By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(May 15, 2011)

DOVER, Del.—Matt Kenseth came late to the party and took home the prize—thanks to a spur-of-the-moment decision on pit road.

A two-tire call late in Sunday’s FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway put Kenseth on the front row for a restart on Lap 367 of 400, and that was all Kenseth needed to secure his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory of the season and the 20th of his career.

In short order, Kenseth dispatched Mark Martin, who had stayed out on old tires, and maintained a comfortable lead to the finish, as those who had taken four tires under caution on Lap 363 could make little headway against those with inferior rubber. Kenseth led the final 32 laps.

Martin ran second, followed by Marcos Ambrose, Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers, as the mixture of tire strategies squelched what had been a heated battle between Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards—and later, Clint Bowyer.

Bowyer came home sixth, Edwards seventh, Martin Truex Jr. eighth and Johnson ninth. Kevin Harvick completed the top 10.

The decision to put two tires on Kenseth’s car wasn’t made until the No. 17 Ford reached its pit box for the final stop on Lap 363, and it was a suggestion from Kenseth to crew chief Jimmy Fennig.

“Honestly, I was sitting on the track and thinking that we should stay out and get clean air and try it, because I knew we wouldn’t win if we took four,” Kenseth said. “Jimmy wanted four, but as I was driving down pit road, I thought maybe we could compromise.

“While I was on the jack, I asked if he was sure we didn’t want to try two, and he said to put on two. It was really Jimmy’s call and just a suggestion by me. It was tough to pass on top of that rubber out there (that continued to build up on the track).”

All told, Kenseth led 33 laps to 207 for Johnson and 117 for Edwards. But Kenseth led the lap that counted.

Edwards didn’t blame crew chief Bob Osborne for the four-tire call that left him ninth for the restart on Lap 367. The race didn’t play out the way Edwards or Osborne expected, and Edwards leaves Dover with a 24-point lead over second-place Johnson in the series standings.

“That’s too tough of a choice to make right there, and I don’t blame Bob Osborne one bit,” Edwards said. “I thought we would be able to march up through there, and I thought the race would be between Clint and I. I did see a couple cars go fast early on two tires, but I really felt we were going to have something. If we had had a caution, who knows what would have happened.

“You can’t look back, you have to look forward. We still have the points lead and the fastest car here today.”

Johnson dominated the early stages of the race, leading 135 of the first 142 laps before Edwards passed him for the top spot through Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 143. Johnson beat Edwards off pit road on Lap 165, under caution for a brief rain shower, and regained the lead a lap later, when front-row starter AJ Allmendinger, who had stayed out to lead a lap, took his car to the garage with a blown engine.

Johnson remained out front until Lap 189, when Edwards overtook him again, and he led all but one of the next 96 laps.

Edwards and Johnson swapped positions once more during a cycle of green-flag pit stops, with Johnson passing Juan Pablo Montoya for the lead on Lap 288. Montoya, who was off sequence on pit stops, had stayed on the track while the rest of the lead-lap cars came to pit road under green.

Johnson had a 1.5-second lead after the exchange of pit stops, but Edwards chopped that down to nothing by Lap 313, when he passed for the lead, albeit briefly.

Johnson regained the top spot on Lap 314 and held it under extreme pressure from Edwards and Bowyer until Kasey Kahne’s engine failure on Lap 332 caused the fifth caution of the race.

Excellent pit work got Bowyer out in front for a restart on Lap 338, and he held the lead—with Edwards gaining ground—until Montoya’s spin in Turn 3 brought out the sixth and final caution on Lap 362.

Notes: Busch picked up his sixth top five of the season despite having to start in the back of the field after an engine change during Friday’s practice sessions. … Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran 12th and remained fourth in the Cup standings, 52 points behind Edwards. … With his runner-up finish, Mark Martin moved up three spots to 11th in points, four behind 10th-place Tony Stewart, who finished 29th and dropped three positions in the standings.

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(May 14, 2011)

DOVER, Del.—After a violent wreck on the final lap wiped out a handful of top contenders, Carl Edwards took the checkered flag in Saturday’s 5-Hour Energy 200 Nationwide Series race at Dover International Speedway.

The wreck erupted as Edwards was racing Joey Logano after a restart on the second attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish. Kyle Busch finished second, followed by Reed Sorenson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and David Reutimann. Elliott Sadler finished sixth and took over the points lead in the series standings.

The victory was Edwards’ third of the season and the 32nd of his career, good for fourth on the career Nationwide victory list.

Edwards, who started from the pole as the fastest driver in practice after rain forced the cancellation of qualifying, pulled away from runner-up Logano over the final 13 laps before Michael Annett’s wreck on Lap 197 forced the race to overtime.

At first, Edwards thought he had hit Logano to start the massive Lap 209 wreck that destroyed the cars of Logano and Clint Bowyer, among others.

“Damn it—I didn’t mean to hit him,” Edwards radioed after the accident. “Is everybody all right?”

Replays showed clearly, however, that Edwards made no contact with Logano as the two raced for the lead. Logano had a lead of almost a car-length before the rear of his car stepped out and he slammed the outside wall. Logano bounced off the wall and into the path of Bowyer, whose Chevrolet careened into the inside wall.

“I’m just glad it worked out,” Edwards said after the race. “I’m glad that I didn’t hit him. I’m glad that everyone was OK. But that’s a product of what we do. When it comes down to it … this racetrack, we’re driving so hard here, and there’s so much grip, and you’re giving everything you can, and the cars are so close there at then end. …

“Obviously, Joey was racing as hard as he possibly could. I was racing as hard as I could. Man, that’s why they call it the Monster Mile.”

Busch failed in his bid to tie Mark Martin for the career Nationwide wins lead at 49.

Busch’s hopes for the record-tying victory suffered a blow during a bizarre chain of events near the midpoint of the race. On Lap 86, Alex Kennedy’s Dodge wrecked on the backstretch, bouncing between the outside and inside walls.

After the car came to a stop near the bottom of the track, Kennedy attempted to rejoin the action under caution, but his car didn’t turn as expected when Kennedy pulled up on the banking. Instead it rolled straight toward the outside wall and into the path of Kevin Swindell, who was making his Roush Fenway Racing debut in place of sidelined Trevor Bayne.

At nearly the same moment, the nose of Busch’s Toyota sustained damage as a line of cars accordioned on the way to pit road. Busch nosed into the No. 20 Toyota of Logano, and Reed Sorenson sustained damaged to his front valance when he ran into the back of Busch’s car.
Busch restarted 18th on Lap 101 after his crew taped the nose of the car. He had just passed Jason Leffler for the sixth position when Justin Allgaier, the series points leader entering the race, blew his right front tire and slammed the Turn 3 wall to bring out the sixth caution of the race.

Under orders from crew chief Tony Eury Jr., Josh Wise was the only driver who didn’t pit under the yellow and inherited the lead as rain stopped the race.

“We were the last car on the lead lap, so why not stay out and take the gamble?” Wise said during the red-flag period, hoping that rain would end the race at that point.

The gamble didn’t work. After the rain stopped, Wise brought his car to the pits under caution and surrendered the lead to Edwards for a restart on Lap 149. But Logano passed Edwards for the top spot on Lap 150 and stayed out front until Edwards overtook him on Lap 187.

Notes: Kennedy and his spotter were summoned to the NASCAR hauler to discuss the mistake in judgment that led to the wreck with Swindell. … The stoppage after Lap 144 lasted 28 minutes 26 seconds. … Allgaier’s DNF was his first in 22 races.

What in the world is up with this lineup? — Jimmie Johnson grabs the pole due to setting the fastest time in two Friday practice sessions — he will lead the field to green Sunday after qualifying was rained out Saturday. NASCAR set the starting lineup using practice speeds for the first time since the procedure was put in place this season.

1 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 2011 Owner Points 2nd
2 43 A J Allmendinger Best Buy Ford 2011 Owner Points 11th
3 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMPEnergySugarFree/NationalGuard Chev 2011 Owner Points 4th
4 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota 2011 Owner Points 15th
5 20 Joey Logano Home Depot Toyota 2011 Owner Points 25th
6 22 Kurt Busch Shell/Pennzoil Dodge 2011 Owner Points 8th
7 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 2011 Owner Points 3rd
8 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 2011 Owner Points 20th
9 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Dodge 2011 Owner Points 26
10 29 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 2011 Owner Points 5th

PODCAST: THE FINAL LAP WITH GUESTS REGAN SMITH AND GREG BIFFLE
11 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 2011 Owner Points 27th
12 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 2011 Owner Points 12th
13 99 Carl Edwards AFLAC Ford 2011 Owner Points 1st
14 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 2011 Owner Points 19th
15 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 2011 Owner Points 29th
16 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 2011 Owner Points 24th
17 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 2011 Owner Points 28th
18 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford 2011 Owner Points 22nd
19 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 2011 Owner Points 13th
20 27 Paul Menard CertainTeed/Menards Chevrolet 2011 Owner Points 18th
21 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 2011 Owner Points 17th
22 33 Clint Bowyer BB&T Chevrolet 2011 Owner Points 9th
23 47 Bobby Labonte Kingsford/Bush’s Best Baked Beans Toyota 2011 Owner Points 23rd
24 17 Matt Kenseth Wiley X Sunglasses Ford 2011 Owner Points 10th
25 5 Mark Martin GoDaddy.com Chevrolet 2011 Owner Points 14th
26 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground/Autism Speaks Toyota 2011 Owner Points 16th
27 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet 2011 Owner Points 7th
28 39 Ryan Newman Haas Automation Chevrolet 2011 Owner Points 6th
29 34 David Gilliland Taco Bell Ford 2011 Owner Points 30th
30 13 Casey Mears GEICO Toyota 2011 Owner Points 34th
31 1 Jamie McMurray Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 2011 Owner Points 21st
32 09 Landon Cassill(i) Security Benefits/ThankATeacherToday Chev 2011 Owner Points 31st
33 32 Mike Bliss(i) U.S. Chrome Ford 2011 Owner Points 33rd
34 7 Scott Wimmer(i) Fast Five/SPEED Energy Dodge 2011 Owner Points 35th
35 36 Dave Blaney Golden Corral Chevrolet 2011 Owner Points 32nd
36 66 * Michael McDowell HP Racing Toyota 2011 Owner Attempts
37 71 * Andy Lally # Interstate Moving Services Ford 2011 Owner Attempts
38 46 * J J Yeley Red Line Chevrolet 2011 Owner Attempts
39 60 * Mike Skinner(i) Big Red Toyota 2011 Owner Points 44th
40 30 * David Stremme Inception Racing Chevrolet 2011 Owner Attempts 2
41 38 * Travis Kvapil(i) A&W All American Food Ford 2011 Owner Attempts
42 87 * Joe Nemechek(i) NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 2011 Owner Attempts
43 37 * Tony Raines Front Row Motorsports Ford 2011 Owner Attempts

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

DOVER, Del.—Victory in Friday’s Lucas Oil 200 wasn’t the only thing Kyle Busch gained at Dover International Speedway.

He also gained a healthy dose of respect for NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie and second-place finisher Cole Whitt.

Pulling away from Whitt’s No. 60 Red Bull Chevrolet after a restart on Lap 198 of 200, Busch won the race under caution when Nelson Piquet Jr. and Timothy Peters wrecked on the final lap.

Busch picked up his third truck series victory in five starts this season. Busch won for the second time at Dover—becoming the first repeat winner here—and for the 27th time in the series.

Matt Crafton came home third and claimed the series points lead. Austin Dillon and Kevin Harvick ran fourth and fifth, respectively.

“Cole Whitt did a really nice job,” Busch said in victory lane. “I think he’s got something going on over there. The guys do a really nice job, and he’s fast. He’s quick week in and week out, and this is the first one he’s really contended for—that I’ve been in, anyway.”

After a long cycle of green-flag pit stops, Busch held a lead of nearly 12 seconds over Ron Hornaday Jr. when NASCAR called the fifth caution of the race for debris on the backstretch. Jason White and Whitt, who took two tires to Busch’s four under the yellow, took the green flag side-by-side on Lap 161.

Whitt powered his No. 60 Chevrolet into the lead after the restart, with Busch in pursuit. Whitt opened an advantage of roughly one second before Justin Lofton’s spin on the backstretch on Lap 178 brought out caution No. 6 and bunched the field for a restart on Lap 184.

Busch charged into the lead from the inside lane on the restart and held it for a lap before Craig Goess’ wreck caused the seventh caution. Not surprisingly, Busch chose the bottom lane for the restart on Lap 192 and quickly pulled away.

“I snookered him (Whitt) on the second-to-last restart, and I got him a little bit there, but on that last restart, he was right with me. We ran down into Turn 1 side-by-side. I chose the bottom because I felt like, running through (Turns) 1 and 2 wide open, it was the faster way around.”

But Parker Kligerman, who had run in the top 10 for most of the race, spun and tagged the outside wall under close racing with Whitt on Lap 193. The resulting caution forced the final restart on Lap 198.

Though his first win eluded him, Whitt had much to celebrate.

“Running second to Kyle—a good points day for us—it’s like winning the points for us,” Whitt said. “We’ll take that and move on and go to Charlotte (May 20) and try to win one there.”

Busch and Harvick, both on probation for an altercation at last Saturday’s Sprint Cup race at Darlington, competed without incident on Friday. The drivers raced for the lead after a restart on Lap 81, with Busch getting the advantage, but a subsequent pit-road speeding penalty to Harvick separated them for the rest of the race.

SHOW #156 – We chat with Darlington winner Regan Smith and Roush/Fenway driver Greg Biffle. We also welcome guest host Toby Christie from rubbingsracing.com and preview Dover. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Paul Northrop

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