By Lou Modestino

The 8 hours of Talledega

David Ragan was a 100-1 shot going into Talledega’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race on Sunday. But he ended up being at the right place at the right time in the green and white checker that brought that NASCAR Sprint Cup race to a merciful end. Leading when it really counted, the Georgia driver proved a point that almost anybody left in that field had a chance at that win. But you also had to be on top of your game and lucky enough to survive up to the end in order to be in contention. Another factor that made the final laps of the race tense as that the track was quickly running out of daylight.

“I’m a low key guy. I’d just like to thank everyone that helped me get here. I don’t know what else to say, ” said the winner. It was also Ragan’s second career win. Equally suprised at his performance was his teamate and runner-up Dave Gilliland. “I’m very proud of my team. This is awesome. I didn’t dare to back off,” said the second place finisher. As it turned out both were able to work together to finish one-two in the final laps of that long afternoon grind.

Both drivers were among the survivors who were able to avoid those huge crashers that eliminated many of the top runners in the field. Replacing those cars for the teams is very expensive even for the well sponsored organizations. For some teams not as wealthy, those wrecks that totally destroy the racing cars can put them out of business. Given the way the races are run, we don’t see any solution on those restrictor plate tracks.
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Kenseth overhauls the rest at Kansas

By Lou Modestino

Matt Kenseth and company had more than enough to show that he and his team were the masters of Kansas International Speedway. Besides being the top driver at that Middle -America track on race day, he also took the pole position in the qualifying runs. Matt drove a flawless race on race day, especially in the last 20 circuits when it really counted.

Try as he might, Kasey Kahne just couldn’t catch the leader as the pair raced toward the checkered flag. However, Kenseth revealed, “I thought that Kasey had me a few times, but he just couldn’t do it probably because my cars have been fast all year. My team is just awesome and we are contenders. Everything just turned out right for us.”

Kahne said,” I really needed the cloud cover but that never happened. Matt was just very fast. That’s why he got out front and had the stuff to stay there. But my team still gave me everything that they had and that’s why I think that they are all just great.” Read Full Article →

Hamlin and Logano carry their Bristol feud into Fontana with disaster
as Kyle Busch capitalizes on it

By Lou Modestino

As usual in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, the strategy was to try and stay out of trouble at Fontana until the end. For some it worked, for others it didn’t. Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano got into it coming down the last lap when the two tangled and went out big time. Waiting for something to happen was Kyle Busch who seized the opportunity when the two combatants tangled. While Logano was out of his car and waiting for the track crew, Tony Stewart, who was miffed that Joey blocked his efforts, came over to Logano and roughed him up.

With a big grin, a pleased Kyle Busch exclaimed, “It’s a great day for me and I was lucky to get by Hamlin and Lagano. I wouldn’t have won here today unless they smashed up!” Kyle also thought his car was great, as he managed to pick up speed at the end. It was a double-header weekend for Kyle, as he also managed to win the Nationwide race at Fontana, his sixth victory there, while Sam Hornish, Jr., got leftovers.
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By Lou Modestino

NASCAR’s Generation 6 Cars are still a big ? even after Vegas

When the black and whites flew at Sin City, it was Matt Kenseth with Kasey Kahne next, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Junior, Martin Truex, Kevin Harvick and Paul Menard before what appeared to be a pretty decent crowd.

In Victory Lane Kenseth admitted that he was nervous because he thought that Kasey had the best car. He blurted, “But we were successful because we did our pit stops without any incidents.” Kahne didn’t exactly agree when he revealed, “I felt that Matt was going to beat us anyway. He was able to run better lines. All things considered, we still had a great day and lots of fun.”

After the race, Kezelowski wasn’t harsh on himself and his crew when he said, “We kept working on the pit stops. It was a good effort, and it was better than what we did in practice. But we just weren’t as fast as Kasey.” Kyle Busch said, “We had tire problems which resulted in having to claw our way back to the front.” Yet he thought that he did well on the short runs. And according to Carl Edwards, “It was knife edge racing all day!” A little dejected, consistent front runner Jimmie Johnson said, “We were flexy and I wish I had more at the end.” But JR seemed positive, “We had a real good race. I enjoyed the racetrack, and I’m pretty happy.” Read Full Article →

By Lou Modestino

NASCAR fans are going to get their first 2013 racing fix when the flag officially drops on FOX Sports’ 2013 Speedweeks coverage with the newly named SPRINT UNLIMITED AT DAYTONA. It will be live and in prime time on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET, followed by live coverage of DAYTONA 500 QUALIFYING, Sunday, Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. ET.

There’s a prevailing feeling that the 2013 NASCAR season is going to pivotal year for the Daytona based sanction. The person doing the steering at the helm of NASCAR is Brian France. To date Brian has reversed all of the changes that he made, over the years. It’s now back to square one and pretty much what we had before the shopping bag of changes took place. We have to give Brian some credit for making those changes that the fans complained about the most. In the process, France had to reverse just about everything he thought would grow his product. Read Full Article →