NASCAR Bits and Pieces

Monday, November 12, 2012

NASCAR Nationwide Series Official Race Results from Phoenix for the GREAT CLIPS "200"

via press release

Race Comments: Before an estimated attendance of 42,000 Joey Logano won the Great Clips 200, his 18th NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following cars dropped to the rear for the reasons indicated: #01 (adjustments outside impound),#2 (backup car), #15,70 (driver changes).

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES OFFICIAL RACE REPORT No. 32
14TH ANNUAL GREAT CLIPS "200"
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Avondale, AZ - November 10, 2012
1-Mile Oval
200 Laps - 200 Miles Purse: $1,191,048

Fin	Str	Car				Series	Bonus	Driver			Leader
Pos	Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Points	Points	Rating	Winnings	Status	Times	Laps
1	1	18	Joey Logano	GameStop / Epic Mickey2 Toyota	204	0	0	149.7	$55,050	Running	4	168
2	5	20	Brian Vickers	Dollar General Toyota	204	0	0	122.2	34,300	Running	1	1
3	8	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Valvoline NextGen Ford	204	42	1	118.6	40,318	Running	1	3
4	2	54	Kyle Busch	Monster Energy Toyota	204	0	0	111.8	27,265	Running
5	7	38	Kasey Kahne	Great Clips Chevrolet	204	0	0	117.6	23,740	Running
6	3	3	Austin Dillon #	AdvoCare Chevrolet	204	38	0	104.2	31,358	Running
7	17	43	Michael Annett	Pilot / Flying J Ford	204	37	0	99.1	25,908	Running
8	10	11	Brian Scott	Dollar General Toyota	204	36	0	95.0	24,833	Running
9	6	22	Brad Keselowski	Discount Tire Dodge	204	0	0	110.2	18,000	Running	1	32
10	14	7	Danica Patrick	GoDaddy.com Chevrolet	204	34	0	90.3	25,233	Running
11	12	31	Justin Allgaier	Brandt Chevrolet	204	33	0	88.5	23,908	Running
12	9	30	Jason Leffler	FOE Chevrolet	204	0	0	81.7	23,758	Running
13	15	19	Mike Bliss	BANDITchippers.com / Embassy Suites Toyota	204	31	0	78.9	23,608	Running
14	4	12	Sam Hornish Jr	Alliance Truck Parts Dodge	204	30	0	98.1	24,248	Running
15	22	99	Alex Bowman	Port of Tucson / Levin Financial Toyota	204	29	0	81.8	24,538	Running

Camping World Truck Series Official Race Results from Phoenix (LUCAS OIL "150")

via press release

Before an estimated attendance of 29,000 Brian Scott won the Lucas Oil 150, his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following trucks dropped to the rear for the reasons indicated: #74 (driver change).

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES OFFICIAL RACE REPORT No. 21
15TH ANNUAL LUCAS OIL "150"
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Avondale, AZ - November 9, 2012
1-Mile Oval
150 Laps - 150 Miles Purse: $472,799

Fin	Str	Car				Series	Bonus	Driver			Leader
Pos	Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Points	Points	Rating	Winnings	Status	Times	Laps
1	3	18	Brian Scott	Dollar General Toyota	153	0	0	144.5	$35,675	Running	3	48
2	6	4	Kyle Larson	Ganassi Earnhardt Racing Chevrolet	153	43	1	121.5	25,590	Running	1	43
3	17	22	Joey Coulter	American Eurocopter Chevrolet	153	41	0	101.1	18,285	Running
4	8	17	Timothy Peters	TOYOTA / Red Horse Racing Toyota	153	41	1	115.9	14,100	Running	1	3
5	2	29	Ryan Blaney	DrawTite / MOPAR RAM	153	39	0	111.4	15,325	Running
6	14	39	Ryan Sieg	RSS Racing Chevrolet	153	38	0	82.5	11,425	Running
7	4	33	Cale Gale #	Rheem Heating, Cooling & Water Heating Chevrolet	153	37	0	95.5	12,375	Running
8	1	30	Nelson Piquet Jr	Qualcomm / Autotrac Chevrolet	153	37	1	100.2	13,625	Running	1	8
9	11	27	Ryan Truex	LittleJoesAutos.com Chevrolet	153	0	0	99.6	9,025	Running	1	22
10	22	6	Justin Lofton	Lofton Cattle Chevrolet	153	35	1	83.2	12,475	Running	1	8
11	23	35	Matt Merrell	Merrell Lease Service Chevrolet	153	33	0	68.6	8,775	Running
12	13	19	David Mayhew	MMI / Steak & Grape RAM	153	0	0	86.4	10,900	Running
13	27	09	John Wes Townley #	Zaxby's Toyota	153	31	0	67.3	10,850	Running
14	15	32	Miguel Paludo	World Diabetes Day / Duroline Chevrolet	152	30	0	72.5	10,775	Running
15	21	3	Ty Dillon #	Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet	152	30	1	75.7	11,800	Running	1	21

Wondering What It Would Take to Clinch Any of the Series Titles?

All three NASCAR series title championships are coming down to the wire at Homestead next weekend! Well, check out the different scenarios:

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Brad Keselowski has a 20 point lead over five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. For the Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Keselowski can clinch his first NASCAR Sprint Cup championship with a finish of 15th or better; or 16th and at least one lap led; or 17th and the most laps led, even if Johnson wins and leads the most laps.

No one else is in consideration for the title. Boys can have at it.

=

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also has a 20 point lead over Elliott Sadler. Again, Ricky can get his NASCAR Nationwide Series driver championship with a finish of 16th or better; or 17th or better with at least one lap led; or 18th or better with most laps led at Homestead.

=

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

James Buescher has an 11-point lead over Timothy Peters looking at Homestead. Buescher can win his title with a finish of 7th or better with no laps led; or 8th or better with one lap led; or 9th or better with the most laps led.

= = =

So with everyone looking as if anyone who wrecks out loses their respective title, all three NASCAR racing series will be a tension building event until fans of each points leader actually crosses the finish line in one piece.

Failed tires or tiny inexpensive parts could be the story of any of the three days... or locked up championships will be the story of the day.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

I Went To a Fight And A NASCAR Race Broke Out at Phoenix!

Last week I said the last 20 laps can determine how the public feels about a race. With that said, how did you like the Phoenix race?

The last 20 laps had Jimmie Johnson running outside the top 30 finishing spots and then a retribution move by Jeff Gordon on Clint Bowyer. That move turned into a full-scale melee in the garage between Clint and Jeff's team.

I'm not sure where to begin, except to say that Jimmie Johnson is now 20 points outside of 1st headed into Homestead. This means that unless something untoward happens to Brad Keselowski, he's put himself in a situation that will allow him to win the 2012 Sprint Cup Series championship. All he has to do is finish 15th or better next Sunday and it's his.

But that wasn't the exciting part of the race.

During the closing laps, Jeff Gordon took retaliation for something that Clint Bowyer did earlier and that caused a multi-car wreck. All while Jeff ignored a black flag.

IF NASCAR STAYS CONSISTENT, I would not be surprised to see Gordon parked for the last week of the season. (ALA, Kyle Busch in the Truck Series last year.)

Then during the GWC restart, Danica Patrick ended up slamming into the outside wall.

At that point, many feel a caution should have been called, but it wasn't. Patrick limped her oil dripping car down the front stretch while the rest of the field came around for the final lap to the checkers and a sizable wreck ensued, collecting a few cars. Patrick should not have driven down the road, but she did, cars went everywhere and even she got clipped pretty good.

NASCAR later said they like to try and let races finish out... but most tracks are big enough to do that and wrecks don't often occur in front of the start/finish line. That and NASCAR claimed they thought all the smoke coming from her car was from tire spin. Zoinks.

And the exciting stuff didn't even happen yet.

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As the cars were parking, Jeff Gordon got out of the No. 24 Chevy and team members from Clint Bowyer's team came over and got into it with Jeff and the swarm of a melee broke out.

Then it went from there.

(Oh and a crew chief, on TV, (Brian Pattie) called the situation between the two teams s**! And I thought that would be the big fine from the weekend! LOL.)

For now, I'm thinking Clint's sponsor might be able to take advantage of this. "5 Hour Energy, When I need to get things done." That's what Clint said in an ad that came on right after everything started breaking out. Me? I wouldn't want to get into it with an entire crew jacked up on 5 Hour Energy!!!

Harvick To Leave RCR?

After Dale Earnhardt passed away at Daytona in 2001, Richard Childress turned the ride over to Kevin Harvick. RCR changed the number from the black No. 3 to (at the time) a mostly white No. 29 Chevy. And the rest was history. Kevin Harvick, to many, is the staple at RCR, or at least, up until the 2014 season, that is.

ESPN is reporting that sources are telling them that Kevin Harvick will be leaving RCR after the 2013 season and joining Tony Stewart's shop, Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2014 season.

The news stunned many fans across the board, and it seems, Richard Childress was amongst the stunned. Or at least irritated. When reporters tried to chat up this development, he didn't respond so well, suggesting that reporters focus on news and events in the present.

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Kevin Harvick has been a quiet closer in many Sprint Cup races over the last few years, but not a dominant winning contender. And IF this news is anywhere close to accurate, (Judging from the grumpy demeanor of Childress, it might seem to have some validity), then Kevin Harvick will be joining the SHR of Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, & Danica Patrick. (barring an sponsor issues.)

This leaves the No. 29 seat wide open for the 2014 season. I was thinking about trying to analyze who might fill the seat belts of the car, but 2014 is a long way off, so who knows. Austin Dillon? Elliott Sadler? Or who else might be available and looking for a ride in 2014?

All I can say is this is crazy, a bit disappointing, and a surprise. Or was it? News was that Kevin Harvick almost left back in 2010 the last time his contract was up.

All said... silly season for 2014 has started extremely early.

[ESPN]

Phoenix 2012 - Photos From The Track

Hey all... my buddy Leon Hammack is hanging out at Phoenix this weekend and he was hanging out in all the right places. And he thought of us in the process and sent me a few pics to share with everyone.

Below are just a few of the pics he sent...

Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Chevy: