Gordon, Busch Win Duels – Daytona 500 Field Set

Gatorade Duel No. 1

Jeff Gordon returned to victory lane for the first time in more than a year, winning Thursday’s first Gatorade Duel qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway.

 Jeff Gordon Celebrates In Victory Lane After His Gatorade Duel Victory

Driving the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Gordon held off Tony Stewart and rookie Joey Logano in the closing laps. Because of Thursday’s victory, Gordon will start Sunday’s Daytona 500 on the inside of the second row as he tries to break his 41-race losing streak.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to visit victory lane quite a few times, but not many times as a father,” said Gordon, who was greeted by his daughter Ella after the race, which does not count in the Sprint Cup standings. “There’s nothing more special than that.

“This team has been unbelievable. We all know what we went through last year by not winning. There’s a lot of expectations on this team, but they never wavered. The guys just kept working hard, building great race cars. I hope there’s a lot of this in store for us in 2009.”

Stewart finished second in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet and earned the first transfer spot into the 500. The second spot went to Scott Riggs’ new Tommy Baldwin Racing team, as Riggs moved from 11th to eighth in the final five laps.
Since Stewart raced his way into the Daytona 500, Regan Smith moved up the qualifying order and is guaranteed a starting spot Sunday. Smith is entered in Thursday’s second Gatorade Duel.
Logano surged into the top five late in the race and ended up third in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Hendrick’s Jimmie Johnson was fourth, with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s Aric Almirola fifth.

Sixth through 10th were Penske Racing’s Kurt Busch, Richard Petty Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne, Riggs, Yates Racing’s Paul Menard and Roush Fenway Racing’s Jamie McMurray.
Bill Elliott ran well early in the race, but under the second caution, the transmission on Elliott’s Wood Brothers Racing Ford locked up, sending Elliott into the wall.
Elliott still transfers into Sunday’s Daytona 500 via his qualifying speed, as he was the fastest of the drivers not locked into the race.

Daytona 500 polesitter Martin Truex Jr. brought out the third caution when he spun on lap 49. Truex’s No. 1 Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet slid up the track in Turn 2 and then was clipped by David Ragan’s Ford.

Kyle Roland,  a crewman for Mayfield Motorsports, was struck on pit road while he helped service Kirk Shelmerdine’s No. 27 Toyota. Roland was serving as jackman for Shelmerdine when he was hit by Shelmerdine’s car on a pit stop. Roland was taken to a local hospital for possible treatment, a NASCAR spokesman said.

Gatorade Duel No. 1 Results

Finish	Start	Car #	Driver	Car Make
1	5	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
2	6	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet
3	3	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet
4	10	20	Joey Logano	Toyota
5	4	8	Aric Almirola	Chevrolet
6	22	2	Kurt Busch	Dodge
7	19	9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge
8	15	36	Scott Riggs	Toyota
9	7	98	Paul Menard	Ford
10	12	26	Jamie McMurray	Ford
11	9	187	Joe Nemechek	Toyota
12	18	09	Brad Keselowski	Chevrolet
13	14	47	Marcos Ambrose	Toyota
14	21	07	Casey Mears	Chevrolet
15	16	55	Michael Waltrip	Toyota
16	23	77	Sam Hornish Jr	Dodge
17	28	146	Carl Long	Dodge
18	25	37	Tony Raines	Dodge
19	26	66	Terry Labonte	Toyota
20	24	127	Kirk Shelmerdine	Toyota
21	1	1	Martin Truex Jr	Chevrolet
22	20	7	Robby Gordon	Toyota
23	13	6	David Ragan	Ford
24	8	16	Greg Biffle	Ford
25	17	34	John Andretti	Chevrolet
26	11	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford
27	2	21	Bill Elliott	Ford
28	27	123	Mike Skinner	Chevrolet

 

Gatorade Duel No. 2

Kyle Busch seemed to shake off his 2008 Chase For The Sprint Cup blues by holding off Mark Martin and Brian Vickers to win the second Gatorade Duel qualifying race Thursday at Daytona International Speedway.

Kyle Busch Celebrates After Winning The Second Gatorade Duel

Mayfield Motorsports’ Jeremy Mayfield and Richard Petty Motorsports’ AJ Allmendinger finished ninth and 10th, respectively, to earn starting spots in Sunday’s Daytona 500.
“An emotional day,” Mayfield said. “It’s probably better than any win I’ve ever had. I’ve had so much support from everybody. It’s just unbelievable.”

While Mayfield used a late two-tire pit stop to gain track position, Allmendinger raced his No. 44 Dodge into the final transfer spot with help from teammates Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson.
“Everybody’s known over the last two months what’s happened,” Allmendinger said. “I’ve got to thank the 44 guys. They worked way long hours to get these cars ready. And I’ve especially got to thank my teammates, Elliott and Reed. They kind of had to ruin their races to come back and save me.”

The final three drivers to make the 500 reached it through qualifying speed: Bill Elliott (Wood Brothers Racing), Travis Kvapil (Yates Racing) and Regan Smith (Furniture Row Racing).
Busch won eight of the first 26 races last year but struggled in the 10-race Chase, finishing 10th in the final Cup standings.
Busch surged to the front late in the race, getting drafting help from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin to get around Hendrick Motorsports' Martin for the lead with three laps to go.
“I knew the first opportunity that we had to make the move that we ought to just take it and go for it and try to hold them off from there,” Busch said. “It turned out to be all right; it was the winning move.”

On the last lap, Martin and Vickers (Red Bull Racing) slipped under Hamlin and moved in on Busch. Vickers gave Martin a hard bump-draft into Turn 3, sending Martin to the outside of Busch.
Busch moved up the track to block Martin, and then Vickers darted under Martin as the two raced for second to the checkered flag.

Martin slipped around Vickers for second, with Vickers holding on for third. Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s Juan Pablo Montoya finished fourth, with Hamlin finishing fifth

.
Sixth through 10th were Hall of Fame Racing’s Bobby Labonte, Hendrick’s Dale Earnhardt Jr., Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards, Mayfield and Allmendinger.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Newman didn’t have as good a race as his teammate/owner Tony Stewart did in the first Duel. Newman was forced to pit with a flat tire on lap 13, but a caution came out soon after, and Newman was able to stay on the lead lap.

Newman moved back in the top five late in the race but was hit from behind by Michael Waltrip Racing's David Reutimann on the backstretch and slammed the wall. After crawling out of his No. 39 Chevrolet, Newman walked on the track and lifted his arms in frustration at Reutimann.

Gatorade Duel No. 2 Results

Finish	Start	Car #	Driver	Make
1	8	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota
2	1	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet
3	18	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota
4	3	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Chevrolet
5	13	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota
6	5	96	Bobby Labonte	Ford
7	6	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	Chevrolet
8	14	99	Carl Edwards	Ford
9	21	41	Jeremy Mayfield	Toyota
10	19	44	A.J. Allmendinger	Dodge
11	12	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet
12	20	12	David Stremme	Dodge
13	22	171	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet
14	17	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet
15	10	00	David Reutimann	Toyota
16	7	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet
17	16	19	Elliott Sadler	Dodge
18	24	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet
19	4	28	Travis Kvapil	Ford
20	26	51	Kelly Bires	Dodge
21	15	43	Reed Sorenson	Dodge
22	25	175	Derrike Cope	Dodge
23	28	157	Norm Benning	Chevrolet
24	2	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet
25	9	82	Scott Speed	Toyota
26	23	73	Mike Garvey	Dodge
27	27	64	Geoffrey Bodine	Toyota
28	11	08	Boris Said	Ford

2009 Daytona 500 Starting Lineup

Starting lineup for Sunday's Daytona 500 race for NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway after Thursday's qualifying races, with car number in parentheses, driver, car and qualifying speed in mph:

1. (1) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 188.001.

2. (5) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 187.817.

3. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 187.402.

4. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 186.896.

5. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 187.336.

6. (83) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 185.858.

7. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 187.727.

8. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 187.743.

9. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 186.753.

10. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 186.451.

11. (8) Aric Almirola, Chevrolet, 187.649.

12. (96) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 187.211.

13. (2) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 185.38.

14. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 187.079.

15. (9) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 185.517.

16. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 186.389.

17. (36) Scott Riggs, Toyota, 185.893.

18. (41) Jeremy Mayfield, Toyota, 185.082.

19. (98) Paul Menard, Ford, 187.044.

20. (44) A.J. Allmendinger, Dodge, 185.77.

21. (26) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 186.509.

22. (33) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 186.726.

23. (47) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 186.012.

24. (12) David Stremme, Dodge, 185.391.

25. (07) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 185.426.

26. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 185.958.

27. (55) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 185.805.

28. (00) David Reutimann, Toyota, 186.827.

29. (77) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 185.079.

30. (19) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 186.066.

31. (7) Robby Gordon, Toyota, 185.51.

32. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 183.602.

33. (6) David Ragan, Ford, 186.374.

34. (43) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 186.07.

35. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 186.889.

36. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 187.778.

37. (34) John Andretti, Chevrolet, 185.59.

38. (82) Scott Speed, Toyota, 186.842.

39. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 186.614.

40. (21) Bill Elliott, Ford, 187.739.

41. (28) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 187.574.

42. (78) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 186.924.

43. (66) Terry Labonte, Toyota, Past Champion.

Failed to qualify

44. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 186.807.

45. (08) Boris Said, Ford, 186.78.

46. (09) Brad Keselowski, Chevrolet, 185.571.

47. (127) Kirk Shelmerdine, Toyota, 184.854.

48. (171) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 184.847.

49. (37) Tony Raines, Dodge, 184.106.

50. (73) Mike Garvey, Dodge, 184.004.

51. (75) Derrike Cope, Dodge, 182.02.

52. (23) Mike Skinner, Chevrolet, 181.928.

53. (51) Kelly Bires, Dodge, 181.701.

54. (46) Carl Long, Dodge, 181.032.

55. (64) Geoff Bodine, Toyota, 180.81.

56. (57) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 177.396.

Follow The Chaos For The 2009 Season

As the 2009 season approaches, I felt like it would be a good time to list some of the new driver/crew chief/team changes. This Silly Season probably represents more changes than any other year I can remember.

So hang on and try to keep up as I list some of the biggest changes thus far for the 2009 Sprint Cup Series season.

 

• Mark Martin left a part time schedule, driving the #01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, to run full time again for Hendrick Motorsports. Martin will be steering the #5 Kellogg's/Car Quest Chevrolet with Alan Gustafson being the crew chief.
• Casey Mears left that Hendricks Motorsports #5 to drive for Richard Childress Racing. Mears will be driving the #07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet with Gil Martin serving as crew chief.
• Clint Bowyer, the previous driver of the #07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet, will move over to Richard Childress Racing's fourth team the #33 General Mills/BB&T Chevrolet with crew chief Shane Wilson.
• Ryan Newman left the #12 Alltel Dodge of Penske South Racing to drive the #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet of Stewart Haas Racing with crew chief Tony Gibson.
• Tony Stewart left Joe Gibbs Racing to become half owner of Stewart Haas Racing and pilot the #14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet with new crew chief Darian Grubb.
• David Stremme was hired by Penske South Racing to drive the #12 Alltel Dodge with crew chief Roy McCauley.
• Rookie Joey Logano was promoted to the Sprint Cup Series by Joe Gibbs Racing. He will steer the #20 Home Depot Toyota with crew chief Greg Zipadelli.
• John Andretti was hired to drive the #34 Window World Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. This team is from an alliance between Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and Front Row Motorsports. The crew chief will be Scott Eggleston.
• Rookie Scott Speed has moved into the #82 Red Bull Racing Toyota vacated by A.J. Allmendinger. The crew chief will be Jimmy Elledge.
• A.J. Allmendinger has signed to drive the new #44 Valvoline Dodge with Richard Petty Motorsports (now a part of Gillett Evernham Motorsports) for 2009. As of this post, Allmendinger is set for eight races this season, but the team is working on getting more races.
• Reed Sorenson will be piloting the #43 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge in 2009 with crew chief Mike Shiplett. Their will be five primary sponsors for the team in 2009, most notably the U.S. Air Force.
• Former Sprint Cup Champion Bobby Labonte will be driving the #96 Academy Sports and Outdoors Ford for Hall of Fame Racing with crew chief Todd Parrott.
• JTG Daugherty Racing will add a Sprint Cup Series car to their team in 2009. They have primarily fielded cars in the Nationwide Series. The new Sprint Cup car will be the #47 Little Debbie Snacks Toyota driven by rookie Marcos Ambrose. Frank Kerr will be the crew chief.
• Paul Menard has left DEI, after the merger with Ganassi, to join Yates Racing. Menard will drive the #98 Menard's Ford. The crew chief will be Larry Carter.

There have been some notable team mergers during the off season as well.

• Richard Petty Motorsports has merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. It will be referred to as Richard Petty Motorsports.
• Dale Earnhardt Inc. has merged with Ganassi Racing to form Earnhardt Ganassi Racing or EGR.
• Yates Racing has formed an alliance with Hall of Fame Racing. It will be called Yates Racing.

Boy! This stuff can get confusing. It is no wonder they call it the Silly Season. The team mergers can get real confusing, because different people call the new team a different name. It all depends on who you talk to.

It can get mind-boggling the first couple races trying to figure out which driver is driving what. Hopefully this list will help to clear it up a bit.

Garage Insider

I will be starting a new section for NASCAR Notebook called Garage Insider. Garage Insider will be chocked full of the latest news in NASCAR. I will post happenings on Garage Insider a couple times a week, perhaps more once the season starts. If you need a NASCAR news fix, then Garage Insider is the place to check out!

Cup Champ Has Surgery On Finger

Three time and reigning Sprint Cup Champion, Jimmie Johnson, had surgery on his left middle finger on Saturday to repair a tendon and nerves. Johnson cut his finger above the knuckle with a kitchen knife while trying to puncture a hole in his fire suit for a cooling tube. He did this while preparing to compete in the Rolex 24 Sports Car Race.


Hendricks Motorsports Driver Jimmie Johnson

The injury will not keep Johnson from participating in the season's first NASCAR Sprint Cup event, the Budweiser Shootout, February 7th at Daytona International Speedway.

Andretti To Drive For Earnhardt Ganassi

John Andretti is expected to join Earnhardt Ganassi Racing as the fourth driver for Daytona and beyond. A deal is in the works that would partner Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins and Andretti with EGR. The car's number and sponsor should be announced later this week.

Labonte Has New Ride For Daytona

Two-time Sprint Cup Champion Terry Labonte will attempt to qualify for the 2009 Daytona 500 in a Toyota fielded by Prism Motorsports, co-owned by former NASCAR driver Phil Parsons and Randy Humphrey.

Humphrey said the new team plans to run the full 2009 schedule, with Dave Blaney taking over the driver's seat after Daytona.

The team has formed a technical alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing and purchase engines from Joey Harrington. Bill Henderson, crew chief from Hall of Fame Racing last year, will be the crew chief.

McDowell To Drive Part Time in Nationwide Series

Michael McDowell will drive part time in the Nationwide Series for Daugherty/JTG Racing in the number 47 Toyota. McDowell was let go from Michael Waltrip Racing last year after falling out of the Top 35 in owner points after failing to qualify for the Camping World RV 400 at Kansas.

Veteran crew chief Gene Snead will command the team, which will have ICP and Tom's Snack as sponsors.

Nemechek To Field Own Team At Daytona

Veteran driver Joe Nemechek will revive the NEMCO Motorsports number 87 team for both Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series at Daytona. Long-time crew chief Phillippe Lopez will oversee the team. Nemecheck will run Toyotas in the Cup Series and a combination of Toyotas and Chevrolets in the Nationwide Series. He is still working on gaining sponsorship.

Roush Fenway Pushing NASCAR ON 4-car Limit

Roush Fenway Racing President Geoff Smith wants NASCAR to reconsider its four-car per team limit. NASCAR President Mike Helton is dead set on keeping the limit in place. "As a matter of fact, it's probably stronger than it's ever been, and the right thing to do", Helton has said.

Roush Fenway Racing can run five teams this year for the final time before it has to reduce to the NASCAR limit in 2010.

NASCAR Hall of Fame News

NASCAR announced its new Hall of Fame, scheduled to open next year in downtown Charlotte, N.C., will have five inductees a year.A 20-member nominating committee will determine the list of no more than 25 candidates. That committee will then join 27 other former drivers, owners, crew chiefs, media members and other officials. A 48th ballot will represent the results of a nationwide fan ballot.To be eligible, former drivers must have competed 10 years in NASCAR and be retired for at least three years. Non-drivers must have worked at least 10 years in the industry.The first induction is scheduled for May 2010 when NASCAR comes to the Charlotte area for the All-Star race and Coca-Cola 600.


That is it for the Garage Insider for now. Check back later to catch more interesting tidbits from around the NASCAR scene!