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Weekly Racing Update 051208
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News and Views from Drew Patey and Buddy Judy
Kyle Busch Out Runs Them All at Darlington
Fresh off the "accident of the year" in Richmond, Kyle Busch took all of the drama to Darlington Raceway on Saturday night. Busch, who was booed heavily in the pre race introduction for bumping into Dale Earnhardt Jr last weekend, proved that he can win under any circumstances at the Sprint NASCAR level. Driving his Toyota, Busch overcame a series of mishaps in the pits to finish nearly four seconds ahead of Carl Edwards at the 1.366-mile Superspeedway and post his 3rd NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory of the season and 7th of his career. Busch led 169 of the 367 laps. Jeff Gordon came to the checkered flag in third, followed by Hendrick teammate and Safety-Kleen sponsored driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. then Roush Fenway driver, David Ragan in fifth. Busch had the fastest car all night as he set aside his newly claimed fame and went out and flat out-ran the competition. Love him or hate him, he is the hottest Cup driver out there and he will win again. Special thanks goes out to John Hardy and the crew from the Lexington, SC branch for all the help this weekend at the track. Now comes the All Star Race next Saturday under the lights at Charlotte. This is a true dash for the cash race. Bring home the big money - or don't bring home the race car and go for the win at any cost. Tune in on Speed to watch what will be a real test of man - machine and nerves.
Tony Stewart Finally Wins in Darlington
All of the drivers who come to Darlington to race refer to the place as "the track that was too tough to tame." And for most drivers, it lives up to that statement. But on Friday night Tony Stewart driving for Joe Gibbs and Safety-Kleen tamed the monster. Stewart took off from the pole position and went on to win his sixth career NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Darlington. Stewart never had won here in 19 previous races, including four Nationwide events. The first win at Darlington comes two weeks after his "first" checkered flag at the Talladega Superspeedway. Stewart's victory is also the eighth win in 12 Nationwide events for Joe Gibbs Racing. Clint Bowyer, the current series points leader and a Safety-Kleen driver for Richard Childress Racing finished second, while the Toyota's of David Reutimann and Todd Bodine were third and fourth, followed by Steve Wallace completing the top five, all Safety-Kleen drivers. The new pavement at Darlington provided a ton of action and a number of cautions. Lots of torn up race cars means lots of Safety-Kleen services this coming week as the teams get a week off before heading to Mansfield, Ohio.
Scott Dixon on Pole for Indy 500
Scott Dixon and Dan Weldon drive for Chip Ganassi Racing in Indianapolis, Indiana. The teams are serviced by the Greenwood, Indiana Safety-Kleen branch and it was evident that those great Safety-Kleen services and excellent car preparation paid off on Saturday. Dixon set a four-lap average speed of 226.366 mph and took the pole for "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." Dan Wheldon then gave up his starting spot that he had won earlier in the day and went back out and laid down a four lap average of 226.110 mph moving him up to the second starting spot. Ryan Brisco driving for Penske Racing rounded out the front row. The Penske cars are serviced by the SK branch in Charlotte, NC - so no matter where you are - the Safety-Kleen services pay off. On Sunday, morning showers forced the practice hour to be called off and IMS officials announced shortly after the scheduled start of qualifying that the session will not take place. Positions 12 to 22 for the Indy 500 grid had been due to be set on Sunday but these will now be determined along with the final 11 places in next Saturday's session at the Brickyard. The track is closed on Monday and Tuesday so the teams will only get three days to prepare for the biggest race of the year. Tune in next Saturday on ESPN to see if the other Safety-Kleen teams can make a statement and make the Indy 500.
Drew's Observations:
- Kyle Busch won again this weekend and it is proving to be a great move to go to Joe Gibbs Racing. I am hearing that his brother Kurt has taken Kyle off the Christmas card list.
- Also hear on the Penske front that Ryan Newman is getting closer to moving teams, hearing DEI with UPS sponsorship.
- Terry Labonte is coming out of retirement to drive for the King. Terry will drive a number of races for Petty Enterprises in place of Kyle who is heading for the TV booth. Terry will do just fine, he is a true racer.
- John Andretti, NASCAR, Indy Car and Drag Racer has gotten a ride at the Indy 500. Andretti will try and qualify for Panther Racing next weekend. He should make it - his name is Andretti.
- Jeff Burton completed the entire race in Darlington, now he has completed every lap so far this year in the Cup Series. That's a lot of exposure for the Safety-Kleen logo on the side of the #31 Chevy.
- No one but Felipe Massa has won or started from pole in Turkey since 2006, as the Ferrari driver took another victory at Istanbul Park ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and championship points leader Kimi Raikkonen. It was the Brazilian's second 2008 win and not his last. Hamilton looked better but no match for the Ferrari power.
- Max Neukirchner on a Suzuki and Noriyuki Haga riding a Yamaha shared the wins in the IDS Italian Round of the HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in front of a record crowd of 112,000 spectators. Now that's a lot of people to watch a bike race.
- The 1,000km de Spa-Francorchamps sports car race was won by Team Peugeot Total claim its third race from three starts. Nicolas Minassian, Marc Gené (and yes) Jacques Villeneuve shared the winning N°7 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. It was Villeneuve's first race win in elevn years.
NASCAR DAR DAY is May 16thto learn more go to: www.nascar.com/nascarday
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May 12, 2008
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