Stewart Gambles to Win Pocono
Written by Racin with Russ, Sunday June 07 2009
Racin’ with Russ
BY RUSSELL SCHMIDT
Carl Edwards led the most laps in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Pocono venue on Sunday, but Tony Stewart rolled the dice not to pit for fuel late in the go and came out on top to win his first points race this year.
Once again qualifying was rained out on Friday afternoon, setting the field by owner’s points where Stewart was to start on the pole. The Chevy driver promptly went out during practice and wadded up his Office Depot ride, forcing the team to set up the back up car for Smoke to start out back.
Hendrick teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson started the race out front with both leading laps, but it was Edwards leading the lion’s share of laps with a strong Ford Fusion. His pit crew once again fell down on the job when a short gas fill required a different pit strategy earlier in the run, then failed to get him out ahead of Stewart on the final stop.
In the end, the 500-mile race turned into a fuel mileage game where Stewart, Edwards and Johnson gambled on being easy on the gas to get them to the end. Only Johnson sputtered out on the final lap, yet still coasted into seventh.
The Sprint Cup teams now head out to the banks of Michigan where Stewart enters the next race 71 markers ahead of Gordon and even more ahead of Johnson.
Note: The Cup race was the first points race where all restarts were two abreast with all lead lap cars out front. I applaud NASCAR for making this rule change. It should really tighten things up on the shorter tracks. What do you think? Drop me a line.
Nationwide - Over in Nashville, the Nationwide competitors saw Kyle Busch win yet another main event, only to act out in victory lane like a four-year-old. The very coveted trophy at this event is a custom made Gibson guitar most drivers would give anything to have. Instead, the always controversial driver smashed the guitar on the ground several times, leaving the Sam Bass instrument in many pieces.
This latest ‘bad boy’ act by Busch is WAY over the top. It was a disrespectful act to the racetrack, NASCAR, Sam Bass, Gibson guitars and the race fans. If I were in charge of NASCAR, there would be a very large fine waiting for the Gibbs driver before competing in the next event.
What do you think of this latest act of defiance? Drop me a line.
The rest of the top five finishers included Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Mike Bliss and Jason Leffler. The pack leaves for Kentucky with Busch out front by 65 over Edwards and Leffler.
Truckin’ - Earlier in the weekend, the pick ‘em ups competed in Texas where Todd Bodine became the first truck driver to win five times at the same track. Ron Hornaday had led the most laps, but fell victim to a pit lane violation, dropping him deep in the pack, only to recover to a 19th place finish.
With Matt Crafton finishing second and Colin Braun, Johnny Benson and Rick Crawford making up the top five finishers, Crafton tops the charts by 30 over Hornaday and Mike Skinner.
Open Wheel News - The Indy Racing League ran on Saturday night with an exciting race ending as Helio Castroneves barely edged his teammate Ryan Briscoe for his latest win this year. The two Penske drivers held a driving school for the rest of the pack, beating Ganassi shoe Scott Dixon, Marco Andretti and Dario Franchitti at the stripe. Briscoe now leads Dixon by a mere three points in the big picture.
--- Across the Pond in Turkey, the Formula One series competed where Jenson Button picked up his sixth trophy of the year, something very rarely done in the history of the sport (six wins of seven races). The Red Bull Ferrari’s of Mark Webber and Sebastien Vettel wrapped up the top three runners. Button stands even further out front and it appears the overall title is his to lose.
From Rumorville - NASCAR has taken legal action against Jeremy Mayfield in response to his Mayfield’s actions against them. Things have now stepped up to a Federal case and I’d say things will get ugly from this point out.
--- Look for road race ace Patrick Carpentier to fill-in for Michael Waltrip at the next two road course Cup venues. I see this as a first step to Waltrip’s exit from the driver’s seat.
That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will review NASCAR runs from Michigan and more racing news from around the globe including the 24 Hours of LeMans.
Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net
Tags:
Leave a comment
Not So Fast! To publish your comment, you have to login
Not Registered? Register now as it only take 20 seconds!
Click here to browse
0 comments