LVH odds to win 2014 Canadian Grand Prix

CANADIAN GRAND PRIX
CIRCUIT GILLES VILLENEUVE
SUNDAY, JUNE 8, 2014

LEWIS HAMILTON 1-2
NICO ROSBERG 7-4
FERNANDO ALONSO 30
SEBASTIAN VETTEL 25
DANIEL RICCIARDO 20
KIMI RAIKKONEN 60
FELIPE MASSA 100
NICO HULKENBERG 100
VALTTERI BOTTAS 100
JENSON BUTTON 200
KEVIN MAGNUSSEN 200
SERGIO PEREZ 100

DANIIL KVYAT 500
JEAN-ERIC VERGNE 500
PASTOR MALDONADO 500
ROMAIN GROSJEAN 500
ADRIAN SUTIL 2000
ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ 2000
KAMUI KOBAYASHI 5000
FIELD 500

Jimmie Johnson wins his seventh race at Charlotte, first of 2014

Johnson back in victroy lane, finally

CONCORD, N.C. — Believe it or not, Jimmie Johnson had been fielding a lot of questions lately about his inability to win.

Like was he worried.

Worried? A six-time Sprint Cup champion.

Yeah, right. It's the competition that should be worried.

"I promise you, all the hype and all the concern and worry, that was elsewhere. It wasn't in my head," said Johnson, who won his first race of the season Sunday night by capturing the Coca-Cola 600 for the fourth time. "There are plenty of voices in my head, but we have had a great race team and had opportuity there in front of us and had it taken away from us.

"Tonight we had a great race."

MORE: Race results | Harvick not happy | Gordon's gutsy performance

Kevin Harvick finished second, followed by Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray.

Kurt Busch, who finished sixth earlier in the Indy 500 earlier in the day, had an adventurous race. Starting at the rear of the field, he got lapped early, got his lap back and then suffered a tire rub after getting clipped on pit road. He then suffered a broken shock, and then his engine soured and eventually blew on Lap 273, sending him to the garage. Busch finished 40th, coming up 194 miles short of his 1,100-mile goal.

"It was a tough break," Busch said. "It takes a team to run 1,100 miles, not just one individual. We just came up short. … All in all, I'm very satisfied. I gave it my all."

Raed More Here......Sporting News

Updated LVH odds to win 2014 Monaco Grand Prix

MONACO GRAND PRIX
CIRCUIT DE MONACO
SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2014

LEWIS HAMILTON 5-4
NICO ROSBERG 5-8
FERNANDO ALONSO 50
SEBASTIAN VETTEL 20
DANIEL RICCIARDO 15
KIMI RAIKKONEN 100
FELIPE MASSA 500
NICO HULKENBERG 500
VALTTERI BOTTAS 500
JENSON BUTTON 500
KEVIN MAGNUSSEN 300
SERGIO PEREZ 500

DANIIL KVYAT 500
JEAN-ERIC VERGNE 200
PASTOR MALDONADO 1000
ROMAIN GROSJEAN 500
ADRIAN SUTIL 3000
ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ 3000
KAMUI KOBAYASHI 5000
FIELD 1000

Grand Prix de Monaco Starting Lineup

Updated LVH odds to win Indianapolis 500

INDIANAPOLIS 500
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2014

JUAN MONTOYA 7
MARCO ANDRETTI 6
HELIO CASTRONEVES 5
SCOTT DIXON 10
WILL POWER 10
TONY KANAAN 10
RYAN BRISCOE 50
RYAN HUNTER-REAY 10
KURT BUSCH 30
ED CARPENTER 10
GRAHAM RAHAL 60
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE 10
JUSTIN WILSON 60
SIMON PAGENAUD 15
TAKUMA SATO 75
JACQUES VILLENEUVE 100
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS 100
JR HILDEBRAND 40
ALEX TAGLIANI 100
ORIOL SERVIA 100
TOWNSEND BELL 100
CARLOS MUNOZ 12
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA 300
CARLOS HUERTAS 300
JOSEF NEWGARDEN 40
CHARLIE KIMBALL 200
BUDDY LAZIER 300
MIKHAIL ALESHIN 100
JACK HAWKSWORTH 100
FIELD 40

2014 Coca-Cola Practice Notes: Harvick looks like driver to beat

More Coca-Cola's for Harvick this week? 

It’s hard to make of what we saw in final Coca-Cola 600 practices Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. There’s a dilemma intertwined because you can’t put too much value into what happened in practices because the conditions during the race will be nothing like what they practiced in. They qualified at night on Thursday, but of all the non-restrictor plate races, qualifying might mean the least in NASCAR’s longest race of the season.

This thing is a marathon running through three cycles of changes from daylight, dusk and finishing up at night. Fast should always be fast, but sometimes that’s not the case and this annual Memorial Day weekend race usually has some surprises for those who just focus on the practice speeds.

Of course the speeds are a great starting point and Carl Edwards fast lap at 192.802 mph to top the Saturday’s speed charts in the early session should by no means be discounted. The advice is to simply temper the enthusiasm and explain that our ratings are reflected that way.

Kevin Harvick already came into this week as the 5-to-1 favorite to win based on being blazing fast in every 1.5-mile practice session this season, along with the fact that he’s won two of the past three Coca-Cola 600s. While he only had the 19th fastest lap in the first practice session, most everyone in the garages were saying he’s the car to beat which makes him an automatic upgrade.

During his early practice session, Harvick had the third-best 10-consecutive lap average behind Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer. Bowyer gets high marks for that alone, and he has won at Charlotte (2012) before as well, but Gordon is the big story here because his nagging back spasms from recent years have resurfaced and forced him to miss the final practice session.

Gordon was considered one of the drivers to beat Sunday based on entire resume this season, but mostly because of his exploits at Las Vegas (9th), Texas (2nd) and Kansas (1st) -- the three 1.5-mile tracks raced on this season. Perfect timing for a throbbing back when having to sit through 600 miles strapped to a seat of any kind, let alone one traveling at 190 mph with 42 other cars coming at all angles at similar speeds.

Because of the Gordon issue, Harvick’s rating is increased even further. If there were about seven serious contenders to win this race coming in and the driver who was near the top of the list has some discomfort while in his office, everyone else slides up past him and their chances to win increase. If Gordon was pain free, he would have been rated No. 2 right below Harvick.

Jimmie Johnson can also be upgraded and based on stellar practices, being hungrier than ever for a win, he should be contending for his seventh Charlotte win when there are only 100 miles remaining. The idea is to at least make it the first 500 miles and then have a chance to win late.

Kyle Busch has never won at Charlotte, but is always well within reach of winning. He had the fastest lap (188.640) during the final practice, but gets downgraded because he had to go to a back-up car after hitting the wall, damaging the right side of his primary car on his second lap of the session. He got about 25 minutes of practice in the back-up car. He’s still going to be strong, but there are more questions now, which raises Harvick and Johnson’s rating even higher.

We should also mention Danica Patrick, who had the third-fastest lap during happy hour and the fifth best 10-consecutive lap average in the first session. When we last saw her, she had her best career finish -- seventh at Kansas -- and she is definitely piquing my interest. I’m not ready to wager on her in any match-ups or odds to win yet, but I’ll certainly have a close eye on her during the race to see how she fares. One more solid outing and she might be a match-up play at the next 1.5-mile track at Kentucky or maybe even at Michigan in three weeks.

Final Driver Ratings Here ..............The Linemakers

Charlotte Driver Chassis Selections: 2014 Coca-Cola 600

Brad Keselowski using a new paint scheme and chassis this week

#2-Brad Keselowski: Primary Chassis for Charlotte is PRS-912, which is a new chassis. The Backup Chassis is PRS-840 which was last used as a backup at Kansas.

#3-Austin Dillon: will pilot chassis No. 465 in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This is the same Cheerios Chevrolet SS that Dillon raced to a 21st-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April. Although Sunday's 600-mile event will mark Dillon's first Coca-Cola 600 start, the Welcome, N.C. driver grew up watching the Memorial Day-weekend race from his grandfather's condo, which overlooks the racetrack. Dillon participated in the Sprint Showdown last Friday. After earning the pole, he led three laps but, following a pit stop for two tires, ultimately earned an eighth-place finish after developing a tight-handling condition.

#4-Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 858 in Sunday's race at Charlotte. Harvick last raced this car at Texas in April. In that event Harvick started third and took the lead at lap 25, just before the engine in his #4 Chevrolet SS expired, leaving the team with a 42nd-place finish. Harvick has 26 prior NSCS starts at CMS. He's visited Victory Circle twice in the Coca-Cola 600, first in 2011 and again last May. Harvick also has three top fives and nine top-10 finishes to his credit. He has an average start of 18.1 and an average finish of 16.9 at CMS.

#5-Kasey Kahne: Crew chief Kenny Francis will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-863 for Sunday's race at Charlotte. Kahne drove this chassis to an 11th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April. Nearly every statistical category at Charlotte ranks as a personal best for Kahne, who has competed in 20 Cup events at the 1.5-mile oval. Kahne's four wins and 12 top-10s are personal bests as well as his nine top-five finishes. Kahne has completed 97.2 percent of the laps he has attempted at Charlotte and has led a personal best 1,106 laps at the track. His 11.4 average finish at Charlotte ranks as his second-best among active tracks.

#10-Danica Patrick will pilot Chassis No. 10-839, which is a brand new chassis. The backup chassis No. 10-794 was tested in the wind tunnel May 1, 2013, before being used by Patrick in the Coca-Cola 600 later that month at Charlotte. Patrick started 24th and finished 29th after being involved in a multicar accident on lap 320 of 400. After repairs, she managed to finish the race but completed only 385 laps. The next time Patrick drove this car was in June at Kentucky, where she started 29th and finished 23rd. The last time she drove it was in 2013 at Atlanta where she started 21st and finished 21st. It was used as a backup car in fall 2013 at Kansas, Charlotte and Texas. It was then used in 2014 at Bristol, but she wrecked the car early in the first practice and went to a backup. Since then, it has been a backup at Texas and Darlington.

#14-Tony Stewart: Chassis No. 14-710 debuted in April 2012 at Richmond. It qualified 22nd and led four times for 118 laps before a late-race caution canceled Stewart's two-and-a-half second lead and forced him to settle for a third-place finish. It was then tested June 6-7 at Pocono and again during a Goodyear Tire Test June 12-13 at Bristol. New Hampshire marked Chassis No. 14-710's second career start. There, a new tire compound from Goodyear confounded the #14 team, and they labored to a 12th-place finish. The car returned to Richmond in September for its third career start via the Federated Auto Parts 400, where it rallied from its 28th-place starting spot to lead 15 laps before finishing fourth. Its last start of 2012 came in October at Martinsville where in its fourth career start, it qualified seventh and finished a disappointing 27th. With 2013 Chevrolet SS bodywork covering it, Chassis No. 14-710 returned to Martinsville in April. After rallying from its 26th starting spot to 10th by lap 200 and then hovering in or near the top-10 for the remainder of the race, Stewart found himself hung in the outside lane following a restart on lap 473. The final 27 laps of the 500-lap race around paperclip-shaped .526-mile oval proved arduous, as Stewart was stuck in the outside lane as the seemingly express lane to his left boxed him out of the preferred line. When the checkered flag dropped, Stewart was 17th. Chassis No. 14-710 sat idle until being tested at Richmond Aug. 26-27 with interim driver Mark Martin at the wheel in preparation for the track's Sept. 7 Sprint Cup race. The testing paid off as Martin scored a top-10 after starting 16th. Chassis No. 14-710 returned to Martinsville for its third start of 2013, its second with Martin and seventh overall in October, qualifying 21st and finishing 36th after an accident on lap 204 sent it to the garage for repairs. The car underwent a massive overhaul under the direction of crew chief Chad Johnston for the 2014 season. It made its first start of the year at Auto Club Speedway, where with Stewart back in the driver's seat, it qualified 10th and recovered from a midrace spin that dropped it to last in the 43-car field to finish fifth. The Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte will mark Chassis No. 14-710's ninth career start.

#15-Clint Bowyer: Chassis No. 813 serves as the primary chassis for Bowyer at Charlotte. It's a new chassis for the 2014 season and finished 13th at Phoenix earlier this year. Chassis No. 800 serves as the back-up chassis. This chassis has never seen action on the race track but has served as the back-up for several races this season, most recently Kansas.

#16-Greg Biffle: and the Matt Puccia led #16 Fastenal team will run chassis RK-908 which is a brand new chassis. The backup chassis will be RK-879 which last ran at Las Vegas finishing 22nd. Biffle has 22 starts in the Cup series at Charlotte, but a win has eluded him. He has finished in the top-five five times and has eight top-10 finishes.

#17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: and the #17 Fastenal Ford Fusion team will be using primary chassis RK-899 which is the same chassis that the #17 team ran in Texas finishing 26th after his Ford was too tight on the final run. The backup chassis is RK-888 which last raced in Bristol and finished second.

#22-Joey Logano: Primary Chassis is PRS-911 for Charlotte, which is a new chassis. The Backup Chassis is PRS-844 which was last used as a backup at Kansas.

#24-Jeff Gordon: crew chief Alan Gustafson has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 24-861 for this Sunday night's race. This chassis has been raced twice previously with finishes of seventh and 13th earlier this year at Darlington and Auto Club Speedway, respectively. Gordon has five wins, nine pole positions, 16 top-five finishes and 22 top-10s in 42 starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

#27-Paul Menard will pilot chassis No. 454 in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This #27 Serta/Menards Chevrolet SS was previously raced at Texas Motor Speedway where Menard finished in the ninth position. Menard has 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Charlotte. His best start of fifth and best finish of eighth both came in 2010. The Wisconsin native has completed 4,775 of 4,970 laps attempted (96.1 percent) at the 1.5-mile track. In addition to his 14 Sprint Cup Series starts, Menard has nine NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at CMS. He won the pole award in 2011 and his best finish of third came in 2005. Menard has also led 31 laps in his nine Nationwide Series starts at Charlotte.

#31-Ryan Newman will race chassis No. 467 on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Chassis No. 467 is brand new to the RCR fleet and will compete for the first time during Thursday's practice and qualifying sessions. In 26 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at Charlotte's 1.5-mile oval, Newman has recorded runner-up finishes two times (fall 2003 and Coke 600 2009) The "Rocket Man" also owns nine pole awards. In total, he owns four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes, and has led 276 laps of competition. The South Bend, Ind., native has an average start of seventh and average finish of 19th. When calculating points earned last season at CMS, Newman ranks fourth in most points earned.

#33-Brian Scott will pilot chassis No. 460 in this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This Shore Lodge Chevrolet SS was raced in March at Auto Club Speedway where Scott qualified 37th and finished 35th after an early-race accident. Scott will be making his second Sprint Cup Series start at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He made his Cup debut at the 1.5-mile speedway last fall where he started 19th and finished 27th.

#41-Kurt Busch will pilot Chassis No. 761 in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. In one previous start, as the #39 for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), driver Ryan Newman started fifth and finished 36th at Dover in June 2014. Chassis No. 761 served as the backup at Las Vegas, California, Texas and Darlington in 2014. Parker Kligerman, most recently of Swan Racing, will serve as a practice and standby driver for Kurt Busch this week. Busch will be traveling back and forth to Indianapolis as he attempts to run the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 Sunday at Charlotte. Kligerman practiced the Haas Automation Chevrolet SS Friday in preparation for Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race.

#48-Jimmie Johnson: Crew chief Chad Knaus has selected Chassis No. 48-797 for this weekend's 600-mile event. Johnson last raced this car in April at Texas. The backup car is Chassis No. 48-728, which Johnson most recently raced at Bristol in March. In 25 Cup starts at Charlotte, Johnson has six wins, 12 top-five finishes and 16 top-10s. He has completed 97.1 percent of laps run (8,594 of 8,852 laps) and has led 1,569 laps around the 1.5-mile oval. A three-time pole winner, Johnson has an average start of 7.4 and an average finish of 11.6.

#55-Brian Vickers: Primary Chassis 797 finished 7th at Auto Club Speedway. The backup chassis is 801, which has not raced.

#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.: crew chief Steve Letarte and the #88 National Guard / Superman team will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-882. This is a new chassis that has not been raced. In 28 Cup starts at Charlotte, Earnhardt has recorded one pole position, five top-five finishes and 11 top-10s. He has completed 94.1 percent of all laps he's attempted (9,454 laps of 10,052 total) at the 1.5-mile oval. The 39-year-old driver has led a total of 343 laps there.

#95-Michael McDowell: will drive Chassis No. PRS-847 in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. McDowell last drove this Wally Rogers-prepared Ford Fusion to a 30th-place finish, qualifying 28th, at Texas Motor Speedway on April 7. The chassis also has history at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway finishing 43rd.

#99-Carl Edwards the #99 Ford Fastenal team will unload primary chassis RK-880 which was last run this season at Las Vegas, finishing fifth. The backup chassis RK-880 was last run in 2014 at Darlington, finishing 13th. This Memorial Day weekend will mark Edwards' 19th start at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Edwards has an average start of 17.8 and an average finish of 11.8 at the one-and-a-half mile track. The Roush Fenway Racing driver is still looking for his first win, with a career-high finish of third that came in the fall of 2011. Edwards has finished in the top-five five times and in the top-ten 11 times.

- compiled by Jayski.com

Kurt Busch talks to Charlotte media Thursday and double duty Sunday

Kurt Busch is 30/1 to win Indy 500 and 40/1 to win Coca-Cola 600

KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION MADE IN AMERICA CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway and discussed attempting to do the double this weekend competing in the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600.

TALK ABOUT HOW EVERYTHING IS GOING:
“It’s good to be at the NASCAR track today and to jump into Sprint Cup practice and just to give credit and acknowledgement and the time back to the 600 portion of all of this. Indy is obviously exciting and new and different and it starts earlier in the month of course as far as preparations. I was on the plane ride back and I’m like you know I’m going to be in my Cup car and be back in the comfort zone and go out for practice on Thursday. That is going to feel fun. I’m really excited about getting in the car today and shaking down the car, making laps, then try to tailor the set-up around finding the right comfort zone that we will need for a full 600 miles.”

DESCRIBE THE CHALLENGE NOW THAT YOU HAVE THAT CONTEXT OF HOW THAT THING PERFORMS AND OF COURSE YOU HAVE THE LOGISTICS INVOLVED AS WELL:
“I hope that there is still more to learn and more to experience and there will be on Sunday. It’s still difficult to describe the differences between the two. I’ve had to keep them very separate. I hope if I have the chance to come and see you guys on Friday in Dover after Memorial Day weekend I will have a better explanation. Just like walking through the garage today it takes 20 minutes for me to go sign in and it’s not because of fans and autographs, even though they are there as well. It’s the other crew chiefs and the other drivers asking about it, wanting to know the differences and to live some of the experience with me. Like Todd Berrier stopped me and then a guy Max Papis he was very curious on the world that he has been in and come from. It’s just so exciting to talk about it. It’s just still hard to put it all into words. The Indy car demands a lot of respect and you are on that razor blade edge when you are out there driving. Everything is very precise. It’s almost like being a surgeon. When you are out there by yourself trying to qualify at 230 mph it’s different than what it is in the draft in the dirty air. They call it a tow. When you are in the tow up there and following other guys around in the groove for race pace it’s not just wide open all the way around like some people would think.

“When I made the mistake on Monday it was because I just started to tell myself ‘settle in, get into this 500 mile rhythm and know that you have 600 miles later on.’ It was the set-up that I had from the previousThursday where I was the most comfortable in drafting practice. I made some adjustments inside the car, didn’t stay on top of Turns 1 and 2. The south end of the track is different than the north end of the track there. The wind angle was at the most different, awkward angle that I’ve had during the whole month of May. Turn 2 bit me. I’m glad that I experienced it. I might sound stupid, by staying that I’m glad I wrecked at 220 mph, but if I didn’t put myself in that position I would have done that on Sunday possibly 50 laps into the race. That is how you have to advance through life is to learn from your mistakes. It was a mistake that I whole heartedly put myself in. It’s because I just started to feel comfortable. I just let my guard down a little bit and that Indy car jumped up and bit me.

“When I came here and ran the All-Star race on Saturday night I jumped in there cold turkey for qualifying. Coming down pit road at 150 mph that is a blast there will never be another day that I came into so many things unprepared. When I got through with the qualifying lap here I’m like ‘man I’m a fish out of water.’ I’m making way too many wheel movements, throttle inputs, steering inputs, I’m just all over the place. I’ve got to let the stock car do its normal flow.’ You have to let the car move before you react to it. In IndyCar you can react to it right away. It’s very precise with the Indy car, the stock car you have to let it flow.”

CAN YOU GET INTO SPECIFICS ON HOW YOU HAVE HAD TO TRAIN AND WHAT THE DEMANDS ARE OF AN INDYCAR VERSUS A STOCK CAR REQUIRE YOU TO TRAIN DIFFERENTLY?
“Well it’s not an Indy car versus stock car it’s just being prepared for 1100 miles. Upper body strength is important in both. Core strength is what I have worked on these last six months. It’s to be able to use your core to not over exert your arms or to have your legs cramp up. It’s to be as prepared as you can be for the marathon portion of this. The demands from driving both cars are the same on the body it’s just I have to be ready to do 1100 miles. Running to the gym, keeping my heart rate elevated while I’m there, doing martial arts type of activity in a boot camp style formula to where as it keeps your heart rate up for that full hour and then run back home from the gym. This week it’s been great to add in the full nutrition portion of the program to come in on the first part of the week with low carbs maintaining the protein. It will start tomorrownight with loading up on carbs and almost being at the big fighter weight that you would expect to see a guy with the extra weight just so that I know that I am going to burn all that off on Sunday.”

IF IT GOES WELL ON SUNDAY DO YOU THINK OTHER DRIVERS WILL BE TEMPTED TO GIVE IT A SHOT ONE DAY?
“I’m a race. Tony Stewart is a racer, Robby Gordon is a racer and John Andretti is a racer. This is a true test of what your commitment level is on being a racer. There are so many practices back and forth, the travel, the logistics’; the fun meter is pegged right now. I’m having a blast doing it; you just have to know it comes with a lot of hard work. I encourage others to try it out. At the end of the day though motorsports to me is my family, it’s my home. On the NASCAR side I’ve been here 15 years. I always open the USA Today or click on different websites for Memorial Day weekend and it’s about our military and the red, white and blue all the time. But Memorial Day weekend is a time for motorsports to shine. It starts with Monaco it goes through Indy and it ends here in Charlotte. I’m doing this for a lot of different reasons, but at the end of the day I think motorsports can use the shot in the arm to go you know what this is a guy that has never been in an Indy car we want to watch that race then we want to follow him to Charlotte to see what he can do down there running that full 600 miles.”

IS THIS UNDERTAKING BIGGER THAN YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE? OR IS IT ABOUT AS BIG AS YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE?
“It’s a different discipline of motorsport. It’s a tough car to drive just like a Sprint Cup car is tough to drive. It hasn’t been overwhelming, but at the same time each day in the Indy car I’m a student and I’m learning. How many times have we all told ourselves if I would have known now what I could have known then? The way to approach this is to have fun. I have zero IndyCar experience and I’m trying to elevate my game over there to be competitive. Yes, it’s difficult. Those guys are good at what they do. I had a shot at the Fast Nine, but that is when you have a fast car to do that with. Andretti Autosport guys have prepared a beautiful car for me to drive up there. My rookie orientation car was different than the one that I qualified and now I will have a different one in the race. It shows the level of craftsmanship that the IndyCar guys can put into their cars and then the level of ability of their drivers. I’m sitting on the fourth row and that fourth row ended up with a ton of credentials because we were all the guys that didn’t make the final nine. It’s (Juan Pablo) Montoya, Scott Dixon and myself. That is all the way to 12th place. The names can go on and on up there on who is in the field. I’m just one guy out of 33 racing up there. I’m one guy down here racing against 43. It’s been a blast to be able to do this in my career and to say at 35 years old I’m at the peak. I’m feeling great about the Cup car. We’ve got a solid Stewart-Haas team. I’ll be back next week and it will be back to normal of running Dover, Pocono, Michigan, Sonoma and on with the rest of them.”

HAS THE FUN AND SUCCESS YOU HAVE HAD AT INDY TAKEN YOUR MIND OFF THE STRUGGLES A LITTLE BIT OF THE CUP CAR?
“No I’ve been there right along with the Cup guys. I actually surprised them when we had a rain out up in Indy and came to the shop on a Wednesday last week. I could see in everybody’s eyes they were startled that I was there and at the same time they were relieved because they know that we have some work to do. I just wanted to show them my commitment. My commitment is here on the NASCAR side and I’m excited about getting in the car today to make laps and to work on getting this No. 41 Haas Automation Chevy stronger and faster.”

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN THE SENSATION OF SPEED BETWEEN INDYCAR AND NASCAR? WHICH FEELS FASTEST TO YOU?
“That is a very detailed question because there are so many ways to explain it and so many different people will experience things that think that are faster in one aspect versus another. Ask Jimmie Johnson, I talked to him and I told him Bristol is one of my favorite tracks. That track it’s like it’s in slow motion when I’m out there. He goes ‘really, that place it feels like I’m going 200 mph’. I said ‘well that is what it feels like for me at Charlotte’ and you think and he told me it is slow for him. There are different drivers that have their comfort level at certain tracks and in certain forms of motorsport.

“It would be like you and your buddies riding a roller coaster. One guy is going to think it’s extremely fast and the other guy is going to go ‘nah it wasn’t so bad I’m ready for more.’ The speed it obviously shows up when you are doing something wrong. When I wrecked the other day in the Indy car that extra 20 mph and not a lot of material to crush is definitely a harder hit than what it is in a Cup car. But I was fortunate enough to hit a safer barrier and to have all the extra safety equipment on that IndyCar has put in place and that NASCAR has evolved to. I feel like drivers now are able to withstand bigger wrecks than what our pioneers and the legends of our sport have done before. Our group can challenge what those guys have done in the past, but they deserve bigger credit. The legends such as AJ Foyt or Mario Andretti, the Gurney’s those big names back in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s.

“I mean this whole adventure here this month of May I will finish with this, I’m talking to Mario Andretti and he is telling me a story about how in 1967 his car was overheating. They continued to fight overheating problems. They put on this panel on the back of the car to extract air from the radiator. He said ‘after we put that panel on the front tires kept lifting up. So then I made these little wickers and I put them on the front of the car to balance the front back out.’ That was the discovery on downforce. That was putting wings on cars. All he was trying to do was extract air from the radiator so that the car could run more efficiently and that is how cars have evolved into downforce. Now that changed the game to go from whatever mph range they were in to the next mph range. Those guys were all going into foreign territory. For me I’ve had great teammates at Andretti Autosport to look at their notes. To have a team that has solid information to help me graduate as a driver through the different levels it’s been an amazing experience. It’s been a lot of fun and I can’t wait to get in the Cup car today and to finish this journey on Sunday with a strong 1100 miles.”

About Chevrolet:
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4.9 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design, and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
- Team Chevy

Dale Earnhardt Jr. fastest during first Coca-Cola 600 practice session

Sweet No. 88 colors this week: Junior has never won at Charlotte?

There were 45 teams participating Thursday's first Coca-Cola 600 practice session at Charlotte Motor Speedway with Dale Earnhardt Jr. laying down the fastest lap at 193.264 mph putting him in great position to grab the pole during Thursday night's qualifying. Surprisingly, Junior has never won at his home track in Charlotte.

Most of the laps run during the 80-minute session were in qualifying trim. No driver ran 10-consecutive laps or more and Justin Allgaier ran the most (27) while the majority ran 10 laps or less. 

Saturday's final two practice sessions will be the most pivotal to the handicapping equation, but don't expect teams to put too many laps on their engines since Sunday's night race is their longest of the season -- 600 miles.

Kevin Harvick was second fastest during the session with a lap at 192.164 mph on his seventh and final lap run. He was followed by Jimmie Johnson (192.014), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (191.782) and Martin Truex, Jr. (191.775).

Practice 1 Speeds

Video: Roberts talks Coca-Cola 600 odds

Kenseth likes the changing conditions on track during Coca-Cola 600

Matt Kenseth is 10/1 to win Coca-Cola 600

Matt Kenseth/No. 20 Home Depot Husky Toyota Preview
Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

No. 20 Husky Toyota News and Notes:

KENSETH BY THE NUMBERS: In 29 Sprint Cup Series career starts at Charlotte, Matt Kenseth has an average finish of 13.8, has completed 9,770 of 10,320 (94.7 percent) career laps, and has led for a total of 568 laps. Kenseth has earned two wins, eight top-five, and 15 top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile track.

JOE GIBBS RACING AT CHARLOTTE: Joe Gibbs Racing has 92 Sprint Cup Series starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway including four wins, 36 top-five, and 56 top-ten finishes. The organization has led for a total of 2,596 laps, has an average start of 13.8, and an average finish of 11.7 at the team’s hometown track.

KENSETH’S DOUBLE-DUTY: In addition to competing in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, Kenseth will also pilot the No. 20 GameStop/Mario Kart 8 Toyota in Saturday’s History 300 at Charlotte. Kenseth’s last Nationwide Series start at the track was in October of 2013 when he earned a top-five finish.

RACE INFO: The Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-mile) begins at 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday,

 

Kenseth’s 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season Stats:

Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led	Earnings	Avg. start	Avg. Finish
11	0	3	8	1	271	$2,131,233	15.7	10.4

Kenseth’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats:

Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led	Earnings	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
519	31	141	256	12	9,197	$101,673,497	18.5	14.1

From the Cockpit:
Matt Kenseth: “Honestly, the 600 has always been one of my favorite races but it’s obviously unique and different than any other race that we run because we start during the day and end at night. It’s really important to stay on top of the track changes as the sun starts to go down and we get into the night time. The differences in the track conditions you go through during the race can really provide a lot of challenges since it’s usually pretty hot and slick before the track cools down. It’s a fun event, but you also get to see what everyone is made of since it’s our longest race of the season, and there’s a lot going on in the over four hours that we are racing.”

From the Pit Box:
Jason Ratcliff: “I felt like we ran well last weekend in the All-Star Race and we had a decent finish with our car running better at the end of that race. With track conditions the way they were last weekend, it’ll be fairly similar to what we experience in the 600 this weekend. I feel like we know where we need to be once the track cools off at night so now it’s just a matter of fine-tuning on that. I was pleased with the way last weekend ended, and I’m looking forward to this weekend. I think that we’re bringing a little better race car as well this week, so we should have a good Sunday in the longest race of the season.”

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- Joe Gibbs Racing

Kyle Busch looking to finally check Charlotte off his to do list

Kyle Busch is 8/1 to win his first Coca-Cola 600 Sunday night

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (May 20, 2014) – While any win on the PGA Tour is a huge accomplishment, there are four major championships golfers shoot for each season that are more special than the rest. They are professional golf’s Grand Slam, which is made up of the Masters, the U.S. Open, The Open Championship – aka British Open – and the PGA Championship.

While NASCAR doesn’t necessarily have four distinct “major” championships, there are four races during NASCAR’s regular season that are particularly coveted by drivers and teams, although some might argue which would be the exact four. It starts with the biggest one of them all, the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in February, also known as the Great American Race. It continues in April with the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and, finally, the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late-July.

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), has one of those major wins on his resume –the Southern 500 at Darlington in 2008. But now, Busch has his sights set on a particularly long-awaited Sprint Cup win Sunday at Charlotte. At the traditional Memorial Day-weekend Coca-Cola 600, which also happens to be NASCAR’s longest event, Busch has 12 top-10 finishes in his last 16 starts at the 1.5-mile oval, making him feel his team is closer than ever to hoisting his first trophy there.

The Coca-Cola 600 would be special because the event is at what Busch often says is his favorite racetrack. He has come close to winning a Sprint Cup event at Charlotte, but he’s yet to carry home a coveted Sprint Cup trophy from the trackthat is home to a majority of the NASCAR teams and is just around the corner from where Busch now lives in Mooresville, North Carolina.

Ever since his childhood in Las Vegas, some of Busch’s favorite race-watching memories came during Charlotte’s traditional Coca-Cola 600 and All-Star Race during the month of May. He dreamed that one day he, too, could be the one hoisting the trophy at one of stock car racing’s most hallowed grounds.

In his 20 previous Sprint Cup starts at Charlotte over the past 10-plus seasons, Busch has managed to enjoy plenty of success on the oval nicknamed the “Beast of the Southeast,” with nine top-five finishes to go with his 12 top-10s there. In addition to solid Sprint Cup finishes, Busch has captured eight NASCAR Nationwide Series wins – May 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2010, October 2008 and 2009, and both May and October 2013. He also has six NASCAR Camping World Truck Series wins – 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014.

So, will this be the weekend that Busch finally adds a “major” to his trophy case with a long-awaited Charlotte win? Winning NASCAR’s longest race on Sunday would then get Busch halfway to achieving NASCAR’s version of a career grand slam.

KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:

What are the challenges of racing at Charlotte?
“I think the biggest challenge about Charlotte is how much the track changes from practice. You practice all during the day and then you go into night racing. You’ve got to know what kind of adjustments to make to your car and how well you can race at night. Typically, you go back to your night notes. For us, we’ve run well there in the past and like going there. It’s a fun place to race and adds to the excitement of spending some time at home.”

You have been able to win at 17 of the 23 racetracks where the Sprint Cup Series competes so, beyond wanting to win the Coca-Cola 600, would simply winning at Charlotte also be a feather in your cap?
“Winning at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which 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 where we also need to win, but there’s no doubt Charlotte and the Coke 600 would be big.”

You’ve always said that Charlotte is your favorite track. Is there any particular reason why?
“Charlotte is my favorite racetrack for a lot of reasons. Just growing up watching races on TV, I loved watching the All-Star Race under the lights and the 600 with all the sparks flying and all the guys going after hard-fought, hard-racing wins. The Nationwide Series has been good to me there. The Truck Series has been pretty good to me there, too. But a Cup Series win has eluded me there. We’re definitely getting closer than I was back when I first started racing at Charlotte. I think I have something like 12 top-10 finishes in my last 16 races there going into this weekend, so I hope my luck is turning around a bit and I can finally get that Sprint Cup win with our M&M’s Camry. We’ve been very close at times in recent years. I wish we wouldn’t have wrecked in the All-Star Race last weekend, but we had a good car and there are a lot of encouraging things we learned from last weekend that we’ll have to apply this weekend at Charlotte.”

Does Sunday’s 600-mile race feel different than other events?
“It depends on what kind of car you have. I’ve been in races in the 600-mile race where it’s felt really easy and short, and I’ve been in races where it’s been a long, drawn-out, knock ’em, sock ’em kind of day. Hopefully, Dave Rogers (crew chief) and the guys can bring a really good M&M’s Camry for me this weekend and it will be a smooth race for us. I like running the 600 miles. I think it brings a new aspect to our sport – its longevity. People will say, ‘It’s too long. It’s boring. Whatever.’ Well, you know, it’s a part of the product and the history that we’ve had on Memorial Day weekend for a long time, that you run that extra hundred miles. And car preparation goes into that. Will your car make it? Will your engine last? Are the drivers able to be competitive throughout the whole race? You’ll have fatigue, sometimes, even at a 500-mile race. So, if you don’t show signs of weakness, you should be pretty good.”

If you’re saving your car for the end of the race, is it a struggle for you not to pass during the earlier stages of the long, 600-mile event?
“Yeah, you want to race those guys who are around you all of the time. You think to yourself, ‘There’s a car in front of me. I want to pass that guy.’ That’s what’s in your blood to do. Sometimes, you’ve just got to back off a little bit and kind of let the race play out. You’ve got to get to the end of the final pit stop. Once you get to the final pit stop, then the race is on. That’s kind of the way it works out. Charlotte can suck you in and it can suck you in pretty easily – into the wall, I mean.”

KYLE BUSCH’S CHARLOTTE SPRINT CUP SERIES PERFORMANCE PROFILE

Year	Date	Event	Start	Finish	Status/Laps	Laps Led	Earnings
2013	5/26	Coca-Cola 600	8	38	Engine, 257/400	65	$133,653
	10/2	Bank of America 500	9	5	Running, 334/334	4	$166,068
2012	5/27	Coca-Cola 600	17	3	Running, 400/400	55	$236,898
	10/13	Bank of America 500	8	5	Running, 334/334	0	$162,818
2011	5/29	×Coca-Cola 600	21	32	Accident, 344/402	55	$133,391
	10/15	Bank of America 500	25	2	Running, 334/334	111	$234,766
2010	5/30	Coca-Cola 600	9	3	Running, 400/400	36	$240,256
	10/16	Bank of America 500	6	2	Running, 334/334	217	$260,631
2009	5/25	*Coca-Cola 600	2	6	Running, 227/227	173	$200,198
	10/17	NASCAR Banking 500	10	8	Running, 334/334	0	$134,623
2008	5/25	Coca-Cola 600	1	3	Running, 400/400	61	$240,700
	10/11	†Bank of America 500	11	4	Running, 334/334	14	$141,875
2007	5/27	Coca-Cola 600	17	30	Running, 357/400	4	$103,375
	10/13	×Bank of America 500	13	3	Running, 337/337	4	$153,300
2006	5/28	Coca-Cola 600	28	38	Accident, 313/400	0	$99,935
	10/14	Bank of America 500	18	6	Running, 334/334	1	$112,050
2005	5/29	Coca-Cola 600	6	25	Running, 398/400	55	$101,825
	10/15	×UAW-GM 500	13	39	Accident, 150/336	7	$71,450
2004	5/30	Coca-Cola 600	27	32	Running, 393/400	0	$69,025
	10/10	UAW-GM 500	38	34	Accident, 264/334	0	$54,575

†Qualifying cancelled due to weather, starting position set via car owner points.

×Race length extended due to green-white-checkered finish.

- True Speed Communication for Kyle Busch Motorsports/Joe Gibbs Racing

Charlotte odds: Harvick favored to win his third Coca-Cola 600 in four seasons

Big party last season for Kevin Harvick's crew at Charlotte

LAS VEGAS -- Kevin Harvick doesn’t have a win on any of the 1.5-mile tracks raced on this season, but he’s been so impressive in all of the practices on them that it was enough to convince the LVH SuperBook he deserves to be labeled as the driver to beat in Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 PM ET, FOX) at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Of course there are other contributing factors for Harvick being the 5-to-1 favorite, such as having two wins on the season (Phoenix, Darlington) and winning two of the past three Coca-Cola 600’s.

There is a special knack for winning NASCAR’s longest race of the season, because of the many changing conditions caused by the race starting in daylight (6:16 pm ET), running through dusk and finishing up at night in the much cooler temperatures. The team that can adapt to the rapidly changing track the quickest has the edge, and the driver who can relay what’s happening in the car during those changes the best has an even bigger edge. Lately, it’s been Harvick.

In both of his Coca-Cola 600 wins, he used every part of the lengthy race distance to his advantage leading only two laps in a green-white-checker finish in 2011, and then only 28 of the 400 laps last year. He got better as he went on in those races and it's quite possible with the power his new No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team has routinely given him, that he‘ll get off to a much better start.

One of the other reasons that Harvick is favored over everyone else is the competition. It’s more balanced than ever while six-time Sprint Cup champ Jimmie Johnson searches for speed and his first win of the season. Johnson has been favored at every Charlotte race after winning his first Coca-Cola 600 in 2003 that started a run of taking five-of-six Charlotte events, including three straight Coca-Cola 600’s. He has six points-paying wins at Charlotte, but hasn’t been to victory lane there since 2009 (not counting his four All-Star wins).

Out of mere respect for his past body work at Charlotte and other 1.5-mile tracks, he’s listed at 6-to-1 odds this week. Also factoring in his low odds is Johnson’s driving ability, his all-business mentality and not being able to keep crafty crew chief Chad Knaus baffled for too long in how to make the No. 48 go faster. They will start to click soon. The betting public knows it. Every driver in the garage knows it and Johnson himself knows it.

Prior to this race last season, the Joe Gibbs Racing team had a huge edge on all the down-force tracks, but the two-star performers - Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch -- didn’t have strong Coca-Cola outings like we saw in their wins at Las Vegas, Fontana, Texas and Kansas. This season, it’s been much more equal with an edge being given to the Penske duo of Joey Logano (8-to-1) and Brad Keselowski (8-to-1). Logano won at Texas – the track most similar to Charlotte – while also finishing fourth at Las Vegas and Kansas. Keselowski won at Vegas, Jeff Gordon won at Kansas and Kyle Busch won at Fontana again – four down-force tracks, four different winners.

Gordon (8-to-1) will be making his 22nd Coca-Cola 600 start and we can use his strong second-place finish at Texas last month as a great indicator he might be able win his sixth race at Charlotte and fourth Coca-Cola 600. He last won this race during his magical 13-win season in 1998. His last win overall at Charlotte came in the fall of 2007.

It’s surprising that Kyle Busch (8-to-1) hasn’t won at Charlotte yet because he’s been so consistently good there over the past seven years with two runner-ups, four third-place finishes, a fourth and two fifths. He’s been eighth or better in 11 of his last 13 starts, and like Gordon and Logano, we can use his good showing at Texas (third) as a reference.

Kasey Kahne’s (8-to-1) third-place finish at Kansas two weeks ago was his best of the season, and Charlotte has been one of his best tracks over his career, totaling four wins. He was second in both races last season and led 20 laps in last week’s All-Star Race.

Be sure to check back Saturday afternoon when we’ll have our driver ratings, aimed to help bettors and fantasy players' weekly strategy, posted after the two practices sessions. Qualifying is Thursday night under the lights with no activity scheduled for the Cup series on Friday. Right now, the Penske cars look like the best value on the board with Kahne being close, while Carl Edwards (20-to-1) looks like the best long-shot value. If you are looking for Jamie McMurray to complete the Charlotte sweep after winning the All-Star Race, the LVH will give you 60-to-1 odds. Seven drivers have completed the sweep with the last being Kurt Busch, who this year is racing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 back-to-back, in 2010. McMurray won his first career race at Charlotte as a replacement driver for Sterling Marlin in 2002 and won again in 2010.

Read More Here.....LVH Charlotte odds to win

Updated LVH Super Book odds to win 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship

Does Johnson have what it takes to win his seventh Championship?

2014 SPRINT CUP CHAMPIONSHIP

JIMMIE JOHNSON 7-2
KYLE BUSCH 10
MATT KENSETH 10
DENNY HAMLIN 12
BRAD KESELOWSKI 8
KASEY KAHNE 15
JEFF GORDON 8
DALE EARNHARDT JR 10
TONY STEWART 20
KEVIN HARVICK 4
KURT BUSCH 20
JOEY LOGANO 12
CARL EDWARDS 20
CLINT BOWYER 50
GREG BIFFLE 50
RYAN NEWMAN 60
MARTIN TRUEX JR 500
BRIAN VICKERS 100
JAMIE McMURRAY 100
RICKY STENHOUSE JR 300
AUSTIN DILLON 300
PAUL MENARD 300
KYLE LARSON 30
MARCOS AMBROSE 300
DANICA PATRICK 1000
FIELD 200

Updated LVH odds to win 2014 Indianapolis 500

INDIANAPOLIS 500
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2014

JUAN MONTOYA 7

MARCO ANDRETTI 5

HELIO CASTRONEVES 6

SCOTT DIXON 10

WILL POWER 7

TONY KANAAN 15

RYAN BRISCOE 20

RYAN HUNTER-REAY 10

KURT BUSCH 30

ED CARPENTER 7

GRAHAM RAHAL 50

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE 8

JUSTIN WILSON 50

SIMON PAGENAUD 18

TAKUMA SATO 60

JACQUES VILLENEUVE 100

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS 100

JR HILDEBRAND 40

ALEX TAGLIANI 100

ORIOL SERVIA 100

TOWNSEND BELL 75

CARLOS MUNOZ 15

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA 300

CARLOS HUERTAS 200

JOSEF NEWGARDEN 40

CHARLIE KIMBALL 200

BUDDY LAZIER 300

MIKHAIL ALESHIN 200

JACK HAWKSWORTH 100

FIELD 40

Lewis Hamilton posted 4/7 favorite by LVH to win 2014 Monaco Grand Prix

MONACO GRAND PRIX
CIRCUIT DE MONACO
SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2014

LEWIS HAMILTON 4-7
NICO ROSBERG 7-4
FERNANDO ALONSO 25
SEBASTIAN VETTEL 15
DANIEL RICCIARDO 15
KIMI RAIKKONEN 60
FELIPE MASSA 100
NICO HULKENBERG 200
VALTTERI BOTTAS 100
JENSON BUTTON 200
KEVIN MAGNUSSEN 200
SERGIO PEREZ 200

DANIIL KVYAT 1000
JEAN-ERIC VERGNE 1000
PASTOR MALDONADO 500
ROMAIN GROSJEAN 500
ADRIAN SUTIL 3000
ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ 3000
KAMUI KOBAYASHI 5000
FIELD 500

Charlotte Motor Speedway Tracks Facts: 2014 Coca-Cola 600

Kevin Harvick won at Charlotte last summer 

At Charlotte Motor Speedway:

History

·         Construction began on Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS) in 1959.

·         The track’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on June 19, 1960 – won by Joe Lee Johnson.

·         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 110 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, two races per year since the track opened in 1960. In 1961, there were two 100-mile qualifying points races held the week before the May race. The first six fall races at Charlotte were 400-mile events (1960-65).

·         520 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points paying race at Charlotte Motor Speedway; 371 in more than one. 427 drivers have competed in Coca-Cola 600; 285 in more than one.

·         NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty leads the series in starts at Charlotte with 64. Terry Labonte leads all active drivers with 57 starts; followed by Mark Martin with 56. Bill Elliott has made the most Coca-Cola 600 starts with 31; Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in 600 starts with 21.

·         Fireball Roberts won the inaugural Coors Light pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway (World 600) in 1960 with a speed of 133.904 mph. 

·         41 drivers have Coors Light poles at Charlotte, led by David Pearson with 14. Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordonlead all active drivers in poles at CMS with nine.

·         David Pearson and Ryan Newman are tied for the series most Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Sprint Cup Coors Light poles with six each; followed by Jeff Gordon with five.

·         12 drivers have won consecutive Coors Light poles at Charlotte. David Pearson holds the record for most consecutive poles at Charlotte with 11; from the fall of 1973 through 1978.

·         Jeff Gordon won five straight Coca-Cola 600 poles at Charlotte between 1994 and 1998.

·         Youngest Charlotte pole winner: Jeff Gordon (10/10/1993 – 22 years, 2 months, 6 days).

·         Oldest Charlotte pole winner: Bobby Allison (10/11/1987 – 49 years, 10 months, 8 days).

·         45 different drivers have won at Charlotte Motor Speedway, led by Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Allison and Jimmie Johnson with six wins each. 

·         30 different drivers have won the Coca-Cola 600, led by NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip with five; Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne lead all active drivers with three each.

·         Nine drivers have posted consecutive wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway, including three consecutive by Fred Lorenzen (fall 1964 and both 1965) and four straight by Jimmie Johnson (both in 2004 and 2005).

·         A season sweep at Charlotte has occurred eight times, including each season from 2004-2007.

·         Seven times from seven different drivers has the winner of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race gone on to win the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Darrell Waltrip (1985), Davey Allison (1991), Dale Earnhardt(1993), Jeff Gordon (1997), Jimmie Johnson (2003), Kasey Kahne (2008) and Kurt Busch (2010).

·         Youngest Charlotte winner: Jeff Gordon (05/29/1994 – 22 years, 9 months, 25 days).

·         Oldest Charlotte winner: Cale Yarborough (10/06/1985 – 46 years, 6 months, 9 days).

·         Hendrick Motorsportshas the most wins at Charlotte in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with 17: Jimmie Johnson (six), Jeff Gordon (five), Darrell Waltrip (two), Ken Schrader (one), Terry Labonte (one), Casey Mears (one) and Kasey Kahne (one). 

·         Eight different manufacturers have won in the NSCS at Charlotte; led by Chevrolet with 41 victories; followed byFord with 29. Chevrolet also has the most Coca-Cola 600 wins at 22.

·         14 of the 110 (12.7%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Charlotte have been won from the Coors Light pole; the two most recent were Jimmie Johnson in 2004 (Coca-Cola 600) and 2009 (fall event).

·         The second-place starting position is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners (17) than any other starting position at Charlotte Motor Speedway.   

·         31 of the 110 (28.1%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Charlotte have been won from the front row: 14 from the pole and 17 from second-place.

·         83 of the 110 (75.4%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Charlotte have been won from a top-10 starting position.

·         Nine of the 110 (8.1%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Charlotte have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.

·         The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Charlotte was 37th, by Jimmie Johnson in the Coca-Cola 600 of 2003.

·         Richard Petty leads the series in runner-up finishes at Charlotte with nine. Kasey Kahne and Matt Kensethlead all active drivers with three.

·         NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Bobby Allison are tied for the series most top-five finishes at Charlotte with 23. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 16. 

·         Richard Petty leads the series in top-10 finishes at Charlotte with 31. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 22.

·         Ryan Newman leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Charlotte with a 7.038.

·         Joey Logano leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at Charlotte with a 10.400.

·         Joe Nemechek leads the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Charlotte without visiting Victory Lane at 35; followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. with 28.

·         Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory (MOV) in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway was the May 29, 2005 race won by Jimmie Johnson over Bobby Labonte with a MOV of 0.027 second.

·         There have been three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races resulting with a green-white-checkered finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but only once for the Coca-Cola 600 (Scheduled No. of Laps/Actual No. of Laps): fall of 2005 (334/336), fall of 2007 (334/337) and the 2011 Coca-Cola 600 (400/402).

·         Five of the 110 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway have been shortened due to weather conditions; the most recent was the 2009 Coca-Cola 600 won by David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip Racing. Four of the five races shortened were the 600-mile events (1968, 1997, 2003 and 2009).  

·         Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway twice; the fall race of 2002 and the fall race of 2008.  

·         Seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series active drivers have made their first career start at Charlotte Motor Speedway:Michael Waltrip (5/26/85), Elliott Sadler (5/24/98), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5/30/99), Jimmie Johnson (10/7/01),Brian Vickers (10/11/03), David Reutimann (10/15/05) and Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (5/29/11).

·         Four active drivers have posted their first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Jeff Gordon (10/10/93), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5/28/00), Ryan Newman (5/27/01) and Aric Almirola(5/27/12).

·         Four active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers have posted their first career win at Charlotte Motor Speedway:Jeff Gordon (5/29/94), Matt Kenseth (5/28/00), Jamie McMurray (10/13/02) and Casey Mears (5/27/07).

·         Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Charlotte with 1,569 laps led in 25 starts.

·         Two female drivers have competed at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Janet Guthrie and Danica Patrick.

Date	Driver	Starting Position	Finishing Position	Race Name
5/30/1976	Janet Guthrie	27	15	World 600
10/10/1976	Janet Guthrie	26	22	National 500
10/9/1977	Janet Guthrie	27	9	NAPA National 500
10/8/1978	Janet Guthrie	31	35	NAPA National 500
5/27/2012	Danica Patrick	40	30	Coca-Cola 600
5/26/2013	Danica Patrick	24	29	Coca-Cola 600
10/12/2013	Danica Patrick	35	20	Bank of America 500

NASCAR in North Carolina

·         There have been 518 NASCAR Sprint Cup races among 28 tracks in North Carolina.

Track Name	City	NSCS
Charlotte Motor Speedway	Concord	110
North Wilkesboro Speedway	North	93
Rockingham Speedway	Rockingham	78
Hickory Speedway	Hickory	35
Asheville-Weaverville Speedway	Weaverville	34
Occoneechee Speedway	Hillsboro	32
Bowman-Gray Stadium	Winston-Salem	29
Southern States Fairgrounds	Charlotte	17
Charlotte Speedway	Charlotte	12
Concord Speedway	Concord	12
Wilson Speedway	Wilson	12
New Asheville Speedway	Asheville	8
Dog Track Speedway	Moyock	7
Raleigh Speedway	Raleigh	7
Cleveland County Fairgrounds	Shelby	6
Champion Speedway	Fayetteville	4
Greensboro Agriculture Fairgrounds	Greensboro	3
North Carolina State Fairgrounds	Raleigh	3
Tar Heel Speedway	Randleman	3
Forsyth County Fairgrounds	Winston-Salem	2
Harris Speedway	Harris	2
Jacksonville Speedway	Jacksonville	2
Tri-City Speedway	High Point	2
Gastonia Fairgrounds	Gastonia	1
Harnett Speedway	Spring Lake	1
McCormick Field	Asheville	1
Salisbury Super Speedway	Salisbury	1
Star Lite Speedway	Monroe	1

NASCAR in North Carolina

·         431 drivers in NASCAR national series history have their home state recorded as North Carolina.

·         46 drivers from North Carolina have won at least one race in NASCAR’s three national series; 28 have won 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
Dale Earnhardt Jr	20	23	0
Speedy Thompson	20	0	0
Buddy Baker	19	0	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	3	3	0
Billy Myers	2	0	0
Jimmy Pardue	2	0	0
Richard Brickhouse	1	0	0
Phil Parsons	1	2	0
Leon Sales	1	0	0
Buddy Shuman	1	0	0
Donald Thomas	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
Austin Dillon	0	2	5
Hank Parker Jr	0	2	0
Johnny Rumley	0	2	0
Dennis Setzer	0	2	18
Ed Berrier	0	1	0
Ryan Blaney	0	1	2
Justin Labonte	0	1	0
Stephen Leicht	0	1	0
Timothy Peters	0	0	7
Ty Dillon	0	0	3
Andy Houston	0	0	3
Ricky Hendrick	0	0	1
Shane Hmiel	0	0	1