RCS Blog Network

Front Row Motorsports Goes 1-2 At Talladega

2013-05-06T00:28:34Z

After one of the most amazing finishes of the NASCAR year on Saturday the Sprint Cup drivers took to the track. The race started on time, but the drivers had to avoid the big one and rain that was forecasted to fall sometime in the afternoon.

The race started off with cars getting three wide right out of the gates. Then at lap 3 it was two wide racing up front. Martin Truex Jr. started out leading the race and then Matt Kenseth got up front to the race lead. At lap 7 it was single wide racing up front. At lap 20 it was unscheduled pit stop time for Dale Earnhardt Jr. as he wound up with some damage from a hit with Travis Kvapil. The first caution though came out at lap 22 as Trevor Bayne and his car was smoking big time.

Most of the leaders pitted and Denny Hamlin made a change in drivers over to Brian Vickers. Nine cars though stayed out at least a lap before pitting. The race restarted with Matt Kenseth in the race lead. After a small bunch of laps it was major wreck time as Kyle Busch helps Kasey Kahne spins out. Then they both help take out the Denny Hamlin car, Casey Mears, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Marcos Ambrose, Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, David Reutimann, Jeff Burton, and more.

"I'm all right", said Kyle Busch. He also stated he wanted to go on the outside, but before he could do it he wound up wrecking him(Kasey Kahne).

"I'm fine," said Kasey Kahne.

As the cars pitted a bunch of cars took four tires just to be safe.

The race restarted again with Matt Kenseth leading the race. Ryan Newman though got hot and took over the race lead. Than at lap 59 Matt Kenseth was back to the race lead as the race started to move to long single line of cars up front. At lap 88 the first round of green flag pit stop stops started. At lap 90 the cars in the top five pitted. After the pit stops were over Matt Kenseth was back to leading the race.

Rain at this time was close to the track as the pit stops were occurring.

As the green flag racing continued it was one long single line of cars with Matt just logging laps as the leader. With around 72 laps left the cars up front started to go two wide and Jimmie Johnson took over the race lead. After a few more laps Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with a couple of more Ford cars too over the race lead. Then Carl Edwards took over the race lead as the caution came out for rain. At the time of the caution it was close to a second round of green flag pit stops.

At lap 125 the cars stopped on pit road and tarps got to be put on tops of the cars as we went to a red flag condition around 3:18 PM. The rain delay even with the new Titan drying system took over 3 hours and 30 minutes before they could get back to racing. The Juan Pablo Montoya car though had trouble restarting and went behind the wall to get it started again.

When the pit road finally opened cars came down for service with Joey Logano winning the race off pit road. Kurt Busch and a few other cars stayed out, but over the next few laps some of them start pitting.

With 58 laps left the race finally restarted and Bobby Labonte was leading the race while it was three wide in the back. After a few laps Matt Kenseth got the lead back. Then the high line with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at the front of it started to get hot.

With 45 laps left the car Joey Logano was driving went south and then it got single file up front. A second group of cars a few seconds back started to go to the low side in the corners and caught the lead pack with 30 laps left. With 22 laps left Matt Kenseth a bunch of other cars pit. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Martin Truex Jr. both picked up a penalty for entering pit road too fast on pit road. After the pit stops were over Jimmie Johnson was the race leader. The caution finally came out with 15 laps left as Michael McDowell smacked the wall.

This caution brought only a few cars down pit road for service. The race restarted with 10 laps left with Jimmie Johnson leading the race. With 8 laps left Regan Smith made it three wide with a monster move to pass a bunch a bunch of cars to take the race lead. Then with six laps left the second big one occurred that was wilder than the first. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. tries to go four wide, but J.J Yeley got hit and then took out Kurt Busch who went in the air and landed on the car on Ryan Newman. Bobby Labonte, Martin Truex Jr., Jamie McMurray, Danica Patrick, and more got damage from this wreck.

"I was trying to win the race," said J.J. Yeley. "Got hit in the right rear corner."

"That is no way to tend the race," said Ryan Newman.

This brought out the green-white-checkered finish and the only one NASCAR is going to use. Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards started out leading the final two laps. Then on the final lap David Ragan with help from his teammate David Gilliland got hooked up for the push of their careers to take the race lead. They were so fast they both wound up passing Carl and Matt. They both survived to finish one-two to give Front Row Racing its first win ever in NASCAR.

"This is a true David vs. Goliath moment here," said David Ragan.

"What a great day for Front Row Motorsports," said David Gilliland. His second place finish is the best of his career.

"Disappointing ending to the day," said Matt Kenseth who finished eighth.

Regan Smith Wins A Very Wild Talladega race.

2013-05-05T00:47:59Z

After a good three hour rain delay the Arron's 312 race from Talladega finally got under way. Travis Pastrana picked off his poll of his NASCAR career. Cars were then trying to avoid more bad weather, the big wreck, and darkness.

The race started out with the pair of Travis Pastrana and Trevor Bayne leading the race. At lap six a Trevor and Travis changed spots which help put Ty Dillion in thr race lead. Then at lap eight Kasey Kahne was the race leader. Then next up to lead the race was Elliott Sadler. The caution though came out at lap 14 as Danica Patrick spins out with some help from Kyle Larson. This caution wound up being the competition caution. Cars pitted under the caution.

After the race restarted Joey Logano was the race leader. Justin Allgaier and Brian Vickers also got to lead laps during this green flag run. The racing went to a yellow flag condition at lap 35 as Kyle Larson blows a tire and then takes out Jeffrey Earnhardt. Leaders pitted with Joey Logano winning the race off pit road again.

The race restarted again with Joey Loagno leading laps. Elliott Sadler, Brian Scott, Kasey Kahne, Reed Sorenson, Trevor Bayne, and Regan Smith all got to lead laps under this long green flag run. With 49 laps left Elliott Sadler ran into engine problems. The green flag racing finally came to an end at lap 72 as Reed Sorenson spins out with some help from Brian Scott and takes out Travis Pastrana.

"I tried to check up," said Travis Pastrana. "Just devastated for the team."

The leaders pit and Joey Logano wins the race off pit road again. Kasey Kahne though got a penalty on pit road for a tire violation. During this green flag run Joey Coulter, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, Parker Kligerman, and Kasey Kahne got to lead laps under this green flag run. With 30 laps left Blake Koch winds up getting taped and smacked into the wall to bring out the caution. Cars from fifth place back pitted.

With 25 laps left the race restarted, but rain was in the area. It was short green flag run and the big one occurred. Sam Hornish Jr., Johanna Long, Trevor Bayne, Bobby Gerhart, Eric McClure, Brian Scott, Mike Harmon, Ty Dillion, and More.
"I have no idea," said Brian Scott on what happened.

"I don't really know," said Johanna Long on what happened.

During this caution the NASCAR said the race would be 10 laps shorter.

The race restarted with seven laps left and Kurt Busch in the race lead. At the end of the lap Regan Smith was in the race lead. At the end of the next lap Kurt Busch got back in the race lead. With three laps left Austin Dillion had the race lead. At the end of the lap Joey Coulter gets spun out to bring out the caution. This led to a green/white checkered single attempt now finish for the race.

When the race restarted Austin Dillion had a good push to get the race lead. On the final lap though it got super wild. Elliott Sadler, Alex Bowman, and others in the back wrecked. Up front though in the final turn it became three wide for the race lead with Regan Smith, Joey Logano, and Kasey Kahne fighting for the top spot. As the cars started to wreck Regan Smith took a tiny lead over Joey Logano. As the top three were still going full throttle Kasey Kahne on the high side had such a run he beat Joey and Regan by inches at the start/finish line. After an official review by NASCAR Regan Smith took the race as he was barely leading Joey at the time the caution lights came out.

Regan Smith stated that he saw cars jamming up in turn three and made his move.

"I'm happy for Regan," said Kasey Kahne. He also stated that he was surprised they through out the caution.

"I don't know when they through out the caution," said Joey Logano. "Discount Tire Guys did great."

Rain Has Killed Sprint Cup Qualifying

2013-05-04T17:13:07Z

this afternoon which puts Carl Edwards on the poll. Denny Hamlin will start seventh, but is expected to not finish the race.

Kurt Busch though is going to be testing an Indy Car and could run the Indy 500 somday.

3:40PM update: Rain is still in the area. If the one blob of rain goes away they can dry the track and go racing. I do not know when that will be.

Weather, Sponsorship, And Travis Pastrana News

2013-05-03T21:28:08Z

Travis Pastrana is going to be be on the poll for the Saturday race.

Weather though could be a factor on Saturday and Sunday as rain is in the forecast for the area. They do have the new high tech track drying system ready to if needed.

David Rgaan has Farm Rich as a sponsor this Sunday.

David Gilliand has Love's Travel Stops as a sponsor this Sunday.

Denny Hamlin Is Still Waiting For NASCAR

2013-05-02T20:59:40Z

approval to race at Tallaega.

UPDATE: He has now been cleared to race this weekend.

NASCAR Wins First Penalty Fight.

2013-05-01T21:05:22Z

All the penalties so far for Penske have been upheld by NASCAR. Penske is going to take it to the next level.

Michael Waltrip will be in the #55 car this Sunday at Talladega.

Tire test speeds at Indy have reached over 210 MPH

AOL On Network is going to air a 10 part series on Dylan Kwasniewski that is trying to make in NASCAR

Denny Hamlin, New Penalties, And Ty Dillion News

2013-04-30T21:50:56Z

Nationwide Series Penalties are out for Thomas Costello and Michael Scearce.

Both crew members for the #2 team have each been fined $15,000. They are also suspended from NASCAR until the completion of the next four NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship events. They are also on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.

Crew chiefs Chris Carrier (#30 car) and Phil Gould (#2 car) are also also on probation until June 26 for this mess as well.

Denny Hamlin is going to start the race at Talladega, He is expected to turn the car over to Brian Vickers though, but that will still allow him to get any Sprint Cup points for the spot Vickers get.

Ty Dillion is going to ride the #33 Nationwide Series car on Saturday,

Vikings Continue to Stockpile Talent

2013-04-30T14:18:12Z

In the 2012 NFL season no team in the NFL made as big a leap into the NFL playoff picture from as far away - based upon their win total from 2011 - as the Minnesota Vikings. Yet, Minnesota's presence in the playoffs flew a bit under the radar, despite the remarkable Adrian Peterson posting one of the greatest individual seasons in league history.

As discussions have emerged of likely Super Bowl contenders for the upcoming 2013 season, the Vikings do not enter such discussions. What has been overlooked is the talent that has been amassed on Minnesota's roster in recent years. There is a reason the Vikings won 10 games while navigating through one of the toughest schedules in the league last season.

The Vikings have been built to win.

Despite the second-year quarterback Christian Ponder's struggles during the middle part of last season, and despite playing without the dynamic talents of Percy Harvin for the final six games, the Vikings were still able to make the playoffs because of the heroics of the league MVP, Peterson, and because of a very solid crop of talented young players.

In January's Pro Bowl, seven Vikings played in that game. Only two teams sent more players, the Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers, both of whom sent nine. (The Vikings defeated both of those two teams last year). Three of the seven Viking Pro Bowlers were recent draft picks, including the game's MVP, second-year tight-end Kyle Rudolph. Two Vikings rookies also made the Pro Bowl, tackle Matt Kalil and placekicker Blair Walsh.

Given Ponder's strong play down the stretch last season, he seems to have settled in as a quarterback the franchise can rely upon after all. With the promising play of last season's rookie safety Harrison Smith and third-year cornerback Chris Cook, the recent drafts have already begun to pay off in very significant dividends. Throw in last year's rookie speedster Jarius Wright who caught a touchdown pass early and later a huge 65-yard bomb in the critical regular-season finale against the Green Bay Packers, and the future is extremely bright for the young talent populating the Vikings' roster.

With last week's draft, Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman may have even pulled off his best draft yet! With three first-rounders, the Vikings have seemingly filled three immediate needs.

The 23rd pick, defensive tackle Shariff Floyd - a steal where the Vikings got him - would project to be the heir-apparent for long-time mainstay Kevin Williams who's career appears to be winding down. The 25th pick, cornerback Xavier Rhodes, would project to take over for the long-time mainstay and recently departed Antione Winfield. The 29th pick, wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, would project to replace the multi-talented and recently departed Harvin, but hopefully with a lot less headache. (Yes pun intended).

While the later round picks may produce some players who will in fact become productive members on the team, especially at linebacker, if the three first-rounders pan out like expected, any production the Vikings get after that will really be gravy.

The Vikings' 10-6 season last year was not a fluke, and with even more quality young talent being added onto an already talent-rich squad, perhaps by Halloween the Vikings will no longer be flying under the radar. Perhaps, when discussions of the Super Bowl contenders come up at that time, the Minnesota Vikings will be front and center.

Three Engines For Clint Bowyer Have Been Taken

2013-04-29T21:17:42Z

back by TRD as a precaution.

On May 8 Matt Kenseth is going have his appeal of the massive penalties handed down my NASCAR.

Danica Patrick is going to be in the #34 this Saturday in the Nationwide Series race.

Harvick Wins In A Wild Finish At Richmond

2013-04-28T03:17:22Z

One week after picking up a whopping penalty Matt Kenseth came back again to pick off another poll, this time at Richmond.

Matt Kenseth started out the race with the lead and started to pull away from the whole field. Then his lead went away as he started to hit lap traffic. Then at lap 37 Clint Bowyer just took the race lead just as the caution came out as Josh Wise and Landon Cassill get together. The caution brought in the leaders and Matt Kenseth took the race lead back.

After the green flag dropped Matt Kenseth was back leading laps. This wound up being a long green flag run that lasted until lap 111 for Marcos Ambrose and his car that had an engine problem. This time it was Clint Bower winning the race off pit road after all the leaders pitted.

After the green flag dropped it was Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth getting a nice lead over the field. The green flag racing continued until lap 147 as Michael McDowell has car problems. The leaders pitted and Clint Bowyer was able to retain his lead of the race off pit road.
This time we got a short green flag run and at lap 158 it was caution time as Brad Keselwoski wound up with tire problems and hit the wall. This caution brought in a few cars down pit road for service. It was also a long caution as somehow the sprinkler system came on at the wring time. When the race finally got back to green flag racing Clint Bowyer was back to leading more laps in another long green flag run.

Clint kept on leading laps as Matt Kenseth started to get hot and was able to take the lead over at lap 219. Then Clint started to drop back through the field. At lap 232 it was caution time as Greg Biffle spun out right below the start/finish line. The caution brought in the leaders and Matt Kenseth was able to keep the lead of the race off pit road.

As the race restarted Matt Kenseth easily took the race lead. During this green flag run Kyle Busch got hot enough and was able to get the lead of the race for the first time tonight on lap 253. At lap 293 it was caution time as Travis Kvapil hit the wall. The leaders pit and this time Kurt Busch won the race off pit road.

Kurt Busch got the best of the restart and took over the race lead. This was not a long green flag run and with 93 laps left and Travis Kvapil brought out the caution again for his crappy car. This caution brought in all but only a few of the leaders down pit road for service. Brian Vickers wound up with a commitment line violation during this caution.

The race restarted with 80 laps left and Kurt Busch easily getting the lead of the race again. With 73 laps left the caution came out as Tony Stewart gets loose and then he collects Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch. This caution brought in most of the leaders with Kurt Busch leading the race. Juan Pablo Montoya and 5 other cars stay out this time.

The race restarted and it was another short green flag run and this time with 63 laps left Kasey Kahne gets loose and takes out Mark Martin and Brian Vickers. We get yet another short green flag run and with 56 laps left Martin Truex Jr. spins out for the next caution. This next green flag run was a whole lot better than the last few. Juan started out leading laps as Kevin Harvick got really hot. With 36 laps left Harvick was in third place and closing in on the top two cars. With 28 laps left Harvick was under one second to Jun for the race lead. With 23 laps left Brad Keselowksi dropped a cylinder and then got black flagged. With 21 laps left Kevin was right behind Kurt for second. Kevin needed only two more laps to get second place. Then Harvick slowly moved his way closer to Juan over the next 10 laps. With 6 laps left Brain Vickers smacked the wall and brought out the caution.

Harvick and Juan pit along with a bunch of other cars. Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray and A.J. Allmendinger decide to stay out. The green flag dropped for the final time. A.J did not have a good restart as Kevin Harvick shot out like a rocket to pass a whole mess load of cars and then get the race lead and win the race. After the race Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch were trading paint big time.

"Great night," said Kevin Harvick. "Gil made the right call."

"This was a solid run," said Kurt Busch. "This is just a free for all." That was his comment on his deal with Tony Stewart on the final laps.

"It was good early," said Clint Bowyer.

The Cops Wound Up Getting Called After

2013-04-27T12:53:51Z

a fight in the driver/owner lot of Richmond International Raceway that occurred after the Nationwide Series race. The assault occurred at 11:15 which is around 1 full hour after the Friday night race was over.

UPDATE:

The two people arrested were employees on the Richard Childress Racing Team working on the Brian Scott team. They have been released following booking.

In some other news Billy Currington will not be at the All-Star Race as the opening act due to his recent trouble with the law.

Keselowski Takes Race Late

2013-04-27T02:24:08Z

Kyle Busch starts second tonight as he looks to tire a very old Nationwide Series of winning four races in a row.

Brian Vickers stated that he made good gains in practice.

Travis Pastrana stated that this is going to be a fun race.

"I love coming to Richmond," said Sam Hornish Jr.

The first five laps saw a brawl for the lead between Brad Keselowski, Sam Hornish Jr., and Kyle Busch. Sam won the battle and then Kyle Busch drifted back to fourth place. The racing came to an end on lap 24 for Dexter Stacy that crashed. The caution brought out a very short red flag. The cars were on yellow flag time until the red flag came out for a five minute period on lap 34.

The cars up front did not pit. The race finally started on lap 41 with Sam Hotnish Jr. getting to lead more and more laps in a long green flag run. Elliott Sadler was super duper hot in this long green flag run as he was one of only a few cars to pit under the first caution. He started around 18 and marched his way up through the field. By lap 80 he was up to fourth. At lap 90 he wound up taking the race lead while Sam Hornish Jr. started dropping back through the field. The caution finally came out on lap 101 for the blown tire of Alex Bowman. This caution brought in the leaders with Elliott Sadler keeping thr lead of the race.

After the green flag dropped Kevin Harvick took over the race lead in a couple laps. This good green flag run lasted until lap 151 as Juan Carlos Blum hits the wall. The caution brought in the leaders and Kevin Harvick won the race off pit road. As the green flag dropped Brad Keselsowski easily took the race lead. Then Kyle Busch started to get hot. He moved back up to second place with 65 laps left. The caution though came out with 60 laps left as Tanner Berryhill spins out. The caution brought in the leaders for service.

The race restarted with Kyle Busch easily getting second as Kevin Harvick took over first. Trevor Bayne though picked up a penalty as he was changing lanes before the start/finish line. With 50 laps left though Kevin Swindell spins out for the next caution. This race restart saw Brad Keselowski get the race lead in a very short green flag run that saw Austin Dillion, Justin Allgaier, and Brian Scott wreck together with 39 laps left.

The race restarted again with 30 laps left. With 26 laps left Kyle Busch makes a bold move to the outside to pass both Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselwoski to take the race lead. With 23 laps left Mike Wallace was smoking big time and brought out the caution. The race restarted and the caution quickly came out again for Mike Wallace and his car.

This time the race started with 12 laps left and Kyle Busch this time had a fight on his hands fo9r the race lead. Brad won the war and Kyle Busch after a few laps was down to third place with 8 laps left. Kevin Harvick wound up stuck in second place and could not win the race at all. After the race Brian Scott and Nelson Piquet Jr. wreck.

"Very gratifying," said Brad Keselwoski on the win.

Brian Scott said that Nelson Piquet Jr. ran him up into the wall. "Chicken move."

"He(Brian Scott) door banged me," said Nelson Piquet Jr.

Denny Hamlin, Penalty Update, And Loads More News

2013-04-25T20:45:53Z

Denny Hamlin looks to return for Talladega for a partial race and then return full time at Darlington.

Matt Kenseth says that the penalties are borderline shameful in a press conference today.

The Danica Patrick divorce is now final.

Dominion Raceway is the sponsor for Travis Kvapil at Richmond.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is going to be getting primary sponsorship from the Nationwide Insurance Group in three Sprint Cup Races. Those races are August 24 at Bristol, September 7 at Richmond and October 20 at Talladega

Matt Kenseth And Johnny Sauter Picked Up Massive Penalties This Week

2013-04-24T20:48:05Z

Matt Kenseth and his engine from Kansas did not pass a post race inspection due to a steel connecting rod that did not meet proper weight requirements.

The fine is a whopping 200,000 for this one bad part.

A six race suspension which includes the All-star race for Crew Chief Jason Ratcliff.

The poll position time is thrown out which was the only poll so far this season for Matt Kenseth.

The three bonus points he would of had for the chase if he did make it get dumped.

A whopping 50 point penalty for both Matt Kenseth and Joe Gibbs.

Joe Gibbs Racing says the bad part came from a vendor.

Also this week Johnny Sauter has picked up a penalty from his Truck Series race for a bad fuel cell.

Mike Curb and Johnny Sauter have picked up a 25 point fine.

The crew Chief has picked up a 10 grand fine and has been placed on probation until the end of the year.

In some other NASCAR news both the tracks at Talladega and Daytona are going to be reinforcing the cross-over gates at the race track.

Brian Keselowski, Kenny Wallace, And David Ragan News

2013-04-23T20:55:23Z

David Ragan is going to have CSX as a sponsor this Saturday night.

Go Green Racing is going to have Brian Keselwoski as a driver this Saturday night.

Kenny Wallace to drive this Friday night for RAB Racing at Richmond.

On May 1st the big time appeal is finally going to be heard for Rodger Penske and his confiscated parts.