California turned up gold for Tony Stewart...as he wins the Pepsi Max 400 at the Auto Club Speedway this past weekend. This is his first win at ACS and 39
th career victory. Clint Bowyer finished 2
nd followed by Johnson, Kahne and Newman. It was a tough day for Roush Fenway Chase drivers, Carl Edwards went almost 15 laps down due to a distributor problem. Around lap 40 Greg Biffle blew a motor and Matt Kenseth lost his motor at lap 191 only to finish the race in 30
th and 11
th in the points. Unrelated to Roush Fenway’s woes, Kyle Busch and his #18 Toyota lost his motor and finished 35
th on the day and fell out of contention for the Sprint Cup Championship.
Saturday’s CampingWorld.com 300 Nationwide race helped Kyle Busch to his 12
th victory in 2010, his 4
th win at a 2 mile track and his 42 of his career. Brad Keselowski finished 2
nd, but the real story is third place Kevin Harvick. Sometime we say a race is lost in the pits and that was the case this weekend for Kevin Harvick after leading 86 laps. Danica Patrick was running well in 17
th on lap 141 and then wrecked by James Buescher bringing her to a 30
th place finish.
Looking deeper into the Sprint Cup standings drivers Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer are out of reach for the 2010 Sprint Cup Championship. As tight as the points are for the top 5, I believe it’s come down to Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon for the fight for the big prize at Homested Miami’s crowning of the Champion. Tony Stewart has an outside chance with his victory this weekend, but needs top 5 wins for here forward and Johnson, Hamlin, Harvick and Gordon to have bad luck in the next six races.
A sorta homecoming for the Chase for the Sprint Cup as we invade Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night for the only race under the lights in the chase. Best known as Jimmie’s house, don’t count out your chasers looking for a victory. This is anyone’s race and will be a beatin’ and a bangin’ for the victory. Who will win the Bank Of America 500? Maybe a non-chaser can pull this one off. Tighten those belts because this is going to be a wild ride!
Sad news from this past weekend…Shane Hmiel was critically injured Saturday night during qualifying for the U.S. Auto Clubs Silver Crown race at Terre Haute Indiana. He was air lifted to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis where he remains in critical but stable condition. He suffered fracture to his neck and back and is looking at a long road to recovery.
Join Eric the Great and myself Wednesday night on The WING Racing show at 6pm getting you ready for another exciting weekend of racing.
Brian “BC” Casey
