1 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet
2 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Ford
3 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge
4 5 Mark Martin CARQUEST / GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
5 39 Ryan Newman Haas Automation Chevrolet
6 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
7 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota
8 77 Sam Hornish Jr. AAA / Go Penske Dodge
9 33 Clint Bowyer Zaxby’s / Cheerios Chevrolet
10 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet
11 20 Joey Logano Home Depot Toyota
12 47 Marcos Ambrose Lance / Tom’s Mega Twisters Toyota
13 98 Paul Menard Energizer / Menards Ford
14 12 Brad Keselowski AAA Insurance / Go Penske Dodge
15 82 Scott Speed Red Bull Toyota
16 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet
17 31 Jeff Burton LENOX Industrial Tools Chevrolet
18 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
19 6 David Ragan UPS Ford
20 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota
21 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford
22 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota
23 36 Casey Mears MOHAWK Northeast, Inc. Chevrolet
24 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet
25 14 Tony Stewart Old Spice / Office Depot Chevrolet
26 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota
27 1 Jamie McMurray Suave Chevrolet
28 43 A J Allmendinger Berlin City Auto Group Ford
29 83 Reed Sorenson Red Bull Toyota
30 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Ford
31 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard / AMP Energy Chevrolet
32 13 Max Papis GEICO Toyota
33 17 Matt Kenseth Diageo / Crown Royal Black Ford
34 16 Greg Biffle American Red Cross / 3M Ford
35 46 J J Yeley Whitney Motorsports Dodge
36 66 Dave Blaney PRISM Motorsports Toyota
37 55 Michael McDowell PRISM Motorsports Toyota
38 26 David Stremme Air Guard / gtwgps.com Ford
39 37 David Gilliland Taco Bell Ford
40 71 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Chevrolet
41 34 Kevin Conway # Extenze Ford
42 7 Bobby Labonte SpeedFactory.TV Toyota
43 64 Todd Bodine Little Joe’s Autos Toyota

Logano Loving New Hampshire Return

Or at the very least, he should be, right? Logano, a Northeast (Connecticut) native, made his NASCAR Sprint Cup debut at New Hampshire in 2008. Last year, he got his first series win at the track.

Logano comes in this week 17th in series points.

Johnson Lays Criticisms To Rest – Again

A pattern is developing here. Something like this:
Jimmie Johnson has a few bad finishes.
People start talking about the “slump.”
People start wondering if his team has lost its edge.
Whereupon Johnson goes out and wins a race.
The naysayers go back into hibernation.

The latest slump-buster was a win on a road-course win, no less – a career-first for Johnson, coming this past Sunday at Infineon Raceway. Suddenly, Johnson is back up to second in the series points, again looking like a championship contender.

UPDATE: DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 25, 2010) – NASCAR has reinstated crew member Randy LaJoie upon his successful completion of a counseling program following his June 22 suspension for violating the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 22, 2010) – Randy LaJoie, a crew member for the No. 18 team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy.

On June 11, LaJoie was found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 19 (violation of the NASCAR substance abuse policy) of the 2010 NASCAR Rule Book.

Randy said

“I have this day sought to enroll in a substance abuse program. My use of marijuana was an isolated incident following the Coca-Cola 600…and hope that some day I can prove to NASCAR and all the people with whom I associate that I have taken such steps to see that instances such as this do not reoccur.”

At the time of the test he was listed as a crew member for Joe Gibbs Racing as the spotter of their #18 Nationwide Series car.

Roush Fenway Names Jimmy Fennig Crew Chief of the No. 17 Crown Royal Team

Move Pairs Championship Duo of Kenseth and Fennig on No. 17 Ford

CONCORD, N.C. (June 23, 2010) – Roush Fenway Racing has named Jimmy Fennig as the crew chief for Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford in the Sprint Cup Series. The move pairs Kenseth – who drove Roush Fenway to its first Sprint Cup Championship in 2003 – with Fennig, who served as crew chief on Roush Fenway’s 2004 championship team.

“I am very pleased that we have been able to place these two together on the No. 17,” said team owner Jack Roush. “These guys were both instrumental in our back-to-back Sprint Cup Championships in 2003 and 2004, with Matt driving us to our first Cup Championship and Jimmy of course being instrumental in the 2004 championship as the team’s crew chief. We would expect this pairing to yield strong results as both of these guys are extremely talented and among the best in the business at what they do.”

Fennig will be joined on the No. 17 by car chief Richie Davis. Davis had been working in Roush Fenway’s research and development department along side Fennig. Todd Parrott, who had been working as crew chief on the No. 17, will serve as the new R&D manager at Roush Fenway; a position formally held by Fennig. Current No. 17 car chief Charles “Cully” Barraclough will also move over to car chief the R&D program.

One of the most successful crew chiefs in NASCAR history, Fennig has accumulated 27 Sprint Cup wins in his extensive career, while working with drivers such as Bobby Allison, Mark Martin, Dick Trickle, Kurt Busch and David Ragan. He helped lead Busch and the No. 97 team to the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship in the inaugural “Chase for the Cup.”

In 2006 Fennig teamed with Kenseth in the Nationwide Series, with the duo racking up four poles, three wins, 15 top-fives and 18 top-10 finishes in 21 starts.

Fennig, a Milwaukee, Wis. native who cut his teeth in the American Speed Association (ASA) as a crew chief in the mid-1980s, joined Roush Fenway in the fall of 1996 and has been with the organization ever since. During his tenure he has served as crew chief on the No. 6, No. 26 and No. 97 Sprint Cup programs, the No. 17 Nationwide Series program, as well as overseeing the R&D program this season.