By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Let me qualify that: ever had this happen while on a road course in traffic? Denny Hamlin managed to navigate roughly half of Infineon’s winding track totally blind–a pretty marvelous feat–after his hood flew up following some unresolved sheetmetal damage from early in the race. He didn’t lose much time in the pits because during the ensuing stop–his crew was apparently pretty handy with the bolt cutters, and the next time he came around where I was shooting, he was running with no hood. But Denny’s dismal day was only going to get worse–they had to strip off his entire front clip after he was caught up in the big wreck later on, and for the remainder he battled in the rear with the other fenderless cars.

Going through my Infineon pics, I found that I had the gradual deconstruction of the No. 11 car entirely documented on my camera from different points on the track–and the way it went, it kind of reminded me of that animated gif of the little typing guy who smashes his own head to pieces. It’s really too bad for the No. 11 team, which has been on a streak lately and who showed a lot of promise coming into this race. And they clearly demonstrated a lot of grit for sticking it out to the end.

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.

Continue reading "Ever Had This Happen?" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Amidst a massive last-lap wreck, Denny Hamlin took took the win on a green-white-checker restart after dominating the final part of the race at Pocono. Meanwhile, as eight smashed and smoldering race cars limped or were hauled back to the garage, a normally good-natured Joey Logano stormed into the No. 29 pit and got all up in Kevin Harvick’s face, and a bunch of pushing and shoving ensued. While all hell was breaking loose at the end of an otherwise pretty peaceful race, I was way out in the grass on Turn 1. Did anyone see what happened 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.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

For Denny Hamlin, Pocono is a feast or famine kind of track–he runs “either really good or really bad” here. Yesterday he was third fastest in both the first and the final practice, but 18th fastest in the second practice–which kind of proves his point. But he likes Pocono, he won the last race here, and he tends to do well at flat tracks–all points in his favor for Pocono. While Denny will be starting 5th, Kyle Busch won the pole for today’s race in qualifying, which makes the Joe Gibbs Toyotas the team to beat on this difficult track. However, Jimmie Johnson has been strong here too, but has had a string of bad luck over the last several races, including a near-DNF last week at Charlotte during which his team had to replace his car’s entire front clip outside the race in the dark. The No. 48 team may finally catch a break this weekend at Pocono, but between the Gibbs cars, Jimmie will have his work cut out for him.

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.

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.

Continue reading "Will Denny Be Spinning His Wheels On Sunday?" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Kyle Busch, tailed by ESPN pit reporter Jamie Little, leaves his No. 18 Toyota following a catastrophic engine failure that sent his car to the garage. If you were watching, you’ll know that the car started billowing smoke out the exhaust at around lap 140, before it settled down to puffing smoke in bursts in time with the RPM. It hung on that way for several laps, but finally expired and was pushed into the garage. There, the team drained the oil and started tearing the motor down. That splatter of oil on the underside of the hood doesn’t look like a good sign, and there was more down the right-hand fender—but at the time, the crew was talking burned or bent valves and thinking maybe they could get the car back out on the track to avoid a DNF. Even if they do, however, the buzz is that this incident is going to be catastrophic for the former points-leader’s championship standings: Kyle will be lucky if he can hang onto the bottom rung of the Chase ladder. But Busch isn’t the only Chase Toyota having drivetrain problems today—Denny Hamlin had to go into the garage to swap out his rear end and axles after having burned them up, and is back out on the track, 37 laps down. See some shots of the No. 18 in the garage.

Continue reading "Kyle Busch Heartbroken Following Engine Failure" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I’ve never been one for wanton groupieism, but I was struck with a mild case of starry-eyed surprise earlier today when I saw the Sprint Cup drivers lined up on pit row waiting for their turn to qualify. And yes, their presence made it kind of difficult, at times, to get the whole car in the shot. Hey, cut me some slack—just because you do this for a living doesn’t mean you’re not human, and when my dog Clint got to within about a foot of me, I couldn’t help but go a little wobbly. If you’re curious to see some candid shots of NASCAR’s big guns alongside their race-winning rides, check them out below the jump.

Continue reading "Top NASCAR Drivers, With Rides" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Both Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin were contenders for the All-Star’s million-dollar purse on Saturday, leading multiple laps before their engines blew up. Tony Stewart’s Toyota required an engine swap before the race even began, resulting in penalties that required him to start at the back of the field. Much-hyped NASCAR prodigy Kyle Busch surged to the front early in the race, widening his lead with every lap until his engine started dropping cylinders; Denny led a few later in the race until his motor similarly expired. The official word from the Joe Gibbs camp was that the cars were running house-designed, ultra-aggressive, experimental drivetrain setups—a gamble the top Toyota team elected to take for the not-for-points All-Star. But the overtuned engines didn’t have the durability to complete even the 150 miles at Lowes Motor Speedway, and at the end of the night, fan favorite Kasey Kahne took the win with the Budweiser Dodge.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Drivers running in NASCAR’s 500-lap race at Martinsville on Sunday were lucky to finish at all. Besides Bristol, Martinsville is the only real short-track on the Sprint Cup circuit, but its flat paperclip shape doesn’t have the steep banking that allows racers at Bristol to stay on the gas. Not only were brakes glowing cherry-hot, but many of the cars roasted their transmissions or rear ends as the "wheel hop" of tires skittering across unforgiving concrete tore up the overstressed gears. Three Toyotas and two Dodges suffered such driveline failures, but Denny Hamlin beat the odds by hanging on to score the second win of the season for Joe Gibbs’ Toyota team.

By Jen

Editor

Despite an overnight drenching, on-and-off showers throughout the morning, and groundwater burbling up through seams in the track, NASCAR went ahead with the Auto Club 500 yesterday, and the results were pretty sub-par. Denny Hamlin went into the wall early on, then later No. 5 driver Casey Mears got loose after hitting a wet patch, taking out two other cars and slamming the wall before getting plowed by former Indy driver Sam Hornish Jr., who pushed the No. 5 car onto its roof while his own engine exploded into flames. The cars lined up with their rain covers on under the red flag while FOX switched between the soggy scene and an endless procession of regular programming, making for one of the most obnoxious viewer experiences in recent motorsports history. They didn’t even call postponement until nearly 11pm! The race is scheduled to resume on FOX now, but a lot of us are at work and can’t watch it. Someone let me know what’s happening!