2013 NASCAR race reviews and results

[HossC]

30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr (Sorry Hoss he didn't have the race you were hoping for...I was hoping for more out of him for my fantasy team too...if it makes you feel any better. )

What happened to Ricky at the end? He was running in the top 20 with about 50 laps to go, and then, toward the end, he suddenly went a lap down just at a point in the race when there weren't any cautions!

I've just watched the Dario Franchitti crash and it looks pretty bad, although the driver compartment stayed intact.

In the Korean Grand Prix we had a tire ripping itself apart, a front wing coming loose and creating a shower of sparks, and Mark Webber's car catching fire (he got out unhurt before the fire really took hold).

[Garrett Duke]

Woo hoo I can now see my post(s). For a long time I couldn't see my posts at all.

Anyway it was way scary for Dario. My thoughts and prayers are with him.

As for Ricky. I can't recall what happened. I remember something had happened and thought Hoss won't be happy with that. I remember seeing him going in for a pit stop when no one else went in...sorry Hoss for my poor memory. Do remember something happened...perhaps a flat tire or engine problem? UGH.

[HossC]

As for Ricky. I can't recall what happened. I remember something had happened and thought Hoss won't be happy with that. I remember seeing him going in for a pit stop when no one else went in...sorry Hoss for my poor memory. Do remember something happened...perhaps a flat tire or engine problem? UGH.

Thanks - I was trying to watch something on TV at the same time and missed what happened. Still, he was very close to two of the earlier crashes/spins and got away without any contact, so I guess I should be glad for that.

[HossC]

I was glad to see McDowell and Wise got their refreshment and relaxation periods sorted this week, because last week, according to the lap-by-lap guide, they had to retire "due to break issues" .

[RogerDuke]

Thanks for the updates.

I agree. That crash of Dario's made me gasp.

[HossC]

I finally remembered to check the qualifying times on a Friday, and found that qualifying was yesterday . Anyway, I'm sure Garrett will be pleased to see who's on pole for tomorrow's race.

1 Jeff Gordon

2 Kevin Harvick

3 Greg Biffle

4 Jimmie Johnson

5 Kasey Kahne

6 Dale Earnhardt Jr

7 Ryan Newman

8 Juan Pablo Montoya

9 Kyle Busch

10 Kurt Busch

11 Aric Almirola

12 Joey Logano

13 Paul Menard

14 Clint Bowyer

15 Carl Edwards

16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr

17 Martin Truex Jr

18 Denny Hamlin

19 Brian Scott

20 Matt Kenseth

21 Kyle Larson

22 Mark Martin

23 Brad Keselowski

24 Bobby Labonte

25 Jamie McMurray

26 Jeff Burton

27 Brian Vickers

28 Casey Mears

29 Marcos Ambrose

30 David Ragan

31 Cole Whitt

32 Landon Cassill

33 Josh Wise

34 David Gilliland

35 Danica Patrick

36 David Reutimann

37 Michael McDowell

38 Joe Nemechek

39 Dave Blaney

40 Timmy Hill

41 Travis Kvapil

42 J.J. Yeley

43 Blake Koch

The Bank of America 500 from the Charlotte Motor Speedway is tomorrow night (Saturday). I wish NASCAR.com could be consistent with their times - it's either at 6:30 PM ET or 7:30 PM ET. It's generally the later of the two times they give. Either way, the race is live on ABC this week. The start time means it will probably finish too late for me to see the end this week as I'll be up early on Sunday morning to watch the Japanese Grand Prix.

[Garrett Duke]

Well y'all the race has JUST ended...and Brad Keselowski got his first win of the season. Though I guess that is jumping ahead of my review, though have to admit not a whole lot has happened in tonight's race. I think the biggest moment of excitement of the race was in the first half of the race when Brad Keselowski decided to take off of his pit stop before the jack dropped and he took the jack for a ride around the track. And then once back in his pit stall, he let his crew take the jack out before starting off again before they could get his car fixed and he had to stop band back back in to his stall. But guess that didn't stop him from winning the race.

Mark Martin didn't last much over a hundred laps when his engine blew and took him out of the race and spread oil all over the track and onto Jr's and Johnson's windshield. Kyle Larson made his NASCAR Sprint Cup debut tonight but ended early with a engine failure as well.

Jeff Gordon led at first before giving it up to Kasey Kahne who led the most laps. Dale Jr led several laps for his 500th start. Johnson led a lot of laps. Brad Keselowski passed Kahne with twenty or so laps left due to having four fresh tires over Kahne's two fresh tires.

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Kasey Kahne

3. Matt Kenseth

4. Jimmie Johnson

5. Kyle Busch

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Jeff Gordon

8. Ryan Newman

9. Denny Hamlin

10. Carl Edwards

11. Clint Bowyer

12. Juan Pablo Montoya

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr

14. Kurt Busch

15. Dale Earnhardt Jr

16. Greg Biffle

17. Marcos Ambrose

18. Joey Logano

19. Jamie McMurray

20. Danica Patrick

21. Jeff Burton

22. Martin Truex jr

23. Aric Almirola

24. Paul Menard

25. Brian Vickers

26. David Reutimann

27. Brian Scott

28. Bobby Labonte

29. David Gilliland

30. David Ragen

31. Casey Mears

32. Dave Blaney

33. Landon Cassill

34. Cole Whitt

35. Travis Kvapil

36. Timmy Hill

37. Kyle Larson

38. Blake Koch

39. Joe Nemechek

40. Michael McDowell

41. Josh Wise

42. Mark Martin

43. JJ Yeley

We will be going plate racing next week at Talladega...where anything can happen. Have to admit having 'Dega in the Chase makes me worried...

[HossC]

Thanks for the results, Garrett. I made it to nearly half distance before I had to call it a night (I already had my alarm set for the Japanese Grand Prix at 2 AM ET). I've just had a quick look through the lap-by-lap guide, and it looks like I didn't miss much action. I bet you enjoyed seeing the top four spots taken by Hendricks' cars near the beginning. It's a shame that Kyle Larson had to drop out - he was doing really well when I left it.

[RogerDuke]

Thanks for the updates. I had a house full of grandchildren on Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning so I watched a lot of Dora the Explorer, Mike the Knight and Sofia the First but no NASCAR.

[Garrett Duke]

Really Roger? You traded in the race for Dora and cartoons? LOL. You are better than me...when my niece comes over she knows that when Blue Bloods is on or the race is on, the TV is off limits since I will be watching Blue Bloods or the race. I mean, she has plenty of toys to play with...what possibly could she want with the TV? (Though she also knows that and does watch movies / tv when the race or Blue Bloods is not on...so she has her turn. )

You are all very welcome. I enjoy writing about the race...would rather be writing about a Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson win, but I have to settle with what they give me. HA. I totally loved how the race started out...just too bad it couldn't end that way. Not that I have much room to complain since three of my drivers got a top ten out of the race. Bummer about Jr though. Tough luck. Though there are a lot of people on FB complaining about Gordon's finish and their rant for a new crew chief has started up again. (I have friended lot of JG fans as well as in a few JG groups...) Which I see where they are coming from...to a POINT. They are upset at the last pit stop with twenty or so laps to go, Gordon's crew chief went with two tires over four (he went with four for the rest of the race...) while Keselowski, Johnson and others went with four. Kasey Kahne went with two as well. I think the fans think that if Gordon went with four fresh tires over two he could have a chance at the win...instead of finishing seventh. . .which maybe the case. But if you ask me...which no one has as of yet...but crew chiefs are paid to take chances and to gamble on pit road. If you go with what everyone else is doing, you won't do anything different than them! Gustafson (Gordon's cc) gambled with two and once he got out of fresh air, fell back due to everyone else having more fresh tires than him.

I see their point of being somewhat disappointed with seven when he started up front and so forth, but it could have been a lot worse. And Alan didn't know until he tried. I have seen him go with four fresh tires at the last pit stop while everyone went with two and he was passed by everyone on pit road due to that and being shoved in the back didn't have time to go to the front to contend with the win. Which case I am sure Gustafson got criticized for that too. It is darn if you do, darn if you don't. Personally, I love Gustafson as his crew chief...no he may not make the perfect calls every time. May fail once here and there, but he is just as human as the rest of us is. Gordon is so positive of him and his crew...can't see why his fans can't be.

Ah well...that is what is so great about NASCAR. Every fan is a die hard fan and is passionate about their driver and their sport (most of the time) and is willing to voice their opinion over such stuff.

[RogerDuke]

LOL But in my defense Garrett the little rugrats had me outnumbered.

Next time they're over I think we'll come up with a compromise. We'll watch my DVD of the Dukes cartoons.

[Garrett Duke]

LOL But in my defense Garrett the little rugrats had me outnumbered.

Next time they're over I think we'll come up with a compromise. We'll watch my DVD of the Dukes cartoons.

That sounds like a great compromise. I have never seen the Duke cartoons...are they good as the real thing?

[HossC]

News hot off the presses (or should that be damp off the presses) - qualifying for tomorrow's race at 'Dega has been cancelled due to rain. To quote NASCAR.com: "Qualifying procedures reverted by rule back to speeds from Friday's opening practice session, putting [Aric] Almirola and Jeff Burton on the front row."

1 Aric Almirola

2 Jeff Burton

3 Marcos Ambrose

4 Martin Truex Jr

5 Carl Edwards

6 Greg Biffle

7 David Ragan

8 Dale Earnhardt Jr

9 Jamie McMurray

10 Casey Mears

11 Jimmie Johnson

12 Matt Kenseth

13 Brad Keselowski

14 Josh Wise

15 Denny Hamlin

16 Austin Dillon

17 Ryan Newman

18 Joey Logano

19 Jeff Gordon

20 Clint Bowyer

21 Ricky Stenhouse Jr

22 Michael Waltrip

23 Danica Patrick

24 David Gilliland

25 David Reutimann

26 Trevor Bayne

27 Kyle Busch

28 Kasey Kahne

29 Bobby Labonte

30 Kurt Busch

31 Cole Whitt

32 Juan Pablo Montoya

33 Kevin Harvick

34 Paul Menard

35 Justin Allgaier

36 Michael McDowell

37 J.J. Yeley

38 Travis Kvapil

39 Dave Blaney

40 Terry Labonte

41 Tony Raines

42 Joe Nemechek

43 Landon Cassill

They say the Air Titan drying system is ready for tomorrow. Weather permitting, the Camping World RV Sales 500 starts at 2:00 PM ET on ESPN.

[RogerDuke]

That sounds like a great compromise. I have never seen the Duke cartoons...are they good as the real thing?

Thanks for the update Hoss.

No Garrett they're not that good but they are excellent for kids, especially from 3-10. Any older than that and they're probably not going to be something modern kids would like.....at least not most of them because they're growing up too fast compared to the early 80s. The great thing about the cartoons is that they have the real voices of the real stars. That alone makes them well worth the price of the DVDs. I should also add that 53 year old kids like them a lot.

[Garrett Duke]

HA HA Roger.

Thanks for the update Hoss...it has been a busy weekend thus far for me. Glad to say I have a off day to watch the race and my Bears game today.

I find it kinda bittersweet to see Almirola on the pole today. His crew chief, Todd Parrot, on Thursday was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for failing his drug test. Parrot is a veteran NASCAR cc. He has been around for several years. Find it very disappointing to see this from him. Also very disappointing to see another crew member suspended for failing their drug test as a member in the truck series got suspended last week for the same thing. What is going on?! This is definitely a CRAZY season for NASCAR...one better off to move on from and hope for better next year. Will never understand why pro sports people mess up like this...they work their whole lives to get to this level and once here they get in some big trouble or another. Am super proud of NASCAR to stand up for what is right and not tolerate this sort of junk...other sports need to watch NASCAR and seek their example!

We are at Talladega. Restrictor plate racing. Home of the "BIG ONE". Really hope that today's race will not include the big one, but if history repeats itself, we will have the big one. Am hoping and wishing everyone will survive this race healthy and safe and hoping for the best with all of our drivers. Last night's truck race saw several big ones. One that led to Justin Lofton going to the local hospital after a last lap big accident. One that totaled Kyle Busch's truck and left him on the ground with medical attention...though he was later released from the infield care center and is said to be OK. Saw a pic of it and he looked aweful and his truck looked worse. Really hope not to see any of that today. Hoping for a safe race for EVERYONE!

[HossC]

Am super proud of NASCAR to stand up for what is right and not tolerate this sort of junk...other sports need to watch NASCAR and seek their example!

NASCAR never seem to reveal what drug has been taken, but it's unlikely that a crew chief would take performance enhancing drugs in the same way that an athlete or sportsman/woman would do. I'm guessing that it was more recreational, although that's not an excuse. Maybe the increase in the number of people being caught this year is because the testing has improved. I don't know about other North American sports, but many world sports have had strong anti-drug policies for years. The British Olympic Association used to hand out a lifetime ban to anyone caught breaking the rules, but that policy was ruled unenforceable last year. Last week, British tennis #1, Andy Murray, nearly missed getting an award from Buckingham Palace when the authorities turned up to administer a random drugs test just as he was about to leave. Even cycling seems to be finally cleaning up its act.

[Garrett Duke]

NASCAR never seem to reveal what drug has been taken, but it's unlikely that a crew chief would take performance enhancing drugs in the same way that an athlete or sportsman/woman would do. I'm guessing that it was more recreational, although that's not an excuse. Maybe the increase in the number of people being caught this year is because the testing has improved. I don't know about other North American sports, but many world sports have had strong anti-drug policies for years. The British Olympic Association used to hand out a lifetime ban to anyone caught breaking the rules, but that policy was ruled unenforceable last year. Last week, British tennis #1, Andy Murray, nearly missed getting an award from Buckingham Palace when the authorities turned up to administer a random drugs test just as he was about to leave. Even cycling seems to be finally cleaning up its act.

No NASCAR does NOT come out and say he or she has taken this drug and so on and so on, but what it is that they failed for is not really anyone's business other than those involved. What is important that they failed the drug test and that NASCAR has DONE something about it.

And I am sure everyone does something different...doesn't mean one party does it wrong and the other one does it right. Or the other way around.

As for today's race, it is starting to look like that I may not be able to watch it or the entire race due to family. I will make sure to write a review on it one way or another though.

[Garrett Duke]

Well I failed y'all again as I missed today's race as well as my Bears game to go to the pumpkin patch with my niece and nephew. Had fun, but hate missing the race. Gordon made it sound like it was bumper to bumper as well as someone said Matt Kenseth and Gordon wanted to race, but others kinda left them out to dry so to speak. And of what I read from...was a pretty clean race. The race ended under caution as Austin Dillon lost control on the final lap and Jamie McMurray went on to win for the first time this season.

1

Jamie McMurray

2

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

3

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

4

Paul Menard

5

Kyle Busch

6

David Ragan

7

David Gilliland

8

Martin Truex Jr.

9

Ryan Newman

10

Clint Bowyer

11

Greg Biffle

12

Kevin Harvick

13

Jimmie Johnson

14

Jeff Gordon

15

Michael McDowell

16

Joey Logano

17

Carl Edwards

18

Kurt Busch

19

Travis Kvapil

20

Matt Kenseth

21

Jeff Burton

22

Aric Almirola

23

Trevor Bayne

24

Justin Allgaier

25

Dave Blaney

26

Austin Dillon

27

Casey Mears

28

J.J. Yeley

29

Brad Keselowski

30

Josh Wise

31

Cole Whitt

32

Michael Waltrip

33

Danica Patrick

34

Bobby Labonte

35

Terry Labonte

36

Kasey Kahne

37

Landon Cassill

38

Denny Hamlin

39

Marcos Ambrose

40

David Reutimann

41

Juan Pablo Montoya

42

Joe Nemechek

43 Tony Raines

[HossC]

Jeff Gordon spent most of the race around 30th until he made a push near the end. He got to lead three laps, and ran in the top five for a few laps along with Jimmie Johnson. For the last 20 or so laps the pack was running in single file, and nobody wanted to start a second line. Danica even spent some time running in sixth near the end. Apart from Austin Dillon's crash, the only other major incident was when Marcos Ambrose got loose around lap 78 and took out JPM as he spun across the track.

This was my favorite bit:

Ricky had a strong race - I think he was in the top 10 for over half the race.

I can't help you with the Bear's game .

[Garrett Duke]

Thanks Hoss for your helpful info. Glad to see Ricky ran well for you. (Well and for me. He is in my paid NASCAR fantasy league I am in...)

As for the Bears they lost 41-45 against Dale Jr's Redskins. So he would be happy. Though Bears QB Jay Cutler left hurt and will have an MRI tomorrow to see how bad. I am NOT happy about that at all and hope it isn't as bad as they say it could be...they need him!

[Meadowmufn]

Well I failed y'all again as I missed today's race as well as my Bears game to go to the pumpkin patch with my niece and nephew. Had fun, but hate missing the race.

Family should take precedence over sports anyway. See, that's what VCRs and DVRs were invented for, so you can watch it whenever you want! Glad you had fun at the pumpkin patch.

[Garrett Duke]

Family should take precedence over sports anyway. See, that's what VCRs and DVRs were invented for, so you can watch it whenever you want! Glad you had fun at the pumpkin patch.

So very true MM. I have a VCR, but no DVR. And thanks to the converter box I have to have to run the cable now I can't record anything . Not very happy about that at all...but did have fun with family at the pumpkin patch.

[RogerDuke]

Family should take precedence over sports anyway. See, that's what VCRs and DVRs were invented for, so you can watch it whenever you want! Glad you had fun at the pumpkin patch.

Maybe missing the Bears game wasn't so bad. If my team scored 41 points and still didn't win I'd be happy if I missed it.

Thanks for the NASCAR updates.

[HossC]

I think I'll just give up trying to catch the qualifying. Last Saturday I was all ready to watch when it was cancelled due to rain. Friday afternoons aren't a great time for me to see it.

Somehow they managed to complete the qualifying without my help, and this is how they'll line up tomorrow:

1 Denny Hamlin

2 Jimmie Johnson

3 Kyle Busch

4 Matt Kenseth

5 Clint Bowyer

6 Joey Logano

7 Jamie McMurray

8 David Ragan

9 Jeff Gordon

10 Kevin Harvick

11 Brad Keselowski

12 Dale Earnhardt Jr

13 Juan Pablo Montoya

14 Carl Edwards

15 Martin Truex Jr

16 Marcos Ambrose

17 Ryan Newman

18 Aric Almirola

19 Kurt Busch

20 Ricky Stenhouse Jr

21 Mark Martin

22 Jeff Burton

23 Paul Menard

24 Landon Cassill

25 Kasey Kahne

26 Kyle Larson

27 David Gilliland

28 Casey Mears

29 Dave Blaney

30 Cole Whitt

31 Josh Wise

32 Travis Kvapil

33 Greg Biffle

34 Bobby Labonte

35 Elliott Sadler

36 Michael McDowell

37 J.J. Yeley

38 Ken Schrader

39 Tony Raines

40 Joe Nemechek

41 Danica Patrick

42 Reed Sorenson

43 David Reutimann

The Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 Powered by Kroger from Martinsville Speedway starts at either 1:30 or 2:00 PM ET tomorrow (Sunday). This week it's on ESPN.

[Garrett Duke]

Well y'all...the Martinsville race has just ended and it was a perfect example of short track racing full of cautions. At least seventeen caution flags flew from several debris, cars spinning out...lot of banged up cars by the time the end of the race ended. Though despite all the wrecks, not a lot of big wrecks...bigger ones was Kasey Kahne hit the wall hard and then later on Ryan Newman was the victim of another driver's wreck and hit the wall hard. Everyone was ok.

Jeff Gordon had led a lot of laps and had some great restarts today until he had to go take a pit during a caution when only a couple other drivers had went in. Came back out 22nd...and never gave up.

Jimmie Johnson came into the race first in points to a track where he is known as an expert at with eight previous Martinsville wins. He was the favorite going into the race. I can't recall him leading any, but had some trouble with having to pit and coming out mid pack and fighting his way in. He did drive aggressive and managed to get people mad at him and banged into him ...which only made me nervous. LOL.

Can't recall what happened to Dale Jr, but had some issues with the front all banged up and the hood flapping a bit, but did manage with a top ten finish and hung in there.

Greg Biffle too had issues with his rear bumper getting partially torn off...they had taped it together at one point of time before it came undone. And after a long time of it flapping in the wind, had to take a top ten car into pits during green flag to get it torn off. Don't get me wrong, do like Biffle, but had thought NASCAR should have blackflagged him for it. No sense in them causing a caution just because they didn't want to take time to tear it off. (After the race, Biffle blamed JJ for him having to pit when he did and his poor finish. Sorry, but if you ask me, which no one has, the Biff has his self to blame for that one. He had his chance to tear it off before during a regular pit stop and didn't want to take the time to do it...)

This isn't normally a Matt Kenseth track, but he led the most laps today and was the one to beat today...

And with twenty or so laps...Matt Kenseth got passed by JEFF GORDON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Bet y'all can't guess who was super excited and couldn't sit still?!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Luck for once was on Jeff Gordon's side as the caution did NOT come out while he was leading...and JEFF GORDON went on to win his eighth career win at Martinsville...his 88th career NASCAR win. (Once again, I bet y'all can't bet who is super excited with this race?!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Jeff Gordon brings home his eighth Martinsville grandfather clock that the winner wins...

Leaving Martinsville, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth are tied in points and Jeff Gordon is 27 points behind them in third place...

FINAL RESULTS FROM MARTINSVILLE:

1 Jeff Gordon

2 Matt Kenseth

3 Clint Bowyer

4 Brad Keselowski

5 Jimmie Johnson

6 Kevin Harvick

7 Denny Hamlin

8 Dale Earnhardt Jr.

9 Greg Biffle

10 Jamie McMurray

11 Jeff Burton (31) Chevrolet 34/1 500 5 $0 Chart

12 Carl Edwards

13 Juan Pablo Montoya

14 Joey Logano

15 Kyle Busch

16 Martin Truex Jr.

17 Danica Patrick

18 Kurt Busch

19 Marcos Ambrose

20 Aric Almirola

21 Casey Mears

22 Paul Menard

23 David Gilliland

24 Travis Kvapil

25 Elliott Sadler

26 Michael McDowell

27 Kasey Kahne

28 Ken Schrader

29 Landon Cassill

30 J.J. Yeley

31 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

32 Bobby Labonte

33 Joe Nemechek

34 Josh Wise

35 Cole Whitt

36 Mark Martin

37 David Reutimann

38 Ryan Newman

39 Dave Blaney

40 Reed Sorenson

41 Tony Raines

42 Kyle Larson

43 David Ragan

Well, this race/win would mean a lot to Rick Hendrick and his entire team. It was nine years ago today when Hendrick's plane wrecked on it's way to Martinsville. The plane wreck killed ten people including Ricky Hendrick, Hendrick's son, Hendrick's twin nieces, plus other family and team members. Jimmie Johnson had won the race that day and learned about it after the race...still remember that race and just how horrible I felt for Mr. H.

(Roger...you will be glad to know that for our fantasy league...for my fantasy team, I had picked Gordon as my starter along with others on my cell phone. Had troubles picking them out and making them stick and finally got them to stick and save. After they qualified I went to go check on how they start, and well, it didn't save. So I had to rely on my picks for Talladega for last week. Which also means that I didn't have a C driver start today at all since the two I had start last week, didn't race today. So it is going to be a big loss for my NASCAR league...as well as in football since all my Bears players don't play this week...I was not happy about it. LOL)

Though am SUPER happy with Jeff Gordon's win...which is what matters the most to me! I now will have to find a new winning picture to replace my laptop wall paper since that has been my custom with each of Gordon's win!

We now have THREE more races left of the season. Texas next week, then Phoenix, and then Homestead.