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?

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

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.

Continue reading "Richard Petty Stopped By" »

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.

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.

Continue reading "Adversity Piles Up For NASCAR Drivers Ahead Of Dover Race Weekend: Vickers Hospitalized, Kyle Busch “Shot Down”" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Thanks to our buddies at Valvoline, I’m going to be bringing you live coverage of this weekend’s NASCAR action from Dover International Speedway! I’ve been to this crusher of a track once before, and the speed and brutality of this one-mile concrete oval just blew me away. Stay tuned to the blog all weekend long for news from the track, and don’t forget to watch this weekend’s races–the Nationwide Series race is on Saturday at 2pm Eastern on abc, and the Sprint Cup run will be Sunday at 1 on Fox.

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

As you probably know, the racecars that compete in NASCAR’s top series are subject to ongoing, nearly constant inspections from the moment they roll off the trailer at any given track. When I was in Dover last weekend, one of the things I was especially curious about was the post-race teardown, where inspectors nab the winning car and a handful of randoms and then break them down into nothing but a heap of components, going through the car with a fine-toothed comb to rule out cheating. So as soon as the race was won and the Victory Lane celebrations were over, I high-tailed it over to the garage area to watch Greg Biffle’s No. 16 Ford, still sticky with Gatorade and confetti, get transformed from a race-winning Sprint Cup car to a rolling shell and a rubble of car parts. Read more…

Continue reading "NASCAR Post-Race Teardown" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Dover International Speedway is a hot, high-banked concrete oval that chews up racecars, spits them out, and asks for more—and after watching that happen all weekend, I sure did have one burly item that I could cross off my before-I-die list. Now, here at CarDomain, we’ve got the largest collection of Dover race photos on the internet. Over in our Events section, there’s a ton of pics from all three of this week’s exciting series, but don’t think you have to put up with much of my Casio’s mediocre track photography—the lion’s share of the shots are from behind the scenes, the restricted areas like the garage and the pits, where the real craziness happens. Enjoy!

NASCAR driver Carl Edwards told me about Back 40 Racing when I chatted with him at Dover this weekend—basically, it’s an informal field-racing series in which competitors run cars they’ve pulled out of the junkyard. Carl was more involved in Back 40 before full-time racing duties took over—it bears the same name as his record label—but apparently, he still goes out racing with them once in awhile. And yeah, running junker cars through back fields against the current Sprint Cup Series points leader sounds like my idea of a total blast! Check out video of a typical Back 40 lap, below.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Today was huge for the Roush-Fenway Fords, with Greg Biffle scoring the win at Dover following a harrowing battle with Roush teammates Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards. Those two finished second and third, respectively, but not before spending the final 25 laps trading paint and nearly giving team owner Jack Roush a heart attack. As Greg Biffle reflected after the race on what it must’ve been like for his boss to witness his Fords’ kamikaze three-wide antics, "I would have crapped my pants watching those three cars run into each other." But all the beatin’ and bangin’ paid off, of course, with a 1-2-3 finish for the Roush Fords, a sweep that some speculated might’ve even been 1-2-3-4 if Jamie McMurray hadn’t been caught up in a wreck after leading the race early on. The win seemed to come as a bit astonishing to Biffle, who said his car had been off and on all day and who had been second-guessing his suspension setup until well into the race. Biffle hadn’t scored a win all season prior to his back-to-back victories in these first two races of the Chase for the Cup. Congratulations!

See a few of my pics from today’s finish.

Continue reading "Somewhere Under All That Confetti Is Greg Biffle" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Hey, remember that awesome Charger pace car I told you about on my first day at Dover? Yep, some lucky fan got to drive it home. The Charger ended up being the speedway’s giveaway car during today’s pre-race festivities, and Buck and Bass from Rowdy.com got to do the honors and hand over the keys. The six finalists who gathered at the start-finish line had been entered automatically in the drawing when they renewed their season passes. There were six keys in the hat, but (isn’t it always the way?) only one unlocked the Charger’s door—and set off its alarm. Sweet prize!

Continue reading "Door Prize: Dover Gives Away Its Pace Car" »