Sunday, May 30, 2010

Kurt Busch Wins First Sprint Cup "Points" Race Ever at Charlotte in Coca-Cola 600

by Jenna Fryer - Associated Press

CONCORD, N.C. (AP)—It was only fitting to have Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi cars chasing each other for a victory in a Memorial Day weekend race.

That it happened at Charlotte Motor Speedway in a NASCAR race, and not at their beloved Indianapolis Motor Speedway, likely didn’t matter to either team owner.

And when Kurt Busch held off Jamie McMurray over the closing laps of Sunday night’s race, it gave two of the top owners in American motorsports victories on one of the most storied days of racing.
“Roger, this one is for you,” Busch said from Victory Lane. “I thought about the Ganassi car behind me. He wasn’t getting by us.”

Earlier Sunday, Ganassi became the first owner to win both the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 in the same season when Dario Franchitti won the open-wheel race. After a short celebration, Ganassi hopped a flight to North Carolina to catch the second half of NASCAR’s longest race of the season.

He arrived just in time to see McMurray, the Daytona 500 winner, begin a charge toward the front and give Ganassi a chance at winning the two prestigious races. Penske, whose highest finishing driver in Indy was eighth, didn’t make the trip and watched the NASCAR race on television.

The owners were treated to a 19-lap sprint to the finish in which McMurray simply ran out of time to catch Busch, who swept the May races at Charlotte. Busch last weekend won the $1 million All-Star race.

“The first person I think about is Roger Penske,” Busch said. “To win the 600 and All-Star back to back, this is something that will be front and center in Roger’s NASCAR trophy case. I was happy to deliver.”
Ganassi didn’t seem to mind the defeat.

“It was a great race, Jamie did a great job,” he smiled. “My old buddy Penske beat me tonight.”
Busch, who led 252 of the 400 laps, and McMurray were the class of the field late Sunday night and it was McMurray who held a healthy lead as the laps wound down. But a late caution for a Marcos Ambrose crash with 24 laps made it a crapshoot.

McMurray led most of the leaders down pit road, but was beat back onto the track by Busch and Matt Kenseth. Jeff Gordon was the first of three cars not to pit, and restarted as the leader with 19 laps remaining.
Busch blew past the three lead cars and steadily pulled away from the pack. McMurray, in a Chevrolet, quickly moved into second, but ran out of time to run down Busch, who won in a Dodge.

“I don’t know about the last stop, I think we didn’t have a great stop,” McMurray said. “It just wasn’t perfect. I knew whoever came out ahead on that last pit stop between Kurt and I, if somebody didn’t screw up, that would be the race winner.”

Kyle Busch rallied from a mid-race crash on pit road to finish third in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Mark Martin finished fourth—the highest finishing Hendrick Motorsports car—and defending race winner David Reutimann was fifth for Michael Waltrip Racing.

Gordon wound up sixth and was followed by Clint Bowyer and Paul Menard, who had the highest finishing Ford. Ryan Newman and Kenseth rounded out the top 10.

While Kurt Busch celebrated in Victory Lane, his younger brother was getting an earful on pit road from a furious Jeff Burton.

Burton was eighth on the final restart, running right next to Kyle Busch, when contact between the two cars ruined any chance for a solid finish for Burton. He faded to 25th and angrily confronted Busch after the race.

“Kyle made it three-wide on the restart, trying to make something happen, which I don’t have a problem with,” Burton said. “So he runs into me and cuts my left-rear tire, then I have a problem with it. He’s real aggressive. That’s cool. But when he starts affecting me with his aggressiveness, I just will not put up with it. I’ve been around here long enough. I just will not tolerate it.”

It soured yet another stellar comeback for Kyle Busch, who rallied from two laps down on Saturday to win the Nationwide Series race.

On Sunday, he was the leader when a bizarre sequence of events on Lap 167 changed the entire race. Four-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson was running fourth when he inexplicably hit the wall, and Denny Hamlin, running fifth, had to weave low through the grass to avoid hitting Johnson. Both cars suffered considerable damage and NASCAR called for a caution that sent everyone to pit road.

Kyle Busch, at the time the strongest car in the race, ran into Brad Keselowski on pit road to damage his car. Even worse, NASCAR flagged him for speeding and he was forced to also serve a penalty.

It dropped Kyle Busch all the way back to 26th in a race he maybe could have won.

He thought Burton’s lecture was directed at the wrong driver—Busch said it was Bowyer, not him, who made it three-wide with Burton on the restart—but still seemed pleased with the final outcome.

“These are the nights that championships are made of,” Kyle Busch said. “I’m not dissatisfied at all that we didn’t win.”

Johnson, meanwhile, wrecked a second time later in the race to finish a surprising 37th. It was Johnson’s fifth consecutive double-digit finish—he’s not been inside the top-10 since he was second at Texas in April.

“We’ve been through ups and downs,” Johnson said. “Everyone else is overreacting and saying we’re in some type of slump. Tonight, we just had some back luck and I made a mistake. (Stuff) happens.”

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Coca-Cola 600: Charlotte Sprint Cup Wins Somehow Evading Busch Brothers

by Micah Roberts
Las Vegas Review-Journal

The city of Las Vegas was beaming with pride last week as Kurt Busch grabbed the $1 million prize for winning NASCAR's version of the All-Star race. It was a nice story to see one of our home-grown boys grab the national spotlight, but while we were all sipping our Miller Lite's celebrating, many of us all kind of wondered how come neither of the Busch brothers have yet to win a real points Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

How could this be? Charlotte Motor Speedway -- the center of the NASCAR racing world where they just erected the sports Hall of Fame.
This is where all the greats have laid their claim and captured a piece of NASCAR history by winning races. This is where everyone who is part of NASCAR moves to, including the Busch brothers. This is the track where Mr Viva-Las Vegas, Elvis Presley, starred as Steve Grayson in the movie "Speedway." They are two of the best drivers in NASCAR, but don't own any Sprint Cup wins at Charlotte.

When going through all the great wins of the Busch bothers, it is shocking that they haven't won, especially Kyle who now has nine career wins on the famed track after winning Saturday's Nationwide race.

The brothers still have yet to win the Brickyard 400 or Daytona 500, but the way they have raced at the highest level on tracks similar to Charlotte is the puzzling part. They have combined to win on the high-banked 1.5-mile sister tracks of places like Texas, Atlanta, and Las Vegas, but still no dice in Charlotte.

For Kurt Busch, his All-Star win last week wasn't much of a surprise considering that he had just won in Atlanta earlier this season. In fact, Busch also won at Atlanta and Texas last season -- his only wins of late have been on these type of tracks.

While other drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, and Jeff Gordon have all their wins on these types translate well onto the other like-tracks, Kurt Busch has never had any real consistent success at Charlotte. His average finish position of 21.0 is very mediocre and he's only finished in the top-five three times in those 19 previous starts.

Kyle Busch has fared much better than Kurt at Charlotte, especially in the last three seasons of racing there. He's gone five straight races of finishing no worse than eighth and has had the second-best average finish while driving the new COT at Charlotte. Over the four race span whiling driving the COT, no one has led more laps than Kyle, so what gives?

"You want to win this race," said Kyle Busch. "I was close last year, leading all the laps and then getting the thing called by rain just after we had pitted and didn't stay out. The year before that, we were really fast there. I think we ran third or something. I'd like to win this race. Like I said, it's my favorite racetrack and, to win the 600, it's one of the races on my list before I'm done.

''Being the longest race of the year, it is a grueling event, it is a tiresome race, but for me, racing everything I can every weekend, I seem to knock that out of there. Four hundred laps around there might seem like a long way, but when you're in the seat and you have a good-driving race car, it's not that long."

Kyle Busch has won on 14 race tracks, but Charlotte has eluded him for some reason, which really pains him because of what this facility means to NASCAR.

"Winning at Charlotte Motor Speedway, since it is my favorite track, would be really special since I've been able to win there in other series and have been close a lot in the Cup car. It seems like the month of May at Charlotte just doesn't like me too much. We got to win in the truck race there last weekend, so I'm hoping we can change that. There are plenty of other tracks that we need to win at, too, but there's no doubt Charlotte and the Coke 600 would be big."

This could be the week it changes and the Vegas boys give their fans something to celebrate. During the final two practice sessions on Saturday, Kurt Busch looked just as good as he did last week even though he'll be using a different chassis. The notes from last week's perfect set-up are still fresh and should be easily duplicated.

"I've gotta figure out this race a little better than we have been and hopefully having Steve Addington in our camp this time around will be really helpful in doing just that," said Busch, whose best finish in the Coca-Cola 600 was the 11th he posted during his 2004 championship season.

"I've seemed to always struggle in the Coke 600 before, but we're really looking forward to it this time around. You have to figure out how to be at your very best at night under the lights. It's a real marathon – 600 miles – out there and you have to stay on top of a continuously changing track. You really have to get your car handling well on the long runs. Then, you have to consider all those restarts that we'll likely have as the race winds down. It's definitely the biggest challenge that we face in our sport."

Kyle Busch wasn't too happy with his car on Saturday and the times reflected it as they weren't as fast as last week, however, Kyle and his team have more momentum going than anyone else in NASCAR. Since finishing 22nd at Martinsville in March, Kyle has reeled off six straight races of finishing no worse than ninth, including two wins. His third-place finish at Texas should be very encouraging for the team as they will have lots of adjusting do do throughout NASCAR's longest race of the season.


Others to watch:
Jimmie Johnson is always one to watch at Charlotte just because his six wins in 17 career starts says so. It really is that simple. The only thing that could keep Johnson from doing well this week is another case of bad luck. I don't know if I truly believe in karma, but I'm getting close as I see Johnson experience new ways to be derailed on a weekly basis. The little nagging things that plague every team for a few races a season have always seem to evade Johnson, and now it seems to be catching up with him. His results have been more normal and human-like than ever.

Johnson is using a new chassis this week and it looks every bit as fast as anyone of the Charlotte entries he's had over the years. In all four of the different practice sessions, including qualifying, Johnson never finished outside of the top-five.

Martin Truex Jr. doesn't show up in the top-10 listings too much, but he is really worthy this week just because he has never looked better in practice. He's coming off an eye-opening runner-up finish in the All-Star last week where he ran away with the qualifying race and came close to running down Kurt Busch for the win. Michael Waltrip racing has had one staple that has been good with his cars and it's been on these type of tracks. David Reutimann may have rain danced himself to a win in this race last year, but they were good on every down force track and it has continued this year with Truex getting the goods this week.

Kasey Kahne is hard to take a chance with weekly just because the stability of the team he's on is shaky, but this week it's different just because it's a 1.5-mile high banked track. On three occasions this year, Kahne has had a top-10 finish, and in all instances they were on a track like Charlotte's.

The only other driver to match Kahne's efforts with top-10's on these tracks is Kevin Harvick. Each of the Childress drivers had an excellent final practice session and should be considered good candidates to win. Simply based on history and Jeff Burton's style of driving, he is the one that looks to stand out in NASCAR's longest race. His patience and three career Charlotte wins should give him a top-five finish this week.

Denny Hamlin was fastest in average speeds during happy hour and had the second fastest single lap as well. He's coming off a good run in the All-Star race and won the last 1.5-mile track on the season at Texas. Not many are hotter than Kyle Busch right now, but Denny is matching him pretty well.

Juan Pablo Montoya had a great final practice and should be in contention late in the race. The Ganassi cars have been some of the strangest of the season and hard to read. Even though they have had some good practice sessions, they have seem to be snakebitten by fate or operator error in the pits. The third-place Atlanta finish is the type of performance we should all be seeing from Montoya weekly instead of the great Texas car that seemed to lose five positions every time they pitted.

Read More Here Including Top 10 Driver Ratings

Friday, May 28, 2010

Coca-Cola 600 Driver Chassis Selections

by Jeff Wackerlin
MotorRacingNetwork.com


1. Kevin Harvick: Has three top 10s in 18 starts; Last top 10 came in the 2003 fall race; Last lap led came in the 2003 Coca-Cola 600; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 301) that finished seventh at Texas in April.

2. Kyle Busch: Second-best average finish (5.2) in the four races with the COT; Has led the most laps (248) with the COT; Has finished eighth or better in six of the last seven races; Won the pole for this event in 2008.

3. Matt Kenseth: Winner of the 2000 Coca-Cola 600; Coming off 10th top 10 in 21 starts; Has finished in the top 10 in last two Coca-Cola 600s; 15.0 average finish and 47 laps led in the four races with the COT; Will be back in the same car (chassis No. 672) that finished second at Atlanta in March.

4. Jimmie Johnson: Coming off sixth win in 17th starts; Three-time Coca-Cola 600 winner; Leads all full-time drivers with 1,334 laps led; 15.0 average finish in the four races with the COT; Will debut a new chassis (No. 592) in the Coca-Cola 600.

5. Denny Hamlin: 23.2 average finish in the four races with the COT; Last of three top 10s in nine starts came in this event in 2007; Led 54 laps last fall before the engine expired; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 270) in the Coca-Cola 600.

6. Jeff Gordon: Five-time winner; Last win came in the 2007 fall race; 7.5 average finish in the four races with the COT.

7. Greg Biffle: Last of five top 10s came in the 2008 fall race; Best finish in 14 starts came in the 2008 Coca-Cola 600 in second; Fifth-best finishing average (11.2) in the four races with the COT; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 585) that finished 10th at Auto Club Speedway in February.

8. Jeff Burton: Two-time Coca-Cola 600 winner; Only victory in 11 starts with Richard Childress Racing came in the 2008 fall race; 11.5 average finish and 59 laps led in the four races with the COT; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 307) in the Coca-Cola 600.

9. Kurt Busch: Coming off first win at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the All-Star race; Finishes in the last two fall races are only top 10s in eight starts with Penske Racing; Best finish came in the 2005 fall race with Roush Racing in second; 15.8 average finish in the four races with the COT.

10. Carl Edwards: Finished fourth in this event last year; Finish was one of seven top 10s in 10 starts; Overall average finish dropped to 12.9 after engine problems relegated him to a 39th-place finish last fall; Has not led a lap in his last five starts; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 639) that finished 39th at Atlanta in March after an accident.

11. Mark Martin: Finished 17th in both races last season in first track starts with Hendrick Motorsports in May; Four-time winner with Roush Racing; Last top 10 came in the 2008 fall race with Dale Earnhardt, Inc.; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 600) that finished 15th at Dover two weeks ago.

12. Martin Truex Jr.: Coming off second top 10 in nine starts; Best finish came in the 2005 Coca-Cola 600 in seventh; 20.0 average finish in the four races with the COT; Will make first points-paying track start with Michael Waltrip Racing.

13. Ryan Newman: Won the pole and finished second in this event last year in first track start with Stewart-Haas Racing; Eight poles leads all active drivers; Posted five top 10s in previous 16 starts with Penske Racing; 13.8 average finish in the four races with the COT.

14. Tony Stewart: Finished 19th and 13th, respectively, in first track starts with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009; Won the 2003 fall race with Joe Gibbs Racing; Win was one of 11 top 10s with JGR; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 591) in the Coca-Cola 600.

15. Clint Bowyer: Coming off second top 10 in eight starts; Best finish in the Coca-Cola 600 is 19th in 2006; 19.8 average finish in the four races with the COT; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 303) in the Coca-Cola 600.

16. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 29.8 average finish in four starts with Hendrick Motorsports; Recorded eight top 10s in previous 17 starts with Dale Earnhardt, Inc.; Led 76 laps and finished fifth in 2008 Coca-Cola 600; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 599) that finished eighth at Texas in April.

17. Jamie McMurray: Won the 2002 fall Charlotte race with Chip Ganassi in track debut; Has posted five top-10 finishes since; Piloting chassis No. 905, which was last run to a 32nd-place mechanical failure finish at Dover.

18. Joey Logano: 7.0 average finish and 13.0 average finish in two starts at track; Taking brand-new chassis No. 272 to track this weekend.

19. Juan Pablo Montoya: Only top 10 in six starts came in this event last year; Has yet to lead a lap; 26.8 average finish in the four races with the COT; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 1003) in the Coca-Cola 600.

20. David Reutimann: 14.5 average finish with the COT on the strength of his victory in last year's rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 and a 10th-place finish in his only other 600-mile start; 18.2 average finish overall with six starts.

21. Kasey Kahne: Three-time winner; Last win came in 2008 May race; Leads all drivers with a 3.2 average finish in the four races with the COT.

22. David Ragan: Only top 10 in six starts came in fall race in 2008; 23.8 average finish; Driving chassis RK-617 which finished 23rd in last start at Auto Club Speedway.

23. Paul Menard: Best finish of 14th came in track debut in 2006 Coca-Cola 600 with Dale Earnhardt, Inc.; 26.5 average finish in six starts; Piloting chassis No. 683 which he drove to fourth-place finish in last weekend's Sprint Showdown.

24. Brad Keselowski: Finished 12th in first track start in the fall; Bringing brand-new chassis PRS-729 to 600-mile race.

25. AJ Allmendinger: Best finish of 15th came in fall 2007 race with Red Bull Racing; 27.3 average finish in six starts.

26. Scott Speed: 23.0 average finish in two starts; Finished 18th in track debut in last year's Coca-Cola 600.

27. Brian Vickers: No longer competing in 2010 Cup season; Casey Mears is racing No. 83 this weekend.

28. Marcos Ambrose: 24.0 average finish in two starts; Finished fifth in Sprint Showdown last weekend.

29. Elliott Sadler: Last of three top-10 finishes came in this event in 2008; 25.6 average finish in 23 starts; Bringing chassis No. 280, which finished 19th at Atlanta.

30. Sam Hornish Jr.: 22.8 average finish in four starts; Has finished 13th and 16th in two 600-mile starts.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Kurt Busch Pumped For Coca-Cola 600: May Bring Same Stout Chassis From All-Star Race

The overwhelming battle cry for Kurt Busch and his Steve Addington-led Miller Lite Dodge Team entering this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway is this: "We’ve won the ‘Sprint’ – now we gotta’ win the marathon!"

"That pretty much sums up the situation for our Miller Lite Dodge Team," said Busch, who posted an impressive victory in last Saturday night’s special non-points Sprint All-Star Race and hopes to continue his winning ways at CMS in Sunday’s 600-mile, 400-lap battle. "Last weekend’s big win came in the special four-segment, 100-lap sprint to the checkered flag. It’s a whole different deal this weekend and calling the Coca-Cola 600 a marathon is about as spot on as it can get. It presents the biggest challenge we face each and every year and that’s especially true for me personally

"I’ve gotta figure out this race a little better than we have been and hopefully having Steve Addington in our camp this time around will be really helpful in doing just that," said Busch, whose best finish to date in the annual Memorial Day Weekend racing classic was the 11th he posted during his 2004 championship season. "I’ve seemed to always struggle in the Coke 600 before, but we’re really looking forward to it this time around. You have to figure out how to be at your very best at night under the lights. It’s a real marathon – 600 miles – out there and you have to stay on top of a continuously changing track. You really have to get your car handling well on the long runs. Then, you have to consider all those restarts that we’ll likely have as the race winds down. It’s definitely the biggest challenge that we face in our sport."

Busch knows that he has the ultimate task in front of him if he can pull off his first Coca-Cola 600 win. It would also be his first career top-five finish in the race. It would even be his first career top-10 finish in the race.

"It’s gonna be tough, that’s for sure, but there’s just this extra ‘oomph’ we seem to have going for us this time around," said Busch, currently ninth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings entering this weekend’s return to CMS. "Our performance in the Southern 500 at Darlington a few weeks back is really a source for the added confidence I have coming into this race. That race proved to me that we can be competitive at the end of these long races that end at night under the lights. Even though we finished third, it was our best-ever performance in that race. We were the strongest that we were all race long at the end and turned in our fastest laps when they counted the most."

Busch will definitely be bucking the odds if he can pull off the winning effort on Sunday at CMS. A look at the record book shows that the overall 21-race winner in the series has led a total of 174 laps spread out over four of his nine Coca-Cola 600 starts to date. Only two of those laps led came during the final 100 laps of the 400-lap battle and he has yet to lead a single lap during the final 100 miles (67 laps) of any Coca-Cola 600.

Busch is approaching this weekend’s challenge as truly a marathon event, hoping to personally save his best for last.

"It’s the toughest race and you really want to give it your very best lap after lap," said Busch, who has a 20.9 average finish in his nine career Coca-Cola 600 races to date. "But, maybe if you can leave a tenth out on the table here and there, the laps will seem to click by quicker. You won’t be so fatigued at half-way and still have the stamina you need for the final portion of the race. There have been plenty of times where I’ve had really good cars during the day and I don’t get all the way to the end and be able to race them hard. Hopefully, we’re able to put that whole race together there this weekend."

Busch, Addington and crew were still debating at press time which car they would be using to wage battle with at CMS this weekend. "The car we raced there last weekend was just so strong; we’re looking at fixing her up and bringing her back," Busch said on Monday night of the team’s "PRS-702" Miller Lite Dodge Charger. "We had some pretty substantial body damage done to the right side, but there’s still a slight chance we’ll bring that car back. If we don’t, we have a brand new Miller Lite Dodge (the "PRS-728") ready to take over there."

Regardless of which car the team brings, it will again carry the striking Miller Lite "Vortex" color scheme that was a hot topic of conversation for the fans and insiders alike at CMS last weekend. "It’s such a cool-looking car," said Busch. "It’s incredible as to how favorably all the fans, the media and even the guys in the garage area have responded to this version of our Miller Lite Dodge. It brought us some very good fortune last weekend and we’re hoping we can take that Vortex bottle ride back to Victory Lane there on Sunday."

From TRPR Kurt Busch Press Release

Charlotte Notes and Quotes: Coca-Cola 600

JIMMIE JOHNSON CHASSIS SELECTION: Johnson will pilot brand new chassis No. 592 in Saturday night's Memorial Day weekend event. Backup chassis No. 553 has been driven four times, three of which resulted in victories (Indy 7/09, California 10/09, California 2/10).

JOHNSON QUOTE: WHAT IS YOUR OUTLOOK FOR CHARLOTTE? "We're obviously disappointed about where we finished in the All Star race but the Lowe's Chevy was good all night long and I think that's a good sign for the 600. I'm looking forward to this weekend's race especially since we are running a special Memorial Day paint scheme. Someone pointed out the other day that we haven't had the finishes at the 600 that we've had in the past and I'm not sure why but we're certainly going to do everything we can to change that. I think we'll be competitive this weekend."

DALE EARNHARDT JR CHASSIS CHOICE: This weekend, McGrew and the No. 88 crew will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-599. Earnhardt raced this chassis at Texas Motor Speedway last month to an eighth-place finish.

DALE EARNHARDT JR. QUOTE: "The 600 is a long race, and the track conditions change quickly. You have to have a car that is adaptable. It's not as physically demanding as it is mentally. You have to keep yourself focused and the team focused."

MATT KENSETH on racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway: "The 600 is the longest race of the season and it definitely presents challenges when you race that many miles. It’s important to have a setup in the car that you can adjust as the track conditions change throughout this race since we start during daylight and race into the night. Racing in the All-Star race last weekend allowed us some added track time which I think we really needed since we didn’t have our car handling the best we could have. I’m hopeful that after everyone has reviewed the data from last week that we’ll have a car fast enough to stay up front and be able to compete for a win at the end."

MARK MARTIN CHASSIS SELECTION: Gustafson has chosen Chassis No. 5-600 for Sunday's race at Charlotte. This is the same chassis that Martin drove to qualify third two weeks ago at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. He finished the race 15th.

MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON HOW THE ALL-STAR RACE PREPARED HIM FOR THE 600.): "The All-Star Race can't prepare you for all 600 miles. There's just a completely different strategy and outlook for 600 miles compared to 100. But, the All-Star Race definitely gave us a chance to try out a few things as far as setup, where to run on the track, lane choices and those kind of things. We had a great All-Star Race. Not necessarily the finish, but the car was fast. The pit stops were great. We were in contention to win that thing, and that's what we wanted. So, we're all pretty optimistic heading into this weekend."

MARTIN TRUEX JR QUOTE: "I got my best finish at Charlotte last weekend. It’s not been one of my better tracks. The last couple of years we have had some really good runs. I feel with Pat Tryson and the guys on the NAPA team, they have been giving me great cars – but really, Charlotte is just different. It is very fast and I enjoy the challenge. Turns 3 and 4 and Turns 1 and 2 are completely different. That’s what I think is the biggest challenge with it besides the fact that it changes more than anywhere we go."

RYAN NEWMAN QUOTE: "There's still a long way to go, but for us we want to get there soon (Chase position) and stay there," said Newman. "We've had some good runs lately, but still need to step it up a few notches. There's a number of good drivers not in the Chase right now and that goes to show you how deep and competitive the field is this year.

Newman has been steadily climbing in points. After the first six races he was 22nd in points with a finishing average of 20.83. His performances in the last six races moved him to 13th with a finishing average of 12.83.

"We're doing what we need to do and that is to trend in the right direction," noted Newman. "We just need to stay focused and never get satisfied. Our goal is to win every weekend and make our Soldiers proud of their race team."

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Coca-Cola 600 Odds and Ends: Charlotte Motor Speedway

compiled by Mike Forde
NASCAR Media Services


History
·         Construction began on Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1959.
·         The track’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on June 19, 1960.
·         The track was repaved midseason in 1994.
·         The track name changed from Charlotte Motor Speedway to Lowe’s Motor Speedway in 1999. It changed back to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the 2010 season.
·         The track was re-paved again before the 2006 season.
 
Notebook
·         There have been 102 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, two races per yearsince the track opened in 1960. In 1961, there were two 100-mile qualifying points races held the week beforethe May race. The first six fall races at Charlotte were 400-mile events (1960-65).
·         37 drivers have posted poles, led by David Pearson with 14.
·         Fireball Roberts won the pole for the first race, in 1960.
·         David Pearson posted 11 straight poles at Charlotte from the fall of 1973 through 1978.
·         Ryan Newman leads all active drivers in poles, with eight. Jeff Gordon has seven.
·         Jeff Gordon won five straight poles for the spring races between 1994 and 1998.
·         42 drivers have won races, led by Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip and Jimmie Johnson, with six each. David Reutimann became a first-time series winner last May after winning the Coca-Cola 600.
·         Joe Lee Johnson won the first race, in 1960.
·         There have been 13 back-to-back victories, including three consecutive by Fred Lorenzen (fall 1964 and both 1965) and four straight by Jimmie Johnson (both in 2004 and 2005).
·         A sweep has occurred eight times, including each season from 2004-2007.
·         14 races have been won from the pole, the last by Jimmie Johnson last October.
·         Jimmie Johnson won the 2003 Coca-Cola 600 from the 37th starting position, the furthest back a race winner has started.
·         Jimmie Johnson is the only driver with more than two Charlotte races to average top-10 finishes (8.6). He has the all-time best average finish among drivers with at least five races.
·         A number of active drivers earned their first win at CMS: Jeff GordonMatt KensethBobby LabonteJamie McMurrayCasey Mears and David Reutimann. Inactive drivers David Pearson, Buddy Baker and Charlie Glotzbach also got their first series win at Charlotte.
 
NASCAR in North Carolina
  • There have been 510 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in North Carolina.
  • 419 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as North Carolina.
  • There have been 43 race winners from North Carolina in NASCAR’s three national series; 28 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:
Driver
NSCS
NNS
NCWTS
Richard Petty
200
0
0
Dale Earnhardt
76
21
0
Lee Petty
54
0
0
Ned Jarrett
50
0
0
Junior Johnson
50
0
0
Herb Thomas
48
0
0
Buck Baker
46
0
0
Bobby Isaac
37
0
0
Dale Jarrett
32
11
0
Jim Paschal
25
0
0
Benny Parsons
21
0
0
Speedy Thompson
20
0
0
Buddy Baker
19
0
0
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
18
22
0
Harry Gant
18
21
0
Bob Welborn
9
0
0
Kyle Petty
8
0
0
Morgan Shepherd
4
15
0
Bill Blair
3
0
0
Gwyn Staley
3
0
0
Brian Vickers
2
3
0
Jimmy Pardue
2
0
0
Billy Myers
2
0
0
Phil Parsons
1
2
0
Donald Thomas
1
0
0
Richard Brickhouse
1
0
0
Buddy Shuman
1
0
0
Leon Sales
1
0
0
Jack Ingram
0
31
0
Tommy Houston
0
24
0
Sam Ard
0
22
0
Robert Pressley
0
10
2
Scott Riggs
0
4
5
Dennis Setzer
0
2
18
Hank Parker Jr.
0
2
0
Johnny Rumley
0
2
0
Ed Berrier
0
1
0
Stephen Leicht
0
1
0
Justin Labonte
0
1
0
Andy Houston
0
0
3
Timothy Peters
0
0
2
Shane Hmiel
0
0
1
Ricky Hendrick
0
0
1
 
Charlotte Motor Speedway Data
Race #: 13 of 36 (5-30-10)
Track Size: 1.5 miles
·     Banking/Corners: 24 degrees
·     Banking/Straights: 5 degrees
·     Frontstretch: 1,980 feet
·     Backstretch: 1,500 feet
 
Driver Rating at CharlotteJimmie Johnson            118.9
Kyle Busch                   104.4
Kasey Kahne                102.1
Joey Logano*                101.0
Mark Martin                    91.2
Jeff Gordon                     88.5
Matt Kenseth                  88.5
Brian Vickers                  88.0
Greg Biffle                      87.6
Jeff Burton                      87.5
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2009 races (10 total) at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
* - Logano has run only one CMS race.
 
Qualifying/Race Data
2009 pole winner: Ryan Newman (188.475 mph, 28.651 secs.)
2009 race winner: David Reutimann (120.899 mph, 5-25-09)
Qualifying record: Elliott Sadler (193.216 mph, 27.948 secs., 10-13-05)
600-mile race record: Bobby Labonte (151.952 mph, 5-28-95)
 
Estimated Pit Window: Every 50-55 laps, based on fuel mileage.