April 9, 2011
- Kenseth wins at Texas: #17-Matt Kenseth won the Samsung Mobile 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway for his 1st win of 2011, his first win since Auto Club in February 2009, and the 19th of his career.
#33-Bowyer finished second followed by #99-Edwards, #16-Biffle, #27-Menard, #9-Ambrose, #6-Ragan [pole sitter], #48-Johnson, #88-Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and #22-Busch.
There were 31 lead changes among 13 drivers; 5 cautions for 24 yellow flag laps.
The attendance is listed as 168,400, up from last years 92,200 during the spring when the race was held Sunday afternoon.
Scheduled Race Re-Air: SPEED, Wednesday, April 13 at 12:00pm/et
See race results, awards, laps led and more on Jayski’s Texas Race Results/Awards page.(4-9-2011) - Race Fast Facts – Texas:
Matt Kenseth won the 15th Annual Samsung Mobile 500, his 19th victory in 407 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in 2011. He breaks 76-race winless streak. Last win Feb. 22, 2009 at Auto Club Speedway.
This is his second victory and 12th top-10 finish in 18 races at Texas Motor Speedway.
Clint Bowyer (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in 11 races at Texas Motor Speedway. It is his third top-10 finish in 2011.
Carl Edwards (third) posted his fifth top-10 finish in 13 races at Texas Motor Speedway.
Andy Lally (32nd) was the highest finishing rookie.
Carl Edwards leads the point standings by 9 points over Kyle Busch.(NASCAR Statistics)(4-9-2011) - 2011 Sprint Cup Driver Championship Points Standings:
[after Texas, race 7 of 36]:
rank, car#, driver, points, behind
1) #99-Carl Edwards [1 win], 256
2) #18-Kyle Busch [1 win], 247, -9
3) #17-Matt Kenseth [1 win], 243, -13
4) #48-Jimmie Johnson, 243, -13
5) #22-Kurt Busch, 240, -16
6) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr., 235, -21
7) #39-Ryan Newman, 233, -23
8) #42-Juan Montoya, 232, -24
9) #29-Kevin Harvick [2 wins], 228, -28
10) #14-Tony Stewart, 213, -43
11) #27-Menard, 209, -47
12) #33-Bowyer, 201, -55
See drivers championship points standings on Jayski’s Drivers Points Standings page.(4-9-2011) - Top-35 in Owner Points: going to Talladega (after 7 races):
The #13 teams moves into the top 35 and the #37 team falls out
31) #34-Gilliland/Front Row, 114, +25
32) #78-Smith/FRR, 112, +23
33) #32-Schrader/FAS Lane, 110, +21
34) #7-RGordon/RGM, 104, +15
35) #13-Mears/Germain, 93, 4 points ahead of 36th
these teams / drivers will need to qualify by speed:
36) #71-Lally/TRG, 89, -4 out of top 35
37) #37-Raines/Front Row, 87, -6
38) #36-Blaney/TBR, 87, -6
39) #38-Kvapil/Front Row, 62, -31
For the owner points standings, see my Owners Points Standings page.(4-9-2011) - Raikkonen interested in running Cup races: UPDATE: Kimi Raikkonen is testing well in NASCAR. So good, in fact, that he is already matching lap times with Kyle Busch, the owner of the truck the Formula One world champion will race. Raikkonen did more testing Thursday in Rockingham, N.C., after two days earlier this week at Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia attended by Busch. All this comes less than a week after Raikkonen signed with Kyle Busch Motorsports to make his NASCAR debut next month in a Trucks Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “The test went really well at Gresham. Kimi is a race car driver, so he does know how to drive race cars and drive them well,” Busch said Thursday. “I got to see it firsthand, and then got to get in the truck myself and run some laps just to kind of see where I compared to where he was at on tires and stuff, and we ran identical lap times. So he’s right there, he knows what he’s doing.” Busch said Raikkonen has also expressed interest in running Sprint Cup and Nationwide races, but Busch said will be re-evaluated after the first race in the truck. “As far as the Nationwide and Cup stuff goes, we haven’t had any discussions on that,” Busch said. “He has asked after the truck debut in Charlotte, which is what our first focus is, kind of evaluating and seeing where he’s at and how he feels and what he wants to do.”(Associated Press/ESPN.com)(4-8-2011)
UPDATE: With former Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen preparing for his Camping World Truck Series debut with Kyle Busch Motorsports, it would seem the natural progression to Nationwide and Sprint Cup would be with Joe Gibbs Racing, the team that fields cars for Busch in those series. But JGR President J.D. Gibbs said it would be hard for his organization to run a fourth car in either series and it would be more likely that JGR could provide equipment for Busch, and allow him to field the team himself through his KBM effort.(Scene Daily)(4-9-2011) - Hamlin gets new front tire changer: From Friday’s media availability at Texas:
Question: What are your thoughts on the recent pit crew change your team made?
Hamlin: “Everyone always says I’m critical, I just said that we stunk and we did. A lot of people say they stink at times, but it’s something — it’s a shame but you have to make changes sometimes. Maybe it’s not the talent level is not a question, I felt like that wasn’t the question for us. You just sometimes have to make a change for chemistry sake. We had the same pit crew for the last two to three years and we’ve been up and down. At their best, they are the best, but it was trying to get to that point. We have changed a guy. We brought up (Nick Krizmanich, front tire changer), he’s from the #11 Nationwide team, we’re trying out him and one other guy and he kind of seemed a step above the rest. We’re going to have a new aspect of our race team this weekend. I’m excited about it, it’s a change and obviously it’s going to take time for chemistry to kick in. Me and Mike (Ford, crew chief) talked about that. There’s probably going to be stops throughout this weekend where it’s not going to be the best but hopefully it’s a step in the right direction for the long run.”(Toyota PR)(4-9-2011) - Petty says team now has good foundation: Richard Petty Motorsports hasn’t had a great year on the track so far, but off the track team co-owner Richard Petty can see a big difference. Petty now has operational oversight of the team that bears his name, something he didn’t have for the previous two years under the ownership of George Gillett and the Gillett family. Performance aside, Petty can feel the difference in the shop. “All the guys working on the cars and stuff act like they enjoy what they’re doing more,” Petty said Thursday night at Texas Motor Speedway. The team does not have the debt that it had in the past and while it is designed to eventually make money, it can create its budget based off sponsorship revenues and race winnings to cover operations of the team and not to pay off loans. “We’ve got a better foundation,” Petty said. “And I know the foundation is pretty good. The last three years, it’s not been that steady. We feel like with the team, we’ve got something to build off of now that’s going to be steady. We’ve got to work hard to build something.”(Scene Daily)(4-9-2011)
- Pole is Ragan’s first in 153 starts: 102 is the number of starts #78-Regan Smith will have in the Cup series when he takes the green flag on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway, making him the full-time active Cup driver with the most starts without a pole in the Sprint Cup Series. #6-David Ragan had the most starts among active Cup regulars without a pole until he grabbed the poled Friday for Saturday’s Samsung Mobile 500, which will be his 153rd Cup start.(Sporting News)(4-9-2011)
- TIFCO and TRG expand relationship: TRG Motorsports and TIFCO Industries have expanded their associate sponsorship arrangement on the # 71 Interstate Moving Services Ford for the Samsung Mobile 500 Sprint Cup Series race to be run at Texas Motor Speedway. TIFCO Industries provides their customers with substantial cost savings in the way they purchase, stock and replenish their maintenance and repair products. TIFCO utilizes a national network of Service Representatives to distribute quality maintenance products and provides services to thousands of customers in a variety of markets.(TRG)(4-9-2011)
- Kentucky race to be Feed The Children 300: Kentucky Speedway’s inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend will evolve into an awareness platform for Feed The Children when the non-profit relief organization serves as title sponsor of the NASCAR Nationwide Series “Feed The Children 300” on Friday, July 8. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., Feed The Children delivers food, medicine, clothing and other necessities worldwide to children and families who lack such essentials due to famine, war, poverty or natural disaster. From distribution centers in Elkhart, Ind., Houston, Texas, Nashville, Tenn., North Brunswick, N.J., Oklahoma City, and Ontario, Calif., Feed The Children is able to provide help and hope to all 50 states. Feed The Children food boxes hold approximately 25 pounds of canned and shelf-stable foods. Essential care boxes contain soap, shampoo, deodorant, tissue, shaving cream and similar personal items. Recipients are identified through local community partner agencies. The organization will help better the lives of families in Kentucky Speedway’s home Gallatin Co., and the surrounding region by delivering an estimated 200,000 pounds of food and supplies in events connected to the “Feed The Children 300.” Feed The Children also will partner with Speedway Children’s Charities to deliver food and essentials to those in need in areas surrounding Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Infineon Raceway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway. In all, Feed The Children’s distributions in partnership with Speedway Children’s Charities will reach 10,000 families with enough food and supplies to stretch around the Kentucky Speedway 1.5-mile track four times.(Kentucky Speedway)(4-9-2011)
- Davis heads home for Nevada Reading Week: Vision Aviation Racing driver Dusty Davis will be returning to his hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada April 11th and 12th to participate in Nevada Reading Week. Davis, who races the No. 15 Vision Airlines/Emerald Coast Resorts Toyota Tundra in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, will spend two days visiting schools in the Las Vegas area to help promote the importance of reading among the area’s elementary school students. Nevada Reading Week is a statewide initiative by teachers and librarians to get elementary school students excited about reading. Among other activities, Davis will attend the Nevada Reading Week Kick-Off Assembly and the Driven to Read Awards Lunch at Roundy Elementary School.(Vision Aviation Racing PR)(4-9-2011)
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