NASCAR Capsules: Same frustrations for Newman after Talladega

FORT WORTH — Ryan Newman is still sore and frustrated from Talladega.

What frustrates Newman more than anything after his harrowing crash with five laps remaining last weekend is that it’s the same kind of situation he was concerned about after the last race at Talladega six months earlier.

"It’s a very ironic situation ... living out the things I was frustrated about firsthand six months later," Newman said Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. "I want it to be safer because I plan on being there in the spring, racing just the same, trying to win that race."

On the last lap of the previous race at Talladega in April, Carl Edwards was trying to block Brad Keselowski when their cars made contact. Edwards then spun into Newman’s path, and the second hit sent Edwards’ car soaring over Newman’s hood into the air and the frontstretch safety fence. The battered car returned to the track while debris injured seven fans in the stands.

Last week, Newman was left upside down in the grass and was trapped inside the car for almost 15 minutes before safety workers were able to cut him free.

Newman, who made it clear that he "wasn’t dissatisfied" with the way he was removed from the car, said he met Wednesday with NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton and Sprint Cup Series director John Darby.

"We talked about the extrication of myself from the accident and, secondly, the reason why we were in that position in the first point, which to me was more important," Newman said. "From an aerodynamic standpoint, obviously our biggest thing is just to keep the cars on the ground."

Newman described the meeting as "good" and "very constructive" and said he learned about some testing that had been done, but that more testing needs to be done. He said they talked about the car and he shared his perspective on a few things.

So what needs to happen before NASCAR returns to Talladega next spring?

"There are for sure things that could be done and should be done based on what we saw, both Mark’s accident and my accident and the spring accident with Carl," said Newman, adding that it needs to be a collective effort by NASCAR and the teams to find solutions. "Six months is plenty of time to make those changes."

Only hours before last Sunday’s race, NASCAR banned bump-drafting through the turns at Talladega hoping to avoid crashes like Newman’s and Mark Martin, who went airborne in a crash with two laps to go.

Newman said he understands why that ban was implemented, but doesn’t think it is a fix.

"It was a horrible wreck that Ryan had to go through. It’s a horrible thing and we need to try to fix that," Martin said. "But that was not different than what we have seen for a good solid 15 years or more. It’s really hard to stop the cars from doing that when they get around like that."

Regardless, Newman looks forward to getting back into the car at the 1½-mile, high-banked Texas track.

"After last weekend, it will be nice to get back in the car and use some muscles I haven’t all week," Newman said.

Gordon earns pole at Texas, his 1st of season

FORT WORTH, Texas — Jeff Gordon is suddenly having all kind of success at Texas Motor Speedway, a track where he had never won until earlier this season.

Gordon captured his first pole of the season, waiting until the third-to-last race to extend his streak of 17 consecutive seasons with a pole, with a qualifying lap of 191.117 mph Friday at the 1½-mile, high-banked Texas track.

"We weren’t waiting," said Gordon, smiling. "We were working hard every weekend. And you know we’ve been very close. ... But the fact that we did get it and to do it here at Texas, a track where we have struggled at until recently, this is a great place to do it. We’re focused on ending this season the best we possibly can. "

Only David Pearson and Richard Petty have longer streaks than Gordon of seasons with a pole. Pearson went 20 consecutive seasons (1963-82) and Petty had 18 (1960-77).

Gordon is third in points, 192 behind Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson, who drives the No. 48 Chevrolet on which Gordon is listed as the owner. Johnson is vying for an unprecedented fourth consecutive season title and needs only to average a 10th-place finish the last three races to get it.

Mark Martin, another Hendrick driver, is second, only eight points ahead of Gordon’s No. 24. Martin qualified seventh and Johnson 12th for Sunday’s race.

Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch qualified second and third in Dodges, and Tony Stewart was fourth in his No. 14 Chevrolet.

When Gordon won at Texas in April, it broke a 47-race winless drought and gave him a victory at one of the two active tracks where the four-time series champion had never won. The other is Homestead, where the season finale is in two weeks.

Gordon also started on the pole last November in Texas, when he finished second. He started second in April before finally winning on his 17th try at the "tricky track" where he has the only two last-place finishes in his 578 career starts.

That is still Gordon’s only win this season.

"I would hardly say we own the place, but you know I think that we really didn’t get enough credit for the first three or four races here. We were the best car at just about every one of those races and we just had crazy weird things happen to us," Gordon said. "It just started a trend of not good results and they just continued."

One of those 43rd-place finishes came at Texas in April 2008 before things started getting good there.

Gordon started first at Martinsville in March, the week before the Texas spring race, when that field was set by owner’s points. He has rolled off in the No. 2 spot seven times this season.

NASCAR to honor fallen soldiers at Texas race

FORT WORTH — Dale Earnhardt Jr. loves to talk about his sponsorship ties to the military. He had a hard time finding the words Friday to discuss the massacre that left 13 people dead at Fort Hood.

Texas Motor Speedway is just 170 miles north of the site of a shooting spree that also injured 30, including the suspected gunman. A U.S. Army logo with the message "God Bless Our Fort Hood Troops" was painted on the infield grass Friday. Moments of silence were planned before each event, including Sunday's Sprint Cup race.

The first question of Ryan Newman's news conference wasn't about the Fort Hood massacre, but he switched gears in the middle of his answer to offer condolences. The Army is one of his sponsors.

Earnhardt, who drives the No. 88 Army National Guard car, initially declined a request to speak about the incident. Approached a few hours later, he still struggled for an answer.

"It's pretty scary, and obviously there's a lot of people that are dealing with a lot of loss today," Earnhardt told The Associated Press after a long pause. "They have a lot of people in the hospital, so there's a lot of families upset and dealing with a lot of trouble so it's pretty difficult for everybody."

A few years ago, Earnhardt proudly unveiled two National Guard paint schemes on his cars before one of the Texas races. His sport has strong ties to the military, too. NASCAR president Bill France Jr. once said the fan base was the people who "won wars" for the U.S.

Military flyovers are mainstays before Sprint Cup events, and troops are frequently honored on race days. A military official sometimes sits in on driver meetings.

Being in Fort Worth this weekend only heightened NASCAR's connection to the military after tragedy struck Fort Hood.

"We'll definitely be whatever part of the recovery process we can be independently and as a whole sport, I'm sure," Earnhardt said.

Newman said he took the military for granted before being sponsored by the Army. Now that he's had a chance to meet high-ranking officers, the Fort Hood news hit a lot closer to home, although he didn't know anyone directly affected by the shootings.

"Whatever happened, unfortunately to me it's a part of life," Newman said. "It's happened before. It will happen again. Whether it's in the U.S. Army, in a convenience store, it's a part of life. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families."

The National Guard also sponsors Jeff Gordon.

"I don't know how you really put it in perspective," Gordon said. "It was tragic."

Earnhardt said he figured the pro-military NASCAR crowd wouldn't be alone in reaching out.

"I think the whole world will pitch in on this deal," he said. "You just can't imagine how it is for those parents or those families or those wives who lost somebody to something that senseless or have somebody in the hospital trying to recover."

Dale Jr.: Nothing new, but Patrick good for NASCAR

FORT WORTH, Texas — Dale Earnhardt Jr. loves to talk about his sponsorship ties to the military. He had a hard time finding the words Friday to discuss the massacre that left 13 people dead at Fort Hood.

Texas Motor Speedway is just 170 miles north of the site of a shooting spree that also injured 30, including the suspected gunman. A U.S. Army logo with the message "God Bless Our Fort Hood Troops" was painted on the infield grass Friday. Moments of silence were planned before each event, including Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.

The first question of Ryan Newman’s news conference wasn’t about the Fort Hood massacre, but he switched gears in the middle of his answer to offer condolences. The Army is one of his sponsors.

Earnhardt, who drives the No. 88 Army National Guard car, initially declined a request to speak about the incident. Approached a few hours later, he still struggled for an answer.

"It’s pretty scary, and obviously there’s a lot of people that are dealing with a lot of loss today," Earnhardt told The Associated Press after a long pause. "They have a lot of people in the hospital, so there’s a lot of families upset and dealing with a lot of trouble so it’s pretty difficult for everybody."

A few years ago, Earnhardt proudly unveiled two National Guard paint schemes on his cars before one of the Texas races. His sport has strong ties to the military, too. NASCAR president Bill France Jr. once said the fan base was the people who "won wars" for the U.S.

Military flyovers are mainstays before Sprint Cup events, and troops are frequently honored on race days. A military official sometimes sits in on driver meetings.

Being in Fort Worth this weekend only heightened NASCAR’s connection to the military after tragedy struck Fort Hood.

"We’ll definitely be whatever part of the recovery process we can be independently and as a whole sport, I’m sure," Earnhardt said.

Newman said he took the military for granted before being sponsored by the Army. Now that he’s had a chance to meet high-ranking officers, the Fort Hood news hit a lot closer to home, although he didn’t know anyone directly affected by the shootings.

"Whatever happened, unfortunately to me it’s a part of life," Newman said. "It’s happened before. It will happen again. Whether it’s in the U.S. Army, in a convenience store, it’s a part of life. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families."

The National Guard also sponsors Jeff Gordon.

"I don’t know how you really put it in perspective," Gordon said. "It was tragic."

Earnhardt said he figured the pro-military NASCAR crowd wouldn’t be alone in reaching out.

"I think the whole world will pitch in on this deal," he said. "You just can’t imagine how it is for those parents or those families or those wives who lost somebody to something that senseless or have somebody in the hospital trying to recover."

Kyle Busch races to 5th straight NASCAR Trucks win

FORT WORTH, Texas — Kyle Busch started his Texas tripleheader with another NASCAR Trucks Series victory.

Busch has won each of his last five truck races, extending the streak that began at Bristol in August on Friday night when he beat Matt Crafton by 0.725 seconds at the 1½-mile, high-banked Texas track.

"That’s cool, man. That’s a pretty proud accomplishment," Busch said. "I’ve wanted to win a truck race here for a long time."

Busch has won seven times in 13 starts this season in the No. 51 Toyota, and been outside the top two only three times.

Series points leader Ron Hornaday was third, nearly 10 seconds behind Crafton, his closest competitor for the season title. Hornaday has a 197-point lead with two races left.

Busch passed Hornaday on lap 98, the bump move between turns 3 and 4 getting Hornaday loose, though he managed to keep the No. 33 Chevrolet off the wall.

"Kyle bent the rear bumper in pretty good, and raced me real hard," Hornaday said. "That ruined the rest of the night when I tried to save the truck when it went sideways. Top three, that’s all you can ask for. Keep doing that, we’ll look good."

Hornaday got right on Busch’s bumper a lap later, but got loose again before telling his spotter to remind Busch’s spotter that "Talladega was last week."

Busch said he had a good run and "didn’t mean to get into him as hard as I did. "

Busch led the final 50 laps in the 147-lap race. Crafton led twice for 26 laps and Hornaday led three times for 36 laps.

Crafton, who finished second at Texas in June to Todd Bodine, was in fuel conversation mode the closing laps. By time his crew chief told him to make a run, it was too late to overtake Busch.

"We had to save fuel for so long on that run," Crafton said. "I didn’t think we could make it all the way."

Busch, who wasn’t at the Texas truck race in June, is running in all three NASCAR races in Texas this weekend.

Next is the Nationwide race Saturday, where Busch is looking to win his fourth in a row in that series at Texas. He has never won a Sprint Cup race at the track.

With his first truck victory at Texas, Busch has now won 18 times this season in the three major series — four in Cup and seven in the Nationwide Series.

It was the 14th truck victory for Toyota, the most for the manufacturer since getting into the series in 2004. Busch has half of those, including his current winning streak that incorporates Bristol, Chicago, New Hampshire, Talladega and now Texas.

-- Stephen Hawkins

Kenseth takes Nationwide pole

FORT WORTH — Matt Kenseth will start on the pole for the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Texas, five spots ahead of points leader Kyle Busch.

Kenseth earned his first pole in his 13 Nationwide races this season, the 16th in his career, with a qualifying lap of 187.201 mph in his Ford. David Ragan also starts his Ford on the front row.

Busch, who has a 205-point lead over Carl Edwards with three races left, starts sixth. Edwards starts directly behind him in the No. 8 spot.

Busch won from the pole at Texas in April, one of his seven Nationwide victories.