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May 16, 2010
Jeff Hammond Filming Cutaway Car Segment For Fox
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
Sometimes it’s just really surreal to stumble upon something you’re used to seeing on TV. I was wandering up around the inner horse-track portion of the infield and there was Fox’s Hollywood Hotel trailer set up with Jeff Hammond and a small crew taping the Ford Cutaway Car segment in the gravel out front. It’s one of my favorite portions of Fox’s NASCAR broadcast, one of only parts of the pre-race show that specifically focuses on the race cars. I said hi to Mr. Hammond after the taping and shook his hand–it briefly occurred to me that I could lose an appendage this way, but the expected bionic death-grip was actually a gentle and affable handshake. Whew!
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A Few Things To Keep In Mind About Dover
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
It’s been described as “Bristol on steroids,” but Dover’s one-mile concrete oval is a monster all its own. It’s steeply banked–24 degrees in the turns and 9 in the straights–and many drivers have described it as the most physically demanding track on the circuit. The transitions from corners to straightaways are particularly abrupt–you’ve got to throw the car down into the corners as hard as you can and fight it to keep it at the bottom. The car doesn’t want to be where it needs to, and your hands can go numb from white-knuckling the wheel. Dover’s concrete surface is bumpy, and the seams collect a lot of rubber, making the cars’ handling more and more bouncy as the race wears on. As rubber is laid down on the track, the “line” or groove that drivers need to follow changes, and they need to adapt their lap strategies to follow it. Pit road is treacherous, not as bad as it used to be before they widened and lengthened it, but it’s rough getting in as the entrance is just off the exit of brutal Turn 4. Finally, in part because of the banking, any mishap or spin at this track is likely to shoot you up into traffic–and into the wall. So hold on, because this Monster Mile is aptly named.
NASCAR coverage brought to you by Valvoline Engine Guarantee–the first and only motor oil in the industry that will guarantee your engine up to 300,000 miles. *Registration required, some limitations apply.
May 15, 2010
Kyle Busch Wins Heluva Good! 200
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
Following a big wreck and a bout of uncharacteristic fisticuffs between Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer, and amidst a crazy last few laps, Kyle Busch rocked the final restart and grabbed the win for the Nationwide race, delivering a solid “so there” to Joe Gibbs for pulling him off his full-time Nationwide Series schedule. Kyle has showed that even if he doesn’t get to run every race, he’ll deliver on those he does run. In the post-race press conference, Kyle said it’s frustrating to not get to compete for the championship this year, it doesn’t stop him from running the same race as he would otherwise–he’s in it to win. Congrats!
NASCAR coverage brought to you by Valvoline Engine Guarantee–the first and only motor oil in the industry that will guarantee your engine up to 300,000 miles. *Registration required, some limitations apply.
Sideways In The Backstretch
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
The Nationwide race is on, and I’ve been out taking pictures. I walked the track to find the good photo spots, and caught Michael Annett taking the No. 15 car around right ahead of Turn 3. Lucky that the traffic was pretty strung out by this point, because Dover’s narrow straightaways and steeply-banked turns tend to put an out-of-control car right into the path of traffic. And the spooky thing is, the exact same thing just happened again, as championship points leader Brad Keselowski spun on the front stretch, also without hitting anything. There’s gotta be an invisible lucky rainbow above Dover today or something. Go below the jump for a few more pics, and check out abc to catch the last half of the race on TV.
NASCAR coverage brought to you by Valvoline Engine Guarantee–the first and only motor oil in the industry that will guarantee your engine up to 300,000 miles. *Registration required, some limitations apply.
Sprint Cup Practice At Dover
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
The Sprint Cup cars are running a few more practice sessions in advance of tomorrow’s race. Jimmie Johnson, generally a strong contender for the win here at Dover (he swept both races last year), was rubbing a tire as soon as he was out on the track. The No. 48 seemed to be smoking out of the right side after he pulled it onto pit row for the tire-testers to inspect before heading straight back to the garage. Check out a few more pics from practice below the jump.
NASCAR coverage brought to you by Valvoline Engine Guarantee–the first and only motor oil in the industry that will guarantee your engine up to 300,000 miles. *Registration required, some limitations apply.
Will Denny Be Spinning His Wheels On Sunday?
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
Well, here in the Sprint Cup garage he really was spinning his wheels, as crew members raced the motor with the rear jacked in the air as they made last-minute adjustments before heading out for practice. Denny Hamlin has been on a hot streak since around the time of his knee surgery, running every race like it’s his last chance, even throughout his painful recovery. He’s surged up through the points in the last several weeks, winning three of the last six races. However, Denny is a driver who’s proven to be very sensitive to momentum, and hasn’t historically done too well at Dover. Do you think the Monster Mile will call a halt to his forward charge, or will his energy be enough offset his bad luck here and get him a decent finish?
NASCAR coverage brought to you by Valvoline Engine Guarantee–the first and only motor oil in the industry that will guarantee your engine up to 300,000 miles. *Registration required, some limitations apply.
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Richard Petty Stopped By
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
NASCAR legend Richard Petty dropped by the infield media center just now to say a bit about the new NASCAR Hall of Fame that just opened in Charlotte, where he’s being inducted into the inaugural class of five. The King spoke with his trademark grace and humility, insisting he didn’t completely deserve a place in the Class of 2010–”I know we won a bunch a races and did all this stuff,” but that there were a ton of “them cats” who’d done a lot more for the sport on the whole. I know he means what he says, but Petty, despite having been retired from active racing for years, continues without equal to be the ambassador of NASCAR. At nearly 73 years of age, this guy is literally everywhere–remember we even ran into him at SEMA?–and his pulling for NASCAR, his warmth toward fans, and his tirelessness in drawing new viewers into the races doesn’t have any current equivalent that I can think of. The King is a class act, and I love that he even passed out Richard Petty party favors to the attending media, each one marked in Sharpie with his trademark ornate signature.
NASCAR coverage brought to you by Valvoline Engine Guarantee–the first and only motor oil in the industry that will guarantee your engine up to 300,000 miles. *Registration required, some limitations apply.
On The Nationwide Series Starting Grid
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
Things are just heating up here in Dover, with Nationwide and Spring Cup Series cars alternating their practice and qualifying runs out on the track. In the Nationwide Series, Kyle Busch set a track qualifying record with a 22.752-sec lap around the 1-mile concrete oval, winning the pole for today’s Nationwide race. Denny Hamlin got the second starting position, Brad Keselowski the third, with Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounding out the rest of the first three rows. Even here in the second-tier Nationwide series, the starting grid is dominated by the Sprint Cup veterans who are pulling double duty by running in both the weekend’s races.
NASCAR coverage brought to you by Valvoline Engine Guarantee–the first and only motor oil in the industry that will guarantee your engine up to 300,000 miles. *Registration required, some limitations apply.
S4K V8 Track Car
By Rob Einaudi
Editor-in-Chief
This 1986 Audi 4000 was campaigned as a rally car in the late 80s and early 90s. Now it’s getting a second chance with a drivetrain out of a wrecked 2005 S4, and Haydn is hoping to be invited to the 2010 Grassroots Motorsports Ultimate Track Car Challenge. Check out his ride page and if you like what you see, rate him up!
Adversity Piles Up For NASCAR Drivers Ahead Of Dover Race Weekend: Vickers Hospitalized, Kyle Busch “Shot Down”
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
Brian Vickers, driver for the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota and one-time Chase contender when he squeaked into the 12th spot ahead of Kyle Busch last year, has been hospitalized for mysterious blood clots and will not race this weekend at Dover. Red Bull Racing honcho Jay Frye said Vickers was on an “intense type dosage” of stabilizing meds as doctors try to figure out what’s going on with the multiple clots, one of which is threatening his lungs. Frye cited occupational hazards of the racing life as a possible cause of Vickers’ condition; as David Caraviello pointed out in his article for NASCAR.com,
Clots in veins often occur when blood flow becomes stagnant, and can be caused by something as mundane as sitting for long periods of time, which drivers certainly do in the race car. Carbon monoxide exposure can also play a role in clots that develop in the lungs.
Casey Mears will drive the No. 83 Toyota on Sunday in his place, but the setback basically kills Vickers’ chances of making the Chase for the Cup this year–doctor’s orders are that he can’t even run the first lap of Sunday’s race and then swap out, as sick and injured drivers have sometimes done as a means of preserving their hold on the points standings. Best wishes to Brian Vickers for a complete and speedy recovery–sure we’ve loved to hate on him sometimes, but we’d rather see him back racing. Follow the jump for more driver drama.
NASCAR coverage brought to you by Valvoline Engine Guarantee–the first and only motor oil in the industry that will guarantee your engine up to 300,000 miles. *Registration required, some limitations apply.
