2011 Sprint Cup race reviews and results

[RogerDuke]

Thanks for the update Garrett.

Right after I posted Cale's birthday on another forum I came up here and saw you beat me to it.

I was a day late so it was nice to see at least somebody around here is on time. Nice going.

Wow 72! I haven't seen an updated picture of him but he always looked younger than he was.

[Garrett Duke]

You are welcome.

The announcers were talking about his birthday yesterday so it reminded me.

I haven't seen an updated photo of Cale...tried looking it up, but really couldn't find anything current. It would be interesting to see him today. Ironic how some people just never seem to look their true age, huh?

[Garrett Duke]

Tomorrow's race is at Martinsville and will be on at one PM EST on Fox. Jamie McMurray will be the race's pole sitter. As always, am looking forward to it and will be giving my post race reviews afterwards. Hope y'all's drivers have a great race.

[Garrett Duke]

Well the race at Martinsville is currently just under the halfway mark and they are sitting under red flag. It has been an interesting race that seems plagued with tire issues as Jeff Gordon had been worried about beforehand...luckily he hasn't been affected by it yet. . .hopefully not ever today. HA HA.

Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin had both been black flagged today for trying to pass before the green flag had fallen (different times) and had to do a drive through.

Marcos Ambrose tried getting in line only to get hit behind by Michael McDonald who didn't want to be shoved behind.

And now as I said, they are sitting under the red flag...for a very bad looking accident. Martin Truex Jr had something fall...they said, but I can't think of what it was right now, and he had been sent up toward the wall quick only to get into Kasey Kahne. Truex Jr had fire on his car for awhile...real hard and scary hit. Lucky NASCAR has the safety barrier on the wall and all the other safety devices to save both their lives...Truex Jr even had said he probably wouldn't be standing there if it had been ten years ago. Kahne had slowed him down when he ran into him like that...was neat to see Truex Jr run up the track to check on Kahne like he did. I am very glad to see them both walk away from it all!

Right now Clint Bowyer is leading and Jeff Gordon (seven time winner at Martinsville...hoping to make it eight time winner after today )is in second.

Yellow flag has just dropped...to end my half time report. KHEE!

[Garrett Duke]

Dale Jr passed Kyle Busch for the lead with twenty to go...has to hold it for thirteen laps now. Let's go Jr!

Harvick passes Jr with three laps to go...

[Garrett Duke]

Well Kevin Harvick held on to win two races in a row...Dale Jr held off Kyle Busch to finish second.

Well they said before the race that Martinsville was faster than Bristol and I have to say that they were right...at least this year. A lot more excitement in today's race than I remember this spring's Bristol race. Which is surprising since I think Bristol and I think of fast and exciting racing.

I was really hoping Jr would hold on to end his 98 winless streak, but second is pretty good (despite the horrible NASCAR sayin that second is the first loser.).

All in all, it was a good race. Here is the top ten finishing positions:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

3. Kyle Busch

4. Juan Pablo Montoya

5. Jeff Gordon

6. Matt Kenseth

7. Jamie McMurray

8. David Ragen

9. Clint Bowyer

10. Mark Martin

Next week is Texas...Saturday night racing! Can't remember them racing under the lights in Texas but should be a great race...love night racing!

[RogerDuke]

Thanks for the update Garrett. I watched the last 30 laps. It looked like Jr was going to pull out a win for awhile there.

I suppose you're pretty happy. Jeff and Jr both moved up a few places in the points race. I think they said Jr went from 16th to 12th or something.

So, what you you think of Jr's beard? It's getting pretty thick.

[Garrett Duke]

Thanks for the update Garrett. I watched the last 30 laps. It looked like Jr was going to pull out a win for awhile there.

I suppose you're pretty happy. Jeff and Jr both moved up a few places in the points race. I think they said Jr went from 16th to 12th or something.

So, what you you think of Jr's beard? It's getting pretty thick.

I was disappointed that Jr didn't win...he sounded disappointed as well. Second isn't too bad though and Jr seems to have stepped it up with Steve Letarte and Gordon's old crew. Gordon had a good race as well...I was hoping for a top five finish and I got that. Though you got the points confused, Roger. Junior moved from twelveth to eighth in points and Gordon moved from sixteenth to tweveth.

I agree with you...ol' June bug's beard is getting thick. It's OK, but I think it would look better if he'd at least trim it up a bit.

I am glad to see both Gordon and Junior move up in points. . .now if only they can continue their climb up in points.

[Garrett Duke]

Well the Sprint Cup race is tonight at Texas...on Fox at six central time. Carl Edwards won the Nationwide Series race last night, will he make it two in one weekend? Or will someone else win it? Will be watching tonight to see how it unfolds...last Texas race held for some excitement and torn emotions (on my part...LOL). Last fall's Texas race Kyle Busch got fined and put on probation for flipping off the official for holding him a lap for speeding in pits and Jeff Burton wrecked Jeff Gordon during caution that led to Gordon showing Burton his disapporoval by shoving him a few times along with a few words.

It may have been good for the sport to see Gordon show some emotion and bring the excitement of a small fight over what had happened, but it wasn't what I had been hoping for at the start of the race. Am hoping that his emotions shown after today's race will be emotions that come with a win or a great finsih. HA HA. Though he will start 32nd today. David Ragen will start from the pole (number six UPS driver...) Great to see a young driver like Ragen get a pole. Hopefully he can hold on for a great finish.

Will be giving my report after the race as normal...just had to give y'all a heads up that it is a Saturday race this weekend and not Sunday. Wouldn't want y'all to miss out on all the excitement!

[Garrett Duke]

Well the Sprint Cup race at Texas just got over and being the big Jeff Gordon fan that I am, am very frustrated to see him crossing the finish line in twenty-second. In fact, I don't even know he crossed the finish line since he ran out of gas on the last lap. Him and Tony Stewart both ran out of gas on the last lap. Gordon didn't run well all race today. Something was definately not right with his car which made it a long race for the this twenty-four fan.

Have to admit, I did watch all of the race, but was online for half of it so I apologize if I miss out on something here.

Today was the first night race at Texas...which added onto the excitement of the race.

There was only one big accident when Brad Keselowski checked up in front Martin Truex Jr and when he checked up Mark Martin ran into the end of his car to take Truex Jr, Martin, and Ragen Smith out of the race. Looked pretty bad, which made it two races in a row that Truex Jr was in a bad accident.

Pit row was packed with cars, especially the first half of the race and there was several bumped up bumpers and incidents on pit road.

But at the end...Matt Kenseth broke his winless streak after leading a lot of laps to win the race.

Here is the top ten:

1. Matt Kenseth

2. Clint Bowyer

3. Carl Edwards

4. Greg Biffle

5. Paul Menard

6. Marcos Ambrose

7. David Ragen

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

10. Kurt Busch

Well I am pretty much convinced that I bring any driver I pick for my fantasy team for NASCAR (and baseball) bad luck. Seems like the drivers I pick end up crashing, having some car trouble, or just a bad finish...(Though I did NOT pick Gordon this week, perhaps I bring him bad luck too...)

Anyway, we are onto Talledega next Sunday for some restrictor plate racing...some fast racing where the 'big one' may be lurking around the corner.

[Garrett Duke]

Well it is only Saturday night and I am revved up about tomorrow's Sprint Cup race at Talledega. As always am. HA HA. Love restrictor plate racing, but am kinda disappointed to know that it will be a lot like Daytona this February was with two cars hooking up and talking to other teams on the radio and all that. Guess it makes great team work to do it that way, but would much rather see 'em all racing together as they normally would. Much more exciting to me to have them racing individually against each other than to see two cars hooked up racing against other two car mixes. Don't get me wrong, any sort of NASCAR racing, especially with Gordon and Johnson in it, is exciting and fun to watch. Just rather they wouldn't be paired up as they will be and just go for it as they do any other race or how they use to race. What y'all think about it?

Any race I am excited about, especially the big ones like Talledega, but I have another reason to be excited for tomorrow. And that is because not only will Jeff Gordon have a much better starting position than he has the last couple of weeks where he started in teh twenties and thirties, but...

Jeff Gordon has scored his seventyth career pole! He has finally earned a great starting position for 2011 and will be starting at numero uno when the green flag drops.

Not only that, but Hendrick (my favorite team...) will be starting one, two, three, and four (all four teams...)!

Here is the top ten starting positions for tomorrow's race:

1. Jeff Gordon

2. Jimmie Johnson

3. Mark Martin

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

5. Paul Menard

6. Landon Cassill (from Iowa! From only a half an hour away from where I live actually, though never saw him race or heard of him until he got into the Nationwide Series...)

7. David Ragen

8. Kurt Busch

9. Brian Vickers

10. Clint Bowyer

Sadly, I know, even a pole or a top ten starting position, is great and exciting, but means very little once the green flag drops and the racing starts. Just glad to see my drivers finally get a great or good starting position - better than thirtieth or twentieth where they have been starting out at. In fact, I often say that Gordon does better if he starts fifteenth or so, but it is great to keep his pole rising in numbers. Also great for my NASCAR fantasy team since I have both Gordon and Jr on my team this week (though if I remember right, last year's spring Talledega race one driver got caught up in an accident and my three other drivers were involved in the "big one" that always happens at 'Dega. *GULP*).

Well I apologize for talking about Gordon...he is my favorite driver as most you know, but I do try to keep my writings generalized and not just on him or Johnson or Jr who are my top three drivers. But had to share my premature excitement for tomorrow's race once I found out about his pole.

Tomorrow's Sprint Cup race at Talledega is at noon on FOX EST...or 11:00 my time - central time. Don't know if I'll be able to watch the whole race or not since I am watching my niece, but am hoping to do so and will let y'all know as much as possible afterwards. Hope all your drivers will have a great and safe race!

[Garrett Duke]

Well the Sprint Cup Talledega race has just gotten over and I think my heartbeat just finally went back down. LOL. Talk about an exciting packed race with such a surprising ending to it!

As predicted, they raced two by two just as they had done in Daytona in February. Was exciting and fun to watch, but agree with Dale Jr about not liking it when they race that way. I'd much rather see them race everyone as they normally do than to see them speed dating as they had been calling it today.

Talledega is normally known as having the 'big one' but there wasn't the 'big one'that one thinks about with 'Dega. There was a wreck that took out five cars and that was the biggest one - which is big enough for me. Sadly most of the wrecks was caused by Kurt Busch who didn't make such a great dance partner today. I apologize to Roger and the other Kurt Busch fans on this great site, but facts speak for themselves there. (Sorry Roger . . .)

I was very impressed with how Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, and Dave Blaney were able to expertly control their cars and prevent accidents from occuring. Newman saved his car twice towards the end of the race and had completely had his car turned sideways before saving it. Shows just why they are out on the track as they are.

Hendrick cars, Stewart, and a few other drivers hung out towards the back all day. Jr and Johnson, Gordon and Martin had been teamed up all day through the race. But had made it towards the front with twenty or so laps to go.

The finish of the race . . .well, I never seen a race finish THAT close! When they had dropped the white flag, Gordon was leading the race. Halfway through Clint Bowyer (who led the most laps today) caught up with him and was almost passing him. When they got to the line, Martin backed up for some reason and at the last second, Jimmie Johnson passed him and Bowyer to win the race by .002 seconds.

Carl Edwards had snuck up between them and almost made it four wide, but ran out of room.

Here is the top ten finishes of the race:

1. Jimmie Johnson

2. Clint Bowyer

3. Jeff Gordon

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Carl Edwards

7. Greg Biffle

8. Mark Martin

9. David Gilliland

10. Joey Logano

Well on a personal perspective, I was very disappointed to see Gordon finish third after being so close to winning the race. But if he was to lose it to anyone, it would be to Jimmie Johnson. Congrats to Jimmie Johnson and team 48!!!!!!!!! It ain't the win I was hoping for, but third isn't too bad either. Was disappointed that they didn't even interview Gordon after the race, but bet he was just as disappointed as I was. Was great to see Jimmie give Junior the attention and credit he deserves for pushing him to the front like that. He gave Junior the flag after Johnson had gotten it, that was neat.

Looks like next week will be an off weekend for Easter, but they will be racing under the lights for some Saturday night racing on April 30th!

[Garrett Duke]

The boys are racing at Richmond Saturday night this weekend for some racin' under the lights!

Just a heads up, though, I am going to be out of town this weekend so I will most likely miss the race . I do plan on recording it, but I seldom get to watch my recorded races and tend to look up the results online before I get to watch it...with that said, I will try my best to give my best review sometime next week on either what I saw or most likely, what I read. I apologize ahead of time if it isn't as detailed as normal or if I miss out on anything. Am looking forward to this weekend, but dread missing a race. (Though if I am lucky, I'll be able to catch some of it at the hotel...)

Just thought I'd let y'all know...

[Garrett Duke]

Well I have just returned home from my little road trip and I have to admit that I have lied. LOL. I got into the hotel just in time last night to catch the whole race...I was really excited about that. Missed the prerace show, but am sure didn't miss much there -though I do enjoy listening/watching the pre race show on Fox with Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond. They make things interesting and exciting.

Anyway, onto my race review...

I thought the race was pretty exciting. Before the green flag dropped they made a statement how there wasn't much cautions in the Nationwide Series race and how they predicted the same for the Sprint Cup race at Richmond. Well...they were wrong. There wasn't extremely a lot of accidents, but there was enough of 'em due to accidents and such not. Five time...Jimmie Johnson...spent most of the day in the back (Uncharacteristic of him) and a lap down. Him and crew chief Chad Knaus was getting frustrated at the race and perhaps with each other. Stewart was back there with him too. Though they both got pretty good finishes come time for the checkered flag to drop (if I remember right...).

Juan Pablo Montoya (red Target car) was the pole setter and as soon as the race started fell back some. Then after a hundred or so laps, he went to slide in front of Ryan Newman (Army car) and Ryan Newman got into behind him to push him into the wall. Newman did get some damage in it too. I will admit to agree with the announcers a little bit, Ryan Newman COULD HAVE breaked a little more than he did, but it is racing. In my opinion, Montoya was at fault for sliding RIGHT in front of Newman as he did...am I the only one who sees it that way?

Anyway, several laps later or so, Montoya, still upset at Newman for what Newman supposedly did to him, went back for retaliation and PURPOSEFULLY ran into the back of Newman's car and into the wall. Newman was upset and said he'd handle it after the race personally....after the race, they did interview Newman (Montoya refused to be interviewed) and Newman said he was taking it to the NASCAR hauler to see what NASCAR was going to do about it. Haven't seen or heard as of yet if NASCAR was going to do anything yet, but feel that Montoya was out of line going back at Newman as he had when I feel like Montoya was the one at fault to begin with. As I said, am I the only one feeling that way?

Up that that point, the race was going alright...Gordon ran sixth to third most of that time with a brief stint up front. Well after a pit stop with a hundred laps to go, Gordon got shuffled back to twelveth spot or so. Clint Bowyer looked like he got into the back of Matt Kenseth who in turn hit Jeff Gordon and sent him up the track and into the wall. He then richoccheted down teh track, hit the concrete inner wall (no safer barrier) that sent him back up the track and into traffic. Luckily NASCAR has all the safety devices in the car and all that and thankfully, Jeff Gordon was able to walk away from the accident - he hit the concrete wall on the driver's side of the car! Which took him out of the car. Was very frustrated and upset about it, but am still thankful that he is OK after that (like he said, he seems to find the hardest part of the wall to hit!).

Kyle Busch went on to give himself an early birthday present (he'll be 26 on Monday...) to win the race. Not a big Kyle Busch fan, but since I picked him for my fantasy team this week, was glad to see him win - I finally got a win for my team!!!!!!!!! LOL. At least one thing went right. HA HA.

Here is the top ten finishes of the Richmond Race...

1. Kyle Busch

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Kasey Kahne

4. David Ragen

5. Carl Edwards

6. Clint Bowyer

7. AJ Almindinger

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. Tony Stewart

10. Brian Vickers

We will be racing at Darlington next Saturday night for another night race under the lights ... am hoping Gordon will turn things around and go for the win (will make a great birthday present!). Sadly, I'll give y'all another warning, I may not be able to watch it due to going out of town to my grandparents' house. Am hoping to watch it there, but don't know for sure. So either way, my review next week will be late and may not be as detailed as normal if I don't get to watch it...

[Garrett Duke]

Well they'll be racing under the lights tomorrow night at Darlington where the lady in black lies in waiting...just hope she don't strike any of our favorite drivers. As noted before, don't know if I'll be able to watch it tomorrow night, but will be recording it just in case I don't get to watch it...my review may be shorter and later than normal.

[RogerDuke]

The lady in black? I didn't know Abraham Lincoln Hogg was married.

Do you like night races Garrett? How many do they have a year?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARRETT DUKE!!!!!!!!

Go Jeff Gordon!!!!!!!!!!

(I don't really want him to win, I'm just saying that as my way of giving you a birthday present since I'm too cheap to buy you anything)

[Garrett Duke]

The lady in black? I didn't know Abraham Lincoln Hogg was married.

Do you like night races Garrett? How many do they have a year?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARRETT DUKE!!!!!!!!

Go Jeff Gordon!!!!!!!!!!

(I don't really want him to win, I'm just saying that as my way of giving you a birthday present since I'm too cheap to buy you anything)

Thanks Roger...that's a great birthday wish! Too bad it didn't come true...he finished twelveth though had avoided the big one. He started out good, but didn't get the finish I was hoping for. A top five would have been great. Oh well, I guess.

Don't think they were thinking of Abraham Hogg when they nicknamed the track that. Don't know how they came up with that name other than they count the Darlington Stripes each car creates. LOL. I do like night races, because they are different than the normal day races they usually have...they only have a handful of them, but don't know how many off the top of my head.

Thanks for the birthday wish, Roger!

[Garrett Duke]

Well I did catch the race afterall...

NASCAR had warned Juan Pablo Montoya and Ryan Newman to stay away from each other this weekend after their incidents that went on between the two of them last weekend. And they ended up listening to NASCAR and there was no reprecautions from last weekend...

It was a good and exciting race. A lot of things did happen, especially towards the end. And despite NASCAR's warning against Montoya, Montoya spun Jimmie Johnson around and almost did the same to Brian Vickers. Luckily Johnson saved his car...in fact, think he spun out another team and did finish the race. There was a lot of cautions mainly for spinning out and stuff like that. But for accidents as well...last I saw, they counted 16 stripes on the Darlington wall from drivers hitting the wall.

Kasey Kahne got the pole with the fastest qualifying run at Darlington and had led a lot of laps. Kyle Busch led a lot of laps as well until he felt a vibration and had to make an unplanned pit stop that had put him a lap down. He was passing cars like crazy when he came back out and he eventually got his lap back.

Someone spun David Ragen who ran into Brian Vicker's driver door to peel the door off and tore his window net off...it reminded me of "Repo Men" when the boys welded them spikes on Cooter's truck and Bo went out peeling the bad guys' doors off with them. That's what it looked like. Even the announcers were awed by it and how they never saw something like that before.

There was several mishaps on pit road. Jr knocked over the commitment cone so he got penalized. Gordon's gas man was still gassing his car when he drove off to knock his crewman on the ground (he was OK). Menard's crew was on the ground in front of the car trying to get someting off the grill when Menard drove off with the hand on the grill. Luckily he pulled it away and was fine...

Well the big accident so to speak happened with five to go. They were in a restart after Jeff Burton's engine blew. Kevin Harvick went down the track and bumped Kyle Busch. Kyle Busch then got in front of Harvick and Harvick ran into the back of him. A half of a lap later, Clint Boywer and Harvick were besides Kyle (Kyle by the wall, Harvick besides him, and then Bowyer) well Kyle bumped Harvick and it slammed Boywer into the wall (feel bad for him. He was an innocent victim here.) Kyle hooked left and hit Harvick. (All that happeneing in front of Gordon...)

Meanwhile, Regan Smith (Furniture Row) held off Carl Edwards on another restart to win his FIRST Sprint Cup race! Do like Carl Edwards, but am excited that Regan won his first race after so many ups and downs in his career.

So while Smith was doing his victory lap, Harvick wouldn't let Kyle into the pits before they backed into the pits and Harvick parked right in front of Kyle. (As the announcers put it, Harvick went after Kyle.) Harvick parked there for awhile before he climbed out of his car and went back to Kyle and PUNCHED Kyle through the window...Kyle tapped Harvick's parked car to send Harvick's car into the pit wall and Kyle drove into the garage area.

Needless to say NASCAR called both Harvick and Busch into the NASCAR hauler (where they go when they get in trouble) to have a talk. While they were in the hauler Harvick's and Busch's pit crew was fighting each other - being held back by NASCAR officials.

Fox interviewed Harvick and asked him if it is over (after they were in the hauler) and Harvick didn't say it, but made it clear it wasn't over.

Well I am not a Kyle Busch fan, but I admit he has changes this year, but even so, he can take so much of being hit. Not saying he was right to hit Harvick back, but Harvick had to know Busch wouldn't take getting hit like that with four or five laps to go. And Harvick parking in front of him like that and trying to punch him through the window, well I feel was uncalled for. Jeff Hammond, Fox NASCAR announcer, says NASCAR will be dishing out penalties on Tuesday after reviewing the incident farther. I'd have to say Harvick was more at fault here than Busch...that is my intake on it. Would love to hear what y'all's intake on it if you were able to see it on TV or see it on the computer. Am sure it will bring controversy to NASCAR this week (to take it off of Montoya and Newman from last week...)

According to Harvick, sounds like we'll be seeing the rest of it next Sunday at Dover...the Monster Mile.

Here is the top ten finishes of last night's race:

1. Regan Smith

2. Carl Edwards

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Kasey Kahne

5. Ryan Newman

6. Denny Hamlin

7. Tony Stewart

8. Greg Biffle

9. Jamie McMurray

10. Martin Treux Jr

(Kyle Busch came in 11th, Gordon 12th...and Harvick finished 17th.)

Well if that don't attract viewers for next week's race, well, I don't know what will. LOL. Not big on retaliation, but if it does happen, it better not be around Gordon or Johnson. They have both been plagued with enough bad luck this year, that they don't need to get any more bad luck finishes. I will definately let y'all know what NASCAR says about what had happeend when I read about it (probably put it on NASCAR news...).

(Roger...read above post for my response on your previous post here. )

[Garrett Duke]

Well the boys race at Dover, the Monster Mile, tomorrow afternoon - the pre race show starts at 11:30 central time - my time.

It will be interesting to see if there will be some payback from last weekend's race between Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Sounds like they haven't gotten along all week with what seems to have been verbal assaults amongst them. Though I am willing to bet that with them on probation that they will control themselves and wait until they are off probation before they do anything.

Though Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson seem to be good here. Kyle Busch has won the truck series at Dover on Friday and Carl Edwards just won the Nationwide Series race at Dover.

Qualifying for the Sprint Cup had been rained out so they went by speeds on their first practice. I am highly hoping that it don't rain at Dover tomorrow...it is very depressing when they cancel a race due to rain. It always means they'll race on Monday afternoon...and guess who has to be at work on Monday afternoon. Me! LOL

Here is the first ten starting positions for tomorrow's race:

1. Jimmie Johnson

2. AJ Allmindinger

3. Dale Earndhardt Jr

4. Kasey Kahne

5. Joey Lagano

6. Kurt Busch

7. Kyle Busch

8. Martin Truex Jr

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Kevin Harvick

Well, don't know if I said it before, but I'll say it again if I had. The garage swap at Hendrick Motors has seemed to serve Dale Jr very well. He has all of Gordon's old pit crew, crew chief, garage, and cars...now look at Jr starting third and like fourth in points. Now all he needs is that elusive win and how he's been racin', wouldn't surprise me to see him get it sometime soon.

[Garrett Duke]

Well the race at Dover has just come to an end a few minutes ago and not a whole lot happened within the four hundred laps and four hundred miles that it took to end the race. There was a lot of rubber on the track from the rain and tires that made it slick and a few drivers slid out from it. Kasey Kahne raced well, but had engine problems and had to go to the garage as did AJ Allmindinger. Juan Pablo Montoya at one point was leading the race, but at the end of the race he slid and hit the wall to bring out the last cauthion of the race.

Jimmie Johnson led the most laps and him and Carl Edwards spent most of the day swapping first place. But with the last pit stop, Edwards and pehraps Johnson took four tires and several drivers took two. While Mark Martin stayed out. Matt Kenseth won his second race of the year and Martin came in second.

Kyle Busch had to start 43rd due to an engine change but passed cars in his normal fashion and finished in the top ten. Harvick finished tenth...there was no altercations between the two or any other driver.

Here is the top ten:

1. Matt Kenseth

2. Mark Martin

3. Marcos Ambrose

4. Kyle Busch

5. Brian Vickers

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Carl Edwards

8. Martin Truex Jr

9. Jimmie Johnson

10. Kevin Harvick

As for me, it was a disappointing race since Gordon hung out mid teens most of the day and ended back there as well. Don't know what his deal is lately, but he needs another win. He needs a top five finish. He needs to do better than he has been lately. Of course that all is a lot easier said than done, I guess. Just frustrating with his points and where he has finished at the moment.

Next week we'll be going night race at Charolette under the lights where there is no points and they all will be racing for a million dollars. The All Star Race...not all forty-three drivers will be racing but only the select few that will make it on past wins and points. Should make for a good race...

[Garrett Duke]

Well last night was the Shoot out and the All star race. The shoot out race was a race for the drivers that weren't qualified for the All Star race (a win this year or last year, top twelve in points last year, and I think past All Star winners...that were qualified). The two top drivers to end the Shoot out was able to race in the All Star race plus one fan voted driver in the shoot out was able to move into the All Star race.

Didn't get to watch most of the Shoot out - but did get to watch the last ten laps. Iowa native Landon Cassil wrecked in the second lap when his tire blew and sent him the track and into Derrick Cope. David Ragen won his first Sprint Cup race when he won the Shoot out and Brad Keselowski came in second so those two drove themselves into the All Star race.

And once I heard that Dale Jr was NOT qualified into the All Star race and would have to race himself into it...I knew who would be the fan vote. And guess what? I was right. LOL.

I love the pre race activities before the All Star race. Especially the driver and crew introductions. Those were great as always.

The All Star race was an all or nothing race. No points attatched. They drove in segments for a hundred laps. Twenty-five, twenty-five, twenty, twenty, ten minute break, then a ten lap shoot out. Brad Keselowski lost his breaks and at one point was at least four laps back if not more. But due to the lucky dog, did finish on the lead lap. Kurt Busch had trouble on pits, and then got caught speeding on pit road. Each segment winner won a check as well. The winner of the race won a million dollars.

Greg Biffle won one segment and led a lot of laps. Kyle Busch led some laps, but don't know if he won a segment or not. Gordon got up to second at one point, but spun the tires and got shoved back at a restart. Jimmie Johnson didn't do much all night.

Carl Edwards ended up keeping Kyle Busch behind him to win the race...and 1.2 million dollars since he did win two segments. He did a celebration donut or spin out on the infield grass end end up hitting a sewer tunnel or something and it tore up the grass...and his beutiful race winning race car. Felt bad about the car...he could have used that next Sunday for the 600 at Charolette. .He then did his famous winning backflip from his car and took the checkered flag up into the fans. Gordon finished all the way back at 15 . It may not have been Gordon, but am glad to see Edwards win his first All Star race. (He's my favavorite none Hendrick car.)

"Old Alabama" Brad Paisley Sounds like Brad Paisley aired his new video last night and thought I would share it. It has Alabama in it, but most importantly (to me at least) Jeff Gordon has a big part in it and DW is in it too. Hilarious ending to it and had to share it with you. Can't go wrong with a video with all of them in it!

[Garrett Duke]

Well did anyone get to watch the Coca-Cola 600 last night? Talk about a wild race! For this Gordon fan, it was an up, down, up, and down again night. Very frustrated with how it had ended...

The first half was kinda uneventful...Jr raced from 25th starting place to fifth place only for the gas man to fall in pits to slow him down, then he spun the tires during the restart to send him back to eighteenth or so for awhile, but he was able to race himself up towards the top of the field by the end of the race.

Landon Cassill...from Cedar Rapids, IA (only a few miles from where I live ) had a wild ride when he went down the track in front of Regan Smith, Smith was already there and bumped Cassill into the grass that sent him sliding and flying through the infield grass and into the concrete wall.

Mark Martin had raced himself up the field only towards the last half of the race for David Gilliland to race besides him, he tried giving Carl Edwards on the bottom of the track room and ended collecting Mark Martin. And when I say collecting Mark Martin, I mean he collected him...their cars became stuck together as he slammed Martin into the wall and the ran into Ryan Newman who got hit a couple of hard times. Martin had to climb out in between their two stuck cars and the tow trucks had to litterally tear the two cars apart from one another. Luckily no one got hurt. Felt bad for all three drivers, but especially Newman who was the innocent party of the bunch (he always seems to get caught in the big ones...)

Kyle Busch had an up and down night. He led several laps and at one point was the car to beat. But the last half of the race, his car must have started to act up or something. He spun out by himself three times. The first one he was able to save it pretty good and continue on. Second one he had to go to the garage for a while, and the third one he parked it I think. Very unusual for him to have a rough night like that. (But it was a VERY UNUSUAL night for racing at Charolette.)

Johnson had his own up and downs. His pit stops weren't the best. On the last pit stop, they left a wrench in the back window and he had to go back in and get it out. Right after that, his engine blew and he had to go to the garage.

As mentioned earlier, Gordon had an up and down, up and down night. He started eleventh. Went back and hung out in twentyth spot for A LONG time. He waited to pit long enough to lead a few laps when the caution went out and he was able to make a caution pit stop...to stay in the top ten. Then he was leading again with twenty or so laps to go and had to pit with only a few laps to not run out of gas and ended up finishing twentyth.

Ricky Steinhouse Jr made his cup debut last night racing for Trevor Bayne who was still out due to his illness. He hit the wall three times at least throughout the race, but believe he was able to finish eleventh which is great for a first race!

And then the crazy finish. Everyone was either going to run out of fuel with a couple of laps to go or just make it to the finish. Greg Biffle who at one point was a lap down and his coolant in his helmet was out (it was 90 degrees before the race. In the car, they said would be as hot as if you left your car windows shut and the heater on in the summer...) so he had a hot ride for 600 miles. Was leading the race at the end...but ran out of gas. With two laps to go everyone was wrecking due to people running out gas (NASCAR should have put a caution out...if it was any other time, they would have. -In NASCAR, once the white flag drops, and a caution is out, the race is over. Which is the only reason I can think of that they didn't put a caution out then...) Anyway, Jr was leading when the white flag dropped only for him to run out of gas halfway to the checkered flag. Kevin Harvick went on to win his third race of the year so far.

Here is the top ten finishers of the race:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. David Ragen (best finish of his career )

3. Joey Lagano

4. Kurt Busch

5. AJ Allmindinger

6. Marcos Ambrose

7. Dale Earnhardt Jr

8. Regan Smith

9. David Reutimann

10. Denny Hamlin (who was having engine problems in the first half of the race, they fixed his carborator during a caution without missing a lap to fix the problem.)

And since today is Monday and the points are official....I will post the top ten in points here:

1. Carl Edwards

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr

5. Kyle Busch

6. Kurt Busch

7. Matt Kenseth

8. Clint Bowyer

9. Tony Stewart

10. Ryan Newman

And if anyone is wondering...Jeff Gordon has dropped down to 16th in points now. Very frustrated with his finishes as of late and his points. The only thing he's got going for him is his win at Phoenix and that he is the only driver between 11th and 20th with a win...if it stays like that he'll get to make it into the chase on the wild card option for eleventh or twelveth. He needs some wins...some better finishes. Something! LOL

We are going to Kansas next Sunday...another mile and a half track.

[Garrett Duke]

Well it is only Tuesday night and I am already ready to talk about the upcoming race - perhaps it is my vague attempt to forget all about the horrible race that was Charolette (my opinion) and to move forward.

While the Nationwide Series will be racing at Chicago, the Sprint Cup series will be racing at Kansas at one EST on Sunday. . .on TNT. Which is another sore point with me. I really enjoy the announcers on Fox. I like Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond. I like the other announcers as well. They are fun, informative, and are positive about all the drivers on the field.

Not that the announcers on TNT are bad. They are alright. I like Kyle Petty and it will be good to see him again...as well as the other announcers. I just like the FOX reporters and announcers better than the other announcers they have on the scheduled other channels and really wish they would keep it on FOX all year long instead of switching channels and announcers...they will switch to ESPN in the middle of July.

In other words, if you turn in on FOX this upcoming Sunday for the race, you will be watching something else and missing the race...and who'd want to miss the race?

Don't know about y'all, but am hoping for a better race than Charolette for ALL of my favorite drivers...perhaps to shed some hope on the rest of the season.

[RogerDuke]

Hey Garrett, my friend that I'm always talking about that's a huge NASCAR (and Dale JR) fan went to Charlotte. It was the first BIG race he's ever been to. He had really great seats. I was watching the end and jumping up and down when it looked like Dale was going to win. I couldn't believe he was that close and couldn't finish. It's not that I wanted Jr to win but I really wanted my friend to have a good memory that will last a lifetime. Oh well, he's only 21 so hopefully he'll get another chance. He's already trying to plan a trip to Daytona.

I was pretty disapponted in the language from Jimmie Johnson's crew chief. For some reason the time delay wasn't working so I imagine somebody's getting fined by the FCC. I realize the engine blew but, come on, a lot of kids were watching and he disgraced the whole race team with his immaturity and lack of discipline.

When he left work today I reminded my friend to check his gas gauge.

[HossC]

I was pretty disapponted in the language from Jimmie Johnson's crew chief. For some reason the time delay wasn't working so I imagine somebody's getting fined by the FCC. I realize the engine blew but, come on, a lot of kids were watching and he disgraced the whole race team with his immaturity and lack of discipline.

I had to look up what Chad Knaus said because the highlights show I get to see had been edited. All I heard was "You gotta be ... kidding me" followed by an apology from the commentator. This sort of thing seems to be taken far more seriously in the US than it does over here. I've heard similar language in unguarded moments in F1, golf, soccer and others. I'm not condoning or encouraging it, but usually the view is that the culprit was speaking in the heat of the moment and so long as the offender/commentator/host makes a clear apology then the matter goes no further. Unless the bad language was blatant, deliberate or continuous, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (roughly equivalent to the FCC) would not get involved. I'm not even sure if Chad knew he was on-air. I bet he regrets it now.

I think the attitude to swearing in Ireland is even more relaxed than in the UK. That doesn't mean that we all go around doing it all day, just that less offence is taken when it does happen. The Irish also have the interchangable, but non-offensive word "feck" in common usage. This was popularised outside of Ireland by the sitcom 'Father Ted', and especially by the character Father Jack. I hope no one will be offended by

, I can assure you that it is viewed as funny and not at all offensive in either Ireland or the UK. In fact a cider company recently used the word in an advert, and the Advertising Standards Authority ruled that it was acceptable for use in a poster - there's an article about it here.