Win puts No. 55 in Wild Card for owner title

Posted on July 14, 2013 by

Shared Michael Waltrip Racing ride has No. 55 car in hunt for Owners’ Championship

Related: Owner standings | Driver standings

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For the first time since the Chase for the Sprint Cup format was introduced in 2004, there’s a distinct possibility that there might be different players in the drivers’ and owners’ championships.

With Brian Vickers’ win at Loudon, the No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota — driven by Mark Martin, team owner Michael Waltrip and Vickers this year — moved into the second provisional wild card spot for the owners’ Chase, two points ahead of Tony Stewart’s No. 14 car (owned by Margaret Haas).

Since the three drivers all run part-time schedules, they’re not a factor in the drivers’ championship, but the car could win the owners’ title since it’s active in every race.

MWR executive vice president Ty Norris said MWR and No. 55 crew chief Rodney Childers have had their eyes on the owners’ prize for a long time.

“Rodney Childers deserves to run for a championship as a crew chief,” Norris said. “About a year and a half ago, we told him that we were going to run Mark Martin in 24 races and Michael in the speedway races, and we were not even sure who was going to drive the other races at that point. And Rodney has everybody knocking on his door, always, and we respect that. But he made the choice to stay, and that was a big choice for our organization.

“One of the very first things we talked about was racing for an owner’s championship; let’s shake up the system. We’ll have multiple drivers but if we can win some races and be in a situation where we can run for an owner’s championship, that can be just as remarkable as running for a driver’s championship.”

During the first nine years of the Chase, no car has been eligible for the owners’ title without a full-time Chase driver behind the wheel. That could change this year.

READ MORE:

READ: Danica, Ricky
tangle at Loudon

READ: Standings Shuffle:
Burton in the mix

WATCH: Kurt Busch,
Newman wreck

READ: Complete coverage
from New Hampshire, Iowa

Posted on July 14, 2013 by

Part-time driver breaks years-long winless streak

Related: Race results | Standings

LOUDON, N.H. — Surprise! The Michael Waltrip Racing driver almost everyone expected to win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway wasn’t in Victory Lane.

But his part-time teammate was. Making the most of his limited stint in MWR’s No. 55 Toyota, Brian Vickers solidified his claim to a permanent seat in the car with a stunning victory at the Magic Mile.

In a green-white-checkered-flag finish, Vickers sped away from Kyle Busch in overtime and took the checkered flag .582 seconds ahead of Busch to win Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 301.

And he did so despite losing a lap because of a pit road penalty incurred when he drove away from his pit stall with a wrench on the deck lid of the 55 Camry — a lap he later regained with a wave-around just past the midpoint of the race.

The victory was a strong signal that Vickers has come all the way back from blood clots in his legs and lungs that threatened his life and sidelined him for the second half of the 2010 season. After recuperating, Vickers ran a full Cup season for Red Bull Racing in 2011 but lost his ride when Red Bull left the sport.

The third victory of Vickers’ career was his first since August 2009 at Michigan. Jeff Burton ran third — his first podium finish since July 2012 at Daytona — followed by pole-sitter Brad Keselowski and Aric Almirola. Series leader Jimmie Johnson, whose qualifying time was disallowed because of a ride-height violation on Friday, rallied to finish sixth.

In the closing laps, Vickers tried to avoid thoughts of what a win would mean for his career, but as he walked to Victory Lane, the importance of his accomplishment began to register.

"It was difficult not to think about that those last 50 laps or 30 laps or whatever it was," Vickers said. "I just tried to live in the moment as much as possible, turn by turn and not think about the past or the future or what could or couldn’t happen.

"But once it was over, it was… I think it was a sigh of relief with everything that had happened, to finally, clinch another victory after so long and after so much, and it was a lot of thankfulness. I don’t know if that’s the best… that’s definitely the feeling I have. I just don’t know if that’s the right word to articulate it.

"Just thankful for everything that had happened and everything that didn’t happen; that I was able to get back into a race car, and that I had the support of family and friends to get through everything and to get back in the car."

Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon completed the top 10. Tony Stewart led 84 laps but ran out of fuel on the next-to-last circuit and finished 26th. Pre-race favorite Clint Bowyer, a two-time New Hampshire winner and the MWR driver expected to be first to the checkered flag, wound up 13th but held second place in the series standings, 56 points behind Johnson.

Though Busch had one of the strongest cars in the field, he wasn’t brimming with confidence when he lined up in third in the inside lane for the final restart on Lap 301.

"We didn’t have a chance," Busch said. "Vickers taking the outside (lane for the restart) was going to be the car to beat, and Tony obviously running out of gas there–almost wrecked with him. Just wish the race was two laps longer maybe and Vickers would have run out and maybe we would have been able to win the thing. "

Stewart was leading and in full fuel-conservation mode when contact between the Chevys of Paul Menard and Gordon sent Gordon spinning in Turn 2 on Lap 258. NASCAR called the 11th caution of the race because of the accident, leaving Stewart and Busch to restart side-by-side on Lap 263.

Stewart held the top spot for 24 laps, but Vickers showed his muscle late in the race, passed Kyle Busch for second on Lap 283 and powered past Stewart on the frontstretch four laps later. Vickers was cruising toward his first victory in four years when NASCAR called a caution on Lap 297 of 301 and sent the race to overtime.

But the caution only forestalled Vickers’ triumph for one extra lap, as he beat Busch to the finish in the two-lap Sprint.

Notes: With his fourth-place finish, Keselowski gained four spots to ninth in the Cup standings… The No. 55 MWR Toyota, which has been driven by Mark Martin, team owner Michael Waltrip and Vickers this year, moved into a wild-card position for the owners’ Chase… Running out of fuel cost Stewart three positions in the standings. He’s now 13th but holds the second provisional wild card spot… Vickers is the 11th different winner in the last 11 Cup races at New Hampshire.

READ MORE:

READ: Danica, Ricky
tangle at Loudon

READ: Standings Shuffle:
Burton in the mix

WATCH: Kurt Busch,
Newman wreck

READ: Complete coverage
from New Hampshire, Iowa

Posted on July 14, 2013 by Holly Cain

Five-time drives through the pack after starting in the rear

LOUDON, N.H. — It was the first time in Jimmie Johnson’s historic 12-year premier series career that the five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion would start a race from the 43rd and very last spot on the grid.

But all that did was make his run up through the field Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway all the more dramatic.

On a track and in a race that puts passing at a high premium, Johnson overtook 37 cars to finish sixth and take his biggest championship lead of the season — a hefty 56 points over second place Clint Bowyer — heading into the off-week.

Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet was relegated to the last starting position after it failed post-qualifying inspection. Officials found the front of his Chevy too low — a minor infraction according to his crew chief Chad Knaus, who immediately accepted responsibility for the oversight and promised the team would put it behind them and overcome.

That’s exactly what happened.

"We just had a hole to dig out of and we did a nice job of climbing out of it."

— Jimmie Johnson

“We had a mistake that we made, that hurt us in qualifying,’’ Johnson said after climbing out of the car Sunday. “We knew we had a fast race car and proved that again on Saturday (in practice) and were very confident coming into today.

“We just had a hole to dig out of and we did a nice job of climbing out of it."

And Johnson wasted no time digging.

He passed seven cars in the opening four laps and cracked the top-20 — an improvement of 23 positions — by lap 50 of the 301-lap event. He broke into the top-10 by lap 165 and ran there the rest of the race picking off cars and avoiding accidents all around him.

“The cautions didn’t work out for us,’’ Johnson explained of having to improvise strategy. “We pitted on the second or third caution and the cautions didn’t fall right, after that for us to take advantage, which is fine.

“We just had to do it the old-fashioned way and drive up through there and pass a lot of cars and we were able to get pretty far up there.’’

It was enough to impress Knaus as well, although the veteran crew chief conceded he expected as much knowing how fast the car was. And how good Johnson is.

“We never got the track position we wanted to try to obtain,’’ Knaus said. “But Jimmie did a fantastic job and we made the best out of a bad situation and that’s really all you can do. That’s what we wanted to do, to make today a non-issue and that’s exactly what we did.

“We didn’t need to win, but we didn’t need to lose and we came out today with a solid finish, a solid day.’’

It was Johnson’s fifth top-10 in the last six races, which also included a pair of victories at Pocono and Daytona. And it was a strong message to the competition that even when faced with great adversity, this team still finds a way to get it done.

“All in all it was a great day for the Lowes’ team,’’ Johnson said. “I’m proud of the effort these guys put in, looking forward to the off-week and getting to Indy.

“It wasn’t easy at all. We just fought through the day."

And if Johnson couldn’t win, he was genuinely happy for the day’s victor, his long-time friend Brian Vickers.

“He’s been through a long road of challenges and made it through it all and I’m very proud of him,’’ Johnson said. “I’m heading over to victory lane to dump Gatorade on him."

READ MORE:

READ: Danica, Ricky
tangle at Loudon

READ: Standings Shuffle:
Burton in the mix

WATCH: Kurt Busch,
Newman wreck

READ: Complete coverage
from New Hampshire, Iowa

Posted on July 14, 2013 by Holly Cain

Wreck involving Danica Patrick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ends day for Danica

LOUDON, N.H. — For the second time this season, NASCAR’s two-person Sprint Cup Series rookie class — the sport’s most famous racing couple Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – were involved together in a high profile incident.

While Stenhouse was involved in a chain-reaction accident that crashed Patrick at Charlotte in May, on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway it was Patrick issuing a good-natured “I’m sorry.’’

Patrick was apologetic after her Chevy slid into Stenhouse’s Ford in Turn 1 with 62 laps remaining in the race while they were running mid-pack. The contact also collected Travis Kvapil and brought out the 10^th caution of the day.

Standing by her wrecked No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet in the garage afterward, Patrick explained to reporters what happened and took responsibility for the situation.

“I’m not sure if I misjudged the braking zone or if they stopped really quick in front of me,’’ said Patrick, who was credited with a 37^th place finish in her New Hampshire Cup debut.

“At the end of the day, it was me that was sideways, so I’m sorry. I feel bad. What can I say? We were having a reasonable race and just didn’t mean to do it.”

"At the end of the day, it was me that was sideways, so I’m sorry."

— Danica Patrick

It ended the afternoon for Kvapil, but Stenhouse was able to continue after the accident and finished 34^th — albeit 27 laps down.

In talking about the situation, Stenhouse never referred to Patrick by name, instead only by car number. But he chalked the whole incident up to an honest mistake and his demeanor after the race was calm and understanding.

“I haven’t seen a replay of what happened but (crew chief) Scott (Graves) said the 10 (Patrick) might have got into me, or the 93 (Kvapil) or somebody. I thought it was the 93,’’ Stenhouse said.

“It’s not the first time you get crashed on accident. I have crashed people on accident as well. It is part of it. It is the first crash we have had in a long time so we are pretty lucky that we have been making it to the end of these races. It is kind of what has kept us where we are in points. We didn’t have a good car anyway today.”

It’s not the first time Stenhouse and Patrick have collided on-track either and both have always candidly said it’s to be expected because of the nature of the sport.

Patrick joked that it was a quiet ride home after their run-in at Charlotte, but that they were sharing a beer by the end of the night — essentially chalking it up to a racing inevitability.

They also both realize that because of the unique situation their romantic relationship creates, the spotlight will shine more brightly.

"I understand it’s interesting," she said after Charlotte. "I’m sure I would want to know how that all went down after the race too. We’re an entertainment sport, so I get it."

This time, it looks like Stenhouse — a two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion — will have the chance to take the higher road. And he’ll have plenty of time for the opportunity since the series heads into a rare off-week.

The couple had plans to attend the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles this week and later Patrick was to be in a wedding in Indianapolis, where the series will next race, July 28.

“It is just part of it,’’ Stenhouse said allowing a smile. “Like I told these guys, I have been wrecked before and wrecked people myself.

“I didn’t have good brakes and I was complaining about it all race. I don’t know if anyone else was having problems with it. In practice we had some problems of getting in the brake and it darting left pretty quick with the front end suspension and the way the geometry is.

“It is all part of it. We will take the weekend off and go to Indy.”

READ MORE:

READ: Danica, Ricky
tangle at Loudon

READ: Standings Shuffle:
Burton in the mix

WATCH: Kurt Busch,
Newman wreck

READ: Complete coverage
from New Hampshire, Iowa

Posted on July 14, 2013 by

Top-three finish for New Hampshire Motor Speedway vet has him thinking Chase

Related: Results | Standings

Three up

Three down

In the green

Brad Keselowski (Change: 13th to 9th)

It’s too soon to say that Keselowski is “back”, but he’s at least in possession of a Chase spot, whereas he wasn’t heading into the race. New Hampshire isn’t historically one of his better tracks, so a fourth-place finish is huge for the reigning champ, who is still trying to get his mojo going in 2013.

Jeff Burton (Change: 21st to 17th)

Jeff Burton still believes he’s capable of making the Chase, and he’s racing like it. As a veteran of New Hampshire Motor Speedway, his third-place finish shouldn’t come as a surprise, but the fact that he’s in 17th place and 25 points out of 10th should.

Aric Almirola (Change: 19th to 16th)

It’s been easy to count Almirola out as a legitimate Chase contender over the past month (maybe even longer), but his shocking fifth-place Loudon finish has him back in the middle of Wild-Card contention. But will he get the win he needs to make it worthwhile?

Kasey Kahne (Change: 12th to 10th)

Kahne was on thin ice heading into the race, sitting in 12th place while holding onto the final Chase spot. As the defending race winner, he came into Sunday as a favorite, and while he didn’t quite deliver a repeat, his 11th-place finish was enough to move back into a non-Wild Card spot.

Jeff Gordon (Change: 14th to 12th)

Gordon is in a bit of a unique position, in 12th place but not currently in a Chase-eligible spot because of Tony Stewart’s lone victory. Still, he’ll enjoy the move up from 14th, which ties him with Martin Truex Jr. (who also has a victory) and has him just two points behind 10th-place Kasey Kahne.

Jamie McMurray (Change: 17th to 15th)

With his 12th-place Loudon finish, McMurray didn’t exactly set the world on fire coming off a seventh-place Daytona finish, but it does move him up to 15^th. With just 25 points separating him from a non-Wild Card spot, the book can’t be closed on McMurray’s Chase chances.

In the red

Kurt Busch (Change: 9th to 14th)

Much like Stewart, Busch was the running with the class of the field all day, leading the most laps (104) of any driver before running into an unfortunate circumstance when he and Ryan Newman were wrecked from contact with Matt Kenseth. Busch falls out of a Chase spot, and has never won at the upcoming Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Joey Logano (Change: 15th to 18th)

New England native and former New Hampshire winner Logano struggled right out of the gate on Sunday after his tire blew five laps in. It’s hard to recover from a catastrophe like that, and while he did come back out to run 211 laps and finish 40th, it’s hard not to count the 18th-place Logano out of contention.

Ryan Newman (Change: 16th to 19th)

Some expected Newman, potentially inspired by “current events,” to come out to New Hampshire, where he has a career-best three wins, and tear it up. His day was ended after a wreck with Kurt Busch, but even then he wasn’t making much noise. In 19th, his season is headed in the wrong direction.

Tony Stewart (Change: 10th to 13th)

What a heartbreaking race for Stewart, who led 84 laps (second only to Kurt Busch’s 102) and was second on the final restart before running out of gas on the green-white-checkered overtime finish. With his disappointing finish of 26th, Stewart drops five spots and only holds onto a Chase spot because of his lone victory.

Missed chances

Kyle Busch (No change)

It’s hard to complain about a second-place finish, especially as the first Cup driver to get the checkered in the field, but Busch wouldn’t have minded getting his third victory of the season. It would have put him in elite company with Jimmie Johnson (four wins) and teammate Matt Kenseth (four) as the only drivers with at least three wins. And he’d be in fifth place, not seventh.

Clint Bowyer (No change)

With two Loudon victories to his name, Bowyer really needed to add a third on Sunday but fell quite short. His 13th-place finish kept him in second place behind Jimmie Johnson, but he’s one of just three drivers in the top 10 without a victory and you have to figure sooner or later, it could come back to bite him.

READ MORE:

READ: Danica, Ricky
tangle at Loudon

READ: Standings Shuffle:
Burton in the mix

WATCH: Kurt Busch,
Newman wreck

READ: Complete coverage
from New Hampshire, Iowa

Posted on July 14, 2013 by Staff Report

Moments that changed the course of the race at the Magic Mile

BLOWN TIRE COSTLY FOR LOGANO
For the second consecutive week, Joey Logano fell in the standings – from 10^th before Daytona to 18^th after New Hampshire. A blown tire on the fourth lap led to the first caution of the day and relegated Logano to a 40^th-place finish.

“It isn’t like we touched anyone and rubbed it to make it go down; it just blew out,” Logano said. “It is unfortunate for our Shell Pennzoil team. That is two weeks in a row we are going to have probably 43^rd place finishes. I am just mad right now.”

Logano sits 36 points out of the top 10 and only 11 points ahead of 21^st place as he attempts to climb back into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup contention with only seven races left in the regular season.

VICKERS SAVES FUEL TO GET TO THE FINISH
Tony Stewart was leading and in full fuel-conservation mode when contact between the Chevys of Paul Menard and Jeff Gordon sent Gordon spinning in Turn 2 on Lap 258. NASCAR called the 11^th caution of the race because of the accident, leaving Stewart and Busch to restart side-by-side on Lap 263.

Stewart held the top spot for 24 laps, but Vickers — who stayed out with Stewart at lap 219 — showed his muscle late in the race, passed Kyle Busch for second on Lap 283 and powered past Stewart on the frontstretch four laps later. Vickers was cruising toward his first victory in four years, when NASCAR called a caution on Lap 297 of 301 and sent the race to overtime.

But the caution only forestalled Vickers’ triumph for one extra lap, as he beat Busch to the finish in a two-lap sprint. Vickers, however, did not have enough Sunoco Green E15 to celebrate his first win in nearly four years.

“I’m pretty sure we ran out of gas but either way, it shut off or wouldn’t start, and it was the end of my burnout but it was a special burnout,” Vickers said.

STEADY JOHNSON CLIMBS FROM LAST TO SIXTH
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader Jimmie Johnson, whose qualifying time was disallowed because of a ride-height violation on Friday, rallied from the 43^rd starting position to finish sixth.
“It was tough it wasn’t easy by any means,” Johnson said. “You had to make quick work of people on the restarts and then we all kind of fell in line.

“You would have to wait for the guy in front of you to bobble and make a mistake. These guys are all pretty good out there. There were not many opportunities to get. We just fought through the day and got our Lowe’s Chevrolet to sixth.”

NASCAR Wire Service contributed to this report.

Posted on July 14, 2013 by Nascar

No. 78 team’s promising day ends early after run-in with Newman, Kenseth

LOUDON, N.H. – In what was perhaps his best performance to date behind the wheel of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet, Kurt Busch finished a very unsatisfying 31st.

He has had better finishes this year, for certain, but never has Busch seemed closer to a return to the winner’s circle.

Busch, the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, led 102 laps of the 302 that made up Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Through the season’s first 18 events, he had led a total of 160.

"We took a hit in the points, but we’re still in the Chase hunt — that’s the good news."

— Kurt Busch

It was a race that saw him battle younger brother Kyle Busch early, and race his way back through the field on at least two occasions when pit stop strategy dropped him out of the top 10.

But the day took a turn for the worse on lap 225 when Busch, 34, was involved in a four-car incident in Turn 1. Racing for the eighth position, Busch shot inside of Matt Kenseth and pulled up in front of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, only to have the back end of his Chevrolet spin around.

Ryan Newman, running on the outside, was collected in the spin while Kasey Kahne, running behind Kenseth, got into the back of the JGR driver.

Newman’s Stewart-Haas Racing entry was too severely damaged to repair, and he finished 39th, done for the day after 225 laps. The cars of Kenseth (ninth) and Kahne (11th), meanwhile, seemed no worse for wear.

“I just got hit from behind,” Busch said while waiting for his crew to make repairs to his car. “There was three-wide action, everybody’s going hard …

“The car gets light when there is no air on the rear spoiler back there.”

Newman said older tires on his car put him “in a bad spot” but that “I guess it was Kurt that went underneath three-wide and bypassed (Kenseth) … and clipped us and knocked us into the fence and took himself out. That was the best I could tell.

“I guess (Kenseth) had a little influence on it.”

Kenseth said there was nothing wrong with Busch’s move to make it three-wide in the turn, but he though Busch was going too fast to make the corner without incident.

“I got out of (the gas) as much as I could get out of it; he went sliding past me,” Kenseth said. “I don’t think he hit me on the way by but we were pretty darn close.

“He just went sliding up past me and cleaned out the 39. It’s a good thing I lifted because all three of us would have been in the fence. I had to stop. That cost us all our track position, which here is everything.”

A seven-week run packed with five top-10 finishes had carried Busch into the top-10 in points, and made the team one of the season’s first-half surprises.

Sunday’s finish, however, dropped him from ninth to 14th in the standings.

“We took a hit in the points, but we’re still in the Chase hunt — that’s the good news,” he said. “But we need to have more consistency and can’t have these kinds of finishes with only seven races remaining before the Chase.”

READ MORE:

READ: Danica, Ricky
tangle at Loudon

READ: Standings Shuffle:
Burton in the mix

WATCH: Busch,
Newman wreck

READ: Complete coverage
from New Hampshire, Iowa

Posted on July 14, 2013 by Nascar

After leading more than 80 laps, Smoke ends the night in 26th and out of gas

LOUDON, N.H. — Tony Stewart helped push the No. 14 Chevrolet off pit road and into the garage at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

It wasn’t the ending for which he had hoped, nor the one he and his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team expected.

A decision to pass on opportunities to pit in order to maintain track position had kept the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion in the thick of the battle, and headed toward a potential win. But his car’s fuel cell ran dry during a green-white-checkered finish to Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 301, leaving Stewart 26^th in the 43-car field.

“We were a little bit to the good; we thought we were alright,” Stewart said.

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Stewart took the lead after a stop for two tires and fuel during the day’s sixth caution between laps 203 and 207. Although opportunities cropped up five more times when the yellow flag appeared, Stewart opted to try and conserve fuel and maintain his front-running position.

For 84 laps, the effort paid dividends before a fast closing Brian Vickers took the lead with 15 laps remaining. The final caution that pushed the race one lap past its scheduled distance might have given him the opportunity to retake the lead, but Stewart’s car stumbled less than a lap from the finish, its fuel cell empty.

“It’s hard to calculate how much we are saving on the cautions so we thought we were about three quarters of a lap to the good there before that last caution,” Stewart said. “Obviously didn’t get saved as much as I thought we would.”

The setback dropped Stewart from 10th to 13^th in the points standings. With one victory this season (at Dover), he is second in the Wild Card standings that will determine who earns the final two positions in this year’s Chase For The Sprint Cup.

He is, however, only five points out of 10^th.

“I knew if (Vickers) got by Kyle (Busch) that we were going to be in trouble,” Stewart said of the late-race run by the race winner.

“He had been able to stalk Kyle (running second) for a really long time. It was hard to stay that close to somebody for very long. I knew when he got by that we were in trouble.”

READ MORE:

READ: Danica, Ricky
tangle at Loudon

READ: Standings Shuffle:
Burton in the mix

WATCH: Kurt Busch,
Newman wreck

READ: Complete coverage
from New Hampshire, Iowa

Posted on July 14, 2013 by Staff Report

Follow the key moments as they unfold for all three national series

Results

Sprint Cup Series: Camping World RV Sales 301 results | Standings

Nationwide Series: CNBC Prime’s the Profit 200 results | Standings

Camping World Truck Series: American Ethanol 200 presented by Enogen results | Standings

Sprint Cup Series

Camping World RV Sales 301, 1 p.m. ET, Sunday, TNT.

Featured Story

Vickers wins at New Hampshire

Brian Vickers made the most of his part-time ride with Michael Waltrip Racing, taking a trip to Victory Lane in the No. 55 after winning the Camping World RV Sales 301. The win breaks a years-long winless streak for Vickers. | Read the full story

Other news:
— Stewart comes up empty after leading laps
— Danica, Ricky hit the wall at New Hampshire
— Jimmie Johnson goes from last to sixth in 301 laps
— Crash puts a bump in Kurt Busch’s road to the Chase
— Standings Shuffle: Burton becomes a Chase contender
— Keselowski says No. 2 team is ready to contend
— Age no issue for to-be oldest starter in Cup history
— Kurt Busch fastest in Saturday’s first practice
— Keselowski earns Coors Light Pole Award
— Jimmie Johnson’s qualifying time disallowed
— Ryan Newman moving on; 2014 plans in limbo
— Danica Patrick: No to nude, happy with Harvick
— Wild Card Watch
— Latest news on roof spacers story
— See this week’s new paint schemes
— Driver Reports: Mid-season breakdown
— Week 18: Sprint Cup Series Power Rankings
— Kurt Busch elevates 78 team to new heights

Nationwide Series

CNBC Prime’s the Profit 200, 3:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, ABC.

Featured story

Dash 4 Cash

Austin Dillon won the second $100,000 bonus by virtue of this third-place showing at New Hampshire. Eligible to claim the big prize next week at Chicagoland: Dillon, Michael Annett, Brian Scott and Brian Vickers. | Read the full story

— Kyle Busch gets seventh win of season
— Sadler promises Smith he won’t win title
— Kyle Busch wins Coors Light Pole Award
— Nationwide pit stall assignments
— Points leader Smith takes both practices
— Logjam adds spice to Nationwide title hunt
— Ty Dillon chimes in on "3" talk
— Preece keeps up with vets in Nationwide debut

Camping World Truck Series

American Ethanol 200 presented by Enogen, 8:30 p.m. ET, Sunday, SPEED.

Featured Story

Peters gets first win of season

In a race dominated early by pole-sitter German Quiroga, only four others led more than one lap. Among them was Timothy Peters, who took the lead at the end of the race and held on to it for his first victory of 2013. | Read the full story

— Young drivers make veterans take notice at Iowa
— Age no issue for young Chase Elliott
— NASCAR Next: Meet Chase Elliott
— Gaughan, Jones make moves during practice
— At Iowa, young drivers take the spotlight

READ MORE:

READ: Danica, Ricky
tangle at Loudon

READ: Standings Shuffle:
Burton in the mix

WATCH: Kurt Busch,
Newman wreck

READ: Complete coverage
from New Hampshire, Iowa

Posted on July 13, 2013 by

Peters becomes first back-to-back Iowa Truck Series winner

Related: RESULTS | STANDINGS

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NEWTON, Iowa — Timothy Peters knows the way to Victory Lane at Iowa Speedway.

He followed that path Saturday night to his best finish of the season.

It was the Red Horse Racing driver’s first win of the season and sixth in his career. He jumped to sixth in points. The track provided a similar boost last year, propelling Peters to a second-place points finish.

"We started off the season a little rocky," Peters said. "We’re turning that around. And we’re going to shine through the summer months. We’re going to shine through Homestead and we’re going to get that championship that was so close last year."

Peters grabbed the lead with 27 laps to go, taking the outside lane on Ty Dillon and then pulled away from the field. Crew chief Butch Hylton made the crucial call to replace two tires late, saving time on a pit stop. The move paid dividends, giving Peters the handling he needed to take the corner after the green flag dropped.

"Butch made a great decision there at the end, taking two tires," Peters said. "It gave me the stability and confidence I needed in the corner (to) get the lead."

Hylton said it wasn’t hard decision to make. He praised the pit crew for their efforts.

"I could see Ty. They were three or four stalls before us," Hylton said. "I had a pretty good idea what they were going to do. Our pit crews are awesome."

The first time Peters grabbed the lead from Dillon came off a restart as well, following Johnny Sauter’s collision with the wall on Lap 113. After surrendering the lead to James Buescher, Peters made his way back to the front for the final dash to the finish.

"The pit crew did a good job of getting me track position," Peters said. "Track position was very critical."

Dillon thrived on longer runs and seemed dialed in during those stretches. The restarts cost him in the final quarter of the contest.

Jones and Dillon battled for position with Jones gaining an advantage and Dillon fell out of contention. His Chevrolet bounced off the wall after the last restart, dropping Dillon to 16th. Jones challenged Peters, but settled for his third top-10 finish of the season and first at Iowa Speedway. Ron Hornaday Jr. finished fourth, just ahead of Chase Elliott. Darrell Wallace Jr. was the highest finishing official rookie of the year contender, coming in eighth.

Matt Crafton finished sixth to retain a 31-point championship lead over Jeb Burton.

"We were in the top five all night and I’m really proud of that," Jones said. "Being able to be up there to contend is a big step for me."

Buescher, who opted for four tires in the final pit and placed him too far behind the leaders who took two, led 24 laps and placed third. It was his best finish of the season for the defending points champion and his first top-five finish of the season.

Buescher has three top-10 finishes in six starts at Iowa Speedway.

"I’m happy with our third-place run," Buescher said. "A couple mistakes probably beat us at the end."

Despite a flurry of cautions in the second half of the race, the first 54 laps were under green and all led by fast qualifier German Quiroga, who lost the lead to Dillon after lap 56.

Quiroga was certainly happier before the race started. He made history with his qualifying performance.

Quiroga was the fastest of a tremendously quick field, becoming the first Mexican-born NCWTS pole sitter. The driver of Red Horse Racing’s No. 77 Toyota Tundra raced to a track record 138.620 mph in qualifying.

"I’m very, very happy," Quiroga said about the feat. "We’ve been running fast." He ultimately finished 14th.

Even though Quiroga dropped in the field, he kick-started a successful showing for RHR here. It was the third straight pole for the team at Iowa Speedway.

"It was a fantastic day for Red Horse Racing," Team owner Tom DeLoach said. "It’s a total effort of the team."

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race – American Ethanol 200 presented by Enogen
Iowa Speedway
Newton, Iowa
Saturday, July 13, 2013

               1. (10) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 200, $39885.
               2. (7) Erik Jones, Toyota, 200, $24375.
               3. (12) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 200, $18845.
               4. (15) Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet, 200, $15335.
               5. (11) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 200, $14110.
               6. (16) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 200, $11785.
               7. (2) Miguel Paludo, Chevrolet, 200, $11285.
               8. (21) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Toyota, 200, $12360.
               9. (9) Joey Coulter, Toyota, 200, $11010.
               10. (22) Dakoda Armstrong, Chevrolet, 200, $12235.
               11. (8) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 200, $10910.
               12. (14) John Wes Townley, Toyota, 200, $10785.
               13. (5) Ross Chastain, Ford, 200, $10735.
               14. (1) German Quiroga #, Toyota, 200, $12985.
               15. (18) Max Gresham, Chevrolet, 200, $11635.
               16. (3) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 200, $10435.
               17. (26) Steve Wallace(i), Chevrolet, 199, $8085.
               18. (19) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 199, $10210.
               19. (20) Brennan Newberry #, Chevrolet, 199, $10110.
               20. (24) Jeff Agnew, Chevrolet, 199, $9435.
               21. (27) Frank Kimmel, Toyota, 199, $8660.
               22. (17) Jeb Burton #, Chevrolet, 199, $7560.
               23. (13) Tim George Jr., Chevrolet, 197, $7435.
               24. (28) Jimmy Weller III, Toyota, 197, $7360.
               25. (25) Josh Reaume, Chevrolet, 196, $7485.
               26. (6) Ryan Blaney #, Ford, 195, $7310.
               27. (23) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 194, $7260.
               28. (30) Justin Jennings, Ford, 194, $7235.
               29. (35) Bryan Silas, Ford, 191, $7210.
               30. (33) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 186, $7685.
               31. (4) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 159, $7160.
               32. (32) Jennifer Jo Cobb, RAM, Engine, 20, $7135.
               33. (31) Danny Efland(i), Chevrolet, Vibration, 11, $7110.
               34. (29) Chris Jones, Chevrolet, Vibration, 7, $7085.
               35. (34) Chris Lafferty, Ford, Rear End, 3, $7060.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 106.311 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 38 Mins, 46 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.225 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 26 laps.
Lead Changes: 6 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders:   G. Quiroga # 1-56; R. Sieg 57; T. Dillon 58-114; T. Peters 115-126; J. Buescher 127-165; T. Dillon 166-173; T. Peters 174-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): T. Dillon 2 times for 65 laps; G. Quiroga # 1 time for 56 laps; T. Peters 2 times for 39 laps; J. Buescher 1 time for 39 laps; R. Sieg 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points: M. Crafton – 357; J. Burton # – 319; J. Buescher – 317; T. Dillon – 309; J. Sauter – 305; R. Blaney # – 290; M. Paludo – 285; T. Peters – 281; B. Gaughan – 280; D. Wallace Jr. # – 272.

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