Chandra and Jimmie Johnson welcomed a baby girl Wednesday, July 7 at 1:44 p.m. ET in Charlotte, NC. She weighed 6 lbs., 14 oz. and measured 19.5″ long. Dad offered that she is absolutely beautiful and affectionately referred to her as “Baby J” as the proud parents have yet to decide on a name. While commenting that sleep was at a minimum last night, he is extremely happy about getting to spend time with his girls before leaving for the race weekend in Chicago.

Series Hits Half Way Points

With 18 races complete, the series has reached its halfway point, and it has been a storyline-filled first half.

Two news tweaks were introduced over the first half. The spoiler was re-introduced to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car, starting with race No. 5 at Martinsville Speedway. Also, the multiple attempts at a green-white-checkered finish rule was implemented at the season’s start. Thus far, seven races have ended with a GWC finish, three of them with multiple attempts.

The competition over the first 18 races has been tight, especially so at Talladega, which saw a NASCAR record 88 lead changes among 29 drivers.

Here are some more competition numbers:
7 different race winners
12 different Coors Light Pole winners
46 drivers led at least one lap
31 drivers have scored at least one Top 10 this year
Average Margin of Victory of 1.294 seconds
11 races with an MOV under 1 second
Average of 12 leaders per race
Average of 28 lead changes per race
Average of 43 green flag passes for the lead all along the track (highest through 18 races since the inception of Loop Data in 2005)
Average of 3,613 green flag passes per race (highest through 18 races since the inception of Loop Data in 2005)
50% of the cars finished on the lead lap
78% of the cars were running at the finish

SHOW #117 – We recap the wreck-fest at Daytona where nearly half the field was wiped out, preview Chicagoland, ask the question is Kevin Harvick a legit championship contender and more. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Paul Northrop

LISTEN HERE (About 46 mins)

SUBSCRIBE HERE

DOWNLOAD HERE

SUBSCRIBE FROM iTUNES: Take us with you! Subscribe to our audio shows from iTunes, and they will automatically show up on your computer as soon as we post fresh shows..it’s easy, FREE, and we take no information. It’s like a DVR for audio so you can take us with you anywhere and listen on your schedule!

Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter

NOTE: Also HEARD on Stitcher Radio

CREDITS:
Hosts: Kerry Murphey & Paul Northrop
Production: Kerry Murphey
Music: Radium Sound
Voice Over: Thomas Moog

Harvick’s Surprising Dominance Continues

There was no way to predict this from Harvick. Zero. None.

Last year, he was out of sight, and literally out of mind. And maybe out of a team. After 18 races in 2009, Harvick was 26th in points, out of any consideration for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, and likely to leave the only team he has known – Richard Childress Racing.

Fast forward one year. Everything’s different. Harvick has won twice, is the points leader by a hefty margin over Jeff Gordon (212 points) and recently signed a contract extension with RCR.

There’s no reason to think it’ll end any time soon. Harvick is strong at Chicagoland, scoring wins in the track’s first two races — 2001 and 2002.

Speaking of Which, How About RCR?
On the topic of “what a difference a year makes,” Richard Childress Racing as a whole continues its rebirth season.

Last year, these were the final points positions for the then four-car operation: 15th (Bowyer), 17th (Jeff Burton), 19th (Kevin Harvick) and 21st (Casey Mears).

This season, the organization made it a point to improve. It has. Returning to a three-car operation, RCR now has two cars in the top 12 (points leader Harvick and Burton in eighth), and one just outside (Bowyer, in 14th).

Gordon Moves To Second, But Still Winless

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 7, 2010) – Jeff Gordon will make his 600th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start on Saturday night in the LifeLock.com 400, at Chicagoland Speedway.
A four-time series champion, Gordon has enjoyed one of the most prolific careers in the sport’s history. Consider the following:
– Four series titles. Only Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson and Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt have four or more series championships.
– 82 career victories. That ranks sixth all-time. One more win, and Gordon will tie Cale Yarborough for fifth. Two more, and he’ll tie Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for third.
– 68 poles. That ranks fourth all-time. One more, and he’ll tie Yarborough for third.
– 272 top fives and 371 top 10s rank sixth and eighth, respectively.
Gordon began his NASCAR Sprint Cup career in the final race of 1992 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and has not missed a single event since. All 599 starts have been consecutive.
Below is a timeline of Gordon’s career highlights on his way to 600 starts:
1 – Nov. 15, 1992, he made his first series start. Finishing 31st, an accident ended his day early.
2 – In his first Daytona 500, on Feb. 14, 1993, Gordon finished fifth.
42 – On May 29, 1994 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Gordon won his first race. It was in one of NASCAR’s biggest events – the Coca-Cola 600.
50 – On Aug. 6, 1994,Gordon won the inaugural NASCAR race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
85 – Won another “crown jewel” race, the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, on Sept. 3, 1995.
93 – Despite finishing 32nd in the season finale at Atlanta on Nov. 12, 1995, Gordon won his first series championship.
125 – Became the youngest winner in Daytona 500 history at 25 years, six months, 12 days on Feb. 16, 1997.
132 – Led 431 of 500 laps to win at Martinsville on April 20, 1997, the highest single-race laps led total of his career.
453 – On June 25, 2006, won at Infineon Raceway, his ninth victory at a road course. Gordon is the all-time wins leader at road courses.
503 – On Oct. 7, 2007 at Talladega Superspeedway, Gordon captured his 12th restrictor-plate victory, becoming the all-time leader in that category.
552 – On April 5, 2009, he grabbed his most recent victory, at Texas Motor Speedway, leaving Homestead-Miami Speedway as the only track at which Gordon has yet to win.

Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon has been so close to nabbing elusive win No. 83, which would tie him for fifth all-time with Cale Yarborough.

He leads the series with nine top fives, but still – zero wins.

One more race without a victory, and Gordon will move into unchartered territory. He currently has a 47-race winless drought, which matches a career long stretch. He also suffered a 47-race drought prior to last season’s win at Texas.

It could end this weekend, a big milestone one for Gordon. Gordon, who will start his 600th series race (all of them consecutively), won at Chicagoland in 2006.