March 20, 2011
- Kyle Busch wins at Bristol: #18-Kyle Busch won the Jeff Byrd 500 presented at Food City Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway for his 1st win of 2010, 20th win of his career and 5th stright at Bristol [2 Cup, 2 NNS & 1 Truck race]. Busch has now won at least one race a season for seven straight seasons.
#99-Edwards [the pole sitter] finished second followed by #48-Johnson, #17-Kenseth, #27-Menard, #29-Harvick, #22-Busch, #16-Biffle, #4-Kahne and #39-Newman. Points leader going in to the race, #14-Stewart finished 19th.
There were 17 lead changes among 8 drivers; 10 cautions for 57 yellow flag laps and the attendance is listed as 120,000 down from last years 138,000.
Scheduled Race Re-Air on SPEED, Wednesday, March 23 at 12:00pm/et.
See race results, awards, laps led and more on Jayski’s Bristol Race Results/Awards page.(3-20-2011) - Race Fast Facts – Bristol:
#18-Kyle Busch won the Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City, his 20th victory in 226 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2011. His last win also came at Bristol, on Aug. 21, 2010, 15 races ago.
This is his fifth victory and 10th top-10 finish in 13 races at Bristol Motor Speedway. He ties Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon for the Bristol wins lead among active drivers.
He has now won five consecutive NASCAR national series races at Bristol.
Busch is the fourth different winners in the first four races this season, first time that time has happened since 2005.
#99-Carl Edwards (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in 14 races at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is his third top-10 finish in 2011.
#48-Jimmie Johnson (third) posted his 10th top-10 finish in 19 races at Bristol Motor Speedway.(NASCAR Statistics)(3-20-2011) - 2011 Sprint Cup Driver Championship Points Standings:
[after Bristol, race 4 of 36]:
rank, car#, driver, points, behind
1) #22-Kurt Busch 150
2) #99-Carl Edwards [1 win] 149 -1
3) #14-Tony Stewart 138 -12
4) #39-Ryan Newman 138 -12
5) #27-Paul Menard 136 -14
6) #18-Kyle Busch [1 win] 133 -17
7) #48-Jimmie Johnson 130 -20
8) #42-Juan Pablo Montoya 126 -24
9) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. 124 -26
10) #56-Martin Truex Jr. 123 -27
11) #5-Mark Martin 123 -27
12) #4-Kasey Kahne 122 -28
See drivers championship points standings on Jayski’s Drivers Points Standings page.(3-20-2011) - Top-35 in Owner Points with one race to go before 2011 points are used, currently 2010 owners points are used thru the 5th race of the season:
30) #31-Burton/RCR, 74, +23
31) #20-Logano/JGR, 74, +23
32) #83-Vickers/Red Bull, 69, +18
33) #32-Schrader/FAS Lane, 66, +15
34) #7-RGordon/RGM, 59, +8
35) #13-Mears/Germain, 52, 1 point ahead of 36th
these teams / drivers would need to qualify by speed after race 5:
36) #36-Blaney/TBR, 51, -1 out of top 35
37) #37-Raines/Front Row, 50, -2
38) #71-Lally/TRG, 49, -3
39) #38-Kvapil/Front Row, 46, -6
For the first five races of 2011, team are locked in their owners points position by the 2010 final owners points
For the owner points standings, see my Owners Points Standings page.(3-20-2011) - Some Bristol schemes added to the Paint Scheme Gallery including: #’s 09-Thank a Teacher Today, 7, 9, 24, 27, 29, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42, 46, 47, 60, 66, 71, 87, 88, 92 & 99
- New tire working good at Bristol: Reaction to the new right-side tires Goodyear introduced to Sprint Cup teams Saturday was mixed, but everyone agreed the biggest concern that forced the change has been fixed. “It lasts,” said Mark Martin, who was fastest in the final practice. “There’s not as much grip, and handling is not as good, but it will last. That’s what we had to have.”
Goodyear made the decision to change early Friday because the new, softer compound brought to the half-mile track was severely chording, to the point the tires were wearing out in 25 to 30 laps — far less than the 135 laps needed for a full fuel run. The right-side combination also was not rubbering up the track properly. “The track obviously is taking on more rubber,” Goodyear’s Rick Heinrich said after practice. “The tire wear projects to a full fuel run.” Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president for competition, was happy with the new tires that produced speeds of about half a second slower. “It’s fine,” he said. “It’s a little bit different, but the important thing is we’re in a position now to react faster than ever before.” Heinrich said each team will have one set of tires made in February 2010 and eight sets made in September 2010. Most teams didn’t practice with the new tires until late in Saturday’s second practice.
(ESPN)(3-20-2011) - Drag racer to start up car at Bristol start/finish line: For the first time, Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing teammates Bob Tasca III and Trevor Bayne will suit up at the same race – Tasca to participate in opening ceremonies, and Bayne to compete in the Jeff Byrd 500 at his home track, Bristol Motor Speedway. Tasca will fire up his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang NHRA Full Throttle Series Funny Car on the start/finish line of the legendary track Sunday morning, after a weekend of appearances at the Ford display, a pace car ride and meetings with media. “When they see one of these cars start up right before the race, and we hit the throttle two or three times, that’s when people are really blown away with just how much horsepower we are making out of these Ford engines,” said Tasca, who will also take a ride around the world’s fastest half-mile on Sunday. “Not too many people realize how much these nitro Ford engines produce, and when you’re standing right next to it and we hit the throttle, you really can feel just how much power is there. It’s always great to go to a NASCAR event and spread the gospel about our sport, and share what we do with people who don’t know much about drag racing,” Tasca and the NHRA Full Throttle Series come to Bristol Dragway Father’s Day Weekend, June 17-19, 2011 for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, presented by Tri-Cities area Area Ford Dealers.(Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing)(3-20-2011)
- POW/MIA flag raised at BMS: Amid the hustle and bustle of Food City Family Race Night, and over the roar of racecars competing in qualifying rounds for the Scotts EZ Seed 300 and Jeff Byrd 500, a group of men and women took a moment to be silent. Standing in a semi-circle behind Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday afternoon, the leather-clad members from Rolling Thunder Tennessee, Chapter 4, remembered the nearly 92,000 prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action since World War I with a ceremony and flag raising. “We’re here to publicize the issue” of prisoners of war and people missing in action, said Haley Lingerfelt, the group’s MIA committee chairperson. “It’s really just to make a statement. We need to pay [the soldiers] the respect that they’re due.” A black POW/MIA flag was raised on the same flagpole as the American flag, and veterans both in the Rolling Thunder group and in the crowd stood at attention and saluted as the American flag was hoisted. The POW/MIA flag is a permanent addition to the speedway.(see full story and pictures at the Bristol Herald Courier)(3-20-2011)
- Sad News – Harry N. Stiff Jr: Harry N. Stiff Jr., a great friend of many in the NASCAR community, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday [March 17th] afternoon. Harry worked at International Speedway Corp [ISC] from 1999 – 2006 as Director, and then Sr. Director of Consumer Marketing. He spent a number of years prior to that working for Busch Entertainment Corporation on Sea World and Busch Gardens. Harry loved the sport and especially his home track – RIR. He was always a Virginian at heart.Obit Harry N. Stiff, Jr., 49, Daytona Beach, Florida passed away on March 17th at his home. The family will receive friends on Tuesday, March 22nd between the hours of 5:30 – 7:30 pm at Lohman Funeral Home; 733 W. Granada Blvd., Ormond Beach. A memorial service will be celebrated on Wednesday, March 23rd at 10:00 am at the Calvary Christian Center, 1687 W. Granada Blvd., Ormond Beach. Harry was born February 25, 1962 in Bedford, Virginia to Harry and Mary (Pullen) Stiff. He relocated to Volusia County nine years ago from Sanford, FL. He was an Entertainment Marketing Executive, attended Calvary Christian Center; he received his Bachelors Degree in Business from Christopher Newport University and was a member of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. Harry was a passionate sports fan, an avid reader, loved to barbeque, cook, and was known as a great chef and food critic. He loved staying in touch with family and friends. He was predeceased by his mother, Mary Stiff and is survived by his wife of eleven years, Julynn Stiff; his daughter, Kennedy Stiff; and his father, Harry N. Stiff, Sr., all of Daytona Beach; as well as his brother, Keith (Marcelle) Stiff, Orlando, FL. Memorial contributions may be made to the Harry Stiff Memorial Fund at Floridian Bank; 1696 N. Clyde Morris Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL 32117.(Daytona Beach News Journal)(3-20-2011)
- Cobb, 2nd Chance Motorsports split: UPDATES: Jennifer Jo Cobb was scheduled to start Saturday’s Nationwide race 41st but when the command to start was made, Cobb was not in the #79 car. She refused to drive it after she said team owner Rick Russell told her he wanted her to start and park just before the race began. Here’s what Jennifer Jo Cobb said about the situation: “There were rumblings all week about our team starting and parking. I have made a commitment to my sponsors, my fans and NASCAR that I’m not a start-and-park driver. I’m really serious about this. I have to work hard to prove to people that I’m serious about this. The conversation was never had with me until 10 minutes before the race started that I was to start and park. I had already bought … tires to run this race, so you can imagine, it was a blow both to my principles and my finances to hear this. As the owner of this team, he has the right to ask NASCAR to black flag me and said he would do so. After thinking about it … I tried to come up with a solution and there’s also rumblings around town that he was going to surprise me and take me out of the car at California (next week). We have a five-race agreement that says that I’m racing for him and that’s why I took the Nationwide points vs. the truck points. Because of the promises he’s made, I’ve made decisions about my career and so 10 minutes before the race he told me not only am I starting and parking to save his car for California but that he would be replacing me as a driver in California and that he was the owner of the car and there was nothing (she) could do about it.
Car owner Rick Russell gives his side of what happened with Jennifer Jo Cobb before Saturday’s race and what resulted. “Five minutes before the race, she took her crew and left. We had a crew meeting here on Friday morning and I explained to everyone what our purpose was here this weekend. In Vegas we destroyed a car through Kyle Busch’s accident. We only had one car, so had to have the body completely replaced on the car except for the roof, decklid and rear bumper, so without a sponsor the total of about $16,000 about broke me to get this car together. We already had our entry in for here and California, so rather than try to roll this and lose this, we decided we’d come up here and I let everybody know we were here in a conservative mode. We would practice smart. We would qualify and we would make a few laps and then we would park the car and save it for California. She waited until five minutes until start time and told her crew chief and her other people that worked for her and they left. I’m sitting on pit road with a car without a driver and made myself look stupid, NASCAR look stupid, the whole bunch of us look stupid.” Also, Rick Russell said that Tim Andrews will drive the team’s car at California next weekend. (Hampton Roads)(3-19-2011)
UPDATE: Jennifer Jo Cobb, who walked away from her car about five minutes before the start of Saturday’s Nationwide Series race in protest of having to start and park, will drive the #41 for Rick Ware Racing next weekend at California. Meanwhile, Rick Russell, who signed Cobb to drive the first five Nationwide races of the season for 2nd Chance Motorsports, plans to sue for breach of contract. Both parties said the partnership they formed before the season is over, but that is about all they agree on. Russell said it was clear after Cobb crashed at Las Vegas that he would park early at Bristol to preserve the car for California, noting he didn’t hire a pit crew or buy tires to run the entire race. He said Cobb and her crew chief, Steve Kuykendall, purchased tires and hired a pit crew. He added that Cobb already had breached her contract because she didn’t provide the engine at Las Vegas and Bristol as the contract states. Cobb insisted she lived up to the contract, noting a second party provided $15,000 toward a $30,000 engine she used at Vegas. Russell said Cobb knew well before the race she was going to have to park and that the move in front of a national television audience was premeditated. (ESPN.com)(3-20-2011) - Rusty Wallace Racing to test at Pike’s Peak: Up this week for RWR’s #66 and #62 teams is a two-day test at Pikes Peak International Raceway, before the teams head to Los Angeles for next weekend’s 300-miler at Auto Club Speedway. Steve Wallace enters the Auto Club weekend with two-straight top-tens in the Spring event there, including a sixth-place effort in last year’s race. (Rusty Wallace Racing)(3-20-2011)
- Peters heads to home track with solid start: The historic Virginia oval is Peters’ home track, so of course he should feel a bit of confidence. And there are the two wins he has at Martinsville, one in the Kroger 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in 2009 and the other in the big season-ending Late Model Stock race in 2005. “It’s no secret how much I love Martinsville,” said Peters during an off week before the Kroger 250 on April 2 and the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 on April 3. There could be even more love going around this time, thanks to the addition of veteran crew chief Butch Hylton to Peters’ Red Horse Racing Team in the off season. The two have had pretty fair success at Martinsville the past couple of seasons. Peters won the Kroger 200 in the fall of 2009. Hylton was on the pit box for both Martinsville truck series winners in 2010, Kevin Harvick in the spring and Ron Hornaday in the fall. Peters is off to a consistent if not flashy start to the 2011 season. He was 11th in the season-opener at Daytona, 12th the following week at Phoenix and sixth at Darlington last Saturday night. He’s third in the points headed to Martinsville on April 2 in what is an amazingly tight points race. Just nine points separate leader Matt Crafton and fifth place Johnny Sauter. Peters is seven points back. [The Camping World Truck Series returns to Martinsville Speedway for the Kroger 250 on Saturday, April 2, 2011.](Martinsville Speedway PR)(3-20-2011)
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