the (rear) corner – and that was gonna be ugly.”
Moran was resilient in his march to victory, refusing to give up during the moments when it looked like a checkered flag might not be in the cards for him.
“The dirt is unpredictable and it was changing the whole race,” said Moran, analyzing his drive. “The bottom wasn’t there, then it came in, then it kinda went away a little bit, and then it came in again. It would kind of come and go, and that’s why we fell back a few times and then got going again.
“A lot of it has to do with the time of year. There’s a lot of moisture in the air at night when it’s cool like it was tonight, so sometimes when you have a little bit longer caution (period) and everybody will run in one position around the track, then the dew will settle in on another part of the racetrack and put some traction there. Somebody might find it, and that makes the lane change.
“That’s dirt racing.”
Moran became the 19th different winner in 44 WoO LMS events this season. His best previous finish in 13 A-Main starts on the tour in 2007 was second, on July 28 at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio.
Officially, Moran recorded his third career win on the WoO LMS. But his two previous scores came during the first incarnation (1988-1989) of the tour – on Aug. 26, 1988, at Bolivar, Mo., and Aug. 20, 1989, at Sedalia, Mo. – so he received the $500 WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ prize for being the highest-finishing driver who hadn’t won a tour event since 2004 and wasn’t ranked among the top 12 in the points standings, pushing his earnings for the night to $10,725.
It was also Moran’s first-ever win at The Dirt Track. He had finished as high as second at the four-tenths-mile oval.
“We’ve been good here in the past, and we were good all weekend,” said the happy Moran, who joined ‘Outlaws World Finals’ Sprint Car winner Steve Kinser for post-race photos. “We were close to the front last night and blew a tire, but we learned a little bit about the tires and made some changes and the thing was great tonight.”
Francis also participated in the post-race ceremonies, taking to the stage with WoO Sprint Car champion Donny Schatz to receive a formal championship crowning. He will pick up a $100,000 check for winning the title during the WoO LMS ‘Night of Champions’ Awards Banquet on Dec. 6 in Orlando, Fla.
“A win would’ve topped the weekend,” said Francis, who finished second in the WoO LMS points standings in 2004 and 2005. “With Lee (Logan, Francis’s chief mechanic) winning the pit crew (competition) on Thursday and then us winning the championship, it would’ve been awesome if we could’ve just pulled off that other eight foot we needed there to beat Moran for the win.
“But we’re just happy to run the way we did and prove tonight on national TV that (the title) was not a fluke, that what we’ve done this year was the real thing.”
Fuller, 40, made the biggest advance forward in the A-Main, picking up 19 positions to finish third in his first career feature start at The Dirt Track. A winner two years ago in an Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series big-block Modified feature at the speedway, Fuller reached third on lap 40 and was just 0.728 of a second behind Moran at the checkered flag.
“The way this weekend had gone, I didn’t think we were even gonna get a top 10 starting where we did,” said Fuller, who failed to qualify on Friday and had to pass several cars to grab the last transfer spot in Saturday’s second B-Main. “But (Scott) Bloomquist proved last night that you can pass (coming back from a pit stop to win), and we were able to move up through the pack.
“We were so bad in time trials (on Thursday night) because we didn’t tighten up enough, so tonight we tightened the car up as much as we do for normal features and it was pretty good. We also had a little bit harder tire on the left-rear and it kept driving.”
Shaver also registered a top-five finish after qualifying through a B-Main, raising his spirits after a rearend problem knocked him out of Friday night’s A-Main. His ‘World Finals’ had started off strong when he set fast time in both rounds of time trials on Thursday.
Lanigan was a disappointed fifth-place finisher. He climbed as high as third and felt he had a car capable of winning, but his bid was short-circuited because he ran the top groove a bit too long.
Pearson led laps 4-17 after starting fourth, but he faded to a sixth-place finish in Bobby Labonte’s MasterSbilt mount.
“I just pushed it a little too hard and blistered the right-rear tire,” said Pearson. “Once I did that I moved around a little bit, but the car was never any good again.”
Finishing in positions 7-10 was Bloomquist, who pitted to change right-side tires on lap five but wasn’t able to duplicate his Friday-night charge; Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., who ran as high as fourth; Clanton, who started third and led laps 29-36 but fell from contention after turn-two contact with Lanigan on lap 39 cost him several spots; and Steve Lucas of Cross Lanes, W.Va.
Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., raced off the outside pole to lead laps 1-3, but he gradually faded and finished 21st, one lap down.
Three caution flags slowed the event – for Chad Ruhlman of Bemis Point, N.Y., spinning on lap five; Jackie Boggs of Grayson, Ky., slowing on lap 20; and a tangle on lap 24 involving David Scott of Garland, Pa., and Michael England of Glasgow, Ky., who was scheduled to start fifth after a heat win but was forced to the rear of the field because he brought out a backup car.
Heat winners were Clanton, Pearson, Shirley, Moran, Babb and England, and Shaver and Rick Eckert of York, Pa., captured the B-Mains.
Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘World Finals’ A-Main No. 2 (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (1) Donnie Moran/50 $10,725
2. (10) Steve Francis/50 $5,125
3. (22) Tim Fuller/50 $3,250
4. (19) Steve Shaver/50 $2,600
5. (8) Darrell Lanigan/50 $2,000
6. (4) Earl Pearson Jr./50 $1,700
7. (18) Scott Bloomquist/50 $1,400
8. (6) Shannon Babb/50 $1,300
9. (3) Shane Clanton/50 $1,200
10. (11) Steve Lucas/50 $1,100
11. (7) Josh Richards/50 $1,050
12. (20) Rick Eckert/50 $1,000
13. (9) Dan Schlieper/50 $950
14. (13) Ricky Elliott/50 $900
15. (14) Scott James/50 $850
16. (21) Matt Miller/50 $800
17. (5) Michael England/50 $770
18. (25) David Scott/50 $750
19. (17) Eric Jacobsen/50 $730
20. (15) Ricky Weeks/49 $700
21. (2) Brian Shirley/49 $700
22. (26) Ben Adkins/49 $700
23. (24) Clint Smith/41 $750
24. (23) Chub Frank/19 $700
25. (12) Jackie Boggs/19 $700
26. (16) Chad Ruhlman/5 $700
Note: Michael England switched to a backup car for the feature and started from the rear of the field
Time of Race: 23 Mins., 56.903 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.154 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 3 (Laps 5, 20, 24)
Lap Leaders: Shirley (1-3); Pearson (4-17); Moran (18-28); Clanton (29-36); Moran (37-50)
Provisional Starters: Frank, C. Smith (WoO); Scott, Adkins (track)
Rookie of the Race: Fuller ($250)
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Moran ($500)
National Interstate Insurance Fast Time Award: Steve Shaver ($100)
National Interstate Insurance Hard Luck Award: C. Smith ($50)
Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($100): Brian Redmon (Donnie Moran)
No problemo dude!
You had me thinking maybe I was wigged out! :))) lol
G/L to you today!
Where's Dave?
They were right, Red.
Too much sleep in my eyes this morning. LOL
Spcalk, my appologies...
You're absolutely correct, the 99 is in the chase.
When I looked at your picks I envisioned Michael Waltrip in his Aaron's Dream Machine (Busch Series) and jumped the gun a bit, I guess.
Good luck with the 2007 Busch Series Champion today.
99 not in the Chase?
Thanks Red eom.
your in cap..yw
oops....i forgot to check the legality of the picks.i just presumed the pickers were picking the correct picks....lol
ty
1 11 29 & 66 for me...
Already in the ibox.
Thanks for entering the choices so far this weekend, Red.
I had to work all day yesterday, and need to be out the door in the next 30 minutes or so, to do it all again today.
They say in this era one should never complain about having too much work, so I won't... I'll just turn on MRN and open up the volume!
GM, Spcalk...
The 99 is neither a chase contender, nor a provisional starter this week.
Please choose again.
skinner lives at "spruce creek fly in" thats about 10 miles from me..mark martin lives there too...john travolta moved,they got tired of the noise from his 747 late at night...
punch in "spruce creek fly in"...nice development,all the homes have there own hanger at there house[90% anyway]
Thanks! Man, this isn't gettin' any easier these last few races.
This Weekend’s ‘Outlaws World Finals’ Represent Rick Eckert’s Final Shot At World of Outlaws Late Model Series Victory In 2007
Posted Wednesday, Oct 31, 2007
Concord, NC — By Kevin Kovac, WoO LMS P.R. Director
Two more chances.
For Rick Eckert, it’s either win one of the two 50-lap A-Mains that comprise the inaugural ‘Outlaws World Finals’ this weekend (Nov. 1-3) at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway, or go winless on the 2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
Who could have predicted that Eckert, 41, of York, Pa., would face such a predicament entering the tour’s blockbuster season finale?
Eckert, after all, has been a perennial Victory Lane occupant on the WoO LMS. His 15 triumphs since 2004 have him tied with Scott Bloomquist atop the tour’s win list over that span, and last year he led the series with eight victories, including a record four wins in a row.
So seeing Eckert as the only driver among the top 10 in the WoO LMS points standings to go winless through the first 42 events of 2007 – and, even worse, without a victory since July 8, 2006, at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio (a span of 55 races) – is one of the most mystifying stories of the WoO LMS campaign.
It’s been a terribly frustrating year for Eckert, an outgoing personality who is one of the most accomplished drivers on the national dirt Late Model scene. Ask him to grade his ’07 season, and you’ll realize how frustrating.
“It’s been a failure, for sure,” pronounced Eckert, who then added with a smile: “I’d give it a D-minus at best – ‘D’ as in ‘Dummy.’”
Of course, Eckert did not roar into 2007 with the kind of momentum you’d expect a driver to have coming off an eight-win season. For starters, all his ’06 victories came in the first 17 events of the season; a string of bad stretch-run luck dropped him to seventh in the final points standings after he had been challenging for the title. He also entered ’07 with two new crewmen (his longtime crew chief Robby Allen and mechanic Dustin Keath departed to take new jobs) and running a MasterSbilt Chassis after spending years in the Rocket camp.
Some stability with his Raye Vest-owned team would have suited Eckert after the off-season changes, but it didn’t happen. He had to scramble twice to find crew help – Eckert’s two new crewmen left in June and their replacement quit in August, so Chad Curran, who came from Arkansas to help Eckert just before Labor Day, is now the fourth mechanic Eckert has had on the payroll this year – and in August he made another chassis switch, to GRT, in hopes of finding a comfort level that had proved elusive all season.
There have been some uplifting moments for Eckert along the ’07 WoO LMS road – specifically, five runner-up finishes, including three consecutive during June’s ‘Great Northern Tour.’ But he never quite turned the corner and flashed his usual, consistent strength, as evidenced by his subpar qualifying stats (average time-trial position of 17.60, just two heat wins, 12 B-Main appearances) and his failure to string together more than five consecutive top-10 finishes (in contrast, points leader Steve Francis authored a streak of 16 top-10s in a row).
“The only good thing about this season is that it’s almost over,” said Eckert, whose only victories in 2007 have come in unsanctioned events at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and Delaware International Speedway. “I just want to put this season behind us and gear up for next year.”
Considering Eckert’s uncharacteristic struggles this season, it’s a testament to his fortitude that he’s ranked fifth in the WoO LMS points standings and has an opportunity to finish fourth with a strong performance in the ‘World Finals.’ Eckert has certainly been durable and steady, if not spectacular. He has just a single DNF on his record this year (after being knocked into the wall early in the Circle K Colossal 100 at The Dirt Track); he’s completed 2,151 of the 2,250 possible A-Main laps on the tour to date (only Francis, with 2,181 laps, has completed more); and he’s finished on the lead lap in 17 consecutive races (the second-longest active streak behind Francis’s amazing 36 straight).
“It’s pretty unbelievable that we’ve completed as many laps as we have this year,” said Eckert, who has led only 15 circuits in 2007. “That’s a credit to our maintenance program. Finishing races has been sort of my trademark over my career.
“I would have liked to have been faster (all year), but least we have that (finishing record) going for us this year.”
Can Eckert break out of his doldrums and grab a $10,000 victory this weekend at The Dirt Track – perhaps even on the grand stage of Saturday night (Nov. 3), when the SPEED cable network will broadcast the ‘World Finals’ program live to a national audience from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Time?
“I’m not overly optimistic, because our season hasn’t left us much to be optimistic about,” said Eckert, who advanced from the 26th starting spot to finish sixth in the WoO LMS Jani-King Southern Showdown on Oct. 10 at The Dirt Track. “But Charlotte is one of those places where anybody can win. You don’t know what’s gonna happen, so if we can get some luck on our side, maybe we can pull one out.
“I know it would feel good to win one,” he added. “We’ll know by Sunday if we were able to do it.”
Eckert’s pursuit of a WoO LMS checkered flag begins this Thursday night (Nov. 1) when the ‘World Finals’ kicks off with practice and qualifying for the WoO Late Models and Sprint Cars. Each division will have two time-trial sessions, with the first round determining lineups for Friday night and the second round setting the Saturday night card.
Thursday’s card will end with the Integra Shocks ‘Crew Chief Challenge’ in front of the main grandstand. WoO LMS mechanics who won the Integra Shocks ‘Wrench of the Race’ Award during the second half of the 2007 season will change the right-rear tire on their drivers’ cars against the clock in hopes of winning a $1,000 first prize.
Full racing programs are on tap for both the Late Model and Sprint Car divisions on Friday and Saturday, with each night highlighted by $10,000-to-win main events for both the Late Models and Sprint Cars.
The Saturday-night program will be broadcast live nationally on SPEED from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Time.
Tickets for the Nov. 1-3 ‘Outlaws World Finals’ can be purchased online at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com or by calling the Lowe's Motor Speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS. Camping spots can be reserved by calling (704) 455-4445.
Shaver Fastest In Both Time Trial Rounds As ‘Outlaws World Finals’ Opens Thursday Night
Posted Friday, Nov 02, 2007
Concord, NC — By Kevin Kovac, WoO LMS P.R. Director
Steve Shaver doubled his pleasure on Thursday night, setting fast time in the two rounds of dirt Late Model time trials that opened the inaugural ‘Outlaws World Finals’ at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
A huge field of 82 dirt Late Models entered the World of Outlaws Late Model Series event, which also included a strong turnout of 48 Sprint Cars. The ‘World Finals’ marks the first time ever that the WoO Late Models and Sprint Cars are competing on the same program.
Shaver, 44, of Vienna, W.Va., had his Rocket Chassis flying around the smooth four-tenths-mile oval in both of the time-trial sessions, which set the heat-race lineups for the ‘World Finals’ shows on Friday and Saturday. He established a new Late Model track record of 14.905 seconds (96.612 mph) in the first round of qualifying (breaking the seven-year-old standard of 15.054 seconds held by Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla.), then backed it up with a lap of 15.056 seconds (95.643 mph) in the second round.
With his second and third National Interstate Insurance Fast Time Awards of the 2007 WoO LMS season, Shaver earned a pole position starting spot in the first heat race on both Friday and Saturday night. He will be seeking his first career WoO LMS triumph in the 50-lap, $10,000-to-win A-Mains that headline each evening’s Late Model action.
Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio, will share the front row with Shaver in Friday night’s first heat after registering the second-fastest lap in the first round of time trials, and Matt Miller of Waterville, Ohio, will start Saturday night’s first heat on the outside of Shaver after grabbing the runner-up slot in the second round.
Thursday’s first round of time trials set the lineups for Friday night’s heats, while the second round of qualifying was used to align Saturday night’s heats.
WoO LMS points leader Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., was 18th in first-round qualifying and 22nd in the second round. He will start third in Friday night’s sixth heat – one spot behind Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who sits second in the tour points standings, 62 points in arrears of Francis.
One of the most impressive performances of Thursday night’s qualifying was authored by 16-year-old Austin Dillon of Welcome, N.C. The young grandson of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress ripped off the fourth-fastest lap in the first round of time trials and proved it was no fluke by timing third-fastest in the second round, giving him pole position starts in heats on both Friday and Saturday.
Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., meanwhile, experienced both ends of the spectrum. His fifth-fastest lap in the first round earned him a pole start in a Friday heat, but after slapping the wall during his second-round circuit he was left with no time – and facing the prospect of fighting through a Saturday-night C-Main just to tag the back of a heat race that evening.
Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., whose five WoO LMS victories in 2007 include a win in last month’s Jani-King Southern Showdown at The Dirt Track, hit the wall between turns one and two on the opening lap of his first-round time-trial effort and didn’t record an official time. As a result, he is scheduled to start last in Friday night’s C-Main, which will transfer its top-six finishers to the heats.
Babb repaired his car and timed 11th-fastest in the second round of time trials, giving him a solid heat-race starting spot on Saturday night.
The ‘Outlaws World Finals’ continue on Friday and Saturday, with hot laps scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. and racing set to take the green flag at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday night’s ‘World Finals’ program will be televised live by the SPEED cable network from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Time.
Round 1 Time Trial Results For Fri., Nov. 2 Heat Races (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 30-Steve Shaver/Vienna, WV 14.905 (NTR)
2. 99m-Donnie Moran/Dresden, OH 14.974
3. 7-Matt Miller/Waterville, OH 15.005
4. 3a-Austin Dillon/Welcome, NC 15.052
5. 24M-Jeremy Miller/Gettysburg, PA 15.072
6. 44M-Chris Madden/Gray Court, NC 15.086
7. 5J-Eric Jacobsen/Sea Cliff Beach, CA 15.095
8. 5E-Michael England/Glasgow, KY 15.106
9. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 15.123
10. 75-Jonathan Davenport/Blairsville, GA 15.124
11. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 15.149
12. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 15.150
13. 1W-Ricky Weeks/Rutherfordton, NC 15.151
14. 7K-Randy Korte/Highland, IL 15.170
15. 0-Scott Bloomquist/Mooresburg, TN 15.174
16. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 15.211
17. 8-Junior Pearce/Pine Level, NC 15.222.
18. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 15.236
19. 9-Dan Schlieper/Sullivan, WI 15.258
20. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 15.259
21. 44p-Earl Pearson Jr./Jacksonville, FL 15.263
22. 45-Ricky Elliott/Seaford, DE 15.280
23. 5c-Rodney Combs/Ft. Myers, FL 15.282
24. 19d-Ronnie DeHaven Jr./Winchester, VA 15.305
25. 116-Randy Weaver/Crossville, TN 15.306
26. 4T-Tommy Kerr/Maryville, TN 15.307
27. 16-Don O’Neal/Martinsville, IN 15.309
28. 87-Walker Arthur/Forest, VA 15.322
29. 28-Eddie Carrier Jr./Salt Rock, WV 15.361
30. 3s-Brian Shirley/Chatham, IL 15.378
31. 2J-Jeff Rine/Danville, PA 15.380
32. 20-Chad Ruhlman/Bemis Point, NY 15.385
33. 3d-David Scott/Garland, PA 15.390
34. 6T-Tim Dohm/Charleston, WV 15.391
35. 99c-Jeff Cooke/Spartanburg, SC 15.399
36. 95J-Jerry Bowersock/Wapakoneta, OH 15.402
37. 41-Josh McGuire/Ashland, KY 15.417
38. 17H-Jared Hawkins/Fairmont, WV 15.419
39. 53-Ray Cook/Brasstown, WV 15.430
40. 77-Jason Dunn/Franklin, KY 15.442
41. 99s-Ken Schrader/Fenton, MO 15.445
42. 55-Jeep VanWormer/Pinconning, MI 15.445
43. 70-Jeff Smith/Gastonia, NC 15.455
44. B7-Ben Adkins/W. Portsmouth, OH 15.469
45. 00H-Chuck Harper/Beverly, WV 15.485
46. 25x-John Lewellyn/Knoxville, TN 15.487
47. 4-Alex Ferree/Saxonburg, PA 15.488
48. 44c-Johnny Cloer Jr./Chatsworth, GA 15.494
49. 54-Steve Blackburn/Greensboro, NC 15.501
50. 17-Tim Allen/Kannapolis, NC 15.519
51. 20L-Anthony Huber/Parkersburg, WV 15.535
52. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 15.536
53. E1-Mike Balzano/Parkersburg, WV 15.551
54. 11-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 15.556
55. 12d-Doug Dodd/Cambridge, OH 15.564
56. 83-Scott James/Greendale, IN 15.617
57. 10-Brian Barber/Buffalo, KY 15.633
58. 47-Chris Combs/Isom, KY 15.638
59. 12-Jordan Bland/Campbellsville, KY 15.650
60. 00-Freddy Smith/Seymour, TN 15.657
61. 25s-Jay Smith/Cumming, GA 15.676
62. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 15.681
63. 21L-Matt Lux/Franklin, PA 15.691
64. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 15.697
65. 4B-Jackie Boggs/Grayson, KY 15.714
66. 66-Tony Knowles/Tyrone, GA 15.719
67. 1c-Wayne Chinn/Tipp City, OH 15.737
68. 16T-Tim Tungate/Campbellsville, KY 15.757
69. 9z-Jayme Zidar/Greenfield, WI 15.819
70. 6J-Kerry Jones/Bristol, TN 15.825
71. i4-Damon Eller/Crumpler, NC 15.901
72. 18w-Eric Wells/Hazard, KY 15.920
73. 07-Brian Ledbetter/Dallas, NC 16.022
74. 31-Bob Gordon/Keyser, WV 16.172
75. 71d-Ron Davies/Warren, PA 16.206
76. 32-Larry Blankenship/Mooresville, NC 16.210
77. 1T-Tre Martin/Charleston, WV 16.237
78. 02-Damon Kotke/Louisberg, NC 16.317
79. H1-Ronald Hammond/Hope Mills, NC 16.547
80. 6L-Steve Lucas/Cross Lanes, WV 18.154
81. 43-Troy Erickson/Martinsburg, WV 19.414
82. 18-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL N/T
Skinner Ties Season Pole Record at Texas
Carey Estes, TruckSeries.com
Mike Skinner has been qualifying like a rookie this season. Which in his case is a good thing.
Skinner turned a fast lap of 184.137 mph to pick up his 10th Bud Pole of the season during qualifying Friday night for the Silverado 350K at Texas Motor Speedway. That ties the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series record for most poles in one season set in 1995 by none other than Mike Skinner. That was the first year of the Truck Series, so it obviously was Skinner's rookie season on the circuit.
"Our Tundra was real good right off the trailer," said Skinner, who also had the fastest lap time during practice. "We didn't really know if it was going to be a pole contender or not. I feel like this truck will race good, and it has raced good here."
Skinner extended his record for the most career NCTS poles to 42, including 25 in the past three seasons combined. He has yet to start outside the top-10 this year, and he has qualified out of the top-five only twice.
Skinner's 10-pole season in 1995 helped him win the inaugural NCTS point championship. He hopes history will repeat itself this year, as Skinner is in a close battle for the championship with Ron Hornaday Jr., who qualified eighth with a speed of 182.735. Hornaday leads Skinner in the standings by only four points with three races remaining, and he and Skinner have traded the lead four times in the past five races.
"This thing is so tight, we keep going back and forth," Skinner said. "Hopefully everything just keeps going like that. Hopefully we'll get it back this week, and then he'll take it back at Phoenix next week, and then we'll get it back at Homestead (in the season finale). That's what we're hoping for."
Chad McCumbee will start second in Friday night's race after a fast lap of 184.018. It easily was the best qualifying effort of the year for McCumbee, who has no starts in the top-five this season and only three in the top-10. McCumbee also has never started better than 17th in his two previous appearances at TMS.
"This is just a huge improvement for this team in the last few weeks," McCumbee said. "The guys on the team have been working as hard as they can possibly work and are finally getting some reward for it. That was the easiest laps I have ever run.
"When I came to this team, I was very impressed with the motor program. They have a lot of the correct resources and a lot of the correct people. It is just a matter of making it efficient and making things work and working as a whole. It has been a continued effort. Week after week these guys are getting better. Obviously this week they were great on the qualifying program. They have been great on practice. We have had really great practice and qualifying sessions here in the last few weeks. It is just the guys starting to gel together."
Ted Musgrave qualified third (183.836), his best start since the March race at Martinsville. Johnny Benson was fourth (183.680), Kyle Busch fifth (183.655), Travis Kvapil sixth (183.194) and Rick Crawford seventh (182.890). Jon Wood and Regan Smith round out the top 10, behind Hornaday.
Todd Bodine, who has four career Truck Series victories at TMS and won at the track earlier this year, qualified 13th (182.519). Former Formula One champ Jacques Villeneuve was 16th (182.211), while Willie Allen was the highest qualifying Raybestos Rookie in 18th (182.045).
"We came here and we didn't think this truck would qualify good, but we brought it to race good," Allen said. "We've been qualifying really good and it just seems like it goes away in the race. So we brought a truck with more downforce than we've brought here in the past, and it's better than what I thought it would be, actually. I figured we'd be in the 20s so I'm really happy with the truck."
The Silverado 350K is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. ET Saturday. SPEED will begin live coverage at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Starting Lineup Dickies 500 Texas Motor Speedway |
Nov 04, 2007 03:00 PM
(*chase contenders)
Pos # Driver Sponsor Car
1 1 Martin Truex Jr.
Race By Race Results Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet*
2 24 Jeff Gordon
Race By Race Results DuPont Chevrolet*
3 42 Juan Pablo Montoya
Race By Race Results Texaco/Havoline Dodge
4 29 Kevin Harvick
Race By Race Results Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet*
5 84 AJ Allmendinger
Race By Race Results Red Bull Toyota
6 2 Kurt Busch
Race By Race Results Miller Lite Dodge*
7 11 Denny Hamlin
Race By Race Results FedEx Chevrolet*
8 48 Jimmie Johnson
Race By Race Results Lowe's Chevrolet*
9 25 Casey Mears
Race By Race Results National Guard Chevrolet
10 01 Mark Martin
Race By Race Results U.S. Army Chevrolet
11 12 Ryan Newman
Race By Race Results Alltel Dodge
12 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Race By Race Results Budweiser Chevrolet
13 43 Bobby Labonte
Race By Race Results Cheerios Dodge
14 36 Mike Skinner
Race By Race Results 360 OTC Toyota
15 20 Tony Stewart
Race By Race Results The Home Depot Chevrolet*
16 15 Paul Menard
Race By Race Results Menards Chevrolet
17 5 Kyle Busch
Race By Race Results CARQUEST Chevrolet*
18 17 Matt Kenseth
Race By Race Results USG Ford*
19 19 Elliott Sadler
Race By Race Results Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge
20 10 Scott Riggs
Race By Race Results Proto Dodge
21 99 Carl Edwards
Race By Race Results Office Depot Ford*
22 83 Brian Vickers
Race By Race Results Red Bull Toyota
23 16 Greg Biffle
Race By Race Results Jackson Hewitt Ford
24 26 Jamie McMurray
Race By Race Results Crown Royal Ford
25 9 Kasey Kahne
Race By Race Results Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge
26 44 Dale Jarrett
Race By Race Results UPS Toyota
27 31 Jeff Burton
Race By Race Results AT&T Mobility Chevrolet*
28 40 David Stremme
Race By Race Results Homelife Communities Dodge
29 07 Clint Bowyer
Race By Race Results Jack Daniel's Chevrolet*
30 21 Bill Elliott
Race By Race Results DeliMax Ford
31 41 Reed Sorenson
Race By Race Results Target Dodge
32 22 Dave Blaney
Race By Race Results Caterpillar Toyota
33 6 David Ragan
Race By Race Results AAA Ford
34 38 David Gilliland
Race By Race Results M&M's Ford
35 78 Joe Nemechek
Race By Race Results Furniture Row Chevrolet
36 66 Jeremy Mayfield
Race By Race Results Best Buy Chevrolet
37 45 Kyle Petty
Race By Race Results National Tire & Battery Dodge
38 18 J.J. Yeley
Race By Race Results Interstate Batteries Chevrolet
39 88 Ricky Rudd
Race By Race Results Snickers Ford
40 96 Tony Raines
Race By Race Results DLP HDTV Chevrolet
41 7 Robby Gordon
Race By Race Results Menards Ford
42 70 Johnny Sauter
Race By Race Results FleetPride Chevrolet
43 00 David Reutimann
Race By Race Results Burger King Toyota
Failed To Qualify
# Driver Sponsor Car
08 Burney Lamar
Race By Race Results Rhino's Energy Drink Dodge
49 John Andretti
Race By Race Results Paralyzed Veterans of America Dodge
34 Kevin Lepage
Race By Race Results myautoloans.com Dodge
55 Michael Waltrip
Race By Race Results NAPA Toyota
4 Ward Burton
Race By Race Results State Water Heaters Chevrolet
Dickies 500 1st Practice Speeds
Texas Motor Speedway
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Posted Friday, November 2, 2007
Pos. No. Driver Make Time Speed Lap # # Laps - Fastest - Next
1 24 Jeff Gordon 28.083 192.287 7 7 ---.--- ---.---
2 *84 AJ Allmendinger # 28.108 192.116 11 11 -0.025 -0.025
3 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 28.165 191.727 6 6 -0.082 -0.057
4 48 Jimmie Johnson 28.201 191.483 10 10 -0.118 -0.036
5 5 Kyle Busch 28.223 191.333 9 11 -0.140 -0.022
6 42 Juan Pablo Montoya # 28.280 190.948 17 17 -0.197 -0.057
7 17 Matt Kenseth 28.306 190.772 29 29 -0.223 -0.026
8 29 Kevin Harvick 28.310 190.745 11 11 -0.227 -0.004
9 25 Casey Mears 28.329 190.617 7 7 -0.246 -0.019
10 19 Elliott Sadler 28.331 190.604 19 19 -0.248 -0.002
11 *10 Scott Riggs 28.333 190.590 12 12 -0.250 -0.002
12 11 Denny Hamlin 28.334 190.584 18 18 -0.251 -0.001
13 *83 Brian Vickers 28.342 190.530 12 12 -0.259 -0.008
14 1 Martin Truex Jr. 28.344 190.517 1 3 -0.261 -0.002
15 7 Clint Bowyer 28.382 190.261 7 7 -0.299 -0.038
16 41 Reed Sorenson 28.393 190.188 19 19 -0.310 -0.011
17 2 Kurt Busch 28.394 190.181 20 20 -0.311 -0.001
18 40 David Stremme 28.397 190.161 9 13 -0.314 -0.003
19 9 Kasey Kahne 28.399 190.148 25 25 -0.316 -0.002
20 43 Bobby Labonte 28.401 190.134 21 23 -0.318 -0.002
21 20 Tony Stewart 28.423 189.987 18 20 -0.340 -0.022
22 1 Mark Martin 28.428 189.954 11 11 -0.345 -0.005
23 12 Ryan Newman 28.429 189.947 21 21 -0.346 -0.001
24 66 Jeremy Mayfield 28.487 189.560 18 18 -0.404 -0.058
25 *00 David Reutimann # 28.528 189.288 10 10 -0.445 -0.041
26 15 Paul Menard # 28.535 189.241 16 19 -0.452 -0.007
27 *36 Mike Skinner 28.547 189.162 4 6 -0.464 -0.012
28 26 Jamie McMurray 28.565 189.043 37 37 -0.482 -0.018
29 16 Greg Biffle 28.578 188.957 20 20 -0.495 -0.013
30 22 Dave Blaney 28.585 188.910 7 13 -0.502 -0.007
31 45 Kyle Petty 28.615 188.712 18 20 -0.532 -0.030
32 31 Jeff Burton 28.618 188.692 15 15 -0.535 -0.003
33 *21 Bill Elliott 28.629 188.620 8 10 -0.546 -0.011
34 38 David Gilliland 28.630 188.613 4 8 -0.547 -0.001
35 *78 Joe Nemechek 28.646 188.508 12 13 -0.563 -0.016
36 18 J.J. Yeley 28.679 188.291 17 19 -0.596 -0.033
37 6 David Ragan # 28.680 188.285 23 23 -0.597 -0.001
38 *44 Dale Jarrett 28.692 188.206 11 11 -0.609 -0.012
39 88 Ricky Rudd 28.707 188.107 1 9 -0.624 -0.015
40 *55 Michael Waltrip 28.769 187.702 16 19 -0.686 -0.062
41 99 Carl Edwards 28.777 187.650 18 21 -0.694 -0.008
42 7 Robby Gordon 28.818 187.383 12 12 -0.735 -0.041
43 *49 John Andretti 28.851 187.169 11 15 -0.768 -0.033
44 70 Johnny Sauter 28.878 186.994 17 18 -0.795 -0.027
45 *4 Ward Burton 28.900 186.851 2 10 -0.817 -0.022
46 96 Tony Raines 28.975 186.368 14 14 -0.892 -0.075
47 *08 Burney Lamar 29.239 184.685 14 15 -1.156 -0.264
48 *34 Kevin Lepage 0.000 0.000 0 0 0.000 0.000
* - Required to qualify on time
# - Denotes Rookie
Truex Takes First Pole
RacingOne Report Posted Friday, November 2, 2007
Martin Truex Jr. captured his first career Bud Pole on Friday in qualifying for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Truex, Jr. turned a lap of 193.105 mph in his DEI Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet.
"We have been second a bunch this year, so we’ve been close,” said Truex, who had qualified second quick at Chicagoland, New Hampshire and Martinsville earlier this season. "This is our favorite car."
NEXTEL Cup Series point leader Jeff Gordon will start outside the front row.
Juan Pablo Montoya, Kevin Harvick and A.J. Allmendinger rounded out the top five.
Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Casey Mears and Mark Martin completed the first ten qualifiers.
Five drivers failed to qualify for Sunday's race: Michael Waltrip, Burney Lamar, John Andretti, Kevin Lepage and Ward Burton.
Sunday's Dickies 500 will take the green flag at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Roger that, Red.
Force in Funny Cars is like what Earnhardt was to NASCAR, only bigger. He must have twice as many Championships.
New surgery, additional cast won't impede Force's rehabilitation
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Compiled and written by the NHRA.com staff and Force Racing P.R.
11/1/2007
Latest medical updates on 14-time NHRA champ John Force, who suffered serious injuries in a crash Sept. 23 at Texas Motorplex.
[Original story]
Wednesday, Oct. 31: With casts now on both feet, John Force won't be breaking any speed records this week when the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing season closes at the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
The 14-time NHRA Funny Car world champion underwent additional scheduled surgery Tuesday at Kerlan-Jobe Medical Center in Los Angeles, where doctors inserted a pin in his right foot to support a broken bone discovered after he had flown home to Yorba Linda, Calif., following 27 days in a Dallas hospital. Doctors also cleaned and repaired a troublesome nail bed on the middle finger of his right hand.
The new cast will further restrict Force's mobility. The 125-time tour winner used a walker to get to and from the starting line during last week's ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, but with a new boot cast on his right foot, he will be confined to a wheelchair or the cab of his Ford truck this week.
Nevertheless, it is just a temporary setback for the 14-time Auto Racing All-America selection, who plans to be back in the cockpit of his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang in time for preseason testing in January.
“We knew we were gonna have to do this [surgery],” Force said. “They told me it won't set back my rehab, though. We're still on schedule with that. They found the broken bone after I got back to L.A., and they think I might have done it during my rehab because we were doing three sessions a day, seven days.”
Force's original injuries included a compound fracture of the left ankle, tendon and ligament damage in his right knee, badly mangled fingers on his right hand and toes on his right foot, and a badly dislocated left wrist that required surgery during which pins were inserted and a cast applied.
The Sept. 23 accident during which his car broke apart and collided with that of Kenny Bernstein during competition at Texas Motorplex was the worst of Force's 30-year career. In fact, it was the first time the 58-year-old icon had been injured badly enough to spend the night in the hospital.
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Saturday, Oct. 20: After 27 days at Baylor University Medical Center following his Sept. 23 crash at Texas Motorplex, 14-time NHRA Funny Car world champ John Force returned to his native Southern California to continue his rehabilitation.
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Friday, Oct. 19, 5 p.m. CT: Drag racing champion John Force, seriously injured in a Sept. 23 crash at Texas Motorplex, praised the medical staff at Baylor University Medical Center and the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation Friday and demonstrated his daily physical therapy regimen in advance of an expected Saturday release.
Force, 58, suffered a compound fracture of the left ankle, broken right foot, broken and mangled fingers on his right hand, ligament and tendon damage to the right knee, and a badly dislocated left wrist when his Funny Car crashed at a speed exceeding 300 mph.
Despite his injuries, the 14-time NHRA Funny Car world champion is expected to fly home to Yorba Linda, Calif., Saturday, 16 days after entering physical therapy and 27 days after suffering the worst accident of his 30-year career. He will receive further physical therapy in his home state in anticipation of returning to competition in the 2008 season.
The 125-time NHRA tour winner plans to attend at least one day of next week's race in Las Vegas to support the efforts of daughter Ashley Force, 24, and son-in-law Robert Hight, 38, who drive Castrol GTX and Automobile Club of Southern California-backed Ford Mustangs almost identical to the one in which he crashed into fellow competitor Kenny Bernstein when a tire failed after his semifinal victory.
Flanked by Dr. Amy Wilson, medical director for BIR, and Melissa Simon, his primary physical therapist, Force said his plan is to be back in a race car when his team begins testing for the 2008 season in January.
Despite those lofty expectations, Wilson acknowledged that Force still has a lot of work ahead of him. Because of the fact he has been instructed not to put weight on his left ankle for another month, the 14-time Auto Racing All-American is confined to a wheelchair or a walker. However, he demonstrated Friday his technique for getting into and out of a passenger car, one of the conditions of his release.
Although he had been offered air ambulance service by Kalitta Air, owned by fellow drag racer Connie Kalitta, Force said he planned to travel by commercial airliner back to the Los Angeles area, where he will be reunited with his family: wife Laurie and daughters Ashley, Brittany, and Courtney Force and Adria Hight.
“Getting home will be a big step,” Force said. “I can't say enough about the care they've given me at Baylor. I couldn't have been in better hands, but going home tells me that I'm making real progress. It's still hard, the physical therapy, but I have a goal and that's what gets me up and going every morning.”
Dale Jr. Makes Hendrick Debut
RacingOne Staff
Posted Monday, October 29, 2007
Earnhardt Jr. was reunited with Tony Eury Jr.
Earnhardt is driving a "throwback" All-Star Racing paint scheme.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. made his on track debut with Hendrick Motorsports on Monday during Car of Tomorrow testing at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Sporting a brand new white Adidas uniform with the 2008 Sprint Cup logo on it, Earnhardt Jr. took to the track for the first time in a Hendrick Chevrolet. The test session also reunited Dale Jr. with crew chief Tony Eury Jr. after a couple of weeks absence.
Driving the No. 5A Chevrolet, Earnhardt Jr. saw his best time of the day come in the morning session at 184.450 mph.
To commemorate his first laps with HMS, Earnhardt is driving a "throwback" All-Star Racing paint scheme. The red and white design is identical to the first car campaigned by team owner Rick Hendrick in Cup-level competition back in 1984 with Geoff Bodine.
"I'm excited, Rick's going to be here anytime, and i'm excited to see him," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I'm excited to watch Tony Jr. work with the new guys. I'm excited to see the impressions on their face and their mannerisms and their attitude about the whole thing."
Future Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was the fastest on the day with his new team with a lap of 186.190 mph. Although the team will be switching to Toyotas in 2008, JGR tested the current Chevrolet Impala.
Denny Hamlin put another JGR car on the top of the chart as he was second with a lap of 185.822 mph in the No. 11 Chevrolet.
David Reutimann's morning speed of 185.430 mph was the best among the Toyotas.
"I didn't really know what to expect, but it drove good and it was pretty stable," Reutimann said. "We're still way early in this deal, but feel like it's pretty good so far."
The Ford of Greg Biffle topped the afternoon session with a lap of 185.158 mph.
Kurt Busch was the the best among the Dodges on the first day at 184.131 mph.
The test session, which will conclude tomorrow, is the last of seven NASCAR-sanctioned tests this season and is the first full-scale session for the new car at a 1.5-mile speedway.
Johnson Sweeps Atlanta
RacingOne Staff
Posted Sunday, October 28, 2007
Johnson won his eighth race of the season.
It wasn't easy, but Jimmie Johnson scored his second straight NEXTEL Cup win Sunday.
Johnson survived two wild late race melees including one during an attempt at a green-white-checkered finish to win the Pep Boys 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
It was Johnson’s third sweep of the season, along with Richmond and Martinsville, and came after his win in last Sunday's Subway 500.
Johnson's eighth victory of the season pulled to to within nine points of his teammate Jeff Gordon for the lead in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup standings.
Johnson will donate the winnings from his 31st career win to the American Red Cross to support relief efforts for the California Wildfire Relief Fund.
A call to take only two tires during the day's last pit stop was the right one by Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus, who gained the necessary track position to put them in the lead group.
"The only way we are going to catch the 24 the way they are running is to race for the win," Knaus said. "We were able to get the lead with a two-tire change when I saw the others take on four tires."
Gordon, who led Johnson by 53 coming into Sunday's race, finished seventh.
"I'm just happy to have a points lead now after the day we had," Gordon said. "It wasn't a great performance for us today. We got it turned around too late. We really fixed it for the short runs. If we had a five-lap run, we would have given them a run for their money on four tires."
Johnson is trying to run down his teammate for a second straight title.
"I just think it's going to be a fight to the end," Johnson said. "We took a good bite out of Jeff's points lead today and it's going to come down to a position or two in the next three.
"Now, I feel very good about where we are in the points. We can go lead laps, we can try to lead the most laps and really race for this championship over the next three races. I'm very excited about that."
Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth were leading the race on lap 318 of the 325 circuit event at the 1.5-mile speedway but along with the rest of the lead pack were running low on fuel.
But when Johnny Sauter's blown tire brought out the 11th caution, the front five ducked to pit road.
Sixth place Denny Hamlin elected not to pit and inherited the lead.
However when the green flag flew on lap 323, Hamlin ran out of gas as the cars crossed the start-finish line and set-up a chain reaction crash that started when Martin Truex, Jr. rammed his rear bumper.
“It took off and then it stopped,” Hamlin said. “When it cut off, I pulled down the middle and I was just waiting to get hit from behind.”
That brought out a record 12th caution and Johnson was the new leader with Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. behind and ready for a green-white-checkered finish.
The race resumed on lap 328 but suddenly a wheel left Earnhardt's car sending him into the wall. Jamie McMurray was caught up in the crash and the race ended under caution, seaslin the win for Johnson.
Edwards was behind Johnson when the race was called official and was credited with second. Reed Sorenson, Kenseth and Jeff Burton rounde dout the top five.
Clint Bowyer, Gordon, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers completed the first ten finishers.
The NEXTEL Cup Series now heads to Texas Motor Speedway for next Sunday's Dickies 500.
Standings after race seven...
JupiterJosh***********07 11 48 6 (6 24 1 33) 64 444
Capgain***************48 2 20 6 (1 8 30 33) 72 486
Old_Drummerman********17 20 48 96 (4 30 1 23) 58 495
REDFISHER*************2 20 22 48 (8 30 38 1) 77 534
Lawrenzo**************1 2 6 48 (31 68 33 1) 73 543
MCArmel1**************07 15 20 48 (6 27 30 1) 65 566
spcalk****************6 2 11 24 (33 8 24 7) 75 669
The Original dpb5!****17 20 48 66 (4 30 1 40) 75 757
(The Original dpb5!, where are you!?!)
Full Race Results Pep Boys Auto 500
Atlanta Motor Speedway | Oct 28, 2007 01:00 PM
Pos St # Driver Sponsor Car Pts Status Laps
1 6 48 Jimmie Johnson
Race By Race Results Lowe's Chevrolet 190 Running 329
2 16 99 Carl Edwards
Race By Race Results Office Depot Ford 170 Running 329
3 32 41 Reed Sorenson
Race By Race Results Target Dodge 165 Running 329
4 17 17 Matt Kenseth
Race By Race Results DeWalt Ford 160 Running 329
5 28 31 Jeff Burton
Race By Race Results AT&T Mobility Chevrolet 155 Running 329
6 26 07 Clint Bowyer
Race By Race Results Jack Daniel's Chevrolet 150 Running 329
7 8 24 Jeff Gordon
Race By Race Results DuPont Chevrolet 146 Running 329
8 2 2 Kurt Busch
Race By Race Results Miller Lite Dodge 147 Running 329
9 4 9 Kasey Kahne
Race By Race Results Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge 143 Running 329
10 14 83 Brian Vickers
Race By Race Results Red Bull Toyota 134 Running 329
11 24 55 Michael Waltrip
Race By Race Results NAPA Toyota 130 Running 329
12 15 25 Casey Mears
Race By Race Results National Guard Chevrolet 127 Running 329
13 39 45 Kyle Petty
Race By Race Results Marathon Dodge 129 Running 329
14 10 19 Elliott Sadler
Race By Race Results Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge 121 Running 329
15 34 29 Kevin Harvick
Race By Race Results Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet 123 Running 329
16 31 84 AJ Allmendinger
Race By Race Results Red Bull Toyota 120 Running 329
17 38 88 Ricky Rudd
Race By Race Results Snickers Ford 112 Running 329
18 43 21 Bill Elliott
Race By Race Results Little Debbie Snacks Ford 109 Running 329
19 3 44 Dale Jarrett
Race By Race Results UPS Toyota 106 Running 329
20 19 5 Kyle Busch
Race By Race Results CARQUEST Chevrolet 108 Running 329
21 33 7 Robby Gordon
Race By Race Results Jim Beam Ford 100 Running 328
22 1 16 Greg Biffle
Race By Race Results Lumber Liquidators Ford 102 Running 328
23 40 96 Tony Raines
Race By Race Results DLP HDTV Chevrolet 94 Running 328
24 18 11 Denny Hamlin
Race By Race Results FedEx Chevrolet 96 Running 328
25 5 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Race By Race Results Budweiser Chevrolet 88 Accident 327
26 25 26 Jamie McMurray
Race By Race Results Crown Royal Ford 85 Accident 327
27 36 15 Paul Menard
Race By Race Results Menards Chevrolet 87 Running 327
28 29 49 John Andretti
Race By Race Results Paralyzed Veterans of America Dodge 79 Running 327
29 27 10 Scott Riggs
Race By Race Results Valvoline Dodge 76 Running 327
30 30 20 Tony Stewart
Race By Race Results The Home Depot Chevrolet 73 Running 323
31 20 1 Martin Truex Jr.
Race By Race Results Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 80 Accident 322
32 35 70 Johnny Sauter
Race By Race Results HAAS CNC Chevrolet 67 Running 321
33 37 6 David Ragan
Race By Race Results AAA Ford 64 Running 320
34 21 42 Juan Pablo Montoya
Race By Race Results Texaco/Havoline Dodge 61 Running 283
35 22 18 J.J. Yeley
Race By Race Results Interstate Batteries Chevrolet 58 Running 275
36 23 78 Joe Nemechek
Race By Race Results Furniture Row Chevrolet 55 Accident 268
37 9 12 Ryan Newman
Race By Race Results Mobil 1 Dodge 52 Engine 267
38 42 22 Dave Blaney
Race By Race Results Caterpillar Toyota 49 Running 263
39 7 40 David Stremme
Race By Race Results Coors Light Dodge 46 Accident 250
40 41 66 Jeremy Mayfield
Race By Race Results Best Buy Chevrolet 43 Running 250
41 11 43 Bobby Labonte
Race By Race Results Cheerios Dodge 40 Running 238
42 13 38 David Gilliland
Race By Race Results M&M's Ford 37 Accident 64
43 12 01 Mark Martin
Race By Race Results U.S. Army Chevrolet 34 Accident 64
Congratulations on low score!
Rough race this week, but we all finished within 19 points of one another.
Unofficial Race Results : Pep Boys Auto 500
Pep Boys Auto 500 | October 28, 2007 | Race 33 of 36
FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 6 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's / Kobalt Tools 190/5 327 Running
2 16 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 170/0 327 Running
3 32 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target / Breast Cancer Awareness 165/0 327 Running
4 17 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT NANO Technology 160/0 327 Running
5 28 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 155/0 327 Running
6 26 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 150/0 327 Running
7 8 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Nicorette Cinnamon Surge / DuPont 146/0 327 Running
8 2 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 147/5 327 Running
9 4 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 143/5 327 Running
10 14 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 134/0 327 Running
11 24 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 130/0 327 Running
12 15 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC 127/0 327 Running
13 39 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil 129/5 327 Running
14 10 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 121/0 327 Running
15 34 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 123/5 327 Running
16 31 84 A.J. Allmendinger * Toyota Red Bull 120/5 327 Running
17 19 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg's 117/5 327 Running
18 38 88 Ricky Rudd Ford Snickers Halloween 109/0 327 Running
19 43 21 Bill Elliott Ford Little Debbie 106/0 327 Running
20 3 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota The UPS Store / Toys for Tots 103/0 327 Running
21 33 7 Robby Gordon Ford Jim Beam 100/0 326 Running
22 1 16 Greg Biffle Ford Lumber Liquidators 102/5 326 Running
23 40 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 94/0 326 Running
24 18 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Express 96/5 326 Off Track
25 5 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 88/0 326 Off Track
26 25 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 85/0 326 Running
27 36 15 Paul Menard * Chevrolet Johns Manville / Menards 87/5 325 Running
28 29 49 John Andretti Dodge Paralyzed Veterans of America 79/0 325 Running
29 27 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Sears Auto Center / Valvoline / Stanley 76/0 325 Running
30 30 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 73/0 321 Running
31 20 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 80/10 322 Off Track
32 35 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Radioactive Energy Drink 67/0 319 Running
33 37 6 David Ragan * Ford AAA 64/0 318 Running
34 21 42 Juan Montoya * Dodge Texaco / Havoline 61/0 281 Running
35 22 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 58/0 273 Running
36 23 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 55/0 268 Running
37 9 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Mobil 1 52/0 267 Running
38 42 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 49/0 261 Running
39 7 40 David Stremme Dodge Coors Light / St. Jude Hospital 46/0 250 Off Track
40 41 66 Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet Best Buy 43/0 248 Off Track
41 11 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 40/0 236 Running
42 13 38 David Gilliland Ford M&M's Halloween 37/0 64 Out of Race
43 12 01 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 34/0 64 Out of Race
you change mine ill change yours for 50 bucks....lol
I'd like to change my 07 to the 1 right about now.
He's got a hot right foot.
thanks for the advice....can i change my pick...
You should've picked one of those Fords.
Rudd's running well in the 88, and last night I dreamt Bill Elliot finished third.
EVERY SCRUB I PICK DONT FINISH....DAMN...22 is out.
He hasn't stopped by to post his picks yet.
I reckon we can give him the same picks as last week (actually, the prior week), and reward him with the lowest finishing provisional starter.
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