HurriKAHNE Destroys Charlotte

Kasey Kahne waited 8 months to finally get behind the wheel of a Hendrick car. Hired by Rick Hendrick last year, Kahne was excited to finally show the NASCAR world he could make it to victory lane once again. Turns out, it wasn't as easy as Kasey thought.

2012 started out as a rough season for Kahne. He was either wrecking cars or blowing up each week. It wasn't until race 6 at Texas that things started to turn around. We began to see Kahne showing consistency. He finished 7th at Texas, 8th at Kansas, 5th at Richmond, 4th at Talladega and 8th at Darlington. Something sparked for the #5 team.

Kasey Kahne went into the Coca-Cola 600 with a fast car and 2 previous wins. This finally seemed like everything was in his favor to earn that first win at HMS. And as the night went on, Kahne kept getting better.

One point in the race Kahne went from 4th to 1st in 8 laps. He was taking chances and rocketing toward the front. Kahne knew he had a shot, and boy, did he go for it.

"I just knew for myself, I needed to step up. Our team is solid. Our car is solid. Mr. Hendrick gives us everything we need to win races and run up front. [Sunday] night we were able to put it all together," Kahne said.

Every driver remember their first win. Whether it is their first win personally, or whether it is a first with a team, they all remember the start of a new journey. Kasey Kahne will always remember his 300th Cup start, it was the day he won his first Hendrick victory. Hendrick's 201st Cup win that is.

Saturday Night Racing for the Million

 Arguably the best night of NASCAR is the All-Star Race. Some of the sport's top drivers go out, leaving points aside, to compete for a million bucks and of course bragging rights. The All-Star race took place Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway and was definitely the most aggressive race so far in 2012. 

The Sprint Showdown is a 40 lap dash to determine spots 21 and 22 in the All-Star race. The final 23rd spot is determined by a fan vote that fans can participate in online. AJ Allmendinger started on pole, but had trouble earlier, as in BEFORE the green flag. Coming off of Turn 3 on the last pace lap before the green the 22 car of Allmendinger had a flat tire that forced him to pit with the pace car. He had to catch up from the rear and stay on the lead lap in order for him to regain position up front. The Dinger did just that and raced up to 2nd before the Showdown was complete. 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was dominate through all 40 laps and was the winner in the end. The usual fan vote winner was able to race his way in and gave the other drivers eligible for the vote a sigh of relief. 

After the race the winner of the fan vote was announced. The NASCAR champion from Texas, Bobby Labonte, came in 2nd for the Sprint All-Star Race fan vote and could start 23rd.

Now, on to the main attraction. The Sprint Cup All-Star race has been a thrilling and memorable race in our sport for over 25 years. Earnhardt's famous "Pass in the Grass" and the finish that left winner Davey Allison in the hospital, all took place on All-Star night. The one night when points don't matter and when one driver gets a million dollars richer.

Let's breakdown the format of the All-Star race:

- The race takes place in four 20 lap segments.

- The car leading at the end of each individual segment can enter pit road in the top 4 for a mandatory pit stop (Winner of segment 1 enters 1st, winner of segement 2 enters 2nd etc.)

 - The last segment is a 10 lap shootout (with the 4 segment winners up front) to the end to determine our winner

With that said, Kyle Busch started on pole and started 1st in the 2012 All-Star race. Busch dominated literally the whole 20 laps, except the last few. Jimmie Johnson passed Busch and captured the first spot for the 10 lap dash. Kenseth won the 2nd segment and Brad Keselowski won the the 3rd segment over Kasey Kahne by less than half a second.

Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle, both Roush Fenway drivers, had blown engines early on in the race. Edwards' came first, ending his night and sending him to the garage. Biffle's was slightly worse. The engine blew and was followed by a burst of flames. During the in-car camera you could just barely see the driver in the cockpit. Safety crews rushed to the car and Biffle got out just before it could have been disastrous. Carl Edwards mentioned in the SPEED booth that Roush Yates was trying a new strategy and it obviously did not benefit the engines. 

Johnson had a interesting strategy for the remaining 3 segments. Kenseth won the 3rd segment and did the same thing. They were more than off the pace for the start of the other segments. Almost half of the track separated them from the lead cars. The idea seems smart. They are already guaranteed to enter pit road for the last stop first, so why not save your car?

10 to go and Johnson, Kenseth, Keselowski and  Dale Jr. all entered pit road, respectively. They all exited in the same order too. 

Johnson got a great restart and led for most of the 10 laps. He won his fourth All-Star race (tied fr most of all time) and his 2nd win in a row this season. Boss, Rick Hendrick, even joined in on the victory celebrations. Johnson rode Hendrick around the track on the open driver's side window. 

Rick Hendrick rides with Johnson

"We were running 50, 60 miles an hour in first gear," Johnson said of the post-race victory lap. "That's as slow as I could go in first gear. I had my arm around Rick's leg, trying to hang onto him. I could feel the wind pulling on him. I can't really go any slower." 

Jimmie Johnson seems to finally be on a turning point this season. Winning Hendrick's 200th last week, his pit crew won the Sprint Pit Crew challenge for the first time and the legendary All-Star race this week. This is a week JJ sure doesn't want to end anytime soon, but it's also huge confidence booster to take with them for the rest of the season.

Picture references:

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/2012/writers/bruce_martin/05/20/all.star.race.five.things/johnson-t1.jpg

 http://www.omnicorse.it/img/articoli/evidenza/18139_jimmie-johnson-trionfa-nella-all-star-race.jpg

Milestone: Hendrick's 200th Win!

Photo courtesy; http://www2.tbo.com

    Finally, the long awaited 200th. After traveling around the country for 11 weeks with 2 trailers filled with "200th win" souvenirs, they were able to wear them proud last night.  Jimmie Johnson was the driver crowned with trophy last night in the Southern 500 at Darlington. He had the car to beat all night and led the most laps. This also ended Johnson's 16 race winless streak, giving him his first win of 2012. For months, fans were wondering who was going to get it. Who would be the lucky Hendrick driver to win the 200th? In the end it was Jimmie. 5-time felt a sense of relief as he crossed the checkered line. And boy was Rick Hendrick proud! Rick had come to the race late, with less than 30 laps to go after being at a wedding for one of his friends. But, the last G-W-C was more than stressful. Johnson was low on fuel after his last pit stop on Lap 229. He needed to conserve fuel to make it to the checkers. None the less, he made it and was able to score the win. Johnson is now 5th in points.

Jimmie jumped out of his winning car in victory lane and got a big hug from Rick Hendrick.
Jimmie explained what Rick said to him, "He said, 'Two hundred is great, but let's go get 250.' So that tells you where his head is. I love it. Oh, man, what a day!"

Denny Hamlin, another strong car of the night, finished 2nd and is now 4th in points. Tony Stewart finished 3rd

Matt Kenseth came home 6th and trimmed 2 points off of teammate Greg Biffle's lead in points. Biffle was strong all night, but had trouble late in the race, fighting a loose racecar.

A late race incident involving Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman left tempers flying on pit road, a classic Darlington trait. Busch had hit the wall and spun. Newman checked up and was tagged by Aric Almirola and sent Newman flying into the inside wall.
Newman and Busch talked after the race, and everything seemed fine, until the crews got involved.
Newman's crew marched over to Busch, and started to attack. Newman's gas man swung his fists at Busch and officials had to hold him back as best they could.

"It's crazy, pit road," said Tony Gibson, Newman's crew chief. "Things happen, and everybody's emotions run high. It's a hot night. Everybody settles down and talks about it. We're all good. We can't control drivers. Nothing against the team -- none of those guys. They didn't do anything wrong."

This race did not meet to the stereotypical Darlington race that most people expect, though. The race ran caution-free for 172 laps and never saw "The Big One". The worst that happened was a few spins or cars in the wall.

The expectations run high for next week's All-Star Race. This one is always a good one. Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson, Rick Hendrick and the whole HMS team! The 200th finally came last night, at one of NASCAR's most historic races.