Stewart Nips Kenseth to Win All-Star
Written by Racin with Russ, Monday May 18 2009
Matt Kenseth led the closing stages of this year’s All-Star race, but with less than two laps remaining, left the bottom side of the track open for Tony Stewart to slide on by to claim his very first big buck May event checkers.
The opening rounds of the 100-lap million dollar affair at Lowe’s Motor Speedway were fairly tame with Jimmie Johnson running away with the first 50 lapper. Kyle Busch and a few other drivers chose track position over pitting and went on to claim the first 20-lap prelim.
Then, it was time for three-time All-Star winner Jeff Gordon to strut his stuff by winning the third segment, good enough to claim the $125,000 prize.
The final 10-lap shootout was where the real action began with Kyle Busch, Gordon and Ryan Newman all very hungry to win the seven figure top prize. Busch was hugging the high side all evening with good results. The three drivers went side-by-side in turn one, with only Busch coming out the other end. Gordon and Newman were done for the night, chalking up the early ending to the ‘nature of the beast’.
Stewart has done well in this event before, but never a trophy. And many of his detractors said the newly formed team would struggle to stay out front. Well, not only have they thrived, but both drivers (Stewart and Newman) are in the Chase with Stewart a few dozen points away from the top spot. Add this first win for the group and I’d say things are clicking nicely.
The rest of the top five finishers included Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards.
Truckin’ - Ron Hornaday wound up in victory lane on Friday night after battling with Kyle Busch for the top spot. Busch took out long time leader Colin Braun along with a lapped truck late in the go. NASCAR sent the roughneck to the back of the longest line…big deal....should have parked him a few laps.
Busch managed to get back among the top three before the checkers fell, notching yet another top five among the truckers. Yes, he did more than ruffle feathers to get there, but showed little concern for what appeared to be quite intentional.
Busch took second with Matt Crafton, Ryan Newman and Terry Cook wrapping up the top five finishers.
Hornaday now leads the truckers with Mike Skinner and Crafton more than 80 points back.
Indy 500 - Well, this year’s field is set. It took the past few weeks of practice and qualifying to decide the 33-car starting grid and the lineup is impressive. From pole sitter Helio Castroneves to Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon, Marco Andretti and the return of Paul Tracy along with the three ladies, Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno….it should be a wild one.
My pick for this year is Castroneves as the two-time winner is certainly on his game. Dark Horse pick? I’d say either Paul Tracy or Tony Kanaan. For Tracy, it would certainly be vindication for the Canadian driver after losing in 2002 to Helio when a very late yellow handed the win to Helio. Kanaan has been Mr. Steady Freddy in the big show, but has yet to sip the milk in victory lane.
Formula One - I know a lot of my readers are stock car fans, but I would encourage you to watch this weekend’s F-1 race from the streets of Monaco. The whole event is filled with so much history and pageantry, it’s a must see. I personally enjoy the long sweeping turn through the tunnel. It’s like no other venue. It's fast, tight, twisty and travels right through the middle of the city adjacent to the water. We’ll compare notes next week.
From Rumorville - Jeremy Mayfield is sticking to his guns that he did not take any recreational drugs to be banned from attending any and all NASCAR events either as an owner or driver. He says a pair of Claritin D pills combined with a prescription has NASCAR’s officials banning the 39-year-old driver indefinitely.
There are many questions concerning this topic and the media and drivers alike are calling for NASCAR to proclaim what exactly they are banning their first driver from the new rules. Most other sporting series spell out exactly what is and isn’t allowed. NASCAR at this point, does not. How do you feel about this topic? Drop me a note. Look for J.J. Yeley to fill the seat of the Team Mayfield Toyota while things are being sorted out.
That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will review one of the biggest race weekends of the year. From NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 to the Indy 500, there will be plenty to talk about.
Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net
Photo Credit: David Allio / Icon SMI
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