Phoneix International Speedway?; Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway

The first 100 laps of this race was very Daytona/Talladega like.

First 2 cautions were Phoenix like debri on lap 20 and Robby Gordon, #7 Dodge Speed Energy / Bashas', spun, he thought he was helped, on lap 34 which would count as the competition yellow NASCAR was going to have at lap 40 due to overnight rain.

Daytona 500 winner, Trevor Bayne #21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford Focus, spun and the rear of his car hit the wall.

Kyle Busch, #18 Combos Toyota Camry, got into Carl Edwards, #99 Subway Ford Focus, on lap 59 which also caused damage to Jeff Gordon, #24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet (race winner), Kevin Harvick, #29 Jimmie John's Gourmet Sandwiches Chevrolet, and Mark Martin, #5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet. Carl wasn't sure if Kyle got loose or if he intentionally hit him, Kyle apoligized for the incident saying he got loose. Only Carl was severely damaged, winded up finishing 28th 48 laps down.

On lap 67 would be considered 'the big one' at Daytona International Speedway or at Talladega Superspeedway. The wreck was caused by Matt Kenseth, #17 Crown Royal Ford Focus, getting into Brian Vickers, #83 Red Bull Racing Chevrolet. Vickers claimed Kenseth was racing him to hard and slammed into his door and Kenseth claimed Vikers gave him no room. This collected 13 cars; Clint Bowyer #33 Cheerios / Hamburger Helper Chevrolet, Jeff Burton #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, Jamie McMurray #1 Bass Pro Shops/Trackers Chevrolet, David Reutimann #00 Best Western Toyota Camry, Casey Mears #13 GEICO Toyota Camry, Travis Kvapil #38 Long John Silver's Ford Focus, David Gilliand #34 Taco Bell Ford Focus, Bobby Labonte #47 Clorox Toyota Camry, Regan Smith #78 Furniture Row Companies Chevrolet, Andy Lally #71 Super Eco-Fuel Saver Chevrolet, and Robby Gordon (2nd incident). This wreck obvivously cause a red flag situation which lasted for 14 minutes and 4 seconds .

There wouldn't be another stop in action until David Ragan's, #6 UPS I Love Logistics Ford Focus, tire went down and slammed him hard into the wall on lap 127.

In the begining of the race Joey Logano's #20 Home Depot Toyota Camry engine was having issues which was that he lost a cyclinder in the engine, but on lap 218 his engine give up and blew which led to the second to last caution of the race.

The last caution was on lap 285 Andy Lally (was involved in the 'big one') for getting into the wall.


Jeff Gordon winded up passing Kyle Busch for the victory in Phoenix, after a 66-race winless streak.

Links:
Gordon ends 66-race winless drought at Phoenix- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/dZxmVb
Lap-by-Lap- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/eroPIC
Results- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/er6Jed
Early crashes at Phoenix leave many frustrated- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/h8odZ8
Jeff Gordon wins at Phoenix- ESPN.com: http://es.pn/gDAYNe

And the Cup drivers dominate again in the Nationwide series; Bashas' Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway

Well the only story line of this race was that Kyle Busch, #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, lead all 200 laps and won the race. There were only 3 cautions for: debri, Brad Keslowski, #22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger, tire blew and ran him into the wall, and Daytona 500 winner's, Trevor Bayne's, #16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang, tire also blew and he slammed into the wall. Kyle Busch dominated the whole race. The only time he was challenged was after the caution, caused by Trevor Bayne on lap 164, Carl Edwards was able to stick with Kyle for 15-20 laps but wasn't able to lead a lap.

Even with the NASCAR's new rules on point system, this race was dominated by Cup talent drivers. The top 5 had 4 drivers that score points in the Sprint Cup series; Kyle Busch (1), Carl Edwards #60 Ford Drive One Ford Mustang (2), Kevin Harvick #33 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet (3), and Ryan Newman #30 Dollar General Chevrolet (4). Someone twitted Joe Gibbs Racing's twitter account saying “@DWallaceJr6: @JoeGibbsRacing Kyle Busch is really showing what the nationwide program is all about!” Now I don't understand this one bit. Kyle is a favorite in the top series and he's by no means new to NASCAR while the Nationwide series is meant for up and coming drivers to show their talents on a national stage and try to win a ride in the Cup series. With drivers like Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, and Kevin Harvick racing pretty much every race and not allowing young drivers, like Colin Braun who is talented and has no ride in the nationwide series, to compete in a series meant for them is beyond me. They have already made their way through the ranks and they should allow others to do so too. People say it's good for the young drivers to compete with those drivers for experience and then it's makes them feel better when they win. I don't agree with this at all. I think there should be stricter rules, like you can only race in the nationwide or truck series your first 3 seasons in the Cup series and then no more. Now begins the talk of another Kyle Busch trifecta in Phoenix, he won the Friday night truck race as well.

Links:

Busch goes wire to wire for victory at Phoenix- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/hrcjM0

Lap-by-Lap- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/dSN1gM

Results- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/dXAV0n

NASCAR Cup Race: AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway

Denny Hamlin, #11 FedEx Office Toyota, won Sunday, November 7th, 2010 at Texas Motor Speedway, his 2nd career win in Texas, swept Texas this season, and his 8th win this season. Denny Hamlin is now leading in point standings over Jimmie Johnson by 33 points and Kevin Harvick by 59 points, in NASCARs closest chase ever. Kevin Harvick finished 6th and Jimmie Johnson finished 9th. Matt Keneseth, #19 Crown Royal Black Ford, finished in 2nd. Matt Keneseth has 6 top 5s and 13 top 10s this season and has 1 win at Texas Motor Speedway in 2002. Mark Martin, #4 Carquest/ GoDaddy.com Chevy, finished in 3rd. Mark Martin has 7 top 5s and 10 top 10s on the season and won the 2nd Cup race in Texas in 1998. Joey Logano, #20 Home Depot Toyota, finished 4th. Joey Logano has 6 top 5s and 15 top 10s this season and recorded his best finish at Texas Motor Speedway. Greg Biffle, #16 American Red Cross Ford, finished 5th. Greg Biffle has 2 wins on the season, 8 top 5s and 17 top 10s on the season and he won the spring race in 2005 at Texas. Greg Biffle led the most laps of the race on Sunday with 224 laps led. During a caution on lap 300 something broke in the transmission of the #19 Ford and he lost his 2nd gear. Only driver in the top 5 without a Texas win is Joey Logano, he is only in his 2nd season in the Cup series, and Texas is one of his tougher tracks.

Martin Truex Jr., #56 NAPA/Susan G Komen for the Cure Signature Toyota, finished 38th, 146 laps down. Martin Truex Jr. caused 3-of-9 cautions, on laps 132, 151, and 191 all 1 car cautions.

Jeff Burton, #31 Caterpillar Chevy, turned into Jeff Gordon, #24 DuPont Chevy which ruined both their cars and days, under a caution, caused by Martin Truex Jr. Jeff Gordon was very furious over this and shoved Burton around a bit as they crossed paths and then had to ride in the same ambulance. Jeff Burton took 100% responsiblity as he gave a calm interview outside the in field care center. On the otherhand Jeff Gordon was very angry still and claimed he lost respect for Burton after the wreck in his interview after he was released from the in field care center. I agree with Burton that it he didn't mean to do it..but I'm not sure it's more of a judgement call if you see the replays you can't tell if his statements are true about not seeing thru the turn since obviously were not in the car with him, you'd think his spotter could of helped out. Jeff Burton finished 36th, 144 laps down and Jeff Gordon 37th, 146 laps down.

After the wreck between Gordon and Burton, the #24 crew took over for the #48 crew. The #48 crew wasn't getting the job done for the team and they seemed willing to give it up to their teammates but of course were very disappointed in their actions. Today it was announced that the #48 and #24 crews will switch for the last 2 races to try to get Jimmie another title. Richard Childress did the same move for the #33 crew and the #29 crew just mid week not during the race and the day after.

Kyle Busch, #18 M&Ms Toyota, finished 32nd, 2 laps down. Kyle Busch spun out, by himself, on lap 159. Leaving pit road, trying to make it out before going a lap down, he was clocked for speeding. Of course the 'lovely' Kyle Busch did not agree, he and his fans are huge conspiracy theorists, and he made an obscene gesture with his middle finger to the official that watches pit stalls and also cursed over the radio to NASCAR officials. This obscene gesture was shown on live tv. Kyle Busch was then black flagged for 2 laps on lap 164 for unsportsmanlike conduct. Some of these NASCAR conspiracy theorists believe that NASCAR faked the speeding penalty after they felt Kyle was cheated out of a win in the Nationwide race the day before by NASCAR and Carl Edwards jumping the restart, which I don't think he was some of the evidence they used was that he was penalized for jumping a restart earlier in the season but Carl had the lead and Kyle didn't that time he was penalized. Kyle Busch was fined on Monday $25,000 and put on probation until December 31st, 2010 for his gesture to the NASCAR official.
I touched a little bit on conspiracy theories in that last story. I've seen some fans are saying that the no-call on the tire getting into the grass by the #48 team was only not called because it was Jimmie Johnson. First off watch the replay Paul Menard, #98 Quaker State/Menards Ford, hit the tire and that wouldn't be the crew's fault so it was a good no-call. Also, it's funny that Jimmie Johnson fans are saying that NASCAR has called cautions during races to prevent Jimmie from winning and visa versa, so people how love and hate Jimmie believe NASCAR is going for and against them, no one seems to believe in a fair world/sport. Alright the one stated above about Kyle Busch also pertains to this section but I'm not going to repeat myself. Anyhow I think that if Kyle Busch fans really think he's being cheated, they should think of all the things he gets away with. Most recently the Talladega truck race, NASCAR could of easily taken away his win since he crossed the no pass yellow line but they didn't. Somethings you just got to cut them some slack from the slack the cut him.

Joey Logano prior to the race on Sunday would of been 5th in points if he was in the Chase. Joey Logano after the race is now 16th in points, he and Joe Gibbs Racing want him to finish 13th. 13th is the highest he can finish in standings it would be 1st in non-chase drivers over Mark Martin, his mentor, Jamie McMurray, Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 winner, and such. He's finished the best in the last few races than any other non-chase driver. He finished over all chase drivers besides teammate Denny Hamlin in Texas. The last 3 races Joey has finished 6th, then 5th, then 4th.

Links:
Lap-by-lap- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/a1RjFJ
Stats on Texas Motor Speedway- RacingReference.com: http://bit.ly/djNV0F
NASCAR Sprint Cup Standings- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/clUXZB
Race results- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/cgvG9R
Ford ready to pounce after first sign of weakness- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/ccUrTQ
Johnson to use Gordon's crew for rest of season- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/beNkVv
Gesture lands Busch in hot water with NASCAR- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/ad52WZ
Gordon unapologetic after altercation with Burton- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/ag6O2t

NASCAR: Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway

Denny Hamlin, #11 FedEx Toyota, won in Martinsville for the 3rd consecutive time, in the past 8 years only he and Jimme Johnson, #48 Lowes Chevy, has won all the races in Martinsville, 2 each season. This win puts Denny only 5 points behind points lead Jimmie Johnson in the chase, 5 time (consecutive) Sprint Cup champion.

Mark Martin, #5 Ebay/GoDaddy Chevy, finished in 2nd place after being bumped by A.J. Allmendinger, #43 Best Buy Ford, in the rear end on lap 225. On lap 248 a tire went down and he had a pit under green which put him down 2 laps. On lap 384 after a caution brought out by Kurt Busch, #2 Miller Light Dodge, and Jeff Gordon, #24 National Guard/DuPont Chevy, (I'll talk about that incident later) put Mark on the lead lap, by the lucky dog pass. By lap 424 Mark Martin was in the top 10, then by lap 476 he was in the top 5, by passing Jimmie Johnson, and then lap 496 (4 to go) he took over 2nd from Kevin Harvick but he was too far away and there wasn't enough time to catch up to Denny Hamlin for the win.

On lap 359, Jeff Burton, #31 Cat Chevy, hits his teammate Kevin Harvick, #29 Shell Chevy, during a caution, because of Sam Hornish Jr. spinning and hitting the wall. Both drivers complained about each others driving. Jeff Burton had been accused by many drivers of break checking and NASCAR went on his radio and told him to cut it out. Jeff said he wasn't doing anything and wanted a clarification. From what I could see by replays, not knowing very much about cars and break checking, he was just not laying on the gas as quickly as the cars behind him.

Before the race Richard Childress, of Richard Childress Racing, switched the crews of the #33, Clint Bowyer BB&T Chevy, and the crews of the #29 team. Kevin Harvick has had been having a hissy fit about his crew and yelling at them through the radio for bad stops. During this race his crew, with the Clint Bowyer, was in the top 5 of fastest crews during one of the caution pit stops. Misforutune hit the #33 team when Clint Bowyer spined out and hit the wall and they brought it behind the wall. Kevin Harvick records his first top 5 at Martinsville. I would say Harvick's normal crew isn't that bad but who can perform great under scrutiny from their driver. Even his nationwide crew messes up constantly, makes you think it's the driver.

Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch were both racing each other hard, but not dirtly which is not normal with Kyle Busch. During lap 448 Kyle Busch was starting to get aggressive with Jimmie Johnson trying to pass him. On lap 464 it was 'recorded' that Kyle Busch was 'very angry' with Jimmie Johnson. Kyle Busch finished 4th and Jimmie Johnson finished 5th, so obvivously Kyle was able to get around Jimmie. I'm very glad that Kyle didn't dump Jimmie like he would of normally done and his fans were probably pleading him to do. This made me sort of respect Kyle a little more, but it still isn't enough to say I respect or like or not hate him. Also supposedly Jimmie Johnson flipped off Kyle Busch during the race and Jimmie Johnson was saying he was giving Kyle plenty of room, he was being accused by Kyle of chopping him.

Joey Logano, #20 GameStop Toyota, finshed 6th. Joey had the same crew members but a different sponsor on his car. Usually the #20 car is white and orange with a Home Depot logo on the hood but this race for the first time in the longest time (maybe ever) in a sprint cup race the #20 car was black. This was Game Stop's first time sponsoring a car in a Sprint Cup series race but they are Joey's main sponsor in the nationwide series.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., #88 Amp/National Guard Chevy, finished 7th which is the 5th time this season he has finished 7th or better. 7th top 10 finish of the season. He lead for 90 laps, the most this season. Dale Earnhardt is now on a 88 race winless streak. It's always shocking when Dale Earnhardt can break the top 20. I don't see him in the Chase ever. He should do him and his fans a favor and retire. If he retires his fans will move on to another driver and it should help tv ratings and so on.

On lap 384 Jeff Gordon bumped Kurt Busch, Kurt Busch wasn't pleased at all so he dumped him. Kurt Busch finished in 16th while Jeff Gordon finished in 20th, and this ended his streak of top 10 finishes in the last 15 races at Martinsville.

Kasey Kahne, #83 Red Bull Toyota, finished in 14th. While his former team, #9 Budweiser Ford where he was released during the week from, finished in 21st with Aric Almirola behind the wheel. Kasey Kahne earlier this season said he wouldn't be returning to Richard Petty Motorsports and signed with Hendrick Motorsports for 2012 to take over the #5 car when Mark Martin's contract is up, and for the 2011 season he will drive the #82 car for Red Bull Racing since Scott Speed will be released by a performance clause in his contract. Kasey Kahne had some harsh words about RPM and with all of this it is questioning the future of the team, which makes the other teams worried if they will have a job or not.

Links:
Unofficial Race Results: Tums Fast Relief 500- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/bMDI58
Lap-by-Lap: Martinsville- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/bILede
Hamlin wins at Martinsville, cuts into points lead- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/dsQvSr
Busch gets back at Gordon, and not just for M'ville- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/dqtGhl
Forgotten Hendrick duo make noise at Martinsville- NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/cD0EOj
Denny Hamlin captures third straight at Martinsville Speedway- ESPN: http://es.pn/cha2S0
Red Bull to field two teams in 2011,with Kasey Kahne, Brian Vickers- ESPN: http://es.pn/bdLnIa

One of NASCAR's Love or Hate Drivers: Jimmie Johnson

I truely don't understand why people dislike Jimmie Johnson. I have yet to hear 1 reasonable reason. 'Because he always wins' isn't a reason, that can be a reason to why you are annoyed or you don't root for him to win. I've never seem him drive dirty such as Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and a few others. He and Jeff Gordon had a little bit of a dispute but they were both men about it and talked it over.

I went to the Darlington spring race this year and when AJ Allemindinger got into him the whole crowd cheered. I wasn't sitting in a great spot to see what happened but I saw it later on television, it was scary looking. Just seeing the cars damage while the wrecker took it to the garage it looked horrible, yet the crowd cheered while the car passed by them. Really, I can understand the cheers from the names I listed above being wrecked but by a driver who passes cleanly and wins cleanly. It's just as stunning as Kyle Busch fans are they love Kyle for being aggressive and they applaud him when he is but if he's the victim of what he has done, his fans all feel the driver should be penalized. Some seem like they want Reutimann to be sentenced to the death penalty.

If you have any actual reasoning on disliking Jimmie Johnson; such as he was a jerk to you and such. Please post it in a comment. Like I said I haven't heard a decent 1 but I respect the ones that make sense.

Also I'm not a Jimmie fan or hater. I root for Joey Logano so I don't go for him because of sponsorship rivalries. But I am annoyed of Jimmie and his winning but I'd rather see a guy like him win the championship than let's say Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, or Kyle Busch.

Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway: #18 Kyle Busch vs. #00 David Reutimann

On lap 52 of 267 laps, Kyle Busch got into David Reutimann. It couldn't of been avoided but Kyle Busch could of laid off the gas when he saw David was slowing. On lap 154 David Reutimann retaliates against Kyle Busch by running into his left quarterpanel sending Kyle slightly into the wall and spinning himself, Reutimann, out. I can also understand why Reutimann felt it was intentional, fans need to realize when your in the car or spotting you see things very differently than if your just watching it on tv. The drivers and teams have a lot of emotions put into these cars that they work very hard on throughout the season. I personally don't care for Kyle Busch, so whenever he does something or something happens to me I always find himself hypocritical, which if you keep note of he is. Lets see on August 20th in Bristol for the Nationwide race, Kyle Busch passed Brad Keselowski and gave Brad no room when he went up on him so Brad slightly bumped into him, lighter than Kyle bumped Reutimann, so when Brad got around Kyle, Kyle took him out. Now Kyle retaliated against Brad here. So why does he play the victim when he's always the predator? Kyle gets under every drivers skin he races too hard some would say, while Reutimann earns his spots with pure racing not moving people over. Reutimann races like Mark Martin, Joey Logano, and other respectable drivers.

This is just my opinion. If you want to let me know yours just comment.

Links: Kansas Lap by Lap, NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/d5CGli
Waltrip defends Reutimann in tangle with Busch, NASCAR.com: http://bit.ly/bWGfBx