NSCS Recap: Johnson Makes Statement With Dover Win
(Photo credit: CIA STOCK PHOTO)
DOVER, Del. (Sept. 27, 2009) — Polesitter Jimmie Johnson threw down the gauntlet in Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway, but Mark Martin was up to the challenge.

With his fifth victory at Dover and second at the track this year, Johnson affirmed that his No. 48 Chevrolet team is a serious threat to win a fourth straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

Martin, however, retained the lead in the series standings with a runner-up finish to Johnson, who led 271 laps in claiming his fourth victory of the season. Martin leads his Hendrick Motorsports teammate by 10 points after two of 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Continue reading “Race Recap: Johnson wins Dover”

RACE RECAP | DOVER | RACE #2 IN THE CHASE
10 Ryan Newman
9 Tony Stewart
8 Kasey Kahne
7 A.J. Allmendinger
6 Jeff Gordon
5 Kurt Busch
4 Juan Pablo Montoya
3 Matt Kenseth a much needed good run
2 Mark Martin continues to lead the points by 10

VICTORY LANE

1 Jimmie Johnson sat on the pole, led the most laps, and dominated this race for the win. It’s Jimmie’s 5th win at The Monster Mile leading 271 laps as he sweeps the wins at this track for 2009 and his 4th overall win this season.

OTHER STORIES ON THE DAY

Red flag at lap 32 after the 96 car of Bobby Labonte took the inside line in front of Joey Logano who checked up his 20 car and Tony Stewart sent his former car for a wild ride. Mangled race cars were Robby Gordon, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, and Reed Sorenson.

Kyle Busch slapped the wall hard and the 18 spent some time in the garage before coming back out for some points and finished 31st.

Other Chase drivers finished like this: Carl Edwards 11th, Greg Biffle 13th, Brian Vickers 18th, Denny Hamlin 22nd

Up Next: Kansas

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photo

Red flag at lap 32 after the 96 car of Bobby Labonte took the inside line in front of Joey Logano who checked up his 20 car and Tony Stewart sent his former car for a wild ride.  Mangled race cars were Robby Gordon, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, and Reed Sorenson.  All drivers have been released from the infield care center and are fine.

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 THE HOME DEPOT TOYOTA: “I’m fine. It scared the heck out of me that’s pretty much what the biggest thing was. I’m not sure what happened. The spotter was clearing me low. I got down there and then they checked up getting into the corner. I guess I got hit from behind, I’m not really sure. I haven’t seen a replay yet. I’m not sure I want to see a replay [smiles]. It was like it started rolling and I was in there like please make this thing stop and it just kept going and going. I’m fine. It goes to show how safe these cars are. I think we had a pretty good Home Depot Toyota. We took off good. We lost a few stops after the first pit stop but it was early in the race for that. It just startled me. I’m fine. That’s the big part.” HOW DOES THAT COMPARE TO ANYTHING THAT YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH? “It was the wildest ride I’ve ever been on. You can’t go on a rollercoaster worse than that [smiles]. I’m just still shaki ng, that’s all but I’m fine. I’m not even sore which is really surprising after all that. I’m just happy to land on my wheels. When I was on my side that was when I was getting worried for a minute. The good Lord was with me on that one.”

By Tim Tuttle
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

LAS VEGAS — Johnny Sauter drove to his first victory Saturday in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton was second in the Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photo

Sauter, a rookie in the trucks who has three wins in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, passed Crafton for the lead on the outside exiting Turn 2 on the 130th of 146-laps on the 1.5-mile track and steadily pulled away to win by 2.47 seconds.

“It’s unbelievable, man,” Sauter said. “This is a big deal for me. Last year at this time, all I was doing was start-and-parks in the Nationwide Series. We’ve had speed all year, but we haven’t been able to close the deal. Our truck has been phenomenal for the last two months.”

Sauter, driving a Chevrolet, became the first rookie to win in the truck series since Scott Speed on May 30, 2008, at Dover International Speedway.

Continue reading “Johnny Sauter gets first Truck Series win at Vegas”

NNS Recap: Bowyer Rights RCR Ship With Dover Win

Mission accomplished. After passing polesitter Kyle Busch for the lead on Lap 118 at Dover International Speedway, Bowyer led the final 83 laps of the Dover 200 and beat Mike Bliss to the finish line by 1.319 seconds to win his second series race of the season and the eighth of his career.

On a day that didn’t fulfill the promise of rain until the race was over, Busch, who came home fourth and widened his series lead to 211 points over fifth-place finisher Carl Edwards, wasn’t the lightning rod for controversy this time. That distinction went to third-place finisher Brad Keselowski, and Denny Hamlin, who spun into the wall on Lap 190 after contact from Keselowski’s Chevrolet.

After the race, Hamlin confronted Keselowski on pit road, but crew members broke up the shoving match before it could escalate.

Team owner Richard Childress asked Bowyer to replace Stephen Leicht in the No. 29 and run a three-race stretch starting at Dover to establish a baseline of consistency for the car. Bowyer, who won the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship last year, has shared driving duties with Leicht and Jeff Burton this season.

Continue reading “Clint Bowyer slays the Dover Monster”