pandr
05-13-2012, 02:26 PM
Rewind: Consistently fast
By Jim Utter - charlotteobserver
Sunday, May. 13, 2012
Looking back at Saturday's Sprint Cup race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway:
Observations
Much as been made about Hendrick Motorsports taking so long to capture win No. 200 this season for team owner Rick Hendrick. In reality though, there isn't an organization in the Sprint Cup Series that has shown the consistent speed all four of his teams have this season. Do they have the results to match? No. But being in position to win is more than half the battle and right now, HMS is still winning the war. Kurt Busch's burnout through Ryan Newman's pit while Newman's crew members were still in the pit was not only classless, but showed a complete lack of concern for the safety of those who work on the cars. Pit stops are difficult enough – many of them under green-flag conditions Saturday night – without a driver needlessly trying to prove a point or show off. It was almost as if there was a halftime in Saturday night's race. The first half was filled with green-flag racing with nary an incident on the track. The second half was continuous cautions, several involving wrecks. And when the race was over, there was a scuffle between teams on pit road. Typical Darlington.
Notes
Khane at five and counting
After a disastrous start to his season, Kasey Kahne has roared back in recent weeks.
Kahne had nearly fallen out of the top 35 in owner points, putting his guaranteed starting position at risk.
He finished eighth in Saturday night's race, his fifth consecutive top-10 finish – and the longest such streak of his career. Kahne is now 16th in points.
“It was really good at times and not so good at times. We need to get our pit stops better. It’s definitely been a part of our struggles this year of getting further,” Kahne said.
“We have been around the top 10, but we need better pit stops if we want to make it into that top-five more often.”
Patrick has tough debut
Danica Patrick has a tough ride in her Cup debut at Darlington. She struggled in Friday's practice sessions and qualfied 38th fastest. She stayed out of trouble in the race, but finished 31st, six laps down.
“I know I didn't have a great result. But, I accomplished all the things I wanted to accomplish,” Patrick said. “Here on the Cup side, my goals were to be respectable out there. I think I held my own all right.
“The other one was to finish, and both of those things happened. I will be much less worried coming back to this place.”
No clutch, no problem
Tony Stewart remained in the hunt for the win Saturday night even though he broke the clutch on his No. 14 Chevrolet with about 85 lap remaining. He ended up finishing third.
“It didn’t affect us on restarts; it just affected us on the pit stops,” Stewart said. “So once we got through with that last stop, we were fine.”
3 keys to victory
1. To have a chance to win Saturday night required remaining on the lead lap during the 172-lap green-flag run to start the race. Jimmie Johnson showed from the start he was fast.
2. Kyle Busch was the race leader on a restart on Lap 320, but Johnson soon ran him down on Lap 325 and never relinquished it again.
3. With two laps remaining, Johnson restarted with Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch behind him but Johnson quickly put distance on both.
Turning points
The opening green-flag run – 172 laps – eliminated a lot of contenders.
Things would have been different …
If Stewart didn't have to make the extended pit stop to for the broken clutch, you never know how that might have affected the outcome.
Next race
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C.
When: 7 p.m. Saturday.
TV: Speed.
Radio: Motor Racing Network.
Last year’s winner: Carl Edwards.
C/P Thats Racin
By Jim Utter - charlotteobserver
Sunday, May. 13, 2012
Looking back at Saturday's Sprint Cup race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway:
Observations
Much as been made about Hendrick Motorsports taking so long to capture win No. 200 this season for team owner Rick Hendrick. In reality though, there isn't an organization in the Sprint Cup Series that has shown the consistent speed all four of his teams have this season. Do they have the results to match? No. But being in position to win is more than half the battle and right now, HMS is still winning the war. Kurt Busch's burnout through Ryan Newman's pit while Newman's crew members were still in the pit was not only classless, but showed a complete lack of concern for the safety of those who work on the cars. Pit stops are difficult enough – many of them under green-flag conditions Saturday night – without a driver needlessly trying to prove a point or show off. It was almost as if there was a halftime in Saturday night's race. The first half was filled with green-flag racing with nary an incident on the track. The second half was continuous cautions, several involving wrecks. And when the race was over, there was a scuffle between teams on pit road. Typical Darlington.
Notes
Khane at five and counting
After a disastrous start to his season, Kasey Kahne has roared back in recent weeks.
Kahne had nearly fallen out of the top 35 in owner points, putting his guaranteed starting position at risk.
He finished eighth in Saturday night's race, his fifth consecutive top-10 finish – and the longest such streak of his career. Kahne is now 16th in points.
“It was really good at times and not so good at times. We need to get our pit stops better. It’s definitely been a part of our struggles this year of getting further,” Kahne said.
“We have been around the top 10, but we need better pit stops if we want to make it into that top-five more often.”
Patrick has tough debut
Danica Patrick has a tough ride in her Cup debut at Darlington. She struggled in Friday's practice sessions and qualfied 38th fastest. She stayed out of trouble in the race, but finished 31st, six laps down.
“I know I didn't have a great result. But, I accomplished all the things I wanted to accomplish,” Patrick said. “Here on the Cup side, my goals were to be respectable out there. I think I held my own all right.
“The other one was to finish, and both of those things happened. I will be much less worried coming back to this place.”
No clutch, no problem
Tony Stewart remained in the hunt for the win Saturday night even though he broke the clutch on his No. 14 Chevrolet with about 85 lap remaining. He ended up finishing third.
“It didn’t affect us on restarts; it just affected us on the pit stops,” Stewart said. “So once we got through with that last stop, we were fine.”
3 keys to victory
1. To have a chance to win Saturday night required remaining on the lead lap during the 172-lap green-flag run to start the race. Jimmie Johnson showed from the start he was fast.
2. Kyle Busch was the race leader on a restart on Lap 320, but Johnson soon ran him down on Lap 325 and never relinquished it again.
3. With two laps remaining, Johnson restarted with Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch behind him but Johnson quickly put distance on both.
Turning points
The opening green-flag run – 172 laps – eliminated a lot of contenders.
Things would have been different …
If Stewart didn't have to make the extended pit stop to for the broken clutch, you never know how that might have affected the outcome.
Next race
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C.
When: 7 p.m. Saturday.
TV: Speed.
Radio: Motor Racing Network.
Last year’s winner: Carl Edwards.
C/P Thats Racin