Posts tagged LowesMotorSpeedway at FanHouse - AOL Sports 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.

So how does a "Top-5" car run in the middle of the pack for nearly an entire race?

Just ask Jeff Gordon.

Following last Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Gordon found himself with a fourth-place finish in NASCAR's longest event after stretching his fuel mileage late in the race. That finish, though, wasn't an accurate picture of Gordon's night at LMS.

According to NASCAR's loop data, Gordon had an average running position throughout the race of 19th. Winner Kasey Kahne however averaged a 5th-place effort.

In years past, statistics like that and Gordon pulling out a fourth-place finish would be indicative of a car that just wasn't performing throughout the event, but that simply wasn't true. Instead, what kept Gordon -- and plenty of other drivers -- from moving through the field was his track position.

"...When we got up front there and got our lap back, I thought hey, you know, we've got a pretty decent car. We just need track position," said Gordon after the race. "Once we got our lap back, we were back in the back again and there were cars all over the place."

"You just can't go anywhere and you can't pass anybody."

As a race fan, I'm not particularly fond of a driver saying "you can't pass anybody".

They probably knew it was coming, but probably not to this extent.

Haas-CNC Racing, which fields NASCAR Sprint Cup cars No. 66 and No. 77, had more than just a book thrown at them Wednesday as NASCAR levied the penalties for rear-wing mount infractions stemming from last weekend's race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

The penalties, for both teams, included:

• 150 Driver points from Johnny Sauter and Scott Riggs
• 150 Owner points from the No. 66 and No. 70
• Six week suspensions from Sprint Cup Series racing for both crew chiefs and car chiefs
• $100,000 fine for crew chiefs "Bootie" Barker and Dave Skog, each
  
• Both race cars will not be returned after NASCAR confiscated them Friday at LMS

I think you can call that getting the entire library thrown at you.

In all, having rear-wing brackets that weren't correct -- Barker maintains he's used them all season -- just cost the team roughly a three-quarters of a million dollars.

I understand NASCAR's desire to clean up the sport and prevent teams from skirting the rules, but costing a team $750,000 seems a little overwhelming, considering the stats the Haas-CNC teams have put together in 2008.

Bruton Smith and Speedway Motorsports Inc. won't be getting their hands on Pocono Raceway any time soon in his bid to make a race date available to his latest acquisition of Kentucky Speedway.

Rose Mattioli told The Associated Press on Tuesday there are no plans to sell Pocono, which currently has two Sprint Cup races, and there will be racing on the mountaintop for at least "as long as our grandkids live."

"It never was available; it never will be available," said Mattioli, who owns the track with her husband, Joseph. "My husband has stated that over and again. That's it."

The track is "entrusted" to the Mattioli's grandchildren, and because of that, the family isn't selling one of NASCAR's three remaining race tracks not owned by International Speedway Corp. or SMI.

However, the track did open on Tuesday for some scheduled Sprint Cup Series testing.

Teams, fresh off the 600 miles at Lowe's Motor Speedway Sunday night, headed to Pennslyvania for the test which runs through Wednesday evening at the three-turn wanna-be road course track

Tuesday, teams got in about 4 hours of practice until rain canceled activities for the day -- meaning many, many Sprint Cup drivers were likely bored out of their minds.

David Gilliland paced the session while Dario Franchitti made his first laps in a stock car after getting injured over a month ago at Talladega.

Geoffrey Miller is in Concord, N.C. for Sunday's Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He'll aim to eat as many elephant ears as possible while blogging away "Live from Lowe's" throughout Memorial Day weekend.

As the fans stream from the parking lots after the Coca-Cola 600, here's some final thoughts on the weekend:

• Is Kasey Kahne for real? We've seen him run well and win at the 1.5-mile tracks often, but can he make 2008 a season to remember? Winning two-in-a-row at Charlotte is a great thing, but will the No. 9 be around in the Chase?
• Kurt Busch Was Pissed. Busch cut down a right-front tire on lap 161 while having his best non-restrictor plate run of the year. He was in second at the time, but had led substantially before that. After the accident, Busch was irate over the team radio and here's some of the important lines I remember.

  "Typical Penske Racing s***. I was loose, how in the (bad word) do I blow a right front tire?"

It continued for a while after that, with Busch trying to get an answer as to how it happened. There seems to be some frustration there, and you wonder if that means that the seat is getting warmer for Busch.

• Track Position Is the Wonder Drug. I'm going to write more about this later in the week, but track position was the single-most important thing drivers could have Sunday night. For instance, Jeff Gordon ran similar lap times for much of the race while in 20th-place as the leaders did, but he couldn't go anywhere. That's the biggest thing NASCAR needs to work on.

Geoffrey Miller is in Concord, N.C. for Sunday's Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He'll aim to eat as many elephant ears as possible while blogging away "Live from Lowe's" throughout Memorial Day weekend.

Jeff Gordon may have had a car capable of running in the Top-10, but he simply didn't have the track position.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the car to beat until lap 296 when he blew a tire and slapped the wall -- while leading.

Somehow, though, the two Hendrick Motorsports teammates ended up fourth (Gordon) and fifth (Earnhardt Jr.) in the final standings of Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600.

Earnhardt Jr. truly had a car that was one of the top two or three in the entire field, and he likely had the best car as the race was set to begin its final 100 laps of the scheduled 400. Then, his right rear tire went flat as he prepared to lap Hendrick teammate Gordon while entering turn 3 on lap 296, and the No. 88 veered into the wall.

Luckily, Earnhardt had been using the high lane all evening so the impact wasn't as severe as it could have been. The team brought him to pit road many times under the subsequent caution, threw some new rubber on it, pulled out the fenders, and double-checked the suspension.

Junior rejoined the race around 20th, but the car just wasn't the same.

That's where his path aligned with that of Jeff Gordon's team and how to maximize their final finish.

Geoffrey Miller is in Concord, N.C. for Sunday's Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He'll aim to eat as many elephant ears as possible while blogging away "Live from Lowe's" throughout Memorial Day weekend.

PRN Radio said it best following Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway:

Kasey Kahne has taken a lot of money from Greg Biffle.

Kahne scored his second consecutive victory in the Sprint Cup Series in the 600 to add to his Sprint Cup All-Star Race win from a week ago -- both of which came over 2nd-place Greg Biffle. Kyle Busch was third, Jeff Gordon fourth, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. fifth.

It was a crazy night here in Concord and the race provided what we expect from 600 miles on Memorial Day weekend. What we expect, of course, is the unexpected.

Kahne was easily one of the fastest race cars all night long, but he and his team managed to pull out the win despite the event ending as a fuel mileage event after the the yellow flag didn't wave for the final 62 laps.

Geoffrey Miller is in Concord, N.C. for Sunday's Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He'll aim to eat as many elephant ears as possible while blogging away "Live from Lowe's" throughout Memorial Day weekend.

What a night it was here Saturday in Concord, N.C.

Kyle Busch scored the victory in one of the most entertaining Nationwide Series races at Lowe's Motor Speedway I've seen. Busch's ninth total NASCAR win in 2008, though, wasn't exactly the top memory.

Instead, it was Denny Hamlin taking on two-thirds of the JR Motorsports contingent present for the event.

You can read more into at the Associated Press piece, but the gist of the happenings was that Brad Keselowski gave Hamlin a little tap under the yellow from behind to let Hamlin know he was there, Hamlin slowed and swerved into Keselowski's left front fender bending it in, and then Dale Earnhardt Jr. then stood up for the car he owns (Keselowski) and bumped Hamlin in the door.

Busch ran first with those three behind him and appeared to be in danger of getting beat in the final two-lap green flag finish until a caution came out on the final lap before the teams could enter turn three. Instead, he held on.

When the cars came to a stop after the race on pit road, there was plenty of pushing and shoving and NASCAR officials trying to maintain order. It was as close to an all-out brawl as you can get, but tempers evantually settled, allowing for some tremendous quotes.

Said Hamlin, referring to Keselowski's actions:

Geoffrey Miller is in Concord, N.C. for Sunday's Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He'll aim to eat as many elephant ears as possible while blogging away "Live from Lowe's" throughout Memorial Day weekend.

Today was simply an off day for all of the NASCAR teams in Charlotte, as there was no on-track activity at Lowe's Motor Speedway. In other words, if you had a boat on Lake Norman in nearby Mooresville, N.C., you'd likely have seen your fair share of drivers and team members enjoying the day.

Despite the fact that I've found myself a bit under the weather, we managed to kick up some dust today in and around the Concord area. Here's a look back on some of the sights:

• For those who worried that the "Sea of Red" wouldn't change to a "Sea of Green" after Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s departure from DEI, there is nothing to be concerned about. In fact, I tried to see one person walking around today with a No. 8 Budweiser shirt on, and they were nowhere to be found.
• For as long as I've been here, the main drive leading from I-85 to LMS was "Speedway Blvd." until this year, when it became "Bruton Smith Blvd." The name change came as a concession made the Concord City Council after they tried to challenge Bruton on his new drag strip and lost big time. That's a nice reminder to the Council about what not to do when working with a billionaire whose product has brought so much to your community.
  
• Speaking of that new drag strip (horribly named zMax Dragway @ Concord) it's coming along quite quickly with many of the main buildings erected, the stands and suites coming to shape, and the track grading in progress. Of course when the first race at the track is in September...

Geoffrey Miller is in Concord, N.C. for Sunday's Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He'll aim to eat as many elephant ears as possible while blogging away "Live from Lowe's" throughout Memorial Day weekend.

If you want a shoe-in winner for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600, you certainly don't have to look deep in the field. Just take a glance at that first car on the inside line when the field takes the green Sunday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Yes, if anyone can beat Kyle Busch, it's going to be Kyle Busch.

Busch has now won the pole for the three races he's entered at LMS in the past two weeks including the Craftsman Truck Series race, the All-Star Challenge, and now Sunday's main event.

And yes, he's entered in Saturday night's Nationwide event with qualifying slated for Saturday afternoon.

Busch's lap of 185.433mph certainly wowed Thursday's pole night crowd, but more importantly, it was just another step in Busch's dominance of the 2008 season.

The Charlotte crowd definitely has found its new Jeff Gordon in that as Busch was celebrating the pole award in victory lane, plenty of boos rained down from the stands.

Following his run, Busch said something along the lines of hoping that after 2008 he wouldn't become a washed-up, has-been.

I wouldn't think there is too much to worry about, Mr. Shrub.