Angie
Stock car racing has always been a team sport. Each person in the organization plays a key role in the success of the team. One minor mistake can ruin a driver’s day and the smallest thing can often make the biggest impact.
Just ask Doug Taylor.
After a brief career in the Air Force that taught him electronics, Taylor was looking for a new direction when he heard that 2-way radios were being used in Indy and stock cars. He began to focus on developing a better system for in-car communications.
At first only a few drivers were interested but through word of mouth advertising, more and more seemed to take notice. In 1974 things began to come together when Junior Johnson became his first customer.
You might recognize a few of the legendary names he has worked with in his 25-year long career. They include A.J. Foyt, Benny Parsons, Darrell Waltrip, the Woods Brothers, Paul Newman and many more. Continue reading →
Angie
Image by BiggerPictureImages.com via Flickr
Jimmie Johnson grabbed his fourth win of the season at Sonoma today with a little help from Marcos Ambrose. It was his fourth win this season and his 51st career win.
While Johnson was celebrating his victory, the rest of the NASCAR world was still in shock at the heartbreaking mistake that handed him the win.
On the final caution of the race, Ambrose failed to keep up with the pace car and maintain his position during the caution laps. This unfortunate error gave the lead to Johnson who easily cruised into victory lane.
Marcos talked to the media after the race.
“Just cut the motor off, trying to save a bit of fuel there,” Ambrose said. “It’s NASCAR’s house, you play by their rules. I don’t agree with it. I don’t like it, but that’s the way it is.
Movers and Shakers:
The biggest gain in the points standings was made by Jimmie Johnson who moved up four spots to second place. He is now only 140 points behind leader Kevin Harvick.
Johnson also made some history today. His 51st career win puts him 10th on the all-time winners list. Hendrick Motor Sports broke another record with its 15th victory on a road course, the most for one organization.
Jeff Gordon moved up two spots to fifth place in the standings but seems to have lost the respect of some drivers in the process. His controversial run in today’s race puts him firmly in the role of villain, so more about him later. Continue reading →
Angie
I recently had the opportunity to cover the NASCAR races at Darlington Raceway as a member of the media. Below is a summary of my experience, slightly skewed for entertainment purposes.
My journey began with a trip to Darlington to pick up my media credentials to cover the upcoming Nationwide and Cup Series races. While I was there, I just had to stop by the Darlington Raceway Stock Car Museum.
As I stepped out of my car and looked at the faces adorning the front of the museum, I knew that I was in for a treat.
Everywhere I looked, I saw a different piece of stock car racing history.
Some things were immediately familiar like the number 43, trademark blue, 1967 Plymouth of Richard Petty.
And then there were the surprises.
Over to one side was a 1956 Ford convertible. This particular car won 22 races in a single year racing in the convertible series.
One of my favorite parts of the museum was a glass case with an array of confiscated items taken off the competitors cars.
I just had to laugh at the ingenuity of these drivers who used every advantage they could find to win…at least until they got caught. It seems like some things never change. Continue reading →
Angie
The “Lady in Black” welcomed back fans on Saturday for round two at Darlington Raceway. In preparation for the Showtime Southern 500, a team had been up throughout the night re-painting the historic red and white walls.
A busy day of practice and qualifying on Friday had left its mark on the track walls and sent six Sprint Cup teams to backup cars.
Dale Earnhardt Jr was the first casualty, hitting the wall on just his second lap of practice. He was followed by Clint Bowyer, Scott Speed, Greg Biffle, Marcos Ambrose and Kyle Busch.
Jamie McMurray stayed out of the wall and made his way into the record books. He set a track qualifying record with a 180.370 mph lap.
In what has fast become a tradition on Mother’s Day weekend at Darlington, the Sprint Cup mothers in attendance gave the command, “Gentleman, start your engines.” Continue reading →
Angie
The Lady in Black opened her gates on Saturday and quickly let everyone know that she was in charge.
She claimed her first victims during the Nationwide Series practice Friday morning.
Steve Wallace, Mike Wallace and Steve Arpin all had to go to back up cars after hitting the wall.
The Nationwide Series qualifying went a little smoother and Denny Hamlin claimed the pole. It was his 15th pole in 121 Nationwide Series races.
The top five spots were all taken by Sprint Cup regulars. Kyle Busch started second followed by Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray and Carl Edwards.
The fastest qualifying rookie was Brain Scott who started 13th.
Denny Hamlin led the field to green and the race was on to see who could survive until the end. Continue reading →
Angie
Kyle Busch led the field to green and then led the field for almost half the race.
He was putting cars down at such a quick pace that by lap 156 there were only nine cars on the lead lap with 21 cars one lap down. It was beginning to look like the Kyle Busch show.
A debris caution on lap 159 changed things up as 18 cars took the wave around. That left 27 cars on the lead lap.
Finally on lap 230, Jeff Burton took the lead and the excitement was turned up a notch.
Burton was in the lead with Kyle Busch second and Gordon in third. But Gordon was closing fast and soon overtook Busch for second place with Burton in his sights.
Gordon passed Burton on lap 250 for the lead and looked determined to bring home that elusive win.
But this is short track racing and a couple of late race cautions changed everything.
After the last caution, on lap 395, Kyle Busch slid by Gordon and took the lead. Continue reading →
Angie
Image via Wikipedia
The Samsung Mobile 500 finally got underway on Monday and pole sitter Tony Stewart led the field to green. Stewart was strong all day but the competition was fierce.
Teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were up front much of the day and raced each other aggressively, making contact at one point.
Dale Earnhardt Jr led 46 laps but lost the handle of his car and wasn’t a factor at the end.
But the most excitement came suddenly on lap 318 when Carl Edwards and Stewart made contact coming off Turn 4. Stewart then hit Gordon and after the dust cleared, a total of nine cars were involved.
Jeff Gordon saw another win slip away and Denny Hamlin saw his chance.
The race was re-started and Denny Hamlin pulled ahead for the lead. With two laps to go, Jimmie Johnson was in second place trying to close in on Hamlin, but he ran out of time.
This is Hamlin’s second win this season and his 10th Sprint Cup victory.
More importantly, this win brings him one step closer to his ultimate goal of becoming a championship contender.
Rounding out the top five finishers were Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne. Continue reading →
