Full Throttle

Talk about a million-dollar smile.

Kasey Kahne did not have the requisite victory in 2007 or ’08 needed to qualify for the annual Nascar Sprint All-Star race on Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. And he came up short in the Sprint Showdown race for nonqualifiers earlier in the night, failing to finish high enough to advance to the main event.

But popularity counts on All-Star weekend, and Kahne got into the field on a vote by the fans, who picked the one driver they wanted to see in the race.

And then he went out and won it.

Kahne’s No. 9 Dodge held off Greg Biffle, whose No. 16 Ford was among the strongest racecars in the field, to collect the first-place prize of a little more than $1 million.

“I can’t believe we just won this,” a stunned Kahne said moments after taking the checkered flag.

Strategy and a strong racecar gave Kahne the victory. He finished seventh in the third of four 25-lap segments that make up the 100-lap race. But as the teams went to pit road for one final stop, Kahne’s team opted not to change tires. That allowed Kahne to come out of the pits in second place. He took the lead when Denny Hamlin’s engine failed with 17 laps to go.

Biffle, who won the third segment, could not catch Kahne.

It was as improbable a victory as Nascar fans have seen this season. Kahne, in 14th place in the standings, has not won a points race since 2006.

“This is a race for the fans,” Kahne said in victory lane. “For us to come out and win it on the fan vote, pretty cool.”

Kyle Busch, the hottest driver in Nascar, led the first 25 laps to collect the $75,000 bonus for winning the opening segment. But his engine failed during the second segment, and he was done for the night.

As a side note to Kyle’s engine failure this event was what amounts to a test session for a new Joe Gibbs “tweaked” Toyota powerplant. Gibbs Racing has been developing its own version of the Toyota engine and its drivers will have those JGR engines in the cars for the first time this season for the all-star race according to Mark Cronquist, who oversees JGR’s engine department.

“We know where we should be and we’re not quite there yet,” Cronquist said. “It’s a relief to know we’ve got a decent package. We know the little things we need to work on.”

“At the same time,’‘ Cronquist said, “the guys at TRD are trying to make their motors better so we just have to (see) which package is better. It’s all about durability. We have to finish races before you can have as much power as you want.”

Carl Edwards’s turn to dominate came in the second segment where he picked up a cool $75,000 bonus for the win. But he fell back as Biffle won the third segment and emerged as the driver to beat.

Biffle took tires on the last pit stop and was fourth on the restart for the final segment, but he had to settle for second.

Dale Jarrett, the 1999 Cup champion, who is retiring from competition, drove in his final race Saturday night. Jarrett, who won 32 races in his career, finished 21st.

A. J. Allmendinger won the Sprint Showdown and Sam Hornish Jr. finished second, which allowed them to advance to the All-Star race.

Technorati Tags: Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Auto Racing, Dale Jarrett, Sam Hornish Jr

With apologies to Humpy Wheeler, the president and general manager of Lowe’s Motor Speedway has nothing on Rusty Wallace and Co.

Wheeler has a history of predicting the winner of the Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s. But it’s the Rusty Wallace-designed Iowa Speedway that’s 2-for-2 in foreshadowing the winner with Kasey Kahne’s victory Saturday night.

Kahne, like last year’s Sprint All-Star Race winner Kevin Harvick did, is scheduled to spend the day following his $1M win running in the NASCAR Camping World Series race at the Newton, Iowa track.

Kahne committed to run Sunday’s US Cellular 200 in March. Saturday, he drove to the front in the final segment of the All-Star event in Charlotte to collect the big payday.

He will be in the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge for Today’s NASCAR Camping World Series practice at 9 a.m. CT. Qualifying for the 44-car field is 12:30 p.m. CT and the race is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. CT. The race will be broadcast live on HDNet.

Last year, Harvick won the Sprint All-Star Challenge but finished second in the Featherlite Coaches 200 at Iowa Speedway, getting beat by 16-year-old NASCAR rookie Joey Logano.

Could that happen again? It’s certainly a possibility.

Like Logano, 18-year-old Austin Dillon won the NASCAR Camping World Series East opener at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina in his first NASCAR start. The grandson of legendary car owner Richard Childress, Dillon was second fastest in Saturday’s practice session. Alex Haase (pictured above), also 18, posted the top speed in practice running for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Rookies Ricky Carmichael and Jeff Barkshire also posted top five times in practice.

Technorati Tags: Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Rusty Wallace, Richard Childress, NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race

NEWTON, Iowa – Alex Haase doesn’t have fond memories of his experience at Iowa Speedway last year.

“We just struggled all week,” Haase said of last year’s NASCAR Camping World Series race at Iowa where he started 41st and finished 27th.

He’s feeling much better about the 7/8-mile track following Saturday’s 1 ½-hour practice for Sunday’s US Cellular 200. Haase (No. 51 Kyle Busch Foundation/Electric Sunglasses Chevrolet) posted the fastest time at 23.971 seconds (131.409 mph). He was one-thousands of a second faster than fellow teenager Austin Dillon (No. 3 Garage Equipment Supply Chevrolet) at 23.972 (131.403).

“We tested here a couple weeks ago,” Haase said. “That makes a big difference – knowing what we’ve got; we’ve just had to change minimal stuff. And that paid off.”

The 18-year-old Haase was runner-up for NASCAR Camping World Series West Sunoco Rookie of the Year last season. He moved from his native Las Vegas to North Carolina and is running a regional Late Model series in the southeast for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Haase’s Iowa effort is being spearheaded by crew chief Tom Busch – Kyle and Kurt Busch’s father – and Richie Waters, Kyle Busch’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series crew chief.

“We come here with good stuff,” Haase said. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be on top of the board.”

Another pair of rookies, Ricky Carmichael (No. 4 Monster Energy Drink Chevrolet) and Jeff Barkshire (No. 46 Centennial Batteries Dodge) were third and fourth respectively. Barkshire was the top NASCAR Camping World Series West driver in practice.

“It’s where we hoped to be,” Barkshire said. “I was hoping to be in the top five, especially with all the heavy hitters here.”

Barkshire is running a car he purchased from Ray Evernham Motorsports over the winter. He raced it at Phoenix International Raceway last month, but said it’s much more prepared for this weekend. His fastest time was on lap 10 of an initial 20-lap run to start the session.

Dillon’s teammate, Peyton Sellers (No. 44 Specialty Fertilizer Products Chevrolet) was fifth.

“The Late Models ran all day, so they put down some rubber,” Sellers said. “When we got on track, we were hammer down. I still think we need to be better. The track’s going to tighten up when the sun comes out tomorrow.”

Sellers isn’t surprised to see his teammate run so quick.

“He’s really impressed me testing,” Sellers said. “I think he’ll be alright. A lot of people see these kids come out and put up fast laps. I really think he has what it takes to keep it up there all day.”

Winds from the northwest gusted at 30-40 mph during the day. Saturday’s practice was 1 1/2 hours. The teams will have another hour of practice Sunday morning. Qualifying is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. CT and the race at 4:15 p.m. CT.

Notes
Ryan Preece’s inaugural NASCAR Camping World Series entry came to a premature end. Preece’s No. 28 Logan Steel Ford blew a tire during Saturday’s practice and suffered irreparable damage. With no backup car, Preece will not race Sunday.

“We’re all done,” said Preece, who ran just three laps. “The right side is totally torn up. They said first five laps feel it out. After the first couple laps, I started to feel it out more. All the sudden, it took a dip in the right front and the thing went straight into the wall.”

The 17-year-old Connecticut native is a regular on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, where he became the youngest Coors Light Pole winner in tour history earlier this season. He will race next in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event Friday, May 23 at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway.

Fifty-two cars practiced Saturday afternoon. The only car not to take the track was the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne. With Preece out, fifty-two cars will attempt to qualify for 44 spots.

Practice speeds listed below the fold:
Read the rest of this entry »

This should send a few NASCAR hating heads spinning.

University of Missouri held their commencement ceremonies Friday and like many institutes of learning around the world they offer online study as part of their curriculum. In keeping with the online community established through the program they also had a special online ceremony for those that studied and graduated via the program.

One graduate, Janine MacAulay, “attended” the event while on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada is an example the advantages gained by going online with the festivities and the advantages of online study.

Another is allowing access to one of the commencement speakers.

Carl Edwards was one of three speakers that had words for the class of 2004 graduates. The text of his speech can be read online but here is a short excerpt:

“The University of Missouri has always been an important part of my life,” Edwards said in his virtual commencement address. “And, as a professional racecar driver, I know how hard you have to work to be a winner. That’s why I’m proud to be speaking to an entire group of winners - Mizzou’s online degree graduates.”

“You’ve been pioneers, part of the first generation of students to learn this way,” he said in the video. “You’ve discovered that studying from a distance isn’t any easier than learning in a class room.”

“The best part for me aside from viewing the speeches was the online guestbook,” MacAulay said, adding that her family, friends and classmates were able to participate in her graduation by posting messages for her and other graduates to read. “I noticed they added one from Carl Edwards. My husband and his family are all NASCAR fans, so they were thrilled.”

The Half-Vast Staff™ of Full Throttle sends its congratulations to all Mizzou’s online graduates as well as to the more traditional graduates but have to wonder what the latte drinking, Saab driving, NASCAR hating crowd thinks of having a “grease-stained” race driver speaking during a commencement exercise.

Obviously we have to guess, and probably be on the mark with one, because Beelzebub would open a Popsicle stand in Hell before they darkened the door of Full Throttle or any other racing blog to answer the question.

Technorati Tags: Carl Edwards, NASCAR, University of Missouri, Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series

Matt Crafton survived a make-or-break restart and a two-lap overtime battle for his first-ever NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win on Friday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway near Charlotte. The Thor Motorsports Chevrolet driver snapped his 178-race Craftsman Truck losing streak, the longest any Craftsman Truck driver has gone before his breakthrough victory.

“Finally, we can shut them up,” said Crafton, tears in his eyes. “Now they can say, ‘When’s the next one coming?’ Track position was everything. I have a really good group of guys; we’ve been together for two years now. We’re a small group of guys, but we’re going to win more races. I can promise you that.”

The race was - as most Craftsman races are - wild and unpredictable to the end. Pole-winner Kyle Busch dominated, leading 86 laps before late-race contact with Ron Hornaday (they were in the top five at the time) damaged his Toyota and put him deep in the field. But he rallied to finish eighth.

The final laps featured the Hornaday-Busch contact, an apparent pass for the lead by Johnny Benson–it was denied when officials said Benson jumped the restart–and Todd Bodine’s bump that wrecked Hornaday while they were in the top five. Officials penalized Bodine for causing the crash.

“He just flat tried to kill me,” Hornaday said of Bodine. “You don’t spin somebody out on the straightaway. We were pretty good friends. We were just getting to like each other. I don’t know what’s going to happen now. I really don’t.”

Said Bodine: “I know everybody is going to find this hard to believe; I was trying to help him. I wasn’t trying to wreck him. I was trying to give him a good shove to get up there and race Matt because there was no way I was going to.”

Crafton, who took the lead from Benson just before the Bodine-Hornaday caution, held off McCumbee for the overtime win, with Gaughan, Darnell and Crawford in a pack for third, fourth and fifth.

Despite finishing 23rd, Hornaday still leads the points, but his margin is down to five more than Crawford. Bodine is 38 behind in third and Crafton is 45 behind in fourth.

Technorati Tags: Kyle Busch, Ron Hornaday, Todd Bodine, Auto Racing, Johnny Benson, Craftsman Truck Series, Dale Earnhardt, McCumbee

As part of the media Tusnami following Danica Partick’s Twin Ring Motegi IndyCar win was speculation Patrick might be in line for an F1 test in the future.

That was fueled by a reporter who asked if she had any thoughts of joining the F1 Circus in the future.

Word of the exchange filtered down to Honda’s F1 Chief Executive Nick Fry who said the team hadn’t instigated anything, “but if Danica wanted to be test a driver then we’d be more than happy to talk about it.”

Now word has filtered out current NASCAR wunderkind Kyle “The Desperado” Busch also would like to add to his resume by testing an F1 machine this coming off-season.

Busch said part of a test session would include taking a Cup car to Japan for an exhibition drive. “Just kind of run around there at either Twin Ring (where IndyCar runs) or something like that and show them what the Cup cars are like and try to get in a Formula One car, too.”

Barring any complaints from Mr. Danica at first glance this may be a set-up for a Japanese date for a duel test for both drivers.

It would seem so, but wait, let me grab my bucket of frosty cold ice-water.

They both may very well get their respective tests but it won’t be as Busch envisions it.

Danica’s IndyCar is powered by Honda and any interest on the part of F1 Honda in testing her is based on that fact.

Busch drives a Toyota. Not a problem you say?

But it is, and a major one that indicates Busch suffered a case of oral Montezumas Revenge when a microphone was stuck in his face and didn’t think through what he’s dreaming of.

Twin-Ring Motegi was built and is owned by Honda, need I say more?

With the fierce rivalry between the two Japanese F1 squads there is no way in hell Busch will lap the oval or the road course at Twin-Ring in a F1 Toyota and Nick Fry would sooner give up someone’s first born man-child before he places The Desperado in a F1 Honda machine to lap Motegi.

That’s not to say Busch won’t or can’t get a test, but it will have to be at Toyota owned and operated Fuji Speedway current home of the Japanese round in the F1 world championship.

Of course there is one other option. You could put these two firecrackers together in their respective marquees and turn them loose on the neutral circuit of Suzuka. (Thanks to Tom in the comment section you woke me up to the fact Suzuka merged with Twin-Ring in 2006 so in fact is owned and operated by Honda.

In that light I’d vote for Autopolis for a neutral site of a joint testing session.

Autopolis has a rather strange history but can claim one of F1’s elites as a winner there. Autopolis hosted a round of the World Sportscar Championship in 1991 which was won by Michael Schumacher and Karl Wendlinger in a Mercedes.

A joint test would have the additional benefit of driving F1 Supremo Bernie Ecclestone, a/k/a The Hobbit, nuts seeing Danica in an F1 machine.

After her fourth place showing in the 2005 Indy 500 Bernie made an assessment about women racing with men that created a major controversy saying, “You know I’ve got one of those wonderful ideas … women should be dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances.”

Ever the nitwit that guy Bernie and is the reason if I had my say any test by these two would take the form of the neutral venue option just on the oft chance Ecclestones head would explode. Metaphorically of course, no one would actually like to see any harm come to The Hobbit. (except a few million F1 fans)

Technorati Tags: Formula One, Motorsport, Nick Fry, Auto racing, Bernie Ecclestone, Twin Ring Motegi, Fuji Speedway, Kyle Busch, NASCAR, Sprint Cup

And the question, as posed in an email that landed in the Hallowed Halls of the Full Throttle Press Room (Bathroom, truth be told but keep it under your helmet) is; “Why haven’t you picked a NASCAR All-Star winner or anything else on the weeks events?”

“Who cares” was the response then and now. But lets look into why a bit further.

Everything from the opening event of the week until the drop of the green flag for the Open should be called The Shamesty Presented by Hokey Hokum.

Fake from start to finish, NASCAR and with no small influence from Bruton Smith, wanted to mimic the all star events of the stick and ball sports. And that’s what they got.

You want to mimic an NBA slam dunk contest? OK, Bruton and Humpy delivered with something called a burnout contest. Thats got to be worst idea since some Christian thought he could beat a pack of lions. Or was it the other way around? Whatever, you get the idea who cares?

You want a NASCAR version of the MLB home run hitting contest that allows the sluggers to do nothing but slug?

Check that off NASCAR’s list of mimicry, it’s called a pit crew challenge that allows the unsung and mostly unknown members of the pit crews do what they do best, fling jacks, slosh gas and spin lugnuts. All under 14 seconds if it were real, but that’s the rub, it’s not so who cares it’s just another reality show.

NASCAR, apparently wanted to mimic baseball’s fan voting on All-Star lineups, and they did by allowing fans to spam a poll, er… I mean vote online for one driver to be entered into the All-Star line-up that otherwise wasn’t eligible.

Someone wake me up when a Fan Fav voted in comes close to winning the All-Star event. Until then, ho-hum, more reality show biz.

I’m not here just to bury Caesar, so to speak, but offer a “real” reality show.

Take those professional pit crew members and replace them for the Pit Crew Challenge. With each ticket purchased by fans to enter the speedway comes a number, call it The Pit Crew Lottery number if you want.

The day before the event numbers would be drawn and winning ticket holders would compete in the Fan Pit Crew Challenge using the same format used by the professionals now.

You want reality, you got it. TV reality that is, which really isn’t, but the end result would be Comedy Gold.

Young, old, even a couple pot-bellied members of NASCAR’s old guard fan base - old guard meaning from the days of Smokey Yunick and Fred Lorenzen - might end up as part of the event.

It can’t get more real than that.

As for the second part of the original question, who will win the All-Star event?

I haven’t the foggiest idea, I gave up my Nostradamus Hat long ago when my percentages fell below the Mendoza Line, and this event is always a crap shoot.

Considering it is a special week in the NASCAR season I’ll dust off the hat for this occasion and predict a car, presumably with 4 wheels (barring a last second “spin-to-win” maneuver resulting in a three-wheeled winner) with multiple colors and multiple logos adorning each and every square inch of the vehicle and enveloped in a cloud of smoke immediately after crossing the finish line (not the be confused with a burn out contest)!

Technorati Tags: NASCAR, Bruton Smith, Sports, Auto racing, Motorsports, Smokey Yunick, Fred Lorenzen, Sprint Cup

Hear ye, hear ye…

The National Stock Car Racing Commission has ruled on the appeals case of H.C. Sellers vs PCNA (Peoples Commissar of NASCAR Affairs, more commonly known as Brian France and various and sundry henchmen)

Surely you remember the case - it was the case that the misinformed and small minority of NASCAR Nation called LoonBats claim never happens - a case where a win is not a win when you cheat to gain that win.

Head Kangaroo, er… I mean Commission Chairman George Silbermann has ruled in favor of upholding the original penalty.

As a reminder the infractions were as follows: Section 12-4-A of the NASCAR Rule Book “Actions detrimental to stock car racing”; Section 12-4-Q “Any determination by NASCAR Officials that the car, car parts, components, and/or equipment used in the Event do not conform to NASCAR rules” and Section 20C-12.3C(7) “Shock absorber base valves will not be permitted: Right rear shock absorber had a base valve installed.”

For those not knowing what a base valve is there is an excellent option to find out what they are, how they work and why there are regulated.

The penalty as upheld is as follows: Suspension from the next three (3) NASCAR Camping World Series East Events. Suspension from the NASCAR Touring Series until June 11, 2008. Probation until December 31, 2008.

Court is adjourned.

Technorati Tags: NASCAR, Auto Racing, Brian France, Motorsports

There’s an interesting story out of the U.K. that is related to Max Mosley’s attempt at gaining financial restitution from NotW for invasion of privacy when they printed the nazi spank-fest featuring Mosley and five prostitutes.

Actor Hugh Grant just won a U.K. court judgment for invasion of his, Liz Hurley and her husband Arun Nayar and accepted £58,000 damages over photographs taken of them on holiday in the Maldives.

According to the BBC story the trio selected the islands strictly for the privacy and the seclusion the private resort claimed was available.

Two thoughts on this; 1. What the hell made these three think anywhere on the planet offered any type of seclusion when your at their level of star status, and 2. Why isn’t the the so called “private resort” held culpable? Looks from this distance they promised something they couldn’t deliver.

Anyway, I wonder what this says about The Littlest Pervert’s case against the NotW because of the obvious privacy connection in the two cases?

I suspect a lot, but I say that knowing little on the issue within the U.K. ither than they are much stricter than most places on the planet

Regardless of the final outcome of Mosley’s suit it should have little to do with the FIA decision considering his actions since the the story first broke. He’ continued to lie out his posterior and spin faster than a frog in a blender.

Funny thing is Mosley could learn something from Grant.

Hugh Grant was the toast of Tinseltown until he was hit by a scandal after his encounter with a Hollywood prostitute in 1995, but now he has been embraced by U.S. audiences because of the stylish way he handled the issue.

Grant said on Larry King Live at the time, “I could accept some of the things that people have explained, ’stress,’ ‘pressure,’ ‘loneliness’ - that that was the reason. But that would be false. In the end you have to come clean and say ‘I did something dishonorable, shabby and goatish.’”

Mosley could learn something, but he’s too bull-headed, stubborn, drunk with the power his position affords him and just plain stupid.

Technorati Tags: Max Mosley, News of the World, FIA, Formula One, Moslay Scandal

Remember when a Czech ally of Max “The Littlest Perv” Mosley came out in full support of him and claimed it was all a grand conspiracy perpetrated by Mclaren’s Ron Dennis?

Well, I guess the black helicopters, Area 51 visitors and Ron Dennis theories are all in the same category, the machinations of a deluded mind.

Radovan Novak, general secretary of the Czech Automobile Association, who made the original charge against Dennis has contacted Mclaren stating in essence, “opps, sorry, my bad can I have a do over?”

Mclaren has posted the following on their website:

“Mr Novak has asked us to make it clear that he does not believe that either McLaren or (team boss Ron) Dennis were involved in the events referred to and that the remarks are not representative of his views, “Mr Novak has apologised for the misunderstanding and McLaren and Mr Dennis have thanked him for this gracious and swift reaction.”

Lude, conspira, recognosie?

O conspiracy!
Sham’st thou to show thy dangerous brow by night,
When evils are most free? - Julius Caesar (2.4.6)

Technorati Tags: Ron Dennis, McLaren, Formula One, McLaren Mercedes, Radovan Novak, Ferrari, FIA, Czech Automobile Association