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April 14, 2012

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

FORT WORTH, Texas — Saving his equipment for the final green-flag run, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader Greg Biffle finally put a win on the board, cruising to a 3.235-second victory over Jimmie Johnson in Saturday night’s Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Biffle took the lead on Lap 304 of 334 and pulled away to win his first race since Oct. 3, 2010 (at Kansas), his second at Texas and the 17th of his career. Johnson, who led a race-high 156 laps, scraped the wall trying to run down Biffle in the late going.

“I just dug deep,” Biffle said. “I knew I had to do it and kept trying and trying and trying. I knew the team would forgive me if I wrecked it trying to beat him, so I gave it all I had.”

Mark Martin came home third, followed by Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth. With Kasey Kahne finishing seventh and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 10th, all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers ran in the top 10, but Biffle denied them their most coveted prize, a 200th Cup victory for team owner Rick Hendrick.

The victory was the first in the Cup series for Biffle’s crew chief, Matt Puccia.

Continue reading “GREG BIFFLE WINS BATTLE AFTER JOHNSON POUNDS WALL AT TEXAS”

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Rockingham, N.C. (April 14, 2012) – Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr. edged rookie Paulie Harraka by one one-thousandth of a second Saturday to earn his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pole during qualifying for Sunday’s inaugural Good Sam Roadside Assistance 200 at Rockingham Speedway.

Piquet, driving a Chevrolet, posted a144.387-mph lap, while Harraka’s Ford clocked in at 144.381 mph — 24.933 to 24.934 seconds on the 1-mile track.

“Honestly, when I finished my lap I told the guys on the radio it wasn’t my best lap; we could have gone a little bit better,” said Piquet, whose Keystone Light Pole Award came in his 33rd race. “I was expecting maybe a top 5, but I wasn’t expecting a pole at all. I think the track probably got much warmer and got a bit slower for everybody else.”

Rounding out the top 10, respectively, were: Timothy Peters, Toyota, 143.937 mph; Jason Leffler, Toyota, 143.730; Brad Sweet, Chevrolet, 143.392; Parker Kligerman, Dodge, 143.147; Todd Bodine, Toyota, 143.033; Matt Crafton, Toyota, 142.976; Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 142.885; and Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 142.693.

LINEUP
1 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. Qualcomm / AutoTrac Chevrolet 24.933 144.387
2 5 Paulie Harraka # Send Soldier to Rock / Wauters Mtrspts Ford 24.934 144.381
3 17 Timothy Peters Strutmasters.com Toyota 25.011 143.937
4 18 Jason Leffler Dollar General Toyota 25.047 143.730
5 4 Brad Sweet Rockwell Tools Chevrolet 25.106 143.392
6 29 Parker Kligerman Draw-Tite / MOPAR RAM 25.149 143.147
7 11 Todd Bodine Toyota Care Toyota 25.169 143.033
8 88 Matt Crafton Menards / Ideal Door Toyota 25.179 142.976
9 60 Grant Enfinger Turn One Racing Chevrolet 25.195 142.885
10 13 Johnny Sauter Hot Honeys / Curb Records Toyota 25.229 142.693
Continue reading “2012 Rockingham NASCAR Truck Series Starting Lineup – Nelson Piquet Jr. pole sitter”

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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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1 56 Martin Truex, Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 28.366 190.369
2 17 Matt Kenseth Best Buy Ford 28.399 190.148
3 16 Greg Biffle Filtrete Ford 28.403 190.121
4 55 Mark Martin Aaron’s Best of the Best Toyota 28.418 190.020
5 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet 28.476 189.633
6 39 Ryan Newman US ARMY Chevrolet 28.497 189.494
7 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford 28.501 189.467
8 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Dodge 28.514 189.381
9 1 Jamie McMurray Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 28.527 189.294
10 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 28.529 189.281
11 27 Paul Menard Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet 28.559 189.082
12 22 AJ Allmendinger Shell Pennzoil Dodge 28.568 189.023
13 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office/March of Dimes Toyota 28.589 188.884
14 20 Joey Logano Dollar General Toyota 28.601 188.805
15 29 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 28.624 188.653
16 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet 28.656 188.442
17 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 28.678 188.298
18 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Toyota 28.679 188.291

LISTEN – THE FINAL LAP WEEKLY – TEXAS PREVIEW SHOW (GUEST SCOTT ZIPADELLI)
19 21 Trevor Bayne(i) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 28.695 188.186
20 99 Carl Edwards Fastenal Ford 28.730 187.957

Continue reading “2012 Texas NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Starting Lineup – Martin Truex Jr. pole sitter”