Auto Racing Capsules: Race for Chase heats up
LOUDON, N.H. — The Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship traditionally kicks off at New Hampshire. So does the 10-race sprint to make the 12-driver field.
When drivers return here in September, they hope they are gearing up for a championship run. With only 10 races left until the field is set, the pressure is revved up for those around the cutoff mark.
Carl Edwards is clinging to 12th place entering Sunday’s race, only 57 points ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman are lurking behind Junior. Don’t count out pole sitter Juan Pablo Montoya or even David Reutimann among the small group of drivers who have a lugnut-size margin of error this summer.
“I feel like we’ve got a chance,” Reutimann said Saturday. “We just need top-fives everywhere we go.”
Oh, no pressure.
Points leader Kevin Harvick, four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin have their spots all but secured. It would take a string of disastrous DNF performances to knock out NASCAR’s elite drivers.
From about ninth in the standings on down, anything can happen.
Tony Stewart, a two-time Cup champion, is 10th and understands how fragile his spot can be down the stretch.
“If you are ninth through 12th right now, you are worrying about just making sure you have enough points to be in it and go from there,” he said.
Earnhardt wants to make that field as long as he feels he can realistically compete for his first career Cup title. He’s coming off his best two back-to-back races of the season and believes his No. 88 Chevrolet can still find more speed to stamp themselves as a legitimate Chase threat.
“We’ve still got a long ways to go, man,” Earnhardt said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to get better and get more competitive. I feel like we’re starting to be able to contend, but we’ve got a lot of speed to find.”
Earnhardt, long NASCAR’s most popular driver, missed the Chase last year and finished a disappointing 25th. He’s made the Chase three times and twice finished as high as fifth in 2004 and 2006. He hasn’t been much of a threat to win, much less a championship contender, the last four years. Earnhardt has gone 73 straight races without a victory.
Earnhardt won’t be satisfied with making the Chase if he’s not a legitimate championship contender.
“We can run like we have the last couple of weeks and make the Chase, but that doesn’t win a championship either,” Earnhardt said. “We need to step it up because we could make the Chase, but it just becomes a pain in the (rear) because we’re in the Chase but we’re not contenders and we’ve got to all the (stuff) you’ve got to do as a Chase member; going to New York and all that stuff. It just ends up being more work than anything.
“If I’m going to make this Chase, I want to make it and feel like I have a chance to contend and battle in the top five and be around in the last couple of races with a shot still at winning the championship.”
For drivers and teams expecting to be part of the Chase, Sunday’s race is a great tutorial. Edwards is in a 52-race winless drought and hasn’t found Victory Lane since the last race of the 2008 season. He’s finished twice and third before at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and needs to start reeling off consistently strong finishes to hang on to his spot.
“Every time I pull into the garage, there’s a different group of guys around me, so I know it’s close,” Edwards said. “There are a lot of guys fighting for that spot. I think I can safely say this is going to be one of the toughest years to make the Chase that we’ve had.”
Taking the checkered flag has been tougher than expected for some of the sport’s top drivers. In the first 16 races of the season, only seven drivers have won. Johnson and Hamlin have positioned themselves as the drivers to beat.
Montoya is on a roll with a pair of top 10s and one 13th-place finish in the last three races. The former Formula One star made NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup championship for the first time last season. He failed to carry that over into this season and is 20th entering Sunday’s race — 161 points out of the 12th and final place in the Chase field.
“It’s cool because it’s putting a lot of pressure on us and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to perform and get the job done,” he said. “It’s pretty exciting to see.”
NASCAR is counting on it.
Notebook: Johnson tops Junior in popularity
LOUDON, N.H. (AP) — Jimmie Johnson has another win this year, this time in a popularity contest.
Johnson beat his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., to win a $100,000 grant as part of the Pepsi Refresh Project. Johnson's award will go toward providing financial relief to pediatric bone marrow transplant patients. Gordon and Earnhardt each received $25,000 for their causes.
More than 500,000 votes were cast by racing fans — making it a bit startling that Earnhardt didn't win. Earnhardt has long reigned as NASCAR's most popular driver. He can't even beat Johnson off the track.
Johnson laughed when it was noted he beat out Earnhardt for the prize.
"Yeah, that's the impressive underlying note in all this," he said. "I'm shocked, excited and thrilled and can't thank my fans enough. I have been preaching that I have a strong fan base for a long time and I'm glad to see the evidence."
DRIVING STANDBY: Jimmie Johnson had some help at Saturday's practice. Aric Almirola took some spins in the No. 48 Chevrolet at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and is Johnson's standby driver for the next few races. Johnson's wife, Chandra, is due with their first child in less than a month.
"Gonna hang out with the 48 team on baby watch for Jimmie," Almirola posted on Twitter.
Almirola has 30 career Cup starts, including four this year. He has only one career top-10 finish.
STREAK CONTINUES: Former NASCAR champion Bobby Labonte could no longer stand competing as a start-and-park driver. Labonte terminated his contract with TRG Motorsports this week and was looking for a better chance to finish races.
Labonte knew he was taking a chance that his 595 consecutive starts streak would end. He was prepared to stay home, rather than drive in a car that would not finish a race.
He quickly landed some part-time rides. He'll drive Robby Gordon's No. 7 Toyota this weekend in New Hampshire, and Phoenix Racing said Labonte will drive the James Finch-owned car at Daytona and Chicago next month.
"I don't want to sit out a few weeks, whether it's consecutive starts or not," he said. "It's not really one of those things where I'm only doing it because of that. I'm not doing it because of that. I'm doing this because of the passion I have for it. The streak is fine, but it is what that is."
Labonte was the 2000 Cup Series champion. His last victory was in 2003 with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Labonte's start for Finch at Daytona will be the 600th of his career.
PLAYING COY: Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman Bruton Smith was more entertaining than revealing when pressed about his plans for the 2011 Cup schedule.
Smith said he has not met with NASCAR about moving a race to Kentucky Speedway. Smith has said he's prepared to move a race from one of his other facilities to Kentucky now that a lingering antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR has been dropped.
Smith cracked up reporters as he danced around questions about which race will move and when Kentucky will finally land a Cup race.
"We've had no meetings about the schedule for next year," Smith said. "We're in this thing together."
Smith refused to commit to keep two races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. While the second race traditionally kicks off the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, the June race could easily be bumped off the schedule.
SMI also owns Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Infineon Raceway.
"Whatever we do, we'll announce in the future," Smith said.
JUNIOR VS: Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a super-sized opponent this week: Shaq
Shaquille O'Neal took a tour of the JR Motorsports garage with Earnhardt, then strapped on a helmet as part of the TV show, "Shaq Vs."
"Shaq was a great. He was a real professional, a real nice guy," Earnhardt said. "It was great to meet somebody like that. He really was a trouper. It was really, really hot during our little war, there."
INJURY UPDATE: Regan Smith will drive Sunday's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with a splint.
Smith fractured his left wrist last week at Infineon Raceway. Smith, who drives the No. 78 Chevrolet, was hurt during a multicar accident on lap 67 of 110.
-- Dan Gelston
Nationwide
Busch wins at New Hampshire
LOUDON, N.H. — Kyle Busch spent most of his race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where he’s most familiar. Out in front.
Busch won the Nationwide Series race at New Hampshire on Saturday and became the career laps led leader in NASCAR’s second-tier series with 8,118.
Busch bowed to the crowd, which saluted his sixth win of the season in the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch earned his 36th career victory and passed Mark Martin on the career laps led list (8,117).
“That’s pretty cool,” Busch said. “There’s one more record I’m after and that’s the win record. I want to try and beat him and see how many I can set.”
Busch is tied with Kevin Harvick for second on the career Nationwide win list. Martin leads the series with 48.
Busch held off Brad Keselowski, who finished second and had his solid run derailed by a poor pit stop. Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Trevor Bayne round out the top five.
Keselowski stretched his points lead to 247 over Edwards.
Busch left with a lengthy list of milestones. He won here last year and is the first driver to win multiple Nationwide Series races in the track’s 24-race history dating back to its inaugural event on July 15, 1990.
“I’m proud of the fact we made it happen and we had everything go right for us today,” Busch said.
Danica Patrick finished 30th, five laps down. Patrick tangled with Morgan Shepherd early and went into the wall only seven laps into the race. The IndyCar regular posted her best finish in four Nationwide races.
“It was a bummer to get lapped so many times,” Patrick said.
Patrick started 25th in her first NASCAR race since February and ran into trouble in her No. 7 Chevrolet almost instantly.
Shepherd got loose and sent Patrick into the wall. She radioed to her crew “he totally took me out.”
Patrick returned to the track a lap down and never got any momentum. She later tapped Shepherd to let him know she didn’t appreciate getting caught up in the early accident.
“I was thinking out there at the end that it reminds me a lot of my first couple of short oval races in an IndyCar,” she said. “I got lapped liked a ton of times in those. It’s part of the process, it’s part of learning and I know these things are going to happen.”
The 68-year-old Shepherd — 40 years older than Patrick — was apologetic.
“Anybody who tries to pass her needs to be patient. She’s got a very fast race car,” he said. “I hate that I got into her.”
Patrick fared no better than 31st in three starts on the Nationwide Series in February. She said a top-15 or top-20 finish would be a success. She returns to the series in two weeks at Chicagoland Speedway
“There’s a lot for me to learn,” she said.
Busch has it mastered. He maneuvered up front on the strength of some long runs and held off a nipping Keselowski. Keselowski, who started from the pole, could have made it a two-car race to the finish until a slow pit stop with about 50 laps to go dropped him to seventh. Busch led 125 of the 200 laps.
“I wish there was money for laps led,” Busch said. “That would be pretty cool. It’s a testament to this team and I was at Hendrick Motorsports, too.”
Patrick’s arrival overshadowed the rest of the drivers in the race. She had her own press conference on Friday and reporters dashed out to talk to her Saturday — one of the rare times the 30th-place driver was the star of the show.
“I thank all those people out there that still want to keep watching me because it can’t be fun to watch the driver you’re cheering for go laps down and get passed,” she said. “But, you know, I’m learning and it’ll help me get better.”
-- Dan Gelston
Formula One
Vettel takes pole at European GP
VALENCIA, Spain — Sebastian Vettel earned Red Bull’s eighth pole in nine Formula One races this season, posting the fastest time in qualifying Saturday for the European Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver drove the quickest lap in 1 minute, 37.587 seconds. Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber was second in 1.37.662, with Lewis Hamilton third for Mclaren.
“It was a tight qualifying session in the end, not much between us all,” Vettel said. “I won pole so I’m very happy for today.”
Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher didn’t compete for the pole after being eliminated in the second qualifying round.
Home favorite Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was fourth, with teammate Felipe Massa fifth.
Hamilton leads the standings with 109 points, followed by teammate Jenson Button on 106 points. Webber is third on 103 points, ahead of Alonso on 94 and Vettel on 90.
Helped by its pioneering blown diffuser exhaust system, Red Bull won the first seven poles of the season before failing in Canada. Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes have installed their own diffusers for this weekend’s race, the third grand prix to be staged in Valencia.
Red Bull also employed a version of the F-duct introduced by McLaren earlier in the season. After successful practices in Valencia on Friday, the team decided to maintain the aerodynamic device for the weekend.
“We feel the difference, we can see how much you can gain,” Vettel said.
Under a clear sky track temperatures reached 113 Fahrenheit during the qualifying session.
Earlier, Vettel posted the fastest lap in the final practice.
Renault’s Robert Kubica took the lead as qualifying got under way, before Red Bull gained control. Webber looked to have secured his fifth pole of the season until a late lap by Vettel clinched it for the German.
It is the fourth one-two of the season on the grid for Red Bull.
“It’s not one of our strongest circuits ... if you think where you would have a race against the opposition we probably wouldn’t choose this one,” said Webber, who is aiming to become the first Australian world champion since Alan Jones in 1980.
“Let’s see how tomorrow goes. I’m very optimistic we’re going to have a good race. I could have gone one place better but I wasn’t quick enough today.”
Hamilton and Button have expressed concern at their rivals’ improvements, given that McLaren is not planning to introduce its blown diffuser until the British Grand Prix in two weeks.
However, Hamilton looked to be on course to earn the pole until a mistake on his last lap. Even so, the Briton was upbeat after qualifying third, with teammate Button seventh.
However, Hamilton was upbeat after qualifying third, with teammate Button seventh.
“It’s going to be an interesting race tomorrow,” Hamilton said, adding that the first corner and first few laps will be crucial. “I can’t complain with where we’re starting from.”
Hamilton took the pole last year and went on to finish second behind Rubens Barrichello. He goes into this year’s race following wins in Turkey and Canada.
Schumacher appeared to be heading for elimination at the end of the first round as he suffered power steering problems, before making the cut on his final lap.
However, the German’s problems continued in the second round and he was eliminated along with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg. Schumacher, who said he suffered tire and brake difficulties, will start 15th on Sunday after his worst qualifying performance of the season. Rosberg is 12th on the grid.
“We clearly have improved the car. The guys have worked hard and they have worked very well,” Schumacher said. “... But it doesn’t help if you qualify where we do qualify and then you have to race from there. It’s going to be a difficult afternoon tomorrow.”
-- Guy Hedgecoe
NHRA
Anderson takes bonus NHRA event in Ohio
NORWALK, Ohio (AP) — Greg Anderson won $50,000 by winning in the K&N Horsepower Challenge, a special bonus event for Pro Stock competitors at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals on Saturday.
Anderson used a quicker reaction at the start to upset top-seed Mike Edwards. In a match-up between Pontiac GXPs, Anderson crossed the finish line first in the final round with a 6.685-second run at a top speed of 206.23 mph before Edwards could catch him with his quicker performance of 6.677 at 207.11.
If Anderson can win Sunday at Motorsports Park, he will pocket an additional $25,000 bonus for sweeping both events.
All of Friday's qualifying leaders remained atop their respective categories as Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Ashley Force Hood (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Steve Johnson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) will lead their divisions into Sunday's eliminations.
