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Jimmie Johnson wins All-Star Race at Charlotte
posted by Mike Neff
Saturday May 19, 2012
Jimmie Johnson came from sixth place in the first 20 lap segment to secure the top spot for the final, mandatory pit stop, came out first and proceeded to lead the last 10 laps to capture his third All-Star win of his career. Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the wins in segments 2, 3, and 4 respectively. On the final restart, Kenseth stumbled which slowed him and Earnhardt, allowing Johnson and Keselowski to pull away. Kenseth rebounded from the bobble to finish third ahead of Kyle Busch, while Earnhardt came across the line in fifth. Kevin Harvick, Marcos Ambrose, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman rounded out the top 10. The victory ties Johnson with Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon for most All-Star race wins with three each. Johnson also won the race in 2003 and 2006. Keselowski’s runner-up finish was his career best. His previous best finish was seventh. Kenseth’s third place effort was his fifth top 5 run in the event and his ninth top 10 in 12 career starts in the race.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. dominates the Sprint Showodwn
posted by Mike Neff
Saturday May 19, 2012
As the field came to the green in the Sprint Showdown, polesitter AJ Allmendinger had a left front tire deflate so he was forced to pit lane. That misfortune for the No. 22 allowed Dale Earnhardt Jr. to start from the pole position. After a side-by-side lap with Martin Truex Jr., Earnhardt grabbed the top spot and would not relinquish it for the entire 40 laps of the race. At the halfway point Earnhardt Jr and Truex stayed on the track while most of the rest of the field came to the pits. When the green flag flew for the second 20 lap segment, Jamie McMurray was able to get around Truex and grabbed the second spot. As Earnhardt pulled away and McMurray cemented himself in the second spot, Allmendinger put on a furious charge from the back of the pack. Allmendinger took fifth on lap 24, fourth on lap 25 and third on lap 28. However, once he got within three car lengths of McMurray he stalled out and was unable to advance further, at least until three to go. Coming to the flag stand for the two-to-go signal, Allmendinger dove underneath McMurray and grabbed the second position and continued to hold it until the checkered flag. Earnhardt Jr. and Allmendinger took the checkers in first and second and punched their tickets into the All-Star race. Rounding out the top five were McMurray, Truex and Juan Pablo Montoya. Receiving the Sprint Fan Vote to transfer into the All-Star race was Bobby Labonte.
NASCAR becomes first motorsport organization in Beyond Sport United
posted by Mike Neff
Saturday May 19, 2012
Beyond Sport United is a philanthropic organization that utilizes the global appeal of sport to advance the causes that will make the world a better place. The organization brings together the leaders of sports federations, grassroot organizations, teams and government agencies to address social issues in communities around the world and attempts to help influence social change. NASCAR and the NASCAR foundation have long done extensive work at making the world a better place through the fortune of the people in the sport along with driver foundations. Now, being part of Beyond Sport United, NASCAR will be able to expand their reach even farther and make an impact in even more lives than ever before.
Kyle Busch grabs pole for the Sprint All-Star Race
posted by Mike Neff
Friday May 18, 2012
The unique qualifying format for the Sprint All-Star race brings out the best in drivers and crews. Not only is speed on the track important but the crews also have to perform at a high level as they complete a four tire change during the qualifying process. After the 20 competitors completed their three laps with a pit stop it was Kyle Busch who was on top of the chart. Busch’s time was a 119.112 seconds for a speed of 136.006 mph. Next to Busch, in the front row, will be Ryan Newman. The only other driver to dip below the 120 second mark, Newman crossed the stripe in 119.821 seconds for a speed of 135.202 seconds. The second row will be composed of Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle. Hamlin ran around Charlotte Motor Speedway in 120.168 seconds. for a speed of 134.811 mph. Biffles’s lap was 120.420 seconds at a speed of 134.520 mph. Rounding out the top five is Kevin Harvick whose 120.522 second lap equates to a speed of 134.304 mph. This is Busch’s third All-Star pole. Busch has never won at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
AJ Allmendinger on the pole for the Sprint Showdown
posted by Mike Neff
Friday May 18, 2012
22 cars laid down laps in the Sprint Showdown qualifying session and, after all of them had laid down a time it was AJ Allmendinger who was the fastest. Allmendinger turned a lap of 28.057 seconds which was a speed of 192.465 mph. Allmendinger was the only driver to eclipse 192 mph. On the outside of the front row will be Martin Truex Jr. who clocked in at 28.265 seconds for a speed of 191.049 mph. Inside the second row will be Dale Earnhardt Jr. who was fastest in practice but only managed to be third fastest in qualifying. Earnhardt’s time was 28.272 seconds that was worth 191.002 mph. To the right of Earnhardt will be Jeff Burton, with a lap of 28.467 seconds and a speed of 189.693 mph. The last car in the top five is Aric Almirola after he laid down a lap of 28.609 seconds which translates to 188.752 mph.
Ty Dillon on the pole for North Carolina Education Lottery 200
posted by Mike Neff
Friday May 18, 2012
Ty Dillon was fastest in first practice, which gave him the final qualitying spot for Truck time trials. He took full advantage of the cooling conditions and laid down a 29.733 second lap for a speed of 181.616 mph. Dillon bested Justin Lofton by .019 seconds to secure the top spot. Lofton’s lap lasted 29.752 seconds which worked out to a 181.500 mph. Dillon and Lofton were the only two drivers to eclipse the 181 mph mark. Joey Coulter was the second RCR Chevrolet in the top three spots. Coulter crossed the line in 29.884 seconds which was worth 180.699 mph. The outside row two slot is going to be occupied by Timothy Peters, who made it around the mile and a half track in 29.907 seconds for a speed of 180.560 mph. The final driver in the top five is Jason Leffler, who ran a 29.992 second lap at a speed of 180.048 mph. This is Dillon’s first pole of his Camping World Truck Series career in his eighth start in the series. It is his fourth top-10 starting spot in 2012.
Kyle Busch Paces All-Star Final Practice
posted by Amy Henderson
Friday May 18, 2012
The drivers in the Sprint All-Star Race have just one practice opportunity to dial in their raecars, and Kyle Busch made the most of it, posting the fastest lap with a time of 28.672 (188.337 MPH). Greg Biffle was less than a tenth of a second off Busch’s pace, with a lap of 28.767 seconds. Qualifying for the All-Star Race is Friday at 6:00 PM Eastern and consists of a three-lap run, including a four-tire pit stop to determine the starting lineup. The top two finishers in the Sprint Showdown will line up behind the qualifiers, and the fan vote winner will start shotgun on the field Saturday night. The top 10 in final practice:
NASCAR Announces Partnership with Twitter to Bring Fans a Unique Experience
posted by Amy Henderson
Friday May 18, 2012
NASCAR and Twitter announced on Friday that they will form a partnership-the first of its kind in major professional sport-in an effort to give race fans an enhanced race day experience. Twitter.com/#NASCAR will be available beginning with the first Pocono race on June 10. The page will use both algorithmic and editorial input to select content that will bring fans the full race day atmosphere from drivers, teams, media, tracks and officials to bring a behind-the-scenes feel to the page each week. NASCAR Chief Marketing Officer Steve Phelps said Friday that the sanctioning body understands the role of social media in the sport today. “Twitter has been an important piece of our effort the last several years,” Phelps said in a press release. “We’re excited about continuing to provide our millions of fans with greater access to our athletes and further engagement with our drivers, teams, tracks, and executives.” Phelps added that while drivers will be encouraged to interact with fans through the social media platform, they will not be required to do so. “It will be entirely up to them,” Phelps stressed. While the page is still a work in progress, the idea is to bring fans a carefully selected sampling of what’s being said. While the page will filter the content in order to maintain relevance, Twitter and NASCAR have said that both positive and negative comments will be shown. The idea is to narrow down the volume from a straight hashtag search while bringing fans a variety of information.
Earnhardt, Allmendinger Top Sprint Showdown Practice
posted by Amy Henderson
Friday May 18, 2012
The lone practice session for the Sprint Showdown is complete at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had the fastest lap of the section at 28.706 seconds (188.114 MPH), nipping AJ Allmendinger by just .008 seconds for the top spot. Qualifying for the Sprint Showdown is scheduled 5:00 Eastern on Friday evening. The top two finishers in the Sprint Showdown, which runs on Saturday at 7:30PM Eastern, earn a place in the Sprint All-Star Race, along with one driver selected by a fan vote. The top 10 in final practice:
James Buescher tops speed chart in final Truck practice at Charlotte
posted by Mike Neff
Friday May 18, 2012
The final practice for the Camping World Truck Series ran from 10:20 – 11:50. James Buescher timed in with a lap of 30.013 seconds and a speed of 179.922 mph. Buescher beat Justin Lofton by .005 seconds. Lofton’s lap was 30.018 seconds for a speed of 179.892 mph. Cale Gale notched the third fastest lap at 30.023 seconds for a speed of 179.862 mph. Gale’s time was .01 seconds slower than Buescher’s top speed. Brendan Gaughan clocked in at 30.116 seconds for a 179.307 mph. The last Truck in the top five was Brad Keselowski, who turned in a lap of 30.195 seconds for a 178.796 mph lap. |
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When The Big BF (Brian France) announced at the beginning of the 2004 season that a new points system would be instituted to determine NASCAR’s Champion, many folks, myself included, were quite skeptical. After riding (quite painfully) on the fence of indecision for most of the year, I finally fell off on the side of reluctant approval. After all, The Chase, as it was dubbed, did make the end of a long and tedious season a bit more exciting. The ‘04 victor wasn’t finally decided until the waning laps of the final race.
We are now nearing the end of the Chase for the second year and it still has some very vociferous opponents that say that is just a stunt to elevate television ratings and does not reflect a true champion’s racing efforts.
While I don’t deny that it was made for (and has) improved late season ratings, I still say that it is really not that far off from the old system. All the new chase has done is shorten the ‘true’ season by ten races. YOU STILL HAVE TO HAVE A GOOD SEASON TO BE IN THE TENTH SPOT! With the chase, you now have ten guys who have a legitimate shot at the championship instead of one guy wrapping it up with a bunch of races remaining.
However, as Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) so eloquently put it, “There are three kinds of lies. Lies, damned lies and statistics!” The Chase is no different. Forget, if you will for a moment, about the Chase and about points and look at the pure racing stats of the top ten and a few selected other drivers.
1. Stewart – 33 starts, 9757 of 9824 laps completed (99.3%), 1830 laps led
Win: 5 ( 15.2%) Average start: 11.7 Total Winnings: $6,347,436 Top 5: 16 ( 48.5%) Average finish: 10.1 (excluding bonuses) Top 10: 23 ( 69.7%) DNF: 12. Johnson – 33 starts, 9356 of 9824 laps completed (95.2%), 545 laps led
Win: 4 ( 12.1%) Average start: 12.0 Total Winnings: $6,002,480 Top 5: 12 ( 36.4%) Average finish: 12.3 (excluding bonuses) Top 10: 20 ( 60.6%) DNF: 43. Biffle – 33 starts, 9608 of 9824 laps completed (97.8%), 1112 laps led
Win: 5 ( 15.2%) Average start: 13.9 Total Winnings: $4,970,808 Top 5: 13 ( 39.4%) Average finish: 12.3 (excluding bonuses) Top 10: 19 ( 57.6%) DNF: 14. Newman – 33 starts, 9484 of 9824 laps completed (96.5%), 358 laps led
Win: 1 ( 3.0%) Average start: 6.4 Total Winnings: $4,801,805 Top 5: 8 ( 24.2%) Average finish: 15.4 (excluding bonuses) Top 10: 15 ( 45.5%) DNF: 35. Edwards – 33 starts, 9445 of 9824 laps completed (96.1%), 258 laps led
Win: 3 ( 9.1%) Average start: 19.6 Total Winnings: $4,085,843 Top 5: 11 ( 33.3%) Average finish: 14.9 (excluding bonuses) Top 10: 15 ( 45.5%) DNF: 16. Martin – 33 starts, 9393 of 9824 laps completed (95.6%), 280 laps led
Win: 1 ( 3.0%) Average start: 15.7 Total Winnings: $4,169,308 Top 5: 10 ( 30.3%) Average finish: 13.9 (excluding bonuses) Top 10: 17 ( 51.5%) DNF: 27. Kenseth – 33 starts, 9272 of 9824 laps completed (94.4%), 852 laps led
Win: 1 ( 3.0%) Average start: 17.5 Total Winnings: $5,051,355 Top 5: 10 ( 30.3%) Average finish: 15.6 (excluding bonuses) Top 10: 15 ( 45.5%) DNF: 48. Wallace – 33 starts, 9692 of 9824 laps completed (98.7%), 259 laps led
Win: 0 ( 0.0%) Average start: 18.3 Total Winnings: $4,326,224 Top 5: 8 ( 24.2%) Average finish: 13.1 (excluding bonuses) Top 10: 17 ( 51.5%) DNF: 09. Busch – 33 starts, 9027 of 9824 laps completed (91.9%), 957 laps led
Win: 3 ( 9.1%) Average start: 13.5 Total Winnings: $6,157,915 Top 5: 9 ( 27.3%) Average finish: 15.5 (excluding bonuses) Top 10: 17 ( 51.5%) DNF: 310. Mayfield – 33 starts, 9676 of 9824 laps completed (98.5%), 151 laps led
Win: 1 ( 3.0%) Average start: 14.9 Total Winnings: $4,110,313 Top 5: 4 ( 12.1%) Average finish: 15.2 (excluding bonuses) Top 10: 8 ( 24.2%) DNF: 1Random
11. McMurray – 33 starts, 9494 of 9824 laps completed (96.6%), 39 laps led
Win: 0 ( 0.0%) Average start: 21.1 Total Winnings: $3,601,893 Top 5: 4 ( 12.1%) Average finish: 16.8 (excluding bonuses) Top 10: 10 ( 30.3%) DNF: 412. Gordon – 33 starts, 8735 of 9824 laps completed (88.9%), 520 laps led
Win: 4 ( 12.1%) Average start: 11.8 Total Winnings: $6,194,451 Top 5: 7 ( 21.2%) Average finish: 18.6 (excluding bonuses) Top 10: 12 ( 36.4%) DNF: 917. Jarrett – 33 starts, 9677 of 9824 laps completed (98.5%), 4 laps led
Win: 1 ( 3.0%) Average start: 20.5 Total Winnings: $4,189,084 Top 5: 4 ( 12.1%) Average finish: 18.8 (excluding bonuses) Top 10: 6 ( 18.2%) DNF: 219. Earnhardt Jr – 33 starts, 8896 of 9824 laps completed (90.6%), 169 laps led
Win: 1 ( 3.0%) Average start: 25.1 Total Winnings: $5,190,530 Top 5: 7 ( 21.2%) Average finish: 20.4 (excluding bonuses) Top 10: 12 ( 36.4%) DNF: 522. Kasey Kahne – 33 starts, 8793 of 9824 laps completed (89.5%), 430 laps led
Win: 1 ( 3.0%) Average start: 14.9 Total Winnings: $4,307,933 Top 5: 5 ( 15.2%) Average finish: 21.3 (excluding bonuses) Top 10: 8 ( 24.2%) DNF: 8From a statistical point of view, the biggest aberration in this year’s Chase is Jimmy Johnson. Johnson should not be in second place! He should be, at the very least, 3rd. But hey, were talking statistics here! Johnson has the 2nd to lowest percentage of completed laps of any chaser and is tied with Kenseth for the most (4) DNFs. Johnson’s only saving grace is, apparently, his 4 wins. But how does that explain why he is ahead of Biffle? I will tell you in a moment.
When I first glanced at these stats, I also thought that Jeremy Mayfield should not be in the Chase at all, and that either Jeff Gordon or Jamie McMurray should be 10th. However, upon further review, the reason he is became clear.
While Gordon has by far more wins, he also has a glaringly high 9 on the DNF scale. McMurray on the other hand, missed out because of not having a win at all and 3 more DNFs than Mayfield. Jeremy squeaked in the Chase for one reason and one reason only…he recorded his single win in race 23 of the 26 race cutoff.
Now is the moment I will explain why Johnson is ahead of Biffle and the most obvious problem with the Chase format. The Chase unfairly benefits those whose wins come late in the year. Without doing the math on the points as if there were no Chase, (I’m sure some stat guru will let me know for sure…) I believe Jimmie would be at least 3rd, if not 4th, in the standings.
My final analysis is that, other than Johnson being the one aberration, statistically, the Chase is pretty darn close to reality. But then there is that old saying…”Anyone can prove anything with statistics!”
(Statistics are from www.racing-reference.com. A terrific site for those who are number nuts!)
Stay off the wall,
Jeff
Thursday on the Frontstretch:
MPM2Nite: NASCAR’s Summer of Discontent
The Twitter NASCAR Revolution – A Trivial Pursuit?
Truckin’ Thursdays: A Look Back at Five Different Victors
Potts’ Shots: New Car Nuances And Goodbye To An Old Friend
Dollars And Sense: NASCAR Dumps Jump Co. As Ad Agency
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