Kevin Harvick clinches Chase spot with win at MIS

August 15, 2010 @ 3:19PM

By Matt Harding
In Play Magazine

Kevin Harvick won the Carfax 400 with Denny Hamlin, who finished first in the June race at MIS, coming in second place. [FULL RACE RESULTS HERE]

Harvick, who started with the eighth position, passed Hamlin with only 11 laps to go in the race. The No. 29 crew gambled when they stayed out on the track, rather than making a pit stop, during a caution toward the end of the race. Obviously, with the win, the move paid off.

Kasey Kahne, who started the race on the pole, had this to say about his performance: "We actually ran pretty good for a long time. It's disappointing, I thought we had a good shot. Something went wrong there."

Harvick's win at MIS makes it three wins on the season. He had this to say about his win: "We had a good car in practice. This has been a very bad track for us, and then to come here and do what we did today says a lot about where RCR (Richard Childress Racing) is."

NASCAR Announces Change In Carburetor Restrictor-Plate Openings

June 7, 2010 @ 11:09AM

By In Play Magazine

New Size In Effect For July 3 Event At Daytona International Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 7, 2010) – NASCAR has announced that NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will use carburetor restrictor-plate openings of 1 1/32 inches for the July 3 event at Daytona International Speedway. The previous plate at Daytona last February was 63/64-inch.

This equates to a .074 (square inch) area increase per opening for air intake.

Monday’s announcement pertains only to next month’s Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola – the last NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event on the current Daytona asphalt. The 2.5-mile, high-banked superspeedway will be repaved prior to the 2011 Daytona 500.

Race Results for the Samsung Mobile 500

April 19, 2010 @ 3:02PM

In Play Magazine

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 8
Central Samsung Mobile 500 Race
Race Fast Facts
Texas Motor Speedway Provided by NASCAR Statistics 
Fort Worth, TX
1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 334 Laps - 501 Miles 
Purse: $7,094,253
Mon, April 19, 2010 
Winner: Denny Hamlin
Age: 29
Team : No. 11 - FedEx Ground Toyota
Owner: J.D. Gibbs
Crew Chief: Mike Ford

Denny Hamlin won the Samsung Mobile 500, his 10th victory in 159 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. This is his second victory and second top-10 finish in 2010. This is his first victory and seventh top-10 finish in ten races at Texas Motor Speedway.



It is his sixth top-10 finish in 2010. Kyle Busch (third) posted his fifth top-10 finish in 11 races at Texas Motor Speedway. Kevin Conway (27th) was the highest finishing rookie. Jimmie Johnson leads the point standings by 108 points over Matt Kenseth.

Harvick Wins at Nashville With Two-Tire Stop

April 5, 2010 @ 8:45AM

In Play Magazine

LEBANON, Tenn. — Kevin Harvick found out that two tires were enough as he outlasted cars with four fresh tires over the final 35 green-flag laps as he captured the NASCAR Nationwide Series' Nashville 300 on Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway.


Harvick won for the second time this year and the 36th time in his career. He also picked up a $25,000 bonus for winning the first of Nationwide's four "Dash 4 Cash" races this season.

"I knew we had 25-30 laps to hold them off and (the car) got tighter than we would have wanted it to," said Harvick, who was competing at the track for the first time in four years and took home his second guitar trophy from Nashville.

"But we had the track position and it worked out. … It was definitely fun. It's a lot more fun when you win."

The driver/owner beat Reed Sorenson by 0.199 seconds with Kyle Busch finishing third, Justin Allgaier in fourth and Brad Keselowski in fifth.

"We were a little bit better than (Harvick) the whole time and I was catching him," Sorenson said. "When we got caught in lapped traffic, he was able to hold his own through a couple of those corners. At the end, I was catching him. We needed about five more laps to get to him."

Joey Logano, who led 122 of the 250 laps, and Keselowski were the only two lead-lap cars not to pit when the caution came out with 82 laps remaining. Both had to pit later under green, lost a lap and then the caution came out with 38 laps remaining, leaving Keselowski 18th and Logano 19th on the restart with 35 remaining.

Logano got stalled on the inside lane on that restart and ended up eighth.

"We had a winning car," Logano said. "There's no reason why we couldn't have won. We gave it away."

The accident where Logano and Keselowski stayed out wasn't really an accident—Jason Leffler tagged James Buescher in retaliation for an incident earlier in the race when Buescher got loose underneath Leffler, turning Leffler into the outside wall.


NASCAR parked Leffler for the remainder of the race.

It was at that time that Harvick decided to pit. He took four tires and was about a dozen laps short on fuel, as he went into a fuel-conservation mode in case the race went green the rest of the way. Because he hadn't been pushing his car, he made the decision for two tires when the caution came out with 38 laps left.

"I really thought a lot more people would put two tires on because the tires really didn't fall off that much," Harvick said. "Ours didn't fall off that much. I hate putting two tires on. Tonight, we put two tires on and it worked out for us. … Track position was more important than the handling of the car."

Carl Edwards, who finished sixth, retained the points lead, 16 points ahead of Brad Keselowski and 21 points ahead of Keselowski's Penske Racing teammate, Justin Allgaier.

Denny Hamlin Wins his Third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race at Martinsville

March 29, 2010 @ 10:05PM

Race Fast Facts Martinsville Speedway Provided by NASCAR Statistics
Mon, March 29, 2010
Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 (61st Running)
Race Winner: Denny Hamlin Age: 29
Team : No. 11 
FedEx Freight Toyota
Owner: J.D. Gibbs
Crew Chief: Mike Ford


Denny Hamlin won the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 (61st Running), his ninth victory in 157 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. (Note: He will have surgery on his left knee -- originally scheduled for Monday-- later this week).

This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in 2010. This is his third victory and ninth top-10 finish in ten races at Martinsville Speedway. Joey Logano (second) posted his first top-10 finish in three races at Martinsville Speedway.

It is his third top-10 finish in 2010. Jeff Gordon (third) posted his 29th top-10 finish in 35 races at Martinsville Speedway. Kevin Conway (31st) was the highest finishing rookie. Jimmie Johnson leads the point standings by 14 points over Greg Biffle.

Jimmie Johnson Wins 50th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race

March 21, 2010 @ 7:39PM

Four-Time Defending Champion Moves Into Top 10 Of The All-Time Victories List

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 21, 2010) – Jimmie Johnson won his 50th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race today at Bristol Motor Speedway, a rare accomplishment that further solidifies the four-time defending champion’s place among the all-time greats.

Only 11 other drivers have reached the milestone. Three are NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees, six were Hall of Fame nominees, and the other two – Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace – will surely join the Hall of Fame nominee list in the future.

Johnson needed only 296 starts to hit the 50 mark. Only three drivers have reached 50 victories quicker – Gordon (232), Darrell Waltrip (278) and David Pearson (293).

Here is the exclusive “50 Wins Club”:
All-Time NSCS Wins
Driver Wins
Richard Petty 200
David Pearson 105
Bobby Allison 84
Darrell Waltrip 84
Cale Yarborough 83
Jeff Gordon 82
Dale Earnhardt 76
Rusty Wallace 55
Lee Petty 54
Ned Jarrett 50
Junior Johnson 50
Jimmie Johnson 50


Below are some of Johnson’s milestone and historic wins on his way to 50:
1 – Johnson did not take long to nab his first victory. In only his 13th start, at his hometown track Auto Club Speedway on April 28, 2002, Johnson led 62 laps in the win. Among those in the top 10 of all-time victories, only Lee Petty needed fewer starts for his first win (five).

4 – In what would become customary, Johnson won NASCAR’s longest race – the Coca-Cola 600. He currently has three Coke 600 wins.

10 – In his 95th start, Johnson reached double digits. He won at Pocono for the second time in 2004, his third career season track sweep. Johnson currently has 11 career track sweeps.

14 – In 2004, Johnson took home one of NASCAR’s crown jewels – the Southern 500.

19 – His biggest race win to date, Johnson became a Daytona 500 champion on Feb. 19, 2006.

20 – Johnson won at Las Vegas for his 20th victory, but led only one lap – the last one. It was the only time in his series career that Johnson had only one lap led in a race win.

22 – No big stage daunts Johnson. That, of course, includes the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He won the Indy race in 2006, the first of three Brickyard wins thus far.

25 – Johnson hit the halfway point on March 18, 2007, in his 187th start. That means, statistically, he went on a winning rampage soon after. His last 25 wins took only 109 starts.

30 – Johnson’s 30th coincided with the beginning of a streak of four consecutive wins in 2007. The first was at Martinsville, followed by Atlanta, Texas and Phoenix.

40 – Win No. 40 came at Phoenix in race No. 35 of the 2008 season. He dominated, leading 217 of the 313 laps.

News - Edwards Placed On Probation For Next Three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Events

March 9, 2010 @ 12:25PM

In Play Magazine

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 9, 2010) – NASCAR has placed Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, on probation for the next three series events for a rule violation he committed during the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 7. Edwards’ probation will run until April 14 of this year.

Edwards was found to have violated Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing – aggressive driving) of the 2010 NASCAR rule book.

Video:  Carl Edwards retaliates from earlier contact sending Brad Keselowski flipping down the track.

Two Crew Members Suspended Due To Violation Of NASCAR Substance Abuse Policy

March 9, 2010 @ 11:32AM

In Play Magazine

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 9, 2010) – Matthew Huffstetler, a crew member for the No. 01 team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and William Keith, a crew member for the No. 38 team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, have been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy.