NASCAR Podcast
The Final Lap is proud to announce that we can now be found on the FREE iPhone App – Stitcher Radio. This service allows you to listen to our podcast The Final Lap Chat, anytime, anywhere without having to download it. Our weekly show will automatically stream to your iPhone once you find it and play it. Stitcher Radio will soon be available for Blackberry as well so hang tight on that.
Once installed, search for THE FINAL LAP and make us a favorite!
Works on 3G, WiFi, and even EDGE
Edwards Attempting Texas 3-Step, After Last Season’s Sweep
Call it a Texas three-step. Carl Edwards (No. 99 Aflac Ford) won both of last season’s NASCAR Sprint Cup events at Texas Motor Speedway, part of his series-leading total of nine victories that fueled his runner-up finish in the series standings. Edwards also won at Texas in the 2005 fall race. His three TMS wins are a series high.
Edwards comes to Texas eighth in the series points but has nonetheless been perceived to be in an early-season slump — much like three-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson was prior to his win this past Sunday at Martinsville.
Edwards has yet to win this season. Compare that with 2008’s late-season rush when he won three of the 10 events in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Maybe he is in a slump. Nonetheless, he’s also solidly in Chase contention and remains a favorite to be in championship contention later on this season.
Clearly, Edwards has taken to Texas since joining the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2004. He has an average TMS finish of 13.9 and a Driver Rating of 102.3 there — third-best in the series.
Continue reading “Carl Edwards goes for 3 in a row at Texas”
Earnhardt Earned His 1st Victory at Texas; He Could Use Another
It was the spring of 2000 and a career was blossoming. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet), a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie fresh off winning consecutive NASCAR Nationwide Series titles, came to Texas Motor Speedway.
PHOTO: CIA STOCK
Making only his 12th start in NASCAR’s top series, Earnhardt went to Victory Lane, where he was joined by his father, the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. for a memorable celebration. Earnhardt went on to win twice more in 2000, at the Richmond spring race and, incredibly, in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race — becoming the first rookie to do so.
Of course, Earnhardt was almost immediately considered a “champion in waiting.” Nine years later, the waiting continues, with Earnhardt’s early-season struggles attracting increased focus on his team, in his second season with the highly successful Hendrick Motorsports organization.
Criticism has surfaced this season from both media and at least one rival in the series, Kyle Busch (No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota). None other than Rick Hendrick himself defended the No. 88 team vigorously last week, saying, “I am 100% behind this group. I have no intentions of making any changes. I have all intentions of making it better.”
Q. Tony, now that you’re six races into your new role as owner/driver, could you tell us, even if it was during a yellow flag lap, you have caught yourself thinking more as an owner than a driver?
PHOTO: CIA STOCK
TONY STEWART: I haven’t. I mean, I think the reason for that is we’ve been really good about knowing, even before the race, once Friday starts that I switch that hat over and I strictly stay in driver mode. You know, I catch myself worrying sometimes about where Ryan is, you know, with some of the bad luck he had early in the year, a couple of races I would ask where he was at. But, you know, that’s probably the only difference between what I normally would do and what we’re doing now.
I mean, now that I’ve got Ryan as a teammate, and as his car owner, I’m a little more curious about where he’s at sometimes during the race than I have been in the past with other teammates.
But, you know, there’s other times that I’ve had teammates and have asked where they were at, too. But I think a little bit more of it on the cautions now because I am a car owner. For the most part, I stay strictly in that driver mode and concentrating on what I’ve got to do to get to the front.
Q. Now that you have these expanded business relationships, have you felt any need or pressure to not get involved in the controversies that come along during race weekends?
TONY STEWART: Not at all. I mean, I think, if anything, it’s made me feel like I could get involved in them if I chose to.
But, you know, I think I focus more on what I got to do to work with a new crew chief during the weekends. Last couple years we’ve been a little better, with the exception of the Goodyear controversy last year, and that wasn’t in an effort to get in a debate with them as much as it was just a response to try to get ’em to make something better.
I think they’ve done a good job with that this year. But, you know, it’s been easy to kind of stay out of the controversy. We’ve got enough stuff to keep us busy that I think it’s a little better to put it all in perspective and realize that some of those controversies aren’t worth the time and effort.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 1, 2009) – In a move that should be more cost-saving to the industry and help enhance the inspection process, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will begin conducting its post-race engine tear-down at the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C.
“Along with cost savings, this will provide our officials and teams with the means to analyze the engines in a more controlled setting,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. “We have been moving towards doing this in the past, and as the stakes continue to rise in our sport, we believe it’s the most effective way of doing things.”
