2014 NASCAR Race Review and Results

[HossC]

NASCAR modified the group qualifying rules for the race in Bristol this week. Changes included allowing the use of cooling units in the pit lane and an end to cool down laps on the apron.

Denny Hamlin lines up on pole for Sunday's race, but Brad Keselowski is just behind with his third front row start in three weeks. Jeff Gordon starts in sixth and Jimmie Johnson is just outside the top ten in eleventh. Ricky Stenhouse is in 21st, so I hope he can make up some places from there (he was 16th in practice 1). After two weeks of failing to qualify, Landon Cassill makes it back into the field in 31st.

1 Denny Hamlin

2 Brad Keselowski

3 Matt Kenseth

4 Joey Logano

5 Marcos Ambrose

6 Jeff Gordon

7 Kyle Busch

8 Greg Biffle

9 Ryan Newman

10 Kasey Kahne

11 Jimmie Johnson

12 Carl Edwards

13 Kurt Busch

14 Dale Earnhardt Jr

15 Clint Bowyer

16 David Gilliland

17 Jamie McMurray

18 Cole Whitt

19 David Ragan

20 Kyle Larson

21 Ricky Stenhouse Jr

22 AJ Allmendinger

23 Aric Almirola

24 Michael McDowell

25 Casey Mears

26 Austin Dillon

27 Kevin Harvick

28 Paul Menard

29 Martin Truex Jr

30 Justin Allgaier

31 Landon Cassill

32 Josh Wise

33 Alex Bowman

34 Michael Annett

35 Reed Sorenson

36 Danica Patrick

37 Tony Stewart

38 Brian Vickers

39 Travis Kvapil

40 Ryan Truex

41 Parker Kligerman

42 Joe Nemechek

43 Timmy Hill

David Reutimann and Dave Blaney failed to qualify.

The Food City 500 from the Bristol Motor Speedway is live on Fox this Sunday at 1.00PM ET.

PS. If you can't wait that long, don't forget that the Formula 1 season starts this weekend with the Australian Grand Prix. It's an early start with the action getting under way on Sunday at 2.00AM ET.

[Garrett Duke]

I swear Mother Nature has something against me...after a long and very cold winter, we finally had warmer weather. All the snow melted...only for it to snow last night. Of course half of it is melted now and am sure spring is about to come, but still...can really live without seeing the white ugly stuff for another year or a hundred years...lol.

And to bring this around to NASCAR...there is a 75% chance of rain today at Bristol...and they are on FOX right now with the pre-race show and guess what...it is RAINING. Though according to Clint Bowyer the sky is cleaning up. Michael Waltrip is doing his grid walk going to motor home to motor home talking to the drivers who came out to talk to him.

Well they just said that it is suppose to lighten up or get better...so they say. I hope they are right. I don't know if I have said this before but Bristol is my favorite track! Bristol has lights so they can race tonight if need be...if not they said yesterday that they will race tomorrow at noon. I really hope to get the race in sometime today...I would really hate to miss a race...especially at Bristol! (I will be at work at noon tomorrow so I will not be able to watch it if they race tomorrow...)

I am starting to believe that a huge rain cloud just follows NASCAR from track to track...and hate it. Though I have heard them say a year or so ago that the pressure and the all with the cars going so fast that it brings rain or something like that. Then again they haven't raced today so they can't blame that. LOL

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY....COME BACK TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[HossC]

They had rain during the qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix yesterday, so they put on the wet weather tires and got on with it!

Well they just said that it is suppose to lighten up or get better...so they say. I hope they are right. I don't know if I have said this before but Bristol is my favorite track! Bristol has lights so they can race tonight if need be...if not they said yesterday that they will race tomorrow at noon. I really hope to get the race in sometime today...I would really hate to miss a race...especially at Bristol! (I will be at work at noon tomorrow so I will not be able to watch it if they race tomorrow...)

If the race is postponed, just phone into work and tell them you're Irish - tomorrow is a holiday here because it's St. Patrick's Day .

[Garrett Duke]

Sounds like a good idea Hoss...though don't think they would buy into it.

They are racing...and they are on lap 69 and so far I am not HAPPY. They had a competition yellow for the rain. So far, Gordon has had a fast car and on the third or so lap Denny Hamlin ran down into Gordon. Got away with some damage thanks to Gordon's expertise to back out of it...otherwise Waltrip said that that would have caused the big accident.

So Gordon saved it there...

Then on the competition yellow, in pits...Jeff left his pit stall only for David Ragen to HIT Gordon. Gordon went in in the top ten or so and is now back 35th or so. Gordon must have a target sign on him or something...

Now they are back under yellow after a lap of green due to the 23 battery pack on the track....

Hoping and praying that Gordon will get back up there...JJ is in the lead as of now.

[HossC]

Then on the competition yellow, in pits...Jeff left his pit stall only for David Ragen to HIT Gordon.

Could your view of the incident be slightly biased? Gordon came out of his pit box and hit the back of David Ragan's car as he was driving by to enter his pit box. I'm not sure what else Ragan could've done.

[HossC]

What good timing! A rain delay just in time to let me watch the second half of the Top Gear Burma special .

[Garrett Duke]

It is what it is. Perhaps there is a little to blame both ways. Glad it is early and Gordon is moving up.

We are back to red flag due to rain...so far over two hours into this rain delay.

[HossC]

We are back to red flag due to rain...so far over two hours into this rain delay.

Surely they'd only need two or three umbrellas to cover Bristol Motor Speedway - it isn't very big .

[Garrett Duke]

No need for umbrellas...they are racing again! It is on Fox Sports 1...

[Garrett Duke]

Well y'all the Bristol race may have started in the day but raced most of the race at night. . .and I know someone on this here board should be pretty happy right now. Right Hoss? Stenhous Jr finishes second today...pretty good finish if you ask me.

Well I should have started this review during the two and a half hour rain delay seeing on how horrible my memory is...so please forgive me if I forget something.

Jimmie Johnson had his tire shred that had put him two laps down. He finished nineteenth and a lap down...

Kenseth led a lot of laps before Timmy Hill (rookie) ran into the back of him, did a lot of damage to Kenseth's car and took Hill out of the race. Kenseth was able to come back and lead more laps before he almost hit the wall.

Started out with a brush up against Hamlin and Gordon which didn't go very far...then on the competition yellow, Gordon was going out of his stall and ran into David Ragen. Put Gordon back to 35th after going in in the top ten. Later on David Ragen got into with Michael McDowell...bumped him or something. McDowell went to show him his displeasure and ended up spinning him out.

Kyle Busch had troubles with his tire going out and he went up and hit the wall, Kurt Busch ran into his own brother... the wall threw Kyle down the track where he was lucky not to get hit by any other cars.

Kevin Harvick was in the top five when he had a tire go out or something (my dogs were barking like crazy when this happened so didn't get to see why it happened) but was smoking...on his way to the garage caught on fire. Luckily he was OK. McMurray tried breaking for him and Keselowski got into the back of him and tore his hood off.

Was an interesting end to the race...Carl Edwards was leading after not pitting after the Harvick incident. And with two and a half laps to go, the caution light goes off for little to no explanation. Then it starts pouring! Luckily they finished the race...even if it was under caution! Carl Edwards went on to win his 22nd Sprint Cup win...and we got to see his famous backflip! Love his backflips...even in the rain!

Gordon finished seventh after battling with his team mate, Kasey Kahne the last part of the race. The first time in his 22 year career where he started the season with the four top ten finishes in a row.

As for Jr...he had some sort of issue and came home 24th. So half my drivers did pretty good...the other half, well not so good. We are onto Fontana California next Sunday.

Official finish at Bristol:

1. Carl Edwards

2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

3. Aric Almirola

4. Tony Stewart

5. Marcos Ambrose

6. Denny Hamlin

7. Jeff Gordon

8. Kasey Kahne.

9. Brian Vickers

10. Kyle Larson

11. Austin Dillion

12. Greg Biffle

13. Matt Kenseth

14. Brad Keselowski

15. Clint Bowyer

16. Ryan Newman

17. Justin Allgaier

18. Danica Patrick

19. Jimmie Johnson

20. Joey Logano

21. Paul Menard

22. David Gilliland

23. Josh Wise

24. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

25. AJ Allmendiger

26. Michael Annett

27. Casey Mears

28. Reed Sorenson

29. Kyle Busch

30. Landon Cassill

31. David Ragen

32. Alex Bowman

33. Travis Kvapil

34. Parker Kligerman

35. Kurt Busch

36. Martin Truex Jr.

37. Michael McDowell

38. Jamie McMurray

39. Kevin Harvick

40. Cole Whitt

41. Joe Nemechek

42. Ryan Truex

43. Timmy Hill

We are onto race number five of the season in Fontana California...and guess who is looking forward to it? LOL

Congrats Hoss on your driver excelling for you today.

[HossC]

That was definitely more exciting than the last few weeks, and I'm not normally a big fan of Bristol. I thought Ricky drove a great race today, especially the second half. I was also impressed with Kyle Larson - he probably deserved a few places better than 10th.

Kevin Harvick's car was smoking before he hit the wall, and it was something mechanical rather than just a rubbing tire. Martin Truex Jr. was also told by his spotter that his car was smoking (this time it was a tire), but carried on until his tire burst.

[HossC]

NASCAR is in California this week for the Auto Club 400 from the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

Matt Kenseth grabbed pole after trying out a different line. I caught some of his interview, and I think he said he'd promised to take his crew to In-N-Out Burger if he got the top spot - I'm guessing that he wasn't expecting it to happen. The new qualifying format seems to suit Brad Keselowski, because he starts from the front row for the fourth week running. Just behind them is Jimmie Johnson in third. Obviously I was hoping that Ricky Stenhouse Jr would start higher than 22nd, but he claimed second last week after starting 21st. Garrett, I expect you'd like a race result similar to practice 1: JJ in first with JG in second!

1 Matt Kenseth

2 Brad Keselowski

3 Jimmie Johnson

4 Kevin Harvick

5 Clint Bowyer

6 Jeff Gordon

7 Joey Logano

8 Marcos Ambrose

9 Carl Edwards

10 Tony Stewart

11 Kyle Larson

12 Martin Truex Jr

13 Denny Hamlin

14 Kyle Busch

15 Dale Earnhardt Jr

16 Ryan Newman

17 Kurt Busch

18 AJ Allmendinger

19 Brian Vickers

20 Austin Dillon

21 Aric Almirola

22 Ricky Stenhouse Jr

23 Michael Annett

24 Greg Biffle

25 Jamie McMurray

26 Kasey Kahne

27 Danica Patrick

28 Justin Allgaier

29 David Gilliland

30 Matt Crafton

31 Casey Mears

32 Parker Kligerman

33 David Reutimann

34 Cole Whitt

35 Travis Kvapil

36 Reed Sorenson

37 Brian Scott

38 Josh Wise

39 Ryan Truex

40 Alex Bowman

41 David Ragan

42 Joe Nemechek

43 Landon Cassill

The race is on Sunday at 3:00 PM ET on Fox.

[SonjaBudd]

Lucky me. I live in California.

[Garrett Duke]

Thanks for covering for me, Hoss...as much as I love NASCAR, it was the last thing on my mind Friday. My fourteen year old cat, Daisy made a turn for the worse Friday looking very thin and had a hard time walking and looked weak. She seems to be doing a little better today but still has me worried...

But I am watching the race today.

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs #11 driver, has pulled himself out of the race today with a sinus infection that he says makes it hard for him to say. The announcers just said that Hamlin went to the hospital for the infection. Sam Hornish Jr is now driving the 11 car for Hamlin. Hornish will drive for Gibbs in a limited number of races in the Nationwide Series...and was on standby for Matt Kenseth whose wife is due to have her baby any day now. So instead of subbing for Kenseth, he is subbing for Hamlin. Hamlin will not be getting any points for today's race since he did NOT start the race...

Talking about Denny Hamlin at Fontana...it was at Fontana last year where Joey Logano wrecked him on the finishing laps and benched Hamlin for four weeks or so with a back injury.

So far in the race, Keselowski is leading the race, but Jeff Gordon (who started sixth) is now lurking in second. Hope this means that the 24 will find his way to Victory Lane at the end of the race. Then again I am a Gordon fan...

Never mind...he is no longer. Gordon got caught speeding on pit road. Shame on him! Now 43rd. Ah well...race is still young.

[Garrett Duke]

One word seems to sum the Fontana race perfectly: TIRES! Tires has been an issue for every driver. Hit early for Kevin Harvick who had a back tire go flat in the strait away. Harvick had other tire issues towards the end of the race where his back tire went out again. It hit Carl Edwards who had a flat tire...as well as Dale Earnhardt Jr. Each driver/team was given eleven sets of tires for the race...and they were all worried on whether or not if they would run out of tires.

And being a Jeff Gordon fan...I have to brag a little bit. He started sixth or seventh today. He didn't waste much time to get to second and was racing for the lead when Harvick had his first tire issues. They went into pits...Gordon got caught speeding on pit road. And since everyone was still on th lead lap...Gordon went to 43rd. Though it didn't take him long to pass everyone and was back in the top ten, if not the top five.

And then on another caution, NASCAR kept the caution light at red (meaning drivers can not pit) well the top eight drivers saw that and stayed out...everyone else pitted. So when the top seven (Brad Keselowski stayed out) they came out in back (including Jeff Gordon)...Gordon and another driver tried talking to NASCAR about it, but NASCAR didn't do anything to fix it.

So once again, Gordon fought his way back to the front and had led several laps. Hanging in the top five for the most of the last half of the race. Though, was better on the long runs than the short runs. JJ was better on the short runs.

Well with fifteen laps or so to go, JJ leading and Gordon fighting him for the lead, Gordon complains of vibration...and JJ's tire goes flat and he hits the wall. Gordon gets the lead...only for Clint Bowyer to spin out (surprise surprise) with two laps to go. Gordon goes to pit with old tires and goes back out sixth.

After a green-white-checkered restart, Iowa native Landon Cassill led, since he didn't go to pits...Going to the checkered Kyle Larson (who won his first Nationwide Series race Saturday) fought with Kyle Busch at the end...and Kyle Busch went on to win the race.

Fontana official result:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Kyle Larson

3. Kurt Busch

4. Matt Kenseth

5. Tony Stewart

6. Jamie McMurray

7. Brian Vickers

8. AJ Allmendinger

9. Paul Menard

10. Carl Edwards

11. Austin Dillion

12. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

13. Jeff Gordon

14. Danica Patrick

15. Casey Mears

16. Clint Bowyer

17. Sam Hornish Jr.

18. Cole Whitt

19. Micheal Annett

20. Ryan Newman

21. Reed Sorenson

22. Alex Bowman

23. Martin Truex Jr.

24. Jimmie Johnson

25. Landon Cassill

26. Brad Keselowski

27. David Ragen

28. Justin Allgaier

29. David Reutimann

30. Marcos Ambrose

31. Ryan Truex

32. Joe Nemechek

33. Travis Kvapil

34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr

35. Brian Scott

36. Kevin Harvick

37. Josh Wise

38. David Gilliland

39. Joey Logano

40. Greg Biffle

41. Kasey Kahne

42. Parker Kligerman

43. Aric Almirola

Well, I will admit that I was NOT happy with the end of the race and where Gordon finished. He definitely had the car to beat today and it was super fun to watch him passing cars left and right. He passed over seventy cars today! He keeps this up...that win will be around the corner. My opinion of course...which I have been told is a bit biased when it comes to Gordon. So I guess we will see...

We are back to short track racing next week at Martinsville....

[HossC]

Sorry I didn't post this line-up last night. A combination of internet problems and wanting to be up early to watch the qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix meant that I didn't have time .

Brad Keselowski's run of front row starts has finally come to an end as Kyle Busch claimed pole for the STP 500. Denny Hamlin missed last week's race due to having a sliver of metal in his eye. He was cleared to race on Wednesday and starts tomorrow's race in second. I'm sure Garrett will be happy to see Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon starting in the top five. Danica Patrick also qualified well in 10th.

1 Kyle Busch

2 Denny Hamlin

3 Joey Logano

4 Jimmie Johnson

5 Jeff Gordon

6 Matt Kenseth

7 Tony Stewart

8 Carl Edwards

9 Jamie McMurray

10 Danica Patrick

11 Greg Biffle

12 Clint Bowyer

13 Brian Vickers

14 Brad Keselowski

15 AJ Allmendinger

16 Ryan Newman

17 Marcos Ambrose

18 Kevin Harvick

19 Alex Bowman

20 Aric Almirola

21 Paul Menard

22 Kurt Busch

23 Casey Mears

24 David Ragan

25 Justin Allgaier

26 Dale Earnhardt Jr

27 Kasey Kahne

28 Kyle Larson

29 Travis Kvapil

30 Ricky Stenhouse Jr

31 Martin Truex Jr

32 Michael McDowell

33 Josh Wise

34 Austin Dillon

35 Cole Whitt

36 Landon Cassill

37 David Stremme

38 Ryan Truex

39 David Gilliland

40 Michael Annett

41 Parker Kligerman

42 Reed Sorenson

43 Joe Nemechek

Sunday's STP 500 from the Martinsville Speedway starts at 1:00 PM ET, and will be live on Fox.

[Garrett Duke]

Thanks for posting that for me again Hoss...Friday's thus far has either been busy or a bit hard (last Friday) since the season started. Then had to meet my mom this morning, so I didn't get to it. . .thanks for covering for me.

I am very happy with Gordon's and Johnson's starting postition. Sadly Jr and Kahne start way down the line up. But my top two drivers did great with qualifying and I am very happy with that. I am happy to see Danica Patrick starting tenth...hope she can finish that high too...she is on my fantasy NASCAR league this week.

Personally I am not a Hamlin fan, but am glad to see him back on track. Hate seeing anyone hurt or sick...and being sidelined from the race last week had to have been hard on him. Luckily for him, the way they have the points and all that this year, it isn't that big of a deal that he missed a race as it was last year. All he has to do is win a race and he'll make the Chase.

I am really hoping Jeff Gordon will be bringing home another Grandfather clock tomorrow afternoon...which is the trophy for the winner. He has been close this year...he just needs to avoid trouble and drama and have a fast race car and that trophy will be his.

[Garrett Duke]

Well the Martinsville race has ended...and nope Gordon didn't take home the grandfather clock. Neither did Johnson (though he led the most laps today!) or any of my Hendrick boys. Always next time...perhaps they'll take home the guns next week at Texas.

It started off with a bang today as Parker Kligerman wrecked on the first lap and had everyone checking up...a lot of cars had stuff hanging off the back of their cars after that wreck. Think they had ten to twelve cautions today thanks to some banging and a couple of debris cautions to go in the mix.

They had a competition yellow on lap forty due to the rain/snow they had yesterday/last night. Well...it caused a lot of drama when Brad Keselowski ran into Kasey Kahne...and in turn Kurt Busch ran into Brad Keselowski. It sent Brad Keselowski to the garage for thirty some laps and upset at Kurt Busch for just running into him (forget the fact that he himself just ran into Kasey Kahne that had started all this...). Which in turn got Kurt Busch upset saying that his day is done and so on and so on.

When Keselowski got back on track he was quick to find Kurt and they banged back and forth for a bit before Kurt decided to be the bigger one and drive on...though saying on his radio that he will find Keselowski and punch him in the face. Though they did wreck Ricky Stenhouse Jr when he went to pass them...didn't really hit him but sent him up the track.

Jeff Gordon started sixth today...but had an ill acting race car that sent him to the pits during a caution where most driver stayed out in. He spent most of the day in the mid twenties. He finished twelveth today and sadly that almost feels like a win...sad to see him have a poor race car at a track he is so good at.

Jamie McMurray got spun out by (hate to blame him...you know I do like him...) Dale Earnhardt Jr who didn't give him any room.. Jr later went on to get the lead for a few laps and finished third.

Jimmie Johnson led the most laps today but with thirteen or so laps to go, Kurt Busch stole the lead away from him and went on to win...ending his 83 race winless streak. Good for Kurt Busch...he did win it fairly, but as a JJ fan, was disappointed to see the win escape his reach once again. Though, I guess it is better that Kurt won than Clint Bowyer who did lead a few laps today after he banged into Jimmie Johnson to get it. (I apologize to any Bowyer fans...that is just how I feel after how he has raced Gordon in the past and now Johnson today. Perhaps it is just me that he hates so he is taking it out on my drivers? LOL. )

Here is the official results:

1. Kurt Busch

2. Jimmie Johnson

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr

4. Joey Logano

5. Marcos Ambrose

6. Matt Kenseth (wow am surprised to see him finish sixth! At the first half of the race, he was fighting for the lead, then next I knew he was struggling to stay on the lead lap and may have went down a lap (announcers never said why...) Kudos to Matt for overcoming that!)

7. Kevin Harvick

8. Aric Almirola (Great to see the King's car finish in the top five. Richard Petty's wife Lynda passed away this past Wednesday at the age of 85. Very sad...my thoughts and prayers are with Richard and his family.)

9. Clint Bowyer

10. Paul Menard

11. AJ Allmendinger

12. Jeff Gordon

13. Carl Edwards

14. Kyle Busch

15. Austin Dillon

16. Brian Vickers

17. Tony Stewart

18. Greg Biffle

19. Denny Hamlin

20. Ryan Newman

21. Martin Truex Jr.

22. Kasey Kahne

23. Justin Allgaier

24. Casey Mears

25. Landon Cassill

26. David Gilliland

27. Kyle Larson

28. David Ragen

29. Cole Whitt

30. Ryan Truex

31. Michael Annett

32. Danica Patrick

33. Travis Kvapil

34. Reed Sorenson

35. Josh Wise

36. Alex Bowman

37. Michael McDowell

38. Brad Keselowski

39. David Stremme

40. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

41. Parker Kligerman

42. Jamie McMurray

43. Joe Nemechek

I didn't watch the post race show due to having to take an online course for work, but seeing how Kurt Busch turned an "I'm done" day into a win...I doubt he followed through with his threat of punching Keselowski...which is for the better. LOL.

Next week we will be going to the Lone Star state and do the Texas two step...LOL.

[HossC]

6. Matt Kenseth (wow am surprised to see him finish sixth! At the first half of the race, he was fighting for the lead, then next I knew he was struggling to stay on the lead lap and may have went down a lap (announcers never said why...) Kudos to Matt for overcoming that!)

He did well to finish sixth. On lap 414, during the pit stops, he had his car spun around by Edwards. His crew ended up performing the pit stop with his car facing the wrong way (although legally inside his pit box)!

[Garrett Duke]

He did well to finish sixth. On lap 414, during the pit stops, he had his car spun around by Edwards. His crew ended up performing the pit stop with his car facing the wrong way (although legally inside his pit box)!

I saw that...I just forgot to mention it. Pit road must have been a mess today! Glad he was able to pit even if it was backwards. LOL. Think he was back a ways when that happened...could be wrong though.

Thanks for reminding me of this...sorry I didn't include that in my write up.

[RogerDuke]

Thanks for the update.

Is this the right thread to post results when the Pirates sweep the Cubs this week?

[Garrett Duke]

Thanks for the update.

Is this the right thread to post results when the Pirates sweep the Cubs this week?

Roger-

You are welcome...

and no it is not. What would Uncle Jesse say or think of you taking such great joy in my agony? Think he'd be a bit disappointed in that, don't you? I mean, we all know, that despite living in Georgia...they were die hard Cubs fans as well. The Dukes were pretty loyal...and we all know that the Cubs have the most loyal fans ever.

Just joking...congrats on your season opener win. And perhaps another one tonight if the Cubs don't step it up...so far they aren't having the stellar World Series season we all know they are going to have this year.

[RogerDuke]

16 innings last night!

But hey, we beat the Cubs again and that's all that matters.

Now, back to the subject of NASCAR....Go Junior!!

(And no Garrett, I'm not talking about Junior Lake of the Cubs)

[Garrett Duke]

16 innings last night!

But hey, we beat the Cubs again and that's all that matters.

Now, back to the subject of NASCAR....Go Junior!!

(And no Garrett, I'm not talking about Junior Lake of the Cubs)

Nope...you were talking baseball. So you had to have been talking about Junior Lake. Let's go Junior!!!!!!

[HossC]

Garrett, if you and Roger don't mind, I thought I'd use this thread to post something about NASCAR for a change .

The qualifying was held earlier today for the Duck Commander 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway.

It was Tony Stewart who claimed pole this week, although Brad Keselowski is back on the front row. Sorry Garrett, neither of your drivers made the top ten this week. Jimmie was fastest in practice 1 and seventh in practice 2, so he should do better in the race than he managed in qualifying. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was also faster in both practice sessions, so I'll have to keep my fingers crossed for tomorrow . Here's how all the drivers line up:

1 Tony Stewart

2 Brad Keselowski

3 Kevin Harvick

4 Greg Biffle

5 Carl Edwards

6 Denny Hamlin

7 Trevor Bayne

8 Ryan Newman

9 Marcos Ambrose

10 Joey Logano

11 Kurt Busch

12 Jeff Gordon

13 Paul Menard

14 Kyle Larson

15 Jamie McMurray

16 Jimmie Johnson

17 Aric Almirola

18 Martin Truex Jr

19 Dale Earnhardt Jr

20 Austin Dillon

21 Casey Mears

22 Justin Allgaier

23 Brian Vickers

24 Danica Patrick

25 Clint Bowyer

26 Matt Kenseth

27 Michael Annett

28 Michael McDowell

29 Kyle Busch

30 Alex Bowman

31 Ricky Stenhouse Jr

32 Kasey Kahne

33 AJ Allmendinger

34 David Reutimann

35 Dave Blaney

36 Parker Kligerman

37 Travis Kvapil

38 Reed Sorenson

39 David Gilliland

40 Landon Cassill

41 Josh Wise

42 Cole Whitt

43 David Ragan

The race is on tomorrow (Sunday) at 3:00 PM ET on Fox.

My favorite headline on the NASCAR website this week was this one:

Teams look up to 'Big Hoss' for strategy

You'll have to click the link to found out how I'm not involved in any way .