Posts tagged JeffGordon at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

The Busch that everyone expects to win took the checkered flag in the Sprint Cup Series for the sixth time Saturday night at Daytona.

Kyle Busch, instead of his brother Kurt who won last week thanks to rain at New Hampshire, won a crazy finish in the Coke Zero 400 by holding off Carl Edwards in turn one on the white flag lap of a green-white-checkered finish. The race ended in turn one thanks to a big wreck behind the leaders involving Michael Waltrip and a host of others, with Busch edging Edwards by a nose on video replays.

Put away the roman candles, y'all, Saturday night is right for racing in Daytona. Tune in on TNT for Wide Open coverage and join in the conversation as we follow the Sprint Cup stars under lights for 400 miles on NASCAR's most famed track.

Click the link below to find your way to the live blog!

Casey Mears is officially leaving Hendrick Motorsports, effective at the end of 2008.

Mears, currently 24th in the Sprint Cup standings, leaves Hendrick after never doing anything that impressive while in the driver seat at the premier organization -- with the exception of one lone win at Lowe's Motor Speedway in 2007.

It's been a constant struggle for Mears this season to produce results like the rest of his Hendrick teammates Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. despite driving equipment built out of the same shop as Earnhardt. Dale Jr.'s No. 88 is currently 3rd in the standings.

Oddly enough, Mears' best finish of 2008 was just one week ago at Infineon Raceway when he brought the No. 5 Chevrolet home in fourth. Five finishes lower than 35th in 16 races this season, though, aren't wiped away with a single Top-5.

I like Casey Mears a lot -- he's a nice guy and doesn't cause problems on track -- but the statistics are much too telling about his performance at HMS. Granted he hasn't had the best of conditions to work under are switching racing teams and crew chiefs multiple times, but at some point, the results just have to come.

Mark Martin is rumored to be getting in the No. 5 for a last-ditch effort at a Sprint Cup title in 2009. From his performance in a few races in 2008 -- most notably at Phoenix -- the part-time Dale Earnhardt Inc. driver could really make some waves with the appropriate equipment.

Martin in the No. 5 for 2009? Sounds good to me.

A year ago, Jeff Gordon was Kyle Busch.

After the Sprint Cup race in Sonoma, Gordon was leading the points and had won four times and started on the pole six times in 2007.

A year later, Gordon finds himself sixth in points and without a win.

Needless to say, the frustration is starting to catch up to Gordon.

"It's been an up-and-down year, and you know, we've been able to pull these top-fives out like this and not have great cars, and we're just working way, way, too hard for these types of finishes," said Gordon.

Working too hard is the understatement. Gordon was simply out to lunch for the first half of the race Sunday at Infineon Raceway and with limited adjustments, smart moves to get track position, and some late race crashes, Gordon was able to score a third place finish.

There truly hasn't been a race all season long that Gordon has had a dominant race car like he did several times in 2007. From his horrible outing at Texas to squeezing out a Top-5 finish at Charlotte thanks to a fuel mileage run, the No. 24 roller coaster hasn't been a fun ride.

Note to all NASCAR FanHousers: Thanks for sticking around this week despite the lack of new material. The real job took precedence this week for me. I promise -- the NASCAR FanHouse will get the treatment it deserves from here on out. I hope you'll be along for the ride. -GM

Each and every year, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers face a host of road course "ringers" -- drivers who do the lefts and rights for a living -- in the two road course events that the series runs.

Friday afternoon at Infineon Raceway in California, the Sprint Cup drivers seemed to still get the best of the "pros".

Kasey Kahne -- Kasey Kahne! -- won the pole for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350k with Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Bobby Labonte, and Jeff Gordon wrapping up the Top-5.

The highest driver who falls into the "ringer" category is Marcos Ambrose in 7th, though Ambrose is a regular driver in the Nationwide Series. Robby Gordon in 8th could be considered a ringer, but he does run the entire Sprint Cup schedule despite being noted for his road course and off-road driving skills.

Boris Said qualified in 14th while Ron Fellows was the next highest in 22nd. Scott Pruett and Max Papis went 27th and 28th consecutively and Brian Simo wound up 43rd. Brandon Ash failed to qualify.

What: Pocono 500
Where: Pocono Raceway
When: Sunday, June 8 (Green Flag: 2:00pm/et TV Coverage: 12:30pm/et)
Distance: 200 laps, 500 miles
Weather: A 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Partly cloudy, with a high near 87.
2007 Winner: Jeff Gordon
Predictions: Keep Reading




Pocono Pavement - The surface at Pocono Raceway is aging quite a bit, and when some problems developed over the off-season in turn 3, track officials laid down a new patch of pavement up high in the turn where drivers have never raced.

As we head into the first race at Pocono Raceway this weekend, its important to flash back to the happenings of the 2007 Pocono 500.

That event, won by Jeff Gordon, ended prematurely thanks to the rain that swept in and stopped the race for good at lap 106. Ryan Newman, though, nearly won the event after near passing Gordon just before the caution. Watch below:



Ah, that not-so-distant times of Jeff Gordon's wanna-be mullet haircut. The hair has been trimmed for 2008, which makes me think, should Gordon grow out the mop again?

After this race at Pocono a year ago, Gordon had won four races in the Sprint Cup Series, which means Gordon fans must start a petition for Jeff to avoid the barber at all costs for at least the next two years. It's all in the name of Sprint Cup victories and bad pictures, of course.

The long hair didn't quite work for Tony Stewart in 2008, so maybe the new car really is what is keeping Gordon out of victory lane in 2008.

Preparing the track, praying against the rain, and organizing an event expected to host over 20,000 spectators were all on the plate for Tony Stewart on Wednesday at his Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

And oh yeah, he was racing, too.

The responsibilities must not have weighed on Stewart too hard as he took home his second win the Old Spice Prelude to the Dream on a muddy night in west-central Ohio. The high-banked dirt track charity all-star race again featured some of NASCAR's biggest names and is rapidly gaining traction as one of the best events to get a ticket to in all of racing.

Kyle Busch should be sponsored by a lawn mowing company, because he is simply mowing down the NASCAR world.

Crappy one-liners aside, Busch took his fourth Sprint Cup series win of 2008 after flat dominating the field during the last half of the race in Sunday's Best Buy 400 at Dover International Speedway.

It also tallied as his 10th overall among NASCAR's top three divisions this season.

The Warmup makes a triumphant return after two weeks on the bench...


What: Best Buy 400 benefiting Student Clubs for Autism Speaks
Where: Dover International Raceway, Dover, Delaware.
When: Sunday, June 1 (Green Flag: 2:00pm/et TV Coverage: 1:30pm/et)
Distance: 400 laps, 400 miles
Weather: 20% Chance of Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high near 83.
2007 Winner: Martin Truex Jr.
Predictions: Keep Reading





Autism Speaks - For the second-straight year, the spring Sprint Cup race at Dover has partnered with Autism Speaks as a way to promote the organization's cause. For more about the program, check out the Autism Speaks web site.