April 5, 2009
- Jeff Gordon wins at Texas: #24-Jeff Gordon won the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway for his first win at Texas [Homestead is the lone track Gordon has not won a race in Sprint Cup], his 1st win of 2009, his first win in 47 races [his last points win was at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Oct 2007] and 82nd win of his career. #48-Johnson finished 2nd, followed by #16-Biffle, #14-Stewart, #17-Kenseth, #5-Martin, #42-Montoya, #2-Busch, #31-Burton and #99-Edwards. Pole sitter #00-Reutimann finished 11th and #88-Earnhardt Jr. finished 20th, a lap down. There were 6 cautions for 30 laps and there were 28 lead changes among 14 drivers.
For race results, awards and more on the Texas Race Results Page.(4-5-2009)
- UNOFFICAL Driver Points Standings [after Texas, race 7 of 36]:
1) #24-Jeff Gordon, 1154 [1 win]
2) #48-Jimmie Johnson, 992, -162 [1 win]
3) #2-Kurt Busch, 974, -180 [1 win]
4) #33-Clint Bowyer, 967, -187
5) #14-Tony Stewart, 963, -191
6) #11-Denny Hamlin, 938, -216
7) #18-Kyle Busch, 914,-240 [2 wins]
8) #99-Carl Edwards, 889, -265
9) #17-Matt Kenseth, 864, -290 [2 wins]
10) #9-Kasey Kahne, 851, -303
11) #00-David Reutimann, 845, -309
12) #31-Jeff Burton, 835, -319
Contenders for the top-12:
13) #42-Juan Montoya, 819, -335
14) #29-Kevin Harvick, 796, -358
15) #16-Greg Biffle, 775, -379
16) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr., 768, -386
For drivers and owners points standings, see the Drivers/Owners Points Standings.(4-5-2009)
- Race Fast Facts – Texas Motor SpeedwayB Jeff Gordon won the SAMSUNG 500, his 82nd victory in 552 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and sixth top-10 finish in 2009. Gordon ends a career-long 47-race winless drought.
Gordon remains sixth on the all-time wins list with 82 wins, one behind Cale Yarborough.
This is his first victory and ninth top-10 finish in 17 races at Texas Motor Speedway. Gordon now has a win at every active track but one — Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson (second) posted his ninth top-10 finish in 12 races at Texas Motor Speedway. It is his fifth top-10 finish in 2009.
Greg Biffle (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in 11 races at Texas Motor Speedway.
Jeff Gordon leads the point standings by 162 points over Jimmie Johnson.(NASCAR Statistics)(4-5-2009)
- Penalty Report – Texas Motor Speedway
Car#, Lap, Reason, Penalty
#78, 99, Outside half of the pit box tire violation/Team member not in contact with the outside tires, Tail End
#18, 153, Excessive speed ENTERING pits, Tail End
#00, 154, Car pitting out of the assigned pit box, 1 Lap
#19, 158, Pitting before pit road is open, Tail End
#96, 221, Pitting before pit road is open, Tail End
#88, 221, Lug nut(s) not installed, Must Come In
#43, 222, Excessive speed EXITING the pits, Tail End
#12, 304, Pitting before pit road is open, Tail End
#25, 306, Lug nut(s) not installed, Must Come
(NASCAR Statistics)(4-5-2009)
- Lucky Dogs – Who got a lap back on each caution at Texas: (and their finish)
Caution 1: #44-Allmendinger, 34th
Caution 2: #83-Vickers, 16th
Caution 3: #83-Vickers (2), 16th
Caution 4: #98-Menard, 13th
Caution 5: #00-Reutimann, 11th
Caution 6: #39-Newman, 15th
(4-5-2009)
- Top-35 in Owner Points and guaranteed a starting spot at Phoenix:
no changes in who is in and who is out, but #71-Gilliland lost 20 points to 35th for the locked position
31) #77-Hornish/Penske: 571, +84
32) #98-Menard/Yates: 543, +56
33) #34-Andretti/Earnhart Ganassi: 540, +53
34) #7-Gordon/Robby Gordon: 531 +44
35) #20-Logano/Gibbs: 510, 23 points ahead of 36th
these teams/ drivers must qualify by speed but are close to the top-35:
36) #71-Gilliland/TRG 487, 23 points out of 35th
37) #8-Almirola/Earnhardt Ganassi: 451, -59
38) #82-Speed/Red Bull: 414, -96
The teams are NOT locked in past the next race as the owners points change after each race.
For the owner points standings, see my Drivers/Owners Points Standings page.(4-5-2009)
- Allmendingers sched to get longer: Richard Petty Motorsports is close to extending #44-A.J. Allmendinger’s schedule beyond the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24. “If you had told me last year that I’d be 15th in points right now, I would have laughed at you,” Allmendinger said. “But we’re in striking distance of the top 12.” With Allmendinger so close to the top 12 in points, RPM needs to decide whether it is committed to moving forward with the driver and the team before another organization snatches him up. According to multiple sources, Joe Gibbs Racing has already inquired about the driver’s status. While RPM is currently securing additional sponsorship (potentially with Hunt Brothers Pizza) nothing will guarantee Allmendinger and the #44 Dodge’s success faster than a revamped pit crew. Allmendinger inevitably loses positions every time he enters pit road. RPM has an Aug. 15 deadline to pick up Allmendinger’s option for 2010.(FoxSports)(4-5-2009)
- NASCAR no plans on keeping radio chatter from fans: Radio transmissions between drivers, owners, spotters and crew chiefs will continue to be available to NASCAR, media and fans. Flak over a torrid exchange between #2-Kurt Busch and car owner Roger Penske last Sunday at Martinsville — in which Busch called his owner “dude” — evoked a familiar refrain on Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. “The radio, I always thought, has been a team tool that should be utilized just by the teams,” Busch said. “We don’t get to hear what the coach says to his offensive and defensive coordinators in the NFL. I don’t think that we get to hear what they do in baseball when they call to the bullpen. You don’t get to hear what they say in the huddle, and what they say in the huddle is pretty animated. Roger and I are on the same page. Martinsville is behind us.” That may be, but NASCAR isn’t about to budge when it comes to keeping the airwaves open.
“The more access we can give the fans, that’s a part of what made NASCAR what it is, the accessibility of the drivers,” said Jim Hunter, NASCAR’s vice president of corporate communications. “In my opinion, drivers — even in the heat of battle — need to be able to control their emotions. They’re driving a racecar around at 200 miles an hour with a bunch of other people. NASCAR needs to be able to hear what’s going on with the teams during a race, and we’ve extended that to the fans.”(Sporting News)(4-5-2009)
- If #8 team closes, Truex could be free agent..to Gibbs? UPDATE Bass Pro Shops not leaving: The buzz in the garage has Earnhardt Ganassi Racing shutting down the #8 Chevy and sidelining Aric Almirola after this weekend if a sponsor doesn’t magically appear. If that happens, three contracts are affected: #1-Martin Truex Jr., Bass Pro Shops Racing and Chevy. Truex’s contract states that he must have two teammates or he can leave the team. Bass Pro Shops has a performance clause and with Truex 28th in owner points, the #1 team is in a precarious position. Finally, Chevy can alter its support to EGR if three teams are not under the roof. The hot rumor at Martinsville last week had Truex replacing Joey Logano in the #20 Home Depot Toyota. Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs insisted Sunday and again by phone on Wednesday that “Joey’s our guy. We haven’t had any conversations with anyone,” Gibbs said. “We’d like to have someone in line by summer time, but you have to sit down, look at what partner is available, what driver is available and who would be a good fit for the team. We had [#96] Hall of Fame last year and we don’t have it now. So we have room for a fourth team. We’d love to have it.”
Gibbs mentioned JGR’s plans to run the #02 Farm Bureau Toyota to race later this season. An announcement was made in January that Farm Bureau Insurance was signed for six Cup races in 2009, including being the primary sponsor for two Cup races on Denny Hamlin’s car at Darlington and Atlanta and on Logano’s car at Martinsville. A fourth team will feature Farm Bureau as the title sponsor for the fall races at LMS, Texas and Homestead. Gibbs did not believe Farm Bureau was committed to a level where it could expand as a full-time sponsor in 2010.
Truex said on Friday that he’s committed to staying the course. “When I give someone my word by signing a contract, if they keep theirs and I keep my mind, there’s no reason to ever think about doing anything else, obviously,” Truex said. “Right now, my focus is on getting this car better and moving up in the points. We’re back here where we shouldn’t be. We’ve never been back this far before and we’ve had a tough start to the year.”
As for Bass Pro Shops, if Truex does leave. don’t be surprised if the sponsor fills out Ryan Newman’s program on the #39 Chevy at Stewart-Haas Racing [US Army is there for 23 races]. That deal, which is valued between $8 million and $10 million, could go down before summer.(FoxSports)(4-4-2009)
UPDATE: SPEEDtv’s Hermie Sadler reported that EGR’s President Steve Lauletta said they would be meeting Tuesday to decide the fate of the #8 team and that Bass Pro Shops is signed with EGR thru the 2010 season and there is no ‘out’ for them.(4-5-2009)
- Penske to Toyota? doubtful: Speculation mounts that some Dodge teams may be looking to bolt, depending on how the Washington-Detroit-Chrysler-Fiat talks go. Most prominent in the speculation is that Roger Penske, who is one of the nation’s biggest Toyota dealers, may move Kurt Busch’s Dodge team, which just won at Atlanta, into the Toyota camp. A Penske-Toyota-NASCAR scenario has been bandied about for several years. There was no immediate comment from officials at Chrysler, but Toyota racing boss Lee White said “Unless RP [Roger Penske] has resorted to secretly stealing our parts, there is not chance he’s running anything remotely resembling a Toyota in the foreseeable future. It’s just another of many false rumors.”(mikemulhern.net)(4-5-2009)
- EGR looks to have a ‘common chassis’ soon: Earnhardt Ganassi Racing [#1-Truex Jr., #8-Almirola, #42-Montoya] is planning on a common chassis constructed using the best ideas from both elements of EGR. It might appear as early as in two weeks when the season resumes at Phoenix after next weekend’s Easter break. EGR competition director Steve Hmiel said Truex and Montoya might be in “common cars” as early as in two weeks on the 1-mile Phoenix oval, or as late as the Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May. “There’s one done now that could go to Phoenix if they desire,” Hmiel said. “We finished one Thursday morning before we came out [to Texas] and we finished another one [Friday].”(NASCAR.com)(4-5-2009)
- Tire test at New Hampshire: there is a scheduled Goodyear Tire Test at New Hampshire early next week [April 6-8 range], so far only #24-Jeff Gordon has been mentioned as a test driver.(Chevy Transcript)(4-5-2009)
- RAB to appeal Daytona penalties: UPDATE 2: The National Stock Car Racing Commission accepted a request for an appeal pertaining to the penalty levied against Jay Robinson, car owner of the #09 Ford at Daytona. A date for the hearing has yet to be set, however it is expected to take place sometime next week. “I’m grateful to NASCAR for having a process in place for this type of instance. They’ve been very helpful and we look forward to the opportunity to present the facts of our particular case to the Commission so that the penalty may be reconsidered.” – Robby Benton, General Manager(RAB Racing PR), for earlier information on the penalty, see the 2009 Nationwide Series penalties page.(2-25-2009)
UPDATE: On March 9, 2009, the National Stock Car Racing Commission heard and considered the appeal of RAB Racing regarding the #09 NASCAR Nationwide Series car. The appeal concerned three penalties issued by NASCAR stemming from opening day inspection on February 10, 2009 for the NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Daytona International Speedway. The Appellants argued that the modifications to the roll cage did not violate NASCAR rules in that the tubing was originally round. The Appellants argued that the modifications did not represent an intentional effort on their part to circumvent the rules, rather that the chassis had been purchased from a third party and had been modified at some time in the past to allow for bodywork clearance. They further pointed out that no effort had been made on their part to conceal the modifications during the inspection process. They also argued that the penalty was excessive in light of these circumstances. The Commission found the Appellants’ explanation of the sequence of events regarding the modifications to the roll bar to be both plausible and believable. Ultimately, however, the team presenting the car for inspection is responsible for that car’s adherence to the rules. Since the modifications may have affected the integrity of the roll cage, an excessive penalty was warranted in this case. Therefore, it is the unanimous decision of the National Stock Car Racing Commission to uphold the original penalties assessed by NASCAR.(NASCAR PR)(3-9-2009)
UPDATE 2: RAB Racing has lost its appeal to National Stock Car Racing Commissioner Charles Strang over a $15,000, 100-point penalty for having an illegal roll cage in the Nationwide Series car it brought to race in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway. The roll cage was bent near the driver’s door. Team owner Robby Benton’s biggest issue with the penalty was that points were taken away for a car that was never raced. NASCAR officials asked the team to bring out a backup car but did not impound the car. Benton’s appeal to Strang occurred March 30 and Benton said he was informed of the decision April 3.(Scene Daily)(4-5-2009)
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