Busch Sweep at Richmond

Photo courtesy; SPEED.com

 He did it again. This time as a driver. Kyle Busch was able to score yet another Richmond victory. He captured his 4th Cup win at the track just hours after brother Kurt took his Nationwide team car to the winner's circle. (Link to my blog post here.) During the 400 laps under the lights, Carl Edwards showed tremendous dominance in his Roush Ford. Leading almost half the of the race he ran into a bit of trouble on one of the final restarts. NASCAR black flagged Carl after he supposedly jumped the restart. He was said to be leading the race with Tony Stewart beside him in 2nd when he accelerated the car before the restart box marked just before the checkered stripe. Tony spun the tires making it appear that Edwards accelerated too soon. 99 crew chief Bob Osborne argued this with a NASCAR official after being black flagged. The black flag caused him a drive through penalty and found himself back in 15th will only around 20 laps to go. Edwards was lapped by Stewart, the leader, but was able to gain the lap back when he received the Lucky Dog. Edwards was not the only driver hit with a penalty. Jimmie Johnson had to start from the back of the pack on Lap 319 after one of his tire crew members rolled the tire back to the box giving them a pit violation penalty. 

Bob Osborne talks with NASCAR official after black flag.

The key moment for the 18 team of Kyle Busch was on pit road. Edging leader Tony Stewart, who had a poor stop, allowed Busch to restart 1st with 9 to go. On the final restart Tony spun his tires, once again, allowing the man himself Dale Earnhardt Jr. to move up to 2nd! The fans screamed just hoping NASCAR's favorite driver could pull it off with 2 to go. Little do they know how incredibly experienced Kyle is at Richmond. Busch going for his 4th Richmond victory in a row comes across the line P1 with yet another night of celebration. Once again Hendrick's 200th win slips from under him. Maybe they will get 'em at 'Dega.

Meanwhile in victory circle, a very ecstatic Kyle Busch climbs from his Toyota Camry.

"I don't know where that last caution came from, but it was our saving grace," Busch said. "It was a gift. We came down pit road and [crew chief] Dave Rogers and the guys went to work and gave us a great pit stop, got me out front. [That] gave me the lead so I could restart the race how I wanted to. That was the win right there."

Carl Edwards spoke out about the black flag situation and his perspective of the call.

"I thought NASCAR made a mistake, they lined us up wrong, and I was at a disadvantage being on the outside," Edwards said. "So I thought, 'I'm getting the best start I can get right now. I got the best start I could get, looks like Tony waited or spun his tires, so they black-flagged me." He is still confused on why exactly NASCAR black flagged him. I think everyone was confused on NASCAR's bizarre call at the end of the race. 

Tony Stewart was also a little "angry" about NASCAR's ruling system and the obnoxious last caution that cost him the win. Pit road is also a HUGE factor in determining the outcome of a race.

"When the caution is for a plastic bottle on the backstretch, it's hard to feel good losing that one," Stewart said. "And we gave it away on pit road. So, we did everything we could to throw it away, got taken away from us."

So, yet another win is in the books for Joe Gibbs Racing and maybe a fresh new start for a much changed Kyle Busch after all that happened last season. Is this his year? We'll find out soon enough in the coming weeks. 

First Success for KBM

Photo courtesy; SPEED.com

 Don't ever count out the Busch brothers. Though they have been outside of victory lane more than not this season, they came back to show the crowd how it's done at Richmond.
Every weekend it's usually Kyle Busch inside the cockpit of a legendary #18 Joe Gibbs car. Winning almost half of the Nationwide races along with Carl Edwards last year, 2012 has been different. Kyle Busch has taken the opportunity to operate his own Nationwide team. A dream for many NASCAR drivers, and a challenge few get to do. Kyle and his brother Kurt Busch are splitting the season driving a sharp black and neon green #54 Toyota. Many doubted Kyle's team would go anywhere, as most drivers tend to flop on the whole "own-my-own-racing-team thing." As he usually does, Kyle never fails to show everyone he can accomplish just about anything, starting with tonight's victory at Richmond.

Photo courtesy; SPEED.com

Kurt Busch piloted the #54 Monster Energy car tonight at Richmond Motor Speedway. Finding himself with a decent car unlike the other Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) entries in the past. KBM has had a rough start this season with multiple blown engines and fender benders. Tonight's car actually had something to prove and was running with the big shot names like Joe Gibbs and Richard Childress. Kurt and a nervous boss Kyle found the team leading with about 15 to go. Fellow Cup driver and Kyle's JGR teammate Denny Hamlin was lurking behind. With the #11 inching closer and closer, the tension kept rising higher and higher. Before you knew it Denny was on Kurt's bumper with 2 to go! Side by side the cars ran for the ENTIRE final lap! Coming into Turn 4 Denny nudged the left side of Busch causing the 54 car to slide up into the wall and just barely launch in front of Hamlin to grab the long anticipated first victory for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Another great story of the night was Ryan Blaney, son of NASCAR driver Dave Blaney. Ryan made his first ever Nationwide start tonight and came home 7th. Travis Pastrana, also making his NASCAR debut, finished 22nd. 

An emotional Kyle Busch [team owner] was speechless and overjoyed in his post-race interview. "This is the most emotional I've ever been for a win," said Kyle Busch also mentioning that he doesn't care that he did not get the first win for the team. He is perfectly fine with his older brother earning it. For a guy who is known for his aggressive and arrogant way about him, that's saying something. Kurt and Kyle both celebrated in victory lane. You could see the pride in Kurt Busch's face when talking about younger brother Kyle's racing team.

"When your driving for a guy named Busch you've gotta be on it." - Kurt Busch

Biffle Earns Long Awaited Win

Photo courtesy; NASCAR.com

Since 2010, Roush Fenway driver Greg Biffle has longed for his next Sprint Cup victory. After a surprising rough year last season, not making the Chase, The Biff wasn't sure when a win would come. 2012 has definitely been more promising. Early and consistant success allowed him to lead the points multiple times this season. It was obvious Biffle's time in victory circle was not far away. His moment to shine came at Texas last night, and at a Roush dominated track. How fitting.

The Biff was running up front all night long. He started alongside pole sitter, Martin Truex Jr. and ran in the Top 5 for most of the 334 laps. Leading or not we were sure that he was one of the cars to beat. The race, I have to admit, was extremely tedious and down right boring. Long green flag runs and little bumping and shoving. But, as one would expect in NASCAR it got a little more lively during the final 20 laps. We find Jimmie Johnson leading, and many thought (as they did at Martinsville) that this would be it! Finally, Hendrick's 200th win! But sorry to the Hendrick fans, last night was not the time for the 200th. Biffle charged, with less than 25 to go, and passed Johnson for the lead. He was not about to break the Roush streak after Ricky Stenhouse's victory in the Nationwide series Friday night. Biffle knew he had to get it done! He pulled ahead as the leaders did all night and was able to FINALLY catch his break. Winning his first Cup win since 2010! And boy did his burnout show it! Roush has always been good at Texas, and I think everyone knew the Cat in the Hat [Jack Roush] would continue the momentum.

I've got to say, even through all the yawning and slight napping during those 334 laps, it was a well deserved finish for ole' Greg Biffle. A marvelous performance from all of the Roush teams this weekend. Not to mention a record amount of green flag runs. It only took 2 cautions to get to the checkers.

Childress Expands In Cup

Formerly driven by Clint Bowyer the No. 33 RCR Chevy Impala has had a limited 2012 season. With only a schedule of 5 races piloted between Elliott Sadler and Brendan Gaughan, Richard Childress has decided to extend it's time on the track. The No. 33 Chevy was locked into the first 5 races thanks to Clint Bowyer's 13th place finish in points last season. The car has also been able to remain in the Top 35 this season, allowing Childress to continue running the entry. Hillman co-owner, Joe Falk, will most likely operate the car. 

I can see why Richard Childress would want to keep the 33 alive. His grandson Austin Dillon, Camping World Truck Series champion, could be ready for Cup in 2013 and in need of a ride. Elliott Sadler and Brendan Gaughan also show potential in Cup, Sadler already having experience.

There is no official word on who will pilot the No. 33, but Sadler, Gaughan, Dillon and Joe Falk's nephew C. E. Falk will probably get first dibs on the extended starts.
Childress did comment on the extension and mentioned Sadler.
“Elliott may race it—we’re probably going to (race) it the rest of the year, bringing in some different people to run it,” Childress said.

It looks like we will be seeing the No. 33 on the track more often, starting at Texas in 2 weeks.

Newman Wins An Unexpected Martinsville Finish

Photo courtesy; bleacherreport.com

What seemed like a Bristol repeat (lacking the beating and banging) turned out to be the most exciting finish of the 2012 season. Hendrick Motorsports dominated the half mile short track, Martinsville, Sunday afternoon. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson both led most of the race with Dale Earnhardt Jr. staying the the Top-5 all day. The race was slow moving with only a few minor wrecks and very little cautions for the first 3/4 of the race. A late race caution that came out on Lap 498 caused a twist of events to unfold right in front of Ryan Newman. Okay, here's what happened. The first attempt of a green-white-checkered came on Lap 498. The caution with 2 laps to go came at an unfortunate time for the front runners. Jeff Gordon, our leader, along with teammates Johnson and Jr. (and many others) were short on fuel. No one knew how far they could drive it to the end, or even if they could make it to the next green flag. Both Johnson and Gordon made a risky move and decided to stay out, while Jr. pitted. Dale Jr. now would restart in 6th. They approach the green flag double file. The cars were barely across the checkered line when from out of no where Clint Bowyer in his No. 15 machine makes it 3-wide with the leaders. Beating and banging all trying to snatch the lead the 3 cars spun out, taking most of the front pack out with them. Definitely not the outcome Clint was looking for. A perfect window of opportunity opened for Ryan Newman as he slid by the wreckage to take the lead. He found himself leading the 2nd green-white-checkered, only 2 laps away from victory. Penske driver, AJ Allmendinger followed behind Newman. They would restart 1-2. For the 2nd restart AJ and Ryan's cars were stuck like glue down the front stretch. They stayed this way for 2 whole laps, when Ryan finally pulled away from Allmendinger and went on to win the race at Martinsville. It may not have been the first Cup win AJ hoped for, but he did earn his best Cup finish in 2nd. Newman added yet another win to the list at Stewart-Haas Racing. It's the second win in a row for the Championship winning team, after Tony Stewart's rain shortened win at Vegas last week.