#3WideBlog Race Preview :Coca-Cola 600

   
     NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series is back at Charlotte Motor Speedway again this week for the 53rd running of the Coca-Cola 600. Built in 1959, Charlotte Motor Speedway is located in Concord North Carolina just miles from Charlotte. The first 600 mile event was held in 1960 (World 600), and ever since Charlotte Motor Speedway has become the "home track" of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Circuit. A Coca-Cola 600 trophy is a sought after one by drivers. Not only are most of the team shops, crew members and basically the sport centralized in the North Carolina area, but the extra 100 miles (doesn't sound like much), means a driver definitely needs that extension of focus and endurance to capture the checkered flag.
 

via NASCAR.com

 Richard Petty Motorsports turned a lot of heads on qualifying day Thursday. Aric Almirola in the iconic #43 U.S. Air Force Ford Fusion captured the pole with a time of 27.988 seconds. His teammate Marcos Ambrose in his DeWALT Ford Fusion sits on the outside pole only 0.196 seconds behind. Almirola was just 0.04 seconds off of the track record set by Elliot Sadler in 2005. This is the first Coors Light pole of Almirolas Sprint Cup Career. Last weeks Sprint Cup All Star winner Jimmie Johnson, points leader Greg Biffle, and Clint Bowyer round out the top 5.

Full Coca-Cola 600 line-up below

1	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	U.S. Air Force	192.940	27.988	Leader
2	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	DEWALT	191.598	28.184	-0.196
3	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's Patriotic	191.374	28.217	-0.229
4	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	Fastenal	191.259	28.234	-0.246
5	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	5-hour Energy	191.198	28.243	-0.255
6	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	Aaron's Armed Forces Foundation	191.171	28.247	-0.259
7	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	Quaker State	191.130	28.253	-0.265
8	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	FedEx Ground	190.887	28.289	-0.301
9	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Menards / Serta	190.597	28.332	-0.344
10	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	Furniture Row Racing	190.456	28.353	-0.365
11	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	Shell / Pennzoil	190.329	28.372	-0.384
12	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	National Guard 'An American Salute' / Diet Mountain Dew	190.302	28.376	-0.388
13	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center	190.268	28.381	-0.393
14	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Budweiser Folds of Honor	190.201	28.391	-0.403
15	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	NAPA Auto Parts	190.194	28.392	-0.404
16	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	190.054	28.413	-0.425
17	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	M&M's Red, White & Blue	190.034	28.416	-0.428
18	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	Burger King Real Fruit Smoothies	189.987	28.423	-0.435
19	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	Dollar General	189.707	28.465	-0.477
20	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	Fastenal	189.607	28.480	-0.492
21	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Office Depot / Mobil 1	189.574	28.485	-0.497
22	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	Wheaties	189.520	28.493	-0.505
23	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	Drive to End Hunger	189.076	28.560	-0.572
24	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	Miller Lite	188.871	28.591	-0.603
25	13	Casey Mears	Ford	GEICO	188.363	28.668	-0.680
26	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	Kingsford	188.344	28.671	-0.683
27	74	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	Turn One Racing	188.324	28.674	-0.686
28	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Fastenal	188.206	28.692	-0.704
29	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	Target	187.924	28.735	-0.747
30	34	David Ragan	Ford	Al's Liners / Scorpion Coatings	187.656	28.776	-0.788
31	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Arctic Cat	187.526	28.796	-0.808
32	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	Presbyterian Healthcare System	187.487	28.802	-0.814
33	26	Josh Wise*	Ford	MDS Transport	187.259	28.837	-0.849
34	33	Stephen Leicht*	Chevrolet	Little Joe's Autos / Precon	187.169	28.851	-0.863
35	30	David Stremme	Toyota	Inception Motorsports	186.143	29.010	-1.022
36	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	SealWrap	186.111	29.015	-1.027
37	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	Dr Pepper	186.085	29.019	-1.031
38	195	Scott Speed	Ford	Jordan's Truck Sales	185.976	29.036	-1.048
39	38	David Gilliland	Ford	ModSpace	185.810	29.062	-1.074
40	10	Danica Patrick+	Chevrolet	GoDaddy.com	-	-	-
41	32	T.J. Bell+	Ford	Green Smoke	-	-	-
42	51	Kurt Busch+	Chevrolet	Phoenix Construction Services	-	-	-
43	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	Global Barter Corp / AM FM Energy Wood and Pellet Stoves / SWM Completion Tools	185.784	29.066	-1.078

                                              lineup via NASCAR.com

+ Set by Owner Points 

* Denotes Rookie

X Failed to qualify: 49 J.J. Yeley, 19 Mike Bliss, 73 David Reutimann, 23 Scott Riggs

     Jimmie Johnson has all the momentum heading into this race. He got Rick Hendricks 200th win at Darlington May 12th. His pit-crew won the Sprint pit crew challenge before the All Star race, and Johnson also won the All Star race and the million dollar cheque that came with it. With all that confidence and three previous Coca Cola 600 wins, Johnson is my pick for the checkered flag. @Chrish0100's pick for the victory is Denny Hamlin. Hamlin has no wins at Charlotte but 2 of his 19 career victory's have come on Charlotte's sister track Texas Motor Speedway.

    Other notes: Danica Patrick is pulling double duty this weekend, she finished 13th in the Nationwide Series race on the lead lap. She starts 40th in the Coca-Cola 600. Brad Keselowski won the Nationwide series History 300 Saturday and starts 24th on Sunday. Kurt Busch spun in qualifying hitting the wall hard. He'll start 42nd.

via NASCAR.com

    There's an extra 100 miles of fun this weekend so everyone enjoy!     Smitty OUT

#3WideBlog Race Review: Sprint Cup All Star

     The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was at Charlotte Motor Speedway this Saturday night. Not only is this a home track for many of the drivers and teams, but it is also another historic stop on the NASCAR schedule. No such thing as a good points day, only a victory counts. Its the NASCAR Sprint Cup All Star race, and there's $1,000,000 on the line.

via NASCAR.com

     First was the Sprint Showdown. 22 drivers fighting for their chance to race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup All Star race. To qualify for the All Star race drivers must be: Race winners from 2011 or 2012, Sprint Cup Champions from the last ten years, Winners of the All Star race within the last ten years. Then there's the Sprint Showdown. A Drivers last chance to qualify in as only the top two advance. Well there is one more chance but that comes down to the fan vote. The Sprint Showdown consisted of two 20 lap segments split by a competition caution.


    A.J. Allmendinger started on the pole for the Sprint Showdown, Martin Truex Jr. was on his outside, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton and Aric Almirola started third through fifth. On the pace laps you could tell even with low air pressures that Allmendinger had a left front tire going down. As the pace car pulled on to pit road and the field got ready for the green flag, Allmendinger pulled onto pit road aswell giving up the pole. This meant that Earnhardt Jr. and the entire inside line moves up one place and technically Truex Jr. lead them to the green flag on the outside. Entering turn one Earnhardt Jr. took the lead and never looked back, He led all 20 laps of the first segment. After the competition caution Earnhardt led the other 20 lap segment flag to flag, to capture his first ever Sprint showdown victory. By earning this victory he joined Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart as the third driver to win in all four NASCAR special events races. The best on track battle came in the closing laps as A.J. Allmendinger overcame the odds and ran down, caught and passed Jamie McMurray for the second and final transfer spot into the Sprint All-Star.

AP Photo

     Former Sprint Cup series champion Bobby Labonte won the coveted fan vote in to the 23rd and final transfer spot into the Sprint All Star, behind Earnhardt Jr. and Allmendinger. This years Sprint All Star was broken into 5 segments, Four 20 lap segments followed by a 10 lap dash for the cash. Each segment was separated by a competition caution. Winners of each 20 lap segment would line up 1st through 4th heading down pit road for the mandatory pit stop before the 10 lap dash. This wound up making strategy important, to position yourself right at the end of each segment, for the best chance at the last one.


     Kyle Busch won the pole for the Sprint All Star and led Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle Kevin Harvick, and the rest of the All Star field to the green flag. It was clear Jimmie Johnsons plan was to win the first segment because he stormed to the front from the 6th position quickly. On lap 16 he passed Kyle Busch for the lead on the outside and pulled away to win the first segment. During that first segment Tony Stewart scrubbed the wall exiting turn 2, and Kevin Harvick brushed the turn 4 wall after a battle with teammate Paul  Menard. 

    Different pit strategies changed up the starting order heading into the second segment. Hamlin led Menard, Marcos Ambrose, Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth to the green flag. Johnson had a different strategy. Being locked into first before the mandatory pit stop before the 10 lap dash, as the field came to the green flag for segment 2, Johnson was just exiting turn four laying back and saving his equipment for the dash. At lap 26 Edwards' chances at the million went up in flames as his Roush-Fenway motor exploded, and brought out the first non-competition caution of the night. The green flies again and Kenseth caught Hamlin for the lead and passed him on lap 37. Kenseth won the second segment, locking him into second heading down pit road before the final 10 lap dash. He was followed by Earnhardt Jr, Hamlin, Ambrose and Allmendinger


     After the different pitstop strategies jostled the field again, it seemed Kenseth had the same idea as Johnson to begin the third segment. They both hung way back as the field took the green flag. This segment ran flag to flag and boiled down to an epic back and forth battle between Brad Keselowski and Kasey Kahne. Kahne made a final attempt coming to the line at the lap 60 competition caution, but Keselowski beat him by inches to lock himself into third before the mandatory pitstop. The fourth 20 lap segment was the last chance to lock into the top 4 before the 10 lap dash, and Greg Biffle saw his chances go up in flames as well. 8 laps into the fourth segment Biffle's Roush-Fenway motor also burst into flames, ending his chances at the million. This brought out only the second non-competition caution of the night, and left a 5 lap shootout for the 4th segment win and the 4th locked in position before the mandatory pitstop. Earnhardt Jr. led the field on the restart and held on to win the fourth segment after transferring in as winner of the Sprint Showdown.


     So it was time for the only mandatory pitstop of the night, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. lined up 1-2-3-4 heading down pit road. This mandatory pitstop had no mandatory work to be done during, the only thing stipulated by NASCAR was that the cars had to come to a complete stop inside the pitbox. That's exactly what most drivers did, pulled in, stopped and peeled out. The top four were able to retain their advantage, and it was time for the 10 lap dash for the one million dollar prize.


    Johnson led Kenseth, Keselowski, Earnhardt Jr. and the rest of the field to the final green flag. Kenseth didnt get a very good restart and held the top line back allowing Johnson, Keselowski and Ambrose to scoot by on the bottom. Kenseth fought back to third, but Jimmie Johnson had all that strategy pay off as he pulled away from Keselowski to win the NASCAR Sprint All Star and the million dollar prize. Johnson tied Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Sr. for first with his third All Star victory on the all time list. 

via NASCAR.com

    
     This capped off an amazing week for Hendrick Motorsports as Johnson had won the week prior at Darlington to give Rick Hendrick his 200th win as an owner. Johnsons #48 Pit Crew also won the pit crew challenge held before the All Star race then Johnson won the All Star itself. Owner Rick Hendrick actually went for a ride on the drivers door of Johnsons car during his victory pass of the frontstretch. Nothing could wipe the smile from either of their faces.

via NASCAR.com

   





     I think we know who has all the momentum heading into NASCAR's longest race, The Coca-Cola 600, But anything can happen in 600 miles of NASCAR racing. 


    Untill then Smitty OUT.

#3WideBlog Race Preview: NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star

     The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star race is upon us again, this non-points all money event is being held at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 1.5 mile 24 degree banked oval is situated in the heart of racing country, Concord, North Carolina. 

The Field Cross the Start Finish line

      
     Constructed in 1959, Charlottel was originally designed by Bruton Smith and his partner Curtis Turner, the first World 600 race was held in June of 1960. The All-Star race itself was first held in 1985 and has been run every year at Charlotte except in 1986 when it was run at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This year the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race will feature 23 drivers, over the years the ways to qualify have changed a couple times however the same basic concept as remained the same.  


There are five different ways to qualify for the Sprint All-Star Race:

1. Race winners from 2011 or 2012                                                                                                      
2. Sprint Cup Champions from the last ten years 
3. Winners of the All-Star race within the last ten years 
4. First and second place finishers in the Sprint Showdown 
5. One driver voted in by the fans 

   This years format will put more emphasis on track position and pit stops, with four, 20 lap segments followed by the 10 lap sprint which follows a mandatory pit stop the guys on pit road will have to bring their "A" game for sure. It's worth noting that the winners of the previous segments will be guaranteed to enter pit road in the top 4 spots provided they remain on the lead lap through-out the event.  

90 laps = 135 miles in five segments

1. Segment 1 = 20 Laps
2. Segment 2 = 20 Laps
3. Segment 3 = 20 Laps
4. Segment 4 = 20 Laps



Edwards Back flipping from his destroyed car

5. Segment 5 = 10 Laps

All preceded by the 40 lap / 60 mile Sprint Showdown qualifying

    
      Last years race was won by Carl Edwards, which was highlighted by his "slide" through the grass which wasn't much of a slide at all, it was more like a belly flop when trying to dive into the pool. It tore the nose right off the front of his car and destroyed it. However, undeterred "cousin" Carl still back flipped his way into Gatorade victory lane collecting the 1 Million dollar purse and bragging rights till this years event kicks off. 

      Now, as much as I don't want to, I feel like I should address the question that has been posed to NASCAR Nation this week in that "Should the winner of the All-Star race get a birth in the Chase"? I feel as most people do, NO. I feel this way because as you read above only 23 drivers make it into this race, I don't feel like it's fair to have a prize like that available to the winner if not everyone can have a shot at it. Now I know some people will agree with me and some people will ultimately disagree with me, but at the end of the day a Million dollars is a lot of money and there are a lot of good drivers who don't get a chance at the purse this race pays out, so I think that if you up the anti that much and make it a Chase birth...you HAVE to allow all drivers and I don't think it would be nearly as exciting. 

     The All-Star race has created such legends as "The pass in the grass" and "One hot night", Never the less, with no points on the line and the one (1) Million dollars cash up for grabs this race promises to be a no holds barred dog fight to the end, so sit back, relax and enjoy the mayhem.