Rain Favors Gordon at Pocono
LONG POND, Pa. — Luck continues to favor Jeff Gordon as he won Sunday’s Pocono 500 after rain forced NASCAR to call it after 106 of the scheduled 200 laps.
Steve Letarte, Jeff Gordon ’s crew chief, brought him into the pits on lap 82 for tires and gas after other team members, who had been monitoring the weather radar, said they felt like there was a good chance of another shower around the halfway point of the race.
“I don’t think you could say we planned it this way, but some other guys on the team suggested it,” said Letarte. “By coming in when we did, we knew we could go to lap 114.”
Even though Jeff Gordon had the fuel and clean air, he was losing grip on the racetrack because his tires were wearing out. Just seconds before the final caution, Ryan Newman, the polesitter, who was running second, almost pulled even with Jeff Gordon .
“It rained on my car back there on the lap before and I knew we had to get it done, but obviously we didn’t,” said Newman.
It was the third time this season that Jeff Gordon appeared to have a lucky charm that helped propel him to victory lane.
“It was Steve Letarte that won this race today,” said Jeff Gordon . “We had a great race car, but without the track position and the great call we wouldn’t have been up front.”
Jeff Gordon ’s teammate, Jimmie Johnson, had a left front tire go down and finished 42nd, nine laps down.
The race didn’t start until nearly 5 p.m. because of a rain delay, and teams knew before the green flag was given they never really had a chance to run the 500 miles before darkness set in.
Martin Truex Jr., winner of Monday’s Dover race, was third. Casey Mears was fourth and Tony Stewart was fifth.
Denny Hamlin, winner of both the 2006 races, finished sixth. Mark Martin, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top 10.
Top 12 Nextel Cup Chase contenders: 1. Jeff Gordon -2,249, 2. Matt Kenseth-2,007, 3. Denny Hamlin-2,002, 4. Johnson-1,944, 5. Jeff Burton-1,828, 6. Tony Stewart-1,733, 7. Edwards-1,710, 8. Bowyer-1,659, 9. Kevin Harvick-1,648, 10. Kyle Busch-1,613, 11. Truex-1,597, 12. Mark Martin-1,586.
Edwards Gets Busch Win
LEBANON, Tenn. — Carl Edwards passed Clint Bowyer with 33 laps to go and went on to win the Federated Auto Parts 300 for his third consecutive NASCAR Busch Series victory at the Nashville Superspeedway. It was also his fourth win of the season.
Top 10 Busch Series leaders: 1. Edwards-2,460, 2. Kevin Harvick-1,798, 3. Blaney-1,715, 4. Reutimann-1,649, 5. R. Smith-1,633, 6. Matt Kenseth-1,591, 7. Hamilton Jr.-1,574, 8. Ragan-1,771, 9. Bowyer-1,529, 10. Biffle-1,513.
Top 10 Craftsman Truck Series leaders: 1. Skinner-1,543, 2. Hornaday-1,461, 3. T. Bodine-1,362, 4. Crawford-1,274, 5. Musgrave-1,265, 6. Kvapil-1,253, 7. Sprague-1,129, 8. Benson-1,126, 9. Crafton-1,123, 10. Aaron Fike-1,120.
Change a Constant in Racing
Martin Truex Jr. threw a snag into Hendrick Motorsports’ domination of the new Car of Tomorrow races by his win last Sunday at Dover. No driver — not Jeff Gordon , Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch or Casey Mears — of the four-team racing giant led a lap.
Surprisingly, Truex’s 7.355-second winning margin was a sign of how strong his No. 1 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet was, and his overwhelming victory couldn’t have come at a better time for him or his team.
With the announcement that its star driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., will be leaving at the end of this season, DEI needed a boost.
Truex’s win appears to be legitimate. Just two weeks earlier, he had moved through the field to win the Nextel Open at Charlotte.
What does this mean for Truex and DEI?
For Truex it means his team hasn’t buckled under the pressure of losing Dale Jr., and it could be a sign that DEI has turned the corner, or wasn’t as weak as Dale Jr. believed.
When Dale Jr. first announced in May that he was leaving, he said his reasons were because he didn’t think he could win a Cup championship while driving a DEI car.
Since visiting other teams’ shops, his attitude toward DEI capabilities has changed.
“I was surprised at how on par in some places DEI really is,” he said. “The reasons why I left are purely personal and not competition related.”
One of the teams Dale Jr.’s name has been linked to is Joe Gibbs Racing, which fields three Chevrolets, driven by Tony Stewart, J. J. Yeley and Denny Hamlin.
In the past, JGR has fielded top notch teams, which includes two Cup championships, but frustration has mounted since the beginning of this season, as all three of the teams are winless after 13 races.
Hendrick teams won 9 of the first 12 races, but JGR teams have come up empty-handed, even though they have led 1,259 laps this season.
“The good news is we’ve got good cars,” said team President J. D. Gibbs. “The bad news is we’ve shot ourselves in the foot. But I’d rather be dealing with this issue than with cars running 25th every week. We’ll work through this.”
Meanwhile, Dodge teams will have a new owner. Cerberus Capital Management of New York has purchased 80 percent of DaimlerChrysler for $7.5-billion.
Dodge provides factory support for four teams; Evernham Motorsports, Petty Enterprises, Penske and Chip Ganassi.
No Dodge driver has visited victory lane this season.
“So far this season, none of the Dodge teams have performed at the level they need to,” said Robbie Loomis of Petty Enterprises. “I think we’re all working hard and putting our heads together.”
As part of its six-race coverage, TNT has tapped driver Kyle Petty to be a booth analyst during race broadcasts. He is currently 30th in points. His last win was at Dover in 1995.
Petty said the concept of trying to educate racing fans about the sport’s history hit him about two years ago after a conversation with David Pearson.
“I think we’re blessed to be in a sport that is only 60 years old and a lot of the history is still walking around and nobody seems to be reaching out to it,” said Petty. “The history, it’s still there.”
Hendrick, JGR, Penske, DEI, and all the good teams will go full circle. Some will rise up, then sink down for a while, and then reappear in victory lane.
Lastly, NASCAR lost its second generation leader, Bill France Jr., who passed away June 4. His son Brian has been running the company for several years.
Racing is constantly changing.
Just wait and see.
Weekend Racing Schedule
The Nextel Cup and Craftsman Truck teams are at the 2.0-mile Brooklyn, Mich., facility, while the Busch teams are at the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky.
Saturday, June 16
Craftsman Trucks Michigan 200, race 10 of 25, Starting time: 2:30 p.m. (EST); TV: Speed Channel; Distance: 100 laps; Defending champion: Johnny Benson.
Busch Series Meijer 300, race 16 of 35, Starting time: 8 p.m. (EST); TV: ESPN2; Distance: 200 laps; Defending champion: David Gilliland.
Sunday June 17
Nextel Cup Citizens Bank 400, race 15 of 36, Starting time: 2 p.m. (EST); TV: TNT; Distance: 200 laps; Defending champion: Kasey Kahne.
Racing Trivia Question: What is Ryan Newman’s nickname?
Last Week’s Question: Paul Menard is one of the 2007 Nextel Cup rookies. Who does he drive for?
Answer: He drives the No. 15 for Dale Earnhardt Inc.
