Posts Tagged ‘Jeff Gordon’

The Sprint Cup cars tested at Talladega Superspeedway Tuesday, Jeff Gordon had an answer for those wanting to know if replacing rear wings with vertical blade spoilers was going to improve racing in the series.

He said check back after the test at Charlotte Motor Speedway next week.

Jeff Gordon was asked the question of whether the return to the use of spoilers is a good idea, well,   He’s for it.

Twenty-four cars took to the track at Talladega Monday. All had spoilers on their rear deck lids.

Teams started the day with a 1 1/32-inch sized restrictor plate.

Jimmie Johnson had the fastest time in the morning session as he turned a lap at 196.467 mph. That was 8 mph faster than Juan Pablo Montoya’s pole-winning lap last April at Talladega.

Gordon, Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, also posted a lap at better than 196 mph.

In the afternoon session, drivers were able to ride in packs and get the feel for how the spoiler-fitted cars performed in the draft at the high-banked, 2.66-mile superspeedway.

The plate size went down to 31/32 of an inch and the teams adjusted the size of their rear spoilers in order to find that happy medium between high speeds and handling.

Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president of competition, was pleased with how the adjustments went during the afternoon practice.

“We saw that the closure rates were a little too quick in the initial drafting session after lunch,” said Pemberton. “So, we had the teams make some adjustments, including going down on the plate size and trimming the spoiler back some. We believe we came away here today with a good starting point and are looking forward to coming back here next month with a great race.”

Gordon said that because Talladega is such a unique venue, it was tough to figure out what, if anything, teams learned on Tuesday.

“The balance is really what we’re interested in, is how much the balance is going to change versus just overall grip,” the four-time champion said. “You know, if it plants the back of the car too much, we’re just out of tools to make the front of the car work in turn. But we’re kind of hoping that it actually helps the front of the car turn a little bit, too.

“So I’m very anxious to get to Charlotte (next week). This test is really what’s going to happen in the draft. You’re not going to find a lot about balance and those things, plus the spoiler is bigger on this car. When we get to Charlotte I think is when we’re going to find out what a spoiler really does in comparison to a wing.”

Gordon will not have to wait to get to Charlotte to make once judgment on the cars which were tested at Talladega: They sure look better.

“Yeah, I was never crazy about the way the wing was mounted on the back of the car,” he said. “When I envisioned a wing being put on our car, I envisioned it a little bit more like a Trans Am car, where it was raised up, more of a cool looking concept, and also fit a function of aerodynamics, just made the cars a little bit more futuristic.

“But, you know, the wing that we put on there was just a glorified spoiler. It sat down on the deck lid. It wasn’t very appealing. We weren’t really using it efficiently. So when I heard about going back to spoilers, I was totally fine with it. This car looks good with a spoiler on it.”

Jim Pedley

At RacinToday.com cotributed to this report.

Kurt Busch captured the pole for Sunday’s Shelby American NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, knocking off Jeff Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Busch, a native of Las Vegas, had things going his way on Friday afternoon, as his No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge Charger raced for the pole with a track record lap of 188.719 miles per hour. Auto Club Speedway in 2007 was the last pole Kurt Busch had.

Kurt Busch said that the team only made one mock-qualifying run during the practice session, where he failed to make the top 20. Steve Addington and Kurts put their heads together and made the right adjustments to put the Penske Dodge on the pole.

“It was really rough over the bumps, and that was all we focused on,” said Busch. “And I felt like that made the difference in the end. We didn’t really tighten the car up or loosen the car up, we just focused on those bumps.”

“I was getting up on the wheel, don’t get me wrong,” he said. “I love Vegas, I love this atmosphere. I just need to get it together for the full 400 miles on Sunday.”

Up until Kurt’s qualifying run it was Henrick’s Motorsports up front.

Dale Earnhardt qualified second in his Hendrick No. 88 Chevy, and beat the track record by more than three-tenths of a second, stunning the field with a lap of 188.173 mph.

“It was a good lap,” Earnhardt said. “We worked really hard to get the National Guard Chevy as good as we could.”

It was looking as though Earnhardt’s speed might hold up and maybe give him his first pole since Texas in April 2008. Jeff Gordon came up later in the day and bumped Earnhardt off the pole with a blistering lap of 188.646 mph.

“I’m a little speechless, so ‘wow’ might be the only word I have,” said Gordon after his pole-winning lap. “That was
a really fun lap. Man, these guys have just done an awesome job. … I got both of ends of it pretty good, but it was on the edge.”

But Gordon’s didn’t stay on the pole for long, as Busch knocked Gordon off the pole putting him on outside of Row 1 with a lap that was .011 seconds quicker than Gordon.

There was a short interruption in qualifying  by a minor generator explosion in the infield. Nobody was reported injuried.

After it was all said and done, Kurt Busch had the pole, followed by Gordon, Ryan Newman, Earnhardt and Kyle Busch, the defending race winner.

The second five consisted of Joey Logano, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Results: Shelby American Qualifying

Speed TV contributed to this report

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With the NASCAR Sprint Cup teams heading to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s Shelby American, here are some early season story lines, with 2 of 36 races in the books for 2010.

With great start to the season by Kevin Harvick and the rest of Richard Childress Racing, they are trying to make the 2009 a thing of the past, and is wasting no time doing so. After two races this season, Kevin Harvick is the series points leader, Clint Bowyer is second and Jeff Burton is fifth.

This follows Sunday’s race at Auto Club Speedway where Harvick and Burton finished 2-3, with Bowyer eighth. Now all RCR needs is a victory. Harvick’s winless streak is up to 109 races. Burton has gone 43 races without a win, while Bowyer has gone 64.

Kurt and Kyle Busch head to their home town, Kyle Busch is the defending champion of Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Shelby American. Kurt comes into this week’s race 11th in the series standings while Kyle is 13th.

It’s early in the season. But it’s just doesn’t seem right to see Jeff Gordon outside the top 20 at any point in the season.

After starting the season with two finishes outside the top 15, Gordon is in 21st in points. Just like a race at Auto Club Speedway came at the perfect time for Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, an event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway should lift Gordon.

Scott Speed is 15th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver points standings, while Paul Menard is 18th.

Both of those drivers are positioning their teams to be in the top 35 of car owner standings after the fifth week of the season. After Week 5, automatic starting spots are given to the top 35 teams. For the first five weeks, the final 2009 owner points are used.

Speed is being forced to qualify for races on time to start this year, since his team finished 36th in the 2009 owner standings.

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Any NASCAR Sprint Cup driver or crew chief will tell you pretty much the same thing about the Daytona 500, It’s not an accurate predictor of what’s to come in the year. Daytona has its own unique challenges being a restrictor-plate race, and tracks like Auto Club Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway are a better gauge of performance, of who’s fast, who isn’t and who is capable of winning.

No driver, especially those with championship hopes, wants to start the year with a bad race at Daytona. Last year, for example, Mark Martin suffered through two engine failures and a catastrophic tire explosion in the first four races and spent the next 22 races furiously digging out from 34th in points to get back in the top 12 in points.

Several of the top drivers in the Cup series had a disappointing Daytona 500, so they’ll be looking to rebound in a big way Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California, with the running of the Auto Club 500.

Six of the 12 drivers who qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2009 finished outside the top 20 in the Daytona 500: Tony Stewart (22nd), Kurt Busch (23rd), Jeff Gordon (26th), Kasey Kahne (30th), Ryan Newman (34th) and Jimmie Johnson (35th). Certainly, it isn’t panic time for any of them by a long shot.

“It sucks,” Johnson said of his Daytona 500, which ended with a broken rear axle. “But it’s a long season and we came out of here last year with a crashed race car and still came back. We have a little work ahead of us.”

“Daytona was very disappointing – more so than I think a lot of people realize,” said Newman, Stewart’s teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing. “We were just biding our time in the back of the field and, with 10 laps or so to go, we decided it was time to make our move. I don’t really know what happened, but I was the recipient of it. We were seven laps from the end of the race, well before the green-white-checker, and we ended up with a destroyed race car. It was just very disappointing. We wanted to come out of the box strong at Daytona, but we walked away with a 34th-place finish. We had good cars but we didn’t get the finish we wanted.”

Gordon, who finished second at both ACS races last year, is ready for better days, too.

“I’m hoping we can run better and get better as the season goes on,” said Gordon, “I certainly feel that we have that capability. Last year, I think we were the best team during the first 10 races, but we flattened out. We’re looking at the championship differently this year. We want to start the season off right, but we want to build and get better as the season goes along. “And show our strengths at the right time — not only for winning races, but battling for the championship.”

Speed TV contributed to this report.

What another great race from Daytona International Speedway. Close racing just about all night with tons of lead changes. But Jammie McMurry driver of the #1 Tracker Boats Chevy Impala prevailed and took the checkered flag winning the 52nd running of the Daytona 500.

The adrenaline rush of the final two laps, the second attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish under rules implemented by NASCAR before Thursday’s Gatorade Duels, all but erased the frustration of almost 2½ hours of stoppages as track workers at Daytona International Speedway repaired potholes in the asphalt between Turns 1 and 2.

You couldn’t have asked for a more story book finish. When other teams wrote him off and even Jammie wasn’t sure where he would be for the 2010 season, owner Chip Ganassi  gave McMurry the chance to come back and drive for Earnhardt Ganassi racing.

“Oh, my God!” McMurray screamed after taking the checkered flag. “I can’t freaking believe it right now. Thank you so much. I can’t believe we just won the Daytona 500.”

Later,  in Victory Lane, McMurray fought back tears. Though he won one race last season at Roush Fenway Racing, he struggled in his final year there and was the odd man out from his team’s NASCAR-mandated reduction from five teams to four.

“It’s a dream — it really is,” he said. “To be where I was last year, and for Johnny Morris owner of sponsor Bass Pro Shops, Chip and co-owner Felix Sabates to take a chance on me and let me come back what a way to pay them back.”

With the new areo package and restrictor plate size, cars were not able to come up through the field like years past. There wasn’t a lot of drivers  sitting out back waiting to avoid the big wreck.

The Roush Fenway Ford Fusions look to be strong all night. Greg Biffle in the #16 3M car finished third, Matt Kenseth in the #17 Crown Royal car finished 8th and soon to be father Carl Edwards finished a respectable 9th place.

Clint Bowyer, who led 37 laps, finished fourth, followed by David Reutimann. Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick the 2009 Daytona 500 winner.

Under the new NASCAR rules the race leader must take the white flag and start the final lap under green before the race can end, unless three attempts at a green-white-checkered-flag finish are exhausted.

The field failed to make it to the white flag under green on a restart on Lap 203, because NASCAR called a caution for a wreck off Turn 2 involving Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Robert Richardson and Jeff Gordon. By then, McMurray had rocketed to second position behind Harvick and restarted next to Harvick on Lap 207.

The push from Biffle gave McMurry the lead he need to win the race.

Coming into turn three on the last lap  McMurry look in his mirror only to see the #88 Chevy National Guard car driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr, McMurray said, “No!” but there wasn’t enough time for Jr to make a move for the win.

Nascar .com contributed to this report.

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