Toby Christie

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By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

With just three races left in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, Clint Bowyer definitely leads the pack as far as being laid back. Currently Bowyer sits third in the overall point standings just 26 points behind the man atop the heap — Jimmie Johnson. However Friday morning Bowyer played coy about his chances at the title.

“Well, Jimmie (Johnson) wasn’t in New York when (Hurricane) Sandy hit — he was in North Carolina it looks like so he
made it. So, scratch that from the list of ideas possibly that I could win this championship. I think hit man is probably out of the order. He rides his bicycle a lot — I was hoping maybe he would blow his knee out or something. Nothing career-ending or anything. Maybe painful — something painful to keep him out of the car,” Bowyer stated sarcastically.

Continue reading “Clint Bowyer Currently Playing The Joker, But He Could End Up Being The Spoiler”

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Here is the starting lineup for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350K

1 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford Stanley 95.262 75.203
2 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Drive to End Hunger 95.067 75.357
3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 94.795 75.574
4 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M / US Stationary 94.722 75.632
5 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 94.686 75.661
6 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 5-hour Energy 94.679 75.666
7 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M’s 94.632 75.704
8 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet Phoenix Construction Services 94.557 75.764

THE FINAL LAP WEEKLY – SONOMA PREVIEW SHOW

9 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Ford EcoBoost 94.524 75.790
10 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Quicken Loans / Childrens Tumor Foundation 94.509 75.802

PHOTO CREDIT: NASCAR MEDIA

Continue reading “2012 Cup Series At Sonoma Starting Lineup Marcos Ambrose On Pole”

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Photo Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images for NASCAR

By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career has caught a second-wind after horrid seasons in 2009 and 2010 where he finished outside the top-20 in the point standings. Last season Earnhardt began building a foundation with his new crew chief Steve Letarte. The two gelled nearly to perfection, and Earnhardt returned to the Chase for the first time since 2008.

This season Earnhardt is on fire. Through the first seven races he has racked up five top-ten finishes, and he has yet to finish outside of the top-15 in any event. Coincidentally now that Earnhardt has things turned around, the rest of Hendrick Motorsports seems to be struggling to find their way as the organization sits at 199 wins in the Sprint Cup Series.

Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne can’t seem to buy good luck, while Jimmie Johnson was mired in a cheating scandal during the early stages of the season.

Continue reading “IS DALE JR. A BETTER DRIVER THAN JIMMIE JOHNSON? EARNHARDT’S ANSWER MAY SHOCK YOU”

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Ricky Stenhouse Jr. flies past the checkered flag to collect his fourth-career Nationwide Series victory. Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR

By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

Has anyone come further in this sport in the past three years than Ricky Stenhouse Jr.? Early in his rookie season (2010) his stock was so low, that many were wondering when – not if – Jack Roush would send him packing back home to Mississippi.

Roush insisted that he believed in Stenhouse, and this confidence is all Stenhouse seemingly needed to turn things around. In the second half of his rookie season he did a 180-degree turn. Friday night in Texas he continued to write the 2012 chapter of what looks to be a promising NASCAR career.

Nearly all night long in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had the car to beat. There was a 100 lap stretch in the middle of the event where Paul Menard had the race in his grasp, but by the end of the 300-mile race Stenhouse would put the rest of the field in a headlock, and he wouldn’t let go. Stenhouse led a total of three times for 68 laps during the 200 lap race, and he held off a late charge by Denny Hamlin to win the race. In victory lane Stenhouse talked about holding off Hamlin.

“Yeah, Denny is a great race car driver and I know when I am up there racing with those guys that I have my work cut out for me. They raced me clean and Paul Menard raced me clean all night long and it was a lot of fun up there racing with those guys. You can learn a lot from them. Whew! We finally got a cowboy hat at Texas. I love coming here. We finally finished off a race.”

Continue reading “AFTER ANOTHER VICTORY THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT FOR RICKY STENHOUSE JR. — WHEN WILL HE BE IN SPRINT CUP?”

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Photo Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR

By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

Martin Truex Jr. has absolutely been on fire so far in 2012, as has been the case with the whole Michael Waltrip Racing team. Those trends continued Friday during Coors Light Pole qualifying for Saturday night’s Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Truex posted a lap of 190.369 mph, which was just enough to edge out Roush-Fenway teammates Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle for the pole. This marks the seventh pole of Truex’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career, and it’s his second pole at Texas Motor Speedway.

Matt Kenseth was just saddened by being so close to the pole.

“That was good. I just would feel better if I got beat by more I guess. I felt like I got it all out of there and we just missed it a little bit. Our car has a lot of speed we just don’t have it driving exactly right yet. I had a couple different issues. A little bit of everything. It was a little too loose, but I had some other problems too.”

Continue reading “MARTIN TRUEX JR. CONTINUES HOT STREAK, WILL START SAMSUNG MOBILE 500 FROM THE POLE”